Magnum Cafe @ Putrajaya

I have come across this Magnum Cafe in Mid Valley but never really tried it. One of the reasons for this is simply because I am not really an ice cream fan. However, my father is and since he was with me this afternoon and after all that tiring walk exploring this mall, it felt good to have a brief stop and enjoy an ice cream. 

Magnum Cafe in IOI City Mall, Putrajaya

A Very Grand  Dining Hall

Huge Garden Themed Seating Area

Among all the Magnum Cafe's that I have come across, this was one majestic outlet. They occupy such a huge area and have a beautiful indoor and outdoor seating area. The outdoor seating area is right beside the dancing fountains and it's such a beautiful sight. 

Various Add Ons

Choose Your Own Topping As Well

Chocolate, Dark Chocolate & White Chocolate Dip

They have a variety of ice cream's to choose from their menu. Those can be priced from RM 20.00 to even more than RM 100.00 . One thing that caught my attention was their Cendol Ice Cream which I would probably be trying the next time I am here. If you're not going for those, then could can go for their standard ice cream which is priced at RM 9.90 . Two flavours are available, chocolate and vanilla and you choose the dip and the extra toppings to add on. 

Vanilla Ice Cream Dipped Into White Chocolate and Topped with a variety of toppings

A Closer Look

Chocolate Ice Cream Dipped Into Dark Chocolate and with a variety of toppings

The flexibility that you have to make your own ice cream of choice was one that I totally loved. The toppings were excellent as well. If you're one who loves ice cream, then this is a place that you have to visit. And if possible, visit this outlet in Putrajaya as the views and the overall ambiance is simply fantastic. Oh yes, I am surely returning to try their Cendol Ice Cream.

Address: GF-3, Ground Floor, IOI City Mall, 62502 Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1000 - 2200 Daily

Tappers Cafe @ Cyberjaya, Selangor

Tappers Cafe is a chain of restaurants that's quite famous and they have a number of outlets across the Klang Valley. Despite having been in the market for a number of years now, I have never tried the food at any one of their outlets thus far. Most of the time, I see their outlets to be full house and TV3's Jalan Jalan Cari Makan team had also endorsed the place. Looking at all this, we decided to drop by for dinner. 

The Outlet in Shaftsbury Square, Cyberjaya

Endorsement By The JJCM Team

They now have an outlet in Shaftsbury Square and that's quite convenient for me as it is just across the road from my office. Even at 8.00 pm, there were still a number of customers that were coming and that seemed assuring. This outlet has both indoor and outdoor seating areas. Even outdoors, there are ceiling fans installed to keep the place cool. 

They have a very impressive menu covering a range of cuisines. The only food item that I did not see there was Indian cuisine. Otherwise, they had a little of everything else. Prices were definitely steep. Not designed as a day to day restaurant. It's more like a place that you visit once in a while when you have something to celebrate. Service from the staffs were good as well. They were polite and worked efficiently. 

Iced Lemon Tea @ RM 5.50

I had plain water and my brother had this Iced Lemon Tea. RM 5.50 for a glass which wasn't even tall is considered to be quite expensive. Not only that, the drink itself was quite depressing. There was no zest in the drink and even the tea was watered down. All the hype for such quality? Now, I got a little worried as to how the food would be. Coming back to this drink, I would only give it a 6/10. 

Thai Chicken Cake @ RM 9.50

One bite and I knew that this was frozen, precooked stuff that has just been heated up. The Chicken Cake's weren't up to the mark and that sauce that they gave was very much tasteless. It was so watery that I could not even make out what it was. A disappointing starters and I'd only give this a 6/10. 

Hainanese Chicken Chop @ RM 16.50

Again, another dish that had been precooked, frozen and heated up just before serving. In fact, it must have been frozen for quite a while. Can you imagine those canned food like Chicken Curry with Potatoes and how the potatoes would be when you open the can, this was exactly like that. We could not even slice the potatoes as they were all soaked and mushy. For the price, I would say the portion was huge. No doubt about that. But the taste was so bad that it felt like torture trying to finish the dish just because were paying for it. Another disappointment! I would only give this 5/10 and that's because it was still edible. Oh, I forgot to mention that the sauce was watered down as well. Totally lacked flavours. 

