Train2eat with Danny Chen

A wholesome breakfast in a 4 steps.  1) Cut your bacon strips into half and lay them on 3 layers of kitchen towel and then cover with another 2 layers of kitchen towel. Place onto a microwave friendly plate and microwave on high for about 3-4 minutes (depends on how crispy you like your bacon). This is a life saver tip, avoid pan frying your bacon and making a mess in the kitchen. 2) Once your bacon is in the microwave, drop two slices of bread into the toaster.  3) Break 2 eggs into a small oiled pan at low heat for 2-3 minutes. For sunny side up, once you see the yolk bubbling slightly, your eggs are ready. 4) While everything is cooking, make a cup of coffee. Slide your eggs onto your breakfast plate, add the bacon, your toast and garnish with your choice of salad or condiment.  Enjoy. 

MCO is really taking a toll on businesses? Usually there is a long line but this time, I didn’t have to wait very long. Universal Bakehouse, famed for its sourdough bread, sits in middle of Jalan SS20/11, Damansara Kim often had to turn away customers. As I wiggle through the door,  I was greeted by the waft of freshly bakes. How delightful?  I am not alone. There were customer before me and another steps in after. Packs of brown paper bags lined itself on a table nearby ready to be picked up. It’s the new norm and online orders and contactless pick-ups is here to stay. Tucked in the corner, someone frantically replying messages on the laptop and taking phone calls. Loaves of sourdough were lifted one by one from its basket. Then fresh ones were added. Eavesdropping I overheard, “onion focaccia? Yes, we still have some. One? Two.”. Moving on to the next order. “Hi, sir!” It’s my turn. “One oatmeal honey sourdough, please and can you slice it for me?” “Sir, if we slice it now, the sourd

Last Christmas, Luretta D.O.P stole my heart and it’s 2 weeks after but the meal lingers on. So, I can’t resist but to share the photos from this lovely merry Christmas dinner. Tucked in a section first floor of the most unlikely of departmental store, Isetan you find this quaint traditional Italian trattoria serving food from Emiglia Romagno, a place I have never heard of in northern of Italy.  Grazie mille to chef Emil Sassolini, creative director and owner of Luretta D.O.P. for bringing to us humble citizens of One Utama, such amazingly delicious and authentic Italian cuisine, what he calls local snacks.  So, let’s rekindle these snacks. Starting with the infamous porchetta. This is one mean “siew yoke” and you just find your fingers returning, wanting more of those crispy cracklings. Next, the cold cut platter. Salami, pepperoni, olives, ham, cheese, more cheese, marmalade, more ham, more bread. OMG imagine with a bottle of Chianti or Prosecco or two. Are you drooling now? I am so

The last time I caught up with Kimmy was probably a year ago. Though I thought it was much longer that is when I was in Singapore but negative, we did catch up for a bowl of pork ball noodle at Win Heng Seng, Jalan Imbi last year when she had to attend a conference in town. Kim works in bandar Utama. Well, better late and ever than never. It was good to see Kimmy and she is going places and making good progress up the corporate ladder. Now, she is driven around by a driver. When we last met, I thought her mini cooper was cool but now I am convinced that being driven around is much, much cooler... Thanks to Sandy, who suggested the reunion and also this venue. I met up with Sandy a week ago. She is working on her new project and she consulted me for my views because I love food. She is contemplating on starting a cafe and is looking around for a suitable location. She suggested Nathalie Gourmet Studio for dinner but it was closed last week and we ended up in The Plan B. No puns inte

 Boss and colleague from Singapore was in town for meetings. I agreed to have dinner with them and their preference was western cuisine. So, I googled the internet for "good western restaurants in KL" and a few familiar names popped up. Frangipani, Le Bouchon... some not quite western ones like Top Hat, Bonton and one which I was not quite familiar with, Hakka Republic. I have been to Frangipani and since, I am totally in the dark about Hakka Republic, so I decided to opt for Le Bouchon. I checked out their website and found out that the restaurant was voted by the Tatler magazine for 8 consecutive years from 2003 till 2010 to be the best restaurant in town. It took about half an hour from the office because of usual peak hour traffic even though, Changkat Bukit Bintang is really not that far away from KLCC. The restaurant was not busy at all at 7:30PM and I was doubting my pick now because the restaurant though very french looking, was also rather run down. A sole wa

My colleague Eugene recommended that I try Angus, the Japanese Steak House when I was in Singapore for a meeting but I didn't get to it. I know there is a branch here, right here in KL at the Pavillion which opened a few months ago. I had 2 hours to spare before catching "Real Steel" starring Hugh Jackman, so I decided to check it out. The menu was quite straight forward. It was either steak, seafood, salad or pasta. Steak came in a a few sizes starting with 150 grams up to 300 grams. They have a dinner set menu which comes with hors d'ouvres, salad, a main of either grilled King Prawns with Cod fish or  Tenderloin Steak with Lamb Rack. We ordered both. The restaurant was quite empty and so service was very brisk and attentive. First came the bread - a hot piece of crusty bread roll served with soft butter. Absolutely delicious! We were off to a good start. Then came the carrot soup. It didn't look impressive - pinkish c

Sunday brunch... wanted something healthy, so went for the passion fruit, garden greens with vinaigrette dressing. It was interesting that the chef mingled some spring onion with the usual salad greens. I didn't think that it enhanced the flavor in anyway but I really like the passion fruit addition. It is a bit overpowering but at the same time refreshing. Bringing along the bitterness that you normally derive from the red endive or lollo rosso. If you don't know what I am talking about, look this up: http://www.foodsubs.com/Greensld.html I ordered the pasta as my main.... It was sort of like a stir fry spaghetti with lean chicken slices and tomatoes. It was disappointing... too bland, too dry. I think it could use a bit of gravy or at least a bit more oil. Maybe if they substitute the olive oil with peanut oil, then perhaps it will be more fragrant. Maybe it is me, I like my char kuey teow too much. The baked fish was recommended in the menu and it was such a deligh