Kopi Street Cafe @ Kepong

Never did I know that thre's a street named 'Kopi Street' existed in Malaysia. Nor was there a street full with restaurant serving 'kopi'. This is one of the many newbies in the restaurant business with such a fancy name to it. Everyone knows that food business is mushrooming across Malaysia especially in Kuala Lumpur.

So many different types of names has been used and each and every one of them are trying to name their restaurant closest to of the original chain that has spurred across the nation ie 'Old Town White Coffee'. Just be a little more observant when you take a drive across town and you'll know what I mean.

Kopi Street Cafe is situated in Kepong. A very close friend of mine brought us there to have lunch together with buddies of ours. My buddies 'R' and 'K' suggested that I should try them out as they served good food and good coffee ~ better than the 'original'.

As usual such 'cafe' dishes out pretty identical food amongst one another. You'll find that most hawker food are made available eg curry laksa, assam laksa, nasi lemak, fried noodles, etc..... As well as some Western food eg chicken chop and fish & chips. Now we all know why such 'cafes' are famous amongst Malaysian.

Hazelnut White Coffee @ RM3.50+

This cool glass of  'Hazelnut White Coffee' is truly unbelievable. It was exactly what 'R' has described and it was really a wonderful feeling gulping it. Cool!

Curry Noodle @ RM5.90+

The highlight of the day belongs to this lovely bowl of 'Curry Noodle' which came with a huge portion of my preferred 'bihun', some beansprouts, some sliced chicken meat, 'foo chook', long beans and a couple of prawns.

I couldn't believe how delicious this bowl of noodle was. It tasted exactly the same as those I used to have when I was a kid ~ 'original taste' ~ and I was extremely happy to have found a cafe who serves this. And the 'chilli' that came with it only made things better.

Dry Curry Noodle @ RM5.90+

'K' opted for another type of curry noodle which was as good as the ones we had. When this plate of noodle was brought to us I could smell the aromatic aroma filling up the room and it really did took my attention towards it. Came with a few chicken in bite size and some potatoes.

Grilled Chicken Chop with Fried Rice @ RM10.80+

This is one plate where East meets West. Grilled chicken chop tasted really good, indeed. It's meat was succulent even though it was slightly over-grilled. Certain parts of the chicken was 'tough' but because it was so well marinated it tasted really good even with slight imperfections to it. Fried rice was simple yet tasted ok-la. Rice could be better and they should improve in it since the chic tasted a class better.

Conclusion : We were all speechless and unable to move an inch after consuming all the lovely food we had. We were very satisfied with the food choice and already thinking of making another trip here. Food is good, price is friendly, menu is colourful as the rainbow, service is commendable and coffee is fabulous. They really do make the 'original' cafe look like 'mickey mouse'. A 3.5/5.

Cheers.

Kopi Street Cafe                                                      
No 30, Jalan Metro Perdana Barat 3
Taman Usahawan Kepong
52100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : 012 396 4800

Fu-Rin Japanese Restaurant @ Holiday Inn Glenmarie

Certain days life can be such a bored without any agenda in the 'to-do' list. Certain days life can be wonderful with lot's of surprises. Certain days can be such a pain when everything, anything just didn't work. I was having one of the above 'certain' days and thank God that I was having a wonderful one.

Dinner was not in the agenda at all for the day. We couldn't think of what to have and decided to skip it. BUT out of the blue my lovely mother-in-law called and decided to give the family a treat. A treat that will bring all of us to Holiday Inn at Glenmarie Shah Alam. A treat that will bring to us some really good Japanese cuisine. A treat and a date with 'Fu-Rin Japanese Restaurant'.

I am not a fanatic for Japanese foodie but with FOC food on the table why not. LOL. We were shocked to find the restaurant to be packed with dinner crowd considering it was a weekday. From my observation half the crowd are hotel guests while the remaining half were there specifically for it's food.

California Rolls

All of us were going for their 'set dinner' as my mother-in-law have some special coupons for them. First to come was the famous 'California Rolls'.  It is a-must to order this lovely maki-sushi roll as it was really fresh and delicious. It was much more delicious when the rolls were dipped into some Teriyaki sauce.

