Rama V Fine Thai Cuisine

It was that time of the year again. Crystal, our dear dutiful daughter once again organised a dinner for us to commemorate a joint Parents Day. Last year she fixed us at the Carcosa Seri Negara. This time around, it was at the Rama V Fine Thai Cuisine. She arranged everything and presented us with a RedRibbon Days voucher for RM250.

The Rama V is located on Jalan U Thant, off Jalan Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur. It appeared to be a chic place, with soft and striking lightings at the entrance. It was apparently converted from a large bungalow house with a huge compound. It was raining when we arrived and the parking attendant very considerately offered us an umbrella and parked the car for us.

We were greeted by the receptionist who recognised our voucher and reservation, and promptly led us to our table.

The restaurant has many awards to its name, including best Malaysian restaurant for several years.

RedRibbon Days advised us by email that this was a fine dining place and recommended that we dressed smart and casual for our dinner. We did so accordingly. But as it turned out, the place was really not that fine. It was rather crowded and noisy. A couple of kids were very distracting. People walked in and out in shorts and slippers. It was by no means a fine dining place.

The main dining hall was the downstair of the old bungalow house. There were a number of rooms and sections.

Outside, behind the bungalow house was a very nice garden, complete with soft lightings and water systems. Around the garden were several chalets for group diners.

Our table was in the entrance section of the restaurant. It wasn't an ideal location. It was rather long and we were seated at both ends of it. It was kind of awkward at first. We felt so very far apart. A waiter came and helped with the menu. He was obviously an foreign worker. He didn't speak very good English but was nevertheless very efficient in helping us in our selection.

The starter of the meal was this combo. It was a selection of Thai delicacies - fish cake, spring roll, prawn batter, and others - with 2 kinds of Thai sauces. It was a basket meant for 2 to 3 people. Everything in it was nice. I particularly liked the fish cake which was delicious.

When the next dish arrived at the table, I was like "OMG, so much food". It was a big plate of catfish salad. After the combo basket, we were almost there. Now this big plate. And we still had 3 more dishes to come. Anyway, the salad was typically Thai, with lots of peanuts, garlic and the sweet sour sauce. The catfish was apparently deep fried into the batter. But when we bit into the batter, we did not taste any fish - just flour.

The seafood tom yam was rather mild. And that was how we liked it. We had decided on the way to the restaurant that we would only take the tom yam if it was not too sour and fiery. And the waiter assured us that when we ordered it. It had the usual fish, prawn and squid and tasted quite delicious.

This was a duck curry. I was very curious. I had never tasted duck curry before. And it turned out to be really very nice. The meat was distinctly duck. The curry was typically Thai. And I think they made a very good combination. I enjoyed the dish very much.

This single prawn was 50 bucks. Ordinarily, I would not have ordered it. But we had 250 ringgit to spend and we wanted to maximise it, or else the remaining balance would be burnt. The menu stated that it was a river prawn. The only large river prawn I know in Malaysia is the udang galah. But this did not seem like udang galah. Unlike the udang galah, this prawn had a much smaller head and a lot more meat. In any case, it was very well done. It was deep fried and served in a nice Thai sauce.

Dessert was a variety of Thai delicacies. The waiter brought a large tray of assorted cakes, and we picked what we wanted. Perhaps our choice was not good for the desserts were no wow.

This was a bowl of water chestnut in coconut. Like the cakes, it was just so so.

I wanted a cup of coffee. I stopped one of the waiters. He obviously was a foreigner and did not understand what was coffee. He should not had been there in the first place. I later made my wish known to a different waitress. Then I waited and waited. After 2 or 3 reminders, my coffee finally came. It was half a cup and the coffee was cold. And it costed me 10 ringgit. What a rip off for half a cup of cold coffee.

All in all, the food in Rama V was good. It wasn't ridiculously expensive. The taste was distinctly and authentically Thai. No doubt about that. But the service was somewhat lacking. And the ambiance certainly was not one you would expect in a fine dining place. It was not a place we would go to for a special occasion. Most of the diners, I believe, were there just for an ordinary everyday meal.

Capital Nasi Dagang

My first impressionable experience with nasi dagang was on a fishing boat between Mersing and Pulau Aur in the east cost of Peninsula Malaysia many years ago. We were on one of our many fishing trips. Mr TanTH, our chief organiser bought some packeted nasi dagang from the Mersing market for our lunch during the tedious 6 hours boat journey. They were simple packets of the special coconut rice, each with a small piece of curried tuna. It tasted so very good. I had 2 packets of it and craved for more. Since then, each time I think of nasi dagang I inevitably remember that fishing trip.

