The Origin, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The Origin, the latest vegetarian restaurant in town, could possibly be the best thing to hit Ampang this year. A fully vegetarian menu is the highlight with lots of organic ingredients, no genetically modified products, a focus on locally sourced produce and of course no MSG. A mishmash of Asian dishes are featured - Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese and Nonya flavours all make an appearance. Being a family run business, many of the recipes are traditional favourites coming from grandma herself (who has been vegetarian for more than 30 years). You cannot go wrong with any of the dishes on offer - all showcase colourful, flavourful, wonderous combinations of grains, nuts, fruits, legumes and vegetables. As no garlic or onion is used in any dish it's hard to believe that everything can be so tasty! The list would encompass just about the entire menu if I were to note everything that I liked here. So, to keep it short, do not leave this place without trying the pumpkin tofu with Thai passionfruit sauce, organic seasonal leafy greens with ginger and goji berries and the seaweed wrapped tofu with nyonya assam sauce (grandma's recipe!). Even the kids can be satisfied with dishes such as soya nuggets and cheesy broccoli rice.  Word must be spreading quickly as The Origin already has a decent lunch time crowd. Weekdays, set lunches start from 9.90RM and include a drink and dessert and the most expensive items on the menu don't go much above 20RM. Even though it has just opened (11/11/11) there seem to be very few kinks to be ironed out. The owner says they look to expand the menu though it all appears to be just right to me. The feel of the place is peaceful and happy and the owner glows with health and happiness. A sure attestation that she is doing something (or many things) right.

The Origin Restaurant & Café

No. 8  Jalan 1/67B (Off Jalan Mengkudu)

54540 Ampang  (Besides Ampang Grocers and Brussels Beer Cafe)

Tel : 03 – 4253 5388,   012-3789415,    016-2913000
Coordinate:   N03⁰ 09.469’ E101⁰ 44.854’

Open Tuesday - Sunday
12noon - 3pm & 6pm - 10pm

Go Bananas!

Why is it that even if you buy green bananas, they are all ripe...or over-ripe at the exact same time?  If your family is anything like mine, the minute there is a brown spot on the peel, no one will touch them.  They are not diseased, they are ripe and waiting to be made into something delicious!

Banana bread is a staple in my house.  I often times stir in some nuts or some chocolate chips for a quick brunch or dessert offering.  About a year ago, I happened to have some blueberries in the refrigerator and decided to stir them into my bread, and a star was born!  So moist, a little tartness from the blueberries, a little sweetness from the bananas...just down-right yummy.

This banana bread recipe is dairy and gluten free, but you can certainly just use butter instead of oil and all purpose flour instead of GF flour and it will turn out just as delicious.

Banana Bread
2 cups gluten free maestro flour blend
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray bread pan with non-stick spray and then lightly coat with GF flour.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip eggs and banana until smooth.  Add honey, oil, lemon juice and vanilla bean paste until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Stir in optional ingredients.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes for mini loaves or 50-60 minutes for a regular loaf.  Loaf should be golden brown and a knife inserted in the center should come out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn loaf out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Optional recipe variations:

1. Banana nut bread: stir in 1/2 cup walnuts before baking
2. Chocolate Chip Banana Bread: stir in 1 cup chocolate chips before baking (I like dark chocolate chunks)
3. Blueberry Banana Bread: Stir in 1 cup blueberries before baking

English Popovers

Well, Thanksgiving is over, and now it is time to start thinking about the next holiday of feasting...Christmas.  If you have ever been to England, you no doubt had traditional Yorkshire Pudding and delicious beef of some sort.  Yorkshire Pudding is traditionally served as part of a Sunday meal, usually with beef and of course, gravy.  What you may not know is that Yorkshire Pudding is nothing more than an egg-based dinner roll substitute, called a Popover, with meat drippings.  These delicious little gems are light, chewy and easily converted to both gluten and dairy free and can be made without the beef drippings if you want.  Give them a try instead of dinner rolls.  They are nearly fool-proof and a nice bread alternative as you contemplate your Christmas roast dinner!

English Popovers

4 eggs
1 cup milk (coconut milk)
1/3 cup tapioca flour
2/3 cup gluten free flour blend (can use 1 cup total all purpose flour instead of tapioca and GF flour if not allergic)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp dried Thyme or Rosemary, finely minced

Preheat oven to 425 F.

In a blender or mixing bowl with whisk, mix eggs and milk just until blended.  Add all dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  Do not over mix!  You just want to combine the ingredients and add some air to help them rise.  Batter will be runny- about the consistency of heavy cream.

