This is my second visit to Cestino near AEON Jusco Tebrau Mall, invited by Ah Zai, Cestino's Asst Manager.
Cestino is just a short walk through the AEON Jusco Mall covered car park or if you drive, just a 2 minute swing around to the Tebrau City Residences apartment blocks adjacent to the Mall.
As always, I can't help but stop to marvel at this giant mural of Marilyn Monroe taking pride of place at Cestino.
Cestino is a good place to chill as it is comfortable, has a good range of coffees and other hot and cold drinks, lots of cakes and desserts as well as cafe dishes like fish and chips. There is free wifi and ample free parking right at Cestino's door step.
During our visit, had a couple of Cestino's house blended coffees and a riot of colourful cakes :P
The Double Chocolate Walnut Brownie was moist, buttery with crunchy walnuts, and not overly sweet (RM10.90).
Other cakes I didn't taste today but they certainly look enticing enough for me to come back for them soon.
Cestino's tiramisu with chocolate, espresso, cheese and liqueur is one cool cake and among Cestino's hottest sellers (RM10.90).
Cheesecakes are one of my favourite cakes.
Cestino's macaroons come in 15 flavours including their signature salted caramel (RM3.20 each). Not my type of biscuit but I acknowledge that there are lots of macaroon fans out there :P
Cestino's Vanilla Cream Brulee with a rich, sweet custard base (RM10.90)
Cestino's Cream Brulee comes with this roselle poached pear. Interesting slightly tangy, sweet taste and crunchy juicy texture. Beautiful to look at too :))
We also tried Cestino's popular fish and chips (RM17.90).
I like Cestino's homemade tartar sauce. Rich, creamy, tangy and savoury with interesting crunchy bits of pickled vegetables like cucumbers mixed in.
Cestino's full bodied house blend coffees and lattes are made with aromatic Arabica beans.
Cestino's signature mocha for the coffee drinkers who like chocolate and espresso blend.
I snapped a pic of Cestino's hot beverage menu :P
For obvious reason, this is my favourite coffee blend at Cestino ;))
The next time you are nearby or in AEON Jusco Tebrau, drop by Cestino and check out their cakes and coffees. Cestino also has set lunch and high tea deals - ask about these value combo deals when you are there.
Restaurant name: Cestino Bakery and
Bistro
Address: Blok F-01-07 and 08, Jalan Harmonium 24/2, Taman Desa
Tebrau, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/cMEhd
GPS: 1.550760,103.795630
Hours: 12:00 noon to 11:00pm (Closed on
Mondays)
Non Halal
The boss of Tasconi's Pizza, Noor Hashim, who is a Johor Sedap Halal foodie group member invited me to his pizza restaurant which opened about six months ago in Bukit Indah, conveniently right next to the AEON Jusco mall. Tasconi's Pizza is a Bruneian franchise with restaurants in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
Inside, Tasconi's Pizza restaurant is inviting, simple and neat, yet comfortable. Besides dining in at the cosy restaurant, Tasconi's pizza also provides free pizza delivery (delivery hot line is 07-300-3180).
At Tasconi's Pizza, there are 17 types of pizzas on the menu.
Noor let us try Tasconi's regular 10" Spicy Beef pizza (which sells for RM26.90).
Tasconi's Spicy Beef pizza had generous toppings of minced beef, beef salami, beef pepperoni, jalapeno peppers, onions, with lots of imported Italian mozzarella cheese.
We next tried Tasconi's regular 10" Mexicana pizza (at RM26.90).
Tasconi's Mexicana pizza had loads of toppings of ground beef, onions, red and green peppers, fresh tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, and again, plenty of mozzarella cheese.
I liked both Tasconi's Spicy Beef and Mexicana pizzas. The thick crust was just the right crispness outside and inside it was moist. The ingredients were fresh and the molten cheese was rich and creamy. Though rich, Tasconi's pizzas were not overly greasy.
Tasconi's roll, the franchise's signature dish available with beef or mackerel fillings at RM16.90.
We had the beef with plenty of cheese. To me, it taste and felt like a huge pie.
Tasconi's sides are pretty good too. This cream of mushroom soup was the soup of the day (RM5.90). Made with fresh mushrooms, it was tasty.
The macaroni baked with minced beef and cheese.
Spicy baked chicken wings.
After enjoying the sumptuous meal, as usual, I made the bold request to visit the kitchen :P Noor graciously agreed to let me in :))
The centre piece in the kitchen was this large double decker oven with conveyor belt system. This oven which reminded me of those Transformer robots was imported from Italy.
