WAY Modern Chinois Restaurant @Clearwater Damansara Heights - New Premium Specialty Dim Sum Review

There are many restaurant in the Klang Valley that serves Premium Dim Sum, but WAY Modern Chinois located at G-1, WORK@Clearwater, Jalan Changkat Semantan 50490 Damansara Heights Kuala Lumpur.

This WAY Modern Chinois @Clearwater Damansara Heights has a very distinctive first impression as the entrance to the restaurant is via a lift door access. A very intrigued way as you will not guess that the restaurant is just behind the door of a lift.

The decor is a dimly lit and exudes an elegant, comfortable and posh European dining ambiance unlike most other Chinese restaurant which are usually brightly lit.

Our review is to taste out the new menu Dim Sum menu which the first is the in-house made specialty i.e. Skinless” Shang Hai Soup Dumpling (RM 6.00 per piece). It is a one of a kind Xiao Long Bao that we have tasted. The skinless texture is crafted out using molecular cooking method that uses chemistry reaction to create the skinless texture of this Xiao Long Bao. Eaten as one spoonful, your first experience is the bursting of the flavourful broth which are intertwined with the ginger vinegar taste to gives you an explosive feel.

The next dim sum is the Truffle Crab Soup Dumpling (RM 14.00 for 4 pcs). Taking it in one mouthful you get the intense earthy aroma of the truffle and the comforting warmth of the enclosed fragrant broth.

After the Xiao Long Bao, we had a fried Dim Sum which is the Fish and Chips (RM 16.00 for 3 pcs). It has a golden brown fluffy crisp skin with a filling of a batter of mashed potatoes and a mixture of cod fish paste and top with a special vinegar powder to gives it a slight sourish taste.

This is then followed by a steam Dim Sum which is the Crab Roe Dumpling (RM 19.00 for 3 pcs) is wrapped in a pumpkin flavoured and artistically plated as the dumpling is topped with special net design which made the dumpling very appealing to the eyes.

Another Dim Sum specialty dish is the Way’s Lotus Leaf Steamed Sticky Rice with Duck (RM 10.00 for 2 pcs). Normally the sticky rice is paired with Chicken, much like the Loh Mai Kai, but the chef choose to add one of WAY Modern Chinois @Clearwater Damansara Heights signature delicacies which is the aromatic Roast Duck as the core ingredients and paired with mixture of mushrooms, carrots, salted egg and water chestnut into the glutinous rice.

Another unique Dim Sum is the Sticky Rice Lamb Siew Mai (RM 19.00 for 3 pcs). The lamb meat are chopped and shape into solid meat ball shape. It has a strong gamey taste of the lamb and this would be a favourite for lamb lovers.

The next Dim Sum is another creation by the Chef Ken, which is the Wok Fried Cheong Fun with Original Spice Paste (RM 10.00). Normally you would eat the Steam Chee Cheong Fun; but here the Cheong Fun are pan fried with a special in-house dried shrimp paste which has a very tantalizing spicy taste;

Next is The Crab Claw Dumpling (RM 15.00 for 3 pcs).

Even the plain Char Siew Pau have an added fusion which is the addition of coriander which are finely chopped and sprinkle of the bun. This Coriander Char Siew Bun (RM 9.00 for 2 pcs) filling too have been added with some additional finely chopped coriander stalk to make it a little more aromatic.

The next dim sum served is the Crispy Bean Curd Skin Roll (RM 17.00 for 3 pcs).

followed by the Prawn Dumpling with X.O (RM 16.00 for 3 pcs) - a very spicy steam dumpling with succulent and bouncy shrimp.

and lastly the Crispy Dumpling with Wasabi Mayo (RM 15.00) which the wasabi infused sauce are seated below the dumpling to gives you a special punch which marries perfectly to the crispy skin of the dumplings.

Way Modern Chinois @Clearwater Damansara Heights is currently running a dim sum promotion set at RM 29.00++ per pax; Head over to experience the exquisite taste and the hospitality of Way Modern Chinois.

The Merchant @ Armada Hotel Petaling Jaya - REFRESHED RESTYLED REBRANDED Entertainment Centre

After 17 great years of operations as Merchant Pub, the familiar watering hole in Petaling Jaya has now undergone a major makeover. +BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to experience first hand the restyled and re branded of The Merchant.

