TR Fire Grill @ Pavilion KL

Firing Up American Favorites

The award-wining American bistro, TR Fire Grill has opened its first international outlet in Malaysia last month. Located in the prestige Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, TR Fire Grill is under the umbrella group that runs the famous global chain of Tony Roma’s restaurants.

The American bistro is bringing a taste of American cuisine to our shore. Featuring smoked and grilled dishes using hickory wood, there’s plenty of meat and seafood as well as vegetables on the menu. Everything is made in-house, down right to their sauces as well as condiments. Best of all, TR Fire Grill offers crafted artisanal cocktails at their bar as well as an extensive wine and beef offerings to go with the hearty American dishes on their menu.

The restaurant is spacious and glowing at sight. Perfect for big as well as small gatherings at any time of the day. Catch glimpse of our bustling metropolitan city through the glass wall during day time and the glittery cityscape during the evening. Whether you’re seated at the big dining area, at the bar or at one of their sectioned dining space, TR Fire Grill is warm cozy and casual.

Mocktails and cocktails to start our evening. Island Getaway (RM17), Cucumber Strawberry Freeze (RM17) and Fire Grill Mule (RM36) is not only pretty in colors but deliciously thirst-quenching, bang on for an evening filled with hearty favorites.

The Jalapeno Potato Tots (RM12) may only be a side but what a side it is… one dozen of crispy cheese potato croquettes served with jalapeno ketchup. These potato balls are so addictive, especially with the house-made spicy and tangy ketchup. Hand me a beer please…

If there is one appetizer to order it’s the cheesy Oven Baked Pizza Dip (RM25) served with toasted garlic focaccia bread batons. Loaded with lots of mozzarella ricotta and parmesan cheese with tomato sauce and beef pepperoni, this dip is sublime with every dip of the toast!

The Margherita Flatbread (RM20) is pretty decent too. Simple with beautifully fresh ingredients that work wondrously well, it’s the quality of ingredients that made this crispy flatbread easy to enjoy.

A salad not for the faint-hearted, the Whistle Stop Club Salad (RM31) is pretty hefty in portion. Great for sharing, this salad has loads of ingredients from crispy fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese to smoked chicken, chicken bacon and lots of other ingredients. Drizzled with a creamy peppercorn ranch dressing, this salad is so tasty with lots of various textures from all the various components. So this is another salad I would gladly eat if I have to steer away from meat…

Moving on to mains, one of TR Fire Grill’s best seller is the Salmon & Zoodles (RM59). A lean and healthy dish of zucchini noodles tossed with asparagus sweet red peppers, apple and feta cheese in a creamy dressing is paired with grilled salmon and grilled lemon half. Topped with a generous helping of pistachio romesco sauce, it was this nutty and tangy sauce that elevated the whole dish together. While the salmon was slightly too cooked for my liking, other had no issue with this dish. Just a matter of preference but the flavours are good.

The Chicken & Waffles (RM36) was my favorite of the evening for mains. Crispy and juicy chicken that was tender inside, sandwiched and stack up with golden crisp waffles and finished with a drizzling of agave syrup, this is about as American as it gets. Sweet and savory in bites, it’s a crowd pleaser in the States. Psst… we heard that the waffle has leeks, cheese and chicken bacon dust in the batter… no wonder the waffle is so tasty!

Smokehouse Board (RM79) has a little of everything if one cannot decide what to order. There’s dry rubbed lamp chops, wood-grilled quarter chicken breast with BBQ sauce, spicy chicken sausage, jalapeno potato tots and side of apple cider slaw. My favorite of the lot was the grilled lamb chops with agave plum sauce. Tender and succulent, the lamb chops had a moreish sweet and savory flavour that is utterly delicious. The chicken fared decent too but the chicken sausage fell short on flavour and texture. This one is definitely meant for sharing.

For desserts, there is a bit of a waiting time as everything is prepared-to-order. Out of the four desserts on the menu, we tried three of them. Chocolate Mayhem (RM26), a best-seller at TR Fire Grill, has two sizes. We had the small but even then, this one has two huge scoops of coffee and chocolate ice creams with chocolate cake topped with coconut caramel sauce, chocolate mousse, Snickers bar and dark chocolate espresso beans. Talk about sinful luscious chocolates… this one is pure chocolate all the way!

