Editor’s Note: November 2015


October has been one of my favourite months of the year (the other being my birthday month of course!) for the past two (2) years because of the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival (MIGF) which runs throughout the month. This year was the 15th instalment of the annual event, and I was very blessed to be invited by seven (7) restaurants to review their MIGF 2015 menus.
You can read about all my reviews here:
Dynasty Chinese Restaurant at Renaissance Hotel Kuala Lumpur – https://timchew.net/2015/09/30/migf-2015-review-dynasty-chinese-restaurant/
Soleil Modern European Restaurant – https://timchew.net/2015/10/09/migf-review-soleil-modern-european-restaurant/
Qba at The Westin Kuala Lumpur – https://timchew.net/2015/10/09/migf-2015-qba-at-the-westin-kuala-lumpur/
The Oak Room at Nexus, Bangsar South – https://timchew.net/2015/10/10/migf-2015-the-oak-room-at-nexus-bangsar-south/
Nerovivo – https://timchew.net/2015/10/11/migf-review-nerovivo/
Minori Japanese Restaurant at the Royale Chulan Hotel at The Curve – https://timchew.net/2015/10/13/migf-2015-minori-japanese-restaurant/
Maison Francaise – https://timchew.net/2015/11/05/migf-2015-review-maison-francaise/
So which was my fav of the lot? Well Nerovivo was the most value for money, while Soleil was memorable for the sheer amount of ingredients and flavours in all the courses, and Maison Francaise for their sheer finesse. Generally all the restaurants were pretty good and I enjoyed the beef at Qba, the suckling pig skin at Dynasty, the fish at Oak Room, and the sashimi at Minori. Everyone seemed to have elevated their menus this year which is really great for diners!
With all the good food, my waistline expanded a bit but fortunately BTL Aesthetics and Alainn Clinic in Kelana Jaya arranged a series of Vanquish Me fat reduction sessions to stave off the effects of eating so much rich and good food.
You can read about that here https://timchew.net/2015/10/25/visit-to-alainn-clinic-part-1-introduction/ and there will be more posts to follow as I detail my Vanquish treatment journey.
So what’s coming up this month?
There is the TLC Festival happening on 22 November 2015.

 
Travel and lifestyle channel TLC brings its TLC Festival to Malaysia for the first time on 22 November 2015 from 2:00 p.m. at Setia City Park at Setia Alam. There will be a wide variety of artisanal fare from the numerous food trucks, live music from local jazz act Grooving, and many fun activities – from riding in a hot air balloon and rock climbing to picking up tips at a grooming session and snapping photos at a trick art booth. There will also be face painting and a bouncy castle to entertain the kids, and opportunities to win exciting prizes.
The pretty Janet Hsieh, host of TLC’s Fun Taiwan franchise, will be at the festival for a meet and greet with fans, while girls and ladies will surely be happy to see Tom and Henry Herbert from TLC’s The Fabulous Baker Brothers, in their stage segment. Restauranteur and popular food blogger Erwan Heussaff will also be demonstrating some easy-to-do recipes. 
Jojo Struys, from TLC’s Jojo’s Diary of Asia, will entertain festival goers with a special tap dancing performance. Those would like to learn some simple moves can step right up for a tutorial with the multi-talented host, who is an advanced rhythm tapper. 
 

 
The TLC Festival is presented by Watsons Malaysia which will be having their Move Your Body Zumba activity led by renowned Zumba fitness instructor Deno Au. The Watsons Move Your Body Zumba campaign created history when it broke the Malaysia Book of Records for the Largest Participation in a Zumba event held this year in Penang. The Zumba activity at TLC Festival 2015 promises to be one of the highlights as visitors can dance to popular tunes of Zumba for 45 minutes.
Watsons and its participating partners such as L’Oreal, Maybelline, Garnier for Men, Gatsby, Sunplay, Horley’s, Bad Lab, Sexylook, Good Virtues Co.,Hair Craze, Naturals by Watsons, Pure Beauty and Water 360 by Watsons will also be at the festival offering visitors exciting deals at the Watsons Lifestyle Zone. With a minimum purchase of RM30.00 you get a choice of complimentary make over or rock climbing where you can win more goodies by completing the climb. With purchase of RM80.00 and above, you get to go on the Watsons hot air balloon ride.
Purchase the TLC Festival voucher at RM10.00 from all Watsons stores in the Klang Valley and receive a RM10.00 cash voucher PLUS goodies worth RM20.00, a free makeover, and qualify for a lucky draw to win prizes worth RM10,000.00 (all items are fully redeemable only at the TLC Festival 2015).
For more information on Watson’s involvement in the TLC Festival, head over to www.watsons.com.my/tlcfestival2015
The event is open to all and admission is free. This will be a rain or shine event so remember to bring your umbrellas and ponchos. For updates on TLC Festival Malaysia, visit www.tlcfestival.com
 

 
And for those of you who will be in South Korea later this month, the Cafe Dior in the House of Dior which is located in the Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu district in Seoul will be launching their Autumn Winter 2015 menu from mid-November. The new menu will include this very tantalising signature dessert.
 Délire Délice
The Délire Délice –Infiniment Praline Noisette is the first in a series of Haute Couture creations to appear on the menu at the Café Dior by Pierre Hermé. “Délire Délice”is made with choux pastry, smooth hazelnut cream, caramelised hazelnuts, praline ice cream and hazelnut praline sauce, and is what Pierre Hermé describes as “a complete transformation of the Paris Brest”.
In case you were wondering what the House of Dior in Seoul looks like, well take a look at this video.
 

 
I also attended the SAMADHI Carnival on Thursday, 29 October. The event featured over 100 wines from 31 wineries and 23 winemakers and over 60 sampling dishes from SAMADHI’s 6 restaurants. Malaysia’s celebrity chef, Chef Wan made an appearance and gave a cooking demonstration to guests.
 
                                                                
 
The SAMADHI Carnival was sponsored by Straits Wines Company and Carlsberg. Proceeds of the auction were be given to Ma’ Daerah Turtle Sanctuary in Malaysia and Elephant Parade in Thailand.
More info at http://www.tamarindrestaurants.com/tamarind-springs.html