el cerdo
Before I begin, I must apologise to my Muslim readers, this is going to be a non-halal post. And to my vegetarian readers too. Minta maaf, ya.
For the rest, let me tell you about El Cerdo.
“Come join us for porkies on Saturday night!” invited Serena.
Porkies?
Ok, I’m game for a little pork for dinner.
We met up with a few other friends at El Cerdo (which means “the pig” in Spanish). I didn’t know what to expect at this restaurant, I thought it was going to be just another place serving some pork chops with chips and salad.
Boy, was I wrong.
The first thing that met my eyes was this bright, red sign that boasts “El Cerdo - Pork Specialties from the West”. At the bottom a cute little round sign - which I took it symbolise a pig’s snout - had “Porkielicious Dishes” on it. Ah. More than just pork chops, eh?
The ambience is nice and cosy; warm lighting, walls decorated with pictures and drawings of adorable piglets, and nice, big tables with lots of elbow space. I was taken in with the place at once. I didn’t snap any photos of the restaurant, however, since I didn’t want people to think me as a pork-paparazzi or something.
I let my friends - Serena, Andrew, Eric and Veron - do the ordering since they’d been there before and knew what was hot and what was not. Moreover, I was distracted by a hanging ornament of carved pigs with wings, with little feathers as tails that twirled as the air-conditioner blew in their direction. If pigs could fly indeed.
I was so busy chatting with my friends, I didn’t know what we had ordered until the first appetizer came along. I had snapped a portion of their menu to remind myself of the names of a few dishes, but unfortunately I didn’t catch the names for these three starters:
This dish is had shredded pork that was cooked a little bit like how the Malays cook serunding (meat floss). You could opt to eat it just like that, or even better, with some bread. Tastes absolutely delicious! My mouth is watering just remembering how the saltiness of the meat tickled my taste buds.
The rolls were served with guacamole salsa, similar to how nachos are usually served, minus the sour cream.
We had another starter - yummy, spicy sausages with bacon. This one’s quite garlic-ky too, but not too much until it overshadows the spicy flavour. The bacon is fried till crispy; I do so loved crunching down on them!For the main course, we had:
- Marinated & Seasoned Pork Shoulder Steak -
Apparently, this pork shoulder is marinated for 48 hours with paprika, herbs, onions, garlic and mild dijon mustard. Very, very tasty! Not over-cooked, hence none of the toughness you might’ve anticipated.
- Puerco en Mole Poblano -
Pork in Mexican chilli and chocolate sauce. I know what might be running through your mind right now - chocolate sauce for cooking? I was a little sceptical at first, but was willing to give it a go. The chunks of meat were cooked till tender, and the chocolate sauce gave it a very distinct taste, not exactly sweet yet not quite salty either. Sort of savoury, chocolaty, sweet all mixed together to become a very unique flavour.I totally forgot to take a picture of two dishes until it was all gone, ha-ha! These two were:
- Ong’s Steak -
Another marinated pork shoulder steak, this time cooked with bacon, a slice of smoked ham on top, onion, garlic and baked with cheese. We asked the chef Werner J Kuhn, a German, why he called it such. He said that his friend Ong came into his restaurant one day and wanted to eat something, but didn’t know exactly what to chew on. Werner then cooked up this lovely creation for his friend, thus named Ong’s Steak.
- Hickory Smoked BBQ Pork Ribs -
Grilled in spices, fine herbs, chutney and rum. Nice, but somehow I prefer the ones served at the Rib Shop at Damansara Heights.
Needless to say, we were all porked-out after eating all that meat (well, at least I was). But being the gluttons we were, we just had to order dessert to finish off the meal.
Check out our Baked Apple with Cream Caramel. The apple’s not too sweet, baked till soft, divine with ice cream.
And an absolute must-have: Chocolate Terrine, served with vanilla sauce and mint ice cream. Imagine this - a nice chocolate slice, more firm than mousse yet softer than a block of chocolate, instantly melts in your mouth, and together with the mint ice cream it’s almost like eating after-dinner mint chocs. Except a hundred times better!I’d recommend this place to any of my non-Muslim, non-vegetarian friends & readers. The meat is never tough, always tender, and doesn’t have any of that “sou mei” (overly meaty taste). If you’re not a fan of pork, they do serve other meat like lamb. Call them for reservations, they’re really, really packed!
52 Jalan Tengkat Tong Shin, Kuala Lumpur
Phone: 03-2145 0511
Babe in the City also did a review on El Cerdo. Read about it here!
Cheers!
Technorati: food
27 Comments so far
Leave a reply
*slurp* looks yummylicious!! and the dessert…*fainting* and the margarita…life is good! LOL!
gotta make reservations eh? thanks for the heads up 
i’ll be sure to check it out soon
Wow!. Did you guys pork out or what? hehe
Looks yummy and now I’m hungry.
Order one set for me too!!
Look so yummy!!!
hmmm, don’t think can find this kind of restaurant in Jakarta…
angel - welcome, babes! first visit here and already a gold medal. you’re doing good! yea, do check out that restaurant, it’s one worth going to at least once. I thought the drink was magarita as well, but it wasn’t although it’s splashed with alcohol. very refreshing, cleans the pallette after a meaty meal. a jelly bit at the end too… yum! *smacks lips*
SA - how’d you guess? LOL! *checks behind for a tell-tale curly tail*
LB - put this on your list for “must eat” when you’re back for a holiday
Selba - that means you really, really have to make a trip to KL soon and enjoy all the delicious food. time it when LB’s back, then we can all have a merry stalker’s meal with lormaikai & muffins!
kewlllll, must check it out soon. this seem to be a nice place for our date…..too huh? lol.