The Buttery Seared Lemon Pound Cake (RM29) looked rather normal until we tried it. It was super duper scrumptious. I could be bias since I love lemon but TR Fire Grill really elevated the lemon pound cake by pan searing it, giving it a nice toasty citrusy crust that matched so well with the big scoops of vanilla ice cream and blue berries. If you love lemons, this is a great dessert to end your meal at TR Fire Grill.

The last dessert of Asian Pear & Papaya Cobbler (RM20) also comes with ice cream. Crusty and toasty crumbles with a soft fruity base, this one is comforting with its hot and cold combination. The soothing scent of cinnamon and spices gave this dessert an earthy appeal.

There’s more to enjoy at TR Fire Grill such as steaks, ribeye steak tacos, shrimp po’ boy and smoked meatloaf. Portion is pretty hearty here and quality is solid hence pricing is decent for what TR Fire Grill serves. We certainly hope to see more outlets of TR Fire Grill around…

TR FIRE GRILL

Lot No. 6.01.06, Level 6, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

168 Jalan Bukit Bintang

Kuala Lumpur,

Tel: +603. 2110 0944

Website: www.trfiregrill.com.my

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TRFireGrillMalaysia/

Hours of Operation

10am - 11pm

Longhorn Steakhouse @ Quill City Mall

Big & Bold Flavours of America’s Steakhouse

Longhorn Steakhouse, a large American steakhouse chain has landed on our shores tailgating right after the success of its sister restaurant Red Lobster. Both restaurant chains are operated by Secret Recipe F&B Group in partnership with Darden Restaurants Inc.

Longhorn Steakhouse opened on 30 January at Quill City Mall in the heart of the city and has been serving up grilled steaks and seafood the Longhorn way. The legend of Longhorn started back in 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia but it really only took off in 1982 when a freak snowstorm hit the city and many had to flock to the restaurant. It was then that many had tasted the superb grilled steaks that the legend of the Longhorn was born and the rest they say is history…

With over 450 locations serving up the legendary Longhorn steaks and seafood worldwide, the American steakhouse offers some of the best signatures of premium quality grilled steaks as well as other meat and seafood. Besides grilled meat and seafood, there are hearty appetizers, salads, burgers, pasta and dessert as well. The ambiance of the steakhouse is kept simple with lots of wood, steer head, antler chandelier and other western paraphernalia.

Secret Recipe CEO Datuk Steven Sim was present during our visit and proceeded to give us an insight on this latest venture with Darden Restaurants Inc. He is confident that Malaysians are always adventurous when it comes to food and will enjoy all the three American restaurants of Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse and Olive Garden with our constant exposures to travel nowadays. Olive Garden, coming soon as well, is another flagship that features Italian cuisine with hearty salad, bread, pasta and pizza as their signatures.

I had a gorgeously tall and refreshing Strawberry Smoothie to start off with and was really happy with it. The icy treat was deliciously refreshing and bursting with strawberry flavours.

Dinner started off and one simply must try Longhorn’s Honey Wheat Bread. It’s complimentary with your main course orders. Served warm, the buns are so fluffy and sweet. The wheat is finely ground so the texture of the bread is fine and light. The subtle undertone of honey is lovely as it contrasted with the slab of creamed butter I spread on the bread. It certainly takes sheer power to stop eating this… at least for me...

We had some appetizers before our mains arrive. There’s plenty signatures at Longhorn and some of these dishes comes in two sizes to allow everyone to enjoy them. Our Wild West Shrimp (personal - RM17.90/ sharing - RM31.90) may not be that wild but we certainly enjoyed the lightly battered and golden crispy shrimps. There were some spicy peppers on the shrimp which I really like as it spiced up the crustaceans while the side of ranch dressing is absolutely divine. I am a big fan of ranch dressing and this version tasted superb.

We also had another appetizer of Grilled White Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms (RM18.90) which was equally as good as the shrimps. Whole baby bellos were stuffed with a four cheese filling and topped with breadcrumbs before being baked till golden brown. What a cheesy haven! Cheese and mushrooms goes so well together and these were juicy and delish.

Chili Beef Soup (Cup - RM12.90/ Bowl - RM20.90) was next and Longhorn Steakhouse makes a mean recipe. It’s robust with rich tomato and spice flavours. There were also some sliced jalapeno chilies to spice up the heat further. I would love more nacho chips with the chili please.

