Train2eat with Danny Chen

Everyone is longing for normalcy as we gladly accept the removal of travel and other restrictions but that is not commonly shared as some are still cautious of the risk of being infected, which I think is fair. A visit to the Asian Heritage Row recently reveals that recovery is no where near, a once popular drinking hole for white collar professionals in the city dotted by popular restaurants all around is a far cry from its hey days. Shuttered stores with signs for sale or rental was a scary sight and tell tale sign of how the businesses were pummelled by the lockdown. Flanked by Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Raja Abdullah, KLites throng this area especially during the weekend for a slice of coffee and breakfast culture.  Before the pandemic, getting a table at the Tapestry would be basically impossible without prior reservation. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to get a table after a 15-minute wait. Still rustic and industrial from the outside and yet, airy and pleasant on t

Little Bourke Street from Melbourne, of course! How legit is it? Let’s find out. The menu was rather eclectic and why not? After all, Melbourne is known as one melting pot down under. This cafe nestled along Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. A matured residential area soon becoming the new mecca of gastronomy with neighbors like DC and Bref (By Darren Chin), David’s Bistrot, Yeast, Akar all within 1KM radius.  So, let’s see. Coffee. Tick and it’s good. Probably one of the smoothest latte, I have had in town. The house lemonade was just a bit too sour for my liking.  The barramundi & wedges - well, I did have the impression that Melbourne was the other land of fish and chips, where dory is wrapped in yesterday’s newspaper. Reminiscing uni days where fish and chips was a slab of battered fish and a whole kilo of chips. Sadly, little Bourke’s version fell short, way short. The battered barramundi was quite dry and no tartar in the world could rehydrate it.  Next, going

I was planning to have lunch as it was close to noon but when I asked for a recommendation, our friendly waiter without any hesitation recommended the Big Breakfast. A quick peer across to the neighboring tables and realized that they too subscribed to their friendly waiter's recommendation. Well, I succumbed but longing for something sweet, I ordered the banana pancake as well which was on the menu board for today's special -  of course alongside, the Big Breakfast (what else?). Another item on the gigantic wall-to-wall menu (chalk) board that actually caught my attention was the beef noodle (fried)… Fried beef noodle like our cantonese style stir fry beef kway teow (ngau hor)? Not sure and didn't ask. When in doubt, better not try. Strangely enough or maybe not because it could be a pretty clever pricing strategy, almost all the items on the menu was under RM20. I think it is really quite reasonable. It was a Sunday and as expected everyone was brunching or hav