Tuesday 2 October 2012

What I Ate Last Weekend




Last Saturday I attended the Malaysian Institute of Accountants 26th Annual General Meeting. And I must say that I pretty much enjoyed the delicious brunch at Hotel Istana. Of course, I wasn't there for the food but to fufill my responsibility as a member of the Institute and to cast my vote on issues affecting my interest as a practising accountant.

The spread was quite limited, being a brunch, but the selection was rather good. If I had not exercised self restraint, I would have sampled everything on offer. I started with the salad (ahem!) and was rather taken by the rice salad with prawns and cold beef with couscous (at least that's what I thought it was). And I went for seconds because it was so good.

Breads to go with soup. Forgot to take picture of soup.

Cold salad of rice and prawns. The prawns were very fresh and had a nice crunch.

Cold salad of beef and couscous with vegetables. There was no card to indicate the name of the dish so I just assume.

I think these are spring rolls.
Tauhu sumbat. 

Chicken wings.

Shepard's pie. I tried a small bit but it was too cheesy for me.

Crispy fried chicken.

Vegetarian beehoon.

Fried rice.

Chillies to go with noodles or rice. They were lucky I did not eat the noodles or rice. Or else they will run out of chillies.

Curry laksa. Very dainty portions.

The curry gravy. Very rustic, they served the whole pot as is.

Rojak buah. Usually I would go for this.

And now for the desserts!

Fruits, healthy but not my favorite.

These are more like it!

Chocolate cake.

Sago, mango and coconut milk with gula Melaka. Very nice!

Custard with lychee. Also very nice!

This one had orange cake at the botton and I think the topping is cream cheese. 

This was what I had for dessert. I just had to sample all. They were delicious but I think my chocolate cake is better than this one (ahem!).

Polished my second helping of desserts. Yes, second helping. I am the epitome of "mong siak, mong pui" a phrase I learnt from suituapui.
Almost ate the pandan decoration.

Voting in progress. Resolution to increase annual subscription passed. Sigh....

And that's not all. On Sunday I had a scrumptious lunch at El Cerdo. The lunch for two cost me a little over RM200, much more than what I would normally be willing to pay when dining out. However, this is not the sort of food I get to eat every day, every week or even every month (we accountants are a prudent lot). I do this only once in a blue moon. I would say that it was well worth the money spent as the food was excellent.


The piggy greets us at the entrance. El Cerdo in Spanish means The Pig.
Appetizer of bread and some kind of mashed meat. Sorry photo is not clear.
The BBQ grilled ribs were excellent. Juicy and tender. Very big serving too.

The paella was to die for. So delicious!
I must buy a paella pan like this one.

Tiramisu for dessert. It comes in a platter of two servings. Forgot to take photo before serving, too excited. The yellow blob is the mango sauce.

If you haven't been to El Cerdo and want to experience nose to tail eating, this is the address :

El Cerdo
43 & 45 Changkat Bukit Bintang
50200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : (03) 2145-0511


23 comments:

  1. Wa, PH, AGM got such good food ah? Thats a million times better than the measly spread provided by the Bar Council AGM ( lawyers) that my hubby attends! Got nice food, sapu lah, i would too :) El Cerdo looks good, thanks for the reveiw, another new place on my list to try.

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    1. Esther, from what I heard, some of the public listed companies also provide a good spread at AGMs. Lots of retirees who are shareholders go to the AGM for the buffet. Good idea, isn't it? Do try El Cerdo, the food is really good. And if you order the roast pork, they will introduce you to a Spanish tradition whereby you make a wish and then smash a plate.

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  2. so many choice still say limited? LOL.

    If me, I would end up snoring in the AGM :p

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    Replies
    1. ...snoring due to over eating :p

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    2. LOL! I didn't snore, surprisingly. Very excited to vote against fee increase but undi kalah :(

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  3. From the first photo, I thought you are baking up a storm of food! Every food is so hard to resist, isn't it? You must have enjoyed eating all those yummy delicious food.

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    1. Oh yeah, looks like I baked so many desserts. Mel, I enjoyed the food. Luckily I ate a lot because the AGM lasted from 12pm to 4:30pm :)

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  4. Replies
    1. Ola, you like laksa! Wow, since you like Asian cooking I guess it is no surprise :)

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  5. So much food to sample at the AGM. I've heard that some generous public listed companies do have a good buffet spread at their AGM for their shareholders, especially if the companies had a bountiful year of profits.

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    1. Oh yes, they do, Cheah. That's to keep their shareholders happy :)

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  6. Hi Phong Hong, wow... so much food, all look delicious and mouthwatering. But I prefer the dessert more than the main course. I would grab the tiramisu first. LOL

    Have a nice day, regards.

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    1. Amelia, agreed! Can just eat desserts and be happy :)

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  7. paiseh, never know you are an Accountant, mesti pandai kira-kira, hehehe..If i were the one eat those desserts you had, my blood pressure sure shooting very high, hahaha..

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    1. Sonia no need to paiseh lah.... Hah! Hah! Hah! You are very funny, make me laugh.

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  8. Wow! Love that spread...especially all those pretty desserts! You had a delicious weekend :)

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    1. Lizzy, indeed I had a sinfully delicious weekend! All that adds up to more weight gain, but who cares right?

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  9. That's a lot of food, accountant gal... no wine?

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    Replies
    1. Oh no, they don't want us getting tipsy at the meeting :)

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  10. Yes, those are definitely spring rolls. Like all the desserts that you picked! I bet you must be saving your tummy for the dessert on that night, that's what I normally do, hahaha!

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    1. Jessie, I always save space for dessert! That is the highlight of any buffet to me :)

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  11. Istana? Oooo...high class, eh? The spread looks good... Ah! Shepherd Pie! Have not made that for a while now...must get down to that sometime. Hehehehehe!!!!

    A pig? Nobody objected to that? I guess that's not at the hotel so it's non-halal. Oooo...over RM200 for two!!! @.@!!! Never mind, accountants are rich... Hehehehehe!!!!

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    1. Arthur, not all accountants are rich :( That sneaky looking pig was at El Cerdo and not at the hotel :) Once in a while I don't mind splashing a bit for good food that I can't cook at home. Now I have to fill up my piggy bank for the next session. We accountants are good at saving money :)

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