Lucky Number 13

KH and I had been together for 13 years. So many things had happened in between that I would definitely have many "Oh yeah!" moments if I reread my old blog posts. Recently, KH was spring cleaning his external hard drive that he came across love notes and messages that I used to send to KH while he was working in Singapore. Completely forgot about those. To mark our 13 years together, KH arranged a nice dinner in the heart of KL. FOOK is a contemporary Asian fusion restaurant located along Jalan Sultan Ismail, right before the now defunct Wisma KFC. We were actually earlier than valet attendant. Left the car out front, and climbed the long flight of stairs up to the restaurant which squats atop a small wooded hill. The bar area is large, with the counter dominated by large red lanterns. The dining area is mainly composed of wood and glass themes, and lots of paintings. The waitress showed us to our table which was located in one of the semi-private niches overlooking Jalan Sultan Ismail.



Great ambiance, but the food doesn't impress. Started with the appetizer platter which was a quad of small bites. Only the chicken roll left an impression on me. For mains, I recommend the Red Duck with mixed spices. Hits the spot. The soba pho I didn't like. The soup had a sour note, and it wasn't hot enough for my liking. The serving was dramatic though, as the waiter poured the soup out from a teapot into the noodles. In terms of alcohol, the Smooth Killah was pretty interesting. At the end of the meal, KH took out a pair of rings to mark the milestone. I had always complained that our rings didn't match. LOL. The tungsten rings that he got were unique, with wood and mother-of-pearl inlay.





After we were done eating, we explored the place. Only one other table was occupied, so I'm sure they didn't mind us roaming around. The kitchen was at the back, with an open concept. And beside it was a function room with a dramatic mural on the wall with water running over it. At that end of the hill was its sister restaurant, Tamarind Hills.



The night was still young, so we did some walking around the area to find a cafe. St. Mary's was a waste of time because it was all pubs, but we ultimately stopped at Trattoria Il Porcellino, an Italian restaurant at Menara Hap Seng 2. Years ago, I had a pancetta for lunch there. The Myanmarese waiter who ushered us in had a voice that was 85% close to my ex-colleague. Same deep inflection, same tone. Reminisced about the journey behind us, and the future, over a couple of coffees and a tiramisu...