Terms and Conditions:

• Eat all you can with no wastage.
• Strictly for dine-in only.
• Unfinished chocolate will be charge according to selling price.
• Beryl’s reserve the rights to change the terms and conditions without prior notice.

Apparently kelapa bakar (roasted coconut) and coconut jelly are some of Sabah’s specialties. We stopped by this stall on our way back from Nexus Karambunai for some fresh coconut juice and home-made coconut jelly. The kelapa bakar looked curiously tempting but I wasn’t in the mood for adventure especially after a heavy meal so we skipped the black, wood-burnt coconuts.

The jelly taste pretty much like our home-made version of agar-agar gula melaka with coconut except this one is without the gula melaka and slightly richer with coconut milk. I actually find it to be a little bland without gula melaka eventhough it’s sweetened.

The stall also sells lokan panggang (grilled clams), lokan mentah (raw clams), rice, soto ayam and home-made crackers. We bought the crackers to munch while on our journey to the airport. Good stuff.

This picture was taken at Tanjung Aru beachside. Peter’s friend drove us here for drinks just before I checked in at the airport. A pretty convenient way to serve coconut juice!

I am a real sucker for pastries. Which is why every visit to Chinese towns and cities such as Ipoh, Penang and even Malacca is a wonderful merriment of traditional pastry exploration. By that I mean walking from shop to shop in the old town to check out what traditional delights the local folks have to offer.

Even though my latest trip to Ipoh did not provide much time for such leisurely activity, I was happy to have checked out these two outlets which are located close to the chicken rice hot spot. Right after dinner, we walked across the street to Comeson Restaurant which houses the Lam Fong pastry stall from 4pm onwards till late. I do not know what all these various pastries are called in the English language, but I believe the exploration of tastebuds is an adventure in itself when you check out all these cute delights. Just buy one each to try them out, and maybe come back the next day to buy more of the ones you really like.

Next stop – the Yee Thye Cake House for Perak’s famous produce [among its many other], the 香饼 (heong peng), directly translated as fragrant pastry or Biskut Madu. Ever since my friend took me to a home bakery in Taiping to buy freshly made, out-of-the-oven piping hot heong peng, every trip to this northern state is never without a few bags of this deliciously addictive treat.

These biscuits were still hot when we picked them up. They are not made in the shop itself. The pastries are transported to the outlets to be packed upon delivery. The layers of crust is crisp and flaky yet not too thick. I like the fillings very much, with just the right blend of sweetness, saltiness and fragrant shallots. So yummy I wished we had bought more

I have yet to visit the famous one in Gunung Rapat so I can’t quite compare between the various brands but I give this a thumbs up and a verdict of 8/10.

Yee Thye Cake House & Confectionery

No 1-3, Jalan Theatre, Ipoh (Tel: 05 – 241 3482)

The branch is located at No 32-36, Jalan Theatre, Ipoh (05 – 253 2270)

HALAL

I love desserts. I can’t imagine a life without desserts. They are the epitome of temporary joy when insanity beguiles an exhausted mind or a depressed heart. Desserts and me, just throw ’em damn Tiffany’s and bring me a box of Thorntons. Yea, I know that. I’m easy to please.

But I love ‘em dark, rich and sinful. When we allow ourselves that one special meal to indulge in sweet treats, it has got to be satisfying, mood lifting…… and dare I say, close to orgasmic.

So, everytime these bright red exterior walls greet me as I enter the compounds of Casa Tropicana Condo, I murmur a silent disgust, ”Au natural. Blah!”

Curiosity, however, killed the cynic in me. A temporary moment of weakness. I succumbed to the bright cheerful “Happiness Naturally” signage that screamed out to my sweet tooth and decided to give it a try.

We started off with rum & raisin ice-cream, which was a tad bit icy for me. I suppose anything that is “home-brewed”, ”less fat” or ”less sugar” is less fulfilling than your favourite premium sundaes.

The Mangorita was refreshing. The lemon sorbet paired perfectly well with the mango mint sauce. They ran out of dragonfruit ruby water chestnuts so they replaced them with chunks of fresh mangos instead. Perhaps it would have tasted better with the water chestnuts because the mango pudding was heavy and tasteless. We finished the sorbet and left half the mango pudding and mango chunks untouched.

The Mocharita was a total disappointment. The menu read “crushed frozen coffee jelly with belgium dark chocolate ice-cream, coupled with a shot of protein-filled soy milk”. The coffee jelly tasted like bad coffee, you know, the sort of diluted coffee you get at an all-you-can-eat complimentary breakfast buffet at hotels. The belgium dark chocolate ice-cream was light-textured coupled with soy milk that just didn’t go well with my icy, crushed, frozen coffee jelly.

Berrydelicious was a firm favourite. I’d probably come back just for the vanilla panna cotta pudding. I wondered if it’s actually low fat. Most recipes I’ve seen uses double cream or whipped cream to make panna cotta. The rasberry jelly was sour but it paired well with the panna cotta and honey. The rasberries however, were too hard and frozen. Personally, I would have preferred a slightly sweetened rasberry sauce.

Not my kind of bar to dwell in sinful indulgences.  Perhaps I would, on a ‘I-feel-fat-today’ Day, but fat days should be Baskin Robbins days because miserable days are guilt-free indulgence days, whether it’s fat-free or not. It’s a vicious cycle I tell you.

Dessert’s Bar @ Casa Tropicana

B-0-12, Block B, Casa Tropicana, No 5, Jalan Persiaran Tropicana,

Tropicana Golf & Country Resort, 47410 Petaling Jaya.

Tel: +603 7885 0227

Click here for list of outlets.