MacLaren’s grub

Checked out a restaurant in Damansara Perdana, MacLaren’s.

Its newly-opened, so not fully decorated yet. It’s set-up is simple and casual.

Restaurant+bar

Food is British and fusion, and chef Scott is a local Eurasian boy, who’s got skills.

One of the favourites here is the Pork Ribs ($25.50 nett), which unlike most joints, here they oven-bake them.

Flashy

I think the significant factors about these ribs are the tenderness, and interesting flavours. Scott marinades d ribs in spices & ….. Coke! Then bakes it and adds an Oriental BBQ sauce.

The sauce is sweetish, with hints of spices while the meat… goddam its tender, skidding from the bone with a little effort. But dat dont mean u shd use cutlery.

Goes well with a Guinness.

Not dicks. Pigs in Blanket - large & juicy

Had to do the Pork Vindaloo ($25.50). It’s made with pork belly. Being a vindaloo, it gives a medium-low glow in the mouth on the spiciness scale, thanks to the loads of various spices and other condiments, including vinegar, making the gravy quite grainy and thick.

Piggy

Eaten with bread or rice, it’s gotta a sour-peppery tinge. Unusual and pretty good.

The Apple Lamb ($25.50) is another a curry-like dish, which is sweeter, and medium-spicy at d same time. Loaded with raisins, chunks of apple, and cashew nuts.

Sumtin different

The lamb is tender, the gravy flavoursome, and altho sweetish, does complement the meat. Could use more meat tho.

I had no space to shove dessert in. I should eat slower. But had one eye on an item called Braised Apple Compote, which contains apple braised in wine, with homemade basil & raisin ice-cream.

Everything at MacLaren’s is made from scratch, nothing out of bottles or cans, so food quality is pretty good.

Some of d items

Some of the best-sellers here are the Double Whammy (burger – double patty of your choice, bacon egg & cheese, $22), the Oxtail Soup and the pies (like Shepherd’s, Steak & Kidney, Beef Onion). The burgers are good value, beginning from $11.60, and 4 animals are available (pig/goat/chicken/cow).

Laid-back

Menu is pretty wide. There’re also sandwiches, Devil Curry and Fish ‘n Chips of course.

Tried a whisky for the first time – Glengrant. I gotta say, its very smooth and easy, with a decent bite just after d end, leaving a pleasant light burn in your mouth.

Yea. Only $232 nett a bottle here

Rick, the owner, is a Brit. So a projector screen is comin up for football n such.

Give d joint a shot.

D deals

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Beer & food pairing?

I think every alcohol can be paired with food, altho i usually tend to pair alcohol with….. alcohol.

Wine has always been hogging the limelight when it comes to wining & dining. Maybe the whinos like to eat more than they drink. And also talk stuff about the various complicated-sounding flavours they’re experiencing. I managed to do that too once, when i was a judge.

But read this post for my personal version of wine-speak!

Did an awesome rum-tasting at the Cuban ambassador’s house once.

If you have an average tongue, it’s still possible to appreciate combining a particular dish with a particular drink. If the drink tastes ok with the food, or enhances / contrasts certain flavours well, then it’s a good pairing.

You generally might not notice a good pairing, but you sure as hell would notice a bad one.

One thing's for sure. U normally can't miss with deep-fried shit

Like, there’s nothing worse was than partying at a friend’s birthday, and then the fucking cake comes around. Eat that, and u will regret your next sip of booze, coz it fucks it up. I never touch cakes while drinking. Unless of course its a Quadruple Chocolate Mudcake.

That’s one reason cakes are banned from my birthday gigs.

We’re lucky, coz as Asians, our food tends to have spices, which makes it great for beers, and sometimes other beverages too. And the awesome chili burn in your mouth makes u drink more.

O yea, pizzas n beer! Da shit.

Lok-lok guys shd at least sell beer too. You dont a license when it comes to bottle / canned beers.

Anyway, came across this document re pairing craft beers and food.

Take your pick

Click on the image for a clearer view. One thing i like that is common for all these beers – meeeeat!

My last beer-paring event happened at Craft Brews in November.

There’s also this piece in the Wall Street Journal called The Art of Picking the Perfect Beer for a Meal. The writer mentions spiciness, recommending “hoppy” beers, whose flavor is somewhat bitter, herb-tinged and complex. “You want a real hoppiness to combat that spice. Such beers also work with burgers and steaks that have been touched up with jalapeños or tangy mustards.”

With many more styles of beer available now besides boring ol’ lager, it’s sure a good time to be adventurous.

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A crafty beer-pairing session

Happened at Craft Brews recently. It was a special five-course dinner that paired the dishes with certain beers.

The beers were Rogue, which had its launch party recently. The chefs were specially hired for the event – Cuisine Riot, a team of Malaysian-based TV chefs. The dinner was open to the public for a fee.

The food boyz

Beer-pairing is actually not uncommon, although most times it’s wine, not sure why. Beers (as in ales mostly), have depth and complexity as well. The problem here has been the lack of variety as most beers used to be lagers. That has obviously changed.

