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. 

Dim Sum @ Sri Petaling - Grand Shanghai Banquet Dim Sum Review

There are many Dim Sum restaurant in Sri Petaling area ranging from coffeeshop style to restaurant. +BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to savour the Shanghainese version of Dim Sum at Grand Shanghai Banquet located at 45, Jalan Radin Tengah, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur.

The Grand Shanghai Banquet has a very Chinese theme; from the front entrance to the table setting, up to wall decor and lighting, it exudes the charm of Old Shanghai.

Belting out old Chinese songs of yesteryears it gives you the experience of the charms and ambiance of old China dining like those of the "Shanghai Bund".

For this review; the presentation will be on my favourite taste of the Dim Sum ranking rather than on a chronologically basis.

My personal No 1 favorite is the Claypot Porridge With Shang Har Prawn (RM26.80). We like the texture and the flavours of the silky smooth porridge. Coupled with the prawns roe which is normally associated with this type of prawns and the fresh succulent bouncy texture, this one has my thumbs up. It was so good that we ordered a second helping of this porridge.

As pork knuckle is one of my favorite dish, I just have to try out this Pork Knuckle Shanghai Style (RM9.80). This pork knuckle is braised with some dried chillies, which lend a spicy taste to this dish. The meat was cooked to the right texture ie. not too overly hard (very hard to chew) or too soft (no texture, meat falls off the bone). Just the way I like it which needs a little pulling and bouncy texture.

The next one is the Grand Shanghai Shrimp Dumpling (RM8.00). As expected the prawns is juicy and succulent with a bouncy texture wrap in a thin layer of special skin.

followed by the Grand Shanghai Special Baked Bun With BBQ Pork (RM12.80) - I like the crunchy crust of this bun, but find the BBQ Char Siew filling a little on a sweeter note, perhaps for those that loves the sweeter taste will really find this a delight.

After that it is the Baked BBQ Pork Puff (RM7.00). Liked the crust, which has a soft crusty feel but the same BBQ Pork filling is on a sweeter note.

You can't miss out the Shanghai most popular Dim Sum dish which is the Xiao Long Pao, Here at Grand Shanghai Banquet it is called the Steamed Pastry with Grand Shanghai Style in Superior Soup (RM9.00). We like the superior soup which has a slight vinegar infused taste; so you do not need to topped up any of these while you enjoy this piping hot Xiao Long Pao.

Dinosaur Roll is a very unique Dim Sum as it is a combination of 2 different style. Firstly using a "Wai Fa Che", a type of eatable wrap much like the vietnamese rice wrap paper; is wrapped with finely shredded radish and fried to a crisp brown (like a fried popiah). After frying, it is then wrap with the Cheong Fun and set to steam and finally topped it with premium soya sauce and pork meat floss. We love the different texture to each bite as you can taste the crunch and yet the soft texture of the Cheong Fun.

We are normally accustomed to the Steam Custard Bun (RM7.50) which is also served here but Grand Shanghai also have a version that is called Fried Custard Quicksand Bun Shanghai Style (RM8.50). This Fried version has a distinctive feel compared with the steam as the dough; has a special crisp feel when bitten into it. At Grand Shanghai, the filling is a little more of a watery based; so once you bite into it, the juicy filling will flow out. I still prefer the steam version as it is smoother and have a softer texture.

Next is the Steamed Fish Maw Mai with Spicy Sauce (RM7.50)

After which is the Freshly Baked Egg Tarts (RM7.00)

Stir Fried Radish Cake With Bean Sprout (RM7.50). Generous amount of eggs and preserved vegetables was used to fried up this dish.

For desserts, we had 2 of them; the first of which is the Longan With Sea Coconut (RM6.00). 

and the final one is the special Aloe Vera With Grass Jelly (RM7.00); This dessert is served chilled and comes with a special crystal like ball which is actually Yakult ball; and once bitten it will explode and the juice has a slight sourish Yakult taste. This dessert is an acquired taste and for me, I like it.

