UDON-YA SAN@ Pandan Indah Cheras – Quality and Affordable UDON Review

There are not many specialized UDON restaurant in Malaysia, the one that are around are mostly quite pricey for a bowl of it due to the expensive and quality of ingredients used especially in the making of the UDON and the KAKE soup based. Best Restaurant To Eat was invited to review UDON-YA SAN Restaurant located at 65, Jalan Pandan Indah 4/6a Pandan Indah, Cheras Kuala Lumpur.

UDON-YA SAN@ Pandan Indah Cheras opened recently in August 2014 and has a very minimalist Japanese setting. It exudes a simple family dining environment.

All the UDON at UDON-YA SAN are hand made daily by the chef – so you get the assurance of the freshest UDON possible.

The recipes used to prepare the UDON and all its broth have time tested and gone thru the mill for more than 20 years. The chef is very particular on the use of good quality key ingredients and condiments that are used to prepare and serve to its’ customers.

We started with the TSUKIMI UDON SOUP. To taste whether an UDON restaurant passes the most fundamental test in the preparation of UDON, is to really taste its KAKE broth. This UDON is using the KAKE soup base with added TENKATSU, TSUKIMI and a warm (half boiled) eggs with runny egg yolk.

The KAKE broth was very flavourful and at RM7.00, it is a steal.

MENTAIKO UDON –The MENTAIKO (cod fish roe) aroma pulled our noses down towards the bowl. Bowing our heads willingly, the UDON was chewy with a slight bounce.

With each mouthful of this UDON, which were coated with a generous portion of the super tasty and bouncy premium MENTAIKO was a delight to be eaten.

TSUKIMI UDON DRY is also called the Moon Viewing UDON  – there is no soup added into this UDON - Mix the semi cooked eggs and viola you get a strong egg flavoured UDON.

This is a dry version in which you can slurp your way into the delicious goodness of the UDON with the fragrant flavours of the TSUKIMI and topped with the white and yolk of the semi cooked egg, it makes the UDON silky smooth with an added crunch from the TENKATSU.

CARBONARA UDON – is a specially concocted gravy of Ooey-Gooey carbonara based infused with Fresh Cream, topped with succulent chunks of pancetta cured pork belly pieces, is enough to make you salivate.

Each pieces of the cured pork belly has a unique salty taste.

SALAD UDON – Cold Udon, Refreshing taste, this UDON is very popular in Japan. The strong texture of the UDON, have a distinct chewiness. It blended well with the sesame enhanced gravy and the freshly cut strip of salad green gives you a more balanced meal for those who are a little health conscious or want to be vegan for the day.

CURRY UDON – it have a distinct Japanese curry taste and flavour, although pale in comparison to a local Malaysian curry noodles. The curry is cooked using carrot and onion as its' base. The spiciness level is low, so anyone with a low tolerance of spicy level will find this curry to be acceptable.

KAKIAGE – mixed vegetable strip tempura. This is a nice starter that goes well with the KAKE based UDON. As when you dip it into the broth, you will find the KAKE soup infused into the tempura giving you a crunch of KAKE coated flavour.

ASSORTED VEGETABLE TEMPURA – The batter used to coat this vegetable tempura is not that thick, which we preferred. The assorted vegetable used was the ladies finger, brinjal, long beans and lotus roots. Comes with a ginger based tempura dipping.

The TONKATSU uses a special imported Japanese breadcrumb PANKO (fresh bread crumb type) and was lightly coated to the pork with a delicate texture. It has a special thin crispy tasty layer that was a delight to bite in. The accompany dipping was a mustard based sauce which have a smoky BBQ flavour.

CHICKEN KATSU – this KATSU uses dry bread crumb as compared to the TONKATSU. The difference is in the taste and the different texture of the fried chicken.

The chicken was fried to a deep golden brown and has a thicker and fluffy crusty feel.

CHICKEN KARAAGE – the Japanese Fried Chicken. Fried to perfection, not too dry ... smell good, taste good with the in-house marinated flavouring. The deeply flavoured skin crackle and crunch with the slightest touch of your teeth, and the meat is still moist, tender, and flavourful.

AJITAMA – served with a drop of special fragrant oil and top with a sprinkle of fresh spring onion leaves, it was sprung with a little creativeness to these authentic side dishes. As the size of the eggs was a little smaller, we were told that these were the free-range chicken eggs which explains the deep orange colour of the yolk.

SESAME SAUCE SALAD taste wise is quite similar to the coleslaw but this is infused with a strong sesame taste mayonnaise.

For drinks, UDON-YA SAN@ Pandan Indah Cheras, serves a few special in-house concocted drinks which are the Lemon Grass with Lemon, Cucumber with Lime, and Passion Fruit with Lime.

Overall, UDON-YA SAN@ Pandan Indah Cheras which emphasise on serving good quality UDON at a reasonably price will make UDON lovers or someone who loves to try out UDON, the opportunity to try it out.

2013 BBT One Restaurant & Bar @Bandar Bukit Tinggi Klang – New Hangout Place & Superb Fusion Food in Klang Review

These days new café are opening up offering unique fusion dishes specially created to excite one’s taste-bud, Best Restaurant To Eat was invited to review this new café which is, 2013 BBT One Restaurant & Bar @Bandar Bukit Tinggi located at Unit No. B-G-2 BBT One Boulevard, Lebuh Batu Nilam 2, Bandar Bukit Tinggi 41200 Klang Selangor that whipped up specially created dishes.

The name 2013 BBT One Restaurant & Bar @Bandar Bukit Tinggi was a little peculiar for a restaurant and we found out later that this was the year the restaurant was established and henceforth the 2013. 

The restaurant décor is one of a bistro/ pub setting where it will be transformed during the course of the night. For patrons, who love to dine al-fresco, there is an open area.

2013 BBT One Restaurant & Bar @Bandar Bukit Tinggi serves a menu melding out Western and Asian culinary techniques into a broad ranging selection of dishes to please all tastes.

We started off our food review with the appetizer, the first of which was the finger licking goodness of the Belacan Chicken Wings (2 set). The belacan infused chicken wing were very mesmerising and you can taste it right to the bone. 

The mouth watering chicken wing were pre-marinated for at least 2 days in order for the belacan to totally permeates deep into the meat to give you this special taste.

2013 SALAD – It is a nice salad with the fresh Romaine lettuce as the base and with a tinge of vinegar dressing. We enjoyed the salad, which was crisp, fresh and slightly savoury, with a drizzle of grated cheese, freshly toasted shrimp and a generous serving of smoked bacon strips.

Next we had, the POTATO CROQUETTE – the potato was prepared in –house and smash to a superbly fine silky texture. The crust was very crispy while the potato was induced with the buttery flavours of the smash potatoes.

After that, it was the OVEN BAKED CRAB - this stuffed crab dish is a special house delicacy, with the right mix of meat blended with the sweet taste of the crab. Its aromatic and flavourful meat filling was topped with a layer of melted cheese that enhances the overall taste experience.

GRILLED SALMON WITH WHITE MUSHROOM CREAM SAUCE – grilled to perfect bright pink coloured with a firm textured and served with a bed of in-house smash potato 

and topped with a unique fried salmon skin.

This was then followed by the MUTTON CURRY WITH TOASTED BREAD – This dish is from an age old recipe from the chef uncle which was from India and takes a lot of skills to cook this simple looking mutton dish which have no gamey smell and taste.

The aromatic curry gravy soaked perfectly to the toasted bread with just the right level of spiciness. You can taste the fragrant spices that was used to cook this dish.

The next signature dish is the LAMB PASTA MAMAK-STYLE – This dish is inspired by the popular “Mee Mamak”. With the creative use of spaghetti instead of the normal yellow noodles and an in-house special spicy sauce, you have this excellent fusion dish.

Coupled with the cutlet of lamb fillet (no gamey) as a main ingredient, it was an exceptional combination of the ingredient to give you this unique taste. Thumb up.

The next dish is the PORK CHOP – it is a different variant of pork chop with a strong tinge of lemon grass. It is charred on the crisp skin while the meat was tender and well marinated which enhance the natural taste of the pork chop.

The accompanied sauce with the pork chop was the garlic cream sauce.

LAMB PIZZA – This is the Star of the night. It is a fresh new idea to use lamb as the key ingredient for a Pizza, it was wonderfully done with the right proportion of capsicum, pineapple, cheese and lamb as the main ingredient to make such lovely and tasty pizza. It tastes so wonderful you are still fantasising about it hours and days afterwards.

GREEN PASSION MOCKTAIL – A concoction of apple sauce, orange juice, lemon and fizzy soda.

Sipping this refreshing Mocktail, while enjoying the smooth crooning of the some oldies number reminds me of the good old time.

This “LIVE” performance are available on every Friday and Saturday. It is the perfect mini getaway to wind down your stressful weekday and rejuvenate you for the following next week.

2013 BBT One Restaurant & Bar @Bandar Bukit Tinggi emphasises on the quality & taste of its food. It offers diverse food choices and new dishes which are coming on from time to time. If you are game for some exciting new dishes, just head over to their facebook page on some new offering which are not found on their standard menu.

