Pim's & The Rama, Aman Suria PJ

Date visited : 1 April 2018

A friend of mine who has been following my fantastic food quest, recommended this place to me with a money back guarantee. Since I was nearby for a movie and was with the right company, I decided to go to this place for an early dinner.

It has been ages since I've been to this part of PJ and this place is pretty new in this neighborhood, just about 7 months old. Pim's & The Rama... a Thai restaurant AND a bar.

Before we go to our main highlights, let's order some drinks first...

Uniquely Thai drinks... Chang beer, Thai royal milk tea and coconut shake. Nice!

Let's move on to the food section.

On the front page of their menu was their signature Tom Yum Pot. 

Just by reading the items included in this Tom Yum Pot will make you salivate. However, I decided to save this for my next visit if their regular dishes are good. So I went for the usual Thai dishes.

First and foremost, the Pim's Signature Tom Yum Seafood.

At first I was afraid that it might turn out to be one of those overly spicy kind of tom yum soup that might spoil my taste buds for the other dishes. But it turn out to be just the right balance of spicy and sour. The prawns in this soup was fresh and the portion was just right for 4 pax.

Then we also ordered their Chef's Green Curry Chicken.

This is one tasty pot of Thai green curry. It has a strong yet pleasant aroma and the thickness of the curry is just nice. It also comes in 2 other variant, seafood or beef.

For our first visit to a Thai restaurant, we will usually include at least a serving of Pineapple Fried Rice.

Even though it was served on a plate and not in a pineapple shell, the flavour of this Pineapple Fried Rice is way better than many of those served in one. The added chunks of pineapple, raisins and cashew nuts made this fried rice bursting with flavours. Even when eaten with the green curry, it still taste as good without being overpowered by the flavour from the green curry.

Next is the Pandan Chicken.

It is well cooked... not too dry and in good size. I like the size of this Pandan Chicken because it's not too big. If it's any bigger, I may be too stuffed to try out other dishes.

Other than the Pandan Chicken, I also ordered a serving of the Rama's Donut Prawn. It was highly recommended by their reviewers on Facebook so I too wanted to see if it was worth the hype.

It is definitely worth the hype. I love how it is not too oily and I could taste generous portions of prawn meat in every bite. 

The next is one of my favourite Thai dish... Steamed Sotong with Chilli & Lime Soup.

I almost left this dish out because of all the other dishes I've ordered and I was afraid it was too much for 4 of us to finish. But for the sake of this review, I decided to order this at the very last minute and I'm glad I did!

The sour and slightly spicy taste of the soup makes it very appetizing. You have to try this yourself to appreciate this dish.

Other than the above dishes, we also ordered a vegetable and an omelette dish.

At this point, I'm already quite full. But I had to make space for my favourite Thai dessert... Red Ruby.

Now my Thai meal is complete with full satisfaction. Every dish was tasty and complimented each other, from the drinks right up to the dessert. I HIGHLY recommend this place 👍👍

I also want to give a big shout out to the staff here for great service rendered.

I will definitely come back with more people and for the Tom Yum Pot.

Now I have to give my friend a treat for recommending such a great place for Thai food.

OUR RATING

Ambience : 4/5 

Service : 4.5/5

Food Quality : 4.5/5

Price Range : $$
Status : Non-Halal

Other information:
Address : 22 & 22A Jalan PJU 1/43, Aman Suria Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya
Contact No. : 03-7802 8386
Business Hours : 11.45am - 11pm (Sunday-Thursday) / 11.45am - 1am (Friday-Saturday)
Transaction : Credit cash & Cash
Links : https://www.facebook.com/pimsramathai/

Restoran Xfrens, Kemuning Utama

Date visited : 24 February 2018

It's Chinese New Year again and it also means feasting time! For some, the feasting starts 15 days before Chinese New Year and continues till Chap Goh Mei, the 15th day Chinese New Year which is also the last day of the celebration.

This year, we decided to have our annual school friends CNY dinner get together at this place, Restoran Xfrens, Kemuning Utama. When I was searching for the location in Waze only did I realize that they also have branches in Subang Jaya and Puchong Jaya (I'll share the addresses at the end of this post).

I arrived at 7pm and the place was already packed. Thank God my friend was wise enough to call and made reservations for 2 tables the day before, otherwise, we would have been one of those standing around waiting for tables to be available. So, if you're planning to come on a weekend with a big group, it is advisable to make reservations prior to your visit.

At first we thought of ordering a CNY set that starts from RM688, but because the ala carte dishes on their menu seems more interesting, we decided to each choose a dish from their ala carte menu instead.

Since it was CNY, Yee Sang was definitely a must, so we ordered the Yee Sang with octopus.

The Yee Sang was very tasty. There was a good balance between the sweet and the sour. Since there was a lot of unfavourable noise about salmon, the octopus was a rather good replacement.

Let's start with the vegetable dishes first.

This is the Stir Fried Potato Leaf with belacan. It is not very spicy and not too overwhelmed with the taste of belacan.

This is the Stir Fried Lotus Root with Waterchesnut. The combination of vegetables in this dish was quite tasty. The thing I appreciated most was they actually removed the "string" from the snