Nathan's Famous @ Putrajaya, Malaysia

Nathan's Famous is America's famous chain of Hot Dogs that has been in business for over a century. Just a few years back, they stepped onto the Malaysian soil to start their first ever branch in IOI City Mall, Putrajaya. I have always been wanting to drop by to give this a try and only got an opportunity to do so this evening. 

The Outlet on Level 1 of IOI City Mall, Putrajaya

Quite A Cosy Atmosphere

Nathan's Famous outlet is located on the First Floor of IOI City Mall. On the Ground Floor, they do have a kiosk as well selling only Hot Dogs and this outlet on the First Floor is a full fledged store selling all their food items. The place was huge and designed with customers comfort in mind.

Most of their items are designed around burgers and hot dogs with some fries. Choices are limited for non beef eaters but a non fussy diner should find this to be sufficient. Prices are definitely steep. Their signature drink which is their Lemonade is also on offer. Based on my observation, it is better to go for their set meals instead of individual food items. 

Bill For The Day

Waiting For Our Meals

Sauces

Lemonade

As you can see from the attached receipt, the price came up to RM 31.00 for two which I felt was quite steep. Not a place that you could dine often without burning a hole in your wallet. Their drinks however were reasonably priced as you get free flow of drinks. Their Lemonade was surely good and quite refreshing. Nevertheless, I have still tasted much better ones. My rating for this shall be 8/10. 

Onion Rings

Their Onion Rings were quite disappointing. The onions itself weren't fresh and as such, I could not taste the juices. The outer batter wasn't great either and felt very coarse to the tongue. For me, this is nowhere when compared to A&W's. My rating for this would be 5/10. 

Mushroom Cheese Fries

Their Mushroom Cheese Fries were another disappointment. The fries itself wasn't up to my expectations and I could hardly get any cheesy taste from the mushroom cheese topping. Portions were ridiculously small as well. 6/10 would be my rating for this.  

Sauteed Onions Chicken Hot Dog

Their famous Hot Dogs comes in a variety of combinations as seen above in their menu and I went for this version that comes with sauteed onions. Let me break this down please. The sauteed onions were nothing much and so were the buns. I found the onions to be quite bland in taste and their buns weren't the best of quality and it was a tad too dry. I would give their bun 6/10. However, their Chicken Frankfurter was simply awesome. That was totally excellent. I guess it is because of these frankfurters that they have gained such popularity. My rating for their frankfurters would be 9/10. 

Pulled Chicken Burger

Their Pulled Chicken Burger was a shame. For the price, it was a total washout as you can see from the above photograph. There was nothing much inside and I would definitely advise skipping this the next time. Taste wise, I would rate this at 6/10. 

It is great that we now have this famous American franchise in Malaysia. However, I did not find their food to be great. Their Hot Dogs were the only one that was good along with their Lemonade that was nice. Their Pulled Chicken Burger, Cheesy Mushroom Fries and Onions Rings that I tried weren't up to the mark. In fact, for the price that we paid, the portions were quite pathetic. I may only return for their Hot Dogs. The rest were nothing great and too expensive. 

Address: Level 1, IOI City Mall, 62502 Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1000 - 2200 Daily

Zawara Coffee @ Cyberjaya, Selangor

Zawara Coffee is a franchise that has a number of outlets in the Klang Valley and this outlet that I visited is in Cyberjaya. Besides those American coffee chains, it is good to see our homegrown brands slowly making waves as well. 

Zawara Coffee Along Jalan GC 11, Cyberjaya

Nice & Comfortable Outdoor Seating Area

Cosy & Beautifully Designed Indoor Seating Area

Coffee Bar

I have passed this way so many times as it is en route to my office and never did I expect the place to look so posh and comfortable. Clearly they have spent a lot of money renovating this place. Whether it is the outdoor seating area or the indoor seating area, they were so inviting. Looking at this place, it definitely looks much better and conducive to hold discussions and casual chats compared to those big foreign brands.

Bill For The Day

The above are just a few pages from their menu. Food items range from cakes to burgers and many more and they have a decent selection of cakes as well. Just like any other cafe, once you have decided what you would like to have, head over to the counter, place your orders and pay for them. Once you're done with that, a remote buzzer would be handed over to you for food collection. Once the food item is ready, this unit buzzes. 