I had the opportunity to watch the entire process of making a Tasconi pizza :)
Each pizza is assembled upon order. The tomato sauce and fresh toppings are added to the dough according to the order.
The Tasconi beef pepperoni pizza with all the toppings enters the oven from the right.
The pizza making its way slowly through the hot mid section of the oven.
The hot pizza peeking out of the oven on the left.
Presto! A piping hot beef pepperoni pizza straight out of the oven after 6 minutes.
Tasconi's Pizza is definitely worth a try, whether eating in at the Bukit Indah restaurant or at home by free home delivery.
Restaurant name: Tasconi's Pizza
Address: 97, Jalan Indah 15/2 (opposite AEON Jusco Bukit Indah)
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/UNLEw
GPS: 1.479856,103.656982
Hours: 10:00am to 10:00pm
Halal
Date visited: 25 Mar 2013
Chwee kueh 水粿 is a traditional Teochew comfort food commonly found in
Johor, and also Singapore.
To me chwee kueh is the traditional classic working man's humble energy
food from leaner, harder times. Plain carbo (steamed rice flour
milled from broken rice chips) made palatable with savouriness
from finely diced preserved radish (chai po) stewed in oil (traditionally lard). Nothing fanciful nor pretentious, but
authentic and very charming in my opinion.
CLOSED Teresa is an exchange student from Miami, USA. Teresa and her Malaysian host family have been exploring Johor food with my Johor Kaki food guide. As Teresa will be returning to the USA next month, Teresa and her host family wondered if we could meet up for a meal, which I gladly accepted.
On the way from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur to film the NTV7 Foodie Blogger TV series final episode, we took the opportunity to stop over and explore Muar food.
Walking along Jalan Maharani opposite the central bus station and wet market, we caught sight of plumes of orange flames like fiery tongues flicking skywards from a couple of satay stands set up along the busy five foot way.
Sometimes the rolling, licking tongues of flames shot up so high, it was like a fire eating performance by sidewalk buskers.
Well, these dramatic dancing fireworks were quite effective at attracting the attention of passers by, drawing them into R&H Cafe.
I stepped into R&H Cafe for a quick survey to see if this was a place for a possible good food find. The interior looked crammed and dim, and there were many people eating and milling around inside.
I made my way all the way to the back of the cafe which opened up to a bright and spacious courtyard. Seeing the place packed with happy people and how the tables were piled high with satay, mee rebus, tauhu goreng, drinks and other goodies, we decided to check out R&H Cafe.
A few copies of this picture, framed and proudly adorning the walls of the cafe, commemorate the visit by the Sultan of Johor to R&H Cafe. R&H Cafe's boss is the lady standing directly behind the Sultan.
We ordered satay, of course. This was the serving for two people but we were not expected to eat everything. Customers eat as many or as little as they like, and they are charged only for what they ate. Each stick of satay costs 60 sens.
The beef satay was firm and chewy but not hard, helped by pieces of juicy fat skewered together with the meat. Caramelised on the outside with charred edges.
The bits of spices and herbs clinging to the beef added interesting fragrant bursts when encountered and ground between our teeth.
Beef stomach satay.
The tripe satay was a little bland and chewy, but easily rescued by the savoury peanutty sauce. I like tripe because I enjoy its bouncy bite :)
R&H Cafe's chicken satay was one of the better ones that I have tasted. Caramelised on the outside and still tender and a little moist inside. The meat was a little bland but the spice and herbs managed to make the morsels tasty.
R&H Cafe provides "free flow" of ketupat which a staff will bring frequently on a tray.
Like the ketupat, the satay sauce at R&H Cafe was also "free flow". Peanutty, savoury, sweet and only very mildly spicy. The sauce was thick with bits of crushed peanut.
R&H Cafe's peanut sauce was creamy and thick. It was so good, I found myself scooping up the peanut sauce and enjoying it on its own.
Seeing that many customers ordered this Tauhu Lentok, we requested for one too.
Tauhu Lentok (RM3) is similar to tauhu goreng. Tauhu lentok has the same peanut sauce but with more soy sauce added making it more drippy and savoury. The crunchy bean sprouts were done just right.
Our asam boi drink.
We also ordered their popular Mee Jawa but it was already sold out :( This just means that we have to pop by at R&H Cafe again for unfinished business, the next time we are in Muar.
Rating: 2-Star
Restaurant name: R&H Cafe (Sate Maharani)
Address: 130, Jalan Maharani (across the road from the central bus station and wet market)
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/XfXaS
GPS: 2.050540,102.570408
Hours: 7:30am to 12:30pm (Closed on Friday)
Halal
Date visited: 17 Mar 2013
