December 22, 2015

Steaks & Lobsters @ Desa Sri Hartamas


Awesome Surf & Turf for Indulgence




Desa Sri Hartamas is an area well filled with lots of good eats. Adding to the good eats list is Steaks & Lobsters. In some ways, this place does remind me of another eatery that took off by storm in another part of the world. That said, I am just glad these owners decided to open a restaurant showcasing the best of surf and turf they boldly named Steaks & Lobsters!


Located in the bustling area of Sri Hartamas, parking might be the only problem when dining here but again, when there’s a will to dine, there’s always a way. The restaurant is pretty spacious and decorated with warm theme filled with bricks and wood and lush terracotta wall panels contrasted with cream. The place echoes a casual and friendly vibe, taking the edge off dining in much seriousness despite serving lavish ingredients. Diners can dining in casual and yet enjoy scrumptious premium steaks and lobsters.




The restaurant is basically what its name state, serving up the best cuts of steaks and lobsters prepared the minimalist way. Besides that, there are a handful of other dishes of appetizers, salads, main dishes of ribs, lamb, chicken and fish together with some pasta, burgers and sandwiches. So fear not, not everything is lavish and there are plenty of affordable dishes too when dining at Steaks & Lobsters.


Diving straight into the signatures, we had their steak and lobsters of course! Each lobster served are estimated about 800 grams and are flown in from Maine or Boston, US. The restaurant also imports premium beef from Australia. Choose from Grass-fed to Angus and even the much highly prized Wagyu and have it grilled it to your liking.



Signatures of any restaurants are always the best bet when it comes to ordering. Steaks & Lobsters Signature Flaming Live Lobster (RM110 – Half | RM205 – Full) looked delicious when placed in front of us. I can smell how delicious the aroma was with its light and tantalizing sweet grilled aroma. Chargrilled to a beautiful succulent stage, the crustacean is also topped with house made Ebiko aioli and flamed up. More aioli is served on the side with fresh cut of lemons.


I was pretty satisfied with just the lemon as it really brightened and enhanced the sweet lobster meat. The smoky edge also gave the crustacean an undeniable deliciousness. Even when char-grilled, the meat was still juicy and had a nice firm and bouncy texture.

At Steaks & Lobsters, all their beef and lobsters are serve with unlimited helpings of house made four side dishes. These may change depending on the ingredients available. On that day, we had nice thick cuts of French fries, roasted pumpkin, avocado potato salad and coleslaw. It’s definitely a plus point if you are not full from the lobster!


If you prefer the natural and pure sweetness of crustaceans, then you should definitely go for the Steamed Live Lobster (RM98 – Half | RM195 – Full). As much as I do enjoy the chargrilled lobster, this one would always be my preference as one can really savor how fresh and sweet Maine or Boston lobsters are. It is also juicier when it is steamed. Served with spiced butter sauce, make sure you try this with the lobster chunks as the butter sauce made it richer and buttery.



The owners here take pride in their cuts of wet aged steaks. To them, wet aging makes the meat juicier and tender. All the classic prime cuts of sirloin, ribeye, tenderloin and T-bone are available. There was a special that day that came highly recommended which was the Wagyu Round Sirloin (RM82).


I am impressed. The wagyu sirloin, with a marbling of 7, was really superb. Tender, juicy, bursting with lots of moreish beefy flavours, it’s quite an unusual to have a sirloin this gorgeous. I have always been a ribeye fan and this cut has really changed my mind about sirloin. Because it is a wagyu, the sirloin is well marbled with enough fat to make this sirloin just as good as a ribeye or tenderloin. It is also evenly cooked with a lush pink as what I had requested and there is a nice chargrilled sear too. Can’t ask for anything more… besides that the price is very affordable considering it’s a wagyu with a marbling of 7!


Besides the signatures, there are other dishes as mentioned earlier. We had two appetizers for sharing of Fried Portabello Fries (RM19) and Crispy Hot BBQ Chicken Wings (RM25).


Both are good choices to share. The Fried Portabello Fries is crispy and meaty with a yummy earthy flavour of mushrroms. Dunk these into their Smoky Sriracha Aioli for creamy and spicy notes.


We all thought the Crispy Hot BBQ Chicken Wings was the bomb and is indeed a must-order at Steaks & Lobsters. One gets drumlets and winglets deep fried to crispy perfection and coated with their signature Spicy BBQ Sauce and drizzled with Honey Mustard Sauce at the end. Finger-licking good!!


