Sunday, January 2, 2011

Beef it up at Las Vacas, Kelana Jaya!

waaaaaaa...its been ages since i last posted sthg here~
originally set this one up for less-personal stuffs, mainly photos i took out of leisure and not so leisure(read:paid).

so in the mood of new year, lets bring it back again ;-)
thought it`d be nice to combine all things i love into one - photography, food (eating and cooking!) and travelling~
the layout may need a lil help but for now..am excited abt this.

yours truly just got back from a lil trip to kota kinabalu, sabah..will need to sit down and take some time scrolling down the photos and see if there`s any worth posting!
back in kl, cudnt wait to long to meet up with a bunch of good friends from uni.

as always, we started with a movie - the tourist - my pick!
and then later went to have dinner at this superb steak restaurant in kelana jaya.

Las Vacas (near menara FAM)
No.23, Jalan SS 5A/11, Kelana Jaya 47301 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7874 0711

the place~

ok straight to the point. its actually a butchery-turned-restaurant kinda place. the two freinds owners (two malay guys) started this place as a shop that sell professionally cut meat (beef, lamb etc) then later set a few tables and chairs for in-house dining. fresh supply of meat and hig demand for halal delicious steaks, what cud go wrong?
i cud have thought that the chef is very good, but one bite into their steak u`d guess u dont need a superb chef for the steak, its the meat!

walk into the shop and we were greeted by very friendly staffs - almost like the guys next door lol~
i turned out found out that these two are the co-owners ;-)

right in front is the counter and a display of whatever raw-material they have in the shop.
they talked us through on the menu available, and asked us to hoose the meat from the display...first time in my life picking my own cut!

there were many..but i cud only remember the wagyu ( 2 types) that are priced at abt rm50++/100gm, then the one that we tried, grain-fed ribeye & angus ribeye. priced at about rm24/100gm).
according to the girl who served us at the counter, grain-fed is a bit sweet as the cow was grain-fed, and the angus is more tender and beefy.
lol~
i ordered the grain-fed with two others, while another two guys ordered the angus - all to be cooked to our preference.
my last encounter with steak was many2 months ago but i cud still remember how bad it was!
a well done steak at chillis that turned out to be super tough and dry~
so this time i ordered for medium rare - first time actually!

we also ordered some beef wraps and salad as starters.
drinks are all bottled juice, some imported and some local but really interesting choices.
mine was orange carrot which was tasty - i dont eat carrot mind you!

so there we went upstairs for our table. the place really only have a few tables for diners. i`m guessing maybe only about 15 ppl upstairs, and another 12 on the ground floor.
so reservation is a must if one`s going here.

the food~
and then come our 2 inch-thick steak!
we didnt order for specific weight - so we ended up with 300gm steak! dude..it was massive!
the taste?..errri dont have much words.

in short, i`m converted.
no more of those overrated western joints like chillis, marche,tgif and stuffs ( cant say tony roma`s yet cos didnt try the ribs here yet!)
the steaks was minimally seasoned, no fancy bbq sauce and what not come with it, only balsamic salad and bread. just pepper and salt i guess.
it was cooked to my liking, did not add a single drop of sauce tho they do have chilli sauce, and HP bbq sauce on the table..

my medium rare ribeye was superb and juicy! tru enough its a bit sweet - the meat is sweet!
as compared to the angus ribeye which is a bit more meaty. very `manly` like naza said haha~
even teh well-done steak jem had was good, ust nice and not dry.
and the beef wraps is also a winner! its actually sukiyaki cut beef that wrap around cheese and salad *yummy*
the salad, well its salad ;-)

so we digged in endlessly into our steaks, savouring the taste and meat-juice over even more juicy gossip..not!
have to say tho..i was guilty for not finishing my steak!!! really cudnt go dahh that one last bite and someone had to finish it up for me.
next time have to request for 200gm only lah~


me and opah had coffee in the end to wrap it up. i had americano black which was actually quite good for a non-coffee shop.

puas hati!!!

the price~
urrmmm..total damage for 5 person was rm440++
walaawehh..kopak i!
because we all took 300gm steak..at rm24/100gm so you do the calculation lah!
the starter/beef wraps wraps is rm18/5pieces. salad abt rm10 for a really big plate.
drinks vary. i had the most expensive haha! orange carrot bottled juice at rm9..others vary lah.
next time better request for sky juice jelaa hoo :-)

the meat is priced at much lower price if you`re keen to buy them raw tho - at abt rm11/100gm for the ribeye that we had-the least expensive they have kot. next time i feel like steak-ing maybe i cud just buy the meat and grill myself, i dont think it wud be that difficult to get super nice steak with their good meat pon. in fact leh la try the wagyu yg rm50/100gm tu huhu~

ambience and people~
it is very different since it is a meat shop!
very homely..and i thought its quite privacy. perfect for a group of friends who want to hang out a bit longer in quiet without ppl shouting for orders and walking here and there.
the level two is where the kitchen is actually, so where we had our dinner it really felt like we were at home waiting for meals to be cooked!
and the people, very friendly. i know these guys must really love selling meat! they talk like in a totally diff lingo lol!
and on top of that, its totally Halal~
no liquor whatsoever ok...totally malay and muslim. owh i love that peace of mind :-)
no more excuse for chillis!







p/s: birthday saya end of this month, dpt makan sini pon best jugak~
lalalala~