" burps & giggles"

hmm. an intriguing name for a restaurant/cafe.

my theories behind its name?

o1. representation of "boys & girls"? coincidentally, they both have the same initials : b & g.

o2. burps & giggles are typical at a good meal with good company.

o3. it's just an eye-catching name.

well, its whimsical name was what initially captured my attention but it was the other blog reviews that brought me there.

there was a wait list when we arrived but managed to get a table in 5 minutes because we agreed to squeeze in a small table.  i savored the artistic, bright and disjointed art murals that crossed the three petite old school shops. a collection of vintage rustic decor pieces gave the restaurant character that revolved around childhood nostalgia. my sisters, on the other hand, had a different views on the decor and wasn't too fond of it.

the pork free menu can be found all around the shop on chalk boards but it irks me that they didn't have printed menus. since there was a lack of manpower due to cny celebration, the restaurant served only a limited menu of gourmet burgers and i was slightly disappointed since i was looking forward to taste some savory crepes. good thing they still offered the other item i came here for  - the prized wagyu burger!

burger :: bam-bam burger | wagyu pattie, egg, cheese, tomato, beetroot, carrot, horseradish, onion (rm 28 )

prized wagyu patty for under rm 30 is considered a steal. the tower of sunny side up egg, slice of slightly melted cheese, wagyu patty, a thick slice of tomato and beetroot with a slather of horseradish sandwiched between the slightly toasted burger bun with carrot slaw.

just listing out the ingredients itself is quite the mouthful, so needless to say, trying to wrap my mouth around the burger was definitely a challenge that i had to resort to knife and fork to devour this (i'm probably getting a disapproving look from burger connoisseurs - sorry!)

let's begin with the star of the burger - the patty. since the meat was finely minced, it was difficult for me to discern if it was truly wagyu. cooked medium well, the well seasoned beef patty was moist and juicy to the point it falls apart but i would have preferred a better crust on the meat. the burger was over-sauced from the carrot slaw  made it very rich on top of the sunny side up egg. in the midst of the different flavors, the cheese and beetroot faded into the background, almost unnoticed.  a solid burger but would have definitely preferred less sauce on this burger that over powered everything else. 

chicken sausage & cherry tomato quiche | soft baked eggs in puff pastry (rm 10)

burps & giggles calls it egg tart but it resembled more of a quiche to me.  this breakfast favorite can be found in the pastry display by the counter. 

encased in a buttery and flaky puff pastry, the chicken sausage pieces and eggs were soft baked where the undercooked yolk oozed its golden love over the dish to give some nice richness, which is makes it lovely.

while it was tasty and my sisters actually chose this as a favorite over the burger for the simple pleasures of breakfast elements, it could have shone brighter with a sprinkle of seasoning, more cherry tomatoes for a tart freshness and fresh herb to just bring the whole dish to a home run.

coffee ::  latte (rm 10)

i was first greeted by lovely coffee foam art. call me a picky coffee drinker, this latte was overbrewed, proven by its over-bitterness. (btw, i know coffee is supposed to be bitter but good coffee has a great balance of bitterness and tartness) so i wasn't a huge fan of this glass of latte.

cake 10 | cheesecake (rm 10)

the dessert choices of the day were also as limited as their entree menu. my sister picked out a cheesecake, which had a base that i'd venture a guess was oreo crumb crust. perhaps an oreo cheesecake? sadly, there was something slightly off putting about the flavors, which was also too sweet for me. there was the occasional punch of mint, which i am not a fan of and neither is the edible confetti on the cake. 

burps & giggles has a promising menu with a huge selection that could make boys burp and girls giggle except it didn't really happen for us. with some finesse in the execution of food, it could leave us in stitches.

burps & giggles | location
93-95 jalan sultan yussuf
3oooo ipoh,
malaysia

disclaimer this is written based on personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others.

vietnam - i have never been but would love to go visit sometime soon. in fact, it has been added to my bucket list of places to visit. 

if things go as plan, i can check off hanoi by the end of this year *fingers crossed*

but in the meantime, i suppose i'd have to content myself with vietnamese food until then and was so thrilled to learn about o banh mi at damansara uptown. o banh mi has steadily gained a faithful following in the food community that i just HAD TO try it for myself.  & better sooner than later. i knew the best person to join me on this food adventure was {owy} since she's tried the real thing before in vietnam. plus, it worked out for me that she was craving for these sandwiches for the longest time.

despite not having to have visited vietnam before, i've had the chance to try some vietnamese food while i was in chicago at argyle, the city's vietnamese 'town' filled with local asian grocery stores in the center of many pho restaurants and banhmi cafes owned by residents of vietnamese descent.

