2015 MIGF - Malaysia International Gourmet Festival Launch - Berjaya Times Square Kuala Lumpur

The food events of the year is back. The MIGF - Malaysia International Gourmet Festival, the main theme for 2015 MIGF is Galactic Chefs! 2015: A Food Odyssey. +BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to this special launch at Lower Ground Concourse, Berjaya Times Square on 14th August 2015.

This year, all the Master Chef from participating restaurant becomes Inter Galactics Warrior arriving from Earth to Epicure planet to spread the food culture of the earth.

Mission captain is non other than Dato’ Steve Day, MIGF Organising Chairman that emerged from the space ship followed by all the 25 chefs that took to the stage as a stylish video compilation played overhead, introducing each and every one of them to the applause and cheers from the audience.

“Every year, MIGF is powered by the sheer camaraderie, fun and fellowship of these amazing and talented chefs,” said Dato’ Steve, who also thanked festival partners and committee members in his welcome address. 

Dato Steve and the Master Chefs were joined on stage by Festival Sponsors including Fifty Six Degrees Managing Director, Kristine Goh and Assistant Director, Tourism Services Division for the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Danendran Sugumar for a quick photo session.

Then the Master Chefs took to their respective stations for the customary tour of Festival dishes. VIPs and Guest of Honour, Tunku Dara Tunku Tan Sri Naquiah Tuanku Ja'afar surveyed the fare on display with salivating delight, while the chefs happily chatted with them and answered questions for the media.

Taste MIGF – The Preview Event for the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival

Taste MIGF will allow tourists and locals alike to sample food from all the festival restaurants as they gather together under one roof in a specially designed Theatre of Cuisines. This year, the two-day food tasting extravaganza that serves as a prelude to the festival will be held for the first time at Berjaya Times Square Hotel Kuala Lumpur from 11am to 10pm on Saturday the 5th and Sunday 6th September 2015. 

It is open to the public and all you need to participate are Gourmet Dollars – the official currency at Taste MIGF – to go on a Super Gourmet Safari and taste sampling portions of the most exquisite cooking Malaysia’s finest have to offer. Additionally, the general public will also be able to get a preview of things to come at Taste MIGF which will take place at Berjaya Times Square. 

But that’s not all. At Taste MIGF, you can also expect to experience cooking classes from the Festival Master Chefs, wine appreciation courses and Epicure Lifestyle Workshops on a variety of topics. Meanwhile, the Epicure Gourmet Village offers a showcase of premium products and gourmet delicacies, from artisan chocolates to state-of-the-art kitchen machines. So what are you waiting for! Join us in this year’s food odyssey and start purchasing your Gourmet Dollars at www.tastemigf.com

See you at MIGF 2015.

Grand Harbour Restaurant Fahrenheit 88 - Bukit Bintang - 2015 Mid Autumn Moon Cake Review

Mid autumn festival is round the corner, with that Best Restaurant To Eat was invited to a special moon cake review at Grand Harbour Restaurant located at Lot LG2-01 (01) & LG2-01 (02), Lower Ground Two, Fahrenheit 88, 179, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Grand Harbour Restaurant is famous for its wide variety of Cantonese Cuisine and Dim Sum offering. Its décor is one of a modern Chinese setting with Open Kitchen concept.

We started the review with a signature soup which is the Double Steamed “Tian Ma” Fish Head Soup (RM16.00). The soup was very tasty and full of fish extract flavour with a strong herbal taste. 

Next we had the Stirred Sour, Sweet, Bitter and Spicy Vegetable (RM18.50 Small - RM33.80 Medium). This is a very special dish as the “Four Flavours of Life’ comes into this dish. The crunchy Bitter Gourds (Bitter), with salted mustard (salty), Stem of “Choy Sum” (sweet) and Cili Padi (Spicy) were very complementary to the overall taste of this dish.

After that, we had the Stewed “Kampung” Chicken with Chinese Wine (RM33.80 - Small, RM65.80 Medium) ; with the use of the Black Fungus and Foo Chok that soak up the sauce; this is a wonderful dish and best eaten with white rice. The sauce which is also infused with the sesame oil was slurped up to the last drop.

After that, we had the Fried Yee Mee with Assorted Mushroom & Truffle Oil (RM19.80 - Small). Upon setting the dish on the table; it looks very plain and simple. But after taking the first spoonful, you can taste the strong aroma of mushroom which was blended into each strain of the noodles.

The signature dish of the night has to be the Fried Glutinous Rice With Crab (RM85.80) – If you are game for this dish, you have to pre-ordered it as the imported crabs are very seasonal. Normally at other restaurant, this dish will use pork sausage to cook, but the use of this fresh crab adds a new dimension of taste and flavours to this rice dish.

