Chilli Vanilla @ Jalan Haji Saman, KK

We've actually heard of Chilli Vanilla a while back but since the cafe is closed on Sunday (and Sunday our favourite day to cari makan), we never got around to visit it. Nonetheless, we've heard quite a lot of good reviews about their red velvet cake and never having reviewed a Mediterranean restaurant in KK, we made a point to drop by Chilli Vanilla for lunch.

First Look

Located in a small shop lot directly opposite Kinabalu Emporium (same row as Moon Bell Restaurant, facing the main road), Chilli Vanilla can be quite hard to spot from afar. But as you come closer, you'll see a small shop with a rustic-looking signboard bearing its name.

Overall, Chilli Vanilla has a homey and casual ambience--a nice place to chill out with friends over a glass of iced calamansi drink on warm balmy afternoons. They also play groovy 80s and 90s music, which is a refreshing change if you're tired of listening to One Direction.

Food & Beverages

Chilli Vanilla is owned by a Hungarian lady, therefore, you can expect to sample  more exotic offerings on the menu. The cafe serves Hungarian and Mediterranean speciality dishes such as the Frikadelle (beef meatballs with Hungarian paprika and herbs, stuffed with cheese and spicy salsa), the Moroccan-inspired Lamb Stew (MYR16.90), Spaghetti Milanese (MYR24.90) and the homemade Liver Pate.

Sticking to a clean, healthy diet? Fret not as Chilli Vanilla also serves an array of wonderful salads such as the Mediterranean Mix (MYR16.90), the Waldorf (MYR16.90) and the Aphrodite salad (MYR18.90) which are all gluten-free. 

Oliver and I decided to try something a little less exotic for a start. I ordered the Chicken Breast and Mashed Potato lunch set (comes with a complimentary creamy mushroom soup and a slice of butter cake), while Oliver ordered the Spicy Grilled Duck Tortilla (MYR17.90).

Grilled chicken breast

Chicken Breast and Mashed Potato lunch set (MYR16.90)

Creamy mushroom soup

Butter cake with walnuts

Grilled Duck Tortilla

Unfortunately, the famed red velvet cake was unavailable on that day. Nonetheless, Chilli Vanilla still has an array of lip-smacking cakes such as the chocolate brownies, apple crumble pie and butter cake with walnuts.

Chocolate brownies

Apple crumble pie

Butter cake

You can also have a glass of wine if you like.

Verdict

We give props to Chilli Vanilla for its uniqueness--there aren't many restaurants in KK offering Hungarian or Mediterranean dishes--but the portion size and pricing are on the skimpy and more expensive side respectively. 

We loved the duck tortillas but found the chicken breast and mashed potato a little too salty. The butter cake that came with the lunch set was also only half the size of an average cake slice and was a bit dry for our liking.

We'll probably come back to try the red velvet cake, other than that, the overall gastronomic experience wasn't particularly exceptional.

Food Buddy rating: 3.38/5

Ambience: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Price: 2.5/5

Food & Beverages: 3/5

Chef Tan's - Coffee. Food. Home @ The Peak Vista, Likas

It was our first time visiting The Peak Vista. Initially, we had wanted to check out October Cafe, since many people had posted photos of it on Facebook and Instagram. Unfortunately, it was full when we came. So, we picked Chef Tan's Cafe.

First look
At first glance, the cafe looked spick-and-span with rustic chic wooden furnishing and a homely ambiance. As we walked through the door, the delightful aroma of freshly-roasted coffee beans filled the air. Ah, bliss!

Food & beverages
We had a look through the menu, which disappointingly didn't have plenty to offer. This outlet basically serves a selection of kopitiam-style Chinese cuisine with a small addition of Western favourites e.g. steak, lamb chop and fish & chips, and finger foods.

Another main offering of this cafe is its coffee selection (hence the yummy aroma!). You can get your caffeine fix from the regulars like the Americano, espresso, cappuccino and cafe latte. If you like something vintage, go for the Vintage 'Kopi Botol', which is basically chilled black coffee in a bottle.

Price
Best thing about this outlet is probably its selection of coffee that has a price range of MYR3 (hot) to MYR7 (cold) -- waaaay cheaper than Starbucks and taste just about the same, if you ask me.

As for food, the price-range for the main courses starts from MYR8.80 to MYR23. I'd say not bad, but if it's Chinese kopitiam meals you're looking for; you can order the same food (pork chop, BBQ pork rice, ginger beef, etc.) at a kopitiam and pay less.

Verdict
I decided to order a bowl of herbal chicken (MYR10.80) and one Vintage 'Kopi Botol' (MYR3), while Oliver ordered the Signature Hokkien Pork Chop (MYR10.80) and a cup of cappuccino. For dessert, we had a plate of chocolate waffles, oink! 

I personally loved the herbal chicken as it was very tender and juicy -- probably slow-cooked for hours in a pressure cooker. The herbal taste was also very prominent, in a delicious-non-medicinal way, with a hint of sweet rice wine. The meal was also generously-portioned, so I was reasonably pleased. My only complaint is that the broth turned out a little bit oily. 

Herbal Chicken

Vintage 'Kopi Botol'

The Signature Hokkien Pork Chop was not as generously-portioned as the Herbal Chicken, but there were an additional serving of salad and an omelet on the plate to complement the pork chop. The pork chop was also slightly different from the normal kopitiam pork chop as it was served with black pepper sauce. 

Signature Hokkien Pork Chop

Despite the extra effort in making good ol' pork chop original, it was nothing much to shout about. Not exactly something you'd come back for again and again.

We would probably come back to have coffee and to bask in the yummy coffee aroma! As for food, as certified 'food economists', we'd still prefer to pay under RM10 per meal :).

Cappuccino with flower on top!

Chocolate Waffles with sprinklings of cocoa powder

Food Buddy rating: 3.5/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Price: 3/5
Food & Beverages: 3/5