daniel nguyen and chris bui are two best friends from hanoi opened a cafe to share their love for the food they grew up with - the banhmi. located in damansara uptown where the parking in itself is an adventure itself, you can find this petite cafe a couple of doors away from 'the ship' restaurant.

the cafe's decor was clean, simple and minimalist. the brightly lit petite space was sprinkled with colorful vietnamese art pieces to mirror its identity amongst the high top counters and high communion table in the middle of the cafe.

their menu is specialized in banhmi with a few exceptions of spring rolls and bread dipped in milk/stew. watch out for the specials menu on a separate chalk board by the cash register too! they even serve vietnamese milk coffee that i was rather excited about. despite their small menu, my friend who visited the week before i did, warned that the place was packed after 11am on a saturday morning.

what i love is the fact that they bake their baguettes fresh since what makes and breaks a sandwich is the bread as the vehicle to encase but at the same time showcase the filling. for the freshest & out of the oven bread sandwiches and your #outofoven #osofresh and #osmokinghot experience, there is a baguette reload schedule of 8am, 12:3opm, 1pm and 6pm. read on to find out if the freshly baked baguette was worthy of all of its hashtags.

 

drink :: vietnamese milk coffee  (hot/ice) | premium vietnamese milk coffee. deliciously rich and creamy. this coffee is authentically vietnamese. you won't be loafing around after having this stuff (rm 4)

typically i would go for hot coffee, but it just seemed right to get this particular iced. i liked the strong coffee flavor but with a slight distinct indescribable flavor. it was a smidgen too sweet that it masked the bitter undertone slightly and top that off with creaminess.

main menu :: o school | the original vietnamese baguette served with pâtés, homemade mayonnaise, ham, pickled radish & carrots, chili, cilantro, and lemon grass chicken. one sandwich fits all  (rm 8.2o)

a apt representation of what the traditional vietnamese banhmi is made of, which i was quite surprised since this wasn't something i have gotten at the banhmi store in chicago.  with the usual suspects of the pickled radish & carrots and more than just a handful of cilantro as garnish, i was interested in seeing how the lemongrass chicken, ham and pork pâtés worked together.

the professional chef defines pâté as a rich forcemeat of meat, game, poultry, seafood and/or vegetables, baked in a pastry or in a mold or dish and served hot or cold. and forcemeat is prepared by grinding lean meats together with fat and seasonings to form an emulsion. i was half expecting something akin to terrine consistency but was surprised when i was greeted by sauteed minced meat spread on the inside of the fresh baguette. oh, i will get back to the baguette in a bit.


with all the ingredients, it was intriguing that the pâté, ham and chicken was still light in flavor. the lemongrass seasoning in the roughly chopped chicken was merely a soft whisper, a complete opposite what i've had before in the past. the pickled julienned carrots and daikon presented a nice contrasting crunchy texture with a sweet and lightly tangy.  the combination of the sandwich filling was pleasant and moist that equates to a pretty good sandwich.

yeah i'll come to the baguette soon. don't worry, i didn't forget about it.

main menu :: o bbq | fresh baguette served with bbq pork, sunny side-up egg, homemade mayonnaise, pickled carrots & daikon, and of course, vietnamese chili sauce (rm 8.2o)


i was looking forward to the bbq pork, anticipating what i missed and loved about the banhmi i've had in chicago. with the same basic foundations of bread, pickled salad and cilantro, it was then the bbq pork and sunny side up egg that were supposed to take center stage. i was rather disheartened by the pork. it wasn't moist and in fact it was overcooked and dry, a stone throw's away from being meat jerky. so much so that it took over my thoughts and distracted me from the flavors of the meat itself.

the egg yolk was cooked all the way through, far from being called a sunny side up because the richness of the creamy yolk would have gone a long way to compensate for the over grilled meat but would have appreciated some seasoning on the egg. the sandwich description mentioned vietnamese chili sauce which tasted more or less like regular chili sauce. it was an uninspiring sandwich that fell flat.

one thing i noticed about the sandwiches is that the filling was stacked in a way that was hard for me to get all the ingredients into one bite so i could appreciate the nuances of each components separately and combined at the same time.

extras! :: fresh baguette | tuesday to friday (rm 2.5o)


finally, i've arrived on the bread. the fresh baguette was perfection. i had to save the best for last. the bread was soft on the inside with a semi crusty outside, the ideal canvas of texture that complements the rest. i was tempted to get some of the baguettes for my own eating pleasures, simply with just good extra virgin olive oil and parmesan cheese. disappointment ensued since it's a 'no-can-do' on the weekend and i was there on a sunday morning.

