A "Bellygood" Groupon experience

Groupons. They seem to be the current big thing for the consumer, offering special deals at special prices (sorts of makes you wonder how much the normal markup of some of these items actually are). Foodies in particular have been taking advantage of groupons to try out new or pricey establishments at an affordable price and The Foodie Gamer is not different.

A group of friends and I made a visit to Bellygood located at Dataran Mentari, Bandar Sunway today for lunch, courtesy of a Groupon deal. We've been meaning to visit this place for awhile but never had the chance. With their catch line tagging them as "The Pork Lover's Paradise", expectations were definitely high.

As with most groupon deals, the menu was pretty much set with a choice of mains. In our case we would be getting a drink, a soup, a starter, a choice of mains and dessert. It was a nice cozy place and once we had placed our orders our food was delivered after a short wait. I must commend Bellygood on the way they serving course to the whole table at the same time. This is something that is hard to find in Malaysia, as there have been many a time when I have had my main delivered to me the same time as my companion's salad, or had my main delivered to me at the same time as my soup, and lets not mention the times when the soup or starters only arrive at the end of the meal. So kudos to Bellygood for getting that right.

The drink was an Ice Lemon Tea. Not too sweet, which I liked, but was nothing really spectacular.

The cream of mushroom also failed to stand out. Taste was alright, but not as "mushroomy" as I'd like. Also I felt that the bread that accompanied the soup could have done with a little more butter or seasoning.

Next were the starters. We had a plate of pan fried bacon on a bed of greens each. I enjoyed this. This was well cooked bacon. Not bacon fried to within an inch of its life as some places do it, but crispy, flavourful and not too oily. The bed of greens beneath served as a refreshing foil to the bacon.

There were a choice of three mains for each of us to choose from. We had a choice of Grilled Pork Belly, Baby Back Ribs of the Mixed Platter (A combination of Grilled Pork Belly and Grilled Ribs [NOT Baby Back]). Three of us opted for the Baby Back Ribs while the last member of our group opted for the Grilled Pork Belly. The ribs were delicious. The meat was juicy and tender, cooked so that though it held it shape on the plate, it still fell off the bone easily. I generally do not like sauce with my meats because they are usually too sweet or tangy but the one that came with the ribs was just nice. The pork belly was very good as well. Tender, juicy and not at all having that fatty quality that some pork bellies can have. The sides of mashed potatoes and slaw were well done as well. The mashed potatoes in particular were super creamy.

Finally there was dessert. Cinnamon Apples and Ice-Cream. The best way to describe this would be an apple pie ala mode without the pie crust. Apples were very tender and the cinnamon taste was really great. My only criticism would be that the skin was left on the apples and it was not as tender as the rest of the apple. I can only guess that the skin was left on so that the apples would hold their shape during cooking.

Overall this was a very satisfying meal. The mains in particular were awesome and I will definitely return to sample their other fare!

Recipe: Roasted Pork Ribs (Dry Rub)

Making my own roasted pork ribs is something that I've been wanting to try for quite awhile. When it comes to ribs, I'm not a big fan of the "sauced" version that we often get in restaurant. Perhaps it is because I do not like sweetish sauces on my meats and most restaurant ribs are glazed with something sweet. Yesterday with my church's youth ministry in recess, I finally had the time to make my own dry and savoury version of ribs.

Step 1: Preheat the oven

Preheat your oven to 150°C (300°F)

Step 2: Preparing the meat

I went to the market and purchased a 6-bone rack of ribs. I went for normal rack, but the baby back variety works just as well. My rack weighed about 1.2 kilos and cost RM24 (or RM2/kilo).

Tip: If you are using a normal rack like I am, get your butcher to remove the "spine" (the bone that all the ribs are connected to). This will make cutting the ribs up for serving much easier. I did not do that and had a horrid time breaking apart the rack once it was cooked. 

Gently wash your meat with warm water and pat it dry with a paper towel. Then set it aside while you prepare your dry rub.

Step 3: The Dry Rub

The contents of your dry rub really depends on your individual tastes. That been said this is the recipe for the dry rub I used.

1 Tbsp Sea Salt (I recommend reducing this to maybe 1/2 - 3/4 Tbsp as I found mine a little salty)
1 Tbsp Chili Flakes
1 1/2 Tbsp Black Peppercorns
1 Tbsp Sugar (Brown sugar is preferred but normal white sugar will do just fine)
1 Tbsp Dried Thyme
1 Tbsp Dried Italian Herbs
1 tsp Five Spice Powder

I then used a mortar and pestle to pound the spices together till fine. The quantity here was just about right for my rack of ribs so you may use more or less according to the size of the rack you are using.

