Cheras Food: Hot and Spicy Chinese Hunan Cuisine at China Private Kitchen Pertama Residency

Many Malaysian seriously believe that we can eat very spicy food, but your guess and mine is totally wrong. The China Hunan Chinese has a very much more higher tolerant spicy level compared to most Malaysian. With that +BestRestaurant ToEat  was invited to taste another real spicy Chinese Hunan Cuisine @ China Private Kitchen located at Pertama Residency Jalan 3/92B Taman Kobena 56000 Cheras, Pudu Kuala Lumpur. It is located just off Jalan Cheras 4th mile (turn in when you see the Shell petrol station before Taman Pertama roundabout).

China Private Kitchen is a strictly a no frill set up; what is more important is the quality of food that are served to its customers.

The chef which hails from Jiangsha Hunan in China motto; first using good quality ingredients, village home style, authentic taste and cooking with passion forms the core values of each of the dishes that are served at this restaurant.

With that, we started our spicy journey starting with the Seaweed Salad (RM 5). This appetizer which is spicy and has a slight sourish sweet taste does whet out our appetite.

The first main dish on the table is the Hunan Farm Chicken (RM 36). Using farm "Kampung" chicken which has a firm texture was cut to small pieces and using fresh ingredients such as ginger, garlic, scallions and fresh red chilli padi to cook this dish which has a spicy pungent fragrant but really appetizing taste.

This is then followed by the Braised Pork Trotter (RM 28). This pork leg are first slow braised for 3 hours to soften the meat texture with spices, ginger, garlic and chillies. Before serving it, the cut pieces of the pork trotter are then wok fried with dried Chillies to infused the spicy flavour and aroma to the meat. The gravy was so addictive that a second helping of white rice was needed to slurp it down to the last drop.

For vegetable we had a Stir Fried Lotus Root (RM 22). The firm and crunchy lotus root are cut to a thin slice and then stir fried together with freshly cut chilli padi.

Next on the table is the Claypot Bullfrog With Hunan Chilli (RM 48). For bullfrog dishes, we are usually more accustomed to either the ginger steamed or Kung Po style. This Hunan style version uses a specially imported preserved chillies from Hunan China. Served on a clay pot, the broth is a clear but spicy type while the other colourful chillies set the spicy tone of this dish. The frog meat was firm with a bouncy texture and it was really delicious.

The Homestyle Fried Pork with Green Chillies (RM 22). This is a dish that every family in Hunan China will know how to cook this dish. It is like the must eat dish in this province of China. Although you see that there are some many green chillies that are used to cook this dish, it was nevertheless not that spicy too and good to eat with the white rice. 

We have eaten a lot of Chinese Carp Fish Head i.e Ginger steam, Assam style and so forth. The version that is served here is the Steamed Fish Head With Pickled Chilli (RM 68). As again the special pickled preserved chillies are minced with fresh ginger and topped with premium soya sauce as the base gravy. The spicy level has been tone down a little for us to enjoy the fresh meat of the fish.

Another popular version of the Hunan style for fish dishes; is using water to slow braise the fish in a pot. This ensure that the fresh fish flavour are immersed with the ingredient to get the most flavour for this dish. For us we had the red Tilapia In Water Broth Sauce (RM 68). Using this method to cook the fish; uses a less salt and less oil style as the fish are cooked slowly to extract its natural fish flavours.

Another traditional village style dish from the Hunan China is the Hand Peel Stir Fried Beijing Cabbage (RM 18). The people of Hunan like to hand peel the cabbage as this gives the cabbage a better texture compared with the knife cut method for the cabbage, It retains a crunch feel and does not becomes soggy too quickly.

The final meat dish is the Sizzling Hot Sliced Beef With Chillies on Hot Plate (RM 36), is topped in terms of strong spicy fragrant level. Before the dish arrives at the table, we can smells the choking super rich and chilli musk fragrant of the Dried Chillies choking us down the throat. The wafer thin slice cut of the beef was well mixed with the coriander and served piping hot with the sizzling sound; was a real treat to this super spicy dish.  

We end our review with a very simple Fried Yee Mee with Prawn (RM 15). Loves the bouncy texture and the pieces of scrambled eggs intertwined between the noodles with the nice aroma of the wok hei of the fried noodles. Simple but tasty.

For desserts, we had the Deep Fried Pumpkin Bun (RM 12 for 6 pcs). Another simple desserts that is 100% pumpkin. Fried to a golden yellow crisp, with a balance sweetness level, it was a good end to our food review.

Spicy food enthusiast will find the dishes serves at China Private Kitchen @Cheras Pertama Residency as a real authentic Hunan style treat in Malaysia. 

