Friday 3 June 2016

An Evening@El Cerdo and Madam Got Drunk


It was a Friday. Friday as in TGIF. The day when most of you happening people go out after work to have a good time chilling out and do whatever it is that you cool people do. Me?

My Friday routine is dinner and then Tesco for groceries. And then back home for a bath and sleep. Totally auntie, right? But not that Friday. I was going to have a happening evening just like you happening people. Or so I thought.

A friend of my partner's flew in for a night. We were to meet him in KL for dinner. I made reservations at EL Cerdo for 7:30pm. 

The God honest truth is, I'm not a happening person. I sleep early. I don't do the night scene. All I want to do after work is go home and sleep. But you know how it is. When your other half plans a night out, you follow. 

So there I was, in the car, braving the Friday evening traffic like lamb to the slaughter. We started off from Damansara Utama at slightly after 6pm. It's been ages since we ventured out to the city center.

As to be expected, traffic was bad. But my partner did not expect it to be that bad. I sat in the car with nothing better to do, so I snapped some pics.

At Jalan Tun Perak.


I wondered if we would make it to El Cerdo on time. We had to pick the friend up from a hotel in Jalan Pudu. So near and yet so far.


After picking up the friend, we proceeded to make our way to Changkat Bukit Bintang. And that's when the fun began. KL has changed so much. New buildings, new traffic flow, so much so I felt like a country bumpkin going to town for the first time.

My partner, who is far superior to me in terms of navigational skills, lost his bearing. "Where are we?" he kept asking. Beats me, I'm totally kampung, I only know Kota Raya. I know that these days people use GPS and Waze and whatnot but the man is old school. So he took us on a spin.

Berjaya Times Square. Our beacon of hope.
"If only I see a familiar building, I will know where we are" said he. "There! There! Berjaya Times Square!" I squealed. As we drove on, I took more pics.


We may have to end up at one of these if we can't make it to El Cerdo.
After some tembak tembak driving, we managed to get to Changkat Bukit Bintang or somewhere near there. Now where is El Cerdo? We parked outside a hotel and made it by foot to the restaurant. By the time we got there it was 8:00pm. I thought we had already lost our table.

But no. Our table was still available. Phew! So we got ourselves settled down and it was time to decide what to eat. The waiter suggested white asparagus as it was on promotion. The friend whipped out his iPad and flashed a photo of the white asparagus he harvested at his home in Germany. Cool!

But no. We were not having asparagus. I did not come to El Cerdo to eat vegetables. We ordered some mains and also from the (limited) tapas menu and of course we had to have a paella.


The starter was bread with some sort of pate (I think). The bread was very fresh and it was wonderful. It's refillable too because the second one came soon after we polished this off.

Second round of bread. But no extra pate?
For drinks, we opted for plain water. The server asked me "Sparkling or still water?" Huh? That's something I never thought of. To me, water is water. Still waters run deep.....might have crocodiles......sorry I digress. To look cool and unfazed, I calmly said "still water" as I reckon sparkling would be more expensive, no?

Italian water.
At El Cerdo you don't expect them to serve plain old water. Aqua Panna Toscana. Natural mineral water bottled at source somewhere in Italy. That thing comes at RM20.00 a pop.


This is the Calamares A La Romana (Calamari aka squid, RM20.00). Battered and deep fried to perfection and served with a dollop of mayonnaise. This is from the tapas menu and chosen by the friend.


This Gambas Con Beacon (Bacon Prawn, RM26.00) is also from the tapas menu. Four prawns skewered and wrapped in bacon. This was lovely, bacon+prawn, how could it not be?


My partner's Marinated Pork Shoulder Steak (RM58.00). I ordered this for him but I was afraid that the meat might be dry. But no. They do this very well at El Cerdo. The meat was very tender and juicy. It was incredibly tasty. I would KIV this one for my next visit.


