The Replacement @ Jalan Dhoby, JB

Finally, it's the weekends!

Been down with a cranky stomach lately thanks to my ABC porridge. I realised that these days my stomach can't take too much of fiber or else it will start churning real badly and I'll be visiting the loo like it's my best friend. Good thing my stomach isn't acting up as bad as it did when I had green bean soup.

Since my stomach is feeling unwell, I got the chance to stay at home and rest. And get bored. Hence, blog. I met up with Wawa and Simren a week ago I think when I was back in JB and we decided to catch up at any random cafe. The Replacement was new so we decided to give it a shot

The Replacement

33- 34 Jalan Dhobby, JB

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This is how The Replacement looks from the outside. 

It's a plain white building. It's a lodge too, that explains why their kitchen i.e. cafe isn't very spacious. Actually I thought the space was very limited- almost like a large bedroom size. While there are other cafes that have limited space, I have to say that The Replacement really do not know how to maximize the tiny space that they have. 

Now, I'm telling you the layout of the cafe so you would be prepared. Either you get lucky and get that two seaters by the side of the wall (I think there were 4- 5 two seaters) or you get unlucky and have no choice but to share one huge ass table.

The huge ass Knights of Camelot kinda table

This is the huge ass table I was talking about. I think that this would fit 10 people at least, great for big families you know like those that dine with their grandparents all the way to their grandkids? Yup. 

But a far as what I have seen during my trip to The Replacement, those big ass family doesn't seem to be the primary market. Everyone that came in were young people in pairs or at most in groups of fives. When we arrive, we were seated rather quickly. That's a good thing. The bad thing was that we were seated right in the middle of the huge ass table, sandwiched between groups of unknowns seating at both ends:O

Oh, hi unknowns :S

This made us feel really awkward. We couldn't even talk at our normal volume because it really felt like our private space was violated. Thank God the girls on our right soon finished so we quickly scooch to that end of the table. 

So there we were in the huge ass table, only both poles of the table occupied because NO ONE was willing to take the middle seating like duh! So you see, lots of space wasted. They have this bar seating facing the window but the space is really squeezy so maybe if you want a quick drink that would be okay, if not I'd probably exit. 

They do have pretty lamps hanging over our heads at the Knights table though

The Replacement practised half self service. So you have to get the menu, order and pay at the cashier then be seated and wait for your order to arrive. 

The menu. 

Ordering was also a bit awkward for me because we don't get to seated to decide what to have. Instead everything was done in a hurry in front of the cashier area. They have a few chairs for you there but it was still so weird because I felt like I had to quickly get it over and done with and not hog the tiny area =.=

I wasn't that hungry and most of the menu was bread. You know brunch kind of menu? I had enough bread in KL so I decided to have cake instead. 

Five selection of cakes on display

The best looking on that look worthy to be ordered turns out to be yam cake. Since I was sharing the cake and neither of us fancy yam cake, I decided to order Strawberry Shortcake. It looks like a bad idea but the others weren't far off better so I just settled for the Strawberry cake hoping my prejudice towards their cake was wrong.

Caramel Latte, RM11

Simren's Caramel Latte came pretty quickly. I'm not a big fan of coffee but I did have a sip. Well, al I can say that it tasted almost like the Nescafe that my mum makes at home. Paying RM11, there was a higher expectation. I might as well spend it on the commercialised Starbucks instead. 

FREE water!

Water was free but you would have to go get it yourself. They have these bottles on a cart at one corner of the shop with glasses as well. So please help yourself! Not sure how many can you take but we took 2 bottles of water.

