Dining Out @ TGI Friday's PJ - Part 2 (March)

So Akash is back from South Africa, to “get hitched for the rest of his life”, which is what he’s been telling me. Good for you brother, wish you all the happiness in life. Especially since you decided to treat us for a wonderfully satisfying dinner in TGI Friday’s. I’m not really sure who first suggested going to TGI Friday’s for dinner this time as Gangga and I have been planning to go there in March. Dining out twice in the same month? Whoa…ok. Technically, it is almost March…and this time, the soon-to-be-wedded couple also joined us. The more, the merrier…and it was definitely a night to remember.

I had some reservations in ordering drinks because they all seemed to contain some alcohol. Vicky had the Electric Lemonade, which is basically SKYY Vodka, sweet & sour with a jolt of blue Curacao. Gangga had his usual Margarita, while Akash had the Ultimate Strawberry Margarita. Not the one to be left behind, I had a glass of specially prepared Clear Oxygen mixed with two shots of Hydrogen that was run through a delicate combustion process which was stopped just when it reached vaporizing temperature. Yes, I had a glass of plain, boiled water.

Gangga and Akash posing with the drinks.

We started off with the Buffalo Wings. (I think one of us actually thought that this dish consisted parts of beef due to its name, but of course the Buffalo in Buffalo Wings refers to Buffalo, New York.) A bit of history on Buffalo Wings from About.com:

There is some dispute about who came up with the original hot wing appetizer, but most credit the Anchor Bar in where else but Buffalo, New York, USA. The historic creation date for Buffalo Wings was October 30, 1964, when owner Teressa Bellissimo was faced with feeding her son and his friends a late snack. Having an excess of chicken wings on hand, she fried up the wings, dipped them in a buttered spicy chile sauce, and served them with celery and blue cheese dressing as a dipping sauce to cut the heat. The wings were an instant hit. The city of Buffalo has designated July 29 as "Chicken Wing Day," and today, the Anchor Bar serves up more than 70 thousand pounds of chicken per month! The Anchor Bar original recipe for hot sauce is now sold commercially.

The main course was truly scrumptious.

This is what Gangga had:



This is what I had - it's called Country Chicken, and yes I did have to try my best to finish it The mashed potato was thick, creamy and rich. The corn was just corn:

This is what Vicky had:



My dessert - which I fancied due to caramel contents and its imaginative name - Friday's Sundae:

And this, is the bill:

I don't remember if this picture was taken before or after the meal, I'm guessing it's after because...heck, I look HAPPY! and Akash on the right looking not so happy because he had to pay the bill! (thanks for the treat AK - it was truly a good dinner). Gangga just looks cool as always - no expressions. Or is he just stoned after the 2 glasses of Margaritas?

Dining Out @ Chili's Mid Valley – Part 1 (February)

I went to Chili’s last night with Gangga for dinner, just as we planned. I’ve always wanted to go there ever since I heard Frashad raving about it when I was back in Penang some time ago. Gangga’s a Chili’s veteran, so he was helpful in telling me what’s hot and what’s not. The ambiance in the restaurant was nice, for a while I forgot that I was in Mid Valley. We were told we have to wait to sit in the non-smoking area – we didn’t really mind where we were going to sit because we were really hungry. So we got a table near the bar, which was quite nice as we got to observe the bartenders making drinks. Muz from my office told me to try out the “Monterey Chicken” with “Triple Play” for appetizers. We ordered the appetizer but “Monterey Chicken” was no go…because it comes with beef bacon. I asked the waiter if the beef could be replaced with something else, like maybe more chicken? He gave us a disgusted look and said, “No, we don’t do that. You can choose to omit the beef from the dish though”

It was then, my turn to look at the waiter with the same disgusted look. I am not going to pay more than RM30 for an incomplete dish. Hah, nice try Chili’s waiter!

When I was looking through the menu earlier, I did notice a dish called ‘Citrus Fire Chicken and Shrimp” – it’s basically rice with shrimp and a huge piece of boneless chicken breast with slices of lemon, tomatoes and sautéed broccoli and cauliflowers.

What, rice again? I know…I know! But it looked really nice…and though the prawns tasted slightly raw, the rice, chicken and the rest were absolutely fabulous. I cherished every bite. Mamamia!

The appetizer was good too, “Triple Play” featured Chicken Crispers®, Boneless Buffalo Wings and Fried Cheese with sauces for dipping. One of the sauces were sour cream, can’t remember the other two. I was too busy enjoying them to note down the names, so sue me. Chili’s got a really cool “bottomless” drinks concept – you pay for one soft drink, and then you can get free refills. As many as you want! And you’re not limited to the first drink you order for the refills. You can have a glass of iced lemon tea the first time, and when you ask for refills you can request for Coke Light instead.

Then finally, I had a truly sinful glass of rich chocolate milkshake with chocolate sprinkles.

Gangga had two glasses of Margarita and Prawn Alfredo. We shared the appetizers. The bill came up to RM166, which included tax and service charges. Sigh. My food alone was around RM60. Them Margaritas were expensive, god I’m glad I don’t drink!

Will I go back? Definitely. But not anytime soon, because next on the list is TGI Fridays!

The bill:

Dining out? Why not?

Gangga and I have decided on going out once a month to try out some of the expensive restaurants in town. Our list consists of Chili’s and TGI Fridays for now. I will record my experiences eating in these places, hope it will serve as a guide for future references. KL, here we come!