Wantan Mee @ Koon Kei Wan Tan Mee, Petaling Street

My all time favourite Wan Tan Mee is located at Petaling Street. It is just next door to the famous Hon Kee porridge. There is another stall in the food court across the street that is also Koon Kee but somehow, somewhat, it does not taste as good as the shop. The one in Damansara Uptown is pretty good too but I still prefer the original Koon Kei wantan mee here in Petaling Street.

Ordered the dry Char Siew and Wantan (Roasted Pork and Dumpling) Noodle which is RM5.50. The roasted char siew is quite lean with a little bit of fat. We indulged in the whole wan tan mee experience without any guilt. The roasted pork although lean, it is still quite moist and not hard. The soup that came with the dry version is pretty peppery and I always enjoy peppery soups. The wantans/dumplings are pretty good too as the fillings in it is well seasoned.

The noodles are springy and unlike some places, it tends to be a bit too soggy or just plain hard. Here it's just nice :) Another plus point to this is that they serve nice pickled green chillies to go with the noodles. Yummy yums. 

 It opens at 10 am every morning and this is one the reason to head down to KL's chinatown in the morning.

Dreamz Bakery @ The Strand, Kota Damansara

Another cute place for desserts and more specifically, mille crepes in Kota Damansara at a cafe cum bakery called Dreamz Bakery! Situated on the first floor of the shop, it is a little difficult to spot. It is located near the pub called Beer Belly. 

The decoration in the restaurants are very cute. Look at how they number their tables :) They have two type of seating area, one where you can sit on the floor ala Japanese style with a cushion to make it more comfortable and another type of seating with high chairs and tables.

The Hot Chocolate was pretty normal except that presentation wise it was interesting. They used three tiny marshmallows with different colours on it. Looks pretty cute. When you stir it in to melt, it may look a little weird as the colours mixed with the coffee but once it has been stirred well, there are no visible colours.

Cute Hot Chocolate

Ordered their Chocolate Mille Crepe cake. It was just alright. If only the crepe was colder, we would have enjoyed it more. Preferred the mille crepe sold in Nadeje in Malacca town. 

Chocolate Mille Crepe

A Closer Look at the Layers

Tried their Vanilla Crepes which was just alright. Again, I wished that it was a little colder. 

Vanilla Mille Crepe

Durian Cream Puffs were delicious! The durian cream was a little frozen, thus giving it a ice-cream like texture which was good. The puffs were pretty light and fluffy too. We were given eight pieces which is an additional of two because the puffs that day were a little smaller than usual.

Durian Cream Puffs

They even have a corner that has this netting for you to clip your messages for the bakery. There are various ink chops for you to decorate your message, pens for you to write and mini clips to clip the note on the net. Creative right?

There are also various types of cookies and biscuits on sale. A selection of macaroons are  sold her as well. 

Address:
No32-1, The Strand,
Jalan PJU 5/20D, 
Pusat Perdagangan Kota Damansara, 
47810 Petaling Jaya, 
Malaysia
Tel No: +6012-200 3441

New York New York @ One Utama

Avoided New York New York for quite some time due to some not so good feedback about the place and finally, one fine day, it was decided that we should go there for some light lunch. It is located near Cold Storage and Guardian at the New Wing of One Utama.

The American Coleslaw (RM5.50) was too heavy on the mayonnaise. The nice touch about this is that they actually include sultanas in this salad. If only the mayo was much lesser this would have been good.

American Coleslaw

The Calamari Rings (RM10.90) were nicely fried and thankfully, it did not taste like rubber band. Had a bad experience once at a Thai Restaurant in the Curve. The batter was not too thick and coats just nicely around the squid rings.

Deep Fried Calamari Rings

Freedom Fries (RM10.50) was topped with cheese was really nice albeit sinful and added to it, is some ranch dressing. They were really really generous with the portions and this is a really rich snack.

Freedom Fries with Melted Cheese

The Beef Eater (RM14.90) had very generous slices of beef and if not mistaken, they are the type of cuts used for shabu shabu. The dressing is light which was good and topped with a slice of cheese, caramelised onions and plenty of vegetables. Simple and delicious!

Beef Eater

A Closer Look

The portions are big as we could not finish the food among the three of us and overall it is good. Probably should come here with an empty stomach to try out more of their mains. 