Teriyaki Chicken Set

The 'Teriyaki Chicken Dinner Set' was brought to us and we were surprised with the lovely aroma that greeted us. This same aroma made us all stood still and drool at the same time. Without wasting time I decided to give it a go. OOhhh! Blimey... it tasted so good as good as it's aroma. Chicken was perfectly cooked and the teriyaki sauce that came with the chicken was superb. Perfect !!! Goes very well with the rice.

Came with the set is a bowl of 'Chawamushi' or in plain English it's called 'Japanese Steamed Egg Custard'. It was not 'hot' but 'warm' when it was brought to us. Would prefer it to be 'hot' as it will surely taste better. But somehow all of us enjoyed this lovely bowl and it was pretty delicious too.

Yam Ice-Cream

Last but not least came my favourite ie 'Yam ice-cream'. It was truly refreshing after a heavy delicious meal and I wouldn't have asked for more than this. Just fantastic and was craving for more as the one single scoop was just not enough.

Did I mentioned that besides Set Lunches and Set Dinners this restaurant does know how to strut their stuff by having 'buffet' style for both lunch and dinner and this is only available on weekends. A true winner.

Conclusion : Not too bad !!! Food quality at it's best. Probably it's because it is located in a hotel where quality control is a must. Pretty good and delicious. Worth venturing further but rather costly. But service was good and the environment is simple and comfortable and classy in it's own ways. A 3/5.

Cheers.

Fu-Rin Japanese Restaurant @ Holiday Inn

No 1, Jalan Usahawan U1/8

Section U1

Glenmarie

40250 Shah Alam

Selangor.

Tel : 03 7803 1000

Pantai Seafood Restaurant @ Kayu Ara, PJ.

Another family gathering. Another round of good food. Another round of laughter and happiness. We all just loved family gatherings and we do that pretty often. It is important to have such gatherings so it will keep the spirits and bondage high. :)

Our lovely aunt was back from the United States for a short holiday and we did not waste much time to have such event. It was an opportunity for aunt to enjoy the local foodie which she has deserted years ago. Coming back to Malaysia is going to be a weight gaining experience cause I am very sure she will be walloping all the lovely Malaysian food from Malays to Chinese foodie. Not to forget all the lovely street food.

Aquariums full of seafood

Live Lobster

The chosen restaurant for this special occasion is at Kayu Ara by the name of 'Pantai Seafood Restaurant' and this place is a very popular dining place amongst the locals from near and far. The first thing that will catch your attention is the huge area full of aquariums with various types of seafood available to be served and brought to your table.

Tiger Garoupa Fish

Prawns

The set up of this restaurant is pretty cool with both open-air dining and air-conditioned dining area. Beside dishing up seafood this restaurant have it's own 'wine cellar' which is popular too. I reckon nowadays even Malaysian wanna have a good glass of wine from having seafood and not fine dining. This is Malaysia Boleh-lah.

Our food was all pre-ordered and was brought to us like the speed of a bullet. First to come to our rescue from hunger is the 'Pantai Four Season's Platter'. Pretty impressed with it's portion while food quality is ok.

Four Season's Platter

Next in line was the 'Braised Sharksfin Soup (no pics taken, sorry). It was rather a tad salty but overall the taste was pretty amazing. This is truly a favourite amongst Malaysian and Malaysians are one of the top consumers of this delicacy.

Apple Fried Chicken Thai Style

This plate of specially made Fried Chicken was superb. Chicken are chopped into bite pieces and fried to perfection mixed with some house special Thai sauce and sprinkled with some apple and onion slices., Amazing! Very mouth watering and the special sauce does make one long for more white rice as it goes really well with it.

Steamed Patin Fish

The Patin fish was rather too small for a table of 10 people. Tasted just OK-lar. Sauce was pretty tasty which is good to consume with white rice. We found the fish to be slightly overcooked which was a big let-down.

Fried Tiger Prawn in Assam Sauce

Another let down was the fried tiger prawn in assam sauce. Prawns was overcooked and size was just too small. How can they call this 'Tiger Prawns'? I really wonder...... Assam sauce was a little spicy which is a no-no for kiddies.