Warm Buns served with a sweet spiced butter


Fresh Apple Juice, Carrot Juice and Lemonade



Steaks & Lobsters seemed to really have cornered a well-deserved market for surf and turf lovers. We love the casual vibe and the premium quality food they served. We can’t wait to come back to try their 12”Spicy Big Dinosaur Bones (Huge Beef Short Ribs), Premium New Zealand Lamb Leg Steak, *London Cod and Chips and more…



STEAKS & LOBSTERS
42, Jalan 24/70a,
Desa Sri Hartamas,
Kuala Lumpur,
Tel: +60 12-743 7167


Business Hours:
Tue – Fri 5:30 PM – 12:00 AM
Closed on Monday


Book with Offpeak.my! Offpeak.my is an online platform that helps diners save money and time when booking great restaurants online. Once a restaurant is available in the Offpeak.my directory, you can simply book and enjoy unlimited discount on your favourite restaurant, every day, anytime. No more waiting for the right deal or coupon to come by. It’s easy to book and instantly confirmed.

Book now by downloading Offpeak.my App available on the App Store and Google Play, or visit our website www.offpeak.my or Facebook: www.facebook.com/offpeak.my

December 20, 2015

Fly Me To London Part 8: Chelsea Football Stamford Bridge + The Shard + Shrek’s Adventure




More Sightseeing in London and A Little Fun Adventure!

Continuing my London escapade, here are few more sightseeing to visit in London. Some of these places are near to each other, so make sure to check and plan them prior to your visit to London. Head on over to Visit Britain website for more information and all the things to do and see in London. Though never a football fan, we was certainly really pleased to be able to visit one of the famous football club in London. We also visited one of the tallest building there and caught the amazing 3t60 degree view of the city. Then we had some fun adventures with an ogre, a donkey and a princess. Our finale was the majestic view of London’s top hot spot by the River Thames…




CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB, STAMFORD BRIDGE



First up, let me just say that even if you are not a football fan, you should still visit Stamford Bridge, home to Chelsea Football Club. It’s such an amazing experience to be able to see the stadium where the big leagues play. Located in Fulham, London, the stadium was opened in 1877 to another athletic club until 1905 where Chelsea Football Club was born and took over the stadium. After several remodeling work, Stamford Bridge stadium now has a capacity of slightly just over 40K.




It was a lovely morning as we arrived at Stamford Bridge together with Pilot Parker and Emma from Visit Britain. We had signed up for the morning fully guided one hour tour of Stamford Bridge and was pretty excited about getting to the stadium, home turf of 2014/15 Premier League Champions Chelsea FC.


It is definitely worthy to sign up for the tour as it takes you behind the scenes at the stadium and gives you access to areas normally only reserved for players and officials. There’s nothing like seeing the stadium from all the best angles through this tour. The tours runs daily on weekdays from 10am to 3pm except on certain specified dates. Find out more on the tour here.





Before we started our tour, we visited the Chelsea FC Museum, detailing over 100 years of Chelsea’s history and many other records as well as trophies and significant wins. There are also collections of famous footballer jerseys and their shoes as well as their footballs.






Stamford Bridge stadium is a sight to behold. Beautifully well-kept and maintained, the vibrant colors of Chelsea blue and lush greens are seen everywhere. We roamed everywhere, the Stadium to the Press Room to the Home & Away dressing rooms and the dugout areas, our guide kept us filled with lots of interesting information of the team and the rules and regulations of the games.





The lush green grass gets special treatments under specially controlled lighting and environment throughout the year.


Locker room has all the players’ pictures on their own locker. We were told that each player would have two new jerseys for each game and that they would leave both jerseys behind after the games as well… wouldn’t you like to get your hands on the jersey?



Before each game, there will always be a Press meeting held at the Press Room where the coach and sponsors will be present for Q&A to the media. We got lucky and even got to pose at the Press Room too!


If you’re hoping to catch the players, at last you won’t as they do not practice at Stamford Bridge but they have their own grounds for regular practice.



After the tour, no fans of football will ever leave without checking out the various souvenirs or memorabilia at the merchandise store. There are loads of every possible souvenirs for the hardcore football fans and even I was tempted to buy some. It was also here that Pilot Parker met up with the Chelsea Bear too!


