Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels: Sea Food

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Saturday, January 28, 2023

YummY! - David: Grilled Galician Octopus

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YummY!

Jotaro's Food Review

Grilled Galician Octopus @ Cafe-Bistrot David

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - December 2022

Our 2019 cycling tour in Portugal & Spain was an eye opener for us - it exposed us to the colourful, variety of the countries' cities and country side, the diversity of it's people and culture, AND also to it's mouth-watering and appetizing food, among which were some that were not so easily available in our home country of Malaysia such as the grilled octopus we had in Lisbon where it's called Polvo Grelhado.

So it was with much excitement & anticipation when we found out that Cafe-Bistrot David have opened up a Bar X Grille at the first floor of their restaurant! And with this addition they have also revamped their menu!

And guess what? Included there is something my eyes zoomed into immediately - Grilled Spanish Galician Octopus! Though not from Portugal it's from Galicia, that part of Spain just north of Portugal where cooking style would have some similartiy and the octopus will be of the Atlantic Octopus variety!

But before we start on the eight-legged delight, some starter first -

It was just the two of us, but we went for the generous Sourdough Bread Basket that came with French Butter with Pecorino Cheese & their self-made Citrus Preserve. I love their French Butter and always asks for second. With that and the two spread we slowly savoured this simple but good starter.

To complement the bread, we ordered another of my favourite - their Shrimp & Crab Bisque. The price of this have almost doubled compared to that of the previous menu. But, surprise, SURPRISE! The helping is unsparing and enough to serve two persons, and in fact they provide two smaller bowls just for that. Soon we were slowly sipping this delectable soup and every once a while dipped a sourdough bread into it - that goes well too.

Other than the quantity, their serving style have changed. The prawns, clams, crab meat with a topping of Ikura was presented in a dry bowl; I guess this is to ensure their flavour are retained and not sipped into the soup prematurely.

The soup broth is then "ceremoniously" poured onto them. It is a good combo, the broth with it's own zing added to the fresh seafood AND with each bite into the Ikura a jet of sea essence flows onto our palate.

And here comes the pièces de résistance, the Grilled Galican Octopus (Pulpo a la parrilla). with one large octopus tentacle curled up like a finger calling out a welcome!

It is beautifully grilled; nicely browned on the the outside and served on a Yuzu Vinaigrette dressing. It exuded a good burnt aroma .....

..... with white tempting inner cuts.

Octopus & squids are not easy to cook, often most of us get it wrong and the meat turns out rubbery and difficult to bite into.

But surprisingly, it cooking them longer in a slow, i.e. confit cooking in oil or water. The most basic way of cooking octopus is to simmer it in liquid. Fill a saucepan with salted water and bring to the boil. Add the octopus, reduce the heat immediately and simmer gently for 45–60 minutes. It's important that the water is turned down to a gentle simmer once the octopus is in the pan. Cooking it too quickly will result in a rubbery texture.

Here's a recipe on get the perfectly grilled octopus.

David's have done it very nicely, it was easy to bite into and the grilled exterior complemented the fleshy inside very well. And marinating with a Ras el hanout, spice mix have made it all the better - we slowly savoured it bite by bite. Hah! even looking at this photo again has made me drool!

The dish came with Celery & Leek Salad, & Yuzu.

To go with the food, some Australian James Squire One Fifty Lashes Pale Ale, good for whipping up our appetite!

Below are David's Menu:

(Click on photo for enlarged view)
(items & pricing in are at time of this blog and are subject to service charge & government taxes)

David's Bistrot Food Menu - Pies Burger Sandwiches Brittany Cuisine.

David's Bistrot Food Menu - Entrees, Salad & Soup

(Click here for online David's Food Menu)

David's Bistrot Food Menu - Pasta Mains Desserts

(Click here for online David's Food Menu)

Do look out for their Blackboard menu that are "Inspirations from in-season market availabilities".

David's Bar X Grille Food Menu (Located at first floor)

(Click here for online David's Bar X Grille Menu)

David's Beverages Menu

(Click here for online David's Wine & Cocktail Menu)

___________________________________________________________________________

CAFE-BISTROT DAVID
135, Jalan Aminuddin Baki, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +60 3-7732 0332
Hours: 11:00am-4:00pm & 6:00pm-10:00pm (Closed on Mondays)

Click here to make a reservation.

GPS & Directional Map: 3.15311, 101.62189

(Click here for Google Street View)

David's Food Menu.

David's Bar X Grille Menu.

(The Grill is at the first floor)
David's Wine & Cocktail Menu.
David's Take-away Menu.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CafeBistrotDavid

Website: http://www.cafe-david.com/

Instagram: cafebistrotdavid_bargrilldavid

___________________________________________________________________________________

Related / Similar Blogs:

Cafe-Bistrot David: Good Food From An Old Friend

It's "A Celebration of Good Food - Hearty, Sumptous and Real" But then it celebrates even more than that.

Portuguese Grilled Octopus (Polvo grelhado) @ Restaurante Bacalhau Lisbon

Grilled octopus should not be missed when in Portugal, and Bacalhau serves one of the better ones.