Craft Brew founder Paul Khong  says that Craft Brews wants to spearhead the beer education and appreciation trend in Malaysia. “We see it as our responsibility to create new and exciting opportunities to help and educate people on how to enjoy beer.”

Cozy

Craft Brew has a range of beers, with the latest being American-made Rogue.

Nite began with a glass of OREgasmic Ale (pale ale, ABV 6%), paired with pork belly, onion tagliatelle, onion coulis, pickled daikon and papaya ketchup.

It was an excellent dish of tender, juicy slabs of meat, with a very wild-tasting ketchup. The beer was a little too bold and tasty for me. The OREgasmic was the only beer i couldn’t finish at the launch party.

When the next dish showed up with a couple of syringes, it got my attention.

Where the needles at?

This is a mix of mushroom consomme, sago pearls and… instant noodles. As you fire the syringe into the soup (not your arm), it turns into noodles.

Cool. I enjoyed playing with my food.

This dish seemed herbal-ly, and refreshing, with medium-strength flavours, and went well with the light-medium beer – the pairing was with the Mom Hefeweizen (Belgian ale, ABV 5.2%).

Next was the duck fillet, Israel couscous and beetroot, with the Hazelnut Brown Nectar Ale (brown ale, ABV 6.2%). The bird was cooked quite rare, with a nice roasted skin, and gamey – which was tempered by the sweetness of the couscous. It was a good mix for the roasty, caramely beer.

Hey there brown sugar

I missed out on the tandoori chicken and dessert as i had to split early.The next pairings were the Juniper Pale Ale and the Chocolate Stout. Dammit!

Well, am sure there’ll be other such events comin up. Look out for it if you’re into beers while dining.

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El Meson

There’re still a coupla of gems in Bangsar Baru, KL. Checked out El Meson (2282-8290), a Spanish restaurant and bar on Telawi. (Warning – clicking on the link will instantly emit loud Spanish trumpets. Haha)

El Meson = "The Table"

Session began like it should, with a pitcher of sangria ($90.48. All prices nett). There are like 4 varieties here, and we went for the original. Fruity, refreshing and reasonably strong, how a sangria should be!

Salud

According to GM Mark Robert, each pitcher has half a bottle of Merlot and 2.5 shots of the house brandy, Remy Martin. And lots of fruit. Nice.

There’re also sangrias like White, Apple and Blueberry.

White. Good too

Sangria was enjoyed with a platter of meats. The Platter for Two ($62.64 nett) has pork ham samples of Iberico, Serrano, Parma, Speck, Salchicon and Chorizo. Sliced real thin, and a good intro to Spanish ham like Iberico.

Slice n dice

The pigs are (used to be) happy ones, especially the Iberian ones, who usually hop around freely & joyfully on green pastures and… eat green stuff. Thus, Jamon Iberico is highly-prized.

We hit some good ol siew yoke, aka Crispy Roast Pork Belly ($25.52). Tender inside, crispy, garlicy outside. So it went quick. Comes with apple sauce. Limited amounts daily, unless ordered in advance.

Porky

The pig onslaught continued with this little guy..

Still running?

Oops

A house special. The skin is perfectly done, not too crispy, and the meat and fat inside is like butter dammit. Sweet.

The Cochinillo requires 24 hours notice, and starts from $56.85  for a quarter.

There’s suckling lamb too! Damn, gotta nail that sometime.

Like that feast wasnt enough, we also had the Paella Mixta for two ($78.88), something unusual. Most people would go for the seafood version. This is a mix of seafood and Valenciana.

The chef is from Valencia too

The Valenciana is a provincial one, and is different. It has chicken, pork, spicy Chorizo sausages, green beans and chicken stock.

The Mixta is juicy, nice n sticky, with a unique mix of flavours, primarily tangy and a little sweet-sour. Very interesting. Cleaned-out.

Dessert was the clincher – something Lava. Well, it was real lava allright! Flowing, molten chocolate, around a scoop of home-made ice-cream. Killa!

(Fire in a shot of rum for more fun)

Dessit!

Other items that caught my eye include rabbit stew in red wine, slow-cooked Iberico rack of ribs, and a whole bunch of tapas.

Cozy n style

I hear their Sunday breakfast rocks. Opens at 8am, and near full-house.

There are events comin up at El Meson, including a Spanish Independence Day buffet party, which i definitely will attend. You can get updated about their stuff via their Facebook page here.

Moooooo!

There are various cocktails by pitchers, a wine cellar, some awesome Spanish sherrys and liqueurs (try the red wine liqueur) and a whole bunch of bubbly cocktails.

Open daily for breakfast, lunch n dinner; Saturday and Sunday it’s from 8am. If u ever need an extra-early drink, u know where it’s at.

Being high quality in food ingredients as well as being in Bangsar, prices are as expected above average to high.

However, re drink promos, u can enjoy three pints of Kilkenny or Guinness at $55 nett all day and night, everyday.

Enjoy!

Grafitti, Bangsar alley

 

Brain damage: 8/10

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