Mixed Vegetables

We were really hoping the next dish to be good as the past few dishes has been a disaster. This time was the 'Mixed Vegetables' which was fried with some Hawaiian Nuts. Thank goodness..... this vege tasted good. I would have screamed for help if this turned out 'eewww' cause if they cannot get this right for a simple plain vegetable dish then I would have blacklisted this restaurant.

Indonesian Fried Rice

I seriously wanted to ask them why they call this 'Indon Fried Rice'? It looks and tasted like local Chinese Fried Rice ....... This place really baffles me, big time. I reckon they were trying to be special with the names given for their dishes but if they just simply name it for the sake of naming it then they are digging their own graves.

Crab or Crap?

We also ordered some crab cooked with butter sauce. Crab was pretty crappy... sorry to say this. This time around I was really seriously trying to find some answers to some questions playing in my mind. What happened to the food quality? This place used to be really good but I was totally disappointed this time. I reckon I do not need to elaborate more on this crap thing as it is not worthwhile to do so.

Chinese Pastry

Finally, my favourite dessert was brought to us. I simply just loved this Chinese desserts since a very young age. A life saver indeed as I was closed to having tears in my eyes ......

Conclusion : Gathering was superb but food was otherwise. We were also disappointed with this restaurant as there were far too many power trips which was not a pleasant thing to experience. Food was ok-lar if there's not other restaurant around. Service was below par. We paid RM530.00 for all the above..... which was OK, I reckon.... if only food was good. Oh well shytes happened. Only a 2/5 this time around.

Cheers.

Pantai Seafood Restaurant
Lot 13575, Jalan Cempaka PJU6A
Kg Sg Kayu Ara
47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor.
Tel : 03 7725 5099

Chao Yen Teochew Restaurant @ 1 Utama

Yay! It's weekend again. I always loved weekends and I bet millions out there share the same thoughts as I. Two days of rest and away from work is the one thing I truly cherish as this two days are meant for resting and spending time with my love one.

We decided to kick some tires at 1 Utama and was hoping that traffic will be kind to us. Sure enough it was very kind and the next thing I was hoping to be kind to us is finding a parking space. Viola!!! We managed to get one as soon as we got in.

Since we did not have lunch, and it was time for tea and we will be spending many hours shopping true enough we will need the energy to walk for miles. So, having a meal before all that will be ideal. As we entered 1 Utama lower ground, there's this particular Chinese restaurant that caught my eye. This place is called 'Chao Yen Teochew Restaurant'. There was plenty of 'banner' promoting it's foodies that caught my attention.

It was 4pm and we decided to eat at this restaurant as they were having some promotion on dim sum for 'high-tea' ie from 3pm to 6pm. The earlier round of promo was from 10am to 12pm which was called 'Morning Dim Sum'.

The set-up of this restaurant is truly classy. Well positioned tables with matching chairs really do beautify the entire place. With ceiling pendant lighting on one side and 'halogen' ceiling mounted lights on the other end was pretty impressive. All chairs have the restaurant logo printed behind it which is a class above.

They were having a few types of promo but we decided to go for the 'high-tea' promo. The selected selections available for this promo was enough to keep us at bay.

Porridge with Salted Egg & Century Egg @ RM4.00++

We had porridge to start off the feast. Portion was actually enough for one but we decided to share as there will be other dim sum being ordered. Frankly the porridge was rather salty but it really does taste good. Sprinkled with some spring onion and fried shallots on top of the bowl of porridge only enhanced the taste.

Min Fun Gui @ RM4.00++

The 'Min Fun Gui' which we ordered was the dry type instead of the one comes with soup. This was a simple bowl of noodle but tasted really really good indeed. Portion was rather small but for RM4.00 per bowl ... what were you expecting for...... Not too bothered about the small portion but was rather amazed with it's good taste.

Char Siew Cheong Fun @ RM4.00++

Next was the 'Char Siew Cheong Fun'. The presentation was rather different. Instead of the normal '2 strips' cheong fun this cheong fun was served in 3 short strips. With some spring onions and fried shallots sprinkled on it this cheong fun really do taste good. Very mouth watering indeed. The only downfall is that the sauce which came with it was too salty.