Place 12-cup muffin pan or popover pan in oven and pre-heat for 5 minutes.  Remove pan (pan is hot), spray with non-stick spray.  Pour batter into each cup, filling about 3/4 of the way.  Put water in any empty cups.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until popovers are close to double in size and golden brown.  Do not open oven door to check doneness- use oven light so as to not let the heat escape.


To make traditional Yorkshire Pudding, add 1 Tbsp of meat dripping from your roasting pan to the bottom of each cup prior to the batter.

Serve with Roast Beef and gravy...a wonderful winter meal with family and friends!

Luk Yu Tea House, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Local buddies might say I'm crazy to pay 26RM for noodles in Malaysia.  These one were really good though!  Luk Yu Tea House in Starhill Gallery serves some mighty fine Chinese cuisine. What's more, it's air conditioned, clean and beautiful. Yes, I probably could get something just as tasty on a street corner, but then I might have to share the scene with rats, smelly drains and car fumes. This experience was much nicer. The service staff were fantastic too. They made suggestions, told us the house specialities, advised on the spiciness of various plates and and even told us when they thought we had ordered enough. The pictures above show mushroom soup, seasonal veges in oyster sauce, seafood noodles and Japanese udon noodles with black pepper prawns. Everything was fresh, tender and super tasty. If you have an American Express Platinum card you get a 50% discount when dining as a couple. So those 26RM noodles, that suddenly become 13RM, in the same friendly environment, start to look even better :-)

Luk Yu Tea House
LG5 Feast Floor
Starhill Gallery
181 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
+6 03 2782 3850
www.starhillgallery.com

RAW Coffee at Food Haven, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The Raw Coffee Bar at Food Haven is the perfect place to fulfill your caffeine needs. Raw coffee along with their associated machines and baristas seem to be one of the best things to hit the KL coffee scene this year. Located in numerous outlets around Ampang you can get a coffee worth leaving the house for. What's more - it's almost local (Indonesia) and organic to boot. Regular milk, skim, soy all available. It's enough to make you smile larger than usual on a Sunday morning.

Food Haven
12 Jalan Ampang Hilir

55000 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

+603- 42523100

Flying & Feasting with airVenture

This dynamic duo of scientists, captains, pilots, engineers, 'give me a machine and I'll pull it apart, put it back together again and make it faster' crew, Sam and James Gibbs, have been making me drool for about a year now with stories of the best steamboat/ bbq/ grill in the Klang Valley.  I've been begging to go along with them and the only way they would take me to their secret hideout was to go through the initiation ceremony of strapping a fan to my back and taking flight.  Well, not just a fan... there's a kite too :-)  It's not as bad as it sounds, actually it's probably the most awesome afternoon I've spent in Malaysia! Paramotoring, as it's properly called, could be the greatest fun, freeing and exhilarating experience I've had with a machine (alright I do get 'exhilarating' every day when I get behind the wheel and take to the roads in KL but 'fun' definitely does not enter my mind when dodging mad motorists - many other <f> words do though). Take a trip with airVenture and in just an hour you've escaped cement city and arrived to unhurried kampong life.  The drive to the take-off paddock winds you through green palm oil plantations, colourful homes where neighbours hang out on verandahs chatting and watching the birds fly by, and lands you in an empty field surrounded by a river heading out to the sea on one side and wetlands on the other.  A fresh cool breeze greets you as you arrive to the club house (the lone tree in the middle of the field) to begin preparation for an afternoon of invigoration.

The extremely knowledgeable Aussie, James Gibbs of airVenture, is the instructor. With a long resume of worldly flying experiences in just about every craft that takes flight imaginable you are in very capable hands. (Actually it's crossed my mind that James could probably make a flying machine out of leaves and twigs and transverse the globe without a glitch.) The first step to paramotoring is the Basic Introductory Training course, which, for 150RM, is a bargain and ideal way to test out if you have what it takes to complete the full flying course which can be achieved in 3 - 5 days. Learning to kite - controlling the sail to stay in the air while standing on the ground with the strings strapped to your back - is a liberating experience in itself and a very important precursor to getting off the ground. For first timers James will take you up in a tandem buggy so that you feel what it's like to be airborne. When flying solo though you literally run along the ground with the propellor on your back blowing at full power until lift off. Apparently people become so enamored with the freedom of this sport that many purchase their own paramotor and circulate the globe ascending into the blue wherever it takes their fancy. James says that for the cost of a pilot's course you can be trained to paramotor and have your own equipment. Keeping an "aeroplane in the boot of your car" sure does sound convenient. Of course I didn't get out of the experience quite as gently as what most people would. I had the "special" treatment saved only for family and friends. I got to see how skilled this master pilot really is with the death spiral and other tummy tickling moves. Which, as James assures me, was not an attempt to make me pee my pants, but merely a demonstration of what students can eventually learn to do.

