Saturday, May 30, 2015

Argentinian Beef Brunch at Bochinche (Martin Road)

Brunch is big in Singapore. At a wild guess there's probably hundreds of cafes all over the island serving up coffee, sausages, eggs, waffles and all the other 'usual suspects.' A lot of these cafes can tend to be a bit generic in the grub they serve up, though, which is why we're always excited to try something different - like the Argentinian-inspired fare served up at Bochinche!

Bochinche Argentinian Brunch

The premises on Martin Road are huge (for Singaporean standards) with the larger indoor floor complemented by a small al fresco (cool, breezy) area. Bochinche also has a grilled Argentinian beef-focused Dinner menu. As we mentioned, we're here for the Brunch, though - starting with a Flat White and a Cappuccino ($6 each). The coffee is really similar to the java from the downstairs sister outlet Common Man Coffee Roasters - we wouldn't be surprised if it was the same beans, or even the same barista.

Bochinche Argentinian Brunch Flat White and Cappucino

For mains we try the Chimichurri Burger v2.0 (Provologne cheese, bacon, tomoto, onions and egg, $29). Your mileage may vary, of course, but for me a burger needs to be eatable with two hands. The burger here is certainly not eatable with hands and so I end up using a fork and knife. Not cool.

Nevertheless, taste-wise the burger was uber delicious! Chopped up bone marrow is added into the mince, which gives the patty a wonderful depth of flavour that really is two thumbs up. Texturally it was disappointing, though. By the time I was halfway through the burger the juices had soaked the bottom patty into a papier-mâché-like paste, and the minced meat kept spilling out everywhere.

Bochinche Argentinian Brunch Chimichurri Burger

The 'mixed bag' theme continues to the Poached Eggs with braised ossobuco on toast ($25). We thought the eggs were gorgeous - perfectly poached with a lovely runny yolk, and the toast was sturdy and substantial enough to handle the juices. However the beef on it's own was rather lacking in the taste department, being very unevenly seasoned. Ossobuco is slow-cooked braised beef/veal shanks, by the way.

Bochinche Argentinian Brunch Ossobuco and Poached Eggs

Since the mains come without any accompaniments, we order a side of Chips Provenzal (thick-cut chips with garlic and parsley, $10) - these had very nice flavour, with most of the chips having a good crisp on the crust. Would order again.

Bochinche Argentinian Brunch Chips Provenzal

If you had been keeping track, you might have an inkling of what the final bill amount would be - $89.45 (after taxes and service charge) in total. For us this is very pricey, especially for a Brunch meal with really not that much food.

To conclude, the food and coffee here was pretty decent but very expensive, so we really don't see ourselves coming back - we'd much rather just save the elevator trip and eat at the cafe downstairs.

Bochinche is open from 11am-11pm on Tuesdays to Sundays (Brunch on weekends only). Reservations accepted but probably not required. Non-halal.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Hakka Mei Cai Kou Rou 梅菜扣肉 (Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables) Recipe

Here's a very presentable, stunning dish that you can make to impress your loved ones who are fans of Pork or Salted Vegetables!

My first attempt I tried simmering the pork but it ended up drying out. Deary is impressed with this second attempt, though - he said it tasted perfect! There are so many versions all with or without different ingredients out there; The below is what I've come out with after studying a few recipes and adjusting based on my experience. Do give it a try, and hope you like it too!


Recipe for 4-5 portions
Pork Marinate Ingredients
600g to 650g sliced Pork Belly
3 tablespoons of Dark Soya Sauce
5 tablespoons of Light Soya Sauce
2 tablespoons of Sugar
1 tablespoon of Shao Xing Wine (Cooking Wine)
1 teaspoon of Five Spice Powder

  1. Rinse and dry the Pork Belly and slice into 1cm thick slices.
  2. Mix and combine the marinade.
  3. Arrange the meat in a ziplock bag pour in the marinade.
  4. Put it in the fridge to marinate overnight or at least for 30mins over the counter.


Mei Cai 梅菜 base Ingredients
300g Sweet Mei Cai 梅菜 (Sweet Preserved Green Mustard)
150g Salted Mei Cai 梅菜 (Drained weight, packed weight 200g)
3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
8 cloves of diced Garlic

  1. Rinse the Mei Cai under running water for about 10 minutes.
  2. Soak the Mei Cai for at least 6 hours, rinsing and changing water every 2 hours.
  3. Diced the Salted Mei Cai. Slice the Sweet Mei Cai into 1.5cm strips. Squeeze them dry.
  4. Heat up a wok, add oil and diced Garlic and pan fry the mei cai over low heat until it is dry and slightly brown and releases its' fragrance/aroma.