We were here for the beef, all grain-fed and aged a minimum of 21 days. The beef are shipped chilled from Australia to guarantee its beefy flavours and textures and are cut in-house to American specs to keep the quality as per the parent restaurants in the States. The grain-fed ensures that the steaks are well marbled and full of flavours. Longhorn offers various cuts from sirloin, strip steak to the luscious filet, ribeye and the impressive T-Bone and porterhouse. There are also various sizes so one can order to one’s heart content depending on your appetite. All steaks are served with your choice of potato, steamed broccoli and unlimited servings of Honey Wheat Bread.

The Longhorn Ribeye (200g – RM89.90 / 310g – RM119.90) is super flavourful and tender. It has a nice marbling that rendered more flavours than other cuts. The ribeye is very well-seasoned and grilled with a nice crusty char. Then it is covered with a rich buttery sauce.

It’s beautifully pink and every bite was juicy and tender. I enjoyed the seasoned ribeye on its own and didn’t think it needed any sauce. However, Longhorn also provides some sauces upon request since many Malaysians still loves our sauces with our dishes. There is an Asian Oriental sauce which has lovely tangy flavours that I enjoyed with the steak as it gives the meat another level of flavours. That said, true steak connoisseurs would still go for a piece of steak just seasoned with salt and pepper to appreciate the original flavours of the beef.

Choice of potatoes runs from Loaded Baked Potato to French Fries, Mashed Potato and Sweet Potato with Cinnamon Sugar & Butter. I hightly recommend the Sweet Potato because it was my favorite that evening.

The Longhorn Porterhouse (565g – RM169.90) was a sight to behold! True to its Texan style, this cut showcases the best two cuts of beef of filet and NY strip. It is also a thicker cut compared to the T-Bone. I’d like to see someone finished this mega hunk of a meat on their own. Though the filet is very tender, I was impressed with the NY strip cut for its tender and superb flavourful characteristics. Each bite of the strip steak was heavenly. The ageing of the beef certainly also makes the flavours more pronounced. We had the Baked Loaded Potato with this one.

If you cannot decide on meat or seafood, then Flo’s Fillet and Lobster Tail (RM112.90) may be your answer. The lavish surf and turf features a cut of filet and a lobster tail, both grilled and broiled. The lobster tail is gorgeously sweet with a firm meat. All it needs is a quick dip into the side of clarified butter sauce to boost up more rich flavours. The filet was also decent and comes with the butter sauce as well. It’s a platter made for indulgence!

Grilled Lamb Chops (RM55.90) looked regal with all the chops beautifully trim, grilled and leaned against one another on the plate. Hidden beneath the chops were mashed potatoes and wilted spinach. The lamb was marinated in a mint-infused bordelaise sauce as per the menu. Indeed the lamb tasted sublime. The meat was tender and there were just enough bits of fat to keep the meat moist and tasty. I can taste the minty notes and was really enjoying the succulent lamb chops a lot. I would order this again.

We were recommended the Longhorn Salmon (RM45.90) as it is one of their best-sellers. A large piece of salmon is marinated in their secret marinade and grilled till just right. It is served with rice and steamed vegetables. The salmon is succulent and moreish. I like how it’s cooked just near done so it remained moist and tender. If steak is not your thing, then I would also recommend this salmon.

Both the Spicy Redrock Shrimp Pasta (RM33.90) and Redrock Grilled Shrimp (RM34.90) fared decent. The shrimps were smothered in smoky tomato butter and grilled. They were plump and tender with a soft sweetness and a subtle smoky aroma. One sat on spicy tomato macaroni pasta while the other sat on buttered rice and vegetables. I prefer the pasta as it has a good note of heat and tangy flavours that went well with the shrimps.

Our final savory dish was Spinach Feta Chicken (RM30.90), marinated chicken breast grilled and topped with spinach and feta cheese. It is served again with rice and steamed vegetables. This one paled in comparison to the steaks and seafood. It could also be that I took photos too long and the dish was cold so that didn’t help.

However, we did end our evening on a high note with two luscious desserts of Apple Gold Rush (RM18.50) and Chocolate Stampede (RM18.50).

Apple Gold Rush is Longhorn’s version of apple pie. The golden short crust pastry hid a wholesome filling of sweet Fuji apples and is accessorized with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, caramel and raspberry sauce. The pie was still warm and it contrasted beautifully with the ice cream. I enjoyed the short crust pastry as it melted in the mouth with a buttery richness. The filling was sweet and pleasant with light doses of spices.