Iced Americano Soda @ RM 8.00

Instead of serving the usual Americano, they have improvised this drink by adding Soda to it and it did taste great. Besides the deep and bold coffee taste, the soda added a zing to it that gives you an instant refreshment with each sip. An improvisation that I enjoyed and as such, I would rate this at 8/10. 

Moroccan Lamb Burger @ RM 15.00

Juicy Lamb Patty Served With Cheese

The Moroccan Lamb Burger came with a thick lamb patty and they had stacked a range of other goodies like nachos, melted cheese etc to give it a range of flavours. I did taste the lamb patty on it's own and it was nothing much. However, when it was consumed with all the other ingredients as it should be, then it was very satisfying. Definitely a good lamb burger that I enjoyed and I would give this 8/10. 

Nutella Cheese Cake @ RM 10.00 

This Nutella Cheese Cake was heavenly. There are two of my favourites here, Nutella and Cheese and how can it go wrong. Each bite was so good that I savoured and enjoyed this cake slowly. Definitely one that I would recommend here. My rating for this shall be 9/10. 

Be it their cakes, burgers or coffee, they were all so good and very reasonably priced. Not forgetting the ambiance which was so comfortable and perfect to have business discussions. Compared to all those foreign cafes, I believe these guys surely give better value for the dollar spent. 

Address: 1-11, Jalan GC 11, Glomac Cyberjaya, 63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 0900 - 0000 Daily

Simply D @ Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur

I have always wanted to visit this restaurant but never got an opportunity. This afternoon, I had to meet up with a friend and since we were in NU Sentral Mall, we decided to drop by. This chain of restaurants belongs to the Delicious Group and under this branding, they currently have three outlets. The first one to open was in Avenue K, followed by the one in The Curve and lastly this one in NU Sentral. 

The Cafe Located Opposite KL Sentral Station

A Very Modern Design

Comfortable Seating

Getting to this restaurant can be a little tricky. Assuming you are coming from KL Sentral, you would need to take the escalator down to the Ground Floor and walk outside towards Starbucks. Once you see Starbucks, turn left and keep walking straight and you would come to this restaurant. Despite being part of the NU Sentral Mall, the entrance is from the outside as this outlet faces the KL Sentral Station. The place is not too large, probably good to seat 30 people at any one time. The design was modern and comfortable. Since we were here an hour before lunch, we had the entire place to ourselves till around 12 noon when crowd started coming in.  

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

Contact Details and Outlets

Set Menu

Initially, I thought that the prices here would be quite steep but to my surprise, they seemed reasonable. Right from snacks to heavy meals, they had them all. For those would would love to go for set meals, those are available as well. In case you do not want to have coffee, tea or any other drinks, both hot and cold water are provided complimentary and you could get them yourself from the cutlery station. 

Lamb & Hummus Wrap @ RM 17.00

Lamb Wrap, Salad and Fries

I believe all their meals comes with Salad and Fries and so did this one. The salad was a simple vegetable salad. It tasted good and was served cold as it should be. As for their salad, I would give that a 7/10. 

Closer Look At The Wrap

The Lamb & Hummus Wrap came with sliced cucumbers, sun dried tomatoes, grilled red peppers, hummus and some delicious shredded lamb. The portion was huge and taste wise, it was pretty good. The contents were sufficiently moist and creamy and the cucumbers gave it a good crunch. A good one to have here and I would rate this at 8/10. 

The Greek Burger @ RM 19.00

Just like the earlier set, this Burger too came with the same salad and some fries. But I must confess that the burger was really huge. 

Fries

The fries were good. It had a crisp to it and the inside was soft and tasty. Lightly salted just the way it should be. Properly done and I would give this a 8/10. 

The Greek Burger

The Greek Burger came with a huge, thick lamb patty along with some salad, tomatoes, avocado and feta cheese. My suggestion would be that if you're not really hungry, please do not go for this one as it was really huge. Took me a while to finish it and what more with the salad and fries on the sides. The ingredients were perfect and that combination of ingredients gave it a very unique taste. The lamb patty was nice but in my opinion, it could have been better. There was something that was lacking which I could not figure out. Otherwise, it was very nice and I would give this  8/10 as well. 

