Sea Urchin-nized at Rakuzen, Hartamas Shopping Center

*Playing Christmas tunes over and over again*

How fast time passes by and we will soon be ushering in 2012! Definitely the best time of the year where everyone is in holiday mode, and gearing up for the new year. :D

Celebrated Winter Solstice with my dear Skipper at Rakuzen, Hartamas Shopping Center. Although missing a bowl of "Tang Yuan" but nothing beats having a good dinner with my loved one. And the best part of the dinner, my wishlist came true- Savoring sea urchin for the first time!:D

I was so damn excited okay!:P

Dinner was exceptionally delicious and my Skipper definitely spoiled me. I kiddingly told him,"Omg, omg, we have to come here more often..No more Sushi Zanmai after this ok ok"..

Luckily Skipper nodded willingly!:D

Poor Skipper was down with terrible food poisoning, where we reckoned tonnes of bacterias are having feast in his bowel, and we couldn't order much but enough to keep us satiated.

First to arrive, Unagi Kabayaki! Grilled eel, perfectly executed.

Unagi Kabayaki (RM 28)

Appetizing greens, laden with lip-smacking sauce with properly thawed sashimi will be on our list anytime. Sushiya Salad, served with chef's special sauce is another of our favorite now beside our regular must have "Sashimi Salad with Sesame Dressing" at Sushi Zanmai.

 

Sushiya Salad  (RM 18)

Uni Sushi (RM 20)

Uni, also known as sea urchin roe, is a well-known delicacy worldwide, especially in this eastern side of the world. Price is expensive considering the amount of effort it takes to collect them and and the amount of edible material you actually receive from extracting the roes.

The taste takes a little time for me to digest and conclude it. It was creamy, silky and sweet, tasted like all the sashimis blended together into a sticky puree...

This is how the  actual extraction is done.

Looks like I will only be heading for my next uni experience when I receive a bigger bonus!
 

Sakura Chirashi Don served with Miso Soup (RM 32)

What I really like about Japanese food? Simplicity and freshness! This particular Sakura Chirashi Don was served with Miso Soup, with abundant sashimi that are fresh, juicy and tasty, enough to make any japanese dinner satisfying!:)

Dig a layer below and discover roes scattered all over, with popping bursting flavor in every spoonful!

Thank you Skipper for the truly satisfying meal!:D

Halal

Lot P17 Plaza Ground Floor, Hartamas Shopping Centre,
60 Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.

(03) 6201 2060

Opening Hours: Mon - Thu 11.30am - 3.00pm & 6.00pm - 11.00pm

Fri-Sun 12pm to 11 pm

Fried Porridge at Restoran Bubur Goreng, Klang

Fried Porridge, peculiar as it sounds which I managed to sample courtesy of Hannah’s family. I was actually craving for yam rice at that night and out of a sudden, a random idea by her brother to brace through the horrendous traffic on a Friday night and head down from KL to Klang to have Fried Porridge. Of course, Fried Porridge is something new to me, so definitely I would not back off.

I was expecting a Chinese name for the restaurant but it was just simply named as “Restoran Bubur Goreng”. An easy but impactful name for the restaurant, this humble restaurant was tucked in a quiet housing area of Taman Berkley in Klang.

Fried Vermicelli with 1.4 kg Crab (RM 61)

 We were as hungry as a wolf when we arrived, but thankfully the food did not take long to arrive. We started off with the Fried Vermicelli with 1.4 kg Crab and really...it is OMG so damn good that I and Hannah reckoned that it outshine the Fried Porridge dish. The vermicelli is well-coated with defining charred flavours; the crab is plump and seductive, literally I meant. Heh.

Kick Ass Blended Chili Paste!

Next to arrive were the deep fried pork meatballs with yam filling. Eating this is as addictive as popping popcorn into my mouth. It is juicy, pork and yam-infused, there is absolutely nothing to hate about this dish.