Tip: You can always make more rub than you need.  Separate the amount you need and store the rest. The rub keeps in definitely and you can use it for chicken, beef, pork or any other meats you plan to cook in the future. That way you won't need to prepare a dry rub each time.

Step 4: Applying the Dry Rub

Place the rack of ribs on a flat area to apply the dry rub. I placed mine on a sheet of aluminum foil for easier clean up.

Put as much dry rub as you think you will need to cover for one side of the rack and then rub it firmly. Turn the rack over and do the same for the other side. Make sure you get the dry rub into all the nook and crannies and cover all of the exposed meat.

Step 5: Cook for One Hour

Place the ribs (bone side down) on a wire rack with a drip pan below. Make sure you have the ribs in the middle of the oven and that the oven is properly preheated.

After an hour the ribs should come out looking like the picture above.  Turn the tray and put the ribs back into the oven. We will now be checking on the ribs every 30 minutes.

Tip: You can place root vegetables and onions in the drip pan to cook along side the ribs, catching all the delicious drippings. However remember you will be cooking the ribs for 2 - 3 hours, so put in your vegetables later or they'll be all dried out by the time you are done.

Step 6: Additional Cooking Time

You will be cooking the ribs for an additional 1 - 2 hours, turning the tray every 30 minutes. (Do not turn the ribs over! Just change the direction of the tray) I cooked my ribs for only an additional 1 hour (total 2 hours cook time) but I have seen a number of recipes that ask you to cook for an additional 2 hours (total 3 hours cook time). My ribs came out fine but perhaps more cook time would make it more "fall of the bone", although I'm wary of drying out the meat.

Once done let the meat sit and rest before cutting it. I waited for about 15 minutes before I did anything with  the ribs. All that's left to do is enjoy!

Tip: If you did not place anything in the drip pan, and there are a fare amount of drippings you can turn that into a sauce by deglazing the pan.

Shiraz and Uncle Cheng's

So we've got a couple of new places on this little food journey today, one Western and one Asian and both in our little pocket of Petaling Jaya. First off, the Western.

Shiraz BBQ & Cafe

My parents and I stumbled on to Shiraz BBQ & Cafe one night while going to one of our usual "makan" spots in SS3. It was just a couple of doors down from our intended destination and we decided to give it a go. We were the only customers and so it was with some trepidation that we sat down for our meal.

The waitress was friendly suggested the Pork Chop, Pork Belly and Mushroom Burger. My dad went for the Pork Chop and I choose the burger. My mum opted for a healthier Salmon Steak. A sucker for side dishes, I also ordered a mushroom soup and their fried calamari. After a short wait and a brief chit chat with the owner (we found out the place had only been open for 2 weeks!) the soup and calamari arrived.

Mushroom Soup @ Shiraz BBQ & Cafe

Fried Calamari @ Shiraz BBQ & Cafe

The soup was nothing special. It was homemade, but I've had better mushroom soups elsewhere. The Fried Calamari however was a revelation. I was expecting some calamari rings deep fried in batter but instead what we got was what you see above. A delicious concoction of calamari fried with a spicy, tangy sauce with green capsicum. The balance of spices was just right and we unanimously agreed that it was something we would definitely order again.

Next came our main courses. They all looked great on the plate but did it taste as good?

Salmon Steak @ Shiraz BBQ & Cafe

First up the Salmon Steak. Nicely grilled and served with a lemon sauce. I felt this was nothing special. The salmon was a bit under seasoned and the sauce was a little bit sweet for my taste, but then again I am not a fan of citrus based sauces. My mum shared my sentiments and didn't really enjoy the salmon all that much.

Pork Chop @ Shiraz BBQ & Cafe

The Pork Chop came served with a homemade apple sauce. The portion was large and it was delicious! The meat was nicely seasoned and it was grilled to perfection. Juicy and tender it had to be the highlight of the meal. My dad thoroughly enjoyed his meal and I was a little bit envious that I didn't pick his choice.

So this was my pick for the night. The Mushroom Burger. You can't see it from this picture but there is a bed of mushrooms underneath that lettuce. The cheese was served cold, so it would melt when the burger was put together. It was a juicy burger and very flavourful. However i would have liked the patty to have been a little denser as the meat was quite loosely packed together. Still it made for an enjoyable meal.

