The Food Site

I know, this post is a bit late but I didn’t have time to load the photos (and trust me, I’ve got LOADS of photos) until now.

Anyway, Thanksgiving is very much an American tradition so over here in Malaysia, we don’t really celebrate it or even know much about it. Still, some establishments seemed to get into the whole Thanksgiving spirit and so, I got invited to a Thanksgiving lunch at The Brasserie at Traders Hotel.

I’ve only been to this restaurant a few times in my life (mostly because I couldn’t really afford to eat there all the time!) but the few times I ate there, I came away happy and full. It is one of those places where quality of food is almost to perfection and of course, the ambiance is great too.

So, why is the Thanksgiving lunch Christmas-themed? I guess maybe they wanted to incorporate a thanksgiving meal to their invited guests with an introduction to their Christmas menu. They sure do make it seemed more like Christmas than Thanksgiving…

Now, let’s get to the food. As is usual at The Brasserie, the starters, appetizers and desserts are buffet style. Let’s take a look at the starters and appetizers…

And the best part about this is that if you want them to throw together a salad for you, say Ceasar’s Salad, and they will do it for you! Next…

Sushi

Sashimi (Tuna, Salmon and White Tuna)

Smoked salmon

Oysters, shrimps and unagi

These are cheese-baked oysters, grilled shrimps and grilled unagi.

Did I mention that I simply LOVE unagi?

On top of all these, they even have a

Pasta station

Where a chef will whip up any pasta you want! Isn’t that cool or what? Of course, I didn’t order any. After stuffing myself silly with sashimi, unagi and salad, I had to leave some space for the mains and the delectable oh-so-tempting desserts!

I have to say one thing about their vast choices of starters and appetizers, fresh and good enough without even the need of mains! If I was told that these would be my meal, I’d still be happy. Yep, that’s right. When it comes to sashimi, as long as it is sliced right and the fish is fresh (well, as fresh as possible considering it is all imported fish) I am really, really happy.

Now, let’s get on to the main course. They have seven choices and I chose the Steamed Cod Fish with king prawn, lobster, vegetables and pepper coulis. Here it is:

Actually, the cod fish is not really steamed. It is steam-baked so the flesh is buttery soft with a crispy outer layer. I like that the teamed it with the vegetables and pepper coulis as it gave it a burst of flavours although the whole dish is really aromatic what with the rich sea scent of the baked (or is it grilled? Couldn’t really figure it out) lobster and king prawn.

Then, our host ordered the traditional roast turkey served with carrot and pumpkin mash, brussel sprouts, cranberry and red wine juice for all of us at the table to share.

Perhaps after the buttery softness of the codfish, when I tried the turkey I find it a bit tough. Or is it supposed to be like that? However, the cranberry and red wine juice makes up for it as I find the sourish and sweetness of it really do gave the turkey some ‘live’ flavours.

Other than these, the other main courses they have are ‘Miso marinated salmon’, ‘Fillet of Beef Wellington’, ‘Traditionally prepared Penang Prawn Mee, Grilled Lobster, Jumbo Tiger Prawn, Cod Fish’, ‘Slow braised beef ribs’ and Australian chilled lamb rump.

The choices are rather surprising considering The Brasserie is essentially a French restaurant. But then, I guess I shouldn’t be all that surprised considering the buffet spread aren’t really French food too! Anyway, these are all part of the restaurant’s Christmas lunch specials (RM55 nett / RM88nett per pax) which is available from Dec 1 – 25.

Finally, we come to the desserts. Ahhh…my favourite part.

Desserts on sticks to go with chocolate dip

Row after row of cakes, tarts, mousse, puddings, sweet stuff to suit your sweet tooth

A special dessert station where a chef could whip up some special sweet creations

And here's the chef whipping up Bomb Alaska

The Bomb Alaska

I don’t know where I find space to tuck this in after all the food I had earlier but I sure did finish it! It’s strawberry ice cream covered in meringue with brandy and fresh strawberries. Ah, heaven. Wish I could have another one but I was about to burst from all the food so I refrained from trying out anymore desserts…sigh.

Now, my verdict: For RM55nett (or even RM88nett) I’d say it is worth every single sen and more! The food are fresh. The buffet spread are varied. The main course is exceptionally good (except for the turkey, which is quite okay but not exceptional). The dessert, a bomb to my senses. I’m even thinking of going back with The Food Critic for another round. Need I say more?

Rating: 8/10

Price:$$$$

Details:

The Brasserie

Traders Hotel

Magazine Road

Tel: 04-262 2622

Website: www.tradershotels.com

Christmas Lunch Promotion

Dec 1 – 25, 2008 (Noon – 2.30pm)

RM55 nett per person

Free flow of wines and beer at RM29 nett per person

The Senior Citizen Association’s cafetaria is well-known for its Roti Babi, Spring Rolls and several other dishes for quite a long time already. In fact, The Food Critic brought me to this place more than a decade ago and now, finally, I have a chance to share their great food with everyone else!

The Senior Citizen's Association at 7, D.S. Ramanathan

Now, although the cafetaria has signs proclaiming ‘member only’, it is open to the public. So, you don’t have to be a senior citizen who’s a member of the association to eat there. I may not be young anymore but I sure as heck am not a senior citizen yet!

The Senior Citizen Association cafetaria is surrounded by lush greenery

Now, let’s get on with their signature dishes…

Mee Sua Tau

The only way to describe the Mee Sua Tau (RM10) is that it is almost like Shark Fin’s Soup except that it contains mostly chicken, mushrooms, crabmeat, egg and rice noodles. The soup base is starchy and quite thick. Here’s a closer look:

Mee Sua Tau

For a medium bowl of this, the portion is pretty big and this being more than merely soup as it is generously full of rice noodles, it is very filling too. I only ate one tiny bowl of this as I am not really a big fan of mee sua tau. Nevertheless, I still like theirs. It is thick and yet not too sticky and yes, it is tasty because it has so many different ingredients.

Fried rice

Not all that remarkable since it is just plain fried rice with the usual ingredients of shrimps, egg, chicken. Still, it is good enough for Mr Picky who ate almost half of the amount!

Roti Babi (right) and Spring Roll

It may look almost similar and it’s ingredients are a tad similar but it is actually different. Both contained chicken, carrots, crabmeat and some jicama (mangkuang).  The only difference is that one is a spring roll while the other one is bread with the ingredients sandwiched between two slices of bread and then the bread fried to a crispiness.

Spring roll and roti babi best eaten with some sauce and chillies

Their spring rolls are simply the best as the skin is very crispy and they don’t stinge on the ingredients too. The best part is the chili laced sauce with generous amount of Worchestershire Sauce.

Quarter roast chicken

I absolutely love their roast chicken although it is not really roasted! The chicken was deepfried before it was served. It is darn good, I tell you.

The prices here are pretty reasonable. Check out the menu:

The menu

So, my final verdict is that it is really worth the price to eat there. For one thing, the ‘chefs’ are definitely really good. This place is like the senior citizen’s best kept secret!

Rating: 8/10

Price:$$

Here are the cafetaria opening hours:

And here’s the location map to the place.