Another specialty of Grand Harbour Restaurant @Fahrenheit 88 has to be the Roast Pork. We had it with a Braised Chicken combination. The Roast Pork was barbeque with a balance roasting that keep the meat still moist while the outer layer is a little charred.

For dessert, we had the moon cake; the first of which is the Sakura Chrysanthemum (RM18.80 per pc), it has a very strong Chrysanthemum flavour with a thin layer of crust. The sweetness level was at the right balance. Eaten with a nice cup of premium Chinese tea, it will bring out the full flavour of this moon cake.

The next one is the Shanghai Single Yolk Moon Cake (RM17.80 per pc), which has a special Shanghainese flaky crust with Grand Harbour Lotus paste and a single salted egg yolk.

Followed by Black Sesame with White Lotus (RM18.80 per pc) ; has a strong aroma of the black sesame.

and lastly the Snow Skin With Yam Paste (RM16.80 per pc);

Grand Harbour Restaurant is currently offering a very nice gift box of Moon Cake (which comes in 4 special premium flavour ie. Sakura Chrysanthemum, White Lotus Double Egg Yolk, Fruit Nut Mixture and White Lotus Paste) at RM128.00 ++.

For Hong Leong Bank Credit/Debit Card, you can get 15% off the Moon cake and 10% off for the Corporate Gift Box.

Moon Cake 2018 Mid-Autumn Festival at Grand Harbour Restaurant

Marc's Grill @ Puchong IOI Boulevard - Delicious Grill and Malaysian Favourites Dish Review

Best Restaurant To Eat was invited to review a new cafe with a friendly atmosphere, neighbourhood restaurant i.e Marc's Grill located at Lot G 32 IOI Boulevard Jalan Kenari 7 Bandar Puchong Jaya 47100 Puchong Selangor.

Paying special attention to customer needs and making customer feel at ease is the mission of the cafe. The ambiance setting creates a family feel that welcomes you back to home. Armed with special homemade recipe together with the use of the freshest and natural ingredients that tantalizes your taste buds.

We started off with the Bistro Walnut Bacon Salad (RM 18.00). This is a savoury salad which is filled with garden fresh salad, cut apples, mangoes, cherry tomatoes and coupled with walnut to give it the crunchy feel and texture; while the grilled bacon adds a savoury taste to this starter salad.

This is then followed by the Mushroom Soup  (RM 7.80). The mushroom used in the soup is the shiitake mushroom which was finely blended and cooked with cream to give it a smooth texture.

For the grill meat dishes, we started with Honey Mustard Chicken (RM 16.80). The chicken thigh is grill in a special fryer and served with grilled potatoes or mashed potatoes, corn and greens of the day and topped with a choice of black pepper or mushroom sauce.

The next dish is the Ribeye Beef Steak (RM 32.00). The rib eye steak was lightly marinated with salt and pepper; pan fried to the customer preference and served with potato wedges, grilled tomatoes, corn on cob and broccoli. What I like about the steak dishes served at Marc's Grill is that, the sauce are served separately; thereby giving you a choice to how much sauce you like on your steak.

Next on is the Tasty Beefy Beef (RM 17.80); it is a burger with a homemade beef patties and top with Shimeji mushroom on a Black Charcoal Bun. For meat lovers, the thick beef patties is a real treat.

The final grill dish is the Grilled Lamb (RM 22.80). For this dish, the sauce is similar to the Honey Mustard Chicken that we had earlier, but only the chicken is being replaced with lamb accordingly.

Every cafe and restaurant like to serve the Big Breakfast and Marc's Grill is no exception; The Big Breakfast (RM 19.50) set serves here comprised of a generous amount of scrambled eggs and a very refreshing salad i.e. the one that we had earlier; fried sausages and bacon.

At Marc's Grill, for lunch time , they served a few set lunches and we had the opportunity to taste 2 of the bestseller; the first of which is the Ayam Goreng Berempah Set (RM 14.90). The chicken thigh is marinated overnight and fried to a fragrant aroma. The enclosed fried rempah was very crisp and goes extremely well with the plain fried rice. 

The other lunch set is the Mutton Curry Set (RM 16.80). The ingredient used to cooked the curry was very flavourful but it was a little too spicy for us. If you want to eat this ala-carte, it will be best to paired with a cold beer.

For dessert, we had the Savoury Waffles With Bacon & Walnut (RM 15.90); A very special treat as the waffles was very crisp, served with fried bacon; ladle with a tasty Hollandaise sauce and topped with 2 sunny side up with Walnut topping. 

Bring your family or friends to try out this family oriented restaurant from Marc's Grill when you are at Puchong.

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.