Deep Fried Pork Meatballs with Yam Filling (RM10)

Juicyyyyyyyy and Tenderrrrrrrrrrrr

 Here it is, the supposedly the star of the night.

Fried Porridge (RM12)

Laden with fried bean curd, pork lard, yam, shredded dried squid and spring onions, it is worth giving a try once to fulfil your curiosity of having “fried porridge”. Maybe not to my liking and the taste does not suit my palate though. It felt like something is missing in it.

Ordered some greens for fiber goodness too!

Other than that, I would prefer to travel all the way here for the fried vermicelli and meatballs. Deliciously memorable, with portions enough to serve patrons with big appetite.

Non-Halal

Restoran Bubur Goreng,
32 & 34 Lorong Lang,
Taman Berkeley,
Klang
                                                                 

 016-686 8579 
      
Opening hours: 5.30pm-2.45am

Poisonous Nut Curry at Simply Mel's, Bangsar South

Buah Keluak, The Poisonous Nuts

Shiver yet? 

I kid you not, buah keluak is a lethal nut, whereby it contains hydrogen cyanide and is deadly poisonous if consumed without proper cleansing. I didn’t know about this dark side until the gracious and pretty restaurant manager told us when we are almost done with the meal. I gulped initially, but it was such an interesting experience.

Dubbed the “Asian Truffle”, these nuts can only be found in the mangrove swamps across South East Asia. We managed to sample the nuts cooked in curry together with chicken meat, which is one of Malacca Portuguese’s (Cristang) delicacy. Simply Mel’s sourced the nuts from Indonesia to Malacca, and made it way to the restaurant which is strategically located here in The Sphere, Bangsar South.

The Sphere, Bangsar South. Vibrantly-litted

Keluak Chicken Curry (RM18.90 for Regular)

Tender pieces of chicken simmered in a sourish curry. The buah keluak had an acquired nutty flavour. You need to dig the richly creamy black contents which are like soft tar through the opening of the cooked nuts with a chopstick. Mash it together with the fluffy white rice, that is how you enjoy the unique nuts.

Rich creamy black content of the nut

Brinjal in Soya Sauce (RM9.90 for Regular)

Despite looking like heavily bathed in soya sauce, the sauce was less than salty. Not being MSG-laden too, flavour was adequate and the brinjal was moist and tender. As simple as it sounds, a good brinjal dish is achieved by a good cooking timing. Under cooking will give you a hard texture and over cooking it caused it to be too soft and less pleasurable. 

Papa Vincent’s Fish Cutlets (RM9.90)

The fish cutlets were crumby-licious! I love how it was dense with fish flakes, which made every bite a simple comforting pleasure. The tartness and spicyness of the sambal goes well with the fried cutlets.

Condiments (RM 1.50)

 

Simply Mel had definitely a variety to offer and I would love to come back to try the other unique dishes such as Devil’s Curry, Malacca Laksa, Black Sotong Sambal and Nasi Lemak with ‘Tambrinhyu’ Sambal. High in my list would definitely be the Keluak Sambal, which the nuts was unshelled readily and mash together with sambal.

Halal

Simply Mel’s

Unit 1-1A, 1st Floor, The Sphere,
No. 1, Avenue 1, Bangsar South,
No. 8 Jalan Kerinchi 59200 Kuala Lumpur

03 224 14525

Open 7-days a week, 10am – 1030pm

Awesome Banana Leaf Rice at Devi's Corner, Bangsar

Name me the best banana leaf in town? Most of you would probably list down the following:

.

- Raju's, Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya

.
- Nirwana Maju, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar 

.

- Sri Paandi, Jalan Universiti, Petaling Jaya

.

- Kanna's Curry House, Section 17, Petaling Jaya
.

I had personally tried all of them and I dare say that I have found the best banana leaf yet, taste-wise in the region of KL and Selangor. It is at Devi's Corner at Bangsar Telawi. It is tucked at the first floor of the restaurant, often overshadowed by the bustling ground floor that serves the typical mamak food.

