The correct one

This is the 3 colours dumpling soup that I have eaten before and wanted to order again when I wrote the wrong number and got the dry ones instead. Their prices are the same MYR10.90+ 6% GST = about MYR11.60 so the soup gives better value because it has vegetables too.

The dry ones which I ordered wrongly

Stingray

This was one of the set lunches I ate at BLU cafe at the Sphere, Bangsar South back in 2015 for MYR13.90 nett.

Curry stingray set lunch with a cup of barley drink. Comes with rice, cabbage, a piece of omelette and one piece of water melon.

Close up of the curry stingray with tomatoes and okras.

I scooped up two pieces of stingray

BLU - Better Lifestyle for You store front

Lost and Found

I mentioned this dish in my previous post and now that the photos have reappeared, I am posting it here.

 What I wrote then was:
"I have tried their Garlic Shrimp Spaghetti with Goo Leng Ping drink (MYR14.90++ 10% service charge and 6% GST = MYR17.40 back then. Now the price is MYR15.90++). I did not really know what Goo Leng Ping was when I ordered it. Turned out to be a rose syrup with milk drink. The pasta was a bit too al dente for my liking."

Garlic Shrimp Spaghetti sprinkled with parmesan cheese (eaten in 2015)

Whole set with the Goo Leng Ping drink

Workday lunches

Apart from those who cook their own lunches in their office pantry, how do you decide on where to eat lunch? Would you consider driving out to another area for lunch or just eat at the eateries within walking distance of your office?

As much as I love to eat Japanese food, I have not eaten and will not eat at this restaurant during lunch because it is too expensive for workday lunches although to be fair, they do have some affordable bento sets but I prefer to eat the salmon bento set which is not cheap so it is a no go at this place.

Most of the time, I will eat economy rice at the food court which has about 7 to 8 halal food stalls but I only stick to 2 or 3 stalls - the chinese mix rice stall, vegetarian stall and chicken rice stall. I try to be early, if not there would be a very long queue for food.

This is the vegetarian stall that I frequent more than the chinese mix rice stall because I prefer the vegetable dishes here which are less oily. Although it says vegetarian it serves hard boiled eggs with sambal so my meals will always be yinchoy (amaranth), broccoli/cauliflower, and one hard boiled egg and the price would be around MYR5 to 6 depending on the portion that I get myself.

One day, there were no hard boiled eggs so I took this omelette. I asked the cashier, is this real egg or fake egg and she answered yes real egg but it turned out to be a fake omelette which is made from soy flour so it is like eating a slightly sweet pancake, double carb portion for me. I should have trusted my own judgement. When I looked at the texture of the omelette, it looks more like pancake than eggs. Oh well, my mistake. Never one to waste food, I polish off everything on the plate.

Sometimes, I buy a small pizza on offer at MYR3.90 nett from Aeon Big Supermarket and eat it for lunch and tea but it is quite salty so I don't do this often. If my memory serves me correctly, the above is a cheese tuna mayo onion pizza.

Alternatives

Sometimes we really do not know what to eat for lunch during work week days so we ended up here, a place where I usually try not to eat at, mainly because I can order the food served here at a lower price at other places. So far, I have only been to this outlet twice for work lunch and don't think I will eat here anymore for the reason stated above.

I did not feel like having rice on that day so I ordered a single portion of braised soy sauce chicken (breast meat) without rice for MYR8.90 nett.

On the 2nd visit, I ordered a set value lunch at MYR10 nett which consists of rice, a single portion of chicken (roast chicken breast meat was my choice), soup (with nothing in it), and a glass of soft drink which I gave to my co-worker who drank two glasses of soft drink. The rice portion was too big for me to finish.

This was the single portion of roast chicken meat which came with the value set meal. Quite a lot too.

I am sure all of you are familiar with this eatery - the Chicken Rice Shop - they have outlets everywhere.

This is the chicken rice stall at The Sphere's food court. One can get a plate of chicken rice (with a bit less meat than that provided by TCRS) for around MYR6.80 nett so this is the alternative I mentioned earlier. I ate here a few times too for lunch.

Been to Bali?

This is another popular eatery at The Sphere, Bangsar South. During lunch time on working weekdays, I always see the place being fully occupied. This is because they have lunch sets about MYR11.50+ 6%GST for one main meal and one drink. I have eaten here twice and for both times I ordered the same dish from the ala carte menu because I could not bring myself to order their rice platters which are too huge for me to finish all on my own.

My order twice - Mee Jawa from the ala carte menu - MYR11.50+ 6% GST = MYR12.20 - an expensive noodle dish. Is it from Bali?

Balifeel at The Sphere. They have a website, are on facebook and state that they serve traditional Balinese cuisine. They even have a Jimbaran Seafood Platter (MYR26.50+) listed on their menu. I have not been to Bali but I have heard of the famous Jimbaran beach where tourists sit and eat seafood on the sand looking out at the sea and sunset. Since I have not been there, I would not be able to tell whether the food here is authentic or not.