Strawberry Shortcake RM12.90

Then my cake came. As expected, it wasn't that good. Not worth my RM13. The cake tasted a little too dense for liking and it was sweet. To add on to the sweetness of the cake they had this strawberry jam,which tasted like those jar types from the hypermarket, in between the layers and also some buttercream. OH MY GOSH, that was the last straw! Even though we shared the cake, we find it really hard to finish that one tiny slice:(

Corque Madame, RM18.90

Wawa haven't had lunch so she ordered the Corque Madame which was super overpriced! This made me really angry because this dish is just a slice of bread with melted cheese, tomato sauce (I think) and egg on top. It took them 45 minutes to an hour to serve. The portion was really tiny for a RM18.90. I might as well add on RM5 and have a big breakfast in Bangsar!

People say that KL food is expensive. Well, yes no doubt a meal in cafe or restaurants in KL would cost you RM15 at least but the difference is the food is worth the price! Cafe in JB seriously pisses me off. Just because they want to imitate God knows what, they are charging such a high price on disgusting tiny portion food. 

PLUS! The ambience of The Replacement was rather bad- awkward seating, white walls etc so why the heck are you charging so much? It's understandable that all business aims for profit but this is really too much

Approximately RM43 for the tiny things we ordered :S

The Replacement should really be replaced.

But then again, I don't know why are they so many people on Facebook who actually compliment this place like it's one of the best places in JB. It's either they are easily contented people or they are really nuts. Also noticed lots of people who dress up nicely in chiffon dresses and what not, coming to The Replacement with DSLR camera with their nose stuck high up in the air.

Why ah? So glamourous meh drinking overpriced meh coffee here?

We were like, uhhh. Should have gone across the street and spend our money on three portion of chicken chops instead. Nevermind, take picture to compensate our loss LMAO

At least Simren really liked the dried flower

The Ice- cream Project @ Jalan Dhoby, JB

I'm suppose to go out for dinner with Rebecca but as we were just about to leave the house it poured heavily! So now we are waiting for the rain to subside before leaving. Gosh, my appetite is cranky again. I know it's meal time but Im not feeling that hungry but I don't feel like eating:(

Anyway, yesterday was super fun because I brought Reb out for some ice- cream! She has been wanting to try this for a long time but didn't had a chance too. So off we go for our sister's day out!

TIP, The Ice- cream Project

31 Jalan Dhoby

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A swing outside TIP

Selfie in front of the shop because it's sisters day out <3

The thing about TIP is that it's apparently a very famous place to get ice- cream in JB. Maybe it's because we don't have many ice- cream parlours around. Anyway, my point is you can't expect the best customer service there la. In fact once I entered, I somehow have the feeling that the people there are very stuck up. Initially, I thought that it's just me so I just brushed it aside but when I met up with Wawa today she said that memang the boss there isn't too friendly.

This shop gave me the same feeling when I visit China House in Penang for cakes. It's not to say that the waiters there, wait I dont think I should call them waiters because no one will wait after you. It's all self service. Well, the workers there aren't rude but it's just that they give you this snobbish feeling which is my pet peeve.

A few pictures of ice- cream in the making:

It's quite cool to see the nitrogen that is being used to freeze your ice- cream! Oh yes, your ice- cream will be made only when ordered and that's why it tasted very fresh! Love how the milk tasted, it was literally eating frozen creamy FRESH milk!

Interior of the shop

Pretty cool nook 

Though they have limited space in the shop there was more than ample seats for everyone when I was there but I could imagine that during a full house probably customers will get sightly uncomfortable especially those sitting right in front of the ice- cream maker. That's because everyone would be flocking that are while waiting for their ice- cream to be made. 

One huge ass mirror really good for selfies

Brownies & Cream, RM14

There are only four flavours of ice- cream on the menu. Totally forgot what the other three were but yeah that's all you got! They do have an extensive menu of teas though. Initially I thought the tea menu were ice- cream flavours because it is an ice- cream shop right? But no, you only have four ice- cream choices.

A little disappointed because I was going to order the Earl Grey flavour HAHAHAHA Turns out it was tea so nah. Still puzzled by the lack of options of ice- cream in an ice- cream shop. They might as well be a tea parlour:S

Reb finally getting to try TIP!

