Porto Bello Cafe@ Damansara Uptown - A mushroom love affair Review By Best Restaurant

Mention the name Porto Bello, it must have everything to do with mushroom. So, what is so special about a mushroom meal. Best Restaurant To Eat was invited to a special review of Porto Bello Café which is strategically located at 8 Jalan SS21/58 Damansara Utama (Uptown) 47400 Petaling Jaya,. Selangor.

Porto Bello Café@ Damansara Uptown exudes a sense of belonging and comfort in this new café setting that was opened about 6 months ago.

The décor and ambience gives one a very relax feeling; in which the wall is being plastered with bare bricks design that amplify an European atmosphere and feel.

Our food review started out with the HOMEMADE WILD MUSHROOM SOUP - RM8.90. This soup is cooked with 5 types of wild mushroom, which is the Brown Shimeji Mushroom, White Shimeji Mushroom, Shitake Mushroom, King Oyster Mushroom and Oyster Mushroom.

With this combination of mushrooms, the soup exudes not only a strong mushroom aroma while each and every spoonful is filled with tiny pieces of finely chopped mushroom, herbs and had the right combination of creaminess, which makes it more wholesome. Accompanying the soup is the in-house made slice wholemeal baguette.

Next, on the table is the PORTO BELLO'S FRENCH ESCARGOT - RM13.90. Most Escargot are served with garlic butter.

At Porto Bello, the chef uses a special recipe of garlic, whipped cream, mozzarella and parmesan to cook up the sauce which was heavenly. Do not let them take away this sauce after eating your escargot as this special sauce can also be used as a dip for toasted bread or French fries. 

The final appetizer that we had was the LEGENDARY CRAB CAKE – RM10.90 which is served with herb aioli and tomato relish.

For those that love to eat crab, you might want to give this appetizer a try-out as the filling is generously filled with the crab meat i.e. you can taste the crab meat with every bite. There are some evident of some light spicy taste that makes this dish a nice pairing if you decide to have some alcoholic drink that can go well with this appetizer.

At Porto Bello Café, they do serve an assortment of snack food, one of which that is unique is the BOMBAS at RM6.50. Bombas is coated with bread crumb and is a Fried mash potatoes ball with minced chicken meat filling. This is a fusion dish derived from the Italian Fried Rice Ball.

If you are familiar with the Chinese Dim Sum, “Woo Kok” which is a fried yam with minced chicken or pork, this BOMBAS is quite similar to that. The difference is; for BOMBAS is mash potatoes instead of yam.

The first main course for the night is the SMOKED BARBEQUE CHICKEN - RM29.90– this is for a half portion. When the dish arrived at the table, we could really smell the heavy and strong fragrant of the smoked chicken.

To cook this dish, the chicken are first smoked using the SARSI WOOD in a special oven for more than 30 minutes, and this is the secret, which explains how the unique special smoked aroma is allowed to permeates deep into the spring chicken meat.

One can really taste the strong flavour of this smoky taste especially the skin of the chicken. It leaves your taste-bud on a high 5 that you really can’t stop savouring each and every part of the chicken while licking up each bone. Note: this special chicken is available in limited quantities, so do check it out with the order takers if you want to try this dish.

The next dish is the signature PORTO BELLO CHICKEN PIE – RM 22.00. For those that loves anything mushroom this is a must try.

The thick and giant Porto Bello mushroom is served with a piece of chicken patty served on top of a pie pastry.

This method of cooking ensures that the natural mushroom taste will not be overpowered by the other ingredient. With each bite, you can taste the springy texture and juiciness of the Porto Bello Mushroom taste.

Next, we had the opportunity to savour a not on the menu item which is the FRITA BOLOGNESE A LA PORTO BELLO - RM 18.90

Like the BOMBAS, the spaghetti are wrap around by the mashed potatoes and deep fried and served with a generous serving of Beef Bolognese sauce. The Chef has creatively created this unique fusion dish.

Another main dish that we tried was the SEARED SALMON - RM29.90 - The seared salmon is served with beet root puree, mash potatoes and beure blanc.

To end this dinner review we had 2 desserts namely the LAVA CAKE - RM 13.90. As usual, this cake has to be eaten hot i.e. when it is served, so that when you cut the cake, you can experience the hot chocolaty lava flowing out.

Scoop it up with some Vanilla Ice Cream which is cold, and you can really taste the sensation of the marriage between the hot cake and the cold ice-cream.

The second dessert is the PANNA COTTA - RM 14.90, a chilled Italian dessert of cream and milk with a zesty lemony taste from the lemon rind and strawberry sauce.

If you are one of those that loves to explore fusion food in a nice restaurant setting, you can try out Porto Bello Cafe@ Damansara Uptown.

Choi’s Don & Dak @Kuchai Entrepreneur Park Old Klang Road, Korean Teppan BBQ Table Review

DakGalBi is one of the most popular Korean meals. Best Restaurant To Eat was invited to review this new restaurant Choi’s Don & Dak located at 30, Jalan Kuchai Maju 8 Kuchai Entrepreneur Park Off Old Klang Road Kuala Lumpur.

Choi’s Don & Dak décor is one of a very simple setting and it is brightly lit place where you can easily see what is being cooked in the hot teppan top.

In the centre of each table is a special thick cast iron hot plate where the DakGalBi will be cooked.

One of the biggest problem eating DakGalBi is that there will be a lot of vapour that emits from the hot plate and when you are done with your meal, your whole body and clothes shirt is blanketed with this vapour of BBQ. So, this special hot plate actually does not emit that much vapour as compared to some other DakGalBi restaurant, so you won't be smelt like a BBQ after leaving the restaurant.

Another feature of this special cast iron hot plate is, it does not burn easily so the food will continue to stay piping hot and you can continue eating it without rushing.

We understand that all DakGalBi outlet will only serves chicken meat, but at Choi Don & Dak, customers can opt for either Chicken or Pork. The Pork is serve using the style of Jumuluck where the pork meat are hand press and massage with the special pork sauce before serving it.

The cost per head for the DakGalbi at Choi Don & Dak @Kuchai Entrepreneur Park is RM19.80 per head and it is serves with a generous portion of vegetables with some side of vegetables i.e fresh green lettuce as a wrap, garlic slices, green chillies, pickled onion and a special mash potato.

One of the key plus point at Choi's Don & Dak is that all the DakGalbi sauce are made in-house using pear, apple, fruits and some special ingredient which are made by the boss herself Ms Grace Choi, from Korea. So, you really get to taste the original Korean Homemade flavours at this restaurant.

Eating this DakGalbi with a wrap of lettuce and garlic slice.

For some add-on, you can choose the mix sausage where you can choose 3 flavours out of 5 which include the normal, cheese, black pepper, garlic, or mushroom sausage. Note: All the add-on the picture for the add-on is just a half portion. You actually gets more than that for your orders.

You can also add on fresh mushroom which includes the shimeji and Enoki at RM8.00.

Other option of noodles includes the Udon (RM7.00)

Ramen (RM6.00) and mozzarella cheese (RM8.00).

For those that would like a simple meal, you can opt for a Ramyun Ramen - RM12,00.

or the Korean Jiapaghetti (RM7.80)- it is a dry ramen that taste much like the dry wantan noodle.

Or if you are a rice person, you can opt for the Fried Rice With Dry Laver. This special fried rice uses the Japanese round grain sticky rice with Korean seaweed, Kim chi sauce and fresh green lettuce.

The rice is fried on the teppan top till a crisp on the outer layer. The rice has a strong fragrant of the seaweed, much like the taste of fried sushi.

Finally, we had the Pork Cutlet (RM16.80), which is coated with bread crumbs and fried to a crisp and topped with an onion brown sauce.

The next time, you have a yearning for some real Korean Teppan BBQ, you might want to give Choi's Don & Dak @ Kuchai Entrepreneur Park a try.

