Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Pick n' Brew @ 1 Utama

Has the world turned faster than I thought or has another year just passed me by, yet again?

It was around this time last year that I met these two foodies/bloggers/80's music lovers; Lyrical Lemongrass and WMW (among many other cool bloggers) for the very first time.

A year later, we met again. Here, at Pick n’ Brew.

I've always thought of this coffee haven as the Central Perk for food blogging Friends. This is where they catch up with one another while sipping a nice cup of coffee and in other more celebrative occasions, gather for a scrumptious meal, complete with endless jokes and laughters. And why shouldn't they? I asked myself as I tasted two of their interesting Christmas All Day Specials on my first visit to Pick 'n Brew.

The optimistic shade of grey spelt of a promising Soup Of The Day, the mushroom. And it was indeed flavourful and creamy. Definitely not your typical 4-minutes-to-save-the-world instant wonderbees.

What I liked about the Beef Escalope and Lobster Tail with Sautéed Mushroom and Grilled Potato was the ensemble of everything distinctively delicious. The beef was tender and drizzled with a fruity sauce while the lobster tail was sweet and juicy. Coupled with vegetables for colour and crunch, it was value-for-money indeed.

From the many good reviews, I notice that Pick n’ Brew aims to be aesthetically pleasing as well, while coming up with dishes of interesting tastes and usage of ingredients. The Oven Baked Stuffed Chicken on Soft Mushroom Polenta and Sautéed Vegetables is one such fine example. The combination of polenta (to replace the usual potato mash), cous cous and the sweet/savoury caramelized sauce was good. Let’s not forget the garlic-infused stuffed chicken which came with a nice herby hint.

In real life (and in no relation to Denise Richard’s Dr. Christmas Jones character), Christmas does come only once. And to engage in the festive spirit in style, spending a small amount on a glass of rich eggnog is money well-spent. Sweet and intoxicating, I thought I heard Karen Carpenter’s beautiful voice in the background.

Well, yes, it was her voice.

And what goes well with The Carpenter's rendition of good old Christmas songs in the background too? The mixed grain cookies. Light, crunchy and subtly sweet, it was nice.

This Central Perk is definitely a catch with all the adventurous dishes and good presentations to boost. Not many cafes have taste in more ways than one and Pick n’ Brew certainly has it lots. With time and direction, I’m sure it will stand tall among the good eateries in 1 Utama. Pick a recommended dish or drink from the menu n’ let the Brew take you over.

Here’s to another year of friends, food and fun.

The best Fs ever! :)

Pick n’ Brew
F233, 1 Utama Shopping Centre
Bandar Utama City Centre
Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya
Selangor.
Tel: (+603) 7726 0102

Notes:

1. The Christmas All Day Specials are available daily from 11 am to 9.30 pm at RM28, which includes the soup of the day, a main and a drink (Christmas Carol or Minty Christmas).

2. Add another RM10 for a glass of wine or the eggnog latte to go with the Christmas All Day Special. RM15 if ordered separately.

3. The mixed grain cookies are part of the Take A Break set at RM12, which includes a set of Pick n’ Brew coffee or organic tea. You can substitute the mixed grain cookies with a piece of chocolate log cake or chocolate chip cookies.

4. Other festive delights include a Christmas log cake at RM80, strawberry banana frappelicious at RM10 and Christmas roast turkey at RM220.

Check out KampungBoyCityGal’s thorough review here.

Kenny Mah’s golden brew experience here.

Lyrical Lemongrass’ Christmas All Day Special makan-makan here.

32 comments:

Selba said...

Whoaaa.. so nice... it really gives a nice ambience... and also the food looks nice.

Now, I'm wondering, is it really the place or the x'mas decoration or the person who is really good in snapping the pictures that makes it look so nice ;)

sc said...

wow, reading this post really reminds me that christmas is fast approaching! could feel the warmth exuding from this post :)

Anonymous said...

everything is so in the xmas mood rite?

