Sushi Tomo @ SS2, Petaling Jaya

Initially, I wanted to go to a different Ramen shop in SS2 but due to the bad traffic conditions and lack of parking space, I ended up at this restaurant called Sushi Tomo. Sushi Tomo is supposedly one of those authentic Japanese restaurants that is owned by a Japanese couple. Do note that this restaurant is Pork Free but they do offer alcohol on their menu. 

Sushi Tomo at SS2

Interior of the Restaurant

True enough. When I walked in, I was greeted in Japanese by their local Malaysian staffs which is common but then the lady behind the cashier counter which seemed like the owner's wife, was Japanese and she too greeted all the customers that walked in. Most of their customers here tonight were Malaysian Chinese and I did not see a single Japanese customer in the house. That raised my suspicion on the true authenticity of the food but since I am already here, I'd rather try their food than being prejudiced without even tasting it. The restaurant must have been around for some time now as their decor and furniture seemed a little run down. I took a table towards the far end of the restaurant where I could observe the Chef's at work as there was a see through glass panel separating the dining hall and the kitchen.

The Menu

The Menu

The above are just two pages from their extensive menu. They seemed to offer a number of Sushi's, Sashimi's, Ramen and some Western-Japanese fusion dishes. I was looking for my favourite Gyoza but could not find it and it was later confirmed by the waitress that that item is not served here. Also their prices seemed a tad higher than the other common Japanese restaurants (not to include those high end ones) and I was hoping that the portion sizes commensurate with it. Having placed my orders, it was just a brief wait before the dishes started coming one by one.

Green Tea @ RM 2.00

I ordered the above Hot Green Tea and it comes at RM 2.00 which is the standard price almost everywhere and it is refillable. However, the Green Tea here seemed a little light in taste and flavour. I did not quite like it and I would only rate it at 6/10 .

Chawanmushi @ RM 3.90

Their Chawanmushi was quite bare and lacked the ingredients both inside as well as the toppings. The taste was also very average and it was rather flat to my palate. Seemed like a very stingy preparation. I would rate this at only 4/10 .Not worth the price paid.

California Maki Rolls @ RM 5.90

I was charged RM 5.90 for just two small pieces of the above California Maki Rolls which I felt was very unreasonable. Moreover, the cucumber and the rest of the filings were quite stale and disappointing. This was probably the worst California Maki Rolls that I have tried and I did not expect this from a restaurant owned by a Japanese. I would rate this dish at 2.5/10 . 

Miso Ramen @ RM 16.90

Having tried the previous two dishes, I was expecting this Ramen to be quite bad too but it took me by surprise. This is probably the best Miso Ramen that I have ever tried and the portion was huge. The broth was absolutely delicious and there were loads of Chicken and vegetables in the soup. An excellent preparation. I would rate this dish at 9.5/10 .

Salmon Teriyaki @ RM 17.90

The Salmon Teriyaki was a disaster. The portion was ridiculously small, the fish was extremely dry, tasteless and hard so much so it can snap into two, literally. In order to give it some flavour, I had to dip it into the Soy Sauce otherwise, it tasted plain flat. Being a Salmon lover, it was an utter disappointment.I would rate this dish at 1/10 .

On the whole, this place seemed not the ideal place to have Sushi's and other Japanese stuffs but it definitely is a good place if you only want to have Ramen. The prices were generally slightly higher, the taste was not satisfactory and the service too was just average. Just to mention here, halfway while eating (with still an hour to go before closing time) the waitress came up to me with the bill and just stood in front of me insisting that I had to pay up which I felt was very rude. I was taken aback by it and in my mind made a mental note not to ever return to this place again even if all the other Japanese restaurants in the Klang Valley close down. 

Address: 8, Jalan SS2/67, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Telephone: +603 7877 6485

Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 1200 - 1500 & 1800 - 2300

                           Sat & Sun 1200 - 1600 & 1800 - 2300

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf @ Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

Most people would have visited some Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf outlet at some point in time in the past and you must be wondering why I am doing an entry on this place. Well, it is simply because as part of their 50th Anniversary Celebration, Coffee Bean has introduced a new lineup of drinks and dishes into their menu and I wanted to try them out. The closest outlet to me is the one that is located in Mont Kiara Shoplex which is less than 5 minutes walk from my office. 

