el cerdo
Before I begin, I must apologise to my Muslim readers, this is going to be a non-halal post. And to my vegetarian readers too. Minta maaf, ya.
For the rest, let me tell you about El Cerdo.
"Come join us for porkies on Saturday night!" invited Serena.
Porkies?
Ok, I'm game for a little pork for dinner.
We met up with a few other friends at El Cerdo (which means "the pig" in Spanish). I didn't know what to expect at this restaurant, I thought it was going to be just another place serving some pork chops with chips and salad.
Boy, was I wrong.
The first thing that met my eyes was this bright, red sign that boasts "El Cerdo - Pork Specialties from the West". At the bottom a cute little round sign - which I took it symbolise a pig's snout - had "Porkielicious Dishes" on it. Ah. More than just pork chops, eh?
The ambience is nice and cosy; warm lighting, walls decorated with pictures and drawings of adorable piglets, and nice, big tables with lots of elbow space. I was taken in with the place at once. I didn't snap any photos of the restaurant, however, since I didn't want people to think me as a pork-paparazzi or something.
I let my friends - Serena, Andrew, Eric and Veron - do the ordering since they'd been there before and knew what was hot and what was not. Moreover, I was distracted by a hanging ornament of carved pigs with wings, with little feathers as tails that twirled as the air-conditioner blew in their direction. If pigs could fly indeed.
I was so busy chatting with my friends, I didn't know what we had ordered until the first appetizer came along. I had snapped a portion of their menu to remind myself of the names of a few dishes, but unfortunately I didn't catch the names for these three starters:
This dish is had shredded pork that was cooked a little bit like how the Malays cook serunding (meat floss). You could opt to eat it just like that, or even better, with some bread. Tastes absolutely delicious! My mouth is watering just remembering how the saltiness of the meat tickled my taste buds.
The rolls were served with guacamole salsa, similar to how nachos are usually served, minus the sour cream.
We had another starter - yummy, spicy sausages with bacon. This one's quite garlic-ky too, but not too much until it overshadows the spicy flavour. The bacon is fried till crispy; I do so loved crunching down on them!
For the main course, we had:
- Marinated & Seasoned Pork Shoulder Steak -
Apparently, this pork shoulder is marinated for 48 hours with paprika, herbs, onions, garlic and mild dijon mustard. Very, very tasty! Not over-cooked, hence none of the toughness you might've anticipated.
- Puerco en Mole Poblano -
Pork in Mexican chilli and chocolate sauce. I know what might be running through your mind right now - chocolate sauce for cooking? I was a little sceptical at first, but was willing to give it a go. The chunks of meat were cooked till tender, and the chocolate sauce gave it a very distinct taste, not exactly sweet yet not quite salty either. Sort of savoury, chocolaty, sweet all mixed together to become a very unique flavour.
I totally forgot to take a picture of two dishes until it was all gone, ha-ha! These two were:
- Ong's Steak -
Another marinated pork shoulder steak, this time cooked with bacon, a slice of smoked ham on top, onion, garlic and baked with cheese. We asked the chef Werner J Kuhn, a German, why he called it such. He said that his friend Ong came into his restaurant one day and wanted to eat something, but didn't know exactly what to chew on. Werner then cooked up this lovely creation for his friend, thus named Ong's Steak.
- Hickory Smoked BBQ Pork Ribs -
Grilled in spices, fine herbs, chutney and rum. Nice, but somehow I prefer the ones served at the Rib Shop at Damansara Heights.
Needless to say, we were all porked-out after eating all that meat (well, at least I was). But being the gluttons we were, we just had to order dessert to finish off the meal.
Check out our Baked Apple with Cream Caramel. The apple's not too sweet, baked till soft, divine with ice cream.
And an absolute must-have: Chocolate Terrine, served with vanilla sauce and mint ice cream. Imagine this - a nice chocolate slice, more firm than mousse yet softer than a block of chocolate, instantly melts in your mouth, and together with the mint ice cream it's almost like eating after-dinner mint chocs. Except a hundred times better!
I'd recommend this place to any of my non-Muslim, non-vegetarian friends & readers. The meat is never tough, always tender, and doesn't have any of that "sou mei" (overly meaty taste). If you're not a fan of pork, they do serve other meat like lamb. Call them for reservations, they're really, really packed!
52 Jalan Tengkat Tong Shin, Kuala Lumpur
Phone: 03-2145 0511
Babe in the City also did a review on El Cerdo. Read about it here!
