Restoran Soon Hock @ Kampung Desa Aman, Sungai Buloh

My parents and brother returned from India today after being there for a week. I know very well that they must be yearning for good Chinese food having had Indian vegetarian meals for a week there. As such, I had been searching on the internet for some good places near Damansara Damai, which is where I live and discovered this restaurant.

At Restoran Soon Hock

All the food blogs were praising this restaurant for the taste as well as value for money. Decided to head there. The address seemed vague as most of the blogs posted them as in Desa Aman Puri and then followed by Sungai Buloh which is quite contradictory. I then tried searching for the street on my GPS and after trying for more than half an hour, I gave up. Decided to call the restaurant. Initially the line was engaged for a while and then the boss picked up, a Chinese male. 

He gave me clear and simple directions to the restaurant. Just head up to Sieramas roundabout and take 4 o' clock. Simple as that. Skeptical as I was, I followed his instructions precisely and found that there actually was a 4 o' clock turning which lead to an unpaved village road heading down. 100 meters down this road you would see this restaurant on the left. It was like it was in the middle of nowhere and the restaurant was packed, literally packed. The boss was standing outside the shop and guiding people to park their cars. He recognized me instantly as I was perhaps the only non Chinese to call and he guided us to a table.

He stood by us and recommended the dishes. I obeyed as he knows best and he was trying his best to promote the favorites at his restaurant. 

Long Beans with Salted Eggs

The first dish to arrive was the above, long beans with salted eggs. As there was only five of us and I wanted to try as many dishes as possible, he had adjusted the dish size accordingly. This dish was very good. The beans were fresh, you could still taste the sweetness from the beans and yet the outer salted egg taste was intact too. Highly recommended!

Steamed Talapia Fish. Here known as Kampong Fish

The next dish to arrive was the above Steamed Talapia Fish. Here at this restaurant, this dish is called Kampong Fish. They have two famous dish dishes, this and the Thai Styled Fish. This trip, we decided to try the above. This is the first dime I see a fish dish being served is a container as such. Besides the usual ingredients, this had loads of mushrooms, soft tofu, fried tofu and many more. At first taste, all of us fell in love with this dish. In fact, even after eating the fish, we continued to drink the sauce. It was excellent.

Kung Pow Pork

The next dish we had was the Kung Pow Pork. I know most people would order chicken for this dish style but we wanted to try something different and went with pork instead. This dish was also good. It had the right infusion of sweetness and spiciness. Loved it.

Kailan with Salted Fish

This was another dish that surprised me. The Kailan was still so green, fresh and crispy when served and yet it tasted delicious. Unlike other places, here they used a great amount of salted fish and that added to the taste greatly.

Pumpkin Soup Tofu

This is another signature dish here. There is a layer of eggs at the base followed by fried tofu's and green beans which are aligned and topped by pumpkin soup. Such a great culinary skill involved here. One has to be careful to scrape the egg of from the base and dish out with the tofu and beans and the soup. This goes very well with rice. Plain rice and just this pumpkin gravy would have been enough to stand alone as a meal. Great dish!

Curry Chicken Bun

This is another signature dish here and it came highly recommended in all the blogs that I had read about this restaurant. In fact, every table in this restaurant today had ordered this dish.

Curry Chicken Bun

 The dish was lovely. Having it is quite simple. You only eat the upper part of the bun. Its comes cut to expose the ingredients inside. Just lift the bun perforations and open the aluminium foil inside and you will find the Chicken Curry with Potato's inside. My verdict is that this dish was good. The bun itself was the best I tasted, similar to the one in Kampar but the Chicken Curry was better at the one I had in Seremban. Overall it is still a good dish and is much closer to my place than Kampar or Seremban. :)

Us Having Dinner Here

On the whole, this place was very satisfactory. The owner was very courteous and kept checking back on us  to ensure we had a great dinner. The best part was the price. The entire dinner including rice and drinks came to only RM 94.00 . Believe me, it was just that! Should I have had this dish anywhere else in Kuala Lumpur, surely it would have been much more. Honestly, I was expecting it to be around RM 180 and as he was calculating, I was holding four RM 50 notes. Truly surprised and this place comes highly recommended!

Address:

Restaurant Soon Hock 顺福
170, Batu 11, Jalan Desa Aman 6 ,
Kampung Desa Aman (near Sieramas), Selangor 47000 Malaysia
Tel: +603 6148 8973 

P.S: Just follow the directions which I have given and you would never miss this shop.