J2Kfm said...

i've never tasted eggnog before. and i miss turkey, been YEARS since I've them.

still miss yesteryears when Xmas=exchanging of gifts among coursemates, colleagues, and friends.

maybe age is catching up fast. the spirit of exchanging gifts seems to be lost ... everybody wanna take, not give.

Ciki said...

wa hairy.. when i say you can eat non-stop.. i mean U CN EAT NON STOP!

Anonymous said...

The best F's ever. That got me laughing out loud. Sowwy. ^_^ Anyway, it's been a heckuva year, hasn't it? I don't think time's really flown by fast. It has more like drifted along the meandering stream of time if you look back and see the events that have taken place. :-) What a year.

Anonymous said...

haha i just realize that i have the same carpenter cd! gorgeous pic! n mine turn out in a dirty yellowish hue..sorry jackson!

fatboybakes said...

sounds delectable. i've always had good dining experiences here, thanks to jackson.

the year has indeed zoomed by. rather depressing actually.

Anonymous said...

The photos have a very xmas feel to it. only like 9 days to xmas? ha

cool man. i love blogger outings. but a pity both of us come from different sides. yours too far away for me to go. lol!

And yeah, another year has passed, eating many good food and getting to know many new friends in the process

Rebecca Saw said...

been reading great reviews so far abt this Christmas set. Mayb I should give it a try..hope no more rancid nuts in my desserts again ;p

Rebecca Saw said...

been reading great reviews so far abt this Christmas set. Mayb I should give it a try..hope no more rancid nuts in my desserts again ;p

Precious Pea said...

Wow, now that you mention about it, it's going to be one year since we first met hor? Time sure flies! But it's a good thing isn't it? This shows that life is treating us well.

Anonymous said...

Time sure flies :)
We should be glad that we're still able to comment on each others' blogs after one year.

Merry Christmas in advance, Nic!

ling239 said...

wonder wat is a strawberry banana frappelicious....:p

Anonymous said...

Aiyo hairy, I need a bigger screen la. To read the text, I can see only half the pix. To see the pix, I can't read what you wrote about!! :D

I like that upside down paper cup. Prettily drawn. Looks like a lampshade over a wine bottle.

HairyBerry said...

selba, haha, thanks for the compliment. but i think it's definitely the place and the deco! ;) and the food! ;)

sc, thank kew! ;) yeah, xmas is only slightly more than a week away! so, got your xmas presents already! ;) party on, ya! ;)

kampungboycitygal, yupe, the deco at pick n' brew is kinda christmasy. and of course, the decos in the shopping centres do add to the mood as well!

j2kfm, turkey!!! yeah, havent had that in years as well. hehe, just had a xmas gift exchange last week..hehe.
"everybody wanna take, not give."
dont stop giving dude, cos to be able to give is a blessing! ;) :) provided its within our budget, of course! ;)

cumi & ciki, hehehe, did i tell you that i actually had a bowl of pork noodles with toast before this? hoohoohoo... :)

lyrical lemongrass, you have a point. like all the turns of a stream. the turbulences and the slopes do make us wiser and stronger, don't ya think? overall, a good year with good friends and good health. it's a blessing! ;)

kampungboycitygal, aiyoh, your pics are good also lar. and your review is much more thorough than mine! ;) you love the carpenters too? awesome!!!! ;)

HairyBerry said...

fatboybakes, yeah, i read your review on pick n' brew as well and you've had some good experiences there! oh, i should thank jackson/wmw as well for the invite.
aiyoh, dont be depressed lah. looking back at the year, it was fun, wasn't it? and it's gonna get even fun"ner"..hehe

ladyironchef, yeah, xmas is indeed drawing very near. got your presents ready? hehe...
well, we can always meet up in singapore. i'm here on weekdays and some weekends as well. i'm game for food!!!
and yeah, good food and friends. it was a good process, i agree!

