Karl's Beisl @ Soho, Mont Kiara

I have passed by Karl's Beisl a few times in the past but had never stepped into this place. Through the good connections of my friend, Z, I was invited to review the food here. Not only me, but several other food bloggers were also invited and that was how I spent a long lazy afternoon there sampling the delights that this Austrian-styled restaurant had to offer. The afternoon definitely got lazier (if that's possible) after the good food and company... just read on :-))



"Beisl" in Austrian means a bistro, beer house or just a casual dining place. Typically it serves grilled meats, seafood dishes, traditional roasted pork knuckles, suckling pigs - Austrian homestyle cuisine.



As in any Austrian-styled restaurant, the moment you step into Karl's Beisl, there is that European "home feel" to it, which is both cosy and rejuvenating at the same time.



High ceiling, muted lighting, wood panelling, ornate balustrade leading up to the mezzanine floor all gave this place a "fine dining" feel... but it is not overwhelming... in fact, it exudes a warm and cheerful welcome!

This beisl is owned by an Austrian gentleman by the name of Karl (obviously, hehe) and his charming Malaysian wife, who warmly welcomed hosted the lunch for us.

First to arrive at our table was this Spinach Salad... tossed with red peppers, bacon strips and roasted potatoes. Immediately, FBB declared there were "chee yau cha" (fried pork lard) on the salad and that got everyone all kancheong until we realised those were actually the roasted potato cubes, haha! Well, just look at the similarity!



I like this salad for its simplicity - crunchy pine nuts, bacon bits and those sweet sweet Australian-imported spinach leaves were a joy to munch. I think everyone took 2nd and 3rd helpings of this!

Next came the Cold Platter - a platter of colourful cold cuts such as Serrano Ham, Chorizo sausages, pork belly, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, gherkins, cheeses (various types) - all accompanied by a basket of warmly toasted baguette slices. The cold meats had wonderfully smoky and hearty flavours - not surprising as Karl's Beisl has their own smoker machine to smoke their meats.



Even while we were munching on the cheeses and meats, we were served their signature soups: Cream of Forest Mushrooms and Cream of Roasted Garlic & Red Pepper with Rosemary.



Prepared from scratch - nothing from the can, that's what our hostess proudly informed us. I definitely prefer their Cream of Roasted Garlic & Red Pepper with Rosemary - subtle unique flavours with just the right touch of creaminess - this soup definitely got the thumbs-up from all!

Then the meats came... fast & furious... starting with this Suckling Pig - there were oooh's and ahhh's from everyone at the table...



It tasted as good as it looked, really. Super-crispy golden skin - you can practically hear the crackling sound from the person next to you crunching down on the pieces of sublime porcine skin! The meat is thicker than the usual chinese-style suckling pig but it was meltingly tender...



Served with steamed cabbage and creamy mashed potatoes - this alone filled up my tummy almost 80%!

Oh... before I forget, Karl's Beisl serves a variety of German beer - like this Franziskaner Weissbier here. I'm no beer fan, but judging by the numerous refills the others had, well... I'm sure they are yummy ;-) Besides, I was told beer goes extremely well with grilled meats, no?

Guess who that is, hiding behind the glass? :-P

We had hardly eaten half of the suckling pig when this Farmer's Platter was served... a splendid showcase of Karl’s Beisl's Roasted Pork Knuckles, Pork Belly, Kasseler Ham, Bratwurst, Frankfurter Sausages and ...



... "Siew Yook" (roast pork, chinese-style)!!



Oh my oh my - this was truly a plate of pork heaven! It's all about crunchy crackling skin, tenderly roasted meats & robust smokey sausages - what more can pork lovers ask? There were sides of sauerkraut served, which in a feeble way tried to balance the rich intense dosage of sinful cholesterol-laden bliss on that platter. Of course it failed miserably. Oh, well... we die another day lah ;-)

We took a "breather" from the relentless porky onslaught... we had this Seafood Pasta in White Wine with Scallops, Shrimps, Squids and Mussels.



The pasta was cooked just right - al dente, with a great bite - the way I like it. The dash of white wine in the sauce perfectly enhanced the flavours of the succulent morsels of seafood. Do try this - it's excellent.

Just when I thought I couldn't possibly eat another bite, our hostess introduced MORE ... like this Pork Wiener Schnitzel, served with Potato Salad ...



Slices of pork tenderloin had been "hammered" thinly, coated with breadcrumbs (made in their own kitchen) and then fried to a golden crisp. Oh my god - one bite into the schnitzel and you get sweet flavourful juices spurting out! Yeah, I could only take one bite - that's all I could manage at that point.

Yes, at that point, almost everyone had reached pork-coma level. Unfazed by the groans of "I'm sooo full" and "I can't eat anymorrrrr", our hostess signalled for their Double Rib Pork Chop to be served...



It came with potato wedges and a twin-tower kinda corn... the thick pork chop, while nicely charred at the sides, was a bit tough & dry though.

If you think that was the last of the meats, well, you are wrong! One more porky dish... the Black Pepper Spare Ribs with Garlic Butter Rice and Pickled Carrots...



The meat from the ribs was so tender it practically fell off my fork... and all I could manage was just one mouthful of it. Peppery, smokey flavours... those were the taste memories in my pork-laden stupor ... I think we would have passed out if there had been more pork coming...

At last, the desserts came to the rescue... their renowned Calvados Apple Strudel served with Vanilla Sauce...



Now, I have never been a fan of apple strudel as I find it too sweet, with cinnamon too cloying on the tongue. However, one bite of Karl's Beisl's Apple Strudel had me won over. The thin crispy pastry (FBB said you have to roll/fold that 100x) enclosed a generous filling of tarty apples, with subtle hints of cinnamon which totally did not leave any feeling of "jelak-ness"! Bravo! You definitely must try this.

Their Palatschinken – Crepes with Apricot Jam, Rum & Raisin Ice Cream did not do anything for me. I find the crepes a tad too thick - Apple Strudel for me, please ;-)



Another thing which I liked about this place is their plates - if you had noticed, their plates came in different designs! No two plates on our table was the same - so cute!

We were blessed indeed... as we got to sample Babe in the City_KL's awesome Guinese Chocolate Cake...

Yummy! Thanks a lot, Babe!

If you are thinking of having a cosy party, do consider the lounge on the mezzanine floor of Karl's Beisl (the sofas and cushions were sooo inviting, especially in our pork-drunken state!) ... or have yourself some Happy Hours downing their beers on the patio outside...




Oh, by the way, if you want to learn how to make that awesome Apple Strudel I was raving about, please note that The Bukit Bintang Girls’ School (BBGS) Old Girl’s Association will be having a Hi Tea cum Apple Strudel Demo this Saturday, 24 April 2010 from 3.00pm – 5.00pm at Karl's Beisl. If you are an ex-BBGS girl and wishes to attend this event, please get in touch with them soon!

Contact info:
bbgsoga@gmail.com
Sow Yoong: 012-292 1460
Kim Lin: 012-2183 799, Tammy 012-296 4148

Karl’s Beisl
Lot K-OG 13 & 14, Soho KL
No. 2, Jalan Solaris,
Solaris Mont Kiara
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Phone: 03-6204 0628

For other recent reviews on Karl's Biesl, check out:

CumidanCiki
KampungBoyCityGal

Handmade Meesuah @ Beng Shen, Klang

The first time we went in search of this place, we found it but it was closed. On a Sunday. It really wasn't their "official" off-day (that should be a Monday) ... there was a handwritten cardboard hung on the gate stating that they were closed for 5 days. No reason was given.

Determined to eat their famed handmade & homemade Meesuah, we made another trip back there 2 weeks later. It's located a bit way out from Klang town, along the main road, Jalan Kapar. Just keep a lookout for it on the left after you pass Carrefour and Bata.



The set-up was rather spacious, with typical plastic chairs and gas cooker-with-kettle so omnipresent in Bak Kut Teh joints in Klang. We were greeted warmly by the owner & his wife and our orders were quickly acknowledged.



First to reach our table was the BKT Meesuah. We ordered a 2-persons portion (RM19) and the bowl of steaming hot BKT & meesuah served was huge! Their meesuah is not the usual type that you usually get, ie soft thin easily-breakable strands ... The meesuah noodles here are thicker - much like linguini, and the texture is more dense & robust. While I always like to have rice (oiled) with my BKT, I was pleasantly surprised that this meesuah went very well with the herbal soup too.