FREE water!

Yes, they do provide you with free water if you would like to quench your thirst after having ice- cream. Though TIP's ice- cream wasn't too sweet, in fact I loved how it tasted and need not drink water after that I still went for the free water just because HEHE.

Of course, everything there is self service. You will see the self service sign everywhere. When I mean everywhere, I do mean everywhere. The first sign that you see greeting you at the entrance of the door is a self- service sign. Then when you enter I probably spot three to four similar signs inside that small area. 

TIP screams SELF- SERVICEEEE!

Then they also have a self- service sign above the free water station indicating that you should order, pay, get the ice- cream by yourself. Don't expect anyone to clean up after you're done yes? See that containers next to the free water station? That's where you ditch your paper cups and what not.

All in all, I love their ice- cream because it really tasted fresh and authentic. Brownies and cream did tasted like the real brownie crumbles and milk cream! But then again, for RM14 I won't be able to have it on a regular basis. Probably once in a blue moon, so definitely an indulgence!

Selfie Coffee @ Sutera Utama, JB

Hello from Johor Bahru!

Today is a very productive day because I managed to conduct two interviews and try out the new Selfie Coffee!!! It has been here for quite a while already I think, maybe a month or two but I haven't got the chance to try it til today. Thanks to Simren who suggested a quick coffee date before I zoom off for another interview.

I was looking forward to this coffee but I wasn't like crazy excited la. From the pictures that people posted, I wasn't sure if the your selfie picture will be printed on the coffee foam or just a normal plastic. I was thinking if it's just printed on plastic cover then for what go right? So prolly that's why I wan't that excited till I actually step foot there.

Selfie Coffee

Jalan Tanjung 8/2, Taman Sutera Utama

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I usually don't post pictures of myself on my blog because I don't think I look appetizing LOL But this is after all a Selfie cafe and since I have an awesome selfie phone so have to!

The cafe's entrance

Interior of cafe

They have this fake grass area for you outside also. I think people who puff would appreciate this setting.

Outside itself they have instructions on how your coffee will be made! 

I'll show you how mine is being made below! But before that, have a look at my cake! I seriously didn't thought of trying out their cake because I was all hyped up for my selfie coffee!!! I told you that I was didn't feel the hype earlier right? But when I arrived and found out that they will actually print your face on FOAM I was ecstatic! Simren and Reb might have to tie me down if I didn't control myself hahaha

Their cakes are reasonably priced and they look alright too except for the rainbow cake that looks like a sad rainbow LOL Anyway, we chose Green Tea Mascarpone!

Green Tea Mascarpone RM9.90

The cake was alright. Not the best green tea cake la but for the price I think it's acceptable. You can't really taste the macha taste but it was creamy, mascarpone duh. Initially I thought mascarpone is some sort of cream but Simren told me that it is cheese! 

But if it's really cheese than this cake is quite a failure because the green tea doesn't taste much like green tea and the cheese doesn't really taste like cheese.

Most importantly! The chocolate drizzle for the writings is just for nice and not meant for consumption because it tasted like super cheap chocolate:S

Photo booth

Okay, now this is how you order your selfie drink!

#1 Place your order and pay at the counter. They have ice- blended drinks and normal iced drinks if you want to have your selfie printed on top of your drink. They currently don't do it for hot drinks.

#2 Be seated with the number given to you and wait for your turn to be called into the photo booth.

#3 Take your selfie in the photo booth! You can take a selfie or a wefie! I took a wefie with my sister and simren so my face appeared twice on the drinks! HEHE

#4 Your selfie printed drinks will be served to you!!!

Now, I'm going to spam this blog post with all our selfie with our selfie drink! Selfie-ception!!!

Caramel Frappe, RM13.90

The caramel frappe was super sweet!!! I'm usually have low tolerance to sweet stuffs but I was too high and excited about this selfie printing thing that I actually finish the drink! It's just like how you con kids to drink water by giving them a new and exciting bottle.

