I am in the mood for a food review right now rather than on a daily life update :) Review of food places that I like makes me happyyy laaah! Didn't you guys already know how HUGEEEEE of a FOODIE I am?? :DDD
And since I haven't been out much to eat good food here in Melbourne recently(I am leaving the ones I've been to, to be posted in my #100happydays posts), a writeup of a brunch spot in Malaysia shall do!
Soooo.... the much hyped about Garage 51, in my opinion, made the cut for me!
I am very fussy when it comes to brunch style food in Malaysia because I have the luxury of eating the good ones straight from where in came from best which is here in Melbourne. And even that I am being so picky, I found that Garage 51 was pretty good!
In a span of slightly over a month, I went there three times and it was the only spot that I went to, to satisfy my brunch cravings whilst I was back in Malaysia. I think that pretty much double confirms my statement of how much I like the place :)
Garage 51 is this new trendy and happening cafe/brunch spot in KL. The chain first started with Coffee Société in Publika and then this, Garage 51. I was told that the owner is a guy in his later 20s that used to study in Australia and decided to bring the concept back the Malaysia and then the cafe became a huge hit with its good coffee and food!
I want to open a huge hit cafe too! And earn big bucks! But more importantly, sharing to the community the food and it's concept that I love :)
My first visit, was with Steph and Qi Hong. I was like telling them that we HAD to do brunch that weekend and so..., being the typical me, I will research and read up for good places to go to before actually going to the place itself. And Garage 51's name started popping up alot and it seemed to have ticked the boxed for most people, I thought to myself and spoken out loud to them saying, "We should go there!" Moreover, it was just in the Sunway area... so near to where we live!
And since I am so used to the famous brunches in Melbourne, it would also mean, I know that for good brunch spots, there is always a queue. So I was like telling them, we have to get there early to beat the queue! And fortunately for Malaysians, brunch spots or this particular one, doesn't open till 11am and we got there at 11.15am! :D But bear in mind, finding a parking spot in the area can be a tad bit challenging.. The place is located just opposite the side entrance to Sunway College and it the middle of all the other car garages.
But we didn't have to queue at all! :DDDD Was seated straight away on the long communal benches super near the kitchen area.
Eventho we got there early, the place was already almost filled up when we got there..
Me and Steph ordered their Awesome Garage Breakfast! with homemade hash potatoes, diced mushrooms, smoked cured salmon, free-range poached egg and hollandaise. RM19
I LOVED IT! The homemade potato hash is the highlight!! Some may say it is a tad bit on the salty side, but I love my saltier stuff, and so I loved it! The hash is heavy and dense and crunchy on the outside :) The cured smoked salmon was yummy andddd the poached egg was cooked to perfection! And the most important thing for me is, the hollandaise tasted good! You could tell it was freshly made rather than the one's you get from Plan B which just taste and look like it came out from a vacuum sealed jar.
I judge my Malaysian brunch spots based on the sauce they have if there's any. So yeah...., only two has made the cut for me with good hollandaise sauce!
I also ordered their Mochatella! Which is the drink that they are famous for!
Basically it is nutella served with coffee ice cubes and a small jug of milk. I was so fascinated by it and it was really yummyyyyyyy! But....., it is very much on the pricey side. RM15 for it.. ):
Qi Hong ordered their Media-Lunas. Croissant with wild mushrooms, tomato-onion and smashed avocado. RM17. And I think he said it was quite good?
My brunch kakis that morning!
wheeeeeeee :D
Had an artsy shot moment :P
Stephy, my beloved girlfriend whom I've known since I was five(with photo evidence but not much in memory). But reunited when we were in Form 1! Both of us went into a supposed one person toilet because we saw this huge ass mirror and it was a call for a picture together :D
There is this red vintage car outside of the place which is just a shell of a volkswagen beetle but with a table in it.
Nice to take picture in but.... it smelled so bad due to the drain but we endured it to capture the shot. Girls :P
After brunch, we went on to Bangsar and had a little shopping adventure with all the boutiques in the Bangsar Telawi area.
My OOTD.