So having successfully completed my aerial initiation (no change of underwear necessary) they finally they took me to their much talked about nook for some fantastically filling food and fun. Eighty Eight Steamboat BBQ Buffet Restaurant is actually a three-in-one cooking experience where you can steam, bbq and/ or grill your selections to your own liking. For only 26 RM you can cook and eat away till your belly's content and that of your dining buddies too. A wide variety of seasoned meats and seafood is available for choosing as well as plenty of fresh vegetables, noodles and sauces to flavour your dinner. Outdoor or open indoor seating, enormous round tables and plenty of cold beer make it a perfect place to pass a few hours with friends and family. 

airVenture
Unit G-3-11A, Taipan Damansara
Jalan PJU A/3M, Ara Damansara
47500 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
+603 7842 6884
Skype: jamesgibbs
james@airventure.biz
www.airventure.biz

Eighty Eight Steamboat BBQ Buffet Restaurant
(I forgot to get their card so you'll either have to google it, or pass through the flying initiation yourself!)

Nero Vivo, Changkat Bukit Bintang, Malaysia

Nerovivo is one of my all time favourite Italian spots in KL. The original of the Nero trio, I'm always happy with the variety of dishes on the menu and quality of produce. I love the chic interior and outdoor seating areas, sleek bar and comfy waiting area. You can tell training of staff is a priority as they really do try to be informative, friendly and attentive. I highly recommend asking your waitperson for their suggestions before ordering. They have always steered me in the right direction. Besides a talented chef and investment in good quality ingredients, I think one of the secrets between exceptional Italian cuisine and average food is in the olive oil. It's in just about every dish so it better be good. At Nerovivo, it's great. The evening these photos were taken we ate: beef carpaccio - sliced so thinly it dissolved in your mouth without having to chew - topped with parmesan, rocket and balsamic dressing; wild rocket salad - FRESH wild rocket with caramelized onions, sesame seeds, wafer thin radish slices, oven roasted tomatoes with a slightly sweet dressing (winner!); cappelletti stuffed with spinach and ricotta in a sage and butter sauce - sage  & butter unbeatable combo and; lamb rouget parppardelle - flavourful tender pieces of lamb tossed with fat house made pasta.  If you have a sweet tooth be sure to try the tiramisu - Nerovivo has a reputation for making one of the best you can find in town.

Nerovivo
3a Jalan Ceylon
Changkat Bukit Bintang
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
+603 2070 3120
www.nerovivo.com

Veg Fish Farm Thai Restaurant, Ampang, Malaysia

The Thai Veg Fish Fam is a great place to take visitors and a quick getaway from the city. Nestled in the hills of Hulu Langat, the restaurant is surrounded by a green valley of farms and jungle. Afloat on a small natural lake sits the bamboo seating area and even in the middle of the day you feel comfortable with a light breeze sauntering off the cool water. The first journey getting there can be a bit tricky if you're not familiar with the area, but seems so easy once you've been. Head out of town on Jalan Ampang, past Ampang Point, past Ampang Waterfront all the way to a traffic light for an intersection with Jalan Taman Putra (same street as Carrefour). Turn right into this street. Keep going straight until you get to the second traffic light for Jalan Ulu Langkat Ampang - the road that leads you to the Look Out Point. Head up a windy ascent continuing about 1km past the Look Out Point and you will see a small sign for the Veg Fish Farm on your right. Since my first few visits the owners have created a new entry road making for a much smoother ride than the previous bumpy dirt track. The Look Out Point by the way has a spectacular view of KL and would be perfect if you planned to be there around sunset either after a late lunch or before dinner on your way to the restaurant. Fresh local produce is used by the Veg Fish Farm Thai Restaurant to create delicious Thai dishes of which much is grown on an onsite farm. Some is also available for purchase to take home. You won't find any fresher fish around either as you'll see it's kept in and netted out of the pond just before cooking. Picks not to be missed are the salt crusted talapia, fresh stir fried seasonal vegetables, tom yum soup and (no Thai meal is complete without) mango sticky rice, which they do a mighty fine job of with generous servings of both rice and mango.  

Veg Fish Farm Thai Restaurant

KM4, Jalan Ampang - Hulu Langat

68000 Ampang, Selangor

Malaysia

contactus@fishfarmthai.com

fishfarmthai@gmail.com

Eugene Ng 019 2606 493

Bua Chan 010 2111 519

William 012 2868 193

Open 7 days a week, 11am - 11:30pm

www.fishfarmthai.com.my