Kim Ma Chinese Restaurant Palace of Golden Horses Hotel Delectable Dim Sum Menu Review

Dim Sum chefs have a great task in the continual quest to satisfy customers craving for new and special Dim Sum. With that Chef Roy Wong of Kim Ma Chinese Restaurant located at the Palace Of Golden Horses Hotel Seri Kembangan have created 9 special creations Dim Sum and invited +BestRestaurant ToEat to taste this new Dim Sum dishes.

With the new look of the restaurant, Kim Ma Chinese Restaurant needs no further introduction as a premium Chinese Restaurant with the setup of an elegant and posh restaurant setting.

According to Chef Roy, Kim Ma Chinese Restaurant are now offering small plate Dim Sum, so that customer can easily share and taste more of his specialty dishes. He quips that customer are so accustomed to their delicious Dim Sum and had wanted him to create some specialty Dim Sum dishes.

For Dim Sum lovers, Kim Ma Restaurant is having a promotion of the famed "Delectable Dim Sum" throughout the month of November 2015. Priced from RM11 Nett onwards, guest can enjoy a wide variety of daily offering for lunch.

Our gastro journey at Kim Ma Restaurant of the Special creation Dim Sum started with the Dried Scallop Dumpling With Caviar. Wrapped in a snow like skin, with dried scallop and topped with ebiko and caviar, it is a real delight to taste this steaming hot dumpling.

followed by the Baked Chicken Puffs in Abalone Sauce. Crusty puff with a strong butter flavour.

The third Dim Sum is the Fresh Prawns and Chicken Dumplings with Black Vinegar. Wrapped in a thin layer of skin, the succulent bouncy prawn was a delight to bite into.

after which is the Black Mushroom Dumplings With Abalone Sauce. Fried to a golden brown, this dumpling was a nice match to the abalone sauce that came separately with the dumplings.

The fifth dim sum is the Spring Roll With Enoki Mushroom and Chicken. I am not usually a fan of Spring Roll but with the tangy mushroom which was cooked with chicken as the filling; it gives the crunchy feel of the popiah skin while the enoki mushroom was a nice tasty option as a filling.

while the sixth is the Pan Fried Chives With Seafood; With a thin layer of sticky dough; it was very flavourful with plenty of chives and was very meaty.

followed by Baked Puff With Unagi. Nice crunch from the crust and the filling with unagi was a unique ingredient in a puff.

while the eighth dish which is a Charcoal bun i.e. the Steamed Buns With Red Dates. The Red Dates flavour and aroma can be a little challenge as we are more accustomed to flavours such as the Red Beans or Lotus paste; but this one has a very unique acquired taste.

The ninth and final Dim Sum for the special creation series is the Yuan Yang Glutinous Rice Dumpling. Made from black and white glutinous rice wrap in a Pao Filling.

If you are still craving for more Dim Sum, Kim Ma Restaurant have a "All You Can Eat Dim Sum" package at only RM65.00 nett per person (this package is only available on weekends and public holidays from 10am to 4pm).

Signature Pork Dishes You Must Try At Pink Belly Restaurant @Bangsar Baru Review

Recently, there have been a number of restaurant that specialize to serve Pork dishes in Klang Valley. A new place for lovers to this swine meat is the Pink Belly located at 1, Lorong Kurau, Taman Bukit Pantai, Bangsar Baru Kuala Lumpur. +BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to taste the signature dishes that is served from this restaurant.

Located in a quiet area in the bustling Bangsar area, Pink Belly @Bangsar serves quality delicious pork dishes. The setup is one of a very simple and minimal setting with high table and stools that adorned a portion of the restaurant while casual sit down are on the other side of the restaurant.

The Pink Belly offers diners with a nice ambiance for a family dinner or a get together with friends  or business associates served by friendly waiters.

Our review started with a Salad which is Pink Belly Salad (RM24.00); Generous amount of Romaine green lettuce fill the plates with red cabbages, tomatoes cubes with a fruity combination of watermelon cubes and lychee to add a refreshing flavour and sweet taste to this salad. It is then topped with honey ham cube and smoked bacon chips.

The next dish is a pasta i.e. Porky Penne Pasta (RM24.00); This pasta is cooked with smoked bacon, honey ham cubes and mushrooms in a spicy aglio olio sauce. Instead of the spicy aglio olio sauce, patrons can also opt for carbonara or pesto sauce to suit to their taste.

For the main dish of the night we first had the signature Roasted Pork Belly (RM34.00). The pork belly is roasted to a perfect crackling texture (this is the one of the most important criteria of roast pork) and served with roasted root vegetables and bedded on top of braised red cabbage. Patrons are offered a choice of Honey BBQ, Jalapeno or Original sauce to goes with the Pork Belly. Will be great when eaten with a cold beer to down this pork belly.