STAMFORD BRIDGE
Fulham Rd, London SW6 1HS,
United Kingdom






THE VIEW FROM THE SHARD


Next place is another must-visit when in London! After all, its got the best views of London from its 72 floor with unparalleled 360 degree views for up to 40 miles… yes, I am talking about The View From The Shard. The 95-storey skyscraper in Southwark is London’s new emblem. Besides its extraordinary and exquisite architectural design, The Shard houses many occupiers including the fame Shangri-la Hotel as well as retail, restaurants, offices, education, medial and more.

It took 12 years to complete this Vertical City and The Shard, developed by Irvine Sellar, was finally opened in July 2012. Shimmering against the sun light, The Shard’s designer Renzo Piano was inspired by the spires of London churches and the tall ships depicted by Venetian painter Canaletto. Visit The Shard website for the full details of the architectural design that includes ‘eight sloping glass facades’, the ‘shards’, the architectural shape and visual quality of the tower, the unique design of the glass to reflect the lights in unpredictable ways and more.



The main reception area is designed with contemporary minimalist. Its dark interior exudes a sense of the unknown thrill of heading up The Shard. There are over 300 languages translation available for visitors as well. Service was excellent and efficient!

Visitors are transported by super-fast elevators to the three levels of viewing deck – 68th, 69th and 72nd floors. We did change elevator half way and even the elevator had soothing music gearing us up for amazement. The whole experience is well planned out and there are plenty of staffs around to guide the many visitors going up The Shard each day.



Once we arrived, our group disperse right away and everyone was just amazed at the gorgeous view of London! My inner shutterbug passion took over and I went nuts clicking away. The endless views of London from The Shard was breath taking. We even had several weather change from sunny to rain and then it was back to sunny again.






I started at the 68th floor and slowly made my way up to the 72th floor. Even though I had fear of heights, the view was worth it. The 72th floor had a small drink and snack bar. This floor had open spaces and we had a light breeze sweeping across the room, making the whole experience even more surreal.



One can see the Tower Bridge that crosses the River Thames as well as the other bridges such as the London Bridge too.


The London Eye stood out too besides all the skyscrapers…


We also caught views of the trio of the Cheesegrater (The Leadenhall Building) and the Gherkin (30 St Mary Ax).


The Shard is utterly impressive and certainly a vision of inspirations. End your visit with a quick stop at their gift shop as I did to bring a little piece of The Shard home…


THE SHARD
32 London Bridge St,
London SE1 9SG,
United Kingdom






SHREK’S ADVENTURE



Our last adventure in London was a fun one. A Dreamworks film that soar to fame came to life in this indoor walk-and-ride attraction located in the Riverside Building. This 75-minutes interactive adventure brings out the fun in the young and the old. Quirky characters in Shrek are played by many talented artists and certainly had everyone enjoying some honest-to goodness fun.




From our Mis-adventures in the kingdom of Far Far Away with witches on the 4D ‘Dreamworks’ Tour Bus driven by Donkey to Shrek’s Swamp to finding your fortune with the Esmeralda and her crystal ball, getting lost in the Mirror maze, The Poison Apple Pub encounter with a witch, The Wheel of Torture with Pinocchio and Muffin Man’s bubbling cauldron episode with Gingy, it’s going to be a thrill ride all the way.


So grab on to your inner fun self and let Shrek’s Adventure bring out the little kid inside us all….


SHREK’S ADVENTURE
Riverside Building
County Hall
Westminster Bridge Road
London SE1 7PB,
United Kingdom





While visiting Shrek’s Adventure, we were also thrilled that this attraction is located by the River Thames and The London Eye! So we did get to take our photos of Big Ben by River Thames as well as London Eye…




Oh course we couldn’t resist taking more photos and the rest as we say is history but definitely an unforgettable experience in every possible sense… missing London dreadfully as I am writing this post and looking at all the photos of our visits….






This is trip was made possible by Malaysia Airlines, UK Visit Britain and Dorsett Shepherds Bush London. All stories and comments in my posts are purely derived from my own experiences through the trip.

*Next up, let’s eat London!

London Stories

 Fly Me To London Part 8 – Sightseeing at Chelsea Football Club, Stamford Bridge + The Shard + Shrek’s Adventure