2013 BBT One Facebook Page

AROI DEE Thai Restaurant - Palm Resort Putrajaya – Good Taste Authentic Thai and Nyonya Cuisine Review

You can’t really find restaurant these days serving authentic Thai Cuisine these days especially in Putrajaya. Most of the time, you end up with a limited choice. Best Restaurant To Eat had the pleasure to do a food review at AROI DEE THAI RESTAURANT @PALM RESORT PUTRAJAYA Selangor

What does AROI DEE stand for? GOOD TASTE in Thai,

AROI DEE THAI RESTAURANT @PALM RESORT PUTRAJAYA Head Chef Seeri has more than 25 years of cooking experience in dishing out delicious and flavourful Thai food for its patrons. He has mastered and fine tuned his fare to the local tastebuds.

The restaurant offers an indoor and alfresco dining environment, where patrons can choose to dine in the air-conditioned dining area 

Or enjoy your dinner in the naturally cool, relax, quiet or romantic evening environment which is decorated with rattan lanterns, garden lamps and lush greenery. 

For a start, we were served with a special tea which is HOT LEMON GRASS WITH HONEY. The tea is very refreshing and has a strong aroma and flavours of the Lemon Grass. Added with Honey, it has a slight sweet after-taste, that lingers around your mouth. This tea is not served as ala carte as it takes a while to boil and prepare it. It is better for you to pre-order it, if you like to try this for a change. 

This is then followed by the RED TOM YAM SOUP of which you can either order for Seafood, Prawns or Chicken but the one we had was Seafood. The fresh seafood was perfectly blended with the strong aroma of the Tom Yam which the broth was added with a little cream to make it slightly milky. 

This Tom Yam was not that spicy which was good but you can order it with extra spiciness. Make sure you let the waiter know of your preferences. The strong taste of the Lemon Grass was enticing with every sip, more so after taking the rich dishes that we had for the night.

The next dish was ENCHE KABIN – This is a NYONYA STYLE FRIED CHICKEN. The chicken wing was very crispy and crunchy of the skin layer, yet the meat was firm and you could taste the deep marinade of the chicken right to the bone.

The juicy and succulent chicken wings were finger licking good.

The next dish is the KUNG PHAD PRIK POW - SAUTEED PRAWNS WITH ROASTED CHILLI. Although this dish uses the roasted chilli, is very well controlled to give one just enough spiciness and a slight sourish taste of the tom yam fragrant.

The fragrant gravy was engulfing the juicy and succulent prawns. The gravy will be perfect to go with some warm fluffy white rice.

Next, is the TIPPAN NGUBAK - SIZZLING BEEF NYONYA STYLE, the slice beef was still juicy when served – thanks to the Chef skill in tenderizing and coating the meat with a thin layer of starch. Couple with the sweet aroma of soy/oyster sauce, it was just tasty.

Combined with the capsicum and fresh onion, one can taste the crunchy feeling of the fresh greens.

PLAR NEANG PEK SAK - SEABASS STEAMED THAI STYLE is perfumed with a tinge of sourish mustard to give you that zesty taste. 

To me, one of the most important criteria about Steamed Fish is that the fish have to be extra ordinary fresh. Any quality degradation will be evident from the sweet natural taste and the firmness of the meat. This dish has just passed this test.

KENG KEAW WAN - GREEN CURRY WITH CHICKEN - The chicken was very tender yet firm. Each piece of the chicken was coated with the thick, rich and creamy green curry sauce. 

They way it was cook, the curry retain the chicken natural taste.

KAA NA PHAD KRATIAN - FRIED HONG KONG KALE WITH SLICED GARLIC - For me, to enjoy Kale especially stir-fried, it has to give you a crunchy and firm texture of the vegetable. The gravy has to be coated with a thin layered of garlic infused oyster sauce to be tasty.

KAW PHAD SAPPORAT -FRIED RICE WITH PINEAPPLES – The quality of any fried rice is dependent on whether the chef can fried it with a minimum amount of oil, rice is not lumpy i.e. each grain of rice should be by itself and the natural flavours of ingredients have to be fully coated into every grain of rice.

At AROI DEE THAI RESTAURANT @PALM RESORT PUTRAJAYA, you get this quality and the chef have added extra ingredient like the cashew nuts which add a new dimension to this Fried Rice dish. 

TUB TIM KROB - RED RUBIES/WATER CHESTNUT IN COCONUT MILK - The water chestnut was delicately coated with the sweet flavour and aroma of the santan, you can’t stop drinking it because it is so delicious. 

Added on top is it, is the sweet jack fruit which makes the entire dessert not only tasty but nice to look at too. AROI DEE THAI RESTAURANT @PALM RESORT PUTRAJAYA your new place for Authentic Thai and Nyonya Cuisine.