Teochew Steamed Dumpling @ RM3.00++

This handsome pair of dumpling was just so-so to me but my partner found it to be yummy. This dumpling was filled with some mixtures of vegetables and minced pork meat. Found it to be rather bland but is forgivable as this restaurant boosts their food to be free of MSG.

Loh Mai Kai @ RM5.00++

This time was totally different as I found this to be good but my partner found it to be very amateurish. Portion was really little even a little kitty could finish it. Chicken was cut into thin slices instead of the norm bite size which makes it easier to munch. LOL. Not too bad lar......

Char Siew Bao @ RM4.00++

Last but not least came this beautiful pair of titties.... LOL... Oops! This is their famous 'Char Siew Bao'. It's size was smaller than the normal bao but it really do taste brilliant and out of this world. The Char Siew was so delicious and it was an amazing feeling to be able to sink our teeth into the bao. Our taste buds was aroused immediately and we couldn't stop ourselves from wanting more.

Conclusion : Amazing!!! Pocket friendly!!! Superb service!!! Mouth watering!!! Cool environment!!!  Besides the 'dim sum' promo there are plenty of choice to choose from their 'ala carte' menu. For those who fancies a bowl of 'bak kut teh' could really give this place a thought. Worth the experience and worth the adventure as they really do know how to keep a hungry man from roaming around. FYI, all the above and 2 glasses of 'lo hon koh' we only need to fork out RM35.20. Beat that! A 4.5/5.

Cheers.

Chao Yen Teochew Restaurant

Lot LG 311A

Lower Ground Floor

1 Utama Shopping Centre

Petaling Jaya

Selangor.

Tel : 03 7729 8052

Pho Hoa Restaurant, Noodle Soup @ Tropicana City Mall

Pho Hoa Vietnamese Restaurant is probably the largest Vietnamese restaurant chain around the globe with outlets in 13 states in the USA, available in 4 states in Canada and 7 countries across Asia. Their very first outlet was back in San Jose back in 1983. Since then they have not looked back and have been surging forward to become where they are today. Read more about them via www.phohoa.com

Welcome to Pho Hoa Restaurant

Simple yet elegant decor

It was an experience walking into this outlet at Tropican City Mall. This place looks simple yet elegant with so many different types and designs of colourful lanterns lifted way up to create an amazing 'Vietnamese' feel to the whole entire restaurant. It was simply breathtaking.

Frankly, I have not come across a Vietnamese restaurant in Malaysia that serves good Vietnamese food. The last I had a fantastic one was in Papatoetoe, Auckland NZ. Until now I still crave for it and was hoping to make a trip back to NZ to revitalised the experienced I had years ago.

I noticed from the very first time I looked at the menu was the type of noodles and food available here is very different from those I had in NZ. Choices here are pretty limited while in NZ was heaven and earth. Oh well I should just focus on what is available locally and get on with the order.

Cha Gio @ RM3.90++

A must is the fried spring rolls with minced pork and vegetable or simply called 'Cha Gio'. It tasted pretty good indeed but still lack the 'oomph' feeling. Of course the ones I had back in NZ was much greater than this but it was OK-lah.

Pho Tai, Bo Vien @ RM15.50++ (Regular)

Since Vietnam is famous for it's beef noodles, it would be a sin not having one here. I was told that this place serves one of the best noodles in town. We had a couple of 'Pho Tai, Bo Vien' beef noodles. This bowl of noodle consists of some beef balls and some beef steaks which came with some noodles. The aroma was making us all drool. Came with it was some mint leaves and bean sprout which was supposed to be mixed into the bowl of noodles.

I was expecting it to be really good but somehow I wasn't feeling disappointed at all. The broth was really amazing and delicious. Both the beef balls and beef steaks tasted really good too which makes this a winner. The only thing about that made me disappointed was the portion which was rather too little for the price we were paying.

Bun Ga Nuong @ RM13.90++

This set is more for the health conscious diners. Bun Ga Nuong is a bowl of vermicelli comes with veggie and grilled chicken meat. Dosed some fish oil into the bowl and mixed it all up for some really good healthy meal. Not bad indeed.