Nonetheless, the first floor is still packed with patrons for a hearty banana leaf lunch.

Price is cheaper than some competitors, food is definitely commendable but service needs a little bit more of nip and tuck. Service was rather slow. We only managed to order our drinks halfway into our meal. We only get our rasam when we are almost done. Rasam is a type of South Indian soup where preparation involves tamarind juice as base in addition to tomato, chilli pepper and other spices as seasonings and meant to whet your appetite at the beginning of the meal.

Rasam

 

Forget about the not-so-impeccable service but the highlight would definitely be the food!

A Palate of Messy Sinful South Indian Goodness! The messier it is, the more awesome it is!

Where most banana leaf restaurant normally served you up to 3 types of vegetables dishes along with papadum (crispy Indian cracker), here you have 8 types!! Spinach puree, sweet pumpkin, deep fried cauliflowe, stir fry mix vegetable, cucumber salad and two more. Together with the mountain of rice, the meal is definitely full of glutton's approval. All this for RM 6. Who says dining in Bangsar is expensive?

Banana leaf was intended to be a vegetarian's dish, but you would always had the option to up chicken, squid, mutton, fish, prawns, either deep-fried, masala or curry version to your choice. My companions, Fu Shen and Christina reckoned we would just share two top-on and we are glad that we made the right decision because the serving was so huge. The picture does not justify but in fact, the plate is as big as my two palms combined together! 

Mutton Curry (RM 8), we got the lean part so it was all good. Flavoursome as it looks here.

Deep Fried Squid (RM 10), such crispy and fragrant perfection but reminded us that we need to exercise harder tomorrow!

All the food plus drinks for three cost us RM40.60. Definitely a must-go place for delicious banana leaf! There are tonnes of expatriates enjoying their banana leaf here too! And before I forgot, the restaurant is air-conditioned and well-ventilated, so no more worries of ending up sweaty!

Halal

Devi's Corner,

69, Jalan Telawi 2,

Bangsar Baru,

Kuala Lumpur.

Open for breakfast till supper.

Ploy, the New Plot in Town

Welcome to Ploy!

“Ploy is the brainchild of Jared Lim, Asian private equity investor by day, avid food fan by dinner time. Culminating from years of travel, experimentation and unadulterated gluttony, Ploy is a study in modern Asian cuisine. After 6 months of daily food tasting, the results speak for themselves – an entirely built from scratch menu with over 60 offerings, influences that span 4 continents and over 35 new and original sauces. Our dishes cater to taste buds that embrace Asian spices in not-so-Asian dishes. We recommend you always order a variety of dishes and share them within the table Asian style.”

                                                                                        – About Us, www.ploywithyourfood.com

It was such a lovely Saturday afternoon, with really nice weather and there is nothing much better to do than just to have a well-deserved gastrononical experience with your loved one.

We decided to check out one of the new players in town, called Ploy..Located at Work@Clearwater, just beside the Clearwater Residence which I hope we would be able to live in such beautiful residency one day. The location was just perfect for me, overlooking the enclave of the high society of Damansara Heights and Bukit Tunku with Twin Towers KLCC and KL Tower clear with sight!:D

Imagine if we got the loft at the highest floor of Clearwater Residency!:D

Ploy is such a charming restaurant, minimalistic with intricate detailing on the interior design and even with embedded carving on their menu! Ploy means ‘gem’ in Thai. Patrons would be bowled over by all the ‘gems’ find here. From the glass to the stools and even 3D embossed walls.

Not forgetting the embroidered fabric coaster!

 

Magazines for read! Skipper was so into Katy Kisses *Jealous stare*. In return, I started drooling over the sexiest Captain America ever!!

The menu is extensive, dishes beautifully presented and commendable, and reasonably priced.

Avocado Salad with Ginger Paste Dressing (RM 11).There’s just something about me and avocados lately..Started to grown fond of them and even woke up in the morning and having thought about making a dish out of avocados soon!We have to say, the ginger vinegar vinagrette complements the salad very well.