Pork Belly @ Shiraz BBQ & Cafe

Oh?! So what's this? Well I liked Shiraz so much that I paid another visit with a friend a few days after. My friend picked up the Pork Chop and so I decided to go with the Pork Belly. Boy oh boy! I was not disapointed. It was awesome! The sticky sauce complimented the succulent meat perfectly. Tender and juicy this is definitely going on my order again list. My only criticism is that the sauce may have been slightly too strong for my taste.

The prices are not exorbitant either. A main dish will set you back between RM15-RM25 and the portion sizes are value for money. This place may be new but it is already a hit in my books. I hope business picks up so that I can be enjoying its fare for a long time to come.

Next on our list, the Asian.

Uncle Cheng's Special Beef Noodle

My parents told me about Uncle Cheng's and as a sucker for beef noodles with the  added benefit of it being so close to my house, I decided to pay it a visit for lunch today. If you are from the Petaling Jaya area, you will know how much of a pain it actually is to get to this area. The roads leading in are always jammed up and there is only one way in and one way out. So the food better be good if I was going to come back.

The store had a few customers thought it was far from packed. I ordered the recommendation of the "everything in" noodles, which had beef cuts, tripe, tendon, beef balls and beef "char siew" and decided to go with "lai fun" for my noodles. I also had an order of the Tendon Balls.

Beef Noodle @ Uncle Cheng's

Tendon Balls @ Uncle Cheng's

My noodles was supposed to come with a bowl of soup, but because I order the Tendon Balls, it seemed like the just decided to omit that bowl and give me the soup together with the balls. I was told by the owner that I could ask for refills of the soup as well. It looked good and tasted pretty good as well. It wasn't fantastic and it wasn't the best beef  noodles out there, but probably one of the better ones in the Petaling Jaya area.

I didn't think the Beef "char siew" @ dry meat was all that great and would have gladly done without it in favour of more beef brisket. The soup was flavourful and not too oily or heavy, which easily lends itself to second helpings. At a whopping RM8-RM13 per bowl of noodles (mine was RM13), I think it is a little pricey for what it has to offer. I'll probably return once in awhile but for that price I can get better food elsewhere.

LoL - Nautilus - First Impressions

Woo Hoo! It's been awhile. But lets not dwell on that. Instead lets talk about the latest champion to the league -  Nautilus, The Titan of the Depths. Semi affiliated with Bilgewater, this hulking monster that the sea coughed up, boasts what should be the biggest avatar in the game. Someone compared the size to an Alistar carrying another Alistar as a weapon.

Nautilus' Titan's Wrath (W), makes him very tanky, even without too many tank items. The damage buff + splash damage while the shield is on makes him a pain to ignore as well. His main cc ability is Riptide (E), which can deal quite a bit of cc and damage especially in team fights. Dredge Line (Q) is useful for initiating and helping out in movement, but its sort of feels like a weaker Blitzcrank Grab. The ultimate, Depth Charge (R) is targeted and knocks up all heroes it passes through, but doesn't really do too much damage. It does however have a pretty low cool down, 120/100/80 secs. Overall Riptide + Depth Charge + Nautilus' passive can dish out quite abit of cc but is a little low on damage. When Titan's Wrath is up, the damage spikes abit but Nautilus' speed is so slow (move and attack) that you won't be turning too many heads. It is also good to note that between Titan's Wrath and Riptide you can clear minion waves relatively easily once you get a couple of levels in each. Titan's Wrath has a very long cool down though, so don't spam it too much.

That being said, this is my record with Nautilus thus far.

IPlaying him as a tank, I generally go for an early Philosopher's Stone and Heart of Gold. Picking up Mercury's Treads next and usually Aegis of the Legion. After this, I'd suggest getting cooldown reduction (CR) items and other tank items as needed. These were the items I ended up with in the 10/0/13 game with about 3k gold left to spend.

I'd like to try a AP build at some point, rushing Rod of Ages. I also want to try building Warmogs + Atmas or Frozen Mallet + Atmas. Both seem viable, but will need to be tested.

Overall Nautilus is very simillar to Sejuani in terms of what he brings to the plate. Sejuani probably has the better ultimate, but Nautilus can soak up damage better. I personally find him lots of fun to play with and will probably continue to do so for the near future.

The Pros don't think he is all that great but what about the rest of you? Have you tried Nautilus? What's your thoughts?

LoL – Champion Rotation: S1 (Week 40), the Latest Patch, Brand and Free RP

Much later than usual this week, but the League of Legends free champion roster has finally rotated. We will be getting the champions below for the following week, and one suspects probably into tuesday the week after as well.