For more Korean Cuisine review, please click on the link below

Authentic Korean BBQ and Traditional Korean Home Cook Jal-Dae-Ji at One Ampang Business Avenue

Jang Gun Korean Buffet - Fahrenheit 88 Kuala Lumpur  KL Best Restaurant To Eat

Malaya Hainan @Petaling Street China Town Kuala Lumpur - Authentic Nyonya Peranakan Dishes Down Memory Lane Review

Feeling nostalgia of late, Best Restaurant To Eat was invited to review Malaya Hainan @ Petaling Street - a new yesteryear kopitiam style of the 1950's era located at Lot 16, Section 24, Jalan Panggong 50000 Kuala Lumpur, a stone throw away from the famous Petaling Street.

Upon entering this restaurant, it brings back many memories of the days that I used to hang and play around; as a kid of 5 to 6 years old. I used to loiter around the Petaling Street area during its hey days which was a trading hub for many Chinese businesses.

This site where the restaurant sits, is the post office of those days, where there are many bustling business around the area. It has since been abandoned for a while and recently the management of Malaya Hainan have taken over and refurbished it to the charm of this forgotten era.

Sipping a cup of hot Hainan Coffee by the marble table, sitting on a redesign kopitiam chair, marvelling the decor and memorabilia, one can easily be transported back to the period where life was much simpler and carefree.

We started the dinner review with the ROTI JALA WITH POTATO CURRY CHICKEN (RM6.90). A Malaysian favourite snack food.

The texture of the Roti Jala was soft and fluffy, which the chef uses pure pandan juice which are added to the batter and then made into the jala shape and serves with a bowl of Curry Chicken.

The potato chicken curries was cooked with a unique combination of spices and herbs, which was perfectly blended and cook till a strong aroma and fragrant and was perfect for the Roti Jala

Next, we had the SPECIAL KERABU MANGO (not on menu) - (RM7.00), which was infused with the finely shredded dried shrimp mix with chicken meat, shrimp and topped with freshly slice green mango was a delightful starter treat.

Taste wise, it was not overly sourish while the green mango still have the distinct crisp and fresh feel while the strong aroma of the Bunga Kantan leaves your taste-bud tingling.

This is then followed by the NYONYA FRIED RICE - (RM9.50) - It is a belacan infused fried rice. According to the chef, there are more than 15 condiments that are added into this special Fried Rice.

The strong aroma of the condiments and spices are very apparent in every spoonful that we have eaten. The additional spiciness of the sambal belacan and flavourful special fried dried shrimp enhances the whole Fried Rice dish.

Another special rice that was dished out by the Chef is the YAM FRIED RICE - (RM9.50). The YAM are first steamed to a soft texture and dice into little cube shapes before adding to the rice and fried.

You are able to taste the natural sweetness of the yam, which was totally blended with the chicken meat to extract out the flavours. It has this special distinct taste that you can't stop eating it. One of the thing that we noticed from the 2 Fried Rice, is that these rice are not overly coated with oil.

Malaya Hainan@ Petaling Street, is a Pork Free restaurant, so to improvise, the Chef has created ROTI AYAM (RM6.50), which is a rendition of Peranakan famous ROTI BABI.

The preparation is similar to that of ROTI BABI (but of course there are also some that deep fried the whole bread too), in that the bread are coated with a layer of battered eggs and then toasted on the pan and eaten with a dash of Lea Perrin sauce and coleslaw topping.

The last dish for the night is the ASSAM LAKSA (RM9.90). This is a real test as there are many restaurants and chefs that has claimed to be able to dish out the best ASSAM LAKSA.

So, when the noodle arrive, the first taste of the soup was the test; which has a strong aroma but not too overly sourish, the kembong fish which was used still retains a soft texture which we were a little surprise as most places the fish tends to be a little hard. Moreover the soup was not of the watery type and was very florally flavoured by the Bunga Kantan, Fresh Mint Leaves and the strong fish broth.

This has got to be one of the better ASSAM LAKSA that I have tasted and would definitely be one of the dishes that I will come back for. So, for those real fan of this noodle, give this a try and let me know your comment.

For those that would like to be mesmerised and to enjoy that tranquility of that bygone era, make a stopover at Malaya Hainan @ Petaling Street to reminiscent and savour the past while sipping your cup of Hot Hainan coffee and enjoy the delicious Peranakan and Malaysia local favourites here.