Yummy Pla Duk Fu salad (RM14). Pounded catfish, fried to crisp, with fresh mango tossed in a sharp and tangy lime juice dressing. As good as a Thai’s version, the pounded catfish was a lovely addition to the salad.

 
Butterfish Rice (RM22), marinated in shoyu, sake and mirin..This is Ploy’s version of Char Siew Rice. Taste wise is not that bad for me, Skipper didn’t really fancy it, but we both reckoned that the presentation could have been better for this dish to hit and less misses.

Ploy’s Black Fried Rice (RM25), fried rice with squid ink , seafood, sprinkles of crunchy sweet Thai basil and topped with a raw egg which we have to stir in and mix well. This dish is commendable, it tasted as good as it looks and we whipped up everything, including the basil.

The kind waitress saw that I was happily snapping away pictures of food and the interior, and she asked me if I would like to see their private dining room that can be booked for a minimum of 10ppl. And here’s how it looks like….

 

Would be a great to have birthdays, reunions and even hen’s nite here.

Ploy

G-02 Ground Floor WORK@clearwater, 

Changkat Semantan, Off Jalan Semantan, 

Damansara Heights, 

50490 Kuala Lumpur.

Available from Monday to Saturday

10am to 3pm and 6pm-12am

Reservation

 03 2095 0999 

Eat to Your Heart's Content at Maiu, Damansara Perdana

First of all, all the mouth-watering pictures in this post shall be credited to Wen Ching! I am not a person that like lugging heavy things around, hence getting a DLSR was rarely in my mind.

Three is always a bunch. Me, Christina and Wen Ching spent our Halloween weekend recently eating out to our heart's content. MAIU was in my mind and I quickly called to make a reservation for dinner in the afternoon despite not having much hopes because it is weekend and most of the time, it was packed to the brim with hungry patrons.

The receptionist is courteous and she told me that the dinner reservation are full, unless we could make it there at 6pm and leave at 8pm. I quickly checked with the bunch and both of them said Yes!

Off we go!:D

Since we have only two hours, and us being the typical kiasu Malaysians, hahaha, we reached the restaurant's area 5minutes before it opens and waited with full anticipation for the clock to strike sharp 6pm. We spend the 5 minutes taking pictures of a mini garden outside the restaurant. And shamefully, yes, we are the first bunch for the evening.

Service is fantastic, waitress are warm and friendly and food did not take long to arrive. Each table is given an order pamphlet with multiple boxes for each food for the patrons to select and tick. 

Budget-friendly Japanese Ala-Carte Buffet, RM38.80++ for adult and RM20.00++ for children, available throughout the week for lunch and dinner

 Simple display decoration in MAIU

Baby Octopus

Soft-shell Crab Roll

Jellyfish

Tobiko Salad

Sashimi! Standard selection of butterfish, salmon, tuna and white cuttlefish

Edamame Beans

Salmon Sushi

Ebiko Sushi

Grilled Saba Fish

Beef Yakitori, and the Shishamo (Pregnant Fish) at the back

Chicken Yakitori

Deep-Fried Soft Shell Crab

Chawanmushi

Special Mushroom Soup

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken

Agedashi Tofu

Garlic Fried Rice

Tempura - Ebi (Prawns), Brinjal and Okra

More sashimis definitely!

Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream

Green Tea Ice-Cream

Salivating yet? And the pictures posted here are just half of what is available in the menu. So you get an idea how vast the menu list was. And we are already struggling to keep on eating. We don't have much complains on the food, it was decent for the price we pay. Unfortunately, there was no unagi in the menu but enough to warrant us back for the second visit.

Maiu Damansara Perdana 

G-3A, The Place, 

Jalan PJU 8/5D, 

Bandar Damansara Perdana,

47820 Petaling Jaya.

Available everyday for

Lunch : 11.30am - 2.30pm and Dinner : 6.00pm-10.30pm

Reservation

03-77290015 or 017-3969906