Technorati: food
For the rest, let me tell you about El Cerdo.
"Come join us for porkies on Saturday night!" invited Serena.
Porkies?
Ok, I'm game for a little pork for dinner.
We met up with a few other friends at El Cerdo (which means "the pig" in Spanish). I didn't know what to expect at this restaurant, I thought it was going to be just another place serving some pork chops with chips and salad.
Boy, was I wrong.
The first thing that met my eyes was this bright, red sign that boasts "El Cerdo - Pork Specialties from the West". At the bottom a cute little round sign - which I took it symbolise a pig's snout - had "Porkielicious Dishes" on it. Ah. More than just pork chops, eh?
The ambience is nice and cosy; warm lighting, walls decorated with pictures and drawings of adorable piglets, and nice, big tables with lots of elbow space. I was taken in with the place at once. I didn't snap any photos of the restaurant, however, since I didn't want people to think me as a pork-paparazzi or something.I let my friends - Serena, Andrew, Eric and Veron - do the ordering since they'd been there before and knew what was hot and what was not. Moreover, I was distracted by a hanging ornament of carved pigs with wings, with little feathers as tails that twirled as the air-conditioner blew in their direction. If pigs could fly indeed.
I was so busy chatting with my friends, I didn't know what we had ordered until the first appetizer came along. I had snapped a portion of their menu to remind myself of the names of a few dishes, but unfortunately I didn't catch the names for these three starters:
This dish is had shredded pork that was cooked a little bit like how the Malays cook serunding (meat floss). You could opt to eat it just like that, or even better, with some bread. Tastes absolutely delicious! My mouth is watering just remembering how the saltiness of the meat tickled my taste buds.
The rolls were served with guacamole salsa, similar to how nachos are usually served, minus the sour cream.
We had another starter - yummy, spicy sausages with bacon. This one's quite garlic-ky too, but not too much until it overshadows the spicy flavour. The bacon is fried till crispy; I do so loved crunching down on them!
For the main course, we had:
- Marinated & Seasoned Pork Shoulder Steak -
Apparently, this pork shoulder is marinated for 48 hours with paprika, herbs, onions, garlic and mild dijon mustard. Very, very tasty! Not over-cooked, hence none of the toughness you might've anticipated.
- Puerco en Mole Poblano -
Pork in Mexican chilli and chocolate sauce. I know what might be running through your mind right now - chocolate sauce for cooking? I was a little sceptical at first, but was willing to give it a go. The chunks of meat were cooked till tender, and the chocolate sauce gave it a very distinct taste, not exactly sweet yet not quite salty either. Sort of savoury, chocolaty, sweet all mixed together to become a very unique flavour.
I totally forgot to take a picture of two dishes until it was all gone, ha-ha! These two were:
- Ong's Steak -
Another marinated pork shoulder steak, this time cooked with bacon, a slice of smoked ham on top, onion, garlic and baked with cheese. We asked the chef Werner J Kuhn, a German, why he called it such. He said that his friend Ong came into his restaurant one day and wanted to eat something, but didn't know exactly what to chew on. Werner then cooked up this lovely creation for his friend, thus named Ong's Steak.
- Hickory Smoked BBQ Pork Ribs -
Grilled in spices, fine herbs, chutney and rum. Nice, but somehow I prefer the ones served at the Rib Shop at Damansara Heights.
Needless to say, we were all porked-out after eating all that meat (well, at least I was). But being the gluttons we were, we just had to order dessert to finish off the meal.
Check out our Baked Apple with Cream Caramel. The apple's not too sweet, baked till soft, divine with ice cream.
And an absolute must-have: Chocolate Terrine, served with vanilla sauce and mint ice cream. Imagine this - a nice chocolate slice, more firm than mousse yet softer than a block of chocolate, instantly melts in your mouth, and together with the mint ice cream it's almost like eating after-dinner mint chocs. Except a hundred times better!
I'd recommend this place to any of my non-Muslim, non-vegetarian friends & readers. The meat is never tough, always tender, and doesn't have any of that "sou mei" (overly meaty taste). If you're not a fan of pork, they do serve other meat like lamb. Call them for reservations, they're really, really packed!52 Jalan Tengkat Tong Shin, Kuala Lumpur
Phone: 03-2145 0511
Babe in the City also did a review on El Cerdo. Read about it here!
Cheers!
Technorati: food
posted by may at 11:20 pm
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