Onde Onde Citta Mall Ara Damansara - Flavours Of Malaysian Street Food Review

There are not many restaurants or café that serves a wide array of Malaysian all-time popular street food in one restaurant. Best Restaurant To Eat was invited for a food review session at Onde Onde Citta Mall Ara Damansara located at G-49, Ground Floor, CITTA MALL, No.1 Jalan PJU 1A/48 Jalan PJU 1, Ara Damansara 47301 Petaling Jaya Selangor Malaysia.

Onde Onde Citta Mall has a modern and casual setup where you can lepak around with your friends and family over a cup of tea tarik or kopi santan and enjoy some kuih muih or have a traditional Malaysian breakfast of Nasi Lemak and end supper with some fried Kuey Teow with Duck Egg.

We started the review with some favourite appetizer, namely the first of which is the Pandan Chicken. This pandan chicken is very different from the one that we eat at the Thai Restaurant which had chicken pieces. The chicken meat here are minced with a recipe of spices and then wrapped with the Pandan leave and fry to a slight crisp. It is best eaten with some chilli sauce.

followed by the Penang favourite Chicken Lobak Platter – The chef used the chicken as the filling for the lobak, it taste great eaten on its own, in the platter there were also the fried taufoo and century eggs as another must have for a local favourites.

and the last appetizer was the Johor favourite which is Otak-Otak. The otak-otak serves here are a triangle in shape as compared to those that are thinly spread in the traditional daun nipah. Eating this otak-otak gives you a sense of a much meaty piece as you are able to taste the combination of the spices with the fish meat.

We then move to the noodles session, where we ordered 2 noodles the first of which is the Duck Egg Char Kuey Teow. I was a little surprised when it was served as I find that the Fried Kuey Teow was very evenly fried and the aroma of the duck eggs was very fragrant.

The only setback for this dish was there are no cockles in it although there was a generous amount of chicken meat and bean sprouts and some prawns to top it up with.

Next , we ordered the Signature Assam Laksa. I am a strong fan of Assam Laksa and I find this broth a little subtle to my taste as I am fond of the type where the broth is very strong and flavourful of the ikan kembung. 

After that we moved on to the Rice dishes, where we had the Belacan Fried Rice. I find this dish to be quite nice as the balance use of the ingredient and belacan was just right i.e. not too overwhelming that kills or overpowered the taste.

The next rice dish is the Nasi Lemak Istimewa Supreme which comes with the signature Ayam Berempah, Sambal Prawns and Otak-Otak and keropok. I find the rice to be aromatic and was cooked to be very grainy with just the right touch of santan. 

While the Ayam Berempah was fried to a gentle crisp on the skin and the meat was still succulent and tender on the inside. The mildly spicy fresh prawn sambal was a perfect match to the Nasi lemak without being too overpowering.

Lastly, for desserts, we had the first one which is the Cendol. The cendol was silky smooth and blended well with the concoction of the gula Melaka and the Red Beans. It is an ideal dessert to end our hearty meal. 

This was then followed by the Signature Durian Dessert. This is a real surprised to me as the durian that was used as the topping was very aromatic and flavourful. Even before taking the first spoonful, we could smelt the strong durian aroma from the bowl. Eating together with the ice shaving it was just a perfect dessert for me who loves anything durian.

The last dish for the night was the Golden Banana Fritters with Ice Cream. Here the banana was cut in half and the batter does not have that much of the crisp which would make it ideal to eat with the ice cream.

As for drink, we had the Pandan Cooler – it was a very refreshing and soothing drink that goes exceptionally well with the spicy food that we had.

Lastly, we had the Kopi Santan, which instead of using milk, they use santan to flavour the roasted coffee. For me, which loves thick and strong coffee, this version is just a tad too mild to my liking although I find the santan to be a good mix and something different for a change.

At Onde Onde Citta Mall Ara Damansara, you will be able to get to taste all the different flavours of Malaysian Street food in one place without the hassle of going to too many different shop or states to taste it.

Black Bull Mid Valley Kuala Lumpur– A New Place To Dine, Drink, Bowl, Sing, Pool and Dart Grand Opening

Is there such a place where you can do all that in Kuala Lumpur. The answer is YES. Best Restaurant To Eat was invited to the Grand Opening of Black Bull located at Lot T-003, 3rd Floor South Court, Mid Valley Megamall 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Black Bull Mid Valley offers its patrons, an all in one place where you entertain yourself and your guests with a multitude of entertainment.

You can start off with a game of pool or bowling at the Brunswick bowling lane and then proceed to have a western fusion dinner at the lounge which can then be followed by a karaoke session and then end with a drink or two at the bar while playing with the electronic darts machines. So much to do.

The setting is of, one that is energetic, vibrant and upbeat where guests are constantly being entertained with the lively music. At Black Bull Mid Valley, there are just too many things you can do that will easily revitalize your soul from the daily work stress.

During the Grand Opening, we were feasted to some of the food offering from the kitchen which includes the Salsa

Grilled Seabass With Spicy Peanut Sauce

Roasted Meltique Beef With Brown Sauce

arrays of fresh green salad

and desserts and free flow of beers.

After dinner we had the chance to belt out some of the oldies numbers in the private KTV rooms.