Address:

LG311, 1 Utama Shopping Center 1,

Bandar Utama,

47800 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Kita No Zen @ One Utama Shopping Center

Another new comer in the Japanese food scene in One Utama, Kita No Zen (yea, it took me a long time to recall the name) is situated on the Lower Ground Floor of One Utama Shopping Center. It is located near the Bisou cupcake kiosk. The place looks great and a little like fine dining. We were ushered to a table that provides us with a some privacy as it has dividers from one table to another. Thus, making this a pleasant experience. The menu offered is alright and does not really differ from other Japanese restaurants.

I am a fan of Chirashi Don as I like my fish fresh and raw, and it's wholely low fat :p The ones served here is pretty good as the seafood was really fresh. The portion of raw seafood was just alright. Five slices of raw salmon, two fatty pieces scallops and fish roe.

Chirashi Don

The Beef Sukiyaki set comes with a pot of Sukiyaki beef, chawan mushi (steamed egg custard), miso soup, pickles, a serving of fruit and rice. They really generous in its portion of beef slices in the Sukiyaki hot pot as well as very soft and silky tofu. It feels like comfort food would be great during a cold rainy day.

Beef Sukiyaki Set

Kita No Zen serves the normal Japanese fare that we usually find other Japanese restaurants in Malaysia but they do it well. The food served is fresh and delicious.

Antipodean @ Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar

Nothing spruces up the weekend morning breakfast session with a fresh bouquet of flowers placed on the table top of Antipodean Cafe.

So Refreshing

The Big Breakfast well worth the price of RM18. The scrambled eggs were fluffy and I think there were two eggs in there (I believe the eggs are pretty big ;). The toast was a little to hard for my liking though. The sauteed button mushrooms was lovely and so was the pork sausage. There was this tiny piece of hash brown which tasted more like mashed potatoes shaped into a rectangle and fried.

Big Breakfast

Croissant Scrambled Eggs with Bacon was generously topped with the bacon pieces. However, the croissant was a little on the tough side. There were loads of rocket leaves as well as scrambled eggs. Nice and light but the portion a little big for small eaters.

Croissant Scrambled Eggs with Bacon

Their Cafe Latte was just alright for me. However, I just like the two four leaf clover design floating at the top instead of the usual heart shape. I feel lucky :)

Cafe Latte

The place can be a bit packed on lazy weekends as the breakfast here is really good. If it was not so packed, it would be a very nice place to chill out.

Address:

20 Jalan Telawi 2,

Bangsar Baru,

59100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel No: +603 2282 0411

Chat Masala @ Brickfields

One thing that always fascinates me about the Indian culture is always the use of beautiful and bright colours and how clever they are in using spices to flavour their food. After a fruitful shopping adventure with the help of a friend who is familiar with the place, we head off to Chat Masala to fill up our tummies :) The food here is all vegetarian.

Loved the spiciness and sourish taste of rasam. The ones here are pretty good. Rasam is known as comfort food and is believed to help with digestion and sinus. My sinus did feel better after taking this.

Rasam

Had a first taste paneer somewhere last year and liked it. This time instead of having it with pureed spinach, we had it with butter masala. The sauce is pretty thick and would go well with bread or rice but will be overwhelming if eaten by its own.

Panner Makhani

The Vegetarian Mutton Briyani was just alright for me. They did not stinge on the briyani ingredients as the rice was well flavoured and there were visible amounts of cashew nuts, raisins and mock mutton. The portion was pretty big as well.

Vegetarian Mutton Briyani

The highlight of this dinner is this Panipuri. It is a little snack that consists of a very small puri stuffed with potatoes, peanuts, muruku and some herb paste. Just dip it into lightly flavoured tamarind liquid and pop it into the mouth. It was bursting with flavours coming from the peanuts, muruku and curried potatoes.

Panipuri

Aerial View

Noticed one of the tables ordered this fishball look a like in spicy soup. Turns out that this is Sambhar Idli. Idli is made from rice and black lentils. The sambhar here is excellent, thick and full of flavour.

Sambhar Idli

Mango lassi was rich, smooth and thick here. Well worth ordering :)

Mango Lassi

Brickfields is a hidden gem in the city. There are plentiful shops selling beautiful sarees and punjabi suits, jippas for men and a lot of beautiful accessories like bangles. A surprising thing about buying punjabi suits is that they only have it in large sizes and only in one size. It needs to be tailored to suit your size. It took me less than five minutes for alteration and it only cost RM10. Workmanship is excellent as it fits just nicely at the first time!

