Memphis Bistro @ Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

What has happened to the weather nowdays? One minute hot and shiny as the desert and another minute thunderstorm rainfalls like the sky's giving way. This has been going on for days now. Just unbelievable and unperdictable. With all this chaotic weather it is a good idea to stay in and start blogging.

Today I will bring you to a fantastic restaurant that is tucked away from the hustling bustling area. It is located at 'Dana' at Ara Damansara. 'Dana' is a commercial place filled with offices and some retail outlets. "Memphis Bistro" is located towards the end of the most inner role of shops. My friends brags about how good the western food is.

We had to call the restaurant to place a booking for a table for 8. Otherwise you will not be able to dine there at all if you chose to walk in especially on a weekend. So, please play it safe and call to make a booking first.

I really loved this restaurant as it has the 'family restaurant' feel. This is one reason why you have to call to make a reservation because most patrons who dine there are regulars and who will more or less book the entire restaurants for small private function or just family dinner.

It is quite serene and we really do love the ambiance. People there are really friendly and it was a pleasure having the chance to dine there. Besides food they also have an area where they specialized in servince wines. So, for wine lovers this will be a good place to wine & dine, indeed.

A look at the menu confirms how well this restaurant flares in western food. So, the best way to prove it is to eat em all. LOL.

Manhattan Clam Chouder @ RM10.50++

First to come is the starter. We ordered 'Manhattan Clam Chouder' a classic creamy vegetables and clam soup sprinkled with some crushed cracker biscuits. Damn, oops...mind my language, this soup is out of this world. It is really yummy. The texture the taste and the presentation was simply amazing.

Escargots (1/2 Dozen) @ RM19.50++

Next in line came another starter and a great favourite of mine. The very first time I had these snails was dining at 'Victoria Station' almost 20 years ago. I never did look back since that day and it has been my all time favourite.

Escargots is baked French snails in shells with garlic butter serves with garlic bread. When the snails was brought to us I just couldn't hold my excitement and all I wasnted to do was to sink one of the snails into my drooling mouth. But.... I was dissapointed... dissapointed with how it tasted. It was not as good as those found at 'Victoria Station'. Really. It's not aromatic enough, not enough garlic-ky, not enough zing. Dang! we ordered 1 dozen. :D

Classic Caesar Salad @ RM9.00++

Salad for the ladies. Classic Caesar salad is a bed of romaine lettuce tossed with 'Caesar' dressing topped with croutons and Parmesan crisp. We were playing it safe with this order as this is another favourite of ours. This is another great dish one should not miss. It tasted really good and very appetizing.

Main dish will be next and first to be introduced is a couple of pastas.

Spaghetti  'Oriental'  Chilies Prawns @29.00++

I totally fell in love with this pasta. There is a great amount of frest water prawns together with spaghetti stirred in spicy chili sauce. Simply marvelous. Prawns was fresh which is important and the entire dish was full of the aroma of prawns which adds a little zing into it. Noodles was not overcooked, not too spicy and it was sheer pleasure to have had this meal.

Chicken Regina @ RM18.00++

This pasta consists of chicken tenders sauted with mushrooms, jalapenos chilies and tomatoes in cream sauce served over tagliatelle pasta.

Being a fanatic for cream based pasta I was expecting this 'chicken regina' to shine. It did shine but not at it's brightest. Firstly, it was not creamy enough and does not have the 'oomph' factor. It just lack something probably... garlic as it does not produce the sort of aroma which I craved for. Chicken tenders was OK. Could be better.

Breast of Chicken Madison @ RM23.00++

Doesn't it look pretty? It is making me hungry again by just looking at it. Yeah it was as good as it looks. The breast of chicken was panfried til golden brown, laced with forest mushrooms and sauce and comes with a grilled prawn. Was marvelous and very delicious. The sauce was the best part of this meal otherwise it will be a little bland.

Cajun Chicken Thigh @RM18.00++

Chicken thigh marinated in cajun spice basted with southern BBQ sauce and served with fries. Not my cup of tea. Didn't like anything with BBQ sauce. I just felt the strong taste of BBQ sauce will just kill or cover the entire taste of the chicken. Should not depends too much on the sauce to make this dish good.

Grilled Tasmanian Salmon @ RM32.50++

This palate was drizzles with some sesame-soya dressing. Not too bad indeed. Anyway, I am a big fan of salmon regardless how it was done. What is important is that the fish meat was not overcooked. Otherwise it's going to taste like a hard nut. Meat was still moist which is good. A tad pricey.

Hot Chocolate Lava Cake @ RM10.50++

This was supposed to be the house speciality and was highly recommended to us. I am not sure whether the chocolate lava cake didn't live to my expectation or I was too full to fully enjoy it... whatever.... there are much room for improvement.

Conclusion : Food was pretty good. Atmosphere or ambiance was good. Service was good. A tad pricey. Make sure to make reservations if you do not want to end up eating mamak instead. Non-Halal restaurant. A 3.8/5.

Cheers!

Memphis Bistro
D-6-7-G
Pusat Perdagangan DANA 1
Jalan PJU 1A/46
Ara Damansara
47301 Petaling Jaya.
Selangor.
Tel : 03 7843 6818.

Note : The above review was purely based on my personal opinion.