Monday, December 2, 2013

Puchong Setia Walk Sumptuous Traditional Japanese Food at Bonbori Japanese Cuisine Restaurant by Best Restaurant To Eat


To me, one of the most important criteria of a good Japanese Restaurant is to have the freshest and top quality ingredients used. And that is what you can expect from Bonbori Restaurant located at G-10-1, Block G, Setia Walk, Persiaran Wawasan, Pusat Bandar Puchong, Puchong Town Center is the place to dine.

We were invited to a food review of this restaurant which was opened a couple of month ago. The dinner was hosted by the proprietor Ms Catherine. The restaurant is simple in its design and cater to a cozy family concept. They have 2 tatami room which have to be pre-booked if you would like to entertain any guest.

We were served the signature drink - Bonbori Fruit Tea. The tea is served cold, with the base drink as the peach tea with cutlet of apples, peaches and watermelon. It is very refreshing to satiate the appetite.

What is a Japanese dinner without Sashimi? Here, the sashimi platter is named Hanami Sashimi Moriawase, served on a boat platter (normally on a dish but can be requested to be) which is very pleasing to the eyes. It consists of Fresh Salmon, Butterfish, Tuna, Yellow tail, Scallop, Sweet Shrimp, Sword Fish, Octopus, Surf Clam, Salmon Roe and Shrimp Roe. The fish that was served was very fresh and succulent and of the right thickness. Eaten with the soya sauce and wasabi concoction, the taste was superb. It has been sometime since I have eaten this quality of sashimi – extremely fresh and no fishy smell.

Next on, we sampled the Fried Ice Fish. I had eaten this dish before at other restaurant but the one serves here is very crisp and comes with a tinge of salt coated. This makes a perfect complimentary dish if you have sake. The fish serves here is a more meaty than some – choice of the right ingredient.


The third dish does not look so appetizing which is Shake Atama Kimchee Soup which is Salmon Fish Head Kim chi soup. At first taste the kim chi is not too sourish like the one found in Korean restaurant, it was subtle with a tinge of miso added to it. Although a little salty taken as it is, it will be a perfect combination with white rice. The fish head is also very fresh and does not have that smelly fish which some fish head does. The chef had put in a variety of mushrooms which soaks up the soup base incessantly.


The fourth dish is a new dish which is not found in the standard menu, it is Bacon Asparagus Kushiyaki on skewers – much like a kebab. The Asparagus are curl in with the Bacon and BBQ over heat. It was a perfect combination as the saltiness of the bacon blended very well with the asparagus and gives you a very satisfying feel after the first bite. The asparagus was also marinated is some sweetish sauce.

Next is the Ebi Cheese Maki. If you love to eat cheese and sushi, this will be perfect for you as the amount of cheese laden into this maki was overwhelming, credits to the chef which uses the right cheese type. The chef have also added the men tari sauce to makes this dish very tasty.

The sixth dish of the night was the Special Soft-Shell Crab Maki. Here at Bonbori, the chef gives a very generous portion of soft shell crab to each of the maki, unlike some restaurant which gives you some splinter of crab.

Next on, is the Katsu Curry Udon which is udon & deep-fried pork chop in curry. I am not really a fan of Japanese curry as I prefer curry with a spicy and strong milky coconut taste. Here the curry broth was thick and was blended with onion and potato to gives it the creamy feel.

The eight dish for the night is Surume Ikashio which in essence is grilled squid. This is a very simple dish but cooked wrongly it can be a disaster. Firstly the selection of the fresh squid is utmost importance and grilled to the right timing i.e. will ensure that you get the best out of this dish. The squid were firm and bouncy on the first bite.

Our last and final dish for the night is the Nigiri Sushi Platter. I didn’t manage to try every piece but the one that I had was maguro sushi, the rice base was perfect as the amount of vinegar used was the right balance, moreover the rice was boil to a firm texture making it smooth to be eaten complimented by the thinly slice maguro. It was the perfect end to this wonderful meal.

So, if you yearn for good quality and reasonably price Japanese Cuisine in Puchong and dread the drive all the way to KL for a quick Japanese fix, do drop by at Bonbori.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Unique Chinese Burger Bear Paw Restaurant Kota Damansara Petaling Jaya - Best Restaurant To Eat


Of late there have been a growing trend for burgers, but at Bear Paw Restaurant located at 25, Jalan PJU 5/9 Kota Damansara Petaling Jaya, which serves a Chinese style burger with its based using the Man Tou. Bear Paw originate from Taiwan, it has a different Chinese Burger style which uses stewed pork as the filing as compared to Bear Paw which uses Fried Chicken patties much like McDonalds McChicken.


At Bear Paw, the concept is similar to SUBWAY where you can CHOOSE BUN, CHOOSE PATTY, CHOOSE SAUCE. Here, there are 3 choice of bun that is Milk, Brown Sugar and Whole Wheat. The milk bun taste very much like the Man Tau which have a bear paw imprints. I prefer the Brown Sugar which blended well with the Chicken Patties.


Here the customer have a choice of filling i.e. Chicken, Spicy Chicken, Fish, Ham and Squid (unfortunately we did not get to taste this as it is a new item and will be available soon. After that, you will need to choose the sauces which are Chilli, Thousand Island, Thai, Honey Mustard, Tartar or Teriyaki. Besides the choice of Bun, you can also opt for white rice instead.
 

We ordered a couple of drinks from the menu which are fresh fruit tea series i.e. Passion Fruit Green Tea, Brown rice Tea, Mint Soda Sparkling drink and Yakult series. For me the stand up drink was the Mango and Lemon Yakult.


