vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Posts tagged Petaling Jaya
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.
Kechara Oasis: New Age Vegetarian Cuisine @ Jaya One, Petaling Jaya
Aug 12th
Kechara Oasis is a fine-dining vegetarian restaurant located in Jaya One, Petaling Jaya that serves vegetarian dishes from Chinese, Tibetan, Vietnamese and Western cuisine. Not long ago Kampungboycitygal was invited to the restaurant and we (Jason and Ivy included) got to tag along as well.
While browsing the menu I was surprised to see seafood like lobster and cod fish were available. As real as they look, they are made of mock meat – the same for the rest of the dishes shown later. Vegetarian food has never looked so good!
It’s good to know that the chefs at Kechara Oasis have been trained at Tibet before. So the Tibetan dishes can be considered quite authentic. One of the rare drinks in this world is served at Kechara Oasis, called Tibetan Butter Tea @ RM12.80.
The name itself should be quite self-explanatory – it is a drink of the Tibetans. Click here to continue reading >
Toh Yuen Chinese Restaurant Dining Experience @ Hilton PJ
Jul 3rd
Two weeks ago, Hilton Petaling Jaya and theQGuides.com organized a dinner at the various restaurants within the hotel for food bloggers. I was lucky enough to be one of the invited bloggers to attend such an event.
Besides being treated to good food, the bloggers were also introduced to ZestPJ, the blog for Hilton PJ’s restaurants as well as utilizing theQGuides.com as the platform to make table reservations online. It’s great to know that Hilton PJ has come to realize the power of blogging and made the initiative to reach out to food bloggers.
We were not prearranged to dine at any particular restaurant, so a lucky draw was done to determine which restaurant we got to go. Among the restaurants of Paya Serai (cafe, Malaysian cuisine, hawker delights and buffet), Toh Yuen (Chinese restaurant) and Genji (Japanese restaurant with a countryside ambience) I was hoping for Toh Yuen, and I got what I wished for.
Toh Yuen is a beautiful Chinese restaurant with a brilliant interior that exuded class and elegance. It has a seating capacity of 110 including 8 seats at its Dim Sum bar and 4 private rooms – Jade, Silk, Great Wall 1 and 2 – that accommodates up to 10 people each.
Moon gates like this are one of the special features in Toh Yuen, aimed to create the feeling of dining in a traditional Chinese courtyard. A giant marine aquarium is located to the back of the kitchen too, with live fishes swimming around adding life to the already warm and homely ambiance. I am pretty sure it was there to improve the feng shui of the restaurant too.
Glasses of premium handcraft Blooming Tea accompanied our meal – Hai Shang Hua (scented, unfermented Green Tea, Jasmine Flower and Lily Flower) and Yi Xian Tian.
According to the menu, Yi Xian Tian is a good tea drinkable at any time of the day that functions well to clean out toxins while offering a great taste. We have to agree on the great taste as we found ourselves drinking it non-stop lol. RM10 per glass.
For appetizer, we chose the highly recommended Mango Dragon @ RM17. It was a dish that consisted only two pieces of prawns, fried with a coating of flour and fresh mango flesh. Being somewhat unimpressive looking, it was surprisingly delicious thanks to the very crispy outer layer with a refreshing mango taste.
RM1.30 Cendol Opposite Taman Bahagia LRT Station
Jun 11th
Damn the weather nowadays is killing me. Thanks to the haze the daytime doesn’t feel like daytime anymore because the sunlight is freaking blocked and smoke is all I see! Even when it rains it only lasts for a few minutes wtf.
Lucky for us there’s cheap and body cooling desserts like ais kacang and cendol easily available – whether in a coffee shop, food court or by the road side. But, finding a tasty one remains as the main challenge.
I was hunting for good cendol around Subang Jaya and the stall opposite Taman Bahagia LRT station had quite a few recommendations online. Realizing my office is not exactly too far from it, I decided to drop by one day after lunch.
I was expecting to see a proper stall but it was actually a mobile stall operating using a van. Setup beside a housing area’s playground, it’s very easy to locate – just use the LRT as the landmark.
The cendol is dirt cheap here, RM1.30 a bowl. It is one of the better tasting cendol I have had so far since coming to KL (you won’t believe the level of crappiness in the worst ever cendol I had not long ago. So this deserves a somewhat good rating based on the worst one, relatively) Click here to continue reading >
