Tony Roma’s, Pavilion KL

What do you think about this? Should I be posting anime download links on my blog?

This is quite a late entry. In fact, I should be posting this entry 3 weeks ago. Yeah, more unfinished stuff about KL. Not that I am very obsessive about KL or anything. I mean, I do love KL but I don’t actually go crazy about it. The real thing that I want to share with you guys is my gourmet experience in KL. If not for the shopping, KL is also best known for its exquisite dining with many international restaurants and high-impacting food label such as Starbucks, Carl’s Jr and Wendy’s. As we all know, Pavilion KL is the place to be in KL for both shopping and dining. But take heed, you would need to stretch your wallet for such a feat. Also there was one particular dining place that my KL (technically it’s PJ) friend had been talking about (the other being Carl’s Jr), which is Tony Roma’s. Who doesn’t know about Tony Roma’s anyway? When I first heard the news about that franchise’s arrival to Malaysia, I know that I was in for a deal for the best rib steaks you can get your hands on.

 Inside Tony Roma’s.

Oh yes, the best rib steak is here in KL. In Pavilion KL. It’s Tony Roma’s right in front of my eyes. I took a seat. Gave my order and guess what I had for lunch (yup, lunch). Tony Roma’s burger. Yes, the best rib steak in the house but I got myself burger instead. I know that it’s utterly stupid but here are my reasonings. First, it was lunch time. I have no intention to get anything heavy for lunch. Second, I wanted something quick as I was on a rush at that time. So I needed something fast for my lunch although in the end, I waited half an hour to get my burger on my table. Third, I would not prefer to have meat for lunch. I mean, a plate of a load of meat. Burger is something just right for me. And fourth, well, there is no fourth. Having said that, I don’t indicate that the burger is horrible. In fact, it’s one of the best burger I’ve ever had. The best being Carl’s Jr though I haven’t tried Wendy’s yet, so I can’t give my verdict just yet.

The burger.

If there is one thing that I really, really like about Roma’s burger is the patty. Basically it’s a steak on a burger. The meat was done medium rare as what I had requested. And boy, the meat was tender and juicy. If there is a burger heaven, this burger would make it there without a doubt. Yes, Carl’s Jr is good. No denying on that. But Roma’s won it out by its great tasting patty. The ingredients were fresh as well. And of course, the size was humungous. A little larger than what I had in Carl’s Jr before. Even the size of the patty was huge. However the excitement stopped there. If there is one thing that I don’t enjoy to have with my meal, it’s gonna be onions. I won’t mind if the amount is considerably small or if they are cooked with some sauce or whatever. But Roma’s burger came with a huge, raw onion ring around it and I found that finishing the burger was quite daunting. In the end, I had to remove the onion so that I can finish the rest of the food. Well, barely. I couldn’t finish the fries because the meal set was large. Very large. To the extent that my belly nearly burst (just a figure of speech, aye?). I don’t like onions. I don’t like how onions can leave a stinky breath to your mouth. And usually, I can have stomach upsets when I have a little too much onion. Call it onion intolerance.

The extras. Yeah, this picture is meaningless really.

Besides Pavilion KL, you can find Tony Roma’s in Sunway Pyramid, Cineleisure Damansara, and soon at The Gardens Midvalley. And yes, I’ll remind myself to get rib steaks next time. 

To the city in search of doughnuts…

Note: This is a backlog. A very old one. Seriously long time ago. I’d promised to do it anyway.It was a month ago since my previous trip to KL. It was only a brief stop but it was a burst of experience in a matter of hours. I got my (budget) clearance from my dad to head on to KL – and he specifically pointed to Bukit Bintang (or Starhill, which sounds much glamourous). He read my mind, I did intend to go to Pavilion, the latest shopping experience in the heart of KL. Did I said shopping experience? Yes, it is and it beats the crap out of most shopping malls there in KL. After an hour ride on the bus from the LCCT terminal, I head on to Bukit Bintang immediately and was with an empty stomach. But heck, I won’t take a nimble until I am arrived to Bukit Bintang. Despite the variety of food there (frankly, not many of eateries were opened for lunch at Bukit Bintang), in the end, I had to settle for Dome. Little did I know, I would regret that decision.

Pavilion KL at Bukit BintangPavilion is only a stone throw away from the Bukit Bintang monorail station. Basically just walking straight along the infamous Bintang Walk, you will have the Pavilion in sight. For far, I was astonished by the sheer size of the complex. After I did a little research myself on the Pavilion project days later at home, I was surprised but delighted by the true scale of the project. If the plan goes by the drawing board, Pavilion will stretch all the way to KLCC. Now that’s HUGE! Talk about huge, more surprises was in store for me at Pavilion. Let me go through them one by one. The GUESS and Esprit stores are huge – three stories high. The size of each shoplot in Pavilion is not so big, so having three stories of GUESS and Esprit seems reasonable. Then the Marc by Marc Jacobs was the first welcoming store upon my arrival. It is unlikely for me to shop in such high fashion boutiques but I’m telling this just so as you guys would know about it. Then there’s Paul Frank. Other already existent fashion labels in KL such as Chopard, DKNY, Prada, Aigner and HUGO BOSS also opened/opening their stores in Pavilion.

Inside Pavilion

This poor fellow had to wait for his wife who was shopping. Obviously he’s bored.Enough with those houte-couture talking and getting down to business – food. But it was basically the case of getting down to the lowest floor of the complex. There are wide range of food available, though most of the delis and cafes are yet to be opened. There are a handful of signature restaurants up on the top level of the mall but those do not suit my wallet size. It was then a small crowd pulled my attention. To my surprise (yet again), it was the J.Co Donuts and Coffee. Not sure about their coffees though but their doughnuts (this how British spells out their donuts) are to die for. I’m not suggesting suicide to grab a bite, it is only a figure of speech. Not famous to on international grounds but J.Co Donuts was highly commended by Kenny Sia himself and gotten a full-star rating by food-that-are-sweet self-proclaimed-connoisseur Nicole. I lined up with the crowd and got myself half-dozen of doughnuts. With a generous heart, I bought those take-away doughnuts with an intention to share them with my folks at home. I should have gotten some for myself and eat them there. Fast forward to home hours later (7 hours to be exact), I immediately got those doughtnuts into the oven for a reheat. Then moment of truth – the big bite. One word to describe the taste – HEAVEN! J.Co Donuts definitely one of those sweetest thing to come in KL. My next visit will be two dozens of doughnuts. Oh God! The obscenity!

J.Co Donuts and Coffee has landed.

The doughnuts are a crowd-puller.

Behind the scene. Doughnuts in the making.

This J.Co Donuts made a commitment of transparency, so customers can see what’s cooking.

Sharing the J.Co way… and so I did.

Heaven-sent doughnutsI should quit myself for being a self-justified advocate of healthy eating. I can’t possibly take on my own advice of eating moderately. Maybe being a dietitian is not a good idea. But it’s too late to call a quit.