Woah, looks good! I just went to a really good porky place last wekend too, called Checkers in Dsara.
Is this place steep?
Oink oink! OK Ya!!
keatix - caaaaaaannn… date here pun boley. heheheh! just remember to order the chocolate terrine for me, yea.
Stargazer - hello hello! I recall a Checker’s, and though I haven’t been there myself I heard it’s a pretty good place to dine. El Cerdo charges about RM38 onwards for a main, and they have dishes to share too which are starts from RM65. It could get quite steep depending on what you order. We had 3 starters, 4 mains, 2 desserts, 1 bottle of red wine = RM450 for 5 people (that’s about RM90 each).
LB - yay! another place to pig out… literally! LOL!
Looks absolutely yummy… I felt like I’ve gained 3 kg just by looking at it!! Dangerous stuff!!
Seriously, I like pork only if does not have the pork smell or taste.. makes sense to you?? lol
tenkiu tenkiu! thanx for the warm welcome
i always strive to start up at the top of the chart LOL!
bangchai, which part of the porkie u want?
oooo…ain’t margarita eh? some kinda cocktail then? looks margarita-seductive with the salt i guess…
hmmm…maybe i shud check out checkers eh? sis’ bday today
ktx, casanova u! LOL! :p
Wow.. really a porky heaven woh..
I don’t eat pork (although I’m not a Muslim).. so guess I will never step in the restaurant. No fish or chicken dish?
But I know King’s Wife and King would love it.. they are great pork fan.
I’d told her to reat your blog up.
omg!! pork heaven…..
King is sooo gonna love me for this!
thanks, May
helen - actually, it does. I don’t quite like the “sou mei” as well, sometimes it’s a real overkill. they cook it really, really well here; none of that strong taste in any of the dishes we ate. funnily enough, I’m ok if lamb has that “sou mei”… hahaha!
angel - oh, Happy Birthday to your sis! hope you’ll have a yummy-licious dinner at checkers. I should check that place out someday, since it’s been talked about quite a bit. the cocktail thingy is actually quite a small glass, and with the salt ring, it does look abit like a magarita.
zara’s mama - hmmm, I didn’t quite pay attention to the menu. I think they serve more red meat that white. I did recall seeing lamb, though. I have a non-muslim friend who doesn’t eat pork either, ‘cos she has an allergy towards the meat, and gets the runs. even if it’s just chow kuey teow with a bit of the “chee yau cha”!
king’s wife - I see you made it here quite quick after zara’s mama told you about pork heaven… LOL! most welcome, always a joy to share good food
I think I’ll make my tea with a salt ring next!!..
Fantastic!! Another non-halal restaurant!! For many years, I only tasted pork cooked chinese-style, never western style as most western restaurants are halal joints. And it was just 2 Valentine’s ago, I discovered suckling pig cooked German-style, rather than the usual HK-style.
Where is this Checker’s place? And have you tried Riblee’s at Tmn SEA? Their bacon appetiser is to-die-for!!
Helen - I’ve always found pork in Ipoh to taste the best! No smelly porky smell, unlike KL pork (urrgghh!! yuck!!) . Ipoh is the only place I really enjoy eating siu yuk, yuk korn, char siew, siew mai, and all things porcine!!
LB - tea with salt ring? *hmmm* that’ll taste kind weird, wouldn’t it? unless you’ve added a dash of vodka to your tea… *wink wink*!
kat - Checkers is at:
19 Lorong Setia Bistari 2, Bkt Damansara; 03-20953304.
Haven’t tried Riblee’s, where is it at Tmn SEA? I live kinda closeby, wouldn’t mind giving it a go. It’s so refreshing to eat pork that’s not cooked chinese-style, hor? I never knew it could be so tasty (except for the ribs at the Rib Shop, also at Damansara Heights).
Ipoh porkies, hmmm? ok ok, next time I go Ipoh, I must have some and observe the differences…
yeah, Checkers is pretty good too.
Haven’t been there for a while now.
king’s wife - with so many of you talking about Checkers, I simply must go and try very soon. will see if my cousin’s available for dinner this week… *teehee*!
Kat - the thing is just how long the person marinates the pork. If it is well marinated and given enuff time, the pork smell will go. lol
Maybe othe places are more quick paced….Ipoh is slow mar… lol
helen - ya kah? hmmm, maybe will try marinating and let it stand for awhile the next time we have some pork steak at home…
Yeah trust me!! Feng shui low cheat you 8 years 10 years, me, guaranteed one!!
** keeping fingers crossed May’s pork will lose its smell ** lol
hey thanks for mentioning my entry, looks like i need to go again to try all these delish dishes
helen - since you put it that way, then I’m sure it’ll work! LOL!!!
babe_kl - you’re most welcome! we enjoyed ourselves immensely in El Cerdo. their food’s absolutely yummy-licious… *smacks lips*!
Hi there, just found that you still put EL CERDO old address & business hour listed. For your information, EL CERDO has moved to No. 43 & 45 Changkat Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur. Business Hour: Daily Lunch & Dinner except Saturdays open for dinner only. Tel: +603-21450511 Website: www.elcerdokl.com.
Thank you.
Cheers!
May
13th August 2007
[…] reviews; - precious pea - little miss may - danny […]