• Alistar


• Avinia


• Fiddlesticks


• Janna


• Malphite


• Nasus


• Sivir


• Miss Fortune


• Maokai


• Lee Sin

I'm sure many people will like this line up. There are a number of favourites (Fiddle, Malphite, Sivir, Miss Fortune) as well as some heroes that people would love to try out before buying (Alistar, Avinia, Maokai, Lee Sin).  The skill level for this group of heroes is slightly lower  than the previous 2 weeks, and this should make it for less feeding as people try out new heroes (hopefully). I personally am 50-50 on this weeks line up. Though I'm looking forward to trying out Avinia and Maokai, I already own most of the heroes that I would want to play on this list. I've also been rocking Nasus alot and it makes me sad that I'll now have competition to play him.

The latest patch was a massive one. Not only do we have the release of Brand (which I'll touch on below), but we also have tons of balancing tweaks. Many of the Tanky DPS heroes have been nerfed abit, while it seems that many casters, tanky or not have been buffed. I for one am especially glad that Teemo has been nerfed slightly. That little Yordle was much too mobile for his own good! I really hate shrooms!

The items are a mixed bunch, with Wriggle's Lantern getting a buff and a nerf of sorts. I think the change to convert the proc damage to magic, is going to cause junglers more problems than Riot imagines. I like that B.F. Sword has it's cost reduced by 200 gold for a 5 point damage reduction. This is definately going to be a big help to carries, as that cost reduction is going to allow many heroes to pick up the damage boost the sword gives much faster. I don't know why Riot decided to buff Infinity Edge though. It is not as if DPS chars are not already dealing loads of damage with the items as it is. With this buff, it is just going to make a tank's life that much harder, which by default is already a very thankless role.

Now on to Brand. I have managed to have a few games with and against the new fiery, Lich King from DotA wannabe, and these are my initial thoughts. He has high burst damage with a passive that is very Anti-Tank. He is also alot more useful in team battles than in a 1v1 situation. Brand is a hero that excels early to mid game, but doesn't scale as well late game. Team mates will be need to help Brand reap the benefits of his abilites. Smart teams will be able to greatly reduce Brand's effectiveness. I think that heroes like Amumu and Avinia, with AOE crowd control will have great synergy with Brand. Amumu's ultimate followed up by Brand's Pyroclasam ultimate is almost a guaranteed Ace is Amumu catches the whole team. Overall though, I find Brand less overpowered than heroes like Nocturne when he first came out. Not really my kind of hero, but with the free RP from Riot added to the blance RP that I have, I may just pick him up.

Yup. That's right free RP. Riot is giving away 350 RP for free to each player who logged in to the game in the last month to compensate for bad server performance of late. Thank you Riot!

Also looks like 2 new heroes are on the horizon! Rumble and the Monkey King!

Review: Shadow Era

I have been an avid Magic: The Gathering player for many a year, albeit casually. I started playing in the era of Ice Age and 4th Edition, whenIcy Manipulator and Zuran's Orb were awesome and when Shivan Dragons and Serra Angels were the top tier creatures. As such I have a great fondness for trading card games in general. When a friend of mine introduced me to Shadow Era, a browser based trading card game built on the Unity Player, a few months back, it was with much anticipation that I checked it out. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, though the making of a good game was in place, there were still many missing pieces. Certain abilities did not work yet and there were cards that worked with other cards that didn't exist. Needless to say I was not a happy camper.



Recently however, it was brought to my attention that with the latest patches, many of the issues I had with the game previously had been addressed. As such I paid it a visit again and as they say the second time's a charm. The game is more akin to the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game than Magic: The Gathering, borrowing many concepts from Blizzard's TCG option. Each player has a deck which must have a minimum of 30 cards, one of which must be their Hero. There is no upper limit to deck sizes. There are also no "resource" cards or "land" cards ala MTG. Instead a player can choose to sacrifice one of the cards in their hand to add to their resource pool at the beginning of each turn.

There are two factions in the game, Human and Shadow, and the cards in your deck must correspond to the right faction and type your hero is. Heroes gather shadow energy every turn, which some heroes, like Zaladar above, can use to activate abilities. There are a slew of cards which you can add into your deck of which the most popular are allies.



Ally cards are the creatures of the game. They are the ones you will be using to do most of the attacking. They can attack either the opposing hero or other allies. The attacker always deals damage first and if the defending creature is still alive, it gets to retaliate. Allies come in all shapes and sizes and have quite a number of diverse abilities. One ability of note is Defender. An ally with Defender can intercept attacks meant for heroes, taking the damage in their stead. Normally heroes just have to suck up the damage when attacked. Unfortunately as of now, there are no creatures with Defender in game that I know of. There is however an Ability card that grants an ally Defender.



