Wednesday, November 4, 2015

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).

Monday, November 2, 2015

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.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

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. 

Friday, October 30, 2015

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.