From the world of Pandora, to the arena of DOME (Durian-flavored ice, anyone?)

Do you agree people, when I say that good movie and good food go together like good wine and meat? It's a real treat when it happens..Nothing beats the visceral combination of visual feast for the eyes topped by a sumptuous feast to titillate your taste buds. That's what I had one fine Saturday in Suria KLCC mall during an outing with a good friend of mine. First thing on the agenda for the day is a 3D journey into the world of Pandora, where all the Na'vi lives in perfect harmony, that is, until those meddling humans come in with gun fires ablaze, squandering all things in sight. Yes, AVATAR is an "awesome movie", to quote the Americans. And if you haven't seen it, run, don't walk, to the cinema before it's too late.  It's a moving tale of.....err..what's that?....what? ......This is not a movie review blog you say? Really?? .. Right, right, right. Sorry, I tend to get carried away sometimes.
Anyway, before making our ways into the cineplex, we managed to settle down and quench our thirsts with Malaysia's favourite desserts, ABC! If you're familiar at all (and why shouldn't you?) with the layouts of the mall, just take the escalators to the food court located right below the cineplex and the ABC stall is slightly to the left when you come up the floor. Really, you can't miss it...They have rows and rows of fresh fruits adorning their display cases.

Anyway, I was delighted to find a durian-flavoured ABC on the menu, and of course, since I'm such a queen for the king of fruit, I HAVE to have it.

It does have an authentic Durian taste to it, but too bad, it only serves as a topping. When you finish that, you are left with just an ordinary bowl of ABC. Still, I love it!

My friend, on the other hand, decided on err...what is it again? Lychee ABC?

(THREE HOURS AND 45 MINUTES LATER....)

After the movie, we were scouring the whole mall looking for a good place to eat. As both of us are tech-savvy people with laptops, we want to find a place with wifi so we can surf the net while our tongue surf the plates...You'd be surprised how very, very few restaurants in the mall, supposedly the most visited mall in the country attracting tourists from all over the world, that have Wifi. It's atrocious really.

At long last, we found ta place with Wifi. Tt's DOME, one of those places where most of us walk pass by but never ever really has any intention of going in. It just doesn't have that 'welcoming' vibe to it, in my humble opinion. Plus, we are doubtful the place will have any decent things to eat. Boy, we couldn't be more wrong...

Perhaps it's the weekend, but the place was jam-packed with people. We were lucky, I guess, to find available seats at all. I ordered the nasi lemak chicken special, which according to the menu, is a house specialty.

That piece of chicken is HUGEEE!!!! It looks just like an ordinary plate of nasi lemak, but the taste is great, I have to say. And, surprise, surprise, even I couldn't finish it. Price is at RM 19.50. A bit steep..yeah..



My friend ordered the grilled chicken in creamy sauce, which is priced at RM 23.00.

It looks, errr, a bit uninteresting...and dry. And, judging by the non-reaction from my friend, I guess it is not so good. She did gave me a chunk to try, but since I couldn't remember how i tasted like, I just deduced from that memory lapse as to mean that the dish is mediocre at best. Ever heard of vegetables, people? Geez, would it hurt them to throw in a handful of broccolis to go down with those meat?

We also ordered the potato wedges (RM 8.50) as a side dish.

It tastes quite good actually, slightly better than the wedges you can get from KFC. And no, that's not a backhanded compliment, in case you're wondering...

Also, they have a beverage called ESPRESKI. I don't know why they call it that, but it's not very tongue-friendly....Even after looking at the name a few times, I still couldn't remember it afterwards. Is it Expressti? Kepresski? Espreksi? Espreseksi?

Despite its terrible-sounding tongue-twisting name, the drink is actually very very nice. I ordered the Choc-a-Bloc version, priced at R 17.50, while my friend settled for the Honeycomb Goldrush version, priced at RM 16.50. The chocolate-coffee concoction is topped with good chunks of the aforementioned chocolate biscuits, and my oh my....my tongue was dancing with joy at every sip. It's so rich and sinfully good, I know I'm coming back very soon just so I can have one again (and again..and again...). I believed someone from an obscure site summed up the drink perfectly : Crap Name, Awesome Drink. Hey, maybe that's what they should name the drink. Easier to remember than Esprek..errr..what is it called again?

So, DOME is actually not bad at all. You discover new things all the time. I love the ambience, it has a feel of a crowded, smoky little French cafe during a sunny Sunday evening in Paris with the clankety-clanking noises of plates and forks and the excited buzz in the atmosphere as people sit and gossip over good coffee and meals.....err...not that I know what would that be like as I've never been there...but imagine it, people, just imagine ok.

Good eating and happy burping, everyone.