This was my order. Spicy Baby Back Ribs (RM78.00). I tell you, I can easily finish this all on my own but since sharing was the order of the day, I gladly did. 

The spicy part came from this chili sauce and not from the dry rub.


And you know what? It tasted strangely like chicken rice chili sauce. Serious. Or maybe my tongue was defective. 


Next up was the Paella Mixta (RM98.00). I actually picked the Mountain Paella because I have tried the Paella Mixta before. But the server suggested Paella Mixta because it has prawns (it's the same price as the Mountain Paella). So, OK, I reckon our guest would love prawns.


The paella did not disappoint. I don't know if this is the best paella but it's the only one I have tried and it's good enough for me.


I ended the evening with a dessert, The Werner's Special (RM26.00). The pretty server suggested to split the dessert into two for sharing, but no, Madam wants it all to herself. We did ask our guest if he wanted dessert but he declined.


I couldn't take a better shot of the dessert because there was a bunch of Japanese gentlemen sitting opposite. After my partner settled the bill, this came. One each.

It was fruity and the alcohol content was quite high.

I don't tolerate alcohol very well. There was a time when I could down 4 cans of beer or half a bottle of red wine to no ill effects, but not anymore. But it's tiny. And complimentary. Seems such a shame to say no. My partner, who hardly drinks, took his. The friend declined. So. I did a double.

Hic! My partner would have a hard time tonight.
Like persuading me to come down from the cupboard.
As we made our way out, I was already feeling light headed and jolly. God forbid should I break into song in the middle of the streets. 


There were bright lights outside and many people. My partner wanted to take a walk to show his friend Jalan Alor (whatever for?). But it was way past Madam's bedtime. Besides, I don't like crowds. Yeah, I'm a party pooper, drunk or sober.

After we dropped off the friend at his hotel, we made our way home. By then traffic had cleared somewhat. And I got giggly in the car. Haiz....

That evening, there were two birthdays at El Cerdo and the servers sang the birthday song. "Happy Birthday to You... Oink! Oink! Happy Birthday to you... Oink! Oink!" I really like the oink oink part. Good night.

P.S. I woke up the next morning with a severe headache >_<

31 comments:

  1. Eh, how come you got lost? You've been here before as it's one of your favourite restaurants. Luckily you didn't take the server's recommendation of white asparagus as that is pretty expensive.

    I couldn't help laughing at your story on "still or sparkling water" coz the same thing happened to me too. I was asked "distilled or sparkling" and went with distilled that cost me RM32 a bottle... (http://eatwhateatwhere.blogspot.my/2014/02/fishermans-cove-starhill-gallery.html)
    ...and that goes down in history as the most expensive water I've ever drank! :D

    I see you went for same dishes (ribs, paella and dessert) once again (coz they're your favourites, I'm sure). I've not had paella before coz it's a huge dish for sharing (with the right people who wants to eat this as well) but I've had some form of it made with bomba rice. Is this paella made with bomba rice (which is the more expensive rice)? If it is, then it's an authentic one and the best form of paella! ;)

    And the complimentary drink you had must have been a margarita (quite potent that one)! :D

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    1. Lost is my middle name. I only know I am there when I am there LOL!

      I don't understand why they can't serve regular water. We must have appeared as stingy to them for not ordering wine or other beverages. Truth is we juts prefer water.

      Yup, same dishes hah..hah... The paella is meant for two here. Bomba rice? I've not heard of that hah..hah...but I see that it is short grain rice.

      Margarita? Oh, now I know what a magarita :) One more and it would have knocked me out!!

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  2. Wow! You went to my favourite El Cerdo. Their pigs always sent me sms often to oink-oink there. I love their food for many years but not their smashing plates rituals. So sinful to smash plates and I pantang pula. Wakakakaka!

    The most happening place now is called "Changkat" as where you went to. Hey, you are still a young lady and not grumpy aunty ok.

    I drive around the whole KL and Klang valley often, so I could be a UBER driver anytime. My word of advice is whenever I have night functions in KL, I will go against all traffic jams and must use SMART tunnel. Within 3 minutes your car will crawl out to Berjaya Times Square and Sungai Wang.

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    1. You are just like my partner, pantang about smashing plates. True lah, very wasteful and not auspicious. I wonder if that is a real tradition or just some gimmick.

      As far as possible, I don't want to venture out to KL on a weeknight. Luckily for us it didn't rain.

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  3. Well, I don't know if your paella is the best or not, but it most certainly is not the worst. The worst would be in a certain Chinese restaurant in Barcelona, or I know nothing about it. >.<

    I felt the same way when I drove to KL earlier this year, first time doing it in years. I was confident without Waze, until I went to Holland (Cantonese saying) before my anxiety overcame my ego.

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    1. Oh ya, I remember the "fake" paella you had. The first time I heard "Holland" was from my partner. I thought it was a Penang thing. Anyway, it's a funny expression :D

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  4. Ohhhhhh!!!! So you've been naughty, eh? No present for you this Christmas? Ummmm...you don't know the way to Changkat BB or you were trying to take shortcuts to avoid the massive jam? If it was the former, I could have told you the way. Hehehehe!!!! Happening place there, like Bangsar long ago - now dunno.

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    1. The drink in those salt rimmed glasses would be magaritas, I think...but usually they would use nicer glasses, wide rimmed. Very strong, like vodka...or tuak - one kick and you're gone.

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    2. I was a goner alright! LOL! Hopefully Santa will overlook this one hee..hee...

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  5. You and your partner are very brave to drive to KL center on a Friday night. Even though I live in KL, I never go there at night, too many people. Lucky that the alcohol content of the last drink did not affect your partner's driving. It would be bad if it was you who had to drive, wouldn't it?

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    1. We didn't have a choice since the friend was there for only one night. A memorable experience though. He was OK after the drink. I had one too many >.<

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  6. But the headache was worth it😀Nice evening out!

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  7. Phong Hong this is such a funny post! Oink! Oink! :D

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    1. Diana, I won't touch another alcoholic drink again LOL!

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  8. Friday night. Everyplace is jammed and happening. Those night out is over for me. Haha. Now hang out at home with my kids. Lol.

    Paella. Looked good.

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  9. wow how adventurous night out isn't it?
    i am also not a happening person at all but with friend sand family sometime like this is really fun and memorable ,your food is great and i am sure you did not regret that you spent that part of night being happening person for while ,nice shots too

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    1. It was good, worth the headache hah...hah....

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  10. the morning after is always the worst part of a night out drinking! i've lived through probably a thousand hangovers during my lifetime so far, and each time i think to myself, no more, but then when the cocktails call, i can't resist. p.s. your paella's making me mighty hungry ;)

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    1. I am thinking, when I see the next drink, I would have forgotten about the headache hah..hah... Paella is great!

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  11. Hangover cleared already? :P

    What an adventure you had that night. Hihihi

    The food looks good. :)

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  12. Ha ha Phong Hong, this is another very entertaining post of yours. Oink oink song and plus the part about your partner persuading you to come down from the cupboard made me laughed aloud. Lol!

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    1. Nancy hah..hah... No more drinks, no more drama >.<

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  13. Traffic at KL on Friday is horrible! Oh, El Cerdo, I never been but read so much about their suckling pig :P

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    1. The suckling pig is good. But must have many people if want to eat.

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  14. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog. And your intoxicated part reminded me of my own episode in Langkawi. Hubby claimed that I had insisted on going to the swimming pool nearby for a dip, fully-clothed. He tried so very hard to dissuade me. Then later I was all merry in the car and was singing non-stop!!!

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    1. hah..hah... Hi IreneC! Alcohol makes us do very strange things. Usually I either get knocked out or start getting very giggly. But I have not broke into song as yet :D

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