Original Homemade Japanese Udon at Manmaru Restaurant Mid Valley By Best Restaurant To Eat.

What is a good UDON? How do you know whether the UDON is freshly made? With all this question in mind, we venture into Manmaru Japanese Udon Restaurant located at S-045A, Second Floor, Mid Valley City Megamall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The entrance was brightly lit with Japanese lanterns.

The concept is simple. It is a Japanese Fast Food Udon Restaurant much like in Japan. You decide the type of noodles (10 types) and choose your add on tempura (ranging from shrimp tempura to mix vegetables tempura or side dishes and move to pay at the payment station followed by cutleries and tempura sauce. This self service concept is similar in Japan but in Japan there are no sitting space, you virtually slurp your Udon standing.

So, what makes a good Udon? The ingredient to make the Udon is very important, secondly timing is everything. According to Richard, the manager, brief us that Udon, once cooked have to be consume within 15 minutes, after which it loses the firm bouncy texture.

At Manmaru, this becomes a very critical stage as it takes another 10 minutes just to cook the Udon. So, in order not to have too much slack time, it is very critical to ensure that there are Udon ready to serve but still able to maintain the texture. At Manmaru, if they are not able to serve and consume by the customers within the 15 minutes, the cooked Udon will be disposed off. Kind of waste but this is how Udon are to be served for the freshest and the best of quality when eaten.

There are 2 main types of Udon i.e. Cold and Hot, depending on your preference, probably depends on the time you eat it. On a hot day, you might want to take the Cold Udon, while on a cool night you might want to slurp up a hot Udon.

 For the night, we started off with the Kimchi Udon follow by Curry Udon, Kamaage Udon, Niku Udon, Bukake Udon, Kake Udon, Kamo Seiro Udon, Ume Udon, Zaru Udon and Cream Corn Udon. All in all, we had the privileged to try all 10 of it.

My personal favourite are Niku Udon, I love the beef slice and the springy Udon and it complimented well with the broth. One thing about Beef Slice, you have to consume it quickly as the beef slice will be a little overcook if not eaten quickly.

 

My next favourite is the Cream Corn Udon, a cream based which looks quite similar to carbonara sauce, but here the cream is of a light cream which is very nice. This dish is a very simple looking and delicious Udon.

For Tempura, we were served the Enoki Tempura (golden needle mushroom), Ebi Tempura (Prawn), Yasai Kakiage Tempura (Crispy Mix Vegetable), White Fish Tempura, Kabocha tempura (Pumpkin), Satsuma-Imo Tempura (Sweet Potato), Renkon Tempura (Lotus Root), Nasu Tempura (Brinjal) and Green Pepper Tempura.

My personal favourite was the Enoki and Yasai Kakiage, as it was not too oily and as usual, you have to consume it as quickly as possible failing which it tends to loose it crispiness and become soggy.

And for the Karaage, they have the Ika Karaage (Squid) and Tori Karaage (Chicken). I personally find the Karaage to be a little too salty, but if you are eating with plain Udon, I suppose should be able to neutralized the saltiness.

Finally, is the side order dish of the Hanjuku Tamago (Soft boiled eggs marinated with soya sauce). This side order to me is a comfort food as I love to eat stewed eggs of all types, but personally, it lacks the kick compared to the Taiwanese version that I had previously.

The parting experience from this Udon expedition, the keyword is FAST, i.e. is you really have to eat fast to enjoy a real Udon meal in Manmaru. No time for chit chat during meal.

eCurves Damansara Top Quality Steamboat at Pak John Steamboat and Yong Tau Foo

Talking about steamboat, quality ingredient is of utmost importance. This is because steamboats are cooked and eaten cooked straight from the steaming pot, therefore if the ingredients are not of the freshest and top quality, this will be the biggest turnoff.

We had the opportunity to try out the new outlet, which was opened just 2 weeks ago (although the first outlet is more than one year old) Pak John Steamboat and Yong Tau Foo which is located on e-Curve. As usual, we were very sceptical of new steamboat restaurant as to me, not many make the grades. 

To me, there are a few key things to a nice meal of steamboat. Of paramount importance is of course the fresh and qaulity foods (especially seafood), which is followed by the soup base that are served and lastly the complement sauces. Sometimes it is very hard to get the perfect balance.
 

As you know, most good steamboat are outdoor steamboat shops and normally we end up feeling very heated up with all the hot stuffs (sauces, soups and etc) taken in especially if you have chosen the Tom yam variant.  But since Pak John is in e-Curve, the place was very cool with good air conditioning system and you can eat in a relax atmosphere which, is very conducive for steamboat.

At Pak John, they offer 3 soup bases, the normal chicken, tom yam and their own creation Miso soup base. We tried all the soup base and ended up with our preference accordingly being Miso the best, follow by chicken and lastly the tom yam (which to me is a tad of being a little too sourish). 