Opening Hours: Not too sure what time it starts but closes at 2230 and closed on Mondays. 

Steam Room @ Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

Today is a day to celebrate as two major milestones, have been achieved by me. With the thought of celebration in mind, we headed out to Mont Kiara for dinner. 

We came to this newly opened office cum shopping mall in Mont Kiara called 1 Mont Kiara. It is located just opposite Plaza Mont Kiara. After settling with some shopping, we head to Steam Room. Steam Room is found in quite a number of malls and this is just one of them. 

The Steam Room, 1 Mont Kiara

It is located on the first floor of the mall. Once here, it was quite full as it was around 7 pm. There were quite a number of reservations I could see and we were ushered to our table in a short while. The service here was very good. Surely a thumbs up to the team there. They are very attentive to your needs and stand by you when you are about to place your order with the right recommendations.

Love the Interior Decoration

The interior decoration was another thing that attracted me here. They maintained a typical steam room concept were the walls were plain cement and not painted, piles of logs arranged as the deco and even at the entrance you could see the piles of the dim sum steam dish arranged beautifully.

Customary Steamed Peanuts @ RM 3.00 

As usual, once we were seated and were going through the menu, we were served with these steamed peanuts. Its not free of course and is charged at RM 3.00 . Some customers did also decline this I observed.

Steamed Rice @ RM 2.00

Now came the waitress. We placed our orders as per her recommendations and when we wanted to order two bowls of rice, she quickly suggested that we should remain with one as the portion size is quite big. She also suggested that if we want more, we could always call for more and that sounded pretty practical to me. Well, luckily we kept with one, the size was indeed big.

Fried Eggplant with Chicken Floss @ RM 8.00

Most of the dishes we ordered were the recommended dishes and in fact this was also stated in the menu card. One such dish is the Fried Eggplant with Chicken Floss as per the above picture. This was done so perfectly that one would think that it is sweet potato and not eggplant unless you went through the menu.

Claypot Pork and Salted Fish @ RM 20.80

The Claypot Pork and Salted Fish was well prepared too. One thing here is that the portion sizes are all fixed so you have to adjust the number of dishes according to the number of pax. 

Steamed Village Chicken @ RM 23.80

This Steamed Chicken was another signature dish here. Honestly, I do not find this dish very great. In fact, I have had much better ones outside even in some stalls. Another point to note is that this is a cold dish, hence the chicken would be cold but the garlic paste on top is hot. However, to me, this dish was not to the mark for the price paid.

Steamed Egg with Pork and Salted Eggs @ RM 13.80

This dish that you see above, Steamed Egg with Pork and Salted Eggs is another dish that I would recommend here at this restaurant. 

On the whole, it was a good dining experience. As mentioned earlier, the staffs were very friendly, attentive to your needs and they kept checking if all dishes ordered had been delivered. The delivery of food is also quite quick despite they were full house. 

Address:

Restaurant Steam Room,

No.L1-3A, Level 1, 1 Mont Kiara Shopping Mall,

No. 1, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara,

50480 Kuala Lumpur.

Opening Hours: 1000 - 2200 Daily

Kedai Kopi Mee Bon @ Jalan Ipoh

Today met up with an old friend from Chennai since he was visiting Malaysia and we planned to have dinner together. Initially, I was planning perhaps to take him to some Indian Restaurant here but guess what, he asked if we can go for some Dim Sum.

Mee Boon Coffee Shop

Such a surprise to me. Well, since we were already in Jalan Ipoh, decided to head to one of my favorite joins here which serves good Dim Sum....Mee Boon Coffee Shop. This outlet is located in 3rd Mile, Jalan Ipoh, just opposite Million Gardens. Finding it is not difficult as it is mostly crowded with rows of cars illegally parked along the road side. 

Assortment of Dim Sum to choose from

Once here, we were ushered to a table and then a guy came bringing an assortment of Dim Sums for us to choose. One peculiar thing which I observed at this restaurant is that somehow, they only bring it once. I have had previous experiences where when we wanted to top up the dishes, it is somehow so difficult to get them back to our table and they always seem to be passing the responsibility. To save us the time and hassle, we ordered our dishes in one go. 

More Dim Sum

The dishes here are really good. Another two items which I would recommend here is the Char Siew Pau and and Loh Mai Kai. Both of these are very good too. 

