BACK IN KL AGAIN ...

WE TRAVELLED DOWN TO KL YESTERDAY, leaving early to get here on time for Mac to play golf ... which turned out to be just as well because it was only as we got on the motorway that we realised it was the last day of the local school holidays, and traffic heading back to the capital would be quite heavy!

(That's one good thing about no longer having school-aged kids to ferry back and forth - apart from many others - one doesn't realise nor really care when the school holidays are! However there are other not so good things of course, like missing them and continuously worrying about them wherever in the world they are. A girlfriend of mine asked, "What is it with us? Is it an Asian thing? One of my kids just has to sneeze and I won't be able to sleep all night worrying about how he is!" Yes that's motherhood for you.)

Anyway I digress. We made it on time and Mac duly went off to play golf and in the evening we had dinner at what was our local favourite but closed down for several months for renovation last year: Monte's in Bangsar Shopping Centre, aka "BSC" (yes, it gained a dubious fame as the car park where the unfortunate Canny Ong was abducted).

This steakhouse was incredibly popular, both because it had great steaks and an excellent set dinner: for just RM37 or something (I can't quite remember) you got a choice of two starters (usually a soup or potato gratin), a steak or fish, dessert (usually ice cream) and brewed coffee. Fantastic value.

Last night was our first visit back there and although yes it's nicely decorated inside, I'd have continued going back to the old place. What was another result was that, sad to say the sets have disappeared - rental of the new place is probably too high! As often happens when they get very popular they try and go up-market but misjudge the clientele - the place didn't have half as many people eating there as it used to have, and prices had been "revised".

However their soups were excellent: the Oxtail and French Onion, full-bodied and very oniony, were delicious if a tad salty, but their sirloin steaks, although nice large slices, were gristly and a bit chewy.

My Pasta Marinara (featured at the top) was quite good although a bit more sauce would have been perfect. I was feeling rather saucy that night I guess ...

Service was quite good - it always used to be - but as it wasn't that busy that's how it should be! They also forgot our butter and rolls and we had to ask for it. For the four of us, inclusive of 3 glasses of wine and two beers, the total came to about RM360. Wow, just think of the buffets we could have had with that in Penang!

Last night I had SEX ON THE BEACH. Honest! I'm really not kidding you. I really did ... however, my husband P didn't.

So now you know what sort of a woman I am eh. In fact, he had a Golden Sands, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Yes, they were actually quite yummy cocktails to start our evening off at the soft launch of the newly revamped and remodelled version of Sigi's in Batu Ferringhi.

The RM3 million makeover did more than give it a facelift: it's still in the same location, but that's all that's similar to the old one, apart from the name, which changes from Sigi's by the Sea to Sigi's Bar & Grill on the Beach (SBG, for those of us who are familiar with it ...). It was an old-fashioned patio restaurant; it's now a trendy and cool outlet; the hip will be happy to sit around the bar having a drink; couples can dine alfresco upstairs, and families and friends in the air-conditioned main dining.

There's a lot of dark rustic hardwood, and the blue lights at night give it a welcoming glow. It's not completely ready yet, but at yesterday's soft launch, I was proud to be the FIRST and ONLY journalist invited to and try the food there apart from hotel guests.

Executive Chef John Brock (there's him relaxing after the first night) has been working hard to get it ready; understandably there will be teething problems and in fact the pizza oven wasn't quite ready yet, which was a shame cos Mac was quite keen on trying the "Palm Beach" - smoked chicken with pineapple chunks. Sounds delish.

SO we ended up both ordering their signature dish JUICY STEAKS: the tenderloin for me and the sirloin for him; they really were quite exquisite, tender and tasty.

Although I had the Crab Salad as a starter, zapped up with a few slices of smoked salmon, it could almost be a main course. However there are pastas and salads and some local too: Penang Hokkien Char amongst other perennial favourites.

The Tarte au Citrone was excellent: tart and creamy at the same time - desserts are, after all, his forte - as was the Shortbread; softly crunchy.

SGB will be officially opened on 10 March - I can't wait to come back and try some of the other dishes.