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!