MYR67.30 for 5pax

Tri Colours

During working days, I have been to this eatery 3 times with my co-workers but I won't be eating here anymore because I have been to Taiwan frequently to eat the delicious food there so I prefer to eat local food during lunch nowadays. I was surprised when my order turned out to be the above - MYR10.90+ 6% GST = about MYR11.60 - an amount which I think could be better spent elsewhere.

I have eaten the soup version before and this time I wanted to order the same thing but it seems that I wrote down the wrong item number on the order chit. My mistake so I had to eat them.

The meaning of the 3 colours, The green dumpling does not contain any meat. It has tofu, mushrooms, green vegetables as its filling instead.

These dumplings were just steamed, not grilled like gyoza. The skin is quite thin and I prefer the skin to be thick and chewy. The filing for the chicken dumpling (white) is too soft and finely minced so I like it the least. The other two were just average, not worth ordering again but vegetarians wanting to eat dumplings could order the green one.

Located at the Sphere.

Localised Food

The menu

It says this is localised Taiwanese food..

..so the tagline M Origin

I have eaten very delicious braised beef with tendons in the meat like shown in the above picture in Taiwan so I was very tempted to order the above but I was afraid the beef will not be like that so I did not take the risk but ordered something else.

I ordered the above instead for MYR8.90+ 6% GST = MYR9.45 - the thick sauce has hidden the noodles.

Here are the noodles. There were tiny pieces of hard bits in the sauce so I had to eat carefully and avoid biting on them. I suspect those are bits of clove spice or aniseed that was chopped up and mixed into the sauce. The sauce is a bit spicy.

Spicy Stewed Dry Ramen. The chinese characters state Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面) meaning “Fried Sauce Noodle". The main ingredient in the sauce is soy bean paste (tauchu).

Interior of the eatery - located at the Sphere

Oiso

This is another restaurant that has a queue during lunch time so we tried it too.

My set lunch Bul go gi - MYR20.90+ 6% GST, no service charge = MYR22.15 - my most expensive lunch during work days at this location. Only three refillable Banchan (side dishes) - gobo (braised burdock root), kimchi and deep fried anchovies. I ate the kelp/seaweed in the soup but did not drink the soup and I was so very full. Too full so I won't be eating here again because the food is too much for me. There were many slices of beef and as expected the gravy was on the sweet side so the taste was ok for me.

I selected this set because I did not want a spicy main dish as the kimchi will be spicy. There are around 30 set meals to choose from.

To beat the crowd, we were there early at 11.30am so there were plenty of seats available.

Indoor and outdoor seatings

Oiso, Korean restaurant at The Sphere

I eat for you

For lunch, my co workers and I will go around the area to seek out value lunch meals. I saw the above and decided to try it out for my spouse since he likes to eat roast pork. After 6% GST and 4% service charge, the meal came up to MYR15.35 which is still good value since the meal includes soup of the day and a drink. 

Mushroom soup and ice lemon tea without syrup/sugar - part of the value lunch. Taste is acceptable. 

The roast pork portion seems small from this angle.

It looks better from this angle. Roast pork lovers can try this due to the price. Taste ok.

I had to remove all the fatty parts as I don't eat them.

S'Mores at the Sphere

One time only

This cafe is quite popular during breakfast and lunch because they serve both Western and local meals so we went there once for lunch.

I ordered the set Nasi Lemak Chicken Rendang meal which includes one drink, soup, rice, chicken and dessert which is just a very small wedge of watermelon - MYR15.90+ 6% GST = MYR16.85 in total. I asked for half a portion of rice and the rice was served like the above (half cut). We could not figure out what the drink was. The taste is weird. I guess it is lots of fresh cucumber juice mixed with a little lemonade soda from bottles. The chicken rendang tastes fine so it was just a typical cafe nasi lemak.

The soup served was this bowl of oily soup with very few pieces of cabbage floating in it. I just ate the cabbage but did not drink the oily soup.

Interior

Zest Cafe at The Sphere. I won't be eating here again because I do not fancy eating the Western meals served here and I could get nasi lemak of the same or even better quality for a much better price elsewhere at The Sphere.

Better Lifestyle for you

This is one of the places we go to for lunch during working days as they serve value-for-money set lunch meals.

My set lunch - MYR13.90 nett covers a drink - I chose a barley drink and requested for no sugar, a piece of watermelon, rice, vege-of-the-day which was stirfried brinjal, a piece of omelette and chicken cooked in a mixed of spices (Ayam Kerutuk/Kerutup/Kerutub). ****Update - thanks for pointing out that the above drink is lime juice which I ordered without sugar. I ordered barley on another visit *****

They also serve healthy wraps

BLU cafe at the Sphere, Bangsar South

My set lunch on another working day - also MYR13.90 - fried fish, barley drink without sugar, rice, omelette, watermelon, stirfried vege-of-the-day. Food tastes good but the rice is a much too much for me since I had to finish my drink too so I no longer eat here for lunch.