Thai Syok Thai Restaurant Yakitori Sunway Mentari - A simple restaurant that serves real authentic Thai Food

If you are on a budget and loves to taste Authentic Thai Cuisine, then this review will be of great interest to you. Best Restaurant To Eat was invited to try out the newly open Thai Syok Thai Food Restaurant located at 15, Jalan PJS 8/18, Dataran Mentari, Sunway Mentari, Bandar Sunway, Selangor.

The decor and setup at Thai Syok Thai Restaurant Yakitori is a no frill, simple setup; on entry to the restaurant you will be greeted and welcomed by 2 special Thai figurine.

The chef in Thai Syok are all Thai's, so our expectation are sky high on the quality and taste of the food served from the restaurant.

Our review started with the Papaya Salad (RM10.50). This salad has a spicy and sourish taste. With the combination of toasted peanuts, shredded raw papaya, it was a nice appetizer to kick off our food review.

This is then followed by the Seafood Tom Yum Kung (Medium) RM24.30. It is loaded with a combination of seafood like prawns, squids, mussel, mushroom and more. But, what is more important was the potent concoction of this Tom Yum; which has a distinctive strong taste; of which you could easily get choked. The chef uses a special in-house made Tom Yum paste with the right amount of bunga kantan and lemongrass. The soup was very addictive as we can't stop slurping it spoonful after spoonful.

For the mains, we had another Chef specialty dish which is the Fried Tom Yum Fish. At Thai Syok, you can choose the type of fish that you like i,e Grouper, Tilapia or Barramundi; for us it was the Red Tilapia (prices for the fish is based on type of fish and weight). Fried to a bright yellow crunchy crisp and then topped with the appetizing special Tom Yum sauce laden with generous amount of cut Bunga Kantan; the entire dish was very aromatic and fragrantful. This is another dish that goes pretty well with the white rice. We finish this dish right to the last drop of sauce.

At this Thai Syok outlet, the owner is introducing some special skewers or Thai yakitori to its menu.  We had the Yakitori Combo (RM24.00) and only available for dinner. The main difference between the Thai and the Japanese Yakitori will be the Japanese usually does not premarinate its meat before being grilled, while its Thai counterpart will be marinated in special sauces. This makes the flavours of the marinate penetrate to the meat. In our combo set we had a skewer of pork neck, pork belly, pandan leaf chicken, basil minced meat with lemongrass, king prawns on tom yum paste and chicken wings.

The next dish is the Deep Fried Pork Knuckle (RM58.20). According to the owner, the pork knuckle are first pre cooked in a special broth, both to soften the texture and immerse it with the fragrant aroma of the broth. Before serving, it is then fried to a crisp; so that you can really taste the crackling skin while enjoying the juicy sweet flavour of the meat. Another dish that gets our thumbs up.

After that we had the soon to be released BBQ Lamb Chop. The pre marinated lamb chop are then grilled to the right charred while the meat still retains its juiciness and succulence. 

For vegetables, we had the Wok Fried Asparagus with Shrimps (RM24.30). We love the crunchy texture of the young asparagus and was a nice vegetable to accompany our other dishes. 

For desserts, we can't leave without trying out my favourite Thai Mango With Sweet Glutinous Rice. This dessert must be eaten fairly quickly as the glutinous rice tends to dry up quite fast; thereby having a hard texture toward the end. It was nicely decorated with the mango surrounding the Glutinous rice and the coconut sauce.

and the second dessert was the Ice Blended Red Rubies With Jack Fruit and Coconut Syrup to close off our dinner. The difference with the ice blended compare with the crush ice version, is that it is much finer, blended well with the coconut syrup and smoother to drink. We like this too.

As most people will know that Dataran Sunway Mentari is famous for steamboat, but you will never expect such good quality and reasonably price Thai Food from this area and certainly Thai Syok Thai Restaurant Yakitori  have proven their capability to dish out such a cuisine.