Our first bun of the day is Brown Sugar with Spicy Fried Chicken and Honey Mustard sauce. The brown sugar bun was very soft and have tinge of sweetness that blended well with the crispy spicy fried chicken which was quite chunky and quite a good mixture with the Honey mustard sauce.


Next comes the Milk Bun with Ham and Thousand Island sauce. The sauce was quite flat and did not mix too well with the Ham and the Bun much like just a Ham sandwich.


Our third bun to come on the table was the Whole Wheat bun with Fried Chicken with Teriyaki sauce. The Teriyaki sauce which have a tinge of sweetish taste was also quite a combination. Normally Teriyaki sauce will blend well with the BBQ Chicken, but here with Fried Chicken, it was not a bad combination either. The whole wheat bun was also quite soft and fluffy (not one that I expect from whole wheat which tends to be on the harder side.


Next on the table is the Pumpkin Bun ( not on menu yet) with Fish and Tartar sauce. I find the fish patties a little too soft and the batter is quite thick. It also does not have the taste of  fish and once you bite into it, it sort of break off leaving on the crisp batter and the bun.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Yu Yi Bak Kut Teh Jalan Imbi Bukit Bintang Kuala Lumpur by Best Restaurant To Eat


Bak Kut Teh shops in Kuala Lumpur of late are going thru business transformation. They are involving into full fledge restaurant that not only serves Bak Kut Teh but some other specialty food like Steam Fish Head and other complimentary food to this famous dish. This is due to the changing taste of KL’ites which prefers to have varieties of dishes rather than just one or 2 dish for their meals.


One such restaurant that is undergoing this kind of transformation is Yu Yi Bak Kut Teh Restaurant located at 53-6, Jalan Barat, Off Jalan Imbi, Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.


We were invited to sample out some of these specialty dishes.

The night started with the first dish which is their Long Bean Rice, you don’t really get to savour this kind of rice in many places as some shops sells the Yam Rice. I had the opportunity to try this a couple of weeks ago at their branch shop in Jalan Kuching, but here in Jalan Imbi, the fragrant of the dried shrimp was perfectly blended with the long bean and rice.

The taste was mesmerising and you cannot help but go for a second helping. Like the saying goes, you can even eat it on its own. You have to go early in the morning to have this rice as it is a hot item and sells very fast.

Next we have signature Bak Kut Teh in Clay Pot. KL Bak Kut Teh is very different from the Klang version. It is normally serves as a clear broth and strong herbal taste which is what you get. The spare rib used to cook this Bak Kut Teh was, very bouncy and tender. Well, Yu Yi had been around from more than 30 years, since their humble beginning in Old Klang Road. The flavour does not change much as they have preserved the cooking style and ingredients used throughout these years.

Next we had the Hakka Yong Tau Foo. I tried the bitter gourd and on my first bite, I would say that the fish they had used as stuffing was very good and with the right mixture of pork, this makes a good Hakka Yong Tau Foo, Although each piece is at RM1.60 per piece, it is value for money as the filling was quite filled up. The Fried bean curd skin is a little short of expectation though.

For the vegetable dish, we had the Kangkong (Water Spinach) & Belacan Stir-fry. Taste wise, the belacan was very flavourfully mixed with the Water Spinach. The vegetable was still tangy but the chef had used a little too much of sugar, which makes this dish a little sweet, which should not be the case.

As mention, many of Bak Kut Teh shops sell Steamed Fish Head too. Here we had the Steamed Fish Head with Minced Ginger. I am very fond of Steamed Soong (Grass Carp) Fish Head. One of the biggest problems with serving this Soong Fish head is the smell of the mud in the fish. Here, the chef using a unique method (he did not want to tell us how he did it) have successfully overcome this fishy smell and therefore we are able to enjoy this dish which the fish head was very smooth and the flesh was bouncy too.

On a rainy and cold night, the next dish Pork Stomach in Pepper Soup will make your tummy relieved. Normally in other shops, the pepper used is not very strong but here at Yu Yi, your first slurps, will have your senses awaken. For me, it is a tad too strong. According to the chef, the extra strong taste is not due to the use of extra pepper corns put into it but rather than the quality of the pepper corns that are used by the chef in Yu Yi.


Another one of their signature dish is Yu Yi’s Signature Pot. The chef uses garlic soup which is prepared upon pre-ordering. For regular customers, they will usually called in and order this dish in advance as it will required about 40 minutes to prepare. He uses whole garlic and when you eat this garlic, it is very soft and silky too. The broth was very clear and garlicky.

“Drunken” Chicken in Huangjiu (Yellow Wine) is a dish served to women during maternity. This is yet another tummy warming dish. In this restaurant the wine used is a combination of Huang jiu and Hsiao Heng Wine. They do not add any water to cook this, 100% wine is used. So, if you like Chinese wine dishes, this dish will stir you up.

We had the opportunity to sample another creative dish by the restaurant which is called Stirred Fried Black Pepper Neck Meat. If you had been to Thai restaurant, neck meat is one of the choice meats used to BBQ. Here the chef had thinly sliced the meat which had layers of fats and meats and then stirred fried with black pepper. The result, the meat was succulent and it blended very well with the black peppers.

FC Hong
Editor of
Best Restaurant To Eat – http://BestRestaurantToEat.blogspot.com
Recommended Dish(es): Clay Pot Bak Kut Teh
Date of Visit: 2013-10-30
Spending: Approximately MYR 25 ()

Our other Bak Kut Teh