Engka Portobello. Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL. Part Deux. The Android Economic Cycle.

(non halal)

Economic Cycles. Those who are interested in Macroeconomics would be familiar with the Juglar Cycle, Kuznets Cycle, Kondratiev Wave and the famous Milton Friedman's no real cycle cycle. Let me introduce you to the Android Cycle. Scrimp and save and then bust it all on some gadget that you probably don't need. Then the recession from a deflated account, and scrimp and save again ad infinutum, ad nauseam. Just blew my savings on a desktop and for the next two months, there will no more posh and swanky places posted on this blog.

'Twas one of those lazy Saturdays when I decided to get a desktop unit to match my fabulous 24 inches flat panel monitor (who needs a 24 incher anyway?). My partner in crime and I scoured the most dangerous shopping mall in town. Low Yatt Plaza, with their famous catchphrase, "Come in a Millionaire and go out a Pauper". For the benefit of those who have never been there before, that place is filled with millions of outlets selling every gadget you can imagine. Computers and their gadzillion peripherals, mobile phones, cameras and PSPs etc...

After the jaunt, my friend commented that he had read about Engka Portobello from my blog and would like to visit. "Why? You don't even like Mushrooms. You are such a freaking fussy eater!", I said. "But the food there looks scrumptious. I want to try....", he pleaded. "After dinner you can leash me with your DVI cable and flog me with your HDMI!", he cajoled. The thought of being a Dominatrix with an electronic fetish was so repugnant that I promised to dine with him at Engka if he promises not to repeat what he said about the cables.

The restaurant was packed when we arrived at 9.30pm. I still remembered the lovely cocktails I had that day and plonked down on the chair. We decided to have tapas and a mains.


The grilled bacon wrapped around pineapple. I ordered them not so fat. And I got 4 lovely pieces of grilled glorious bacon, still warm, wrapped around 4 pieces of sweet grilled pineapples served with some peppery sauce topped with Rocket (Arugula) leaves.


OK. Don't roll up your eyeballs and say, "Not rolls again!". Ok. I am crazy about rolls. These were multigrains with sun dried tomatoes. Smells heavenly and tastes divine.


Sauteed scallops Bruschetta with Basil and Capers. This was my least favourite dish for the night. Nothing wrong with the flavour, but the sauce that was used to sautee the scallop was really too moist. It soaked through the toast and the sensation of putting a gooey gunk of flour into my mouth was not very pleasant to say the least. Bruschetta is an inter-play on the various consistency of ingredients used to top it, together with the fragrance of toast. Cold, wet, oily tomatoes/other toppings with warm, dry toast. None of that here.


The Ceasar Salad was a different story. Fresh, crunchy Romaine lettuce, quail's eggs, Pecorino cheese and Boursin Cracker Capers was served in the traditional lemon/Worcestershire based dressing. Instead of bacon bits, you get the whole strips of bacon. Lovely and rich. This could be a main course by itself!


Sauteed Chorizo with Chives and Sun Dried Tomatoes. This is a comfort food that will probably please everybody. From Kids to Grannies. The Chorizo was seasoned with Pimento and sauteéd to perfection with the slightly sweetish sun dried tomatoes. Simple.


The Spice Moroccan Grilled Pork Escalope with Salads was a surprise. When the dish was presented to us, it looked like the left picture. When we tried to toss the salad a bit, it reveled a piece of grilled pork escalope drench in a beautifully red tomato based Milanese sauce with a herbal edge of basil and oregano. the salad on top was drizzled with grated Manchengo Cheese, roasted pine nuts, Red Onion Toast crusty bread, Arugula, onions and lettuce. Lovely.

At this juncture we were stuffed to the brim, but have yet to encounter the Main Course yet. We had to tell the waitress to halt for a short while, for 30 minutes!


The last course was Charred Pork Steak with Hickory Pepper Sauce with sauteed Portobello Mushroom (hidden underneath the meat). Grilled lovingly, moist but not oily, it tasted delicious with the bed of Portobello mushrooms that were sauteed lightly with butter. We were glad we ordered only one main course because we were both stuffed. No room for desserts in the tummy!

