Girlie-catchup @ Ben's General Food Store, Bangsar

Rise and shine early Saturday morning! 

Those of us fortunate enough not to be employed on day 6 of the Malaysian work week (Saturday) arranged for an anti-boys breakfast session. With a whole list of breakfast and tea places we want to try out, it's hard to pick just one, but we decided to check out Ben's General Food Store in Bangsar. Yen Sun had heard tantelizing things about their chocolate cake, so the investigation team (Myself, Yen Sun, Elaine & Fion) were called into duty!

I've recently become a big fan of all the restaurants I've tried owned under the Big group for the following reasons:

• Good coffee sourced from Market Lane, Melbourne
• Contemporary and fairly priced menu
• Good coffee
• Relaxed, clean, modern, comfy decor
• Good coffee

 But they're too small! I'm addicted, I need more more more!

Ben's General Food Store has a different vibe than it's brothers, more of a deli-market-cafe atmosphere (as opposed to chill-catchup-spot). With long, communal tables, and bag hooks under the tables for us ladies, the place had more of a sharey-rustic-casual feel. There were plenty of staff around, and complementary water for customers.

The menu here was pretty different from that at Plan B and Ben's Pavilion and KLCC (which are somewhat similar to each other). Their specialty seemed to be pizza and salad, with heaps of choices for each (including sweet pizza). There wasn't heaps of choice for foods and desserts other than those. As with all the Big group restaurants there were freshly made cakes on display, but only 3 or 4 types (as opposed to the millions of desserts/cakes at the others), from memory Lemon Meringue Pie, Carrot Cake, Black Forest Cake, Chocolate Cake, as well as puddings.

We girls shared some salad and pizza, choosing two-person-serve selection of two salads; Caesar Salad and Marinated Button Mushrooms. You could view the salads in the casing nearby the cakes. You don't need to be psychic to guess what I had to drink, coffee (RM6.90), and it was just as awesome delicious as at Plan B (one of my faves so far in KL), so great that I had 2... I wish these places offered a large size coffee though. Elaine's ice-chocolate looked really tempting too!

Ice Chocolate - RM10.90

 

Served on two plates, the Caesar Salad was standard, the lettuce crisp and not wilted (unlike some places...), not overdone with dressing, and Gruyere-cheese-crisp crouton things (unique and very nice!). The Marinated Button Mushroom salad consisted of the mushrooms served with barley, all marinated in spring onion, soy and lemon. The flavour was unique and not overpowering, but not bland. You can order their salads in single serve, mix for two people, or three people.

2 Salads - RM19.90. This is just half, it was served across two plates

The salads were served quickly while the pizza cooked. Since we were there for breakfast (despite it being after 12) we tried the breakfast pizza. That may have had something to do with my request not to have any seafood pizzas though... haha. The size was about that of a Domino's large, the base thin and crispy. We had trouble slicing it with that dangerous-round pizza-slicer-utensil thing so just used a knife.

Breakfast Pizza - RM19.90

It did taste really breakfast-y! Tomato sauce, eggs, sausage, cheese and beef bacon, though it could have had more toppings towards the edges (maybe I'm just greedy though, my home made pizzas look like a veggie-meat abstract art mess). I really liked that it wasn't as heavy and oily as Domino's pizzas (although there is a time and place for them!). Intrigued but not daring enough, next time maybe I'll try one of the sweet pizzas, maybe the chocolate, banana and mascarpone.

We were pretty full by the time we finished all this, and my two coffees haha. But the day wouldn't be complete without trying the famed chocolate cake, it was the whole reason we went there! Yen Sun and I reserved enough space in our tummies and dug in. Served hot with vanilla ice cream, with chocolate ganache layered within the cake, and melting down onto the plate. It was like something I make for myself as a midnight snack back in Melbourne, and it goes without saying it was amazing!

Classic Chocolate Cake - RM9.90

 

I think chocolate cake should always be eaten hot with ice cream. Sometimes chocolate cakes tend to be: really sweet but not much chocolate taste, or realy chocolatey, less sweet and cocoa-bitter. This was in the middle, perfect balance (to my tastes when i'm in sweet-mood). If you're a freak who doesn't like sweet things, why would you order cake anyway duhh, so don't get this then if you're just gunna complain. must.appreciate.amazing.chocolate.sensation.

I prefer the other Big outlets to this one, just coz of the more 'usual' menu style which is more to my tastes. Pizza and salad is kind of a limited option, and often I only like to eat pizza when im in the mood for it. However I would like to bring Wes here coz I know he likes salads, and gormet-Melbourne-style pizzas (and I can have my goooooood coffee!). The Big Group are definitely doing something right, dare I say they're my favourite bunch of "proper" restaurants in all of KL.

It was a really good breakfast session with the girls. I can't wait for our next one, hopefully we can organise it before I leave back to Melbourne!! Where are we going next girls?!