BRYCG @ Off Jalan Ampang, KL

Price Range: A bit on the high side (mains are about  RM25 onwards)

Cuisine: New Orleans favourites

Pork-free

Had one too many Eggs Benedict for brunch already? Change up the mid-morning meal plans with the best of Creole cooking!

Nasi Ulam Cikgu @ Kampung Kraftangan, Kota Bharu

Price Range: Budget

Cuisine: Nasi campur, Kelantanese style

Halal

If lunch doesn’t count to you if rice is not involved, then you’d appreciate this fuss-free eatery famed for rice with ulam and assorted lauk (like the legendary giant keli!)

Classmate Buddy Set @ Ecole P, Damansara Uptown

Update: This restaurant has closed permanently =( 

Price: RM127.20 for this 4-pax set (but you can get it at up to 22%off via KindMeal!)

Cuisine: Fusion

Pork-free

A fun dinner idea: having a primary school-themed meal set served in a space decked out to look like a bilik darjah. 

The evening involved us retrieving cutleries from our Spiderman school bag, and playing lawan pemadam.

Sushi Tei @ Tropicana City Mall

Price Range: A full meal here costs an average of RM50 onwards per person 

Cuisine: Japanese  

Pork-free

Nothing's worse than meal time approaching and you're bombarded with the question, "What to eat?" 

This time around, we let our pocket full of Worthy Book vouchers decide where to head to, and we ended up with a pleasant meal at Sushi Tei =) 

Ko Hyang Korean Country Delights @ 1 Utama

Price Range: Mains are RM15ish and above

Cuisine: Korean

Pork Free

The best thing about having Korean food? The colourful-flavourful meal you're treated to!

Nasi Campur Iga Set @ Waroeng Iga, 1 Utama

When the craving for something wholesome with a spicy twist hits (a highly specific craving but a very real craving nonetheless…), this impressive rice set at the much-loved Indonesian eatery ranks high on our priority list.

Not letting its namesake down, Waroeng Iga is a crowd favourite in 1 Utama for their tender, flavourful Indonesian-style beef ribs (iga)!

Franco @ 1Utama

Price Range : Slightly splurge-y (mains are mostly RM20 and above) 

Cuisine: Japanese-French fusion 

Cat-phobia-Friendly?: Yes 

Pork-free (some dishes have traces of alcohol, which they highlight in the menu)  

Franco has got it going on in this busy street in OU for quite a while now, though some may have known it by its previous label, Miam Miam. We're sincerely glad Franco won the name battle ;) 

Ayam Kampung Publika @ Damansara Perdana

Price Range : Budget

Cuisine : Malay  

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes, despite it being open air!

Halal

We were having this discussion the other day on the ultimate test to see whether someone truly knows you or not: if they can buy you a plate of nasi campur that contains all the lauk you would’ve picked yourself, you’ve got yourself a soul mate!

Anyways, on a slightly unrelated note...for a less daunting nasi campur dining option, check out Ayam Kampung Publika! 

Little Yum Yum @ Kota Damansara

Price Range : Mid-range 

Cuisine : Nyonya

Catphobia Friendly? : Yes
Halal

What started out as a wife's unbridled affection for her husband by learning the intricate ways of Nyonya cooking from her mother-in-law, is now one of the top Nyonya restaurants in town! 

Sukiya @ Kota Damansara

Price Range : Budget 
Cuisine : Japanese (Fast food) 
Recommended For : Casual meals 
Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes 

The bright facade of Sukiya caught out attention and drew us in for dinner a few nights back; welcomed warmly by very Japanese-sounding staff, we stood at the self-service counter and had fond flashbacks of Yoshinoya! 

Veggies Gyudon

Clear Cafe @ Ubud, Bali

Price Range : Mid-range   

Cuisine : Vegan / vegetarian

Recommended For : The cosy space comfortably caters to large parties and intimate dos

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes!

Ubud is a true haven for vegans, and we were frantically trying out as many of the vegan eateries as we could fit into our tight 2-day schedule!

Payuk Bali Cooking Class @ Ubud, Bali

After several days of chomping our way through glorious Balinese dishes, we decided to up it a notch and spend a morning learning what goes into these culinary wonders!

Nasi Beringin @ Menara Mutiara Bangsar

Price Range: Budget

Cuisine: Malay

Recommended For: Nasi campur for the indecisive

Catphobia-Friendly?: Oh yes! 