In summary, I did like this place. The food was good, reasonable prices, friendly staffs and during non peak hours, it's a fantastic place to have business discussions. Definitely a place that I would recommend. 

Address: Lot G-9, Ground Floor, NU Sentral Mall, 201, Jalan Tun Sambanthan,

                Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1000 - 2200 Daily

Telephone: +603 2276 6607 

Loveats Gourmet Burger Kitchen @ Tanjung Malim, Perak

Having been open for about four years now, Loveats Gourmet Burger Kitchen is the first of it's kind Halal Gourmet Burger joint to open in Tanjung Malim. Located in Taman Universiti, close to the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, this restaurant is mostly frequented by students. Having passed it many times, we never really took notice of it until tonight when I read quite a number of good reviews on Foursquare. It is then I decided to drop by.

Loveats in Taman Universiti

Very Modern Design

Located along the road fronting row of shops, it is impossible to miss this place. The decoration at this restaurant is very simple yet modern and stylish. I was also impressed to see that this restaurant was very clean.

Ordering Chit

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

Just like most other Burger joints, this place too practices the self service concept. You would have to decide your orders, tick the appropriate boxes on the order chit and head to the counter where you would order and pay for the items. They would then be prepared and sent to your respective tables. The menu has a good variety of burgers. Fish, Beef, Chicken, Lamb and also vegetarian burgers are available here. Besides burgers, there are also a list of Hot Dogs to choose from. For children, a selection of Kids Meal sets are available too.

The Da Vincheese @ RM 9.90

The Da Vincheese @ RM 9.90

You could go for either Ala Carte which is just the burgers or opt for their sets which comes with a heap of fries and a very large drink. The above The Da Vincheese is one of their chicken burgers and it was priced at RM 9.90 . If you need more meat, you could always top up an additional patty regardless of the burger. This burger comes with a thick chunk of deep fried chicken breast, salad, onion, jalapenos, mayonnaise and cheesy nachos sauce. The extremely soft bun was a delight and the juicy chicken was heavenly. In total, it was an awesome combination of flavours. If you love chicken burger, you have got to try this. I would rate this burger at 9/10. 

The Dory @ RM 10.90

All their burgers comes with the Charcoal Buns. The Dory Burger is comes with a really large Fish patty and is dressed with Seaweed, Cheddar Cheese and Tartar Sauce. The burger, was exceptionally good. The fish patty was excellent and was absolutely tasty. Definitely would win my vote as one of those good Fish Burgers out there. Just like the earlier one, this too deserves a 9/10.

The Beauty Rosemary @ RM 13.90

Delicious Minced Lamb Patty

Typical of all the burgers here, this too came with the Charcoal buns. It had a large juicy lamb patty and was dressed with Salad, Grilled Pineapple, Mayonnaise, Rosemary and Mint Sauce.  The Bun itself was extremely soft and delicious and the lamb was heavenly. Every bite would definitely please your taste buds. An excellent Lamb Burger and I would rate this at 10/10 . 

The Boston Bobs @ RM 5.90

We also tried one of their Gourmet Sausages and this one was called The Boston Bobs. Typically a 7" chicken sausage and dressed with salad, mayonnaise and chili sauce. Compared to the earlier burgers that were impressive, this seemed a little ordinary to me. The dressing was fine but the sausage could have been better. I would give this a 7/10. 

Overall, we were very impressed with their burgers. All three burgers that we tried were excellent. Unfortunately, the sausage wasn't equally good. I would definitely come back for their burgers. For a gourmet burger restaurant, I felt that their prices were very reasonable. If I had this very same burger in Kuala Lumpur, I would easily be paying double or even triple. Definitely a good family restaurant that I would recommend. 

Address: No. 22, Jalan U1, Taman Universiti, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak.

Telephone: +6012 309 2069  

Opening Hours: Sunday - Friday 1700 - 2300 (Closed on Saturdays)