Besides steamboat, Pak John also allows for grilling on a special pot which they use. The good thing is that this grill plate can easily be change with a fresh plate if it is already burnt out after many round of BBQ. 

For the sauces there are four types, namely the Thai Green Chilli, Thai Chilli, sweet sauce and Belacan. The Thai Green Chilli sauce is an own creation by its chef, is sourish based and not too spicy, but my preference was on the Belacan. 

Pak John offers a few specialities item which, you can either BBQ or put into the pot. There are Smoked Duck Breast slices, New Zealand Lamb slices, Australian beef slices and Abalone surimi. For the price that they charge, I considered this as a very premium add-on that this restaurant offers. My personal top preference was the Duck meat as when I put in on the grill, the smoke taste was just right and I can taste the wonderful flavourful of the meat.

Next, we had the fresh seafood, which consists of prawns, squids, lala and clams. The squid was very fresh and springy i.e. after cooking into the pot, it still has a firm and bouncy texture. The prawn was very fresh, but the type of lala that was used was not so suitable for steamboat, as chances are you will overcook it and it become very tiny. Well you could also BBQ the prawn, which I did and if cooked at the right temperature you can taste the sweetness of the prawns.

Normally, I won’t take much of fishball or surimi when I eat steamboat as I dread the feeling to eat something that is processed with a huge amount of flour mix into the fish or surimi. I taken the liberty to try one piece of each of the item and found that it is very different especially in the area of taste. The flavouring was strong and the texture was just right. Some of these surimi fishball have filing too like cheese in it, example are the seafood taufoo and dumpling, while the sotong balls have real pieces of squid in it.

 For me, I find the mushroom offering aplenty as they have many types namely the Shitake, Oyster mushroom, King mushroom , Enoki, Straw Mushroom and so forth. Also I found the “mien kang” a little bigger than the normal size and I really like it, in that when cooked in the pot the soup taste is immersed into the mien kang.

 As in many steamboat buffet, Pak John also serve side dishes like Fried Bee Hoon, Fried Black Pepper Udon, Curry Chicken, Fried Rice (for non steamboat fans). They do have kiddies food like French fries and Chicken Nuggets too. 

There is a waffles making station. For kids, waffles is a nice option for them. They can choose their filling and of course, can be topped up with ice cream of their choice as well. For ice-cream, they have chocolate and green tea serves from the ice –cream machine which is smooth and not lumpy. 

Finally, Pak John also offer ice-cream potong which came in many flavours i.e. durian, jack fruit, yam, cendol and green bean with durian. For me, this ice cream potong is a little too sweet. I will stick with the ice-cream.

I was satisfied with the meal and will not hesitate to pay another visit, when I have another craving for steamboat and BBQ.

Pak John is now offering a special price of RM28.00 (Monday to Thursday) for dinner buffet and RM36.00 (Friday to Sunday). At this price, it is a good bargain comparative to the quality of the food serves here. Let’s hope they will continue providing top quality, fresh food and good services.

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Sungai Penchala TTDI - Asrama Penchala Romantic Escapade

Are you looking for a Romantic restaurant to do your once in a lifetime proposal to your lovely one, or just looking to restaurant to have a candle light dinner in a romantic setting? You will find the Asmara Penchala located at 2933, Jalan Sungai Penchala, Kampung Sungai Penchala, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the place to be.

The restaurant is Balinese theme, and has previously won many accolades for the best romantic restaurant. Indeed when you arrive, you could see why. If you happen to visit Bali, Indonesia before, this place will reminiscent that feeling.

There are 2 hut, that you can pre-book, again this is similar to the one in Ubud Bali (we ate the bebek – duck) where you can dine in specially design huts with the right atmosphere. You can get the similar feeling here.

We have a number of dishes that evening; firstly, we were served the Asmara Fruit Punch. They have crafted out a love insignia from watermelon, while the base drink is made up of watermelon juice, with orange puree and rose syrup (to give the drink a distinct red – much like Bloody Mary minus the alcoholic). Unfortunately for me, it was a little too sweet for my liking.

Next, we had the appetizer which is Thai Fish Cake. This restaurant chooses to present this dish as a cocktail, for one, it looks cute and secondly it is very easy to eat – just put all into your mouth, you don’t have to put up a fight to savour it.

Lamb Masala was next on the table. The Lamb shoulder was quite nice, as the herb used have infused into the lamb meat. Although a little bony, we suggested to the chef to try to give more meat to the dish. This dish is best eaten with white rice.

Next dish for the night is the Assam Pedas Tenggiri. The assam pedas gravy was not overly spicy, just the right balance. This is another dish that goes well with the white rice too. I was a little disappointed in that, the ladies fingers that was served, was a little too old, while the brinjal and tomatoes was half cooked – much like ulam style. Taste wise, the gravy was good for a second helping of white rice.

