The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and the same goes for The Beast.
The Beast, Southern Kitchen and Bourbon Bar is a dimly lit, 2 storey restaurant located along Jalan Klapa. I got there during opening time on a Saturday but only managed to snag myself bar seats because most of the tables have been reserved. First tell tale sign how popular this place has become.The wide variety of bourbon and whisky is a welcoming sight indeed for the thirsty. I decided on Mama June’s Sweet Tea. I would have expected it to be at least a tad similar to sweet lemon tea but its a rather bland (or diluted) mix of Redemption High Rye Bourbon and House-made Honey Sweet Tea. The beer is good, as expected of draught beer. Crisp and refreshing.Drinks aside, the food was much better. In fact so good it made me forget about ‘em crappy drinks.The pulled pork sliders were the first to arrive at the table and sure as hell didn’t disappoint. The pulled pork was juicy, tender and the crispy, fresh slaw gave the whole thing a welcoming texture. Gone in 60 seconds.Next came the The Jack and the Beast Stalk. Give me these battered, fried green beans over truffle fries any day. I would share my fries any day but I’ll need to think twice about these. Its addictive. The batter is airy and lightly fried and finally coated with their ‘secret seasoning’. I occasionally still crave for these.. thats how good I think it is.The Southern Fried Chicken is good but not memorable though. Exactly what you would expect of fried chicken, very tender and juicy, probably due to its purported 24 hr brine. I also realise they left out our house-made buttermilk biscuits too. =(The Bacon Waffle Sundae for me, is the highlight of the entire meal. You get a choice of ice-cream between Fig & Honey or Vanilla Bean. We picked the Fig & Honey. Crispy, fluffy waffles with candied bacon, pecan brittle and drizzled with butter scotch. Its like a celebration on a plate. I would definitely order this again.
Overall, I had a good meal there. The prices are perhaps on the steep side but as a treat, I’ve already mentally worked out my next trip to The Beast. I’m all game to try their Chicken & Waffles ($20) with bourbon maple butter sauce. Also, I’m going to gather some fellow gluttons and go for their Beast Burger ($125), the mother of all burgers. 

Been hearing about the much hyped about Mille Crêpes from Lady M and decided to try it for ourselves.
Personally, I am rather underwhelmed by their service and the desserts.

Even though the restaurant was practically empty, with only 3 tables besides us, it took ages for our order of a slice each of the Vanilla Mille Crêpe, Green Tea Mille Crêpe and Gâteau aux Marron to be served.There's too much cream in the cakes which made the cakes mushy and overall everything was too sweet. Of the three we tried the Green Tea Mille Crêpe was probably the best as the matcha took down the sugary sweetness a notch. Not the best Mille Crêpes I've had definitely. I found the sponge layers in the Gâteau aux Marrons too dry.
Coffee was normal.

We ordered:
Vanilla Mille Crêpe - $8 per slice
Green Tea Mille Crêpe - $ 8.50 per slice
Gâteau aux Marrons - $7.50 per slice
Cafe Mocha - $5.00 per cup
Lady M Ice Cafe - $5.50

Prices subject to 10% service charge and 7% GST.

After much convincing, I agreed to give PapaRich @ OneKM a try and lets just put it out there that it would probably be the last time I step into another restaurant by that name.
Sad food makes one sad. The interior of the restaurant is lavish but does nothing to elevate the food.As advertised, The Super Rich Combo includes aromatic nasi rich, served with fried chicken drumstick, aromatic braised beef, sweet & spicy squid, potato, hard boiled egg, lady finger, papadum and sambal. With all the haphazard mishmash of ingredients, the dish just doesn’t add up. The nasi is flat and dry, the braised beef is fibrous and tough, egg (as you can see with the grey ring) is over cooked, sambal is spicy and not aromatic at all… Granted, having tried really good nasi in a foodcourt at half this price didn’t help either. Lets just skip this altogether.On a slightly better note is the Ipoh Kuay Teow Soup with Steamed Chicken. The soup base is average and abit on the sweet side. The first few mouthfuls were enjoyable but it went straight downhill the more you eat. I’m guessing there’s too much msg in it but I could be wrong.The saving grace of the mains we ordered is the Steamed Chicken that is has a silky and tender texture. However, the sauce again is over cloyingly sweet. Its more like a sugar gravy instead of one that includes soy sauce.The chendol is so ordinary, I have problems describing it.

Decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner and decided to try Table Manners.The restaurant is a chic design and makes one feels like you're dining in a place that's a cross between a designer furniture store, a library and a cafe. We were seated in the corner of the place beside the bookshelf that was frightfully filled with huge cobwebs (which also explains the lack of a photo here). Nevertheless, we decided to plough on.

We ordered two mains: King's Burger and Mary's Lamb.Mary's Lamb, as its name says, is braised lamb shank with mash potatoes. The dish itself is average and does not impress. The lamb itself is easily removed from the bone but texture is oddly bouncy and does not have much taste save for the gravy it came with. The mash potato fared better than the lamb, unfortunately. My guess is that the dish could do with a longer braising time and more gravy.The saving grace of the dinner is probably its King's Burger. We requested for medium doneness for the patty but it came out well done instead. The sunny side up was gorgeous, running over the burger when cut. I can't find fault with this main, save for the cold fries it came with.For dessert, we decided to share a Lemon & Lime Tart with Strawberry. The dessert is average though, with a dull crust and creamy filling that lacks that delectable tanginess associated with good lemon tarts. Edible though not entirely enjoyable.For drinks, we order a Chamomile Citron Tea and Brothers Toffee Apple Cider. You can probably never go wrong with Brothers Cider but I cannot understand why the tea is served with warm water instead of boiling water. Needless to say, the tea wasn't really well received.

The restaurant was not crowded for a Saturday at 8pm but the waiter and waitresses seemed more interested to huddle in the corner talking amongst themselves then to serve, than collect my bill.

Overall, I think the place scores for its gorgeous deco (minus the dust and cobwebs) but doesn't impress me with its food offerings and service quality.

How would you like your coffee? Espresso, Cold Drip, Aeropress, Pourover or by the Clever Drip?

Nestled in the middle of busy Chinatown, CBD is Kaldi's Berry - The coffee connoisseurs' ideal hideout.Approach the nondescript outlet and immediately, my attention is drawn onto this gargantuan brewing apparatus on the right. It's the Korean-imported Cold Drip Maker, Ridge3.2 by Korean Coffee Drip machine makers, Coffeega. The interiors are also tastefully designed with coffee related paraphernalia, including upcycled V60 lampshades.To prepare cold drip coffee, the glass dome is filled with ice-cubes and ice water. It takes no less than 8hrs for the bottom flask to be filled with the extracted cold brew. Amazingly, due to the fermentation process during the cold drip extraction, the body of the coffee continues to deepen the longer you let it sit in the fridge. Coffee like fine wine indeed. Kaldi's Berry serves cold drip coffee that's at least 2 days old if supply permits.My personal favourite is the Ethopian Yirgacheffe (Grade 1) made with the Pour Over method. Kaldi's Berry uses the Kalita Wave Dripper for extraction and the resulting brew is a complex but very smooth cup. However, for the unforgiving tropical weather, I would opt for the smooth cold drip coffee which is perfect for drinking all day long.For espresso lovers, why not give the Aeropress coffee a shot. (pun not intended)This nifty gadget, is supposed to produce a rich flavoured brew with lower acidity and without bitterness. A nugget of interesting fact, this gadget is invented by AEROBIE, the designers of high performance sports toys like the Aerobie flying disc. First taste brings to mind an espresso, but cleaner, smooth, and without the crema. A very good morning coffee option for folks like me, who needs that extra caffeine kick to feel whole and ready to conquer the world.

The beverage's equivalent of the comfort food is perhaps Kaldi's Berry's Cafe Latte, made with the Speciality Houseblend. I really enjoyed this cup of coffee, smooth, comforting and the latte art is an adorable bonus.Kaldi's Berry offers a wide array of pastries for you to pair with your selected brew. However, if you are looking for something more filling, I would recommend - Kaldi's Waffles or the All Day Breakfast.Fluffy scrambled eggs served with gently crisped bacon with toast and freshly tossed greens. Portion is huge too so you might want to share, or choose to indulge in entirety yourself!Kaldi's Berry got the texture of the waffles right. Just the right amount of chewy, though I would personally prefer the outer crust to be a tad crispier. However, the generous scoop of vanilla icecream with fresh fruits tips the scale in its favour. Thumbs up I say.Those with a sweet tooth might want to round up the meal with an Affogato - A scoop of vanilla ice-cream doused with a shot of espresso.
Overall, Kaldi's Berry impresses with their impeccable knowledge of coffee brewing and the passion for serving the best brew for each individual customer's tastes. I would love to drop by for my caffeine fix or for some of those waffles again.