May 29, 2019

Embracing Ramadan with Special Children at Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur


A holy Ramadan month of forgiveness, Four Seasons Hotel played host to special children and their caregivers from Tasputra Perkim and Taman Megah’s Handicapped and Disabled Children’s Home for a buka puasa meal on the evening of 23 May 2019.


The evening is graced with Her Royal Highness, Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin, Tengku Permaisuri of Selangor along with Mr. Tom Roelens, General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Dato’ Rosemarie Wee, Director of Community Relations as well as honorary guests, members of the media and Four Seasons family of staff. An auspicious occasion indeed, it marked the first event of embracing the month of Ramadan since the hotel’s opening in July 2018.





After the welcoming speech from Mr. Roelens, a prayer session was followed before guests are treated to a sumptuous buka puasa feast by the culinary team of the hotel.




Fifty children from both Tasputra Perkim and Taman Megah’s Handicapped and Disabled Children’s Home are seen enjoying the evening with much happiness and smiles on their faces.


After dinner, Her Royal Highness, Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin and Mr. Roelens took the opportunity to go around to interact and hand duit Raya to the children. Many also took the opportunity to have their photo taken with Her Royal Highness, Mr. Roelens and Chairman of Tasputra Perkim, Puan Hajjah Elahe Norman.






An evening of charitable notation, the smiles on the children were simply priceless, thanks to Four Seasons Hotel and Her Royal Highness along with the organizers of the event.


May 5, 2019

Jaffna Cuisine @ Yarl Restaurant


Unforgetable Flavours of Jaffna Cuisine


Sharing similar flavours with South Indian cuisine, Jaffna cuisine is deliciously humble and tasty. Walking into Yarl Restaurant, discreetly hidden on a narrow bustling street in Brickfields, the restaurant has been serving Yarlpanam food from the capital city of Sri Lanka for more than a decade.


A recent refurbishment brought new life to the ambiance. The new ambiance is fairly modern and has lots of photos of Sri Lanka to add as a reminder of its origin. Standard wood and black steel furniture are spaciously well-spread in the restaurant. Diners get full view of the standard food station where the daily spread are on display. Despite the restaurant being non-air-conditioned, it was cool and airy with plenty of ceiling fans to keep diners like me pretty comfortable.


Yarl is no new kid on the block. The restaurant has been operation for more than 10 years and many locals make this their daily food hunts throughout the day. There’s plenty of staffs so service is fast and brisk.


The menu is also kept simple and short but there are enough daily specials to keep diners returning for Jaffna dishes. Open early at 7.00am, Yarl serves various dishes from breakfast to lunch, tea and dinner till 10.00pm daily.


Drinks to get us started, a fruity Mango Lassi (RM8) and Yarl Masala Tea (RM4)


Lunch is often the busiest time of the restaurant and many diners are seen tucking into their Thali Lunch Set that is available from 12noon to 3.00pm daily. There’s vegetarian and non-vegetarian options available and smallest set start with 3 vegetable dishes with rice priced at RM7 onwards. Manager Murali stated that there are at least 15 vegetarian and 8 non-vegetarian dishes available each day.


We savored several thali sets and perhaps the hardest part of the meal was selecting a main dish as there were so many enticing dishes to choose from. The Chicken Varai Thali Set featured a moreish spicy chicken fry served with hot and spicy eggplant tomato curry and some leafy greens cooked in coconut curry along with classic crispy pavakkai or fried bittergourd. The chicken is moist and tender while the eggplant curry was a heat bomb that sparkled fireworks in our mouth!



There is also another signature dish of Mutton Bone Varuval that one simply must order. Thick and rich with deep spiced notes from slow and long hours of cooking to render the mutton bone till oozing with soft gelatinous marrow richness, the varuval is marvelous with rice.



The Fish Curry or Fish Poriyal is equally yummy with a large thick piece of mackerel cooked in red curry. The thali sets are served with pappadums, rasam and chutney and diners can opt for regular or parboiled rice and red rice (available only on Friday).



Other good eats of meat and seafood curries include Chicken Varuval, Chicken Pirattal, Chicken Curry, Mutton Peratal, Fried Fish, Fish Cutlet, Fish Head Curry, Prawn Sambal and more.



The vegetable options will leave one speechless as there are Pavakkai, Pumpkin Varai, Beetroot Varai,  Brinjal-Tomato-Garlic Curry, Lentil Sothi and Vegetable Cutlet and more.



If there is one dish that tops my list of Jaffna cuisine, it would have to be the Sura Varai. Shredded shark flesh is cooked with lots of aromatic herbs and grated coconut is utterly divine in flavours and texture. The balance of heat with the herbs and spices is executed with perfection, so much so that I would gladly tuck into this dish alone with rice.