Assembling / Plating / Presentation next:
  1. When the Mei Cai is cooked, place it in a deep steaming plate or bowl, evenly flattening it.
  2. Arrange the marinated sliced Pork Belly on top of the Mei Cai (as shown).
  3. Pour all the marinade over the Pork Belly.
  4. Put it in a steamer and steam for 2 hours or until meat is tender.
  5. Remove from heat and serve hot.

It's delicious!


Enjoy~

Notes:
- The preparation of the Mei Cai is critical from soaking to changing water to rinsing. This is to get rid of the saltiness of the Mei Cai and the sands/dirt it might carry. Taste a small portion to make sure it is not salty.
- Sweet & Salted Mei Cai can be adjusted to your liking.
- If you're adding Yam in between the Pork, ensure it is thinly sliced so it would not overpower this dish.
- If you're changing this recipe to simmer (over rice or in slow cooker), add 1 Litre of chicken or pork broth and let it simmer over low heat for 2 hours.

Varieties that we have created:
1. Hakka Mei Cai Kou Rou with Yam 梅菜芋头扣肉 (Preserved Vegetables with Pork Belly & Yam)
This version is very popular. Just add 5mm thin slices of yam in between the pork, however double the base marinade. We'll make this one day when we have guests that will help us eat as we're not big fans of yam.

Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Kuching Waterfront Food Guide Malaysia!

Kuching, the capital city of the state of Sarawak in Malaysia isn't perhaps on the top of the list on most peoples' tourist destination lists. There are some attractions, though, so you might perhaps be here to visit the Sarawak Cultural Village. Or maybe you're just in town for some other reason - maybe your cousin is getting married, for instance, which happens to be the reason the both of us were here for the weekend!

Kuching Waterfront Food Guide

As we mentioned in a previous post, we stayed at The Ranee Boutique Suites on the Kuching Waterfront. So naturally we walked around the area trying as much food as our stomachs could handle. We ended up only trying three main areas (in the map above), which we'll cover below. So let's get started!



1. Carpenter Street Food Court (Lao Ya Keng - 老爺間)

Really easy to find - just walk down Carpenter Street until you see a food court opposite a Chinese Temple.

Kuching Waterfront Food Guide

Fish Ball Glass Noodles. Decent springy fishballs, although the portion is a little small. We also thought that the soup was a little too lightly flavoured for our tastes. 2 stars.

Kolok Mee. Outside of Sarawak, you might see these noodles spelt (and pronounced) as "Kolo Mee." But in our observations over three days in the city, it really does seem to be more accurately "Kolok Mee." This bowl was pretty delicious, actually, and fairly generous on the portions. Check out the fats on that slice of pork belly! 4 stars.

Sarawak Laksa. The other famous noodle is Sarawak Laksa. The bowl here is quite nice, with generous portions of chopped chicken (rather than shredded chicken meat). 3½ stars.

Pork Satay. This food court is quite known for its' pork satay but we found it mediocre at best. The meat used is almost all lean so there is none of the fatty, porky, charred goodness. Note also that the satay auntie only starts selling at around 1pm. 2½ stars.



2. Electra Food Court (also Old Market Kuching).

If you're having trouble finding the exact location, 'Jalan Power' or 'Electra House' in your GPS should bring you close enough (The food court is directly opposite Electra House on Jalan Power).

Kuching Waterfront Food Guide

Ais Kacang. Par for the course. Not particularly worth coming here for, but you wouldn't be disappointed if ordering as a thirst quencher on a hot day. 3 stars.

Ah Mui Beef Noodles (Mee Sapi), stall 32 - Our favorite bowl of noodles for the day by far. Delicious, al dente Kolok Mee with beef brisket, meat and tripe. 4½ stars.

Kolok Mee and Sarawak Laksa, stall 39. This particular stall serves up a lot of different kinds of noodles, and the lack of specialization shows - neither of the bowls we tried were particularly good. 2½ stars.



3. Bing! Coffee

The Kuching equivalent of Starbucks or Coffee Bean. We tried the Hills Shopping Mall outlet.