Conclusion : Bolehlah... Just OK-lah.... but it could really be better. The only reason for me making this statement is because I had better ones in Auckland where the food is so much superior compared to Pho Hoa. Nevertheless, it was truly an amazing venture and I really don't mind stepping into this outlet again. A 3/5.

Cheers.

Pho Hoa Restaurant

Lot L52, First Floor

Tropicana City Mall

3, Jalan SS20/27

47400 Petaling Jaya

Selangor.

Tel : 03 7728 1714

Royal China Restaurant @ Jalan Ampang

It is going to be an awesome day today as today is the day my employer will be throwing us a year end dinner for us. This dinner was long overdue but the wait was worthwhile. I am not going to elaborate it too much as I just wanna share some beautiful pictures of lovely yummy food we had.

All this took place at 'Royal China Restaurant' at Jalan Ampang located beside the famous Ampang Park Shopping Mall.  This restaurant is part of 'Tai Thong Restaurant and it is non-halal. Frankly, food was pretty good and the food presentation was applaudable. Service was top notch too.

Enjoy.

Starter : Some really funky stuff.

The usual Shark's Fins Soup

Cod Fish with Tofu in Special Sauce

BBQ Suckling Pig

Sea Cucumber with Mushroom and Broccoli

Lobster baked in Cheese & Butter Sauce

Lap Mey Rice

Dessert that is .....

This restaurant is popular with the locals and the working class people here especially during lunch time. They serve Chinese food as well as Dim Sum. Make a date with them as everything is going to turn out just fine.

Cheers.

Royal China Restaurant

Lot 26, 174-176A

Jalan Ampang

50450 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel : 03 5623 8933

Mandy's Cafe @ Summit USJ

I have always wondered why is Summit USJ Subang is such a popular shopping mall in Subang. Finding a parking lot there is almost impossible and you will have to resort to illegal parking unless you have all the time to wait for an empty lot and we resorted to the latter.

We are not the hardcore nuts who frequents Summit USJ often. It's like once in a blue moon kind of thing for us. This time it was CNY shopping that brought us there. My partner loved to shop for ladies clothing at the Summit as at times she is able to grab some cool stuff at bargain price. And so we did.

After all the shopping it was time for a good meal and a good time to relax our tired legs. We were really undecided in what to have for dinner as there was just simply too many choices to make and we even contemplated of having dinner out of Summit. From Western to Asian to 'fast food' to local food ..... and finally we decided to have it at 'Mandy's Cafe' which was situated at the LG.

This place reminds me of 'Dave's Deli'. The setting up of the counter and it's seating really do have the DNA of Dave's Deli. Not only that. The food being served there too have the same DNA but with extras where Dave's don't have. This place is truly a mixture of Western and Eastern food. You can find 'foot long sausages' to 'fried rice', from 'chicken chop' to 'assam laksa'. Cool choice isn't it!

Quarter Roast Chicken @ RM10.95+

Black Pepper Chicken Chop @ RM13.80+

It took us awhile do decide in what to order. We decided to go Western ~ 'Roast Chicken' and 'Chicken Chop'. No doubt that I would love to have a good bowl of Curry Laksa but I can get that anywhere but not the 'chicken' stuff we ordered. LOL.

The chicken chop surely does taste better compared to the quarter roast chicken. Chicken chop was fresh as it was cooked when ordered but the roast chicken was pre-cooked and when there's an order they will just re-heat it up which made the chicken overcooked and tasteless.

Pretty disappointed though. Nothing much to say about the food. Just that credit is only given to the plate of 'chicken chop' being fresh, at least there's some chicken taste in it. Oh well .... at least it managed to fill my half empty belly.

Conclusion : Pretty cool set-up, lot's of choices to choose from, very friendly service, pretty reasonable pricing, not so good food (based on the above order). But I reckon I should come back for another visit since they have so much to offer. 2/5.

Cheers.

Mandy's Cafe
LG 28 & 29, Summit USJ
Persiaran Kewajipan
Subang Jaya
Selangor.