The Herbal Tea

Also to note is the herbal tea, it is made just the right way and with the correct sweetness. A must try here too. On the whole we had a good dinner here and the price was not too expensive. For 9 plates of Dim Sun, we paid RM 40.00 .  They have standard rates which are printed on the order sheet itself. So before hand, you would be able to know your total bill and no confusions here. 

Address:

No. 491, 3rd Mile, Jalan Ipoh,

51200 Kuala Lumpur.

Opening Hours: All Day

Africano Restaurant & Bar @ Kota Damansara

As I am on leave these days, decided to drive around Sunway Damansara area and check out the local food scene to see if there are any new places for me to try. That was when, around The Strand area, I discovered this Nigerian restaurant.

Walked in and I felt a little strange as the owner was kind of staring at me. Not a pretty sight to do to a customer. She must have thought I must be lost or looking for someone. Hehehe....perhaps because  I'm an Indian and surely she did not expect me there.

Well, since I am already here, decided to check the menu out. The shop itself was very posh. Being two stories, the ground floor was dedicated to the restaurant and the first floor is a bar selling Nigerian liquor.

The waitress came over and she had asked me what I wanted to order. Obviously I had no idea and she brought me a simple card which is supposed to be the menu. Okay...there seemed that only a few dishes are available here but surely they seemed authentic to the West African continent.

Items available were like Cows Tongue, Lamb, Beef and Yam and the variation of the dishes...regardless of the meat you choose, were few, Since I love lamb, decided to go for it. The price, RM 20 per piece of lamb which I think is very expensive.

However, it is not served separately. It would be put into a vegetable dish or a soup dish. Now, this is a separate price.  A dish of this vegetable and a piece of Semolina.....which is wheat flour cooked...which apparently is the staple dish here costs RM 5. I wanted to choose the vegetable but was told it is not available. However, only the soup was available today.

Well fine. The soup is called Egusi soup. Within a short time the food arrived.

This is the Egusi Soup. The lamb is already inserted at the base of it. The total cost of this...soup plus the lamb is RM 25.00 .

Then comes the Semolina as per the picture below.

The ideal way of eating is to dip the Semolina into the soup and have the dish. The Semolina...as there is no salt or spices added into it, tastes pretty flat. On the other hand, it was very filling too. I could only finish half of it but definitely finished the whole soup. The soup for one...was delicious.

The address of this place is:
Africano Restaurant & Bar,
No. 8-G, Jalan PJU 5/20D,
The Strand, Kota Damansara,
Selangor.

Opening Hours: 1000 - 2200 Daily

Dear friends, kindly do take note that as of September 2013, I have come to realise that this place is closed and is no longer in business. Kindly do take note. Best regards, Venoth.

Lucky Sichuan Restaurant @ Kota Damansara

Today is my mothers birthday and as such, we have planned to go out for dinner and celebrate. As I was wondering where to take them, I decided to go for Sichuan food instead as that is a variety which they may hove not tried before. I was made to understand that the food from Sichuan province is usually very spicy.

With that genre in mind and after getting some recommendations from friends, we head out to this restaurant in Sunway Damansara called Lucky Sichuan Restaurant. Finding the place was not difficult as it is just along the same row as Nasi Kandar Kayu and it faces the main inside street. 

Once there, we were taken up stairs to the first floor as there was five of us and all the big tables on the ground floor were occupied. The first floor seemed very posh, perhaps more often used for wedding dinners and private functions. 

After glancing the menu for some time, we made our orders. Please find the photos below.

This is Steamed Shredded Potato in Sour Sauce. Also available in Spicy Sauce @ RM 8.00 . Must try for potato lovers like me :p

This is a signature dish here. Stir Fried Chicken Sichuan Style @ RM 28.00 . Lovely taste.

Mapo Beancurd....one of the best that I have tried @ RM 12.00 

Kung Pao Chicken @ RM 15.00 

 Stewed Pork Ball in Brown Sauce @ RM 28.00 . This was heavenly.

One thing that I would like to commend about this place is that the service is extremely efficient and they are always ready to serve you better. Usually one waitress is kept to attend specially to your table. 

Another specialty that must be tried here is the Sichuan Tea. A beautifully infused drink without the usual strong taste. Overall it was a great experience for us here and I would surely return here again soon.

Just as we were about to leave, this was a group picture which we took at the first floor for keep sake purposes. I would surely recommend anyone looking for Sichuan cuisine to this lovely place.

The address is:

No. 19, Jalan PJU 5/12, 

Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara,

47810 Petaling Jaya.

Opening Hours: 1100 - 1500 & 1800 - 2300 Daily

Taste Vegetarian Restaurant @ Kota Damansara

Today we had some limitations in food tasting, we were vegetarians. As such, was thinking of a good place to go for dinner and this restaurant came to my mind. Its called Taste Vegetarian Restaurant and is located in Sunway Damansara area in Kota Damansara.

It is located right opposite Khalifa Restaurant and behind Sunway Giza...directly opposite the car park entry and exit points.  I made a mistake of not taking the building photo as that would have made it easier fellow food lovers to find the place easily. Anyway, the address is as perfect to find it through any GPS.

The restaurant interior was quite simple but it had a Chinese Tea House resemblance. It brought back my memories in Beijing. It was quite crowded when we arrived.

The menu was quite comprehensive and I observed that they do not use eggs, garlic and onions in any of their dishes. Therefore, some sects from Hinduism and Buddhism who do not consume these items can freely come and have their meals here.

The lady boss came and we were assisted with the orders. Since it was just the two of us, there was a limit as to the number of dishes which we could try, though I had hoped of tasting more dishes here. This time we kept to to three only. 

Buttermilk Mushroom @ RM 15.00

This above dish was one of their highly recommended dishes here. It was truly fantastic. The Buttermilk had seeped into the food wonderfully and the mushroom was crispy. Highly recommended!

Tofu in Minced Mushrooms @ RM 12.00

This was another excellent dish. I believe they were somehow trying to imitate the Mapo Tofu except this was the vegetarian version. The taste was good for a vegetarian dish and the portion size generous for the price. 

Kangkung Belacan @ RM 9.00

This was another great dish here. I truly wonder how they recreated the taste of belacan which is typically dried shrimps into a vegetarian wonder. Truly a great match of taste to the original. I have tried vegetarian variation of this many places before and this is definitely the best.

On the whole, this is a great place to have vegetarian meals. The price was decent compared to many of the vegetarian restaurants out there. The service was very fast, in fact the food came in less than 10 minutes. I believe all their workers are Cambodians and they were very hard working. Another point to note is that they also offer both white and brown rice.

Address:

Taste Vegetarian Restaurant
C-6-1, Jalan PJU 5/17,
Dataran Sunway Kota Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

03-61406646

Opening Hours: 1000 - 1400 ; 1800 - 2200

House - Restaurant.Bar.Winepost @ The Curve

We arrived to this restaurant completely unplanned and just by accident. Well, today we visited the IT shop at the Curve as we planned to get some stuffs and I too wanted to visit the second hand book store which is located on the Ground Floor of e@Curve.

After we finished with the IT store, while heading to the escalator we discovered this place. Seemed more like a Wine Post but it had loads of dining area too. My first concern was if it had any vegetarian food as we were vegetarians for the past few days. I checked out the menu and yes it had vegan food which was excellent for us. Paradoxical as it may sound, we were having vegetarian food in an Italian Restaurant.

Mountain Dew @ RM 6.90 each

It was divided into two sections, the dining area which was split level two floors and the outdoor bar area. We sat on the ground level dining area, very close to the entrance. 

Waiting for our meal

I liked the atmosphere here. It was nice and very comfortable. The service was also very efficient. Within a short while the drinks arrived and then our main course.

Margarita Pizza (Vegetarian) @ RM 29.90

Within moments, the Margarita Pizza which we ordered had arrived. It is a thin crust pizza...true Italian Style served on a wooden platter. The pizza was good, contained very little oil and was good to serve two.

Potato Samosas @ RM 8.90

Well, I know what you guys must be wondering...samosas in an Italian Restaurant. Well, yeah as we did not have much choices. Any way, I know where these samosas came from. It's the same one that we could buy from supermarkets in the frozen section. I know it as I buy these frequently. :) 

Mint (Pudina) Chutney

This chutney comes along with the above samosas.

Deco inside the restaurant

On the whole, we were satisfied with the meal but surely looking at trying the other non vegetarian dishes soon.

Address: House Restaurant Wine & Bar

Lot G25 - 26, Ground Floor, e@Curve, 
Mutiara Damansara,

Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Contact: 603-77222414