Kuching Waterfront Food Guide

Latte, Mocha and Caramel hot drinks are decent at best. We're not big fans of chain-store coffee, we find that the outlets typically overcompensate for poor coffee by overloading on sugar and other flavors. 2½ stars.

Chocolate Truffle Cake and Brownie. The truffle cake was pretty nice, actually. The brownie was disappointing though; came totally drenched in a chocolate gravy that made it taste like a chocolate fudge cake rather than a brownie. 3½ stars (chocolate truffle cake), 2½ stars (chocolate fudge cake Chocolate Brownie).



So that concludes our one single day of eating ourselves around the Kuching Waterfront! If you're in the area, hopefully this gives you an idea of what's good, and what's not worth wasting your calorie quota on! Let us know in the comments if you agree (or disagree) with our ratings of each item, or if you've got any other recommendations!

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Compilation of Baked Cheesecake from Salted Caramel Cheesecake onwards


There are few versions of Base Crust that you can mix and match for your Cheesecake.

Base Crust Ingredients:
120g Plain Oreo (with icing inside) or Graham Cracker or Digestive Biscuits
40g Melted Butter.

Step By Step
1. Line the baking pan with baking paper.
2. Dry Blend the biscuits to fine powder, it's ok to leave the icing in between.
3. Melt Butter in a sauce pan and melt it over low heat, stirring it constantly.
4. Evenly mix the ground biscuits and Melted Butter.
5. Press it tightly into the baking pan.

There is another interesting crust base to share..
Marie Biscuit Base Crust Ingredients:
250g Marie Biscuits
100g Melted Butter
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
6 tablespoons Cocoa Powder
4 tablespoons Golden Syrup

Step By Step
1. Line the baking pan with baking paper.
2. Dry Blend the Marie Biscuits to fine powder.
3. Put Butter, Sugar, Cocoa Powder, Golden Syrup in a sauce pan and melt it over low heat, stirring it constantly.
4. Evenly mix the ground Marie Biscuits and Liquid Mixture.
5. Press it tightly into the baking pan.


Moving on to the Cheesecake batter.

Cheesecake Ingredients:
500g Cream Cheese
250g Sugar
4 Eggs
2 teaspoons of Vanilla Paste

Step By Step
1. Pre-heat over at 170°C
2. Beat Cream Cheese until creamy approx 2-3 mins.
3. Add in Sugar and continue beating for approx 1 min.
4. Add Eggs and Vanilla Paste and continue beating until well combine. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowls to ensure there are no lumps of cream cheese.
5. Split or spoon the Cheesecake batter evenly.
6. Bake for 1 hour or until center are almost set.
7. Cool in pan on wire rack.
8. Pour your choice of topping over, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. for 4 hours or overnight.
9. Before serving garnish with fruits or drizzle melted chocolate to make your cheesecake pretty.

Full recipe:
Round Pan 8". Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.
x2 Loaf Pan 3" x 6". Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.
x2 Round Pan 1.5" x 5". Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.
Muffin Pan 12 holes x 1.5". Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Some Extra Tips Below:
- Our sugar reduction advice for different cheesecake is advice in the below list of creation, it's basically the best part of homebake. Reason why we reduce sugar depending on topping used is to ensure the overall sweetness of the Baked Cheesecake is as per the sweetness level we can accept. Everyone should explore their own.
- Important that all ingredients are at room temperature to avoid lumps in your cheesecake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below is my creations hopefully it'll inspire you. You may split the base recipe in 2 parts and top it off with different toppings for more varieties. Hope you all will love this recipe.

Salted Caramel Baked Cheesecake with Oreo Crust
5 tablespoon of Homemade Salted Caramel Recipe click here
80g Melted Chocolate to drizzle
Note: We reduced the Sugar of the Cheesecake to 90g, as caramel is the topping which is sweet enough.



Click here for our blog page Baking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Terrific coffee in the Bedok Heartlands at Percolate.

Percolate (Cafe) is a bit of a misnomer. Actually a lot of a misnomer, since to percolate coffee is to let gravity drip through ground coffee beans - not unlike how drip coffee is brewed - but Percolate's coffees are mostly Espressos. It occupies two lots in a decidedly non-hipster row of shophouses a little behind the Bedok Sports Complex.