Nasi dagang (literally translated as "business rice") is a mixture of normal fragrant rice and pulut (glutinous rice), steamed with santan (coconut milk). It is normally eaten with gulai (a rich yellow curry) ikan tongkol (a medium-size tuna fish). It is a popular dish in the east coast states of Peninsula Malaysia, especially in Terengganu. Its popularity reached down to the southern state of Johor and right up, beyond Kelantan, to southern Thailand.

SP called me one day to tell me about this place that serves good Kelantan nasi dagang. That very weekend, we were there to check it out. The breakfast crowd was evidence of its popularity. We could not find a table and were contented to settle down on a makeshift one on the 5-foot way.

Capital Nasi Dagang Kelantan is located on Jalan SS21/1A in Uptown, Damansara Utama in PJ. The business, to my surprise, was managed by Chinese. Nasi Dagang is after all a Malay dish and I went there fully expecting a Malay business. This Chinese family apparently has a similar business in Kota Baru.

Their nasi dagang was served with a wide range of accompaniments. Beside the ikan tongkol (tuna), they had curried chicken, rendang beef, prawns, and squids. The goodies are all on display at a serving counter where you can see before deciding on your choice. You could have a combination of accompaniments, or everything in their ultimate nasi dagang.

This was their traditional nasi dagang gulai tongkol - tuna curry. Like all their servings, it was on a wax brown paper in a plastic plate. The rice was fluffy and in spite of the glutinous rice content, the grains did not stick to each other. The fragrance was aromatic. If you take time to chew on the rice, the flavour is more pronounced.

The gulai ikan tongkol (tuna curry) was rich in santan (coconut milk). The fish was fresh and flaky. It was a very good gulai indeed.

The chicken did not disappoint as well. The flavour was rich and the chicken tender.

I had this combination of tuna and rendang beef. The beef was a little disappointing. It somehow did not taste like the real thing. A little too mushy.

Two things stool out in their servings of nasi dagang. One was the small deep fried salted fish. It was crunchy and aromatic. And it complemented the rice perfectly. I think this piece of salted fish made the nasi dagang a lot more enjoyable.

And their sambal was awesome. They only gave a small spoonful of it. But it was enough. It was fiery hot and so very tasty. And complemented the rice very well.

The shop also serves a small variety of other dishes like the Kelantan laksa and the coffee shop roti kaya - toasted and steamed bread. We ordered a portion of the the steamed roti. It had butter and kaya spreads. The bread was very good. It was so soft it almost melted in our mouths.

And of course, there were the normal drinks to go with your meals.

Was the nasi dagang here better than that in the fishing boat? Very likely yes. It is really very difficult to compare. The fishing boat experience was a long time ago and is now indelibly etched in my mind. In any case, for those in need for a nasi dagang fix, especially those from the east coast who miss home, this is definitely a place to be.

Verona Trattoria

The Verona Trattoria is a chic Italian restaurant owned and operated by a Mat Salleh-Malaysian couple in Section 17, PJ. We were there for a small family dinner. I didn't even know this place existed. I guess it opened its door not too long ago.

It is located on Jalan 17/54, in a small commercial area beside Taman Lee Yan Lian. I used to know this area very well. Had not been there for a while and the 2 small rows of shophouses have certainly changed a lot. There are a few other new makan places, one of which I think is Japanese. I have to go back there to cari makan (look for food) soon.

The inside of the restaurant, to me, was rather gaudy. I didn't like the red colour scheme. Not at all cool. The lightings were somehow inadequate - not dim but inappropriate. The art pieces on the wall were also somehow out of place. If they were all meant to make the place cosy, I think they had failed

But we were there for the food. I heard they serve some awesome Italian meals. The menu looked interesting. They had the full Italian works - pastas, risotto, pizzas, salad, soup and plenty of meats. And they were not terribly expensive.

For starters, we shared a caesar salad, with generous amount of bacon and a good french dressing. It was nice. The leaves were crisp and fresh.

The quatro pizza was very considerately done. It was 4 flavours in a single pizza. If you are the type to eat a whole pizza alone, this would be very nice to break the monotony. But we are the sharing type. So we don't get to sample all the 4 tastes. And by the way, the pizza was good. The crust was thin and and crispy. The toppings were generous and the flavour was just nice.

We shared one other pizza. I don't remember what it was called. It had the normal pepperoni, and vegetables toppings. Like the quatro, it was very good.

