Eastern's Brasserie at Eastern Hotel, Ipoh.

We fell in love with Eastern's Brasserie after trying out their set lunch. Their set lunch ranges from RM11 to RM18 (if I remembered correctly) nett - truly value for money. The set lunch comes with :

soup of the day

main dish of your choice

dessert

iced lemon tea with sour plum

Grilled chicken mango - RM11 nett

Every part of the dish is lovinly tended to - the greens come with dressing, and the plate is nicely decorated.

Grilled chicken with tumeric sauce - RM14 nett

Dessert

Apart from our set lunch, we ordered a freshly brewed coffee, served with fresh milk, brown sugar and two pieces of biscuits.

Freshly brewed coffee - RM4

The ambience is very good, with white coloured tables and chairs, that are discreetly spaced, insulating patrons from the conversations at other tables.

Service was good, staff were polite and cheerful. Portion is just nice, definitely not those huge portion where you leave the greens and half of the fries untouched. That's why we still have rooms for coffee.

We will definitely come back to try the other two main dishes of the set lunch. Ohya, if some of your family members do not go western, there is an oriental set - try their nasi kampung set.

Address : Eastern Hotel,118, Jln Sultan Idris Shah, 30000 Ipoh, Malaysia

Tel : 05-2549847

Business hours : 12:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Thank You

To students who clean the bio teaching lab,

In sincere appreciation of your valuable help, please accept my respect and gratitude.

The lab smells nicer now =)

Garlic bread

When you dine in restaurant and order cream of mushroom, they serve with crispy tasty garlic bread right? You savour every bite of that garlic bread and praise how good it complemented the soup. Now you can make your own crispy tasty garlic bread at home.

Garlic Bread

(serves 2)

Ingredients

6 pieces of bread

3 cloves of garlic

3 tbsp of butter

salt

white pepper powder

dried pasley (optional)

Methods

1. Fine-chop garlic and mix well with butter.

2. Spread the paste onto bread.

3. Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly on bread.

4. Sprinkle pasley.

5. Bake at 120 degree untill the bread turn golden.

6. Serve immediately.

Carbonara Spaghetti

Bored of eating rice everyday? Craving for pasta? Tempted to try out speghetti with cream sauce? Here's a very easy recipe - carbonara spaghetti.

Carbonara Spaghetti
(serves 4)

Ingredients
Spaghetti (enough for 4)
1 can of Prego carbonara mushroom pasta sauce (blue)
1 small bowl of chicken meat (chicken breast, cut into strips)
Bacon (few pieces, cut into strips)
1 medium bowl of Ayamas chicken cocktail sausage (cut into slant)
5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

Marinate chicken strips with
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper powder

Methods
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add 1/2 tsp and salt and few drops of olive oil.
2. Cook spaghetti until al dent. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok and saute garlic till fragrant.
4. Add in chicken strips and bacon, saute till fragrant.
5. Add in cocktail sausages and stir-fry for a while.
6. Pour in the pasta sauce and 1/2 small bowl of water, simmer for a while.
7. Toss in the spaghetti, mix well with the sauce.
8. Serve hot.

Sambal kacang botol

Kacang botol is also known as winged bean. It is a cheap and good stuff - 50 cents of kacang botol from TESCO is enough for the following recipe.

Sambal Kacang Botol

(serves 2)

Ingredients

Kacang botol (cut into slants)

6 prawns (shelled and deveined)

Sambal (simplified version) - blend the following

2 red chilis

2 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp of dried shrimp

Seasoning

Salt to taste

Methods

1. Heat oil in a wok, stir fry sambal until fragrant.
2. Add in prawn to stir fry.

3. Pour in beans, add a bit of water to make the dish moist.

4. Sprinkle salt and serve.

Instant Noodles - the yummy way

I always like to have instand noodles the way they were served in commercial advertisement, or like what is seen at the packaging - with lotsa side dishes. Plain instant noodles are dull and artificial. By adding few ingredients into the noodles, you gain more nutrients instead of just plain carbohydrates and fats.

Instant Noodles - the yummy way

(serves 2, for breakfast)

Ingredients

1 packet of instant noodles (XL size)

a handful of cut sawi

1 stalk of spring onion

1 egg

Methods

1. Bring water to boil in a pot.

2. Put instant noodles and sawi into the boiling water.

3. Crack the egg into the pot.

4. Boil till noodles soften, off the fire.

5. Add seasonings (from the packet) and spring onion.

6. Serve immediately.

Fried rice

When you have left-over rice in the fridge, the easiest way to prepare your next meal will be fried rice.

Fried Rice

(serves 2)

Ingredients

rice, enough for 2
8 medium prawns (appendages trimmed)

1/3 yellow capsicum (diced)

1/3 green capsicum (diced)

1/3 carrot (diced)

1 stalk of spring onion (chopped)

2 eggs

3 cloves of garlic

Seasoning

salt and pepper to taste OR

a packet of "nasi goreng kampung" seasoning

Methods

1. Heat the wok and saute garlic until fragrant.

2. Stir-fry prawn, follow by capsicums and carrots.

3. Set the ingredients at the side of the wok, fry eggs, sprinkle salt.

4. Pour in rice and seasonings. Fry till rice is coated evenly with seasonings.

5. Sprinkle spring onion and serve.