Percolate Bedok Cafe

Decor is no-frills and the menu is limited - but prices are very reasonable and there's no GST or service charge. If you're used to having a favorite 'type' of espresso-based coffee i.e. latte, flat white, cappuccino, etc you might be a bit disappointed - Percolate only gives you a choice of size (3oz or 5oz) and whether you want your coffee black, white (with milk) or mocha (with chocolate).

Rest assured, though, that the coffee is excellent - served at just the right temperature, with a spot on balance of coffee intensity and the right hints of sour, bitter and a bit of sweet thrown in for good measure. Nice cream from the milk, too! $4 for 3oz and $4.50 for 5oz.

Percolate Bedok Cafe White Coffee with Milk
One day, I will learn how to appreciate black espresso. But not today.

The food offerings are a little spartan, with a handful of choices of cake, pastry and croissant sandwiches - no big breakfast with a plateful of sausages and bacon here. We tried the Curry Egg Mayo ($7) and Smoked Salmon Wasabi Cream Cheese ($9). Both were delicious, with the curry and wasabi adding a pleasantly spicy dimension, but the amount of egg/salmon in the croissants was perhaps a little on the low side.

Percolate Bedok Cafe Croissants

Having wolfed down the croissants we try one of their speciality desserts - the Bittersweet (a shot of espresso over vanilla ice cream over a dark chocolate brownie, $7). It's deliciously great - we definitely see ourselves coming back to order this again.

Percolate Bedok Cafe Bittersweet Brownie with Ice Cream

Many cafes (particularly those marketing to the brunch crowd) focus on the food, with the coffee playing a supporting actor role. Percolate is exactly the opposite - the coffee here is the focus, the star, and the food options are there just so you can fill up your stomach afterwards. We definitely see ourselves coming back here regularly though - partly because it's walking distance from our place, partly because ~$15/person is a refreshing change of pace (at some cafes you can hit $50 a person), but mostly because the coffee really is superb.

Percolate is located at 136 Bedok North Avenue 3 #01-152B, Singapore 460136, closed on Tuesdays.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

This Cookie Recipe is similar to but better than Famous Amos Cookies

Getting your fresh baked cookie fix from Famous Amos?

Hang in there. Why not bake some yourself!

We're crazy Famous Amos fans, however after I started baking this recipe we love it so much that we'll never get our cookie fix at Famous Amos unless I'm terribly busy. With our standard set high after consuming my homebaked version, we dropped by Famous Amos to get some when we're traveling, most of the time no much nuts or no chocolate chips or enough butterscotch taste!

Homemade is always the best, no matter there is labor required & the cost is way higher with the ingredients sourced~


Base Cookie Dough Ingredients:
1 Egg
0.5 teaspoons of Vanilla Essense
1 teaspoons of Coffee Emulco
250g Salted Butter
200g Brown Sugar (if you want the cookie sweet add 50g to 80g more depending on your preference)
0.5 teaspoon of Salt
100g Ground Nestum or Ground Almond or Ground Oatmeal
290g All Purpose Flour
10g Baking Powder
10g Baking Soda

Step By Step
1. Beat Egg with Coffee Emulco or Vanilla Essence in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Sift All Purpose Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat Salted Butter, Brown Sugar & Salt until all the crystal melt and combine.
4. Pour in the beaten Egg mixture and mix well.
5. Pour in the Sifted Flour mixture and fold till well combine.
6. Pour in Nestum or Ground Almond and fold till well combine.
7. Pour in the ingredients you love (our suggestions below) and fold till evenly distributed.
8. Place in the fridge to chill for minimum 2 hours to let the flavor infuse.
9. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
10. Roughly roll the cookie dough and place on the baking sheet.
11. Place in the oven to bake until golden brown.
12. Cool completely before serving.

Full recipe:
0.5 teaspoon of cookie dough yields approx 160pcs. Bake for about 8 minutes.
1 teaspoon of cookie dough yields approx 80pcs. Bake for about 16 minutes.
1 tablespoon of cookie dough yields approx 50pcs. Bake for about 22 minutes.

