Restoran Pantai Ria Seafood @ Port Dickson, Malaysia

As it draws to dinner time, today we decided to check out the sea food restaurants along the coastal road of Port Dickson and that is when we stumbled across this restaurant. It is called Restoran Pantai Ria Seafood. Actually I have been here many years ago but then, it was a typical Chinese restaurant but today I observe that it has become a Halal Chinese Restaurant though still owned by the same management. A smart move indeed as they would gain from the huge influx of Malay tourists that come to Port Dickson.

The Sign Visible From The Road

The Restaurant

It is quite clear to note this restaurant. Try to use the above sign as you landmark as it is well lit at nights and clearly visible during the day.

When we arrived here, the restaurant was full house and mostly filled by our Muslim friends. Indeed a great business move by the owners. I know the food here is quite good if my memory serves me well. Well, we are here to try the dishes again. I also noted that all the waiters were Malay's too. It is good as it eases any possible doubts that may come up.

Waiting for orders to be taken

 We were ushered to our place quite speedily. The lady boss kept observing all her staffs working and made sure that no patrons were left without tables. However, taking the orders did take some time as there was only one Chinese girl doing it. So it took a long time as she had to move from table to table finalizing the orders. But then, it was fine. Within 20  minutes she was at our table and we got our orders through. However delivery of the food items was pretty fast. I guess they must be having a number of cooks at the kitchen working full motion.

Black Pepper Ostrich

Except for this dish all the other dishes we ordered tonight were Thai Style. Something for a change as we have been consistently eating Chinese seafood for the past few days. Now, this dish was good. I am sorry as I do not have the price breakdown but will mention the total bill at the end of this entry. The meat was soft and it was well blended with the sauces.

Thai Style Squid

I liked this dish very much but there was some mixed opinions even at my table. 3 out of 5 liked this dish, so I guess the majority wins. The negatives I received from those who did not like it was that it was too oily.

Thai Style Fish

This was another good dish. Deep fried and was quite spicy. Just like the previous dish, the only setback here was the oil content too. Otherwise, if taste is the only concern, its good.

Seafood Tom Yam Soup

This was average as I think they had used some pre packed  flavoring to create the taste instead of the ground ingredients. It is not bad, can eat for those who want to try this but if possible, do try other dishes.

Thai Style Tofu

This dish is highly recommended. It was unanimously voted as a good dish.Hard on the outside and soft on the inside. Just loved it.

On the whole, it was is a good restaurant.The bill came to a total of RM 92.50 out of which RM 79.00 was fir the food and the remaining amout for the drinks.I fell it was quite okay bearing in mind the number of dishes and volume. It works out to less than RM 20 per pax.

Do give this place a try next time you are in Port Dickson too.

Address: Lot 3/223 Wisma Lim Chong Hai,
                7 1/2 Miles, Jalan Pantai,
                71050 Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.

Tel: +606 6625122

Opening Hours: 1130 - 1500 & 1800 - 2300

Restoran Chardin Sea View Seafood Village @ Port Dickson, Malaysia

It is the day after Deepavali and we are still here in Port Dickson. Now, time to look for some good place for lunch. Would not be wanting to eat again in the Coffee House like last night. What I did for a change was to get into the car and got my GPS to explore places and then it loaded this Chardin Sea View Seafood Village restaurant which is not too far from where I stayed. It mentioned that it was less than 3 Kilometers and we collectively decided to try out the place.

At Chardin Sea View Seafood Village

In less than 5 minutes, we were here at this place. It is located on the way to the Port Dickson Town, and a mere 5 minutes from the PD town roundabout. Once we arrived, well it was already 2pm as we left late from the apartment and it was literally empty. I became skeptical on the restaurant but once I entered I was surprised. It was an extremely well stocked restaurant with different kinds of seafood, I would say the full array of even the exotic ones and had easily around 200 tables in the restaurant. I just thought to myself that we may have just missed the peak hour.

Inside the restaurant

Inside the restaurant

  Once we were in, the service was quite fast and we choose the table that was closest to the sea view. The boss arrived to take the orders and then it when I learned that this is a Halal restaurant and their main business is dinner. I was told that usually they are full house from 6pm to 9 pm and it is best to call and reserve a table before coming in for dinner. That was comforting to hear. Then another thought struck my mind, being in such a huge restaurant how would the bill be like. Well, we cant walk out now and since it is a festive season, just did not mind that and decided to place the orders. I also observed that all their workers were Cambodians.

Sizzling Bean Curd @ RM 10.00

The first dish we ordered arrived. The portions were big and later when the final bill came, I was extremely delighted that it was so cheap. I have placed the item prices at the photo itself as always for you to gauge. This dish was good for five and it was delicious.

Mixed Vegetable Soup @ RM 8.00

This photo shows a portion of the soup that was poured for me. In total, It gave around 8 bowls of soup. The soup itself was fantastic. In fact, I would bravely say that among the plain vegetable soups that I tried, this was surely the best and at a mere RM 8.00, it was truly cheap and delicious.

Fried Egg with Shrimps @ RM 8.00

This was the third dish we ordered. It was average as you get in other places too but the plus point here is that there we lots of shrimps in the eggs and it was decently priced at RM 8.00 .

Butter Cheese Squids @ RM 15.00

This dish was yummy and I loved every bit of it. It was also infused with butter with cheese and milk as the base and a touch of cili padi. That gave it a sweet, buttery base with a light touch of spiciness. A recommended dish to try here.

Dried Chilly Chicken with Cashew Nuts @ RM 15.00

This dish was average, I felt. There was a little too much vinegar to it and that killed the taste. Of course this may differ to individuals but this is just my humble opinion.

Sea Mantis with Salted Eggs @ RM 15.00

This was the last of the dishes that we ordered and it was good. Crispy with the right flavors. Loved this dish.

My Brother Checking Out The Sea Food Items

On the whole, it was a good dining experience. In total including the rice and drinks the bill came to a mere RM 88.65 and that is a good deal for five to dine. Having it's Halal status, this would surely entice more Muslim crowd too to dine at this restaurant. If you are in Port Dickson, do check out this restaurant and you would not be disappointed.

Address: Batu 1, Jalan Seremban, 
                71000 Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.

Telephone: +606 647 4569
                    +606 647 5188
                    +6019 367 1465

Email: elim331@yahoo.com

Opening Hours : 1130 - 1500
                             1730 - 2300

Glory Beach Resort Coffee House @ Port Dickson, Malaysia

Today is Deepavali day and this year for Deepavali, we decided to head out to Port Dickson, a beach town in the state of Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia. We were here late afternoon, that is the time we checked in into the apartments and have been pretty much there the whole day. Last night it was a long night for me and this night we decided to venture not too far but to try the restaurant at the hotel itself. For your information, we stayed at Glory Beach Resort.

Entrance To The Coffee House

Once we were at the coffee house, I was surprised to find that we were the only patrons there. Perhaps most of the crowd have gone into the beach area to venture the seafood restaurants which Port Dickson is famous for. As for us, we were quite tired especially with my parents following on this trip and we decided to keep it simple.

I also noticed that most of the waiters were part time students who were doing their bit during the school holidays. Finally the guy came up to us and gave the menu card. There was a mixture of Western and Malaysian food on the menu. The rest of the staff were busy preparing for breakfast the next day.

As You Can See, The Restaurant Was Empty

Once we placed our orders, we had to wait a long time for food. In fact during that time, my brother and I had time to walk out to the beach and we had at least had 3 cigarettes while waiting for the food. Another setback that I noticed was there were a few cats in the restaurants and that was quite annoying. I hate cats especially when they sit at your seats and keep making noises in anticipation that you would give them some food.

Being a 4 star resort, these guys should have taken care of that.

Waiters Preparing For Breakfast Next Day

It was truly a long wait but luckily I had my family with me and we had a lot of things to chat about. After about 45 minutes, the first dish arrived.

Char Kuey Tiow @ RM 14.50

Okay. Honestly, this was bad. The food was too soggy and there was abundant of oil used. I can honestly say that I can still fry another three eggs from the excess oil used here. Both my Mom and Angie who ordered this were quite disappointed. Taste wise, 4 out of 10.

Grilled Lamb Shoulder @ RM 20.00

My brother and I ordered this. Honestly, this was excellent. It was done the right way and with the right sauces. I truly loved this dish.

Fish & Chips @ RM 19.00

I managed to get a taste of dish as well though it was ordered by my Dad. It was lovely. Seemed to me like the in house chef was a specialist in Western Dishes as his western dishes were beyond par and his Malaysian dishes were below standards.

I truly wish the hotel can make some adjustments as to accommodate another chef that specializes in Malaysian food else they may end up loosing customers especially when the entire table orders specifically western dishes.

On the whole, including drinks the total bill came to RM 103.00 . I don't mind the price as long as the food is worth the price. My recommendation, if you are here, do order the western dishes as opposed to the local dishes to avoid disapointments.

Address: Batu 2, Jalan Seremban, Tanjung Gemuk,
               71000 Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.

Telephone: +606 651 6888

Opening Hours:  0630 - 2230

Vivo American Pizza & Panini @ Tropicana City Mall

Today was another day that we were in a mall just to catch a movie and like the previous entry, this time we were in Tropicana City Mall.

Vivo at Tropicana City Mall

This outlet is located on the first floor, on the further end that GSC is except that GSC is on the second floor. There were quite a number of outlets here but we were in the mood for some western food hence we decided for this outlet.

The Interior of the restaurant

Once we arrived here, the waiter ushered us to a table. At this moment, everyone seemed so busy as the restaurant was operation on full capacity and there were only a few manning the restaurant.

Next a waiter came and handed us the menu card and I have literally photographed every page of the menu card and you can find the photos below here. That would give you a heads up on their full offerings.

The Menu Card

The Menu Card

The Menu Card

The Menu Card

The Menu Card

The Menu Card

The Menu Card

The Menu Card

The Menu Card

Hope the above photos were helpful in understanding the menu offerings. After going through the menu thoroughly, we placed our orders. It was difficult to even get the guy to come to our table to record of orders as they were all so busy tonight.

Sambal Ikan Bilis Pizza @ RM 12.90

If you observe carefully, the illustration on the menu card and the actual item delivered was totally different. Being an anchovies pizza, I could hardly count the number of anchovies here and I think they were less than five. Taste wise, was just okay and nothing great.

Garlic Bread @ RM 10.50

This one was great. The garlic bread was toasted well and the spread was excellent and rightly salted. A highly recommended dish.

Mid Joint BBQ Wings @ RM 11.90

Mid Joint BBQ Wings @ RM 11.90

The Mid Joint BBQ Wings was also fantastic. I loved the way it was marinated and grilled. It was clear that they were not using those off the shelf barbecue sauces and it was a specifically made one. The taste was excellent and another highly recommended dish at this restaurant.

Ocean Discovery @ RM 22.90

This was a fantastic dish but it was a little too much for the two of us. It has deep fried fish fillets, fried calamaris, fried scallop cakes, onion cakes and fries. A great dish if there was at least 3 people. Truly worth the price as it had a combination of five different items. Highly recommended.

Chocolate Marble Cheese Cake @ RM 6.50

This was the last that we ordered here, more like desert and the cake was delicious. For the size and taste, it had only cost us RM 6.50. Absolutely worth it.

Me After A Full Meal

On the whole, this is a great restaurant and the food is above average and price is cheap compared to many of those restaurants that are serving the very same thing in Bangsar and charge the sky. I hope that I would return soon and be able to try the many other offerings that they have here.

Contact Information of this outlet

Locations of other outlets

Address:  L1-55, Level 1, 
                Tropicana City Mall,
                No. 3, Jalan SS20/27,
                47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Web.wwwvivopizza.com

Opening Hours: 1000 - 2200

Toast Box @ 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya

Today we had planned for a movie at GSC, 1 Utama. As it was a 9 pm show, we had reached pretty early as you know during the weekends, finding a parking bay here is close to madness. Luckily, a car was just leaving as we reached the parking area and we got a lot immediately. Having collected my tickets, we had an hour at our disposal. That is when we decided to have dinner before the movie instead of the original plan of having it after.

With Twisties Man at the ticketing counter

Photo with Twisties Man at GSC Ticketing Counter

After scouting around the mall, decided to try out Toast Box which is located on the 2nd Floor of the new wing. Usually most people would try their buns and I know it is good but for a change, we decided to try their main dishes today.

Toast Box at 2nd Floor, 1 Utama

I know it may not be common to try the main dishes here, but someone has to try and rate them anyway, so why not me. I was going through the menu card and it seems the highly recommended dishes were the Mee Siam and Curry Laksa.

Menu Card at Toast Box

Set Menu's Also Available

Having ordered and paid for our dishes at the counter, we then returned to our seats. Here it is a self service concept.

Having collected my coffee, back to the table

Coffee at RM 2.60

It was a long wait for the food. After waiting for almost 20 minutes I got restless and walked up to the counter to check on my dinner. They mentioned that it is still being prepared. A little skeptical, I returned to my place.

Restlessly waiting for our food

I kept looking at the counter and it seemed that these guys, just two of them, were manning this booth so lazily. At some point I wondered if this guy was doing anything or sleeping by leaning on the pole. Please see the photo below.

Very Slow Service

We were both at the point of becoming agitated. After half an hour of waiting, I went back to the counter to check on them and they still mentioned that it was being prepared. Come on guys...does it take half an hour to prepare those.

Angie was beyond bored waiting for the food

Okay...finally here comes the food at the 38th minute. You can see how accurately I timed it as I was so agitated waiting for so long.I only understood why it took so long after the food had arrived.

Mama's Special Mee Siam @ RM 6.80

This was horrible actually. It seems that they use pre packed food that was kept frozen and I reckon that not many have been ordering these dishes that they must have been kept frozen for a long time. This was my dish and though the top was hot, which obviously they had used a microwave to reheat, the middle and bottom part was still ice cold and partially frozen.

Curry Laksa @ RM 6.80

Angie ordered this dish too and it was no better. Very bad taste and you could get some weird taste, must be the preservatives. It was also cold as you dig deeper into the dish. We had to rush through these dishes as we were left with very little time before the movie begins and also the dishes were sub standard. I would never recommend these dishes at this outlet to anyone or even try them again myself. Perhaps at Toast Box, we should stick to the buns only. Please do note that their bun offerings are Vegetarian too.

Address: SK 7, Second Floor, 1 Utama (New Wing),
                1 Lebuh Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya,
                Selangor.

Telephone: +603 7725 5144

Opening Hours: Sun, Mon, Tuesday & Thursday 1000 - 2200
                           Wed, Fri, Sat & Public Holidays 0900 - 1200