Their BKT is above average, I would say... the meats were sufficiently tender in the rather thick herbal brew.



Meesuah in Chicken Wine (RM16 for 2 pax) was next. I must say I liked this very much, in fact much better than the BKT!



The soup was very well-flavoured with glutinuous rice wine - thick and full of "heat", the kampung chicken pieces had been lightly-fried before being boiled in the rice wine, with just the right amount of ginger & chinese herbs. The meesuah had delightfully soaked in the very yummy piquant soup - it was nutrituously alcoholic to leave you rosy-cheeked after you have slurped everything off the bowl!



We also tried their Fried Meesuah (RM8 per pax). It was OK - just like any normal regular hokkien-style noodles.



Their Tomyum Meesuah (RM8 per pax) was a disappointment. It was very clear they must have used some kind of mediocre tomyum paste which was very bland. There were a couple of lemongrass stalks and a few chunks of tomatoes tossed in... besides a few prawns and the meesuah, of course. They should just stick to the BKT and the Chicken Wine.



I was rather disappointed when the cool-lookin boss told me they were not making any meesuah that day - the "workshop" facilities behind the restaurant was closed. I had hoped to catch some meesuah-making action!



You can buy their ready-packed meesuah from the shop too. Each 1 kg packet costs RM11.



Forgetful me left my precious tin of chinese tea there... I called them asking them to keep for me and that I'd pick it up in my next trip there. They readily obliged and promised to keep my tea safe, hehe!


Restoran Beng Shen is located at:

Batu 5, Jalan Kapar
Klang
Tel: 03-3291-1575
Closed on Mondays
(best to give them a call, in case they decide to close on other days for some reasons!)

My rating: 7/10

RM1 Chicken @ Canton-i

If you reside in the Klang Valley, you'd probably have eaten at Canton-i or its sister restaurant, Dragon-i. The latter is famous for their Xiao Loong Pau - one of the best you can get around here.

Canton-i in 1-Utama is a favourite lunch spot for me as my office is just about 128 steps from the place.



Both Canton-i and Dragon-i are having a "RM1 Chicken" dish promotion, in appreciation of their customers, or so they say lah. It sounds good, right? They've put up some posters & stuff advertising this promo but what they didn't inform everyone is that this promo is ONLY available from 6.00pm until 10.00pm. So, don't go there hoping to eat their RM1 Chicken during lunch time! They're very strict about the 6.00pm thingy - the waitress refused to put in the order even if it's 5.59pm!

OK, coming back to the Chicken... well, at Canton-i, they serve the "Roasted Chicken with Red Beancurd" - basically, it's roast chicken with nam-yue marinade. (Dragon-i serves a different version, I believe) You get a whole chicken if there're at least 4 people in your group.

As there were only 3 of us that evening, we were given half a chicken. So, there we were, eagerly anticipating our el-cheapo chicken. When the plate of fowl finally reached our table, we were really "amazed" by the tiny portion! Man, it was really a very very small chicken, I kid you not!



Yeah, from the pic, it looked pretty decent-sized, but let me assure you, this was like an adolescent spring chicken, really it was.

Oh well... for RM1, just treat this as a Side Dish... you know, something like that dish of pickled chillies/sambal you always have on the side...





That mini plate of chicken could only fill a teeny weeny corner of our tummies. Even the whole chicken served (on other tables that I saw), well... the whole chicken could sit on a 10"-diameter plate with lots of space to spare!

So... to fill our still-growling tummies, we had to order stuff like these...



Noodles with Roast Duck (RM12.80)- you can never go wrong with this!



Rice Rolls with Bamboo Pith (RM9.80) - a refreshing change from the usual rolls stuffed with shrimps or char siew.



Spinach (they had a fancier name for this veg, can't remember what!) in soup & century + salted eggs (RM16.80) - very generous with the cholesterol, as you can see.



Steamed Fish Maw Dumpling (RM13) - I liked this... the spongy chewy fishmaw went very well with the fishpaste filling, all freshly-steamed.



Steamed Beancurd Roll (RM8)- quite ordinary.

