ronnycakes reviews: Basix Cafe, West Hollywood, Los Angeles

When I was doing my research for places to visit and eat before our LA trip, I came across Basix Cafe which was highly rated and calls itself a West Hollywood tradition that is a favourite with the locals. Located on a corner lot of 8333 Santa Monica Boulevard, Basix’s menu boasts a large selection of breakfast offerings, from power breakfasts to muffins and buttermilk pancakes. The lunch menu is extensive as well, with interesting sounding pizzas, sandwiches and pastas.

We arrived at the Cafe at around 12.30pm and already the inside was packed to the brim. Luckily for al fresco seating and for outdoor heaters as the chilly wind almost froze our socks off.

The Tuscan Tomato Bread Soup (US$6.50 per bowl) was a slow-simmered thick broth with ripe tomatoes, basil, rosemary croutons and a parmesan cheese crisp. Certainly tangy and refreshing.

The Chicken Tequila Pasta (US$12.50) was a hit; fettuccini with red & green peppers, red onion, cilantro and a jalapeno cream sauce. The cream wasn’t overpowering and you could really taste the tequila in the sauce.

 
For an additional US$2.50, you can add a mini Caesar salad to your meal.

Chicken & Sundried Tomato-Pesto Fettuccini (US$12.50), chicken breast & sauteed mushrooms with a tomato-pesto cream sauce.

The Turkey Club (US$11), applewood smoked bacon (yummers!), bibb lettuce, tomato, avocado, mayo and house-roasted turkey on toasted sourdough. A little bit on the dry side but delicious nonetheless. Portions are seriously huge on this side of the globe.

Spaghetti and Meatballs (US$12.50), 100% certified angus beef meatballs with fresh herbs. Look at the generous heaping of cheese topping!

Basix Special Scramble (US$8.50), 3 eggs scrambled with Italian chicken sausage, mushrooms, caramelized onions & fresh spinach with toast and choice of griddled potatoes, sliced tomatoes or fresh fruit.

Perfect breakfast food with a twist; Crabcakes Benedict (US$10); two poached eggs on crabcakes with chipotle hollandaise sauce, served with griddled potatoes. Wils absolutely loved this one, being a huge fan of eggs benedict.

 
Came with a side of fresh fruits (raspberries!!).

Great food at reasonable prices, I can definitely see why Basix is described as a place with “well-made, uncomplicated Cal-Italian eats with a decent price”. Definitely a must-visit!

Address:
8333 Santa Monica Blvd,
West Hollywood
CA 90069, United States

Map *here*

ronnycakes reviews: L.table by Lavender, 1U Bandar Utama

Ever since Lavender set up shop at 1U, the bakery has been receiving an endless patronage of hungry bread-lovers. However, if you look behind the bakery which is right at the front of the shop, there is a restaurant by the name of L.table that is run by Lavender.

The interior is cosy, with a single pink daisy gracing every table.

One of the things we’ve always wanted to try at L.table was their Breakfast Skillet (RM22) because it looked too darn interesting to resist (sorry we’re suckers for fancy presentation :p). L.table’s version is somewhat different that the ones we’re used to because instead of bacon, lightly grilled pieces of chicken breast are served instead, and the chicken sausage are reminiscent of hotel buffet-type sausages. All in all, it was good but not really something to shout about. Extra points for the skillet though! :D

Sunny side up eggs.

Lightly grilled chicken breasts which were seasoned well. Still, give us bacon (even turkey bacon) any time!

 
We also had the Pappardelle and Duck Stroganoff (RM22) which was flat pieces of pasta cooked in what seemed like a sort of duck stew. The duck meat was plentiful and had a soft melt-in-your-mouth sort of quality but I thought the sauce lacked a bit of oomph. It was a tad too bland for me and ended up being a little too thick for my tastebuds. If you’re ordering this I recommend that you share this dish as it can get quite satiating after awhile.

All in all, Lavender is a good enough place to visit once in awhile and has an interesting enough menu for you to experiment with, without blowing your wallet as prices are quite reasonable. Didn’t have the chance to try the cakes though so there’s a reason to go back!

Address:
L.table by Lavender Bakery @ 1 Utama,
G213, Ground Floor, One Utama Shopping Center.

Map *here*

ronnycakes reviews: Delicious Café’s New Menu, Mid Valley Megamall PJ

Delicious used to be one of those places where what they served was underwhelming compared to what you expected from them. After a few increasingly less satisfying trips to Delicious (used to only go there for desserts but even those started going downhill), I completely stopped going at all for about a year or so. Until we recently discovered on boolicious’ instagram that Delicious had a new chef and a new menu! So adventurous foodies that we are, we just had to see this one for ourselves.

