Tony Roma's, Sunway Pyramid (Halal)

I have been meaning to check out Tony Roma's at Sunway Pyramid (Lower Level One, LL1.43) since it opened its doors sometime in October last year. The last time I ate at Tony Roma's was in Los Angeles and was looking forward to when Malaysia would have its very first outlet. However, I never really got round to it as news of it being halal (hence, no baby back ribs!) made it less exciting. Well, not until the gang of us met up in Sunway Pyramid and wanted to try something new.
For starters, we had the Onion Loaf and since JC and I were onion fans, we decided to have a full order (RM16.90). The onion loaf, a Spanish (hmm....still eating Spanish stuff!) onion, was quite a delight. Lightly battered and deep fried, it was sweet with a slight crispy texture and came with a special dip that was akin to Thousand Island sauce. However, by the time we got round to near bottom of the onion, it got oilier and we left the last layer untouched.

Four different type of signature sauces for the ribs (or for any other food you want to dip into); Original, Blue Ridge Smokey, Red Hot and Carolina Honey.

CS's Boneless Beef Rib Combo with Grilled Shrimp (RM49.90) looked really good and CS said that it tasted good too. The Grilled Shrimp came skewered and looked really delicious, but the boneless rib was just too meaty for me. JC and I both had the Bountiful Beef Rib Combo with Fried Shrimp (RM49.90). We get to choose our two side dishes; JC opted for Tomato Pesto/Coleslaw, CS Corn On The Cob/Fresh Vegetable and I chose Corn On The Cob/Coleslaw.I enjoyed the beef ribs as it was slightly burnt (I like it that way) and the meat was still moist and tender on the inside. It was delicious on its own and I didn't add any sauce to it. The fried shrimps were tasty too (this I ate with the honey dip). The Corn On The Cob was big and sweet, I smeared it with some butter for more oomph!
Czar's BBQ Chicken with Tomato Pesto and Coleslaw (RM26.90), looked less exciting as it came with less accompaniments. According to her, the chicken was on the dry side and she took a while to finish it.

We were just too full to have desserts though we were recommended to try Tony Roma's Chocolate Avalanche. Maybe next time, I guess we'll make a visit here again. A halal Tony Roma's is better than no Tony Roma's :o) Oh, they have Happy Hours promo from 3pm till 7pm on weekdays; buy 2 beers, get 1 free and free Onion Loaf with an order of a main meal. Good news for drinkers!

Check out KampungboyCitygal's review on this place too.

Vegetarian: A person who eats only side dishes. ~ Gerald Lieberman

Kota Bahru Food Trip Pt. 6

Back to homeland and continuing with my food trip to Kota Bahru; it's on to the next chapter. This trip was definitely filled with food as that was K's intention in the first place, to go back to her hometown and eat herself silly with all the food that she missed. I, as her invited guest, got to eat myself silly too.

Apart from Nasi Dagang, there's another rice dish that she took me to try. Located at Jalan Dato Pati, Nasi Sumatra (also known as Nasi Padang) was next on the list.
It's rice with a wide array of Malay dishes availabe but what makes it special are the different types of delicious curry gravy that is mixed with the rice. K said that she normally packs them as she can't seem to get the right concoction from mixing the gravy herself when she eats there. As they pour the right amount of the different types gravy into the rice when you do a takeaway, it's done just right. Another reason was that she mentioned that if one eats in, dishes are served to customers where one can help themselves to whatever they one and apparently what's left is topped up and served to the next customers. Hmmph.....
It's the way they serve food here and in some other such eateries. I guess that explained why K only packed the dry dishes (like fried fish and chicken). Another plus point is that since the rice is soaked with the different type of curry gravy, the rice will be well marinated by the time one gets home. Each spoonful of rice was a delight but the meat and vegetables were quite ordinary though. So, the secret is in the many types of curry gravy. On the other hand, I've always been the gravy sort of girl ;o)
Next was tea time and we took a drive to the Stadium as the children were feeling peckish. We went for another round of popiah (spring roll) at Popia Stadium but one that was different from our previous snack treat.
We ordered a plate of popiah on its own (topped with chilli sauce), or served as an extra with noodles as in Mee Rojak "Rojak Noodles" (served Malay style, which we also ordered when we saw a plate of this being delivered to another customer).

A plate of this for just RM2.50

I must admit that the Mee Rojak tasted quite good. The gravy was on the sweet side and the fried bean curd and batter was nice as it's served in small bite size. However, it would have been a lot better if it wasn't served cold. Yes, cold...slightly below room temperature. It might have helped if the rojak sauce was warm but it wasn't. However, maybe it was just us as there was a steady stream of customers at this stall who seem to really enjoy it.

To be continued....

Hola Spain! Part 1

I'm still sorting out my photos but decided to start posting bit by bit along the way. I will be posting Spain off and on (I haven't even finished blogging about my Kota Bahru trip!) with food posts "intermission" :o).

The first week of the travel was mostly in Madrid (co. incentive trip) and I then extended another week together with some other friends with stopovers in Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, Seville, Cordoba and back to Madrid. Since it would take a lot of explanation on the places I went to, I will try to link them. So if you see a highlighted word, click on it for more information.
On Mar 20, three bus loads of consultants arrived in Madrid, Spain. After sitting in the plane (with a short transit in Bangkok) for about 16 hours and with a -6 hour difference, we mustered all the strength we have left to face the itinerary ahead of us.

North-Eastern side of Cervantes monument, located at Plaza de Espana, where you can also find the bronze statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

The cold weather and wonderful scenery kept me going; I was giddy with pure excitement at the thought of capturing these scenes and many others. Furthermore, this was my first time in Spain, my adrenalin got a boost. Soon enough, we were whisked off to the nearby Royal Palace.

Taken outside the gates of the Royal Palace

Part of the courtyard on the inside
The Royal Palace Hall with "guards" overlooking the area

One of the many elaborate rooms in the Royal Palace
Each room has it's own design and different doors too
The ceilings are beautiful and each room is a masterpiece

Almost towards the end of the Royal Palace tour, my energy level was dropping fast and the bunch of us left for dinner in the nick of time before I fell asleep in one of the dark hidden corners of the huge Royal Palace! Ha ha ha....A Night At The Royal Palace, with the statues and what nots coming alive. That sounds like a movie script waiting to be snapped up. Oh...wait a minute....something like that has already been done. Bummer!

To be continued....