So, there you go - if you want to catch the RM1 fowl, do so before the end of this month. At the sizes they go, I totally believe them when they said (in the media, recently) that they're confident of serving 50,000 chickens (or more) to their customers. It's sup-sup-soei to devour 1 whole chicken there lah!

So, hop on over & get your fowl-ly side dish, people!

Peng Heong Hakka Paikut

Last weekend we went on a food hunt in Klang, the main target being the highly-publicised Beng Shen Meesuah in Jalan Kapar. However, when we reached that place, to our dismay, it was closed! Closed for some reason - probably they went for a holiday after the super busy Chinese New Year. A handwritten sign on the gate informed that they'd only be open from 25 March.

Anyway, we made a U-turn and headed back to Klang town - this time for the famed Peng Heong Hakka Paikut! We easily found the place and being a Sunday at lunchtime, this was how the crowd looked like...



We were lucky to grab a big table just next to the food counter. Orders were quickly taken by the loud but friendly waiter.



While waiting for our food to come, we watched in fascination the boss/chef's super-active antics chopping up their signature Paikut - Pork Chops... at the same time hollering for more paikut to be brought out from the kitchen! Their service staff were all scurrying back & forth carrying plates piled high with the freshly fried pork chops. Finally, our plate of porcine delight arrived at our table...



The slabs of pork chops were succulent and tender... with the sides a bit charred - totally decadently delicious!



The sweet sauce splashed over the pork chops will have you mopping up your entire plate of rice - I guarantee you! Everyone gave the thumbs-up for this Paikut!

Next we had the Claypot Curry Pork Ribs...



The meat and potatoes were tender and the curry while very lemak & thick, lacked certain ooomph - typically Chinese-style curry. I prefer my curry to have more kick ;-)

Next came their Hakka Meatballs...



This was a great hit! Big balls of minced pork mixed with adequate spices were nicely fried to a crisp outside but oozing with hot steamy goodness when you bite into them!

In order not to turn the meal into a 100%-PORK fest, we chose a chicken dish - their Red Wine Chicken. Now I'm always particular about alcoholic chicken - the dish must have sufficient wine for it to qualify. Most places will scrimp on the wine and present bland watered-down versions. Peng Heong passed my standard with flying colours!



Thick chunks of chicken were dunked into a claypot of hot red wine brew with all its alcohol seeping into the meat! There were no ginger strips or black fungus distractions - just plain chicken in alcoholic broth - absolutely divine in its plainness.

Next, try their Assam Fish ...



Two decent-sized Ikan Kembong cooked in a decent-enough assam gravy, piquantly sour & spicy with just the right amounts of the requisite spices. Another winner for mopping up your rice - if you still have some on your plate by this time!

Sour Veg - "kiam chye boey" - usually I can't resist ordering this if I see it in a restaurant. Peng Heong's kick-ass version is one of the best I have ever tasted!



Served piping hot in a clay pot, the vegetables (mustard leaves?) were sufficiently soft, without breaking up... and the soup was resplendently sour, hot with just a tinge of sweetness - just the way I love it!

After all the hot & spicy stuff, it was time to cool-down our fiery tummies with some greens...



Kangkong - not fried, like most restaurants do, but blanched and served with a sprinkling of fried shallots, oil and soy sauce. Great stuff.

While waiting for our bill, we noted this huge poster on one wall, advertising their special "Food Packages for Special Occasions" namely QingMing (Chinese All Souls Day), Dongzhi (I guess that's the Dumpling Festival), Ghost Festival etc...



Really innovative, don't you think? A chat with the ladyboss revealed that the average price for such packages is around RM300.

This here is the very affable boss/chef... he looked exactly like his pic in the menu - same pose too!



Restoran Peng Heong Hakka Paikut is located at:

Jalan Gudang Nanas 3
Klang

You really can't miss it :-)


After our super delish lunch, we crossed the main road and walked over to Jalan Gudang Nanas to this shop for DESSERTS...



Cendol Klang has been around for ages (ever since I first stepped foot in Klang decades ago!). Their cendol is pale green, as you can see - no colouring added to it! Only natural pandan juice is used to flavour the cendol.



A bowl costs only RM1.50. If you want more "substance" in your cendol, add in some Pulut...



... and I guarantee your tummy will be totally satiated after that!


My rating for both places: 8/10!