Chicken Parmigiana @ RM 16.50

Another similar dish but this one was even worse. It had not even been heated up properly. Can you see those clotted cheese that looks like worms on the chicken? That's because it has not melted down totally and that means the chicken wasn't perfectly heated up as well. I just had a little to satisfy my hunger and left the rest. I would give this a 3/10 only. 

Fried Banana Fritters with Ice Cream @ RM 8.50

Another similar dish as well. The bananas tasted old, definitely prefried and even the ice cream seemed like old stock. It's either old stock or a very cheap commercial brand. Either way, another big no from me and I would give this a 5/10 as well. 

We have so many franchises in Malaysia and I have never come across food that's so stale tasting in any one of them. Each and every food item that we tried seemed like it was cooked a long time back, kept frozen and reheated prior to serving. Though this is a common practice across all franchises to maintain the same taste across it's outlets, this one was just off. And that too premium prices. I truly wonder how the TV3's Jalan Jalan Cari Makan Team had endorsed them unless the issue is only with this outlet in Cyberjaya. Either way, I doubt I would come back again.,

Address: P1-08, Shaftsbury Square, Lot 2350, Cyber 6, Persiaran Multimedia, 

                63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 0930 - 2100 Daily

Melur Cafe @ Tanjung Malim, Perak

I am not really a fan of Boat Noodles but that seems to be the trend these days with so many new outlets selling the same mushrooming all over the Klang Valley and the best part is that all of them seem to be doing well. I guess there must be a huge portion of the younger generation that really enjoy that dish. What took me by surprise is that we now do have Boat Noodles in Tanjung Malim as well. Having heard that, I decided to drop by this evening. 

Melur Cafe Located Along Jalan U1/1, Taman Universiti

Just Half A Shop

Simple But Trendy Decor

It seems that this cafe has been around for a while now but it's just that I have come to hear about them only recently. They are located in Taman Universiti which is just the right place for this kind of business since that age bracket is their target customers. This cafe is right beside 7 Eleven and they occupy half a shop lot. The front portion is their drinks bar, the center area is the dining spot and they have a small enclosed kitchen at the back. 

The Menu

They do have a very fascinating menu. A blend of cuisines are available and they were reasonably priced. Right from Thai food to Malay food and even Western dishes, they seemed to be perfectly tailored for the youth segment. 

Teh O @ RM 1.90

It was a cool rainy night and this hot tea seemed like the perfect drink. They do have a number of coffee and tea varieties and this extends to a host of other drinks as well. The tea that I had was the Lipton Tea Bags and it was mildly sweetened which is just to my liking. 

Soup & Chicken Ball Boat Noodles @ RM 1.90

It didn't take long for the Boat Noodles to arrive. There's only two varieties of Boat Noodles here, Soup & Chicken Balls and Tomyam & Chicken Balls. Both are priced at RM 1.90 per bowl which is rather reasonable. The first one that I tried was the Soup & Chicken Balls Boat Noodles. Portions were decent as this is how this dish is supposed to be. Pretty much a scoop or two should empty the bowl. The Chicken Balls were tasty. I am not sure if this is the off the shelf ones or they make it on their own but it tasted good. The soup however was quite bland which wasn't to my liking. They had also added ground peanuts and that gave it a nice crunch. If I were to rate this dish, I would give it 5/10. 

Tomyam & Chicken Balls Boat Noodles @ RM 1.90

Ingredients wise, this Tomyam & Chicken Ball Boat Noodles was an exact replica of the earlier dish except that it came in Tomyam Soup. This soup was way better compared to the earlier one. Rich in flavours and it leaves you a mild sting. Loved it! I would rate this at 7/10. 

Two Bowls Done

Well, if I was to eat this alone, I'd probably do 20 bowls but since I wanted to try their Chicken Chop as well, I stopped at 2. 

Grilled Chicken Chop @ RM 10.90

Grilled Chicken Chop was priced at RM 10.90 and it came with some fries and salad on the sides. By right, it should have come with mashed potatoes instead of fries, I guess they must have run out of those.