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at Mont Kiara Shoplex

The Entrance

Buns, Pies and Cakes Stacked Up

Interior of the Restaurant

Interior of the Restaurant

In fact this particular outlet is of one my favourite outlets as they have a spacious seating area both indoor and outdoor. The decor is exactly the same across all their outlets but I find the service here to be much better and the guys behind the counter are more professional. I guess it must be the exposure to the expatriate community within this locality that has improved the service levels. 

The Menu with the New Items Being Highlighted

The Menu with the New Items Being Highlighted

They have reprinted their Menu Cards with the new items being highlighted. I was initially thinking that they would have a separate card  with their new lineups but it's good of them to reprint the menu which indicates that this new lineup of dishes is here to stay for a while.Typical with any other Coffee Bean outlet, orders need to be placed at the cashier and once ready, the dishes would be sent over to your table. 

Pumpkin Latte (Regular) @ RM 16.80

This is one of the new flavours that was introduced. It did taste like Pumpkin Milk Tea and was slightly on the sweet side. At first it did taste a little odd but after a few sips, I started liking it and found it to be a rather innovative drink. I would rate this drink at 9/10 .

Chef's Grilled Chicken @ RM 17.90

Another newly introduced dish is the above Chef's Grilled Chicken which is priced at RM 17.90 . It came with a quarter chicken marinated with herbs and spices and on the side there were some salad and mashed potato's. 

The Salad

Generally the Salad served at Coffee Bean is usually good and this too met the expectations. The baby tomato's gave a sour taste but then the sultanas added a sweet touch to it. Definitely a well prepared salad and I would rate this at 9/10 .

Mashed Potato's

The Mashed Potato was just above average as it was dry and did not have enough milk in it but the gravy that topped the Mashed Potato was excellent. I am quite sure that Chicken Stock was added to the gravy. Being a sides served with the combination of both, I would rate this at 7/10 .

Grilled Chicken Thigh

The Grilled Chicken seemed like something that was just heated up and served and therefore had the out of the freezer taste to it and lacked freshness. The meat too was slightly on the hard side, must have been contributed by the prolonged freezing and the marination was just average. I was a little disappointed with this dish and as such, would only rate it at 5/10 .

As for my dining experience today, I would surely return for the drink but not for the Chicken. Well Coffee Bean being just another chain outlet, there is always a limit to what we could expect out of them and usually they surpass the required standards and only occasionally, you find them churning dishes like this that is not so satisfying. Whatever said and done, I still prefer Coffee Bean over Starbucks.

Address: Shop No. 6, Verandah No. 6 & Terrace B, 

                Ground Floor, Shoplex Mont Kiara, 

                Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.

Telephone: +603 2093 3635

Opening Hours: Sun - Thurs 0800 - 0000

                            Fri - Sat 0800 - 0100

Website: http://www.coffeebean.com.my/index.html

Hagen Bake & Brew @ Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

Hagen Bake & Brew used to be one of the most famous bakery's in Mont Kiara until recently when they had stopped their baking business and switched over to grilled meat and stuffs with a particular interest on Pork dishes. Well it is a good thing though since restaurants in this part of Mont Kiara mainly caters for the general crowd and they all have the Halal status and there aren't any good places that I can think of to have a good Porky meal. This restaurant is located in Mont Kiara Shoplex right above Las Vacas Meat Shop and has to be accessed from The Coffee Bean and  Ramen Taiko side. 

Hagen Bake & Brew at Mont Kiara Shoplex

Access To The Restaurant

The Smoker's Dining Area

To get to this restaurant, you would need to use the flight of stairs heading in to Ramen Taiko which takes you to the elevated area. From the road, this may seem like the floor above Las Vacas but such is the terrain. The restaurant is split into two areas, the non smoking area which is rather small and the smoking area which has more tables and is much more spacious. Despite it being a smoking area, they still do have air conditioners there which keeps the place cool.This restaurant has just a handful of staffs, if I remember it right, there were just the three of them and the most senior gentleman was the one facing the customers and taking the orders. 