The bar offers a swanky comfort akin to a hybrid of cosmopolitan New York bar and an updated London gentlemen's club. Exuding elegance and style, The Merchant is well designed with a stunning long illuminated copper and wood bar that immediately commands full attention.

The Merchant serves up an enormous range of whiskies in addition to a full range of other liquors such as beer, brandy, gin, vodka and wine. The bar also offers an extensive menu of main courses and light bites to delight palates of all kind.

Different spaces are created catering to the various guests' preferences. One such addition is 'The Balcony' an outdoor seating space with curious views overlooking the busy Federal Highway.

Another feature of the bar is the illuminated long and high Onyx Table and barstools perfect to cater to large groups, communal tastings or wine dinner events. Different types of high seating arrangements can also be found at the “Beer Barrel” and “Chess” tables.

For those with a more sophisticated preference, a Cigar Lounge, where retro glamour meets contemporary style is chic yet relaxed. Enjoy the company of friends over a nightcap and fine cigar while listening to the soft sounds of smooth jazz and seductive lounge music.

A dedicated games area with bricked walls offers up a more rustic atmosphere. Here, guests can enjoy a game of pool or score a bullseye on the Electronic Darts Machines.

The Merchant makes for a perfect pre-dinner venue, a meeting place for after work drinks or work off the excess partying at the adjoining The Merchant Live, and end with an indulgent nightcap back at The Merchant. 

The Merchant, a new paradigm in bar experience.

For those that prefer some live entertainment or karaoke you can try out the Merchant Live which is The Armada Hotel's brand new entertainment venue catering to the ante on live entertainment. 

Built around the ambition to create a unique club where design, music and guests form a new dimension of inspiration and quality live entertainment.

Fitted out with a sleek illuminated island bar, state-of-the-art sound system by TW Audio, three spacious private suites offering touch screen karaoke entertainment, a DJ console and a generously spaced stage where performing artists take centre stage, The Merchant Live is poised to turn things up a notch in the quiet hub of Petaling Jaya.

Early evenings at The Merchant Live will see retro classics and one hit wonders from the 80’s and 90’s pumping out all night long. The live band then takes over performing a diverse mélange of the hottest music mixing and blending, contrasting and highlighting the different genres of music weaving a web of music that entrances the crowd to groove along.

Escape into any of the three private suites themed red, gold and silver respectively with up to 30 pax capacity where guests can revel in plush and roomy comfort, and sing their heart out while entertaining in style and privacy. 

For those taking time out for their vocal cords, a Phoenix Darts Machine lay await in each suite with the biggest suite even having it’s very own British Pool Table.

The Merchant and The Merchant Live; your new entertainment destination in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Yaki San Yakitori @ Sunway Pyramid Shopping - Japanese BBQ Snack Food Review

Japanese food is always one of my favourite food; with that +BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to taste another Yakitori outlet; this one resembles those that you commonly find in Japan; kiosk like or fast food type compared to the one (premium yakitori) that we had at Ri Yakitori at The Garden Hotels recently.

Yaki San Yakitori is located at Lot F1 AV 77- 83, Sunway Pyramid, 46150 Petaling Jaya. It is located at the vicinity of Asian Avenue. Yaki San means Mr Grilled; well you guess it, most of the food served here are grilled and fried. 

Yaki San serves an array of Japanese snack food; usually the Japanese eat these snack food with cold beer after a hard day at work i.e. Happy Hour. The setup of Yaki San is one that is of a fast food type; where patrons can order from the counter and either eat at the outlet or take away and eat during their shopping activities. 

Yaki San @ Sunway Pyramid serves an array of grilled items; in fact it has a special auto griller that does the first round of grilling to ensure all round cooking of the yakitori and then another griller as above to charred it a little more before serving to the guest.

Our review started with the order of the Shiitake Mushroom (RM2.90), Chicken with Leek (RM2.90)  Chicken with Green Pepper (RM2.70) and Chicken Thigh (RM2.20). 

Shiitake Mushroom still on the griller

Chicken With Leek

Chicken With Green Pepper

While the second round of orders are the Chicken Karaage (RM2.70). Very crisp skin with a thin layer of chicken; loves this.

Grilled Tofu (RM2.30); another of my favourite at Yaki San.

Chicken Skin (RM1.60); sinfully delicious - better without the sauce. 

and Quail Egg (RM2.70)

You have an option to order the YakiTori with rice in a combo set with 3 sticks of Yakitori (RM8.90) or with 4 sticks (RM9.90).

