Official Opening Of Just Heavenly Pleasures

23 June 2007, Saturday – This is perhaps the day which the floggers been eagerly waiting for, the official opening of Just Heavenly Pleasures at Damansara Heights, following by dinner at Max! Kitchen & Wines (will post that up later on).

Tagged along with handsome Jackson and bubbly WMW, we arrived around 3pm and there was already a crowd. Bumped into Boo_licious with Splashie Boy at the entrance and before long, we spotted KampungBoy and CityGal, enjoying the food among the crowds! FatBoyBakes, Joe and his lovely girlfriend Nicole, Lyrical Lemongrass and her macho husband, the Bald Eagle and Kenny Mah with his newly wed friend (or couple) joined us later on. And we managed to meet up with a few new floggers too; the cool Swee San (A Self-proclamied Foodaholic), luscious Pamela (Foodyumz), pretty little Soo Yin (SooYinDotCom) and her lovely friend, Mavis. ^^
p/s: It’s nice to meet you girls!

Since it’s expected that the hosts, Nigel and Allan will be busy attending the guests, we helped ourselves with an array of delicious finger food and of course, some goodies from JHP itself. (Yay!)

Crispy Fried Wanton with Parmesan Cheese Sprinkles.

Mini version of Choc & Cheese. Simply gorgeous.

Mini Banana Cream Pie.

Triple Espresso Brownie.

Lime Tarts, a sweet and sour combination.

Savoury Profiterols!

Last but not least, Chocolate Eclairs.

KampungBoy (left) and Jackson posing with their food. Smile, you’re on Candid Camera!

Nigel giving his speech, with Allan by his side (blocked by someone else… duh… blame myself for not tall enough.)

Singing performance by The Wicked Pitches.

A gift for JHP from the floggers… The orchid were simply gorgeous.

The legendary Durian Chocolate. Thanks Pamela for allowing me to take a few bites of it!

Other than cakes, JHP also sells marmalade, jams and cookies. This is the Citrus Ginger, a type of puree which yields a refreshing drink when mix with water and Coffee Kisses cookies.

For your information, JHP accept request for custom-designed cakes for different occassions as well, such as this cutie creation. Just contact JHP for more information.

We were there for about 2 hours, eat, chat, telling jokes and taking pictures with each other before we say our goodbyes to Nigel and Allan.

To Nigel & Allan: Congratulations again and wish your business a great success!

Just Heavenly Pleasures
Lot 1.05 & 1.06, Ground Floor (opposite Chef & Brew)
Epicure, No. 1, Jalan Medan Setia 1,
Damansara Heights,
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2287 9866
Email: info@justheavenly.biz
Web: http://www.justheavenly.biz

Other post on JHP launch:

• You Get What You Give… Sometimes…
• KampungBoyCityGal
• SooYinDotCom
• Lots of Cravings
• Living In Food Heaven

Essence Plus @ Ipoh Garden East, Ipoh

*Updates: Essence Plus has ceased operations.

This is one of my back dated post… The pictures have been residing in my hard drive for some time… Heh. Went to this place last month with Eddie, Ken and Jeffrey for lunch on one fine Sunday after much discussion between us. Essence Plus, claimed to be serving healthy meals and highly recommended by my ex-boss, located opposite Tesco.

From the menu, I realized that they serve mostly Shanghai dishes, although I doubt that those dishes authentically originated from Shanghai. Heard from my ex-boss that the owner is a Taiwanese, though.

Eddie’s Lamb Stew South US Style. Sounded like grammar error eh? But it’s written like that in the menu. The lamb chunks were tender but albeit too dry and tastes bland too. And guess what? I’m starting to get tired of rice moulded in round shape like this… @_@

The coleslaw came up next. Tastes pretty ordinary, nothing to rave about. And yes, we eat it with chopsticks. :P

Drunken Chicken. Basically this dish is chicken steamed with rice wine, gei ji (wolfberries) and Chinese herbs. I think the chef added too much wine and it’s overpowering the taste of the chicken.

My Spicy Potato Noodle. Now now, I thought the noodle supposingly made by sweet potatoes but it turns out to be chewy translucent noodle (similar like tong hoon or glass noodle but thicker). And the spicy broth tastes like Mah Lat (a type of spicy soup originated from Taiwan which is famous for it’s hot, flaming properties) but luckily for me, this one is milder.

Ken’s Potato Noodle in Savoury Chicken Broth. Look almost exactly the same like my order except the broth. Tastes pretty bland…

The star of the day – Shanghai Pearls in Rice Wine Brine. Not exactly real pearls lah, they’re balls made from rice flour (tong yuen, to be precise) with red bean filling, served with fermented rice grains in syrup and rice wine mixture. The pearls were soft and chewy with the right amount of red bean fillings, while the rice wine syrup has the right balanced amount sweetness and wine in it. Have it warm… it’s a great comfort food.