Next on, is another one of the signature dishes at Pink Belly which is the BBQ Sticky Pork Ribs (RM75.00). The whole slab of Pork Ribs are slow cooked and drenched with Chef special BBQ sauce; are then grilled to a charred texture and served with wedges and coleslaw. We like the moist juicy meat on the ribs as it did not fall off too easily from the ribs which gives us a little bite texture.

After that, it was the Grilled Pork Skewers (RM26.00); The honey glazed pork balls skewers are pan grilled with a spicy sauce are served with roasted root vegetables and the aromatic buttered basmati rice. We were a little surprised as; from the look of the meat ball when it was served to us it look quite normal, but taking on the first bite of the meatball, it was still juicy and have a little bouncy feel. With the right marinade of the meatball, it was a delight to eat this meatball.

and the next dish that we had was the Porky Risotto (RM25.00). The risotto are stir-fried with pork belly slices with wild mushrooms and garden fresh vegetables. You can have a choice of either caramelized or original version.

and for desserts we had the Special Vanilla Ice Cream (RM15.00) which is a double scoop vanilla ice cream drizzled with maple syrup and topped with smoked bacon slices and walnut bits.

For those that loves pork, Pink Belly@ Bangsar does offers you a choice of interesting porkilicious dish.

Chequers Restaurant @ TTDI KL- An American Love Affair With Waffles

Waffles is a special snack food for many American. You will be able to find a lot of restaurants in America that serves waffles almost everywhere; but not in the case of Malaysia. +BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to taste these American waffles at Chequers Restaurant which is located at 153, Jalan Aminuddin Baki, Taman Tun Dr Ismail TTDI Kuala Lumpur to savour some of these specially created dishes based on waffles.

Chequers Restaurant @TTDI, is decorated to resemble the minimalist American dining concept. Its' owner main aim is to inspire the taste of not only the sweet waffles, which we get to taste a lot as a desserts offering but to serve a savoury type waffles; as it will be a totally different ball game. 

The waffles that are served at Chequers Restaurant TTDI are less dense unlike the Belgian waffles and have a crisp skin. The secrets lies in a process of whipping the batter to let in more air and adding the right meringue portion.

With an expectation to taste on what savoury waffles has to offers, we started our review with 2 Waffles based breakfast delights; which the first is called the Down Town Benny (RM19.00); it is a savoury waffle, with a pan fried beef bacon and comes with 2 poached eggs with hollandaise sauce and guacamole (avocado dip) and topped with baby fresh watercress. We love the marriage of the different taste and texture made out of each of these ingredients. 

Our second breakfast dish is the Double Deck Croque Monsieur (RM18.00) which is another savoury waffle with turkey ham in between the waffles and thin tomato slices. The entire waffles is then wrapped in an egg much like a french toast and served with cheese sauce and topped with a sunny side up. As waffles are best served warm, you have to be quick into eating this to savour the best taste possible.

After the breakfast dishes, we moved to taste the main waffles inspired dishes which 2 of them are based on the savoury waffle; we begin with the Shroom Fiesta (RM20.00). This is a dish which is vegetarian; and suit those non-meat eaters or health enthusiast. It is a spinach flavoured waffle served with grilled portobello mushrooms and glazed cherry tomatoes at the sides. The dressing is balsamic and served with rocket salad and shaved parmesan cheese.

This is the followed by the Moo Moo (RM28.00) which is one of the signature dish at Chequers Restaurant TTDI. Using an in-house made seasoned striploin beef patties which are pan seared to the right charred condition; The Moo Moo is served with a special berry sauce and  topped with beef bacon, cheddar cheese, raisin slaw, pickled relish and waffle fries.

To cater to other non waffles fans, Chequers also offered a number of non-waffles dish; one that we tried was the Crusted Lamb Rack (RM42.00). Each of the lamb ribs are pan seared and served with mashed herbs potatoes, roasted baby carrots and honey grain mustard sauce. I love the texture of the meat which was still juicy and the aroma of the pan seared ribs coupled with the sauce was a wonder.

To finish off our review, we had 2 waffles based desserts; the first of which is the Melting Moments (RM17.00). It is a chocolate chip waffle i.e you can taste some of these little chocolate chips while taking bites of the waffles. Served with a hand battered banana fritters with almond nips and a scoop of vanilla ice cream which is drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauce, it was very well paired with the chocolate chip waffle.

The last desserts to end the review is the Tropic Delight (RM17.00). We love this coconut based dessert as not only the ingredients are coconut based, even the waffles have bits of coconut strips in it. For lovers of coconut this is just for you. The dessert comes topped with fresh coconut meat, roasted almonds, coconut ice-cream and paired with fragrant pandan sauce. 

If you just like everything waffles, Chequers @ TTDI will definitely be the place for you to satisfy your cravings.