Sunday, May 19, 2013

A (Dining) Gem Amongst the Local Mediocrity

I had my dinner before visiting this place for the first time. Been wanting to check it out for days since I read about the chef here. Since Peter and I are scheduled for a catch up that week, I seized the opportunity to give this outlet a shot.

Meatball Mentaiko

I was impressed. And, I am not an easily impressed sort. Determined to return again, soon, for more food and drinks!

Second visit and still impressed.

So, last night, I went back there with an empty stomach. Preparing to taste more; food and drinks. All the staff are still good and professional (for Johor Bahru's standard). So rare! They even remember me from my first visit. Citing from one of the staff named Bii, "You haven't been back for so long!" I was caught off guard by this. After all, I was there 2 weeks ago. I don't dine out that often, sweet. Teehee.

Ameli is going for 75ml of Gewürztraminer tonight.

I was so pleasantly surprised to find they've changed the range of wine-by-the-glass. A sales program which is virtually unheard off in Johor before this. You're always stuck with shitty and stagnant range elsewhere. Here, a proper standard is achieved.

Two bottles of (somewhat) German's whites tonight are in this wine-by-glass program. I had a 2011 sweet Gewürztraminer for taste - 25ml(?) - which cost only MYR5! It was ok. I wished I had gravlax to go though. Still, this wine goes well with Oriental Spice(d) cuisine, too! Another plus for this outlet's credibility. It serves Japanese yakitori here! A bottle of that is going for MYR147. +Amelia Lau went for 75ml and later, we tested a whisky that's unfamiliar to us - Canadian Club Whisky!

My eyes were once again sweeping left to right, up and down at all this outlet's collections on the shelves. It hasn't bored me even at my second visit. It has new additions again! Just within two weeks! Most excitedly, it has a new change/addition for the by-glass program at the bar, too! My eyes fell on this - Heather Cream.

This liqueur was first produced in 1980 and is a marriage of Balblair single malt whisky and fresh cream (it is one of the few to be made with fresh cream). It is marketed as the 'Cream of Scotland' and is released in 70cl, 35cl and 5cl bottles at 17% ABV (a 70cl bottle should cost £12-15). Heather Cream has a very pale colour (think of very milky tea) and the nose is subtle and delicate. There is some sweetness (imagine toffee) and cream with some maltiness from the whisky coming through. On the palate, this is fresh, clean and not as cloying as some of its competitors. It feels silky and light with some lovely caramel, toffee, cereal and vanilla notes present. The finish is pleasantly long with the caramel note coming through well.Quoted from Whiskey for Everyone

Fell in love with this at first sip! I requested for 2.5 parts Heather Cream with 0.5 part of milk, chill (ice cubes to be stirred till concoction is chilled then removed before serving). I've requested a final mix of 2 pegs. Not going to confuse you, myself included, about the measurement difference in names/metric from different countries, I've stated by parts at the beginning.

Next, food. Quite a variation in our shared orders. Mostly roots and plants.

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Just last week when my Mr. +Kenneth Loke recommended me to watch this Japanese drama titled, 深夜食堂 [Shinya Shokudo], I started to crave for お茶漬け [ochazuke]! I haven't came across this dish outside of Japan before. I was set to go Singapore (nearest to me) to get some produces for making this.