Shanghai Xiu Long Bao with crabmeat (dedicated to Xiu Long Bao… heheh…) Honestly, I never had any Xiu Long Bao before so I don’t know whether it is the authentic ones. These baos were filled with some crabmeat chunks, and dark coloured liquid which tastes like something in between black vinegar and soy sauce. A bit salty for my tastebud. Can’t really taste the sweetness of crabmeat (covered up by the sauce?) and the skin is not very thick.

Overall, the main course here is not very fantastic but desserts and side dishes were acceptable. The waitress were helpful though, patiently explained the dishes to us with smile. But the environment is kinda noisy with kids running around and warm due to one of the air-conditioner is out of order.

Essence Plus
No. 9, Jalan Medan Ipoh 6,
Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh,
31400 Ipoh, Perak.
Tel: 05-545 8678
(Same row with 1919 Restaurant & Gallery, opposite Tesco and Y2K disco)

Special Invitation By FatBoyBakes

On my third day in KL, I got a call from Jackson, informing me that FatBoyBakes is having a mini dinner gathering at his house at Damansara. Feeling excited, I buzzed “kah jie” (big sister) WMW and she agreed to pick me at Plaza Mont Kiara as both of us have things to attend to before we can make our way to Damansara.

It was almost 9pm when WMW, Teckiee and I were on the way to Damansara and we found his house with not much problem. FBB greeted us at the gate and lead us to a flight of staircase, decorated with plants and colourful light bulbs and to a special room next to the swimming pool where the other floggers had already gathered. Among them were Audrey, Lyrical Lemongrass, Tummythoz & Phitoy, Allan & Nigel, Jackson, Precious Pea, Joe Constant Craving and Boo_licious. That was my first time to meet up with Audrey!

The host and his wife were busy going in and out the room, prepare and serve the dishes for us. Here’s what we had that night: (sorry for the lousy photos, the cheapo photo editing software failed on me T_T)

Medley of Garden Vegetables with Quail Eggs. The salad was fantastic, drizzled with dressing made from mixture of balsamic vinegar, jam and olive oil. Yeap, it’s jam.

Next, Vermicelli Pasta with Roast Duck. Frankly speaking, that was my first time sampling duck meat and I absolutely love it! Nicely done with coriander, garlic, sliced aromatic duck meat, olive oil and minced chilli for the extra tangy flavour.

The yummy Chicken and Mushroom Pie made its entrance next. Generous amount of chicken and mushrooms filled the pie to the brim, while the crust is not too thick nor thin.

I’ve always thought that pizza is a troublesome dish to prepare at home especially the dough. FBB’s Homemade Pizza With Pork Bacon, Basil, Mushroom and Crabmeat was loaded with treasures and tastes just as great as it looks. Win any of our pizza chain store hand’s down.

This is the extra side dish, super chunky “siew yoke” (roasted pork). The skin were amazingly crispy and the meat… succulent and tender… just like how a good “siew yoke” should be!

Assorted Cheese Platter. I don’t remember the two names of the cheese but the first picture is the Fruit Cheese. All three cheeses goes well with biscuits but I just had 2 servings as I’m stuffed at the moment.

As for dessert, WMW brought along some donuts from Big Apple. Colourful but I didn’t try them as I’m not a fan of donuts…

And before long, FBB presented us his creations…. Dessert No. 1: Rum and Raisin Tart Served With Pure Cream. OMG….! Can practically smell the scent of rum as the knife glides down on the tart. Despite using rum and raisins separately, FBB actually soaked the raisins in rum before adding them to the tart mixture (if my memory serves me right… someone corrects me if I’m wrong). Teckiee was going crazy over the tart… LOL…

And the star of the night was the Flourless Chocolate Cakes With Molten Centres, also served with a dollop of fresh cream (I’m sure most of the floggers who attended the dinner would agree with me!). Served warm, the rich, melted chocolate at the centre actually flows down onto my tongue when I took the first bite! *droooolsss*

After the satisfying meal and some chats (over Unkaleong’s fabulous abs), some of us started to prey on Joe and actually made him unbutton his shirt to show us his nipples! Hahahahah…. armed with cameras, the ladies (and gentlemen!) started to take shots of him. PRICELESS huh? :P

Before we bid farewell to FBB, we were entertained by Allan & Nigel with a beautiful rendition of “I Know Him So Well” (picture shows Nigel only), accompanied by FBB’s wife on the piano. “Kah jie” WMW was asked to perform too but she was kinda nervous. Nevertheless, she finally sang “Through The Eyes Of Love” (theme song from Ice Castles). A very beautiful song indeed.

Here, I would like to express my thanks to FBB and his wife for the wonderful dinner, “kah jie” WMW, Tummythoz and Phitoy for the lift. And to my fellow floggers, it was such a bliss to have met up with you guys. I enjoy thoroughly every moment we spent together eating, commenting, chatting, laughing etc etc. Looking forward to meet you guys again this 23rd June at the grand opening of Allan & Nigel’s Just Heavenly Pleasures! ;)

Other post on FBB’s dinner:

• You Get What You Give…… Sometimes
• Eat First Think Later