Cold Butterscotch Coffee, RM13

This one tasted like latte without the butterscotch but Simren found out that the butterscotch was actually trapped at the top layer! Of course she found out when she was finishing her drink la because we were all very careful not to distort our faces HAHAHA

I poke through the printed layer gently and slowly. A bit scared because I didn't know what to expect! But the straw sinks in the layer very softly, like sinking in quick sand!

See it's real foam! It's a very thick consistency foam. It actually tasted very buttery like some buttercream. I'm not surprised if it's really some sort of buttercream 

Simren's face starting to get distorted already as she sips up!

Finished! Now we look like some horror movie :S

Oh yes! You can also borrow their marker pens and scribble stuff on the table. We realised it only when we finished drinking our coffee so I just simply scribble nonsense just for the sake of it.

It says "The end. But, hello wrinkly face!"

I was referring to the state of our face when we finish our drinks LOLOL

If you haven't try, go try! It's so fun!! I feel like doing it all over again!!!!

I think it would be more fun if you to come with your besties or like your partner!!! It's like a very good momento! Naomi should probably do it with Char, Tim and Tom before they leave Malaysia! I think they have an outlet in Sunway too :D

Bangi Kopitiam @ Seksyen 9, Bandar Baru Bangi

Bello! Minions for Hello.

I'm so free today I feel so happy! Hahahaha Usually I'll wake up feeling stressed because I set deadlines for myself and so I'll get this anxiety attack in the morning thinking about what I have to strike off the list for the day. Today, I just have to transcribe a 30 minutes interview, wait for Reb's goods to arrive and cook dinner then that's a wrap!

Looking forward towards the weekend because I'll be back to my hometown conducting several interviews. After the weekend is over, I would have 90% of the data needed for my study! WOOT!! The last two interviews will be conducted in Kuching somewhere in June, double WOOT!

Talking about interviews, I would usually meet my interviewees in Starbucks because (1) Caffeine keeps them alert (2) Pleasant environment- actually not the best environment for interview because I realised that they always play this music that can be a little annoying when I transcribe my interviews (3) Nobody would turn down a Starbucks treat right? 

But last Monday I had to travel to Bangi to meet this guy from Penang. Haven't been to Bangi before so I typed Bangi and "Bangi Kopitiam" came up in the Google recommended feed.

Apparently it's quite famous and it has branched out its business internationally! How come I didn't know of such kopitiam?

Bangi Kopitiam

Jalan Medan PB 1A, Pusat Bandar Bangi

Website

Menu

Interior of shop, quite cool layout

Ahh, sorry. I forgot to take a picture of the exterior of the shop because I was just concern about parking my car and getting out of the afternoon heat. I arrived at Bangi Kopitiam an hour before the agreed meeting time so I manage to sample their food!

Branch at Bangi Kopitiam

I was going to cook butter chicken for dinner that day so I decided not to have nasi lemak. Damn! Really wanted to try their nasi lemak though, looks so appealing! Anyway, I settled for Tom Yam Meehoon. Still was a little skeptical about how delicious the food would be when I placed my order.

Fried Tom Yam Meehoon RM6.90 | Ice Tea with Herbal Jelly RM4.80

You know how usually chain- restaurant's food are? Very commercialised tasting right? So can't blame me if I was expecting my food to taste commercialised la. Having that preconception, I had my first bite of meehoon and I went...

 

How come so yummy one!

The tom yam flavour was soooo appetising! I think it makes a great starter (starter because I still wanted my nasi lemak LOL). The dish tasted like something you buy off from those side of the road stalls!!! I mean in a good way that is! I always though that great tasting food is found on the street! I'm a street food person so no matter how yummy the food served in restaurant, I'd usually opt for authentic street food.