This spaghetti aglio olio was superb. It was definitely one of the best spaghetti I have tasted in Malaysia. The texture of the pasta was perfectly al dente. It was done absolutely right - not the least overcooked or soggy. The flavour was delicious. The herbs were just right.

This was saffron risotto with mushroom. I normally do not fancy risotto too much. My preference is that if I wanted to eat rice, I would opt for the Asian way. But this risotto wasn't too bad. Of course, the rice was soggy. But the flavour, probably because of the saffron, was quite Asian and delicious.

I didn't quite like this lamb shank. I thought the meat was rather soft and overdone. And the sauce was rather smothering with too much flavours. I couldn't get the actual flavour of the meat.

This roast pork belly was a lot better. The skin was delightfully crispy. The meat was tender. The sauce was light - complementing the meat rather than overpowering it. But the serving was small. There were 6 of us and we had to be contented with a small share.

We asked for garlic bread. And again, there wasn't quite enough to go round.

Desserts, like the other dishes, were shared. We had this chocolate cheese cake, which was okay but not great.

Neither was this pudding.

This tiramisu in a cup was the last of our dishes. By then, I had too much in my tummy to be interested. I gave it a skip...

... preferring this simple cup of coffee instead.

The Verona Trattoria is not a bad place at all for a reasonably priced good Italian meal. The dishes were quite authentic. I wondered where the mat salleh owner originated. He was rather scruffy, spoke without any non-English accent. I think he has everything in a good Italian restaurant. But he needed a good interior decorator.

Gay Paree

There are 2  main airports in Moscow - Domodedovo International (DME) and Sheremetyevo International (SVO). Our departure was from SVO. We boarded a Scandinavian Airlines CRJ-900 to Copenhagen, en route to our final European destination - Paris.

We waited about 3 hours in Kastrup Airport before boarding an Airbus A320 and arrived in the serpentine Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport at about 6.00pm in the evening.

We stayed in a small hotel in the middle of the city. I liked the view outside our hotel room. It was so typically European.

Next morning, we set out to explore Paris. Eddy and Bee did not join us. They went to Nantes to see their daughter Joanne. The remaining 4 of us took the Metro (underground) to Trocadero station. We exited the station, took a left turn and wow! We were hit with the imposing monumental Eiffel Tower in the distant. We did not expect such a majestic sight.

We were at the Palais de Chaillot. This beautiful complex comprised 2 big identical buildings. In the middle was an open terrace and below a beautiful park and garden. One of the buildings houses the Musee National de la Marine (National Naval Museum).

We lingered in the terrace between the two building and then walked down the steps to the garden below.

It was a magnificent park - with flowing water, fountains and gilded statues. Lovely place for photography.

We strolled down the park and crossed the Seine River.

And we were below the awesome Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889, designed and built by its namesake Gustave Eiffel. It soars 324 meters (1063 feet) high. It may not be the highest tower in the world, but its fame is unmatched. It receives more than 7.2 million visitors per year - or about 20,000 per day. A staggering figure indeed.

Our intention was, but of course, to go up the tower. But the queue was a million long. I approached a guy in the middle of the line and asked him how long he had been waiting. He told me "more than hour". It seemed like an impossible wait to go up. We should had bought our tickets on the Internet before we came.

But as it turned out, lady luck smiled on us. We bumped into a tourist guide we had earlier met and got to know while we were on the cruise in Greece. She was apparently guiding a group in Paris. To chance meet someone we had just got to know in a cruise ship 3,000km away was simply amazing. We asked her if there was anyway she could help us get to the top. She quickly dug into her bag and came up with 4 tickets. And that was not all. She offered the 7.5 euros tickets to us for just 5 euros each.

So up we went. The Eiffel Tower has 3 levels. We bypassed the lower level and went straight up to the 2nd floor.

From there we bought another ticket and went to the top.

The views from the tower were astounding. Paris is indeed a beautiful place.

This was the Palais de Chaillot and the Trocadero garden from the top.

We were exactly 10,433 km from home. The Menara KL is 97 meters higher than the Eiffel.

From the Eiffel Tower, we went down to the bank of the river.

Crossed the Debilly pedestrian bridge.

And had a very relaxing and leisurely walk along the Seine.

We came to this well known bridge - Pont Alexandre III. It was a wide beautiful bridge. In the background was the Palacio Nacional de los Invalidos.

We turned left into Winston Churchill Avenue and 2 palaces greeted us. On our left was the Grand Palais.

On our right was the Petit Palais.

