Two Weeks, Four Restaurants

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C & H, my life-loving hosts who brought me to every respectable dining institution in Vancouver, were back in Kuala Lumpur for their annual business trip.  Year in and out, the three of us spend a few nights of catching up over a good meal and several bottles of wine.  Both of them run their own Canadian travel agent and never failed to tempt me with their never-ending tales of traveling – all part of a day’s job.  Their highlights for 2006 – attempting to ski at -30C (without success) and a rodeo cowboy fair complete with cowgirl boots and hat.  We shared our stories over martinis, Irish coffee and hot chocolate at KL Hilton’s lobby lounge and later moving next door to Le Meridien for three really good pieces of steak at Prime.

By the weekend, C & H had returned to Singapore, where they were
originally from and the time came to catch up with the Girlfriends.  A
good friend K was hanging out with some Californians at a new place in
town, Palate Palette in Jalan Mesui when I called to wish an early birthday greeting and he recommended it for its laid back atmosphere
and casual dining.  We girls arrived late after dinner yet we were
tempted to order everything they served as dessert, Ginger Creme
Brulee and Green Tea Mille-Feuille which was both excellent.  Rich enough to satisfy our sweet, sinful craving yet still light that we didn’t feel the guilt.  The perfect accompaniment to three
girls chattering away of course would be Cosmpolitan cocktail, which
they sell in jugs – just the right size for the three of us.

Just before dessert and drinks, a hotpot of shabu shabu was simmering on the table at Wa-Raku on Jalan Stonor.  Shabu shabu, a Japanese hotpot served a la Chinese steamboat style, where you cook very thinly sliced beef in the boiling pot and dip them into two common sauces, ponzu and sesame.  Definitely a good way to go when you are trying to nurse a throat infection and have to stay away from teppanyaki and tempura at the Japanese restaurant.

For those of us who live under the perils of Kuala Lumpur’s tropical wet season, we often attempt to limit driving distances while the sky pours its heart out.  At 6.30pm on a Saturday after my weekly German lessons at the heart of the city, it had been raining torrentially for more than 40 minutes.  I certainly had no intention to brave the weather home.  A U-turn, another left turn and an elevator ride up to 6th floor of Traders Hotel, I am sipping beer and ferociously popping bowls of wasabi nuts at Gobo Upstairs while waiting for the rest of my dinner entourage to arrive. 

The clear winner of that night’s dinner went without dispute to the Eight Hour Braised Beef Short Rib, braised to tender perfection.  Everyone enjoyed the clean, simple palate of the restaurant’s dishes.  Without further delay after our dishes were taken away, we were on the lift up to the 33rd floor to Sky Bar to end the windy night with sweeping views of KLCC covered in partial mist and watched the clouds above float by.

(And I shall await patiently for Masak-Masak‘s wonderful pictorial reviews soon.)