Pleasantly Delicious

Firstly, the portion was reasonable for the price. In fact, I was very happy with the portions. The chicken was grilled to perfection and it was topped with a mix of sauces. I think, and again this is just a guess based on the taste, it's a combination of mushroom and black pepper sauce which turned out to be really good. 

Fries And Salad

The Fries were perfect as well but the salad was rather simple. But I understand, for the price we definitely cannot complain. Overall, I enjoyed this dish. In fact, I enjoyed it more than the Boat Noodles. As for this Chicken Chop, I'd give it a 8/10. 

Generally, this cafe has some decent food and they are sold at reasonable prices. I don't think I would come back for their Boat Noodles but the Chicken Chop was good. And for RM 10.90 , I think it's a pretty good deal. 

Address: Along Jalan U1/1, Taman Universiti, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1100 - 2100 (Mon - Sat)

                             Closed on Sundays

Restoran Sri Maharaniees @ Cyberjaya, Selangor

This afternoon, we decided to try another South Indian Restaurant in Cyberjaya called Sri Maharaniees. This restaurant underwent a recent change in management and therefore can be considered a new one in Cyberjaya. 

Sri Maharaniees Located Along Jalan GC 14

This restaurant is located within the same Glomac Cyberjaya area but is a little deserted from all the rest of the shops. The good thing is parking is rather easy in this part of Glomac Cyberjaya and that is a huge advantage that these guy's have. Business starts at 7.30 am and goes on till 11 pm daily. Just like any other South Indian restaurant, this restaurant too serves both Banana Leaf Rice Meals as well as on meal on plates.

Our Lunch For The Day

Their Basic Banana Leaf Rice Meal is priced at RM 7.00 and this comes with unlimited flow of rice, vegetables and curries. As for the vegetables, they served  four different veggies along with Appalam, Thovayal, Pickle and Rasam. The Mutton Perattal was priced at RM 8.00, Chicken at RM 5.00 and Omelette at RM 2.00 each. 

I must confess that the vegetables were very good. They did not taste like restaurant food and had a home cooked taste to it. Taste aside, they were fresh and not overcooked thus retaining it's crisp and crunchy texture.  As for the veggies, I would rate them at 9/10. 

Sorry for the blurry photograph. Their Thovayal was awesome and I had to mention this as it was so good. I think they had used gingerly oil as it had a very unique taste that is usually found when gingerly oil is added. This, I would rate it at 10/10. Pickles were good too and these were made by them and not those bottled ones. As far as the taste goes, I would give this 9/10. 

Fish Curry

Chicken Curry

Rasam

Both the curries were nice. Again, not one that has a commercial taste to it. No MSG is used in all their dishes and that gives it a very natural taste. Their Rasam was good as well. I would give them all 8/10.

Dry Spicy Chicken @ RM 5.00

Mutton Perattal @ RM 8.00

Omelette @ RM 2.00 each

The Dry Chicken and Mutton Perattal were good but between the two, I enjoyed the chicken more. Probably it had to do with the mutton cuts itself. They were quite stiff and that was not to my liking. The masala wise, both were great. If I were to rate these, I would give the chicken 8/10 and the mutton 7/10. Omelette was good as well. Not at all greasy and it had a generous amount of onions and chilies in it. Taste wise, I'd give this 8/10. 

Based on the dishes that we had this afternoon, I am very happy with the food here. For RM 7.00 , the Banana Leaf Rice Meal is definitely good value looking at the number of veggies and other items that they had served. The Chicken and Mutton were priced at RM 5.00 and RM 8.00 respectively and those too were satisfactory taste wise. Beyond this, I was overwhelmed with the service. We had two dedicated staffs serving us initially and they were serving with passion. And after the initial serving was settled, one waiter kept coming back to our table asking  if we wanted any top ups. In most restaurants, we have to keep calling them to top up the veggies and gravies but that was not the case here. Very happy with the reception that we received. This is the kind of service that Indian restaurants should give. Customers would be happy and they would definitely return. I too would surely be coming back soon.

Address: No. 15, Block K, Jalan GC 14, Glomac Cyberjaya, Cyber 4, 

                63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 0730 - 2300 Daily