vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Selangor
Brother Yat Restaurant @ Subang Jaya
Sep 2nd
If this pot looks familiar, it’s either you have read my old post about Sauna Prawns, or you have seen and tasted it before personally.
For those uninitiated, Sauna Prawns is a dish where a glass of Carlsberg beer is poured into a pot with heated sauna stones underneath, then immediately followed by a bowl of live grass prawns on top of the steamer lid.
As soon as the beer touches the rocks, steam is generated which will cook the prawns alive. At this time, the dining table would be filled with a faint beer and seafood aroma, enticing each and every diner. Just imagine the pot as a sauna room and the prawns as people, except they won’t get out alive. Oh, so poor prawns.
The prawns’ freshness is very important in dish so only live prawns are used. And I don’t think you could get any fresher prawns than live ones. 500g of prawns for this dish cost RM41, inclusive of the table-side show, uniquely available here only.
Maria’s Cafe & Restaurant 20% Discount Voucher (2 Main Courses)
Aug 24th
Planning for a date or birthday celebration with your special one? Why not head to Maria’s Cafe & Restaurant. Exclusively for vkeong.com readers only, enjoy 20% discount on 2 main courses with this voucher!
Personal recommendations include:
Maria’s Cafe & Restaurant Western Food @ Damansara Perdana, PJ
Aug 17th
Ever since I tried Maria’s excellent Western food and cakes, I have not been able to find another restaurant that serve such high quality food at a good value they are offering. Being a family business also means that they are personally involved in choosing the best ingredients as well as the cooking.
Like for example, the Fresh Pumpkin Soup @ RM7.50. The cook at Maria’s goes to the market to pick only the freshest pumpkin to prepare this hearty soup. It is flavorful with a thick but smooth consistency, a nice alternative to the mushroom soup served almost everywhere.
The Caesar Salad @ RM12.50 has beef bacon, walnuts and crunchy croutons dressed with parmesan cheese slices and Maria’s very own secret dressing. We loved the creamy dressing and the perfectly fresh Romaine lettuce, which had a enjoyable crisp texture.
For non beef eaters, or for those looking for a more substantial topping you could choose to have smoked salmon @ RM16.50 or and chicken (deep fried or roasted) RM15.50.
Our main dish of the meal has got to be the grilled Japanese Kobe Steak, priced at an eye-popping RM175/100gm. This highly prized meat has a fantastic flavor, tenderness, contains more fat compared to the Australian Wagyu. Its well-marbled texture is one of the reasons this delicacy is so popular, it literally melts in your mouth. To describe Maria’s grilled Kobe Steak would be “so, so good it’s heavenly delicious, fit for a king”.
Nyonya Restaurant @ SS2, Petaling Jaya
Aug 9th
Located at the heart of PJ, SS2 is Nyonya Restaurant – a three decades old and pork free restaurant serving authentic baba nyonya cuisine since 1974. Although the current owner is the fourth, changes have been minimal and the dishes are still faithfully prepared according to the original chef’s recipes.
I like to start off my Nyonya meal with spicy seafood hence Sambal Udang Petai @ RM15.50 is always a must-order-dish. What I liked the most about this dish of the day is the sea-caught prawns, which were really fresh and also decently sized. The sambal has a paste like consistency so the flavor and spiciness are nicely concentrated. Simply the perfect dish to be had with rice.
The Beef Rendang @ RM15 does not look too appealing on photo but that’s really my fault actually. Being my second favorite dish of the entire meal, it was cooked slowly to ensure the tender beef slices could fully absorb the spicy condiments. I highly recommend this dish, as you will certainly not be disappointed by its fragrant and flavorful taste.
TAO Eat All You Can Ala Carte Buffet @ Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara
Aug 1st
Finally TAO has opened a branch in Klang Valley at Sunway Giza mall, Kota Damansara. When it first opened in Penang it created a buzz among buffet lovers, as the variety of food was considered to be fresh and unique for us – not to mention tasted great too. I have anticipated this day long enough, for a Penang based restaurant to make its mark in Klang Valley.
But first of all let me just clarify that TAO is not a Japanese restaurant serving Japanese buffet, despite always being referred to as ‘TAO Japanese Buffet‘. Actually the dishes served at TAO are Asian specialties including mostly of Japan, Thailand and Chinese.
My personal experience with TAO at E-Gate a few years ago was a good affair and I still could remember some of the dishes I had that day like the Lamb Teriyaki and Spicy Mayo Scallops. The main difference with Penang’s TAO and KD’s is that the latter have a self-service sushi and sashimi counters, which is definitely a good news for sashimi lovers. We had the lunch buffet @ RM42++ per pax, which comes to RM48.30 after including the 5% gov tax and 10% service charge.
The entrance to the restaurant, quite grand. I like how TAO designs their restaurant giving a nice, calming ambiance. But I think they seriously need to change the songs they are playing.. 90s boy bands songs ain’t cool yo.
Yi Xin Ge Bak Kut Teh Restaurant @ People’s Park, Petaling Jaya
Apr 30th
Yi Xin Ge 一心阁 is a Bak Kut Teh restaurant at People’s Park, Kelana Jaya that has been around for more than 25 years. Their first outlet was initially opened at Petaling Jaya Section 14 but moved to it current location later. Business starts as early as 6.30am and it is said to be the favorite Bak Kut Teh of former Malaysian badminton legend Datuk Eddy Choong.
The founder of Yi Xin Ge is a Bak Kut Teh lover himself. After experimenting with various recipes to prepare his own Bak Kut Teh he finally came up with one good enough even to setup him own shop. The soup here is clearer, slightly sweeter with a mild herb taste – and actually a lot milder if compared to the other Bak Kut Teh shops in Klang Valley.
The sweet taste is attributed to the fact that they use a lot of yu zhu – 玉竹 (stem of Solomon’s Seal) often used for its natural sweetness in flavoring Chinese herbal soup. A hint of Ginseng taste could be detected as well.