Some Extra Tips Below:
- Recommended to mix the dough and let it chill overnight in the fridge.
- Leave it on the counter top to bring it back to room tempreture before baking.
- You can store the mixed cookie dough (well wrapped) in the fridge for up to 3 to 5 days.
- It's important that the 100g of Nestum or Almond or Oatmeal is Ground this an ingredient that will affect the structure of your cookie, as not grounding it will lead to a flatter cookie. My observations: Ground Nestum is light & cookies will turn out flat. Ground Almond is similarly light & cookies will turn out slightly flat. Ground Oatmeal is slightly healtier and heavier & cookies will turn out with beautiful cookie structure as per above picture.
- Coffee Emulco can be replaced with Vannilla Essence. However, this is the key ingredient that makes the cookie smell and taste like Famous Amos.
- If you're using a mixer, remember to do remove and manually fold in the Chocolate Chips and Macadamia.
- Remember space it slightly apart to let the cookie have space to brown evenly.
- To allow the flavour and fragrance to develop further, store cookies in an airtight container overnight before serving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below is my creations hopefully it'll inspire you. You may split the base cookie dough is 2 parts and half the portion as per suggested below for more varieties. Hope you all will love this recipe.

Butterscotch Chips with Pecan Cookie
1 cup Butterscotch Chips
1 cup chopped Pecan

Chocolate Chips with Pecan Cookie
1 cup Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped Pecan

Cranberries Almond Cookie
1 cup Dried Cranberries
1 cup chopped Almonds

Chocolate Chips Cashew Nuts Cookies
1 cup Chocolate Chips
0.5 cup of Dried Coconut
This picture below is x2 of these ingredients out of greed. Just add as suggested here.

Chocolate Chips Coconut Cookie
1 cup Chocolate Chips
0.5 cup of Dried Coconut
This picture below is x2 of these ingredients out of greed. Just add as suggested here.

Macadamia with Chocolate Chips Cookie
1 cup of chopped Macadamia
1 cup Chocolate Chips

Oatmeal Chocolate Chips Cookie
1 cup Rolled Oatmeal or Instant Oatmeal
1 cup Chocolate Chips

Oatmeal Raisins Cookie
1 cup Rolled Oatmeal or Instant Oatmeal
1 cup Black Currant Raisins
This picture below is x2 of these ingredients out of greed. Just add as suggested here.

Triple Chocolate Cookie
Just add 30g of Cocoa Powder to the flour and sift to make the Base Cookie Dough Chocolate Cookie.
1 cup Chocolate Chips
1 cup of White Chocolate Chips


Coming Soon~
Blueberry Pecan
1 cup of Dried Blueberry
1 cup of Pecan Nut (chopped)

Blueberry Pretzel
1 cup of Dried Blueberry
1 cup of Pretzel

Butterscotch Pecan
1 cup of Butterscotch Chips
1 cup of Pecan Nut (chopped)

Chocolate Chips & Peanut Butter Chips Soft Cookie
1 cup Chocolate Chips
1 cup Peanut Butter Chips
Sugar level suggestion:
150g Brown Sugar
50g Sugar

Chocolate Chips & 9 Grain Blend Soft Cookie
1.25 cups of Chocolate Chips
1 cup of 9 Grain Blend (Brown Flax, Flakes of Wheat, Rye, Triticale, Barley, Sesame Seeds, Spelt, Millet, Quinoa)

Chocolate Chips
2 cups of Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Chips with Candied Ginger
1 cup of Chocolate Chips
1 cup of Candied Ginger

Chocolate Chips with Dried Cranberry
1/2 cup of Chocolate Chips
1 cup of Dried Cranberry
1/2 cup of Cashew (chopped)

Chocolate Chili
45g of Cocoa Powder
0.5 tsp ground Chili (or 20ml Tabasco Chili Sauce or Chili Oil)
0.5 tsp ground Cinnamon
Sift together with the dry mix.

Chocolate Chips Walnut
1 cup of Chocolate Chips
1 cup of Walnut Nut (chopped)

Double Chocolate Chips (Chocolate base cookie and Milk + White Chips)
Add 45g of Cocoa Powder. Sift together with the dry mix.
1 cup of Chocolate Chips
1 cup of White Chocolate Chips

M&M's Cookie
2 cups M&M's
Sugar level suggestion:
120g Brown Sugar
40g Sugar

Mango Cinnamon
1.5 teaspoon Cinnamon (Sift together with the dry mix.)
1 cup of Dried Mango (chopped)

Mango Cranberry Coconut Macadamia
Replace Vanilla Essence with Orange Essence (Optional)
0.5 cup of Dried Mango (chopped)
1 cup of Macadamia Nut (chopped)
0.25 cup of Dried Cranberry
0.25 cup of Coconut Flakes (chopped)

