Coliseum

Mum's Birthday yesterday. Official one, not the Chinese one. She wanted to celebrate it anyway. How freakin' cheating is that? Where got people celebrate two birthdays one! Hmph.

And she wanted a cake.

"I thought u didn't want a cake when we celebrated ur Chinese birthday?"

"Oh, that was then, i want one now."

Geeez. But seriously, am definitely not complaining. Coz mum usually eats a slice of the cake, and i get to devour enormous enormous slices of the remainder. Mwahaha!

We paid a visit to one of my family's favourite restaurants: Coliseum Cafe.

It's situated right next to the Coliseum Theatre on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in KL, and it looks pretty shabby. We call it the 老爷餐厅, which means shabby restaurant.

Here comes the old cliché: don't judge a book by its cover.

It was first established in 1921, nearly a century old. You could actually see the age painted on the wall.

Like we'd been thrown into a time-machine and traveled back to colonial times. Certainly looked like it. I would describe this place as quaint. Or charming?

*The waiters in Coliseum are generally rather impatient uncles who are very familiar with the menu and are, to a certain extent, cocky. On our first visit a few years back, our waiter was this really really old and arrogant ah pek. When we asked him whether he needed to write down any notes he said "I no need write down one. I memorize the entire menu already." And memorize it he did. He could even spout out the corresponding number to each item on the menu. He doesn't work there anymore though.

Appearances aside, Coliseum Cafe sports a kick-ass menu, serving a whole selection of food including poultry, fish, steaks, soups, vege, toast, and an extensive liquor menu. I can't really remember everything that they serve, as it's a long list. If you're interested u know what number to call. ;)

This is a mocktail named Cinderella. Ha! For us kids! In addition to a myriad of cocktails and liquor shots, they also serve non-alcoholic mocktails for noobs like me. :D

Cinderella is a mixture of lime juice, orange juice, 7-up and grenadine syrup. Served with a cherry. Apparently this is the non-alcoholic equivalent of tequila sunrise / screwdriver. They have other mocktails like Shirley Temple or Mickey Mouse or something like that, but Cinderella is by far the best.

Toasts. I don't mean typical butter/kaya toasts (they do serve kaya butter toasts, but that's beside the point), i mean these! Melted cheese and onion toast. Bread was perfectly toasted, combine that with the melted cheese and the crisp onion shreds sprinkled on top... Heavenly. ;)

Mum ordered this set promotion that they were having which includes a) Russian salad b) French onion soup c) Chicken or Fish and d) coffee/tea/iced lemon tea. Whole set for 30 bucks or something. Not too bad a deal.

Russian salad looks rather cacated. A pretty simple salad. Addition of roe was a good idea though.

Mum's fish, drenched with mushroom sauce with mashed potatoes and mashed spinach. Mashed spinach looked somewhat grotesque, but it tasted fine. A little buttery. Fish was fresh and crispy. No fishy smell. Good, but nothing special here.

The French onion soup was quite excellent. A little bit on the oily side, but excellent. Tastes better than the one offered in T.G.I. Friday's. Friday's one is topped with mozzarella cheese, more impressive yes. Taste-wise, it pales in comparison to the one at Coliseum.

Sis's not-so-good tomato soup. It tasted like... ketchup, as if it came from a can. Sourish-sweetish blah... Do not order the tomato soup at Coliseum. T.G.I.F. wins this time with its tomato basil.

Excluding the tomato, Coliseum serves some tasty soups. The oxtail soup and the asparagus cream soup are excellent. We didn't order those, but we did on previous visits.

Next up. Custard Caramel Pudding. Am not exaggerating when i say that Coliseum serves the best custard caramel pudding that i have ever tasted. The best. Absolute best. It is divine. Super divine. Aaaaaaaah! Orgasmic. It is oven baked, which infuses it with this subtle burnt aroma which is nothing short of divine.

Dad always orders the Fish Concalaise when comes to Coliseum. 1 whole fillet of white fish sandwiched between two chunks of mashed potatoes, drenched with white sauce and cili padi. Spicy. Heads up for cheesaholics who expect a cheesy sauce.The sauce has no traces of cheese in it, unfortunately. Just a simple cream sauce. Dad likes it as he doesn't consume anything cheesy with the exception of pizzas.

Coliseum is particularly famous for its sizzling dishes. All sizzling dishes come with sides of salad (with thousand island dressing), some creamy potato salad, french fries and whole lot of gravy. I was rather tempted to order the sizzling but the waiter recommended the sirloin so...

My sirloin steak. Looked kinda pathetic due to the sparse fries. It tasted marvellous though. Huge slab of sirloin steak. Marvellous. Those who've kept track of my Facebook should know that i've been having this craving for steak. I guess i have temporarily extinguished my carnal cravings to gnaw at meat.

Oh baby. Rather thick steak as well, tender, with a touch of pink in the center. It's just goddamn perfect, perfectly grilled with a perfect smoky aroma. Sigh... Satisfaction. :D

Ice cream, peaches and cream. With sis's skanky hands. Good but nothing to shout about. Everyone can make this at home with canned peaches, vanilla ice-cream and whipped cream.

Finally. More Custard Caramel Pudding. Try these.

***
Next up, mum's cake.

Durian durian from Secret Recipe. I know some people are durian-intolerant, but my family sure as hell isn't! So... Happy Birthday to Mum once again. *she refused to have her picture taken as she wasn't wearing make-up. -_-" women...