For families you can order a 10 sticks (RM22.00) or 15 sticks (RM32.00).

For real fans of Yakitori, you can eat the special promotion YAKI SAN's 'ALL YOU CAN EAT' for RM 20 nett per person offer from 25th July 2015 onwards! (12pm-2pm & 7pm-9pm) only. Offer is for a LIMITED TIME only. Please check out whether offer is still available.

Leong's Kitchenette USJ 21 Subang Jaya - Tasty Family Secret Recipe Food Review Best Restaurant

If you are near the Main Place @USJ 21, you can try out some special family home cook secret recipe of the Leong Kitchenette located at 5-1, Jalan USJ 21/7 47620 Subang Jaya Selangor.

Leong Kitchenette @USJ 21 has a very simple, clean and a no frill setup. It offers a friendly family dining atmosphere with simple flavourful dishes.

+BestRestaurant ToEat started the food review with a starter which is Assam Flavour Squid

(RM 16.00). The assam paste was extremely flavourful while the white squid was fresh and has a bouncy texture which was complemented with the ladies fingers and long beans. It has us adding rice as the sauce have the right spiciness and assamese taste.

Next, was the Hong Kong Style Fried Chicken Wings (RM 14.00) (S). The chicken wings skin was fried to a very crispy and crunchy texture although the use of batter was minimal.  The deep flavour of the paste used to marinate the wings was very delicious although a tad of saltiness was evident. Best eaten with white rice.

After that was the Braised Pork Belly with Yam (RM 12.00), a special homemade secret recipe that is used to braised this Hakka pork belly.  Like the earlier dish, it is best eaten with rice. We are a little concern now that we will be too full after the amount of rice that we have taken as it is only our 3rd dish.

To complement our dishes with a vegetables, we had the Stir Fry Watercress with Garlic (RM 10.00). The watercress used was the baby watercress which has a very nice soft springy texture.

Another dish that goes well with the rice is the Bean Curd Home Made Thai Style (RM 9.00). Being Thai, the sauce has a sourish base and a little spicy with fish sauce taste. 

Another dish for the rice was the Chicken Drumsticks with Marmite Sauce (RM 14.00). The chicken thigh are first fried and then coated with a flavourful marmite sauce that has a sticky feel.

For those that like to have a fish to accompanied their meal, you can try out the Tilapia Steamed with Home Made Paste (RM 18.00). It would have been perfect if they add in the crunchy pork lard to give it an extra taste.

A Chinese meal cannot go by without a soup;  for us, we had 2 different double boil soup; the first of which is the Old Cucumber soup (RM6.00). 

and the Lotus Root with Peanut soup (RM6.00).

At Leong's Kitchenette @USJ 21, there are 2 Specialty Dishes; the first of which is the Fried Porridge - also one of the main reason, we are here today as we have never their fried porridge before. The first Fried Porridge that we had is the Mackerel (Tenggiri) Fried Porridge (RM 10.50). How to cook Fried porridge? Essentially you start with frying some ginger with some chicken stock and then putting your ingredient like mackerel and then porridge which is then fried and topped with premium quality sesame oil.

The second is the Abalone Sliced Fried Porridge (RM 12.00). I find this a little more clear compared to the earlier one which has a stronger taste from the fried mackerel fish.

The second specialty of Leong's Kitchenette is the serving of the Crabs, the first of which was the Salt Baked Crab. The crab are first fried and then tossed with salt and margarine to give it a nice dried smokey buttery taste. Love the size and the freshness of the crab which was from Indonesia.

The next crab that we had is the Spicy Milky Crab. This is a real special family recipe; we find the sauce very close to the butter style sauce but instead of using butter, the chef uses the sweeten milk (the one that they used for fish head noodle). We were told that 1/2 can of the milk is used to cook this crab or you can imagine the taste of the sauce.

This Spicy Milky Crab is best eaten with the Fried mantou (RM 4.00) for 6 pieces. The fried golden brown mantou has a crisp texture on the outside while the filling is soft; you can lick up the sauce with this mantou. Leong's Kitchenette @USJ 21 is having a promotion for their crab which is RM 65.00 per kg - (normal price is RM85.00).

If you are one that really enjoy good food and not the ambiance or decor, Leong's Kitchenette @USJ 21 Subang Jaya is a definite place to go for some real home cook dishes and most important for Crab lover you don't need to travel far to enjoy some nice crabs or specialty Fried Porridge.