Durian - King Of Fruit Season Is Here in Malaysia - Musang King and Black Thorn Durian Feast at Durian King TTDI Bukit Bintang

Durian - The King Of Fruit Season has finally arrived. For fans and diehard of Durian, you can start to indulge in Durians for the next 2 -3 months.

At Durian King Bukit Bintang and Durian King TTDI, the season starts off with the arrival of 2 of the most sought after Durian species which is the Musang King (from Raub) and also the Black Thorn (from Penang).



We had the first-hand opportunity to taste these 2 species of Durian; For the Black Thorn, this is the first time that I have tasted it. For fans of Musang King, the Black Thorn is one level up in terms of taste and texture; it has that is creamier texture and taste compares with Musang King.

Photo Courtesy of Durian King Facebook page

One of the distinctive difference is the colour of the Durian flesh, while the Musang King is bright yellow as the earlier photo; the top quality flesh of a Black Thorn is orange in colour. We were told that for Black Thorn; it will taste even better when it is kept one day after picking up the fruit which has just drop from the Durian fruit tree. By doing so; it will turn the Durian flesh to have that bright glowing orange colour as depicted by the above photo.

At Durian King; all the durian are transported fresh from the contracted farm in Penang and Raub on a daily basis. We were told that in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, you will not be able to get any Black Thorn Durian from any Durian store as they have contracted all of the farms that supply this Black Thorn.

To spot the difference between Black Thorn and other species is quite easy. You just look at the bottom of the Durian and in the middle, you will see a thorn jutting out and it will turn black when it is ripe; but it does fall off;



the other distinct feature is the shape of the Durian which resembles a Star Fruit like shape as shown in the photo.

For the Musang King, to identify; there is 2 distinct character; the first is the marking around the durian at the stem as shown above.

and at the bottom, there is a star like brown marking there.



Durian Musang King

At Durian King, they are also the first in Malaysia to serve Chill Durian at the shop; We quip; why sell chill Durians; the owner says that in the past he noticed that there are a number of customers that like to bring home the Durian to be consumed after chilling it; so he decided to invest in the chiller and put up the Durian in the chiller for customer to enjoy chilled Durian. You can still opt for the Non-chill version too.

Lastly; one of the most talked about dessert in town now is the Durian Cendol. At Durian King Bukit Bintang and Durian king TTDI, they are also jumping on this bandwagon to serve Durian Cendol too; but in this case, we had the Black Thorn Durian Cendol instead.

We were also given a short lesson on how to choose a nice Durian by the Durian King himself Mr Erik Ong; just for your info 

First test: You pick up a Durian; put it near your nose; take a deep sniff (breath) from the nose to smell it; if you can smell the durian aroma you pass the first test.

Second Test: Give it a shake; if you can feel that there is knocking; that means the Durian is good.

There you have it; So for Durian fans; get ready your stomach to feast on the King of Fruits - The Durian season is here.

2016 Ramadan Buffet Kuala Lumpur - Enak KL Malay Fine Dining Restaurant Starhill Gallery Bukit Bintang - Santapan Kampung Tradisi

This year 2016 Ramadan, rediscover one of Moyang's (ancestor in Malay) specialties you haven’t tasted in years as you feast in one of the well known Malay Fine Dining Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur which is the Enak KL Malay Fine Dining Restaurant located at  LG2, Feast Floor, Starhill Gallery, 181 Jalan Bukit Bintang Kuala Lumpur.

Enak KL's combination of delicious authentic cuisine and heartwarming service has won them numerous awards over the years. Leveraging on their focus to bringing traditional Malay cuisine to the fine dining population, Enak KL has won many well-deserving accolades and followings.

The fine attention to detail is evidenced from the elegant and cosy ambience. Ensuring your palate is suitably imbued with the unmistakable richness of the Malay culinary heritage, every dish is prepared using age-old recipes (more than 100 years old) that have been passed down from four generations to stay true to delivering to the renowned traditional Malay Fine Cuisine.

For the Ramadan Buffet aptly named as Santapan Kampung Tradisi, there is a daily rotating menu that is served to guest; we had a special preview of some of the highlight dishes for the Ramadan and we started with the speciality appetiser dishes which is the Mango Kerabu.

The second appetiser is the Pergedel Kentang

followed by the Tempe Goreng

and the final one was the Kerabu Ikan Pari.