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The above is just a few pages from their menu and as you can see, the emphasis has mostly been around Pork based dishes. Their prices are also quite reasonable and the latest addition to their menu has been their burgers. They also have a good selection of wines and beers available in house. Their breakfast menu too seems very impressive but they stop serving breakfast at 11 am daily. Being a fan of Lamb, I wanted to try their Lamb Burger but the gentleman taking my orders kept pestering me to try their Grilled Lamb Shoulder and I thought to myself, if he keeps repeating it then there must be some truth to it and I just gave in. After all, there wasn't much of a price difference between the two dishes and so I was confident that he was not just trying to up-sell me into having a more expensive dish. 

Latte @ RM 6.50

The Latte was nice but it came in an extremely small glass. For the price I definitely expected more but it was fixed nicely. I would rate their Latte at 8.3/10 .

Pork Sausages Wrapped with Pork Bacon @ RM 10.00

This dish was really good. It was Pork Sausages being wrapped with Pork Bacon and was served with some sauce and in a bamboo skewer. I literally fell in love with this dish. Every bite was heavenly. The sausage and bacon definitely churned out some great juices when combined together and it was just a feast to the palate. A must try dish here. I would rate this at 10/10 .

Grilled Lamb Shoulder @ RM 28.00

This was a huge dish. For RM 28.00, it came with two large slices of Lamb Shoulder, Potato with Garlic Cheese, a Salad and Mint Sauce. I shall comment on each of those individually.

Potato with Garlic Cheese

This was really good and went very well with the meat. The toppings added to the fried potato were grated cheese which was infused with garlic. A well prepared side dish and I would rate this at 9/10 .

Salad

The Salad was just quite ordinary and there was nothing special to it. I would only rate it at 5/10 .

Lamb Shoulders

There were two huge cuts of Lamb Shoulders and they were quite lean with minimal fat. The Mint Sauce provided was really a good preparation that went very well with the meat. It had the right amount of vinegar too making it a perfect Mint Sauce. The meat was on the hard side since it is the Lamb Shoulder but it was nice and juicy. Now I know why the waiter kept insisting that I should try this. Definitely a good dish and much better than what you get from their neighbours downstairs and I'm sure you know who that is. I would rate this dish at 8.8/10 .

Overall, I was very satisfied with the food here and the service was also up to the mark. The ambiance was great and it gives you a nice environment to have conversations or even work related discussions. Thumbs up to the team for their good food and great service.

Address: Lot 1E, New Wing, Ground Floor, Mont Kiara Shoplex,

                Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Telephone: +603 6201 1628

Opening Hours: Mon 1700 - 0000

                           Tues - Sat 0800 - 0000

                           Sun 0800 - 1700

Kumar's @ Oasis Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya

This is my third blog entry on Kumar's which is a Tamil fine dining restaurant located in Oasis Ara Damansara. I first visited them in April this year and that was for a buffet lunch. Having been hooked on to their food, I had been a loyal customer of theirs returning over and over again. If you would like to read my reviews of their buffet lunch, please do click on this link: http://venoth.blogspot.com/2013/04/kumars-restaurant-oasis-ara-damansara.html . The second time I visited this place was sometime early this month and that was with my office mates. During that visit, we had opted to try their Ala Carte dishes and once again Kumar's did not fail to impress us. To access that review, please do click on this link: http://venoth.blogspot.com/2013/10/kumars-restaurant-oasis-ara-damansara.html . This time around, we decided to have our office Annual Dinner at this restaurant. Having had numerous conversations with the General Manager Vincent, we finally came to an agreement on the dishes and the price. The location, was the roof top of the restaurant.

Kumar's at Oasis Ara Damansara

The View Outside The Restaurant

Besides great food, the view from this restaurant is simply superb. It has a beautifully designed water feature which is very soothing to look at. 