For the drink, I ordered milk tea with cincau but I think they forgot my cincau (grass jelly). I didn't realised it until when I was sipping my drink while listening to the interviewee. Then I thought, eh where is my cincau???

But since the milk tea was good, as good as real kopitiam one and I already drank almost all of it I decided to not make a hoo haa. So I paid extra RM1 I think for nothing:(

Oh oh, I forgot to mention! Check this out:

Upon arrival, I simply picked a spot that I thought was conducive enough for my interview. Decided to go for the sofa cushion type. 

When I was trying to get comfy in my seat, I was wondering why is this table's leg feel so weird? I looked down and I saw a sewing machine's paddle!!!!! Then I realised that they had transformed an old sewing machine to a dining table! How cool is THAT!

They only have two of these sewing machine table and I luckily got one!

The rest of the tables are the normal type BUT BUT BUT.... I spot one more unusual table! Don't know if you noticed but you see the small boy in rainbow stripes tshirt? He's siting on an old school looking bench like what they provide aeons ago in kopitiam (coffee shops)!!

Bench & Tables

So I was obviously very excited to jot this down in my food blog! They have a few outlets outside of Bangi too but I'm not sure if all of their deco is the same? Bangi surpirsingly has many cafe! I would want to try them someday when I'm motivated enough to drive 45 minutes for a new food experience. Funny that I'm easily 'ON!' when it comes to driving to Melaka for food :P

RM6.99 Fish & Chips @ Manhattan Fish Market

I was suppose to be writing about this last week but it was a busy week conducting interviews so I totally forgot about it! I'm a big fan of Manhattan Fish Market when they have their cheap fish promo!! Fish and Chips starts from RM6.99!!!! If you are reading this and you didn't know about this ongoing promo the last day for this promo is TOMORROW (26 May 2015!) so hurry!! Still sempat!

I usually jumped at this opportunity because on normal days fish is too expensive to consume:X

Manhattan Fish Market

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If you check out their menu, Dory would be the cheapest fish for fish and chips that would cost you RM6.99 (excluding GST). They have better fishes like Salmon serving at RM11.99 I think? I tried their Cherry Red Snapper the other time they had the same promo and it was terrible- fried fish was so damn soggy inside!

So this time I decided that Dory is a sure thing but I really wanted to try Salmon too. In the end, I had both Dory and Salmon and I realised that whenever MFM is having this promo, I should just stick to Dory. My Dory came pretty happy with a good portion of fries and salad:

Dory Fish & Chips, RM6.99 ONLY!!

Add on were going for RM3.99! They offer you 3 starters going for cheap which are the chowder of the day, fried tortilla with cheese and squid fries. I tried the Squid Fries and it was definately a good choice for an add on!

LOVEEEE the honey mustard sauce that came with the squid fries. Despite receiving a rather small portion of squid fries, probably 7- 8 strands of squid, I'd order it again just because it really tasted good with the dips! So easy kena con LOL

Squid Fries, RM3.99

Squid Fries + Fish & Chips

You can choose to grill your Dory as well but it wouldn't come looking as happy as the fried one.

Grilled Salmon with mash potato and steamed vege, RM11.99++

My salmon was sad. I was served such a thin cut of salmon and it was way over cooked! So the Salmon tasted so dry and sad. Even the sauce on top couldn't conceal its dryness from overcooking:S 

On the other hand, the vegetables were under cooked. Of course they just blanched the vegetables to give it a crunch but this was like almost eating raw broccoli and carrot. Something that turn me off so bad that I couldn't down another piece:(

I thought the mash potato was okay, just that they put too much garlic in it so it tasted like mashed garlic potato. I think it tasted better when they were using beef gravy, if I've not mistaken. My eating companion wasn't please at all at the mashed potato though, thought that it horrible. Yikes!

So conclusion, go only for the RM6.99 fried Dory Fish and Chips! Cheap and Good!! Everybody happy, easy peasy!