Cropped top: Supre
Paperbag high waisted shorts: Forever New
My necklace which was in the previous pictures: Valleygirl
My second visit was with Gun and Jeff (DiGi colleagues). It was for lunch on one of the working days. And yeahh..., we do drive out pretty far just for lunch :D I think this visit was in the same week as when I went the first time.
The story behind it was pretty funny lor.., just before lunch time at work, I posted the picture of the Awesome Garage Breakfast I had on my instagram saying how yummy it was and also was torturing myself with the picture as my stomach was growling and it wasn't lunch time yet but almost time. Then suddenly Gun said, "we will go to Garage 51 for lunch ok?" And then I was like, O.....K :D Then I mentioned saying I just posted the picture up on my IG and he was like "you will be posting another one soon :D"
And that day was a weekday at around 12 noon, the place was still pretty empty. Means, seated right away too!
This time we also sat on the same communal table but further away from the kitchen and so, I could take a better picture of the name! As you can see, there are also tables above the kitchen.
The coffee making area over there.... *virtually pointing it out*
This time, I ordered their Mocha. I think it was RM9? HEHEHE Had to put in two pictures of it cause I can't choose which is better :D
My lunch!
I love their hash so much but also wanted to try something different, so I went for the Maria Parloa. with homemade hash potatoes, chicken ham slices, diced mushrooms, free-range poached egg and hollandaise. It is the same as the Awesome Garage Breakfast, just that this is with chicken ham slices rather than the smoked cured salmon. RM19.
Still the same kind of goodness!! Lunch that day was on the luxury side but it was sooo yummyinmytummy!!
My third visit, was with my family. Initially it was suppose to be just me and mum but then later on it turned out to be a table for five plus a little one. But this time, I wasn't so lucky with the seats. Because we needed a table for six, we kinda had to wait quite a while for the table. And going out with the little big rascal Justin, it was a horrendous 30 minutes wait..
Ordered a Red Velvet Cake just for him to start off. RM8.90
Justin the little BIG rascal!
Ordered Mochatella again :D Them nutella plus coffee ice cubes!
I really like this drink! Such a genius thing!! And the portions of each ingredient is exactly perfect for me! Not too coffee-y but still chocolate-y and milky :)
I ordered the same Awesome Garage Breakfast again :D
Yes, I do love their hash but I ordered the same thing again mainly cause nothing else on the menu appealed to me.. Everything just sounded like "mehh... =/" except the two that I've already tried.
And I have to strongly highlight on their service, it is impeccable! My cousin's Maria Parloa's poached eggs wasn't perfect at all because the yolk inside was no where near runny even a little bit and I only got to know about it from him after he was slightly more than half way through the dish. And then I called the waiter and told him as a feedback that the poached egg wasn't cooked correctly and then he went on and told the kitchen and in my mind I thought "yeah.. maybe they will replace the poached egg itself."
But what shocked me was, they actually replaced for my cousin a whole new plate eventho he has already ate through more than half of it. Such good service leh! I expect this kinda service here in Melbourne but never in Malaysia lor to be honest! Big thumbs up to the people at Garage 51!
Any other thoughts on the place?
I think the selection of food is pretty limited. Well at least to me it is limited. I really love the location and the ambience enough to be back often but I don't want to be ordering the same old thing every time I am back.. They should do more variations with the homemade hash!! :D *side note, I have been reading up about them and they do change their menu every couple of months, which is good! And the current menu sounds and looks quite promising :)*
The portion of the food is fairly small. Maybe because I am too pampered with the Melbourne brunch portion which will be double the portion of what is served at Garage 51. I mean...., the portion is enough for girls(two poached eggs would have been better!), but not for the guys. Or maybe because the targeted market is just to us girls then maybe it makes sense. They should have something with a large portion on the menu too to cater for the guys!
And one more thing, the ratio between the portion and the price doesn't really meet it. It is good food but abit on the expensive side. Or maybe because I spend most of my time in Melbourne, I don't really know the Malaysian brunch culture's pricing and portion as much yet.
You can find it here; and do check them out!