Address:

No 259, G, Jalan Tun Sambanthan,

Brickfields, 50470,

Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia

Tel No: +603-2260 3244

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant @ One Utama

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant is the latest addition of Japanese restaurant in One Utama. Absolutely loved the Watami Salad (RM18.90). It was fully of ingredients like crab stick, tuna mayo, prawns (which were really well marinated) and loads of greens. The dressing was like some creamy sesame dressing. It is pretty substantial on its own.

Watami Salad

Shio Chanko (RM24.50) or also known as Sumo Wrestler's hot pot which I thought looks really plain but the soup was really tasty. Was quite surprised by how much it could fill us up as it really looked a little small at first. Then again, probably it was the salad that actually filled us up earlier. The hot pot is filled with scallop, chicken pieces, mushrooms, cabbage, tofu, carrots, tofu puff, clams, leeks and squid.

Raw Shio Chanko

Shio Chanko Boiling Hot!

Yasai Itame (RM14.90) was stir fried vegetables with beef strips which would go very well with a bowl of rice as it was really salty! Too salty to eat by its own.

Yasai Itame

Unagi K'meshi (RM19.90) was steamed rice with unagi. The rice was cooked until the little burner burns out and add the unagi pieces to heat them up a little. The rice was a little too soft for my liking but was pretty flavourful. The unagi was just ok as I prefer the unagi served in Pasta Zanmai.

The Steamed Rice

Unagi and Seaweed Poured Over

Personally, I find the food tasty but is not really authentic traditional Japanese food where it is very simple and focus on fresh ingredients and taste. The price is a little on the expensive side as well.

Address:

1st Floor, Rainforest,

1 Utama Shopping Centre,

1 Lebuh Bandar Utama,

47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel No: +603-7727 1399

Bird Man Cafe @ Aman Suria

Bird Man Cafe! The first initial thought that came to mind, was the Bird Restaurant that I have tried in Puchong that was owned by a guy who won in a singing competition during one fine Chinese New Year gathering. The reason why this Bird Restaurant was so memorable was because it had poster and posters of this man whom I thought was a very famous celebrity that I didn't know. Turns out, it was the owner's own pictures and late into the night, there will be a karaoke session by him in the restaurant!

Birds Everywhere

Well turns out that it was a different restaurant altogether. At Bird Man Cafe, it serves fusion food. It has Japanese, Chinese and Western influence in its food.

Bird Nest Inspired Lights

Japanese Style Grilled Pork Ribs with Rice (RM9.90) was pretty good. Well, it wasn't really pork ribs but more like a piece of pork chop to me. Presentation wise was really special. It had some tempura vegetables to go with it and some stir fried vegetables on the side. They sure made sure we have a balanced meal :)

Japanese Style Grilled Pork Ribs with Rice

Shabu Shabu Beef Rice (RM 9.90) reminds me of the beef bowl in Yoshinoya. However, the portions here are bigger and it is pretty tasty. There is even a side of korean kimchi which was really nice. I kinda like the way the kimchi has been marinated as it was a wee bit sweet.

Shabu Shabu Beef Rice

Portions are a little huge though as we could not finish. The place is a little quiet and I guess it's a good place to hang out for a simple and quiet dinner. I saw another branch at the Strand in Kota Damansara area. Not sure how that fares compared to the outlet in Aman Suria.

Address:
B-G-12A, Jalan PJU 1/43,

Aman Suria,

47301 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Tel No: +603 7886 8216

Ficelle Boulangarie and Pattiserie @ Taman Danau Desa, Taman Desa

Chanced upon this place when I went to look around the area and stumbled upon it. However, due to a full stomach, we had to give this place a miss. Finally, went there one sunny Sunday late morning. Unfortunately, we were a little too late for their breakfast that ends at 11 am. This place is self service where you order and pay at the counter and your food will be delivered to you. Was a little inconvenient for us as we kept on going to the counter to order new stuff.

We had their Tomato Soup with Seafood (RM7) which did not go down too well as it tasted a little weird. The soup texture wasn't creamy but is of minced tomatoes, onions and garlic. There were squid rings and a whole prawn in there. It could be much better if they actually roast the tomatoes or simmer the soup longer.