For the main dish, we particularly like the Ikan Assam Pedas Bendi (this is the Johor version which has a strong flavour and thicker sauce texture as compared with the Melaka version). Best eaten with steaming hot white rice.

followed by the Ayam Percik - I am not usually a fan of Ayam Percik but here it has a very smooth taste from the marination and blended well with the Percik sauce; while the chicken was grilled to the right balance unlike those that I have eaten before at other restaurants.

Other mains are the Sambal Tumis Udang Petai

and the Gulai Daging Kentang

and we finish off with the crunchy Pucuk Paku Goreng Cendawan

For dessert, we had the Pisang Caramel

Puteri Mandi  - a glutinous dough flavoured with coconut cream and served with gula Melaka.

and the Sago Gula Melaka

So if you want to tantalise your family members, business associates and friends, you can bring them to Enak KL to taste out some of this authentic Malay dishes for this Ramadan.

Beginning 9 June till 1 July 2016, the buffet is RM85 nett per adult and RM45 nett for children between the ages of 5 to 12 years old. For reservations and enquiries, Call +603-2141 8973 or Email info@enakkl.com

For more Best Restaurant To Eat Ramadan Review. Click Here

+BestRestaurantToEat wishes all our Muslim Friends and Fans "Selamat Berbuka Puasa"

For Best Restaurant To Eat of Top 10 Ramadan Buffet 2016. Please Click Here

Bukit Bintang Food : Lai Ching Yuen Chinese Restaurant Grand Millennium Hotel Special Asian Bar Snack Menu

The Japanese like to drink their sake with Yakitori after hours while the Westerners prefers their beers with buffalo wings, fries or salted peanuts. The chef at Lai Ching Yuen Chinese Restaurant at Grand Millennium Hotel Bukit Bintang Kuala Lumpur was given a special task to create a special Chinese snacks menu which will go well with the pairing of any alcoholic drinks.

Given the task, the Chef set out to create the Xiao Shi Ba (snack for the bar) in total; 12 dishes which has a special snack fusion dish that can be ordered and cook ala-minute right in front of you from the bar while sipping your favourite drink.

Here are the dishes that you can also order as an appetiser if you wish to. The first dish is the Fried US Fresh Oyster with Tangy Sauce (RM12 per pcs). The oyster was coated in a batter for frying and is served with a topping of citrusy refreshing sauce.

Followed by the Crispy Bean Curd With Chef Yu's Special Powder (RM12.00). The concoction of the of the special powder consists of dry shrimp with dry chilli powder. It has a nice crust feel and upon biting into the bean curd; soft melt in the mouth texture of the bean curd with a slight fragrant of the light spicy dry shrimp.

Next is the In-house made Salt and pepper Tofu Squares (RM12.00). A very simple dish that has the square Tofu smothered with salt and pepper before being fried to a soft crisp.

After that; we had the Man Tao With Chilli Crab Sauce (RM12.00) - the Man Tao are in-house made and is fried before serving with a sweet spicy chilli crab sauce.

For the next dish, the chef uses the Soft shell crab which is mixed in a batter with spring onion, julienne radish and yam. The dish is aptly named Soft Shell Crab and Vegetables Fritters (RM28.00).

For fans of Salted Eggs Yolk, this dish should be interesting as it is paired with Fried Fish Skin. The Fish skin is fried to a nice crunchy and added with the special egg yolk sauce. This dish is called Salted Egg Yolk With Crispy Fish Skin (RM18.00).

You probably have come across Nacho Chips but to have this Lotus Root Chip (RM 12.00) is a challenge to your taste buds. The lotus root is cut to a thin piece and battered with tapioca powder with a light sprinkle of salt and sent to the fryer. Should be eaten hot.

We have eaten quite a number of dishes that are wrapped with bacon, but to have an Australian Scallop Wrapped in Bacon (RM18 per piece) is a lovely change. Paired with a tasty sauce with the smoky salty aroma of the devilish bacon, this is a real treat to our taste-bud. We can eat a few more of these anytime.

Next is the Chinese Black Pepper Snails (RM18.00). Snails are usually served with Cheese and Garlic which is flamed but the chef uses these snails with a special black pepper sauce, we like the taste of the sauce but somehow find it difficult to be paired with the taste of the snails.

Another vegetable fritters that was dished out is the Pumpkin Fritters (RM12.00). These smashed pumpkin fritters are served with a special Butter Sauce with Curry Leaves. We like the taste of the butter sauce which has a milky and strong aroma of the curry leaves which blends well with the sweet taste of the pumpkin.

The second last dish is the special Braised Pork Belly Mini Sandwich (RM12.00). The sandwich is made with a wrap Man Tao and in it the special thin slice of braised Pork Belly with spring onion. Love the sauce that came with it.