thenomadgourmand, rancid nuts? oh no! well, i certainly enjoyed the specials and the ambiance. of course, there's the good friends as well. hope you'll have a good time at pick n' brew! ;)

precious pea, ya lor! you, lemongrass and wmw were the organizers of the xmas party at my elephant. i had so much fun that night! ;) they say time flies when you are having fun. i cant agree more! ;) here's to more to come! ;)

jason, haha! agree! it's good to know that the blogosphere is still very much healthy and kicking! ;) all for the love of food! cool!
Merry Christmas in advance too, Jason! ;)

ling239, hmmm, interesting question! i am also very curious to know! perhaps it's like a strawberry and banana shake frappe. hmmm, sounds good eh? ;)

GFAD, LOL! i think i hafta write longer or trim the pics d...haha! actually it's true. i'm using a wide screen and it's quite difficult to view both the pics and texts at the same time.
yeah, that paper cup really caught my attention. kinda cool, me thinks. yeah, it does resemble a lampshade, doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

great pics once again! :) and the paper cup drew my attention to it too! ditto to the central perk comparison. ;)

Anonymous said...

This post of yours with Karen Carpenter’s beautiful voice does bring a warm welcome to Christmas.
This remind me of that special song of hers...ITS YESTERDAY ONCE MORE.

Big Boys Oven said...

Wow lovely food and not expensive either!

backStreetGluttons said...

Only in your this blog will we dare to tell you what we think of this place. Great as a hideaway and not much else...

Truly if not for wonderful JK , it will be forgotten by next Xmas !
LOL !

fatboybakes said...

karen carpenter's voice? your blog got music one ah? how come i cant hear one?

guffaw at thenomadgourmand's rancid nuts....yeah, nothing worse than chewing into them...

choi yen said...

RM28 per set really a good deal hor....

PS: I wonder which 1 is you in Lemongrass's photo :P

Anonymous said...

Gosh. My Elephant seemed like a lifetime ago. Good times, very good times. Here's to many more! Merry Xmas, everybody! :D

Anonymous said...

Gosh. My Elephant seemed like a lifetime ago. Good times, very good times. Here's to many more! Merry Xmas, everybody! :D

HairyBerry said...

jasmine, thanks for the compliment! i think i've been watching too much of "friends"...haha! oh, AFC as well! ;)

ck lam, i lurve karen carpenter's voice! it's one of the inimitable voices of our time! every sha lalala, every woo oooo.. ;)

bigboysoven, yupe the food's lovely and the price is very affordable, looking at the ingredients, i must say. ;)

backstreetgluttons, yupe, i know what you mean as it is tucked away from the central part of the shopping centre. that's why i hope with time and direction, it'll be able to make a stand in 1 U. ;)
haha, of course wonderful JK plays a part! he's like the model for the pnb. hehe...

fatboybakes, hehe, no lar. pick n brew used the carpenter's christmas cd as their background music. rancid nuts? what an appetiser hor? hehe..we usually get that in chinese restaurants..hehehe...

mimi, yupe, i was happy to see the price of the set. tastes good as well! ;)
PS: aiyah, of course the most handsome one lar...hehehehe *me tak malu, hahaha!*

kenny, yeah, that was my first flogging experience...hehehe...what fun we had that night, eh? i still remember the award you got! haha! Merry Xmas to you too, dude! ;)

Shell (貝殼) said...

Another lovely series of photos~~
I've yet to visit "Pick n' brew",cos i don't really like western food..But, it becomes very attractive after looking at your photos... will visit it when got a chance^^

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

oh god, when i was reading ur comments, i realised its 1 year since my elephant..meaning its been 1 year since i ate there!!! time flies..

HairyBerry said...

Shell (貝殼), thank kew for your compliment! ;) and yupe, do check it out when you are in 1 Utama! it'll be great for photography as well! ;)

joe, yupe, time really flies. that was the first time i met you also! we shared the same table! ;)

~Christine~Leng said...

I love all your pics Nic!
wanna wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in advance first :)
May you have a great one!
I'm sooo in a festive mood now :) hehe.

Simon Seow said...

Time passes so fast. Sigh, don't have time to try out the Christmas all day special.

Anonymous said...

looks so delicious!!!yummy~