I had something very basic for my main, Aglio Olio Spaghettini with Seafood (RM25.40) which isn’t actually a new item on the menu, but interestingly it tasted a lot better than the last time I had it. I used to have only two words for pastas at Delicious, oily and bland. This one tasted good!

Wil’s highly anticipated Pumpkin Risotto (RM25.90) with char-grilled prawn, squid and toasted almonds. Very unique and very healthy (no overdose of milk or cream) and the seafood was extremely aromatic from being char-grilled. Two thumbs up!

Dessert was an extremely good looking Cold Chocolate Fondant (RM14.90) with a center of melting caramel and a base of macadamia nut brittle. The chocolate fondant and macadamia nuts were delicious (though I have to say it was still a little too sweet for me) but the macadamia nut brittle base was a bit odd. It was quite hard and tough (super chewing needed) and tasted more like soggy oatmeal biscuits than anything else.

 

There is a definite increase in the standard of food at Delicious so for those who have sworn off going back to Delicious, it may be time to revisit it and try for yourself.

Address:
Lot G(E)-011 & G-001,
Ground Floor, Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur.

ronnycakes reviews: The Red Beanbag, Publika, Solaris Dutamas

Publika is the current it-place, and houses many stylish cafes in it’s various nooks and crannies. The Red Beanbag is one of these stylish cafes hidden upstairs on the farthest lot on the same row as Nathalie’s Gourmet (who I hear has great macarons but I’ve yet to try), and we would never have discovered this Australian-inspired eatery if we hadn’t noticed it in one of Wil’s friend’s Instagram feed (Instagram is great for us to discover new food :D).

The interior is bright and spacious (another one of those loft styles) with wooden tables and chairs and plenty of decorative art. Note the canvas sacks on the wall with words like play, create, truth, dream, love.
Quite a few good looking workers there as well… waiters and chefs. ;)

I was charmed by the menus, printed on recycled paper and pasted on cardboard.

 

 
A “Smooshie” blend of Green Apple, Lemongrass and Rambutan. Uniquely refreshing.

 
Good things have been said about The Red Beanbag’s Signature Breakfast (RM19.90) which is the only full works breakfast priced at that rate we’ve seen recently. Poached, fried or scrambled eggs on toast, sautéed mushrooms (thumbs up for using something other than button mushrooms), grilled tomatoes, beef/chicken sausage, beef bacon, baked beans and hash browns. Refreshingly simple!

I had the Don Scallopino (RM24.90), a super unique combination of seaweed risotto, with seared scallops and seafood. Ingredients were abundant, with two scallops, two prawns and a handful of clams. Taste-wise my only gripe would be that it was a tad bland but it wasn’t overly creamy like some risottos are, so it was easier on the palate. What’s good is that the price isn’t overboard as well; at some other place I’m sure it would cost north of RM32.

The Red Beanbag certainly did not disappoint, with good food and good prices, and friendly staff too!

They even posed for our photo haha.

 

A great place for hanging out with your friends, great ambience and I hear quite good coffee too (even though I’m not a coffee person myself). Definitely worth going again for the breakfast menu or to try the other things on the menu (pasta next!).

Address:
A4-1-08, Solaris Dutamas,
50480 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia

Map *here*

ronnycakes reviews: Spasso Milano, Pavilion KL

We hear that Spasso Milano has moved from Jalan Ampang to the top floor at Pavilion, taking over what used to be the Angus Steakhouse. We’re suckers for non-halal Italian food so how could we miss this one out?

The executive chef at Spasso Milano is Italian, so rest assured that everything served here is authentic Italian food that some say is country-style.

For starters, we had a Pizza Aromatica (RM12.80): pizza bread topped with olive oil, oregano, salt and baked in a wood-fire oven.

This was absolutely delicious, you could taste the wood-fire aroma in every slice of the crispy pizza bread. Perfectly seasoned with salt and spices as well!

 
I had the Aglio Olio with Italian Sausage (RM28), one of my favourite styles of pastas of all time.
After such a promising starter, Wils and I had such high hopes for the main courses but I was quite disappointed with my pasta. It was bland and was slightly too oily for my palate, with the only savoury thing being the pork sausage.

 
Wils had the All’amatriciana (RM28.80); tomato, bacon, onion, chili flakes and pecorino. This went the same way as my olio: bland and flavourless. We couldn’t even taste the bacon bits and there was no tang in the tomato sauce.

After doing quick google searches after our experience at Spasso Milano, I was surprised that other food bloggers rated the food so highly after our disappointing trip. This leads me to think maybe we were just unlucky on our trip when the standard of food was slightly down?

 

We did also see the lunch antipasti buffet at a very reasonable price (RM18++ per person) so that’s something to return for!

Address:
Lot 6.44 & 6.45,
Level 6, Pavilion KL, 
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur

Map *here*