icook Italian Gastronomia, 3 Two Square

It had been a couple of months since I last met with my ex-college mate & we thought it would be great to catch up somewhere at PJ. We decided to grab lunch at Sinfully Chocolate at 3 Two Square but apparently this shop had closed down. We circled around the square for a while until we chance upon this spanking new restaurant called, icook Italian Gastronomia.

We scanned for a crowd as this would signal good business & hopefully good food. There was a crowd but not fully occupied, hence we took a chance. The interior is pretty cosy & has a contemporary style that we quite like. =) Both of us weren't that hungry & decided order a few plates to share.

Handmade Pasta

Salmon Tagliatelle

 

Peach Cake

The handmade pasta wrap was good but the portion was a little small. Same goes for the Salmon Tagliatelle. And we thought the salmon emitted the fishy smell a tad too soon; perhaps seafood dishes do smell fishy when it get cold. The peach cake was awesome too...it's a pity that we couldn't finish it because we were already too stuffed.

Price is slightly high - an average of RM20 per dish considering the small portion. I'm not too sure if I would patronise the restaurant the next round even though it's just in the neighbourhood. Do give it a try & you be the judge.

Address:
B-06-01, Block B
3 Two Square
Jalan 19/1
46300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor

Contact:
03-7960 1691

Opening Hours:
Mondays to Fridays, 8:00am - 9:30pm
Saturdays, 12:00pm - 10:30pm

*edit - I found out recently that this restaurant has closed down. I don't know the true reason behind the closure but hearsay led me to believe that business ain't going too well due to lack of crowd during weekends.

Double Valentines

This year on Valentine's Day had been quite special because we celebrated TWICE. Haha, that's right. There wasn't a particular reason for doing so - pure spontaneity I would say. We were supposed to dine at Ben's Publika last Saturday but due to my busy schedule, I totally forgot to made reservation. My bad =(

So, we ended up eating at Windmill Restaurant at Subang Jaya just opposite Grand Dorsett. Although it was established for quite a while, it was my first time dining there. Just by looking at the decor & furniture shows you clearly how old the restaurant is.

We picked our choice of dishes & as soon as it arrived, the dishes looked appetising & promising.

However, we were disappointed because the ingredients weren't fresh & the taste was so-so. According to WL, the standard has deteriorated from the last time he dined several years ago. Sad =(

On 14 February, my office was in a lovey-dovey mood when one of our creative agencies sent out heart-shaped balloons to all the ladies as part of publicity act to promote their new ground activation service.

We decided to try our luck again by calling Ben's Publika but to no avail because they were fully booked again. Since I was eager to eat desserts for our Valentine's celebration, we headed to Food Foundry. We ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu, Aglio Olio Pasta, Duck Confit with Crepe & an appetiser that I couldn't remember the name. It turned out we had to wait for more than 30 mins to be served & the worse had yet to come.

The food tasted awful - pasta was too soggy & wet, the duck confit was dry & too small a portion. The appetiser turned soggy & rancid too quickly. WL's Chicken Cordon Bleu was rough & stiff, not even as tender as we expected.

To complete our dinner, we ordered a slice of Vanilla Mille Crepe that everyone was raving about at Food Foundry. Thankfully, the cream is light & the sweetness is just nice...but the texture is rather dry. I'd have to admit that the dessert is only the possibly edible food out of their whole menu.

Okay, maybe I'm biased as I haven't tried most of the offerings. But c'mon, just a few dishes already gave such bad impression. How do you expect that we would even consider returning for the next round? Seems like this year's celebration is full of bad food & poor service. And despite not showering each other with Valentine's gifts, me & WL still enjoyed each other's company. I think that's most important, other things do not matter anymore...

Love you babe! Happy Valentine's Day~ XOXO

'Kodak moments' no more

Soon after Kodak Inc announced that the firm had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, this article written by a former banker & economist was published in StarBizWeek dated 11 February 2012.

I read the article with great interest & wonder how soon the company I work for will fall victim to similar predicament due to complacency & pure stubbornness. Worse still, we were not known for any breakthrough inventions/innovations which would result in creative destruction.

No wonder we're known to be the follower, slowly falling behind & being crushed by rival brands. We may be lucky to be still standing "kinda" strong for now, sure bet that we'll be cannibalised in 5 years time. Pure disappointment...

Credits: The Star, Saturday 11 February 2012

Year of the Water Dragon

This year CNY fell on Jan 23 which meant it's slightly less than a month away from Christmas. Was it a nightmare shopping for clothes? Oh yes, it certainly was. Immediately after Christmas week, retail shops in malls scrambled to display CNY-themed clothing in anticipation of the mad rush shopping weekends.

For individuals whose families ain't particular, they already opted to shop during Christmas sans the CNY shopping crowd. People like me who still live with a traditional family have no choice but to shop for all things new - clothes, shoes, inner wear. I was so occupied on a tight timeline project until I didn't have time at all to shop on a weekday. And I kinda wasted 2 weekends allocated for shopping due to complicated matters which I vow to not mention again.

Hence, I was left with the final 2 weekends to grab whatever I needed. I couldn't get a single thing cuz the clothes looked bad & there was no suitable size even though I've found something I fancied. Tough luck! With 1 more week left, I went out shopping every day after work with the slightest hope that I will buy something. By Saturday, I managed to get a few items though not everything in my shopping list. Still better than nothing right? Phew~

All these years, I wasn't very fond of CNY celebration except the fact that you receive red packets (if you're still single) & reuniting with old friends from abroad. Meeting up with relatives once a year is kinda fun but they can be rather pesky with "questions" & topics, thus conversations with them turn dull, repetitive & dated.

Anyways, it's still the festive season now & I should be merrier; not complaining like an old lady. Let's hope for prosperity & health in this Water Dragon year. To sign off this post, here's a pic from our CNY eve reunion dinner just to show off how good my D5100 is. =P