It’s literally a charge of chocolates in the Longhorn’s signature Chocolate stampede. Six shots of chocolates of cake, chocolate mousse, fudge, cheese mousse, tiramisu and ganache are magically packed in layers, served with vanilla ice cream and huge dollop of fresh whipped cream. Talk about sexy desserts, this one just about takes the top place with all its heavenly temptations of chocolates. It’s very rich and sinful but so awesome in every spoonful. The portion is generous so sharing might be a good way to ease off the calories.

For those who work around the city, you might want to drop by for their value lunch menu for a taste of Longhorn Steakhouse.

Longhorn Steakhouse showed potentials in getting many Malaysians hooked on its steaks and seafood. While price is above average, portions are generous and quality is certainly on a higher end. Steaks are certainly their signatures and the Longhorn preparation of the steaks allows diners to enjoy the quality the beef well. Besides steaks, there are many other choices of meats and seafood that are equally delicious. Do try to save room for desserts as it is simply a delicious way to end a meal at Longhorn Steakhouse!

LONGHORN STEAKHOUSE

Ground Floor, Quill City Mall

1018, Jalan Sultan Ismail,

50250, Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03 2602 0871

Website: www.longhornsteakhouse.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/longhornsteakhousemalaysia

Crab Factory, Original Louisiana Boil: A Thanksgiving Extravaganza Lobster Feast

An Oceanic Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving holidays are just around the corner for those who celebrate the festive abroad in Western countries. I love Thanksgiving holidays. It has the warm autumn feel of festivity that echoes the Christmas holiday coming soon. Living in the states for a good six years, I spent six precious Thanksgiving with my sister and her family. It is indeed a big affair and just like our traditional Malaysian holidays like Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali, all families head on home to gather for the festive holidays. Traditional Thanksgiving is celebrated with a big fat juicy roast turkey and trimmings. Well this Thanksgiving, you might just want to bend the rule here…

It’s my first visit to Crab Factory, Original Louisiana Boil at SS2, Petaling Jaya. Taking a spot facing the McDonalds in the famous SS2 square, Crab Factory is the brainchild of T.Y. Ooi. After taking a holiday in the states, T.Y. and her pals came back and got excited in bringing a taste of Southern Creole and Cajun flavours with seafood to Malaysians. Developing the recipes, snagging quality seafood from reliable suppliers and the rest is history as they say in the makings, Crab Factory was born.

Walking into Crab Factory, one is immediately at ease with its modern industrial décor from brick walls to cool grey walls and flooring, lots of decorative wheels, chalkboards, industrial lightings and wood mixed steel furniture. Right away, one knows that we should all just leave our prim and proper manners out of the restaurant.

At Crab Factory, one should feel like you are at someone’s home in the States where many would gather for a big seafood feast of crawfish boils and lobster boils. It is only fair that one should also dine like how it should be for every seafood boils back in the southern states to get the full experience. So be prepared to dine with your hands (your best tool definitely!) and the fact that there is no plates and utensils available in the restaurant except for small paper trays and plastic bags. Once the seafood appears, pour out all the seafood in the bags onto the table and dig in…

Ordering is simple, pick your seafood and then pick a sauce. Throw in some sides and bag buddies and get downright dirty delicious with your hands! Oh… put on the Crab Factory apron if you’re worried about your clothes but hey, let’s not sweat the small stuff for great food…

Since its Thanksgiving week, Crab Factory has been running their Thanksgiving Extravaganza Canadian Lobsters promotion. A big sweet treat, this Thanksgiving Extravaganza feast priced at RM145++ offers two Canadian Lobsters (1KG) steamed with King Mushrooms, Potatoes and Corn in a glorious Garlic Butter Sauce.

What a treat! This certainly makes a nice change from the usual turkey for the festive so I am pretty sure many will also attest to this since we are after all Malaysians and we do love our seafood.

The two lobsters are very good in sizes and when the bag was opened, a wharf of garlicky buttery aroma filled the air with much deliciousness. The lobsters are gorgeously succulent and cooked well. The oceanic sweetness coupled with the tender meat brought me back to memories of my sister and friends backyard seafood escapades where we would try and whipped up seafood boils and just literally dive into seafood oblivion. I enjoyed the lobster also because the garlicky butter sauce didn’t mask the lobsters but rather enhanced the sweetness of the crustaceans.