Tomato Soup with Seafood

The Roasted Chicken Salad (RM6.50) had generous amounts of croutons, Parmesan cheese, romaine lettuce and cold roasted chicken pieces. It was served with some sweated garlic and olive oil and probably some sun dried tomatoes. The sauce is a little sweet. Did not really like the sauce that much but it is still bearable compared to the tomato soup. Love the croutons though.

Roasted Chicken Salad

The Pesto Prawn Spaghetti (RM15.00) was really delicious as well. The pesto sauce was not too oily as this is what I encountered in some other restaurant. It was well dressed and had bits and pieces of broccoli and carrots for some bite. It had two shrimps in it and they were really fresh. Wish they were a little more generous with the shrimps though.

Pesto Prawn Spaghetti

The Mango Shortcake (RM6.90) was superbly delicious. The cream and custard was really light and not cloying at all. The bottom part of the shortcake is a layer of mango jelly. Cubed mangoes at the top with syrup, whipped cream, a small piece of short cake which really light and delicious, custard and the mango jelly. Really enjoyed all the layers that come together. The best thing is that the light fluffy shortcake is not soggy at all.

Mango Shortcake

I really like the Chocolate Madeleine (RM1.60) as it was really moist and light. Could just finish it in just three bites because they were so light and fluffy. The Onion Sausage Bun (RM2.50) was just alright for me but the bread is really fluffy.

Chocolate Madeleine and Onion Sausage Bun

Definitely will be coming here for the pasta again as I saw the waiters and waitresses whisking off with plates and plates of delicious looking fungi pasta. Oh the fluffy bread and addictive shortcake :)

Address:

11-0-12 Jalan 3/109F,

Damau Business Center,

Taman Danau Desa,

59100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +603-7983 0211

Fax: +603-7982 2210

Eats of Padang, Indonesia

What's a trip without good local food. A recent trip to Padang brought us to try their local food, some familiar and some a little weird.

Definitely not to missed, Padang where Nasi Padang originated from. The curry chicken have always been really good. We had their Daging Dendeng which was cooked til really dry and hard but is fragrant. This is not my cup of tea although it is supposed to be famous.

Nasi Padang is served in a concept that we were quite new to. Rice will be served and plates and plates of dishes will be be brought out on the table. Just eat whatever dishes that you want to eat and you will be charged accordingly. Those which you did not touch, will not be charged.

An Array of Dishes (Nasi Padang)

Pork Satay is the best highlight in Padang for me. Available in Chinatown, this pork satay is excellent. The best in fact. The meat is lean but yet very tender and juicy. Marinated so well that no sauce is required. It comes with an appetizing serving of pickled cucumbers which is sweet and sour. We loved it so much that we had this twice during the whole trip.

Succulent Pork Satay

Being curious of what is being written beverage section in the menu, Terung Tirus or literally translated to Pointed Brinjal which does not really mean as what it is literally translated. It is just juice small sour red fruit. In its juice form, it is a little sour and sweet. A little like pineapple juice but not as sour with sugar. Pretty refreshing.

Jus Terung Tirus

Terung Tirus

Chicken intestines! Yeap, this is what we tried while having some late dinner at this coffee shop. It's not my cup of tea though as I feel that it wasn't really fresh. It felt a little disgusting although it doesn't have much taste. The texture is just like poppadoms that are not too fresh.

Deep Fried Chicken Intestines

Another delicious juice. Avocado juice or locally called Alpokat is definitely delicious and it is cheap here. The juice is creamy and thick but we do not feel that it is too cloying. A long drizzle of chocolate syrup really made this drink delicious.

Jus Alpokat

Grilled fish or Ikan Bakar was really good. The fish is really grilled and smoked with black charcoal unlike what we normally have in Malaysia where the it is normally fried on a flat pan. The seasoning coating the fish was thick and spicy compared to the grilled fish ala Malaysia. The initial plan to have this grilled fish at another stall was thwarted as it was close. This was just second best and even then, it is really good.

Ikan Bakar

Was a little surprised at how we can find good pork satay here in Padang. In fact the best ever. Satay is really popular here and we tried their beef satay but we didn't really like the yellow colour sauce that covered it. The fresh fruit juice is also very cheap here.