Down & Dirty:Salahuddin Bakery, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Down & Dirty Bakery on Jalan Dhoby 

If I were not currently on a quest to find down & dirty eateries in JB, I would have skipped this place.

Just down from the more popular Hiap Joo bakery. No queue here and no tourists either and that suits me just fine. 

This is where the locals buy their coconut bread and their famous Bengali Curry Puffs!

You heard it here…. ! 

It is now very difficult to get good quality old style curry puffs but locals here are spoilt for choice. 

Coconut Bread better value than across the road-just as fresh!

“If I had but two loaves of bread, I would sell one and buy hyacinths, for they would feed my soul.”

Now this is old school-down and dirty!! 
All the breads are done in this wood fired oven. 

Ready to roll! Floor looks clean trust me its dirty as S@#T!

The bread here is "all that it is stacked up to be".

The glorious Bengali Chicken curry puffs! 

Mutton Curry Puffs for the more adventurous!

Sardine Curry Puffs

A good variety of breads and pastries no time to try them all.

Salahuddin Bakery

Address: 26, Jalan Dhoby, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Facebook: are you kidding?

Instagram: wot?

Twitter: In your dreams...

one note samba : Locavore Kitchen x Drinks Kapitolyo, Pasig, Philippines

 ONE NOTE SAMBA…& its fat, fat, fat

The Great.. an ambitious MO-FI (modern filipino) restaurant, farm to table, organic food and mid priced.  

The Good.. Modern industrial design and good  MO-FI food presentation.

The not so good.. read on…

The dishes we ordered were all recommended by our server… who also very oddly asked us to sign the order slip to confirm our order.

Sisig Sausage

While one expects to get a relatively fatty sausage when one orders a "Sisig" sausage, this was fat wurst (no pun intended) laden with fat, stuffed with fat and garnished with fat. Great if you love fat. Otherwise, the highlight of the dish was the Sweet Potato chips.  

Gising Gising

This dish was the best of the lot, good use of local organic vegetables sigarilyas (winged bean), french beans, shallots, garlic and coconut milk. One would think that a restaurant that would expose organic ingredients would make the effort to use fresh coconut milk for this dish but this was not to be so on this day.  The use of fresh coconut milk coupled with a bit of spice and  citrus would make this dish perfect.

Sisig Fried Oysters

The fried oysters seemed fresh and were sufficiently moist and plump underneath the batter, the sisig lacked the crunch and missed the acid to off-set the heavy handed fatty gravy. Again pet peeve but the gravy tasted like industrial demi-glace (not a good sign). I can even tell you the brand ;)… 

Sizzling Sinigang

This was the one dish that I had very high expectations for but was seriously disappointed, same note on heavy handed fatty gravy as above with the addition of instant sinigang mix from the same company that shall not be named. 

Boneless Lechon Belly

Any dish that places Cebu before lechon sets the bar high. After  all, the great Anthony Bourdain in 2009 claimed Cebu Lechon as the greatest pork ever.  The dish presentation is also stunning and pictures very well. So this dish again over promised and under delivered. The pinakurat (coconut vinegar) & bagoong (fermented fish) sauce did not hold up to the overbearing stoutness of the pork. The skin also missed the signature crunch of a lechon. The meat also had an overbearing medicinal taste.. star anise? 

Turon Con Leche

The puff pastry was crisp and delightful, the leche flan was more of a pastry cream. Not bad... 

The Skinny: 

Props for spearheading MODERN FILIPINO dining, I so wanted this experience to work out and tell the world that MO-FI = LOCAVORE & this is the best place to experience it. 
But I am NOT quite ready to do that yet. 

Ho hum till the next one.

website: http://www.locavore.ph
Facebook :https://www.facebook.com/pages/Locavore-Kitchen-Drinks/400958036723741

Pizza Morena, Makati Philippines

Pizza Morena has been around since 2012, serving their humble pie at Salcedo Saturday Market and Legaspi Sunday Market.

Very foolishly, I have been ignoring this stall for over 2 years because I have often been disappointed by many a pizzeria around the metropolis.  

After a friend swore to me that their pizza was worth a try, I decided to give it a go. 

All their pizzas were 10 inches in diameter and they had half a dozen or so types of pizza available on that day.

Chorizo Pizza

I chose one of their most popular, their Chorizo Pizza,  this was a "bianca" or white pizza(no tomato sauce) but was so deliciously good I did not even realise it until I had finished the entire box. :) 

It comes topped with home-made chorizo, organic arugula, roasted bell peppers and lotsa mozza!

I am kicking myself for not having tried their pizza earlier.  

I will be back for more!


facebook : https://www.facebook.com/PizzaMorena?fref=ts

The Curator-Specialty Coffee, Legaspi Village, Makati, Philippines

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Curating the best coffee experience in Metro Manila...

Here it is… The Curator by far…and I mean a long way ……serves the best coffee in Metro Manila! 

The Curator has an industrial feel with its exposed ceilings and raw concrete. The interior styling gives this joint a hipster vibe. My main criticism of this place is the lack of free Wifi.(peace) I love almost everything else about this place specially their passion for coffee. 


The space used to be a store room which has been converted to a coffee shop by day and speakeasy by night.

For the sweet tooth…

A large selection of syrups (Left to right)  White, Agave(missing), Honey, Brown, Muscovado and Coconut.   

They have the following coffees available: 

Kenya Wakulima

WOW Blend 

Panama Carmen Estate 

Dark Matter Theory

IMHO:

My favourite is their Dark Matter Theory which is a blend of Columbia Bambuco Excelso, Guatemala Agua Hal, and India Kaapi Special Robusta Natural.

The barista describes the coffee as ...full bodied with a robust dark chocolate profile.


I certainly agree it has a great balance with  moderate acidity, hints of chocolate and just the right amount of tartness. Perfect for my daily espresso or three… :)

So here is the low down…  

It's a hidden coffee shop/speakeasy outside a wine showroom on the corner of C Palanca/Legaspi.


They serve coffee daily from 7:00 AM to 6:00PM, it converts to a speakeasy at 7:00PM till late. 

N.B. they stop serving coffee at 6:00PM and start serving cocktails.  

The food menu is limited but there are plenty of great dining spots in the village.


Website:http://thecurator.com.ph

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Curator/310581049064376?fref=ts


Instagram:https://instagram.com/thecurator_/