{owy}'s assessment was similar to mine - the sandwiches here were tasty but would we call it authentically banhmi is still up for discussion. the flavors were muted with the exception of the pickled salad of daikon and carrots & garnishes of cilantro and they needed to step out of the shadow to be what could have been a outstanding. since i love the fresh baguette to crumbs bits, perhaps my next visit is to try something off the menu that is not the cafe's namesake - the hearty stew seems like a attractive choice.

o banh mi, a good effort but there's definitely room for improvement.

o banh mi | location
33, jalan ss21/56b,
damansara utama,
474oo petaling jaya,
 selangor
(the same row as 'the ship')

disclaimer this is written based on personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others.

it is very natural to want to fit in.

in fact, garage51 seemed to have taken the notion of fitting in the neighborhood to another level - down to its very name. :)

located in bandar sunway, this cafe under coffee societe's repertoire, drew whimsy decor inspiration from its car workshops/garages neighbors. hence, the name garage and 51 is simply the building number. 

firstly, finding a parking space here is almost just as bad as trying to find a parking spot in midvalley on the weekends :: CHALLENGINGLY DIFFICULT just like finding one of the golden tickets to willy wonka's factory. i'd say it's a good idea to bring a leprechaun or a rabbit's foot with you for luck or simply have a ton of patience.

the line out the door and extensive waiting list as we requested for a table for two, confirmed the cafe's popularity. the space was petite with a quarter of a second floor to accommodate more tables. the hues were kept to the basic black & white, echo-ing the whimsical industrial approach with its smooth concrete floor, while being the ideal background for some bright colored oil barrels, converted into seats. these were complimented by the rustic tables and metal chairs.

the queue was long and we were starving, {owy} and i settled on sitting at the outdoor "patio" while putting our name down for a table inside for perhaps a dessert & coffee after our main meal.

brunch is almost always synonymous to a cup of caffeine-rich coffee...

well, at least for me.

and with publika's coffee societe's grabbing the coveted award by time out kl for the best place for coffee 2o13 and my love for coffee, i had to get me one of those.



white coffee :: latte (rm 8.9o)

soy latte - my usual go-to cuppa joe for new cafes to confirm the skills of the barista.

the good: a perfect ratio of foam to coffee for latte.


the lacking: unfortunately, the espresso was overbrewed, leaving an unpleasant bitter aftertaste and dominating my palate that i was completely distracted, followed by distraught that i didn't notice the other elements of milk and temperature of the drink. the coffee beans were so blatantly over brewed, noticeable via observation when i compared my glass of late to {owy}'s regular latte - the shade of my latte closely resembled a mocha instead.

oh, the inconsistencies :/


to be fair, {owy}'s latte displayed a better balance of bitterness mellowed by the creaminess of the milk. however, not enough to displace my top favorite from its pedestal.


weekend's brunch :: roll-with-a-hole | smashed avocado on bagel with salsa, sliced salmon, cream cheese (rm 18)
 


bagel has always been one of my favorite options for breakfast/brunch. good bagels are hard to come by even in united states, and what more in malaysia. add my fondness for raw, sliced salmon coupled with creamy mashed avocado - and bam! there you have it, a must-have breakfast (i mean, for me)



the bagel was somewhat fresh with a nice chewy softness but surprisingly the upper half displayed a different texture that was a tad dense. a thin slather of cream cheese spread (wished for slightly more) to impart a creamy tanginess to counter the sweetness of the diced tomatoes, and the mild saltiness of the thin, raw salmon slices. the dish worked as a whole but a few more slices of the salmon would have bring a balanced ratio of fish to bagel.

the side salad was a mix of greens and cherry tomatoes tossed in a garlic-y sweet vinaigrette which did not connect with the flavors the bagel had to offer. 

tldr: the dish as a whole was okay.
room for improvement: a better salmon/avocado/tomato ratio to bagel and perhaps a pinch of salt. 
 

weekend's brunch :: kipferl jr | croissant with egg mayo (rm 12)


{owy} was craving for buttery and flaky croissant. i had a bite of the egg mayo and was taken aback by the taste. two words: mayo overload!


the mayo was overused that it felt it was mayo with a side of smashed eggs combined together. mayo was all i could taste and the richness of the mayo becomes too much very quickly. not something either {owy} or myself would order again.

we were finally offered a seat inside the cafe several minutes after we were done with our meal. service was good, considering the crowd for the weekend brunch rush and despite the waiting list of diners, we were not asked to pay our bill and leave although we were just hanging out for a catching up session over two glasses of water. a big kudos for that.


even so, garage 51 has left us a little disappointed with the food and my coffee (well, {owy}'s latte was miles better than mine) considering the trouble we took with the parking. in fact, this experience has left me wondering if i'd return for a second visit anytime soon

garage 51 | location
no 51, jalan pjs 11/9, 
bandar sunway
4165o selangor

disclaimer this is written based on personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others.