The last dish is the Chinese Pork Sausage Corn Dogs (RM18.00). For us, we find this a unique combination to have a fried Chinese Sausage as we usually eat the Chinese Sausage either by steaming or frying it but have it covered with a batter to be fried was something new to us.

So, if you are around Bukit Bintang and yearns to have some special snack food (not the norm) with some cold beers or a glass of wine, you might like to give a try on these snacks at Lai Ching Yuen Chinese Restaurant, Grand Millennium Hotel/

Bukit Bintang Food: Lai Ching Yuen Chinese Restaurant @ Grand Millennium Hotel Kuala Lumpur - 2016 Fire Monkey Chinese New Year Auspicious Set Menu

Serving auspicious meal during Chinese New Year will exudes the charm and joy of the festivities of this once in a year celebration. To celebrate this 2016 Year Of Fire Monkey Chinese New Year, Lai Ching Yuen Chinese Restaurant @Grand Millennium Hotel Kuala Lumpur; Chef Terrence Foong Kuan Onn which has more than 30 years of culinary experience in Cantonese cuisine has drummed up 5 special set menu for you to savour during this New Year.

Lai Ching Yuen Chinese Restaurant +Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur has been renowned for serving top quality Chinese Cantonese cuisine for many decades and is recognised by the experience and talents of its Chinese chef. 

Unlike most other Chinese Restaurant which are either heavily decorated in Red or brightly lit, Lai Ching Yuen decor is more subdued giving diners a more private, posh, relaxing and cosy dining environment.

The special five Chinese Set Menus for 10 person are the Active & Vigorously Set (RM 1,268 nett), Good Fortunes (RM 1,618 nett), Happy & Prosperous (RM 1,968 nett), Peace Season (RM 2,428 nett) and Smiles Of Fortune (RM 2,688 nett)

+BestRestaurant ToEat was served the Active & Vigorously Set which start off with the must have Yee Sang which is the Yee Sang With Jelly Fish & Crispy Fish Skin. We love the Fried Crispy Fish Skin as it blend a nice crunch texture to the Yee Sang.

Next on is the Assorted Seafood Soup With Tofu. Cooked with a combination of crab meat, scallop, prawn meat, thinly sliced asparagus to give a different texture, color and taste to the tofu soup.

And this is followed by the Buttered Prawn. The prawns are fried and then cooked with butter, curry leaves and eggs. One key point to this dish is not over frying the prawn and this was done nicely by the chef, which still retains a nice texture and blended with the saucy butter taste.

For fish, we had the Steamed Mandarin Fish With Minced Ginger. We love the texture and taste of the steam fish. Steaming fish can be a very challenging task for a Chef; if you over steamed the fish; the flesh will be hard. Getting the right balance especially a premium fish like this takes a lot of perfect timing and patience.

For meat, in this set, it comes with a Cantonese-Style Roasted Crispy Duck. Credit to the Chef for getting the skin roasted to a crisp while retaining the meat to still have a tender soft texture.

Many restaurant tends to offers their green as a gravy sauce type, but here the chef has done it differently on this Deep Fried Enoki Mushroom With Hong Kong Kailan. Choosing the perfectly young shoot of Kale which was stirred fried and laid with a topping of Fried Enoki which is seasoned with a light salt batter was a nice blend to our green dish.

The last dish before dessert is the Fried Rice With Assorted Chinese Waxed Meat Wrapped In Lotus Leaf. The rice are fried and then wrapped in a lotus leaf which is then steamed to add a different flavour to this waxed meat dish.

One of the dessert for Chinese New Year is the Nian Gao, Here at Lai Chine Yuen it is served  as the New Year "Nian Gao" Dual Variation. The first version is the Nian Gao which is sandwiched with a piece of Yam on one side and Sweet Potato on the other which is then battered up and sent to the fryer. The other version are for fans and lovers of Eggs; The Nian Gao is battered with a layer of scrambled eggs and are then pan fried.

To end our review, we were served a chilled Double Boiled Chrysanthenum with Longan & Black Sesame Rice Dumpling. A sweet and cold ending for our review at this lovely restaurant.

 

Celebrate this 2016 Year Of Fire Monkey in Grand Style at Lai Ching Yuen Chinese New Year @Grand Millennium Hotel Kuala Lumpur

+BestRestaurant ToEat wishes all our  readers a Happy and Prosperous Chines New Year

"Gong Xi Fa Cai"