Creamy butter prawn was next. It is a little different serving style for the prawns compared to others. Here the prawns are battered coated and fried before putting a layer of creamy butter sauce on top of it. This way, the sauce is not blended into the prawn like some other restaurant Butter Prawns. The only advantage is you can taste the crispy prawns by itself – you can literally eat the shell as well (only if you really like it).

 For desserts we had the Sago With Gula Melaka and Vanilla ice cream as the topping. The combination was just nice with the cold ice cream mix with the sugary gula Melaka and sago.

They offer a candle light dinner package i.e. at the main hall or at the specially decorated hut. Apparently, this package is in high demand and you have to pre-book so that they can decorate it accordingly. The package includes either local or western set dinner.

 As this restaurant is quite big, they do cater for special functions and can sit up to 1000 pax.

For Best Dining Deal

http://www.mydeal.com.my/dining/kuala-lumpur

Puchong Setia Walk Sumptuous Traditional Japanese Food at Bonbori Japanese Cuisine Restaurant by Best Restaurant To Eat

To me, one of the most important criteria of a good Japanese Restaurant is to have the freshest and top quality ingredients used. And that is what you can expect from Bonbori Restaurant located at G-10-1, Block G, Setia Walk, Persiaran Wawasan, Pusat Bandar Puchong, Puchong Town Center is the place to dine.

We were invited to a food review of this restaurant which was opened a couple of month ago. The dinner was hosted by the proprietor Ms Catherine. The restaurant is simple in its design and cater to a cozy family concept. They have 2 tatami room which have to be pre-booked if you would like to entertain any guest.

We were served the signature drink - Bonbori Fruit Tea. The tea is served cold, with the base drink as the peach tea with cutlet of apples, peaches and watermelon. It is very refreshing to satiate the appetite.

What is a Japanese dinner without Sashimi? Here, the sashimi platter is named Hanami Sashimi Moriawase, served on a boat platter (normally on a dish but can be requested to be) which is very pleasing to the eyes. It consists of Fresh Salmon, Butterfish, Tuna, Yellow tail, Scallop, Sweet Shrimp, Sword Fish, Octopus, Surf Clam, Salmon Roe and Shrimp Roe. The fish that was served was very fresh and succulent and of the right thickness. Eaten with the soya sauce and wasabi concoction, the taste was superb. It has been sometime since I have eaten this quality of sashimi – extremely fresh and no fishy smell.

Next on, we sampled the Fried Ice Fish. I had eaten this dish before at other restaurant but the one serves here is very crisp and comes with a tinge of salt coated. This makes a perfect complimentary dish if you have sake. The fish serves here is a more meaty than some – choice of the right ingredient.

The third dish does not look so appetizing which is Shake Atama Kimchee Soup which is Salmon Fish Head Kim chi soup. At first taste the kim chi is not too sourish like the one found in Korean restaurant, it was subtle with a tinge of miso added to it. Although a little salty taken as it is, it will be a perfect combination with white rice. The fish head is also very fresh and does not have that smelly fish which some fish head does. The chef had put in a variety of mushrooms which soaks up the soup base incessantly.

The fourth dish is a new dish which is not found in the standard menu, it is Bacon Asparagus Kushiyaki on skewers – much like a kebab. The Asparagus are curl in with the Bacon and BBQ over heat. It was a perfect combination as the saltiness of the bacon blended very well with the asparagus and gives you a very satisfying feel after the first bite. The asparagus was also marinated is some sweetish sauce.

Next is the Ebi Cheese Maki. If you love to eat cheese and sushi, this will be perfect for you as the amount of cheese laden into this maki was overwhelming, credits to the chef which uses the right cheese type. The chef have also added the men tari sauce to makes this dish very tasty.

The sixth dish of the night was the Special Soft-Shell Crab Maki. Here at Bonbori, the chef gives a very generous portion of soft shell crab to each of the maki, unlike some restaurant which gives you some splinter of crab.

Next on, is the Katsu Curry Udon which is udon & deep-fried pork chop in curry. I am not really a fan of Japanese curry as I prefer curry with a spicy and strong milky coconut taste. Here the curry broth was thick and was blended with onion and potato to gives it the creamy feel.

The eight dish for the night is Surume Ikashio which in essence is grilled squid. This is a very simple dish but cooked wrongly it can be a disaster. Firstly the selection of the fresh squid is utmost importance and grilled to the right timing i.e. will ensure that you get the best out of this dish. The squid were firm and bouncy on the first bite.

Our last and final dish for the night is the Nigiri Sushi Platter. I didn’t manage to try every piece but the one that I had was maguro sushi, the rice base was perfect as the amount of vinegar used was the right balance, moreover the rice was boil to a firm texture making it smooth to be eaten complimented by the thinly slice maguro. It was the perfect end to this wonderful meal.

So, if you yearn for good quality and reasonably price Japanese Cuisine in Puchong and dread the drive all the way to KL for a quick Japanese fix, do drop by at Bonbori.

Date of Visit: 26th November 2013

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