Check out the amount of lobster roe in this crustacean! Feeling rather smirk at the sight of such indulgence…

The bag buddies of potatoes and corn is quite the standard for any lobster boils and the addition of the firm king mushrooms added a nice local touch. After a good soaking, these bag buddies are buttery and yummy.

Now if lobsters aren’t your thing, then surely there is plenty of seafood to keep you happy. Crabs, meat crabs to be exact, comes in several sizes with its own price tag based on market price. Ours was steamed drenched in Crab Factory’s Signature Southern Bang sauce with a medium heat level. There are four levels of heat so choose your poison from Mild, Medium, O’ly Crab and Death Valley. Death Valley is pretty much suicidal if you can’t take spicy at all…

Our crabs looked ferociously spicy and red. One taste of the sauce and I can feel a little sweat starting. I happen to love spicy food and thinks my heat level is pretty good but this medium heat level is pretty much a kick in the heat sense. So make sure to go slowly and choose wisely if you cannot take too spicy. The sauce is pretty much addictive. The more you savor, the more you are hooked. I find myself going nuts about the meaty sweet crab with the knock-your-socks off Southern Bang sauce. The sweating goes off once your flavour sense adjust to the heat and that’s when pleasure comes in. I should go braver once day and take on the two higher heat levels in my next 3kgs of crabs…

Besides just being spicy, the richness of the sauce has a lovely lemony tang and lots of peppery notes. It’s piquant and simply moreish too. Corn was the bag buddy for the crab and it is a great one because the sweetness of the corn goes really well with the spicy sauce. We enjoyed the sauce so much, we jokingly ask for bread to mop up the sauces.

No plain bread but Crab Factory has Homemade Garlic Bread (RM7.90) available which we ordered to mop up the crab sauce. Pretty satisfied as the toasty garlicky bread matches the spicy sauce heavenly!

Next up, 500grams of Prawns in Jamba Jamba Sauce on medium heat level was pour out all over our table. The prawns are firm and bouncy with a very delectable hint of sweetness. The Jamba Jamba sauce is a tomato based sauce and has lovely sweet, sour and spicy flavours. Ok so I lost count of how many prawns I devoured that day but who could blame me as these were just irresistible.

We also took on 500gms of Australian Yabbies in Garlic Butter Sauce. The contrasting bright red with the sunshine yellow butter sauce is so pretty on the table. These yabbies were of a good size. As I plucked off the head and proceed to suck out all the divine flavours, I was telling myself how much satisfaction I was having right there at that moment. The sauce allowed the yabbies to really showcase the natural sweetness and also enhanced the creaminess of the yabbies. This one was RM88 but truly worth the price tag because I have never tasted such big and sweet yabbies here in Malaysia.

Other sidekicks we tried, golden crispy Fried Baby Squid (RM10.90) and Hush Puppies (RM8.90). Absolutely flawless, the crunchy lightly battered Cajun flavoured squid is super yum. When I saw the Hush Puppies on their menu, I literally beg for it. I had a few good ones back in the States and have missed this so much. Not many know how to appreciate these golden fried oatmeal balls but I really enjoy these here. I can taste some spices in the Hush Puppies and these have a medium dense oaty texture. Try it because who knows, you might like me!

Crab Factory has plenty more to offer than what I have tried. There are 17 types of side dishes from Southern Chicken & Waffles, Fish & Chips, Prawn Remoulade, Southern Heartwarming Gumbo Soup, Fried Okra and more… all the comforting Southern dishes. Seafood list goes beyond our normal expectations from the hefty priced King Crab to Slipper Lobsters, Amaebi, Japanese Snails, Baby Octopus, Mussel, Scallops and more. Don’t forget to add on more bag buddies to the seafood. During lunch hours, Crab Factory serves up quite a few variations of pasta with seafood. To complete all the seafood, Crab Factory has a long list of beers available to keep everyone happy!

So if you’re thinking of a Thanksgiving celebration with a seafood twist, head over to Crab Factory to check out the value-for-money Thanksgiving Extravaganza Canadian Lobsters promotion available from now till 30^th November 2014! Burp…

CRAB FACTORY

21, Jalan SS2/64,

47300 Petaling Jaya

Tel: +603-7865 5850

Website: www.crabfactory.com.my

Facebook: www.facebook.com/crabfactorymalaysia

Business Hours:

Mon, Wed & Thurs: 3.00pm - 11.00pm

Fri, Sat & Sun: 11.00am - 11.00pm

Close on Tuesdays