CNY Day 1 Lunch @ Marta's Kitchen

So. After the big makan the previous evening, my brother and I took our parents to Marta's Kitchen for lunch the following day.

To be on the safe side, I made reservations. Who knows, after so much Chinese food, people might flock here for something different, right? hah..hah..

So we looked at the menu. Then something caught my eye.

The photo of the Basque Cheesecake looked terribly familiar. My eyesight is no good, so I asked my brother to read the watermark on the photo.

Phong Hong Bakes & Cooks! Eh? My photo lah! Well, well, Marta hmmm.... It's OK. As long as my watermark is still intact, it's fine by me. I am not a famous person, so maybe this could be publicity for me hah...hah...

I also discovered earlier that Says.com also used my photo. My photography skills must have improved by leaps and bounds wahahaha!!

So anyway. My parents let us do the ordering. After looking through the many many items, and finding it very difficult to decide, I saw this.

Please note that I took this from the internet and prices have since been revised.

The Tabla Mixta (RM350.00). I thought it might be a good idea since we were having trouble deciding what to order. We also ordered the Paella Valenciana.

For drinks, coffee for my brother and I and iced lemon tea for our parents. We were served some warm crusty bread and olive oil with Balsamic vinegar as appetizer.

And then the Tabla Mixta was brought to the table. It was huge!

Lets's see what's in there according to the menu.

Iberico Pork, Txogitxu Sirloin (done medium rare)...

... Suckling Lamb Chops (buried under the greens)....

... Tiger Prawns (???) (they were very tiny), Deep Fried Squid....

... fries, Iberico Ham and some slices of cheese.

At the center of the platter were mayo, roasted peppers (I noted these were chilled) and a tomato based dip.

My dad was not eating much, claiming that he was still full from the reunion dinner. My mum was clearly not very impressed with the food, though being a good sport she ate some. 

To be honest, I was not hungry at full capacity (surprise, surprise) and I myself may have been underwhelmed by the experience. But still, my brother and I ate with gusto as we always do. 

The items I did not enjoy in the platter were the lamb chops (though tender, they were gamey), the Iberico Ham (the smell was too strong for me) and of course the cheese (I tried  only a small bit). 

The paella was as good as before but we were too stuffed to fully appreciate it.

But still....

heh..heh... A slice of the Basque Cheesecake and...

... Churros with melted chocolate (which tasted very much better than the one we had on our first visit).

With such a heavy lunch, I skipped dinner that evening. And with the benefit of hindsight, it's best to take the parents to eat food that they are familiar with but at least mum (whose palate is more versatile than Dad's) satisfied her curiosity about Marta's Kitchen.