Cycling Europe 2019 Day 15: Zuheros To Alcala La Real - Cold In The Highlands

A cold but beautiful ride along the Vias Verde in Zuheros before we proceeded to Alcala la Real, an even colder place... Brrrr!

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Tuesday, March 24, 2020

YummY! - Giant Seafood Platter @ Grandma Restaurant Sasaran Selangor (奶奶海鲜餐厅)

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / FootSteps / YummY! / Chinese Food / Giant Seafood Platter @ Grandma Restaurant Sasaran Selangor (奶奶海鲜餐厅)
YummY!

Jotaro's Food Review

As I sit at home to write this blog about a meal we had almost nine months ago, the world is facing a dangerous pandemic, the Covid-19. To help slow down the spread of this pandemic & have it eradicated, I am STAYING HOME and not going out unless really necessary.
Stay Safe, my friends.

Giant Seafood Platter @ Grandma Restaurant Sasaran Selangor (奶奶海鲜餐厅)

Jeram, Selangor, Malaysia - June 2019
We were on a cycling group ride from Ijok to Pantai Remis in coastal Selangor. These regular group rides to different destinations are usually organized by two teachers ("cikgus" in Malay language). I try to help out in their organizing by arranging for FB notifications of the ride, and also arranging for meals. For this ride, I was at a bit of lost of where to have lunch when the kindly Cikgu Chin suggested Restoran Grandma in Jeram.
Since there was a big group of over fifty of us, I called up to make reservations and spoke to Ms. Chris and also requested for recommendations. This restaurant is located in the coastal belt of Selangor, and one can expect good seafood at reasonable prices. I was expecting her to recommend some good fishes and other usual seafood dishes, but she surprised me by recommending just one dish. Yup just ONE dish, she confirmed; and directed me to their FB page to see what it's like. I went helter-skelter to their page and liked what I saw, yes it's just one dish..... but it IS a HUGE, giant platter almost a metre across (see photo above)!

Grandma Restaurant is located at Kuala Sungai Buluh on the outskirts of Jeram and sits within a ramshackle but cozy timber building that stands on stilts overhanging the mouth of the Sungai Buloh river.

The surrounding area is a mangrove swamp, and some of the trees have grown quite tall with many egrets coming to roost and nest.

DISH 1: We kicked of with a seafood soup made from a combo of prawns, pomfrets, flower crabs and some clams. Only a little embellishments were added - some slices of ginger and a sprinkling of coriander - which was better as then the pure essence of the sea-food came come out.

The serving in an aluminium bowl was a bit misleading, it made the dish looked simple. But don't be misled, there were a lot of oohs and aahhs as we downed the soup, and then "attacked" the prawns and crabs!

Aaaaaaannnnnnd.... Here comes the GIANT PLATTER!

It's a huge platter holding seven dishes. Usually it's eight dishes as the seafood soup is usually served together and put on this giant tray too. They had served us the soup earlier as many of us were already hungry from our cycling. It's a heavy load, the waiter serving this must really have very strong arms.
Our cycling buddies, didn't realized the food will be served this way, and when the platters were brought out, their grins showed that they were pleasantly surprised.

Okay, let's run through those dishes.
But first a disclaimer - some of the photos are not that clear; the platter was huge and unlike a normal small tray, could not be spun around for better photography. And often I could not run over to the other side of the table as I didn't want to interrupt my counterparts sitting opposite me 😂.
DISH 2: The above was the stir-fried mixed vegetables fried with slices of cuttle-fish. Taste-wise it was good with some cuts of dried chili to give it a bit of spiciness.

DISH 3: Deep fried fishes - pomfrets and sole fish, both slightly salted to bring out the fish flavours. I liked the sole more as the meat was sweet and easy to get off from the bones.

DISH 4: Stir-fried Lala (Asian clams). Simply done with garlic and ginger.

DISH 5: Squid, deep-fried with batter and coated with a light lime-caramel sauce.

DISH 6: A mountain of Chilli Crabs; the crabs were a tad small but their flesh were firm and fresh; sauce of just right not to thick or too chill hot.

DISH 7: Stir-fried Har Lok Prawns; sauce was a bit lacking, not in taste but in quantity.

DISH 8: Assam Curry Pomfret. It's a huge Silver Pomfret, super fresh with the meat going well with the assam curry.

It was a wonderful unique meal, I won't say it's the best but it was definitely a unique style. Pricing came to RM400 inclusive of soup and Chinese tea; that's RM40 per head, quite reasonable seeing that it include a large, expensive Silver Pomfret and a total of eight seafood dishes.
👍 A BIG THUMBS UP MEAL!

While there, don't miss out their home-brewed Chinese Herbal Tea; thumbs up for that too!

UNTIL WE GET TO GO OUT AND EAT LIKE THIS AGAIN,
STAY SAFE MY FRIENDS.

GRANDMA RESTAURANT

631/B, Jalan Tokong, Bagan Sungai Buloh, 45800 Jeram, Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel: +6012-2323787 (Chris) / +6012-5311688 (Jack)
Hours:
Mondays to Fridays - 7:00am to 9:00pm
Saturdays & Sundays - 7:00am to 10:30pm
(except on Chinese festival days, do call first)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sasarangrandma

GPS & Direction Map: 3.2589, 101.30446

(Click here for Google Street View)

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