We never knew such a famed eatery lies hidden in the second-floor food court of Menara Mutiara Bangsar! Lucky for us, we had Malaysia's top food expert to shed light on this hidden delight =) 

Thank you MTS for the awesome suggestion! 

Chutney Mary @ Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar

Price Range : Mid-range   

Cuisine : North Indian 

Recommended For : Family dinners (or with friends; meals here are best shared) 

Catphobia-Friendly? : Oh yes! 

One of the best feelings in the world is finally stepping into a restaurant that you've passed by for years! What makes it even better? When the restaurant exceeds all expectations and delivers a memorable meal =) 

We absolutely loved our dinner at Chutney Mary, which we have the good folks of StarHero to thank for! The dinner was kicked off with the quintessential North Indian starter, Paneer Tikka. Basically firm cottage cheese slices are coated in a light batter and baked in the tandoor. The hint of black cumin seeds provides a delicious dimension to this starter staple. 

Namoo On The Park @ Publika

Price Range : Mid-range   

Cuisine : Korean Fusion, with an interesting Tex-Mex influence

Recommended For : Comfy enough for large parties, yet cozy enough for a date 

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yeap!     

To be completely honest, our affinity for Korean food is still pretty newfound. It’s funny how we used to recoil in fear at the mention of kimchi a few years back, but now we’d travel to the moon and back for a good tub of what is essentially fermented cabbage pickle...

Tweet to Eat at the Nuffnang FoodFest!

Tweet to eat? What a fascinating concept! 

We are stoked about the upcoming Nuffnang FoodFest (#NNFoodFest) happening this October, and can't wait to explore a concept very much new to us: social media currency! Yep, your smartphone is all you need at this wallets-not-required food celebration (might wanna bring along a powerbank though!). 

Intrigued? Save the date: 

Date: 5th of October 2013 (Saturday) Time: 4.00PM – 10.00PM Venue: Blue Atrium, Sunway Pyramid

The food fest will feature a huge array of delicacies, with around 50 food stalls to choose from, for the convenience of its attendees to savour local and international favourites all in one place. Besides tweeting and eating (tweating?), there will also be cooking competitions and food photography workshops to appeal to the fervent foodie. 

We'll keep you updated once we hear more news about the Nuffnang FoodFest, so stay tuned! In the meantime, you can also heead on over to www.nnfoodfest.com for more info. If you're keen to attend, RSVP here! 

Save the date, and we'll see you there! =) 

Ikan Patin Masak Tempoyak @ Restoran Sri TTDI, Shah Alam

Price Range : Budget 

Cuisine : Malay (Nasi Campur) 

Recommended For : An Omega 3-loaded lunch 

Catphobia-Friendly? : Not at all  

A few weekends back, a mild craving for ikan patin was a good enough excuse for us to up and leave to Temerloh for lunch. Having a chronic craving for the fatty freshwater fish on a weekday like today, however, it seems Temerloh is hardly an option.

‘Cahaya Ramadan’ Buffet @ Riverside Restaurant, PWTC

Price Range : Mid-range  

Cuisine : Malaysian       

Recommended For : A good variety of authentic Malaysian flavours   

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes

It’s that time of the year again. With Ramadhan just about to knock on our doors, along comes one of the favourite Malaysian things of the fasting month: Ramadhan buffets.

Sushi Breakfast @ Daiwa-Zushi, Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo

Price Range : Splurge  

Cuisine : Japanese (Sushi)

Recommended For : Finding out how sushi is MEANT to be

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes

Articles after articles about the sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market conclude with a unanimous “You will never see sushi in the same way again.” It is not hard to believe their confident claims, what with Tsukiji Fish Market being the largest seafood market in the world! Where else would you find the freshest, plumpest piece of tuna for breakfast?

Roasted Fatty Salmon with Salmon Roe Donburi @ Ameyoko Street Bazaar, Tokyo

Price Range : Mid-range  

Cuisine : Japanese (Donburi)       

Recommended For : A filling pit-stop to fuel a full-on shopping session  

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes! (No stray cats at all on the streets of Tokyo! Hurrah!)

There are two main reasons why Ameyoko is always packed with pedestrians: 1) it is a haven for budget shoppers and 2) it is a haven for food lovers! Finding ourselves fitting comfortably in both categories, we took the train to Ueno to witness and savour first-hand this highly-recommended street bazaar.