Why I love this place? Simple, fuss free comfort food. Unpretentious cooking. And the price. Food alone (excluding drinks) was less than RM100. This really helps during the recessive phase of the Android Cycle!

Previous Post and contact info here.

Engka Portobello. Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL. Long Tapas Lunch With Magic Shrooms.

In Literature, food has often been used metaphorically in many ways. Most often, an act of communion and trust among friends. And nobody can actually forget the feeling of extreme violation of trust when a Mafia Don invites his enemies to Dinner and then guns them down in cold blood. Henry Fielding's Victorian novel, Tom Jones itself has so many references to food, and during the Victorian Age, with it's prim and properness, sex is not to be mentioned explicitly and babies were delivered by storks. If you have read Tom Jones, Book IX, chapter V, the description of the dinner Tom had with Mrs. Waters was undoubtedly very provocatively sexual.


The moans and sighs of Mrs. Waters as she sat watching the younger Tom Jones devour 3 pounds of beef is filled with naughty connotations. Read Tom Jones here. But, I digress.

One fine afternoon, when I decided to take off early, I had the chance to stumble upon Engka Portobello. The little restaurant was not impressive from the outside, but what a lovely surprise when I stepped in. Lovely rattan chairs and bossa nova music playing complemented the drizzle outside. It had been open for the past 5 months, by a Dutch but the menu was ecelectic. Pastas, Roasted Ribs, Steaks and Tapas.

Tapas. Lovely little snacks/appetizers and in combination, makes for a full meal. Think of it as Spanish Dim Sum if you like.


I started off with a Mojito, my favourite to quell the afternoon heat. The version here was good. lots of fresh Mint leaves and lovely brown sugar at the bottom. The nectar of Cuban Gods.



The first Tapas I had was Sauteed Tiger Prawns, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Wilted Spinach and Enoki mushrooms on a piece of Grilled Bread. Deviously simple to prepare, but perfectly executed. The enoki was crunchy, the tomatoes added the zing and the garlicky wilted spinach went perfectly with the Tiger prawns.



Stuffed Portobello with Seared Scallop, prawn and spinach came with some balsamic reduction tad was slightly sweetish. Moist and succulent, the mushrooms were magical. Wicked! Another winner.


Grilled Streaky Bacon with Haloumi Cheese and Onion Rings. Haloumi Cheese is a distinctive Middle Eastern/Cypriot Cheese mad from goat+sheep milk. It has a high melting temperature and you can see from the pictures that despite being grilled, the cheese has not melted. Taste wise, it was a tad salty and tasted a bit like mozarella. Not pungent at all. And the grilled bacon. What can go wrong right? The restaurant uses healthy Olive Oil to prepare their dishes.


For Dessert, I had Churrous' served with Chocolate dip. Spanish Yaw char kwai! This was not too oily, and the chocolate dip was not sweet, but has a bitter yet extremely chocolaty after taste. I'm in love with this restaurant. It is laid back and if you are tired of the usual Italian Fare along this strip, you know that you can always fall back on to this place.



They seem to have a fairly extensive wine selection, from the cellar. It would be interesting to explore the wines here!


"Eruct!" said Sancho; "I don't know what that means."
"To eruct, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "means to belch, and that is one of the filthiest words in the Spanish language, though a very expressive one; and therefore nice folk have had recourse to the Latin, and instead of belch say eruct, and instead of belches say eructations; and if some do not understand these terms it matters little, for custom will bring them into use in the course of time, so that they will be readily understood; this is the way a language is enriched; custom and the public are all-powerful there."
"In truth, senor," said Sancho, "one of the counsels and cautions I mean to bear in mind shall be this, not to belch, for I'm constantly doing it."
"Eruct, Sancho, not belch," said Don Quixote.
"Eruct, I shall say henceforth, and I swear not to forget it," said Sancho. From don Quixote by Cervantes @FBB, referring to his new organic beans diet :P



This little charming restaurant is open from 11am to 11.30pm, Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 11.30pm on weekends.

Engka Portobello
32 Jalan Changkat Bukit Bintang
50200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +60321447323