After the Karaoke session, it was our turn to try out our mediocre bowling skills in the special eight lane Brunswick bowling alley. 

This bowling alleys differs from the standard alley which are very brightly lit, the ambience on the alley is one of a soothing blue and calm which is suitable for casual bowlers like yours truly that want to enjoy a game or two.

Lastly, we ended the night with some dart throwing at the electronic dart machines which you do not need to keep the score manually like in other pubs. This makes the game more interesting as the score will be the most accurate for those that want a challenge for a game or 2.

Overall, we had spent more than 6 hours in the Black Bull Mid Valley and all of us were indeed a very happy and joyful lot having spent the night doing all this fun entertainment all in one night at one place.

So, the next time, you do not know where to go and there are too many suggestions, then you and your friends can head over to Black Bull Mid Valley, where there will be at least one entertainment that will fit in. What’s more you can also book the Black Bull to host some of your corporate events, gatherings and private parties too.

Thirsty Monkeys Café & Bistro Taman Desa Old Klang Road German Bavarian Pork Feast Review

 

One of my favourite German Dishes is Pork Knuckles. When Best Restaurant To Eat got this invitation to review a new restaurant that serves Pork Knuckles, we jump in without any hesitation. The new restaurant which serves German Bavarian cuisine is the Thirsty Monkeys Café & Bistro located at No.2, Jalan 4/109e, Desa Business Centre, Taman Desa, Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Established in July 2014, the newly opened Thirsty Monkeys Café & Bistro is a restaurant serving the German food and beers.

Thirsty Monkeys Café & Bistro Taman Desa was a combined idea of 3 partners who saw the potential of bringing quality German food and beers culture to Malaysia. Why is it called Thirsty Monkeys? Simply put, all three owners are all born in the Year of the Monkey!

As the restaurant is at a corner shop, the décor is one of bistro setup with open spaces along the sides of the restaurant giving diners option to chill and dine in natural ventilation. Foods that are served here are suitable for family dine in or chill out with friends.

Our review started with a simple salad that comes with Thousand Island dressings.

Next, comes one of my favourite, which is Lamb Shanks. I have eaten many lamb shanks from many other restaurants previously and I find the sauce that was used to braise this Lamb Shanks to the right tender texture (the meat are easily removed without great effort) was very delicious and lip smacking as those that I have previously eaten. 

The meat was very tender and there were no gamey lamb taste which can be a great turn off for Lamb Shanks. The Lamb Shanks was served with mashed potatoes and salad.

The next main course for us was the Baked Pork Belly which was served with mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables and apple sauce. 

The Pork Belly was baked to ensure the layers of fats are fully gelled up to the tender meat with a slight crisp of the pork skin. The Pork Belly is then layered on top of a chef created Apple Sauce which gives it a special sweet and tangy taste to match the slightly salted Pork Belly.

In any German Bavarian cuisine, you can never miss the sausage and here at Thirsty Monkeys Café and Bistro at Taman Desa, the sausages are served in a Sausage Platter Set meant for sharing and it has 6 popular sausages in it. The sausages in the platter are the Farmer’s Bratwurst, Nuemberger, Emmenthaler, Hungarian, Thueringer, Chorizo and slices of bacon to topped up to this dish. 

The sausages are very meaty and firm which I liked, Although a tad of saltiness was evident, it is a very nice pairing to the Hoegaarden cold beer that we had. The Sausage Platter is served with garlic mayo, habanera mayo, mustard, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.

Another dish which is a signature for German Bavarian restaurant is the Pork Knuckles. One of the your truly favourite dish. I find the meats and fat was nicely roasted and was flavourful but to me the skin was not to the crisp which I yearn for. A check with the chef says that some of the customers preferred it this way.

For those who love the skin to be roasted to a more crisp, please let the chef knows about it during your order. The Roasted Pork Knuckles are served with mashed potatoes, sauerkraut and pork sauce.

At, Thirsty Monkeys Café and Bistro @ Taman Desa, they do serve a variety of German Beer and the one we had was Hoegaarden – a very smooth beer and nice pairing for the meat dishes that we had earlier.

and Konig Ludwig Dunkel. For fans of German Beer, Thirsty Monkeys Café and Bistro @ Taman Desa is having a promotional German beer which is the German Bucket Promotion ie. RM120.00, you can have choose any 5 bottle of the German Beer. 

Thirsty Monkeys also serves some snack food, which are suitable dishes for the Beer for example Tender Chicken, Squids Ring and the one we had was the Spicy Mutton. The Spicy Mutton has a very strong spice infused aroma and taste, which was ideal as a side to the beers.

Lastly, we had 2 desserts to end the night, the first of which, was the Fried Banana Fritter Ala Mode – The banana are battered and deep fried with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel syrup, it is a combination of something hot and something cold which is a mix taste to our taste bud.

and the Apple Crumble. The apple crumble was soft, fluffy and crusty and with the layer of zesty apple sauce in between the crust, it was a sweet ending for our dinner at Thirsty Monkeys Café and Bistro.

So, for those that stay around the Taman Desa or Old Klang Road, you need not travel far to enjoy nice German Bavarian style dishes and beers. Thirsty Monkeys Café and Bistro is just a stone throw away and will be able to satisfy your yearning for German food.