Next come the Ability cards. These cards are pretty much the spell cards in the game. There are abilities that work immediately, while there are others which have the Ongoing property, which means they remain in play continuously generating their effect.



Last but not least are the Item, Armour and Weapon cards. These cards are equipped to the hero and a hero can only have one Armour and Weapon equipped at all times. Items and Armours can provide a bunch of different effects and the benefits they provide can range from card advantage to powering up your allies. Weapons grant a interesting effect. They allow your Hero to attack. This is very good as it provides you a constant source of damage which cannot be easily removed.



Shadow Era is free to play, and has two in game currencies. Crystals and Gold. You gain Gold from winning duels, either against the AI or in PvP. You gain Crystals in small amounts in when you level and at certain milestones, but they can also be purchased with a real money. Gold is the medium of transaction for individual cards, while booster and pre-constructed decks must be purchased with Crystals.



Shadow Era is definately the best browser based TCG that I've seen in a while and I'd recommend you give it a try. Shadow Era can be played at http://shadowera.com and has an app available for the iPhone as well. So you can play it even while you are on the move. I'm looking forward to seeing the advances in this game.

Sushi Tei @ Tropicana City Mall

I haven't had Japanese food in awhile, and when my friend JL (who loves Japanese food) was back in town for her birthday, a few friends and I took the opportunity to try out Sushi Tei in Tropicana City Mall. We went there for lunch where by happenstance we bumped into another friend, which grew our little group from four to five.

Flipping through the menu, reminded me of the toughest decision I always have to make when sitting down for food, "What to order?". There was a pretty healthy selection on the menu which was also supplemented by a lunch set menu. I did however find their selection of beef options a little lacking and was a little disappointed as I was looking to go down that route.  I was tempted by a number of the standard options but decided to try something a little experimental and went for the Onsen Tamago, which is essentially a soft boiled egg in broth, to start, followed by a Kani Ikura Fried Rice.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="Onsen Tamago"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="Kani Ikura Fried Rice"][/caption]

The Onsen Tamago was nice. A perfectly cooked soft boiled egg in some broth. At RM2.50 it wasn't too expensive either. I really liked the Kani Ikura Fried Rice. It was basically garlic fried rice with crab meat, ikura (salmon roe), pickled vegetables and seaweed to top it off. Nice texture and the taste was great with the saltiness and moistness of the ikura complementing the rice. The pickled veggies would have been a star for someone who likes sour components which I am not, but  I liked that it wasn't too sour for me to finish them all. My main issue with the dish would be the use of crab sticks in the rice instead of actual crab meat, which was a major disappointment for me.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="Okosama Sushi"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="Tako Sushi"][/caption]

One of  our little group went for a full sushi meal ordered the Okosama Sushi and Tako Sushi. Lucky for The Foodie Gamer, she doesn't like ebiko and that little morsel found its way into my tummy. My friend really liked  the tako and was sorely tempted to order another, but discipline won out in the end.

The birthday girl as well as the rest of our group all went for the Unagi & Potato Bento Set which came with Cawan Mushi and soup. The quantity was quite substantial on the set and the potatoes which were similar to croquettes, with a soft mash potatoish inside and a crispy exterior was delicious. The Foodie Gamer did not manage to sample the other components of the dish but those who did certainly seemed to be enjoying it.

 

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="Unagi & Bento Set"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="Asama Sashimi"][/caption]

And what Japanese meal would be complete without Sashimi? We went for the Asama Sashimi set which featured three types of fish; Salmon, Tuna and Hamachi in quantities of three, four or five slices. We as you can see went for the five slices. The fish was fresh and the slices were cut thick, and in the case of the tuna slightly too thick. I am not complaining however. I love hamachi and I haven't had it in awhile so this was a real treat.

Then came dessert. Being adventurous we ordered the Nama Matcha Ice Cream and the Chocolate Wafer. This was definately a hit and a miss. The Chocolate Wafer was nice with the vanilla ice-cream with a chocolate center housed in a wafer. Too bad the wafer was not as crispy as we would have liked. The Nama Matcha Ice Cream, was a complete miss. Though the ice-cream itself was tasty, but the powdery outer coating tasted terrible and most at the table would not venture beyond a nibble. One of the group even wanted to spit it out.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="Nama Matcha Ice-Cream"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="Chocolate Wafer"][/caption]

Overall it was an enjoyable meal and a nice experience. Would definitely visit Sushi Tei again, only this time I'll skip the Nama Matcha Ice Cream.