We stopped at a nice restaurant in the Grand Palais for coffee and to rest our feet. And yes, toilets too.

After the Grand Palais we turn left and voila, we were on the famous Avenue des Champ-Elysees. This is most happening stretch of road in Paris - equivalent to the Oxford Street in London.

We walked up the wide busy Champ Elysees. Along the way were cafes and shops retailing all the up-market brands.

Then we reached the mighty Arch de Triomphe. This world famous monument was built in 1806 to honour the people who fought and died in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars.

The 50 meters monument stands in a huge traffic round-about known as the Place Charles de Gaulle. It is accessible via underground tunnels. One could even climb to the top of the structure. But on that day, they had some military ceremony at the arch. And the public was barred. So we loitered around the Champ-Elysees and took pictures to our hearts content.

This brought us to the end of day 1 in Paris. Dinner was at a small Vietnamese restaurant near our hotel. We had been beef and chicken noodles. They were not bad.

Next morning, we got tickets for the hop-on-hop-off bus at Trocadero. It was a 2-days pass. It also entitled us to a cruise along the Seine River. These are pictures from the bus. We just could not escape the Eiffel.

This was the bank of the Seine River.

The beautiful Palais Garnier which houses the Academie Nationale de Musique and the Paris Opera.

The Place de la Concorde.

And the Palacio Nacional de los Invalidos.

We got off at the Notre Dame. But first, lunch. It was in a restaurant across a bridge. This place has a name that is somehow one letter amiss. No, I am not referring to the letter "A". If the "N" had been a "R", it would be Cafe Paris.

The place was busy but friendly. The waiters spoke good English and helped us with the menu.

This was a grilled chicken breast served with mushrooms.

I think it was Benson who had this steak. It came with some salad. I cannot remember what was in the jar. I think it was mash potato, but it does not look like it in the picture.

My choice was this grilled breast of duck. It was superb. The French are good at preparing duck meat and I can say this was perfect. The duck was to be served with mash potato but I asked them to change it to fries. No regret.

It was a hefty satisfying meal, complete with freshly baked bread and coffee.

After lunch, we walked in a slight rain to the Notre Dame. The name means "Our Lady" in French. It was built in the 12 century. With more than 900 years of history, this grand twin tower cathedral is indeed one of the most famous churches of the world.

While we waited in queue to enter the cathedral, we admired this statue of Charlemagne. He was the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the 8th century AD. The statue was installed here in 1886.

The entrances into the cathedral were amazing fine works of art.

In spite of the hordes of tourists, inside the cathedral it was quiet and solemn. People respected the sanctity of the place. They did not speak. They whispered.

We got back into our hop-on bus and proceed to the Galeries Lafayette for a look-see. The ladies also wanted to do a little shopping. This is the premier shopping place in Paris. The grandiose of the department store was profound. The place was packed with shoppers and a big percentage of them were from China. The mighty spending power of Chinese tourists was very evident here.

Back to the bus and we headed back to the Eiffel Tower. We wanted to do the Seine River cruise and to see Eiffel by night.  The cruise was included in the hop-on-hop-off ticket we bought. The embarkation was just next to Eiffel Tower.

The cruise was not great. The views were not new. We had seen them in our walk the day before. Still, we enjoyed it. It was an hour of relaxation.

We had to wait for nightfall before we could see the Eiffel lights. In the meantime, we checked into a nearby restaurant for dinner. The restaurant was at the bank of the Seine River, just next to where we boarded the cruise boat.

We had a table with the view of the tower.

The menu selection was somewhat limited. Benson and I decided for the beef cheek. I went for this more out of curiosity. I had never tried cheek of a cow. The dish was served in a small pot. It was like a shepherd's pie. The meat, in small pieces, was under a baked mashed potato. It was not fantastic. The cheek, as expected, was quite tender. But there wasn't much of it. We fed more on the mashed potato.

The 2 ladies opted for the fish. I do not know how it tasted, but it did not look terribly interesting.

Both dishes were served with a simple salad.

And fresh bread. I like the way the French make their breads. They were good.

As we dined, the sky turned dark and the lights on the tower were turned on. Even from the restaurant window, it was a glorious sight. The tower had flashing strobes every hour. It was a fascinating sight.

After our meal, we loitered outside for some time, soaking in the festive atmosphere of Eiffel by night. And more pictures. This must the 9th or 10th picture of the tower in this blog posting. I promise - this is the last. It is only because the Eiffel Tower is such an imposing edifice in Paris. You can't escape it. Nor can you ever have enough of it.