Mango White Chocolate Oatmeal
0.5 cup of White Chocolate Chips
0.5 cup of Dried Mango (chopped)
1 cup of Rolled Oatmeal

Peanut Butter
2 cups of Peanut Butter Chips

Raspberry Cheesecake
Add 100g Cream Cheese to the dough.
1 cup of Dried Red Raspberry
1 cup of White Chocolate Chips

Rocky Road
1 cup of Chocolate Chips
15-20 Large Marshmallows

Toffee Apple
1 cup of Toffee Chips
1 cup of Apple Compote

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut
1 cup of White Chocolate Chips
1 cup of Macadamia Nut (chopped)

White Chocolate Mango
1 cup of White Chocolate Chips
1 cup of Dried Mango (chopped)

Chocolate Ginger
1 cup of Chocolate Chips
1 cup of Candied Ginger

Click here for our blog page Baking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Hotel Review: The Ranee Boutique Suites, Kuching.

Greetings from Kuching, over on the Island of Borneo! We were here over the long weekend to celebrate a cousin's wedding, and were advised enthusiastically that The Ranee Boutique Suites was the "best hotel in town." So naturally we had no choice but to book a room!

Ranee Boutique Suites

The Ranee certainly lives up to the 'boutique' portion of its name - the entire hotel is renovated off a couple of shophouses and has just 24 rooms. We use the word 'rooms' intentionally, because these really are just regular hotel rooms despite the hotel's self-declared "suite" naming convention. It's got a terrific location right smack on one end of the Kuching Waterfront, right around the corner of a shopping mall (Plaza Merdeka) and within easy walking distance of a myriad of food, handicraft and other miscellaneous knick-knack shopping options.

Ranee Boutique Suites

Check-in and check-out times are 2pm and 12pm respectively. Check-in was quick and easy, with a mini welcome amenity of iced lemon tea and cold towels. Now we might be nitpicking a bit here perhaps, but it was a cold, rainy day so we would have much preferred hot towels and hot tea instead.

Ranee Boutique Suites

The interior is gorgeous, striking just the right balance between the modern (televisions, fans, air-conditions and sofas) and the traditional (retro bicycles, furniture, fittings and art pieces). There's even a small mini-"garden," complete with a shared seating area for relaxing. It isn't the biggest or most authentic of gardens, of course, but we quite liked it, especially since we could lounge around in air-conditioned comfort.

Ranee Boutique Suites

We were booked into the "Standard Suite," which as you can see in the photos below was really just a standard hotel room. That's fine, though, because the room itself is really nice and clean (we particularly like the feel of the timber flooring). The bed and pillows were very comfortable and just the right firmness - although the linens weren't quite up to 5-star hotel standards - and we were impressed that the drinks and snacks at the mini bar were very reasonably priced. None of that $10 per can of coke nonsense here.

Ranee Boutique Suites

Bathroom was huge, clean, and completely and uncharacteristically modern. Fully stocked, too - shampoo, soap, toothbrush & paste, razors - everything you'd need to freshen up after a long day.

Ranee Boutique Suites

Breakfast is served in the bar/cafe; As this isn't a huge hotel they've wisely opted for cooked breakfast to order rather than try to put out a decent buffet line.

Ranee Boutique Suites

Each breakfast comes with juice, coffee/tea, fruits, and a choice of about a dozen different 'main courses,' ranging from Angmoh big breakfast, to Malaysian staples like roti canai, and Sarawak Laksa (rice noodles served in a curry-like broth). The options we tried were decent enough - I don't think it would qualify as good by any stretch of the imagination. Can't expect a 3-michelin starred chef in the kitchen in a hotel this size, I suppose.

Ranee Boutique Suites

The main negatives of The Ranee, thanks to its' (small) size, centre around the lack of hotel facilities like gymnasium, swimming pool, function rooms, business centre, room service or a proper restaurant. At around MYR 285 or SGD 106 nett, it's also pretty pricey - room rates are even slightly higher than those of the nearby Pullman Hotel (slightly lower than the Hilton).

Having said that, if you're in town and don't need big hotel chain facilities, we'd totally recommend The Ranee, thanks to its' charm, decor, and killer location. Check out their website for reservations (or you can also head to the usual suspects like agoda or expedia). 4 thumbs up.