Besides rice and dishes, Yarl serves up other dishes such as dosai, puttu, appam and kothu from 4.00pm onwards. The Yarl Dosai (RM3) or Yarl Egg Dosai (RM4) is nicely tainted with yellow turmeric to give it this golden yellow hue on the fermented rice batter. Yarl also offers Plain Dosai (RM2), Ghee Dosai (RM3) and Masala Dosai (RM5) to go with curries and sambals.



The Atta Puttu (RM2.50) is freshly steamed and the cylindrical wheat puttu with grated coconut is served with lentil curry and sambol. This one makes a lovely and healthy vegetarian option for tea or even a light meal for dinner.


Kothu is a classic Sri Lankan street food of stir-fried chopped bread or roti with meat, seafood or vegetables. The chopping sound of the roti against the flat steel pan can usually be heard at any kothu stall or restaurant. Yarl serves several options of kothu and we tried the Chicken Kothu (RM10). The dish is best described as a stir-fried chopped up roti with spices and your choice of ingredients. There is also Mutton or Prawn Kothu available.



We saved the best for last and the Apam (RM2) and Egg Apam (RM3) at Yarl was simply delicious! The dish is so humble and simple, yet it tasted so yummy that one can surely enjoy quite a few of this Sri Lankan pancake with crispy edges and soft fluffy center. One can opt to savor this as a savory version with sambals and egg or sweet with caramelized sugar. Whichever one you choose, this apam will leave you with a delicious note that warrants a return to Yarl Restaurant alone for this dish!


Psst… I heard that Yarl serves a mean Jaffna Crab Curry… hope to be back soon to try this…



YARL RESTAURANT
50 Jalan Pedang Belia
Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +6010-360 6624

Opening Hours: Daily 7am to 10pm

Website: www.yarl.my


May 1, 2019

Buka Puasa Buffet @ Capri by Fraser Kuala Lumpur


Bazaar Jalan Kerinchi Buffet Dinner



Capri by Fraser Kuala Lumpur is going all out this special season in joining the list of iftar buffets with a Caprilicious Bazaar Jalan Kerinchi Buffet Dinner. Available from 8 May to 2 June, the hotel’s all-day-dining, Caprilicious, is featuring a sumptuous spread of favorite dishes of the holy month along with additional international cuisines.


The interactive bazaar setting with many live stations at the patio of Caprilicious serving freshly prepared dishes is the main highlight of the buffet. Diners are encouraged to savor the two rotational menus daily featuring over 120 dishes daily in the lovely and warm ambiance at Caprilicious eatery.


The mandatory whole Roasted Lamb, well-seasoned with spices, features tender and moist slices of lamb to be savored with mint sauce or black pepper sauce for more oomph.


Skewers of meaty Satay to be dipped into peanut sauce along with crunchy bits of cucumber and onion as well as nasi impit are must-haves. Next to these are deep fried snacks of Cucur, Lekor, Pisang Goreng. There is also Roti John as this sandwich is a popular choice during this season.




More live stations outside the restaurant includes Fried Kawah Noodles, Ikan Bakar & Goreng, Ayam Goreng Mamak, Murtabak Roti Canai, Curry Laksa, Sup Gear Box and more.






Bubur Lambuk to warm up the tummy…







The appetizer and kerabu station feature a glorious spread of assorted mouth-watering kerabu salads, sambals, jeruk buah, rojak and more. Tuck into the classic Serunding with steamy hot Ketupat and Lemang or try their Steamed Ubi Kayu with freshly grated coconut and sambal. Don’t forget to add on some crunchy Keropok that goes well with Ulam and Sambal.








Woks of authentic Malay dishes such as Patin Masak Tempoyak, Sambal Petai Udang, Daging Sapi Gulai Kawah, Gulai Tulang Rusuk Kambing Nangka Muda, Ayam Percik Panggang, Daging Sapi Gulai Kawah, Pucuk Paku Tumis Sambal and Rendang Pucuk Ubi are spread along the buffet to go with Nasi Briyani or steamed rice.






End the evening with a spread of local Kuih Muih, Aneka Biskut, Dodol, Buah Kurma, assorted cakes and jellies, Nasi Pulut Bersama Serawa Durian and Bubur Kacang Hijau along with local fruits.


Don't miss out on our Early Bird vouchers:

Super Early Bird : RM900 nett per booklet of 10 vouchers (valid until 5 May 2019)
Early Bird : RM98 nett per voucher (valid until 5 May 2019)

Normal Price : RM128 nett (adult), RM48 nett (children 5-12 years), 4 years and below dine for FREE

Weekend (Sat/Sun) : Up to 2 children (5-12 years) dine for free, with 2 adults paying Normal Price

For reservations, please call +603 2386 0891 or email fnb.supervisor@capribyfraser.com. More information can be found at http://bit.ly/cfkloffers



CAPRILICIOUS
Capri by Fraser Kuala Lumpur
5, Jalan Kerinchi,
Bangsar South,
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +60 3-2386 0888


Business Hours: 6.30am - 10.30pm