On our 3rd day in Paris, we took it very easy. We went to Luxumbourg Gardens (Jardin du Luxembourg). We had some problems finding it. The road signs from the Metro station were absolutely useless. When we finally arrived there, we were not even sure if it was the place. We entered through a side gate and what we saw was most inconspicuous.

But the Luxumbourg Garden turned out to be a very pleasant and relaxing place. The garden was huge and very well kept. There were chairs everywhere.

This is the Luxumbourg Palace. It was built in the 17th century and was the resident of Marie de Medicis, mother of King Louis XIII. It now houses the French senate.

Infront the Luxumbourg Palace was a large pool. Here children and adults sailed their model boats.

This is Medici Fountain - a very picturesque place.

Our next relaxing stop was a French cafe. No visit to Paris would be complete without a drink at a road side cafe. We did what Parisians do best...

With a nice French beer.

And their renown creme caramel.

Dinner that evening was at an old restaurant very near from our hotel. It was apparently a very popular place among nearby residents. And was strangely named Bebe (baby).

It was old and almost run-down. The furnitures had seen better days. Grand-pere (grandpa) would had been a more appropriate name.

Still it was a charming place.

I was on the verge of ordering this seafood dish. But I changed my mind. The 2 ladies did. It was a plate of grilled dory, prawn, mussels and squids. I think they enjoyed it. It certainly looked very nice.

I remember Benson had this pork chop. It came with a serving of rice. Perhaps he ordered it for the rice.

My choice was this T-bone. And it was absolutely no regrets that I did not take the seafood. It was one of the best steak I ever had. It was medium rare, done to perfection. The meat was tender and delicious. It was served with some fries, beans and a black pepper sauce. The fries lived up to their French reputation and were very good.

Dessert was this interesting combo. There was a cup of coffee, a scoop of ice cream, a piece of chocolate cake, a small glass of mix fruits and a piece of French cookie. Could anything beat this?

The following day, Benson and Nelly flew home. My wife and I were the only ones left in Paris. We decided to spend our final day at the Louvre.

The Musee du Louvre is one of the largest art museum in the world. Certainly it is the most well known. The total exhibition floor area is almost 15 acres. Nearly 30,000 work of arts are on display.

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace which was built in the 12th century. It was converted into a full museum in 1793. In the middle is a huge glass pyramid. The pyramid is the main entrance into the museum. We queued to get in.

Down the escalator, we came to a huge lobby. There were several ticketing counters and 3 entrances to the various wings of the museum.

Inside it was an perplexing maze of corridors, rooms, halls and courtyards. The exhibits were everywhere - in all 3 main wings of the museum, floors and floors of them. One could easily get lost in this place.

Perhaps the most famous piece of art in the museum is the Mona Lisa. She is also known as La Gioconda. It was painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1506. Everybody in the museum wanted to see it. It was kept a glass enclosure with barriers in front to keep away the surging crowd.

I had to squeeze my way to the front to take this faint photo shot. The quality of the picture was abated by the glass pane.

This is another famous lady in the Louvre - the Venus de Milo, also known as the Aphrodite. It is an ancient statue of the Greek goddess of love. It is believed to be about 2100 years old - sculptured between 130 to 100BC.

The 3rd famous lady is the Wing Victory Samothrace. She is a statue of the Greek goddess of victory Nike. Like the Aphrodite, she is about 2100 years old. And like the Aphrodite, she is incomplete; Aphrodite without her arms, she without her head.

I took a lot of shots of the paintings in the museum. It is not possible to post them all here.

The sculptures were no less impressive. The details on most of them were amazing.

We managed to visit the Egyptian section.

Our visit to the Louvre was exhausting. We walked till my feet could take no more. It was impossible to cover everything in a day. We were there for more than 5 hours, and we estimated we went through only about 10% of the exhibits.

With the Louvre, we came to the end of our visit to Paris and our tour of Europe. Next day, we were at the Terminal 2 of Charles de Gaulle Airport to come home. Our flight back was on an Emirates A380.

In the 4 weeks of our tour, we visited 7 countries and 7 cities. We travelled on 7 flights, 2 ships and a high speed train. We saw some most fascinating places and dined in numerous restaurants. It was an experience of our lives. And we enjoyed every single day of it. But what was most important was the company we traveled with. It made a world of a difference. We really enjoyed travelling with Benson, Nelly, Eddy and Bee. And we have already started talking about the next trip. Thank you also to my many readers and followers. You are the impetus of my blog.