Best Eats and theQguides.com Launch Party

Date: 29 September 2009, Tuesday

Venue: TwentyOne Kitchen and Bar, Changkat Bukit Bintang
Occasion: Launch party for both Best Eats & theQguides.com




What is Best Eats
"The latest edition of Best Eats KL by Fay Khoo (http://www.faykhoo.com/) is now released into the market! So what is Best Eats? - A finger licking good journey through the belly of KL that offers an impartial, thorough insight into the best eateries for all budgets in the Klang Valley."

The jovial Fay Khoo
[Photo by Eric Cheong]

Best Eats - get a copy of it!
[Photo by Eric Cheong]
If anyone wants to purchase a copy of it, drop me a line or contact Fay herself ;)

Promotion of Best Eats during the launch
[Photo by Eric Cheong]

What is theQguides.com
"theQguides.com aims to be the biggest online restaurant booking service in Malaysia with access to thousands of restaurants and social venues in the Klang Valley (with other major cities soon to follow).

Offering more than just amazing dining deals, theQguides.com will also feature such foodie goodies as dining tips and advice by food critics like Fay Khoo and other celebrities, plus a strong community / user review system. This free-to-use service also rewards users with free meals for simply booking a table via the website!"

Frat Mustard of theQguides.com
[Photo by Eric Cheong]

Jek from theQguides.com introducing theQguides.com to all at the party

The introduction for Faye's compilation of the informative food guide, alongside the launch of the online booking service by theQguides.com was held at the TwentyOne Kitchen & Bar in the heart of KL city centre - at Changkat Bukit Bintang. Frankly speaking, I've never been to Changkat Bukit Bintang (didn't find a need to go through the massive city-centre jam), plus its surrouding areas. I could only recall being around Bukit Bintang area the most recent was a year ago, when my sister was still working with Federal Hotel International. The first & last food trip I had around that area was to Jalan Alor for some late night supper thingie with a friend, at least 4 years ago...hahaha...time flies...

TwentyOne Kitchen & Bar

Inside the dining area (downstairs)

Thanks to my colleague, JC, I had a GPS to help get me to that area. I'm truly a non-KLite. Even when I needed to get to KL, I will rather take the LRT/bus, but this time around, I had to drive from Cyberjaya, so I opted for the car instead. The roads were not very jammed by the time I got there, so it was quite good news for me :)

Attending such events alone felt strange. As usual, I was hoping to spot a familiar face or two among the sea-of-faces. The place was crowded & to even walk pass the crowd was a challenge. The dim lightings didn't help in easing my hunt for a friend either...lol. I met the group of bloggers, whom I'm not too familar with (aiyo...), but time helped in warming us up to each other. I met boo_licious, llemongrass, joe, unkaleong, becky, nigel, & my familiar friend, thamjiak :) We had a time of catching up & going on & on about food (like what else do foodies talk about? :P) before the launch actually took place.

My cocktail drink
Mixture of vodka, & some juices

Faye introduced her book, followed by Jek, who gave a brief introduction on theQguides.com. After that, it was back to more chats & drinking the night away! Yeah, it's just not my cuppa tea, but I was there for the launch just to support my friends & to have something different for a weekday night :)

Pretty Wine Glasses
[photo by Eric Cheong]

Free-flow of beer for the night
[photo by Eric Cheong]

Jek, Marion, & Alison of Red.fm
[Photo by Eric Cheong]

Lisa & Warren of theQguides.com
[Photo by Eric Cheong]

The Famous "Bloggers": Nigel (Just Heavenly) & Meena (A Whiff of Lemongrass)
[Photo by Eric Cheong]

Bloggers Unite: PerutBesi, boo_licious, Tham Jiak, & Joe
[Photo by Eric Cheong]

After an hour at TwentyOne, a few of us headed to a Japanese restaurant nearby for dinner. Lovely. I wouldn't have guessed that there's a decent food place at Changkat Bukit Bintang. The image in my mind is that this place just offers drinks & LOADS of it! :D

Venue: Daikanyama Japanese Restaurant, Changkat Bukit Bintang
Overall comment: Quite tasty food - worth eating, at reasonable prices :)
Halal: No (serves alcohol, so I reckon it's not classified as halal although no pork is served)


I find it really wonderful to just sit down with a small group of foodies over a simple meal :) I'm just drawn by warm fellowship of people with the same interest. It's amazing how food brought us together! Ah...to know that I actually ain't close to them, but could enjoy a meal together *smiles* It's almost similar to having dinner with a group of strangers, some whom you've met for the 1st time, but hey, foodies unite man! :D *happy*

Daikanyama Japanese Restaurant

Daikanyama's creative menu!
Check it out...it's like some train route map :D

Green Tea
After some servings of alcohol, green tea kinda soothes the body :)

Soft Shell Crabs Salad with Goma (Sesame Seed) Sauce (RM18.00/salad)
Nice :) A very light salad smothered with fragrant sesame seed sauce.

Bacon & Sausage Fusion Fried Rice (RM13.00/serving)
None of us expected such yummy fried rice to come out of a Japanese restaurant's kitchen *wink* Simple, yet filled with fried bacon & sausages bits kinda fried rice...oh boy, fried rice with these 2 ingredients surely makes one asks for more, & yes, we foodies ordered another plate of these to share!!

Mini Okonomi Yaki (RM15.00/serving)
"Japanese-style pancake with seafood/sausages." We ordered the seafood pancake. It was quite interesting as it's something different, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I did with the fried rice. Perhaps it's because of the fact that I'm a fried-rice fan! I lurve fried rice!! *lol*

Foodies at Daikanyama: boo_licious, PerutBesi, Meena, Joe, Thamjiak

Map to Daikanyama Japanese Restaurant

View PerutBesi in a larger map

I'm looking forward to the upcoming foodies get-together! Mid October it is ;)



Daikanyama Japanese Restaurant
42, Changkat Bukit Bintang
50200 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: (+603) 2141 0323


Ratings:
Presentation: * * * 1/2
Price: * * *
Environment: * * * 1/2
Taste: * * *
Service: * * *


Overall:

- Ruth