Not that anybody really needs a reason to drink beer, but Firefly Bar & Grill is giving you 1,000 good reasons to just that.

The Century Challenge is a drinking game and a physical challenge all rolled into one. It requires participants to drink 100 shots of beer in 100 minutes at intervals of 1 shot every minute.

What you do with that shot in the allotted minute, shoot or sip, is up to you, as long as it’s finished by the time the next minute rolls around.

Firefly is taking this challenge to a slightly more competitive level by offering those who can successfully complete this challenge a RM1,000 cash bonus. Of course, you have to pay an entry fee, but at RM160 you can get over 600% return on your investment… if you complete the challenge.

The challenge is that in the 1 hour and 40 minutes duration of the game, you will consume 3 litres of beer, assuming that the shots are around 30ml each. According to WikiPedia, the average stomach can comfortably hold 1 litre of fluid, although it can expand up to 2 or 3 litres if pressed (and depending on the person).

The bladder, on the other hand, can hold between 300 – 500ml of fluid, but it depends on your size and varies between people. Physiologically this challenge is thus quite possible looking at what the body is capable of.

But external factors will determine how much you can hold, how quickly you have to go to the loo, and whether or not you will actually be sober enough to complete the challenge.

Firefly’s rules says if you pee or puke (in whatever form), you’re disqualified. Also, if you manage to not complete a shot with it’s minute, you’re out too.

The competition takes place every Monday and 1 November 7 people took part, of which 3 completed the challenge. If you want to take part, zip on over to the Firefly Century Challenge Events Page and see what you need to do.

May the hops be with you.

Last month I lamented the demise of the Firefly Burger from their new menu. The LA Burger replaced it, but the secret lies in all the trimmings.

After encountering Firefly’s new menu last month, I couldn’t help but notice that the much beloved Firefly Beef Burger had been replaced by a Firefly Chicken Burger – I stopped reading that one’s description after “crumbed” and “deep fried”. Sacrilege!

The only beef burger alternative on the menu was the LA Burger, but the standard, bland LA Burger was a big disappointment, especial after I enjoyed what was possibly Kota Kinabalu’s best burger, the Firefly Beef Burger, so much.

Last night the carnivore in me was alive and well and somehow we ended up at Firefly again. Foodie Bah had the Firefly Salad with chicken (#win) and, craving a beef burger, I went for the LA Burger again, this time willing to pay the extra RM1.50 each for the extra egg, pork bacon and Swiss & Cheddar cheese.

Best RM4.50 extra I ever spent, because those additions made the LA Burger one of the best hamburgers I’ve had in Kota Kinabalu.

The LA Burger took on a whole new personality with the egg, bacon and generous helping of cheese elevating the burger to awesomeness. The juicy, peppery flavours of the meaty beef patty was accentuated by eggy sweetness, contrasted by the smoky taste of the bacon and outlined by the sharpness of the two cheeses. Delicious beef burger bliss tied together by soft, sesame bread buns not too thick, and of a bake that didn’t get soggy under the load of the burger.

The only 2 detractors form this heavenly hamburger experience was the price, which with all the trimming brought the price to RM19.50 (before ++), and the Curly Fries which always look re-fried and soaked in oil.

Those two little niggly points aside though, the LA Burger (with all the trimmings) gets a big thumbs up, and is a certain contender for the title of Best Beef Burger in Kota Kinabalu.

Update – 14 Sep 2010: We visited Firefly Bar & Grill again tonight and there has been an update to the menu. Read a little bit about the new Firefly Bar & Grill menu here.

Craving for a bit of Western food, SabahBah set of to the grill part of Firefly Bar & Grill, hoping to sink our teeth into that Bourbon Glazed Back Ribs everybody’s talking about.

Disappointingly, it was out of stock, but Firefly’s extensive menu had plenty else to offer.

Happy Hour is Beer Hour

Three hungry and thirsty people sat down at about 7pm, in the thick of Happy Hour, and decided to take advantage of Firefly’s generous beer specials. A tower of Becks, which equates to 4.3 litres of beer (3 jugs), costs RM73 during Happy Hour; it’s very hard to say no to such a great deal.

For Starters at Firefly Bar & Grill

For something to nibble on that would complement the beer while we waited for our mains, and keeping in tune with our Pork Mission, we chose the Crispy Pork Belly from the Starter section of the menu. Marinated pork belly, lightly floured and then deep fried to perfection, served with spicy lemon grass vinaigrette is the very accurate description.

Between the 3 of us we agreed it was flavourful, very tasty and overall quite delicious, although 1 thought it was perhaps just a little too crispy and 1 thought it wasn’t fatty enough (although admittedly she likes it very fatty). But otherwise we were well impressed.

In the meantime, our tower of beer was looming large over the table and the beer was flowing steadily. There’s something magical about being able to pour your own beer right at your table.

Firefly Bar & Grill – The Mains Menu

Shortly after, our mains arrived. We had the Honey Brined Pork Chop (pan seared pork chop topped with apple ginger chutney), the Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich (chicken fillet with Swiss cheese) and the Firefly Burger (homemade patty with mushrooms, sauted onions and Swiss and Cheddar cheese).

Having had a couple of hit and misses with burgers around Kota Kinabalu recently, the Firefly Burger was a pleasant surprise.

The homemade patty was aromatic, tasty herbs and spices complimenting the flavour of the thick and juicy meat. The bread bun, although large, didn’t overpower the patty. In this way the meat was the star of the burger, with the buns awesome as backup, making for a great burger show.

The chicken club sandwich was equally delicious, with two large chicken fillets smothered in cheese, overflowing on the burger bun. The buns are not quite as large as they look in the accompanying picture, but they were large enough for our taster to not be able to finish his.

Our critical Foodie gave the Honey Brined Pork Chop a big thumbs up, even though she was quite disappointed no to get the ribs she craved for.

We finished off the substantial amount of beer left in the tower, we called for the bill, which came down to only RM50 per person.

By then the bar part of Firefly Bar & Grill was heaving, the band hard at work getting the packed house moving. As we couldn’t find a table inside, we decided to try the bar part of Firefly on another occasion, perhaps when they have those Burboun Glazed Back Ribs in stock again…