The Tables Set Up on the Roof Top

The Dishes

Bar Tables and Sofa's on the dimly lit Roof Top

When we arrived at this restaurant, it was all set up beautifully. The tables and dishes were aligned just the way we had asked for. There was also a canopy put up in case it rained. The cost for the canopy was RM 650.00 which was charged above the price of the food and this had been pre-agreed. One thing that was really great here besides the view was the environment. As it was the roof top, we had the entire floor to ourselves. The restaurant even allowed us to bring our own band that entertained us throughout the night.

White Rice

All the dishes were placed in those bronze containers and they were topped up as the food ran out. That way, they were consistently able to serve us hot food. 

Garlic Naan & Butter Naans

Besides White Rice, we had also ordered some Garlic Naans and Butter Naans. Both the Naans were very soft and nice. I would rate their Naan's at 8.8/10 .

Prawn Masala

The Prawn Masala was really good. They were large prawns which came in a very spicy gravy. I would rate this dish at 9.3/10 .

Squid Sambal

This was another super spicy dish. I was expecting it to be a little dry but they had made it slightly watery which was nice and went well with the White Rice. I would rate this dish at 9.2/10 .

Mutton Varuval

The Mutton Varuval was everyone's favourite dish of the day. It was very well prepared with an equal balance of meat and fat. The gravy was very good and the meat was soft and tender. I would rate this dish at 10/10 .

Chicken 65

The Chicken 65 was good but not the best that I had tried. The meat chunks were a little too hard. I would only rate this at 7/10 .

Fish Cutlets

This was another favourite dish which finished very fast as it was the favourite bites among the beer drinkers. I would rate these cutlets at 8.8/10 .

Mushroom Masala

This dish was rather unique as it was a fusion between Chinese and Indian cooking. It had both spices and sauces and tasted quite nice. The mushroom was also not overcooked thus giving it the crunchy feeling with every bite. I would rate this dish at 9/10 .

Chicken Perattal

Usually Chicken Perattal is quite dry but here it was prepared with some gravy which seemed more like Chicken Curry to me. Nevertheless, it was very well prepared and was slightly on the spicy side. I would rate this dish at 10/10 .

Venthayam Curry

Their Venthayam Curry was very good, in fact it was the best that I have tasted in a restaurant. It came with loads of vegetables and potato and had the perfect touch to it. I would rate this dish at 10/10 .

Vegetable Kurma

This was another well prepared dish and went very well with both the rice and naan's. It was prepared to be slightly thick and that brought about a deeper spice taste to it. We had to have both Vegetarian and Non Vegetarian options as we had some friends who were Vegetarians. I would rate this dish at 8.7/10 .

Sambar

The Sambar was nicely prepared. It was not a major hit but still nice. I would rate this at 8.5/10 .

Aloo Bendi Masala

This Aloo Bendi Masala was another dish well prepared and was very suitable to be eaten with the white rice. I would rate this dish at 8.7/10 .

Vegetarian Mutton Perattal

This was another dish that was specially prepared for the vegetarians. It was a very well prepared dish and they had used the real vegetarian mutton and not the soy meal makers. The curry too was thick and the aroma was wonderful. I would rate this at 9.2/10 .

Potato Cutlet

Just like the Fish Cutlets, these Potato Cutlets too were very good and they were just about the right size. I would rate these at 9.1/10 .

Kesari

The Kesari was wonderful. I must say that it was excellently prepared. I would rate this at 10/10 .

Gulab Jamun

The Gulab Jamun was only above average. I would only rate it at 6/10 .

On the whole, we thoroughly enjoyed the food and their staff were pretty quick in addressing all our needs. They were also well trained to react fast to attend to each one of us. For all the above food, we were charged at RM 130.00 per pax which I think is very reasonable. Would I organise parties here again, of course I would as I was very happy with the way it went today. 

Address: R-03, Central Plaza, No.2, Jalan PJU 1A/7A,  Oasis Ara Damansara,
              47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Telephone: +603 7734 7742 & +6010 377 5009 (Vincent - Restaurant Manager)

Email: vincent@kumars.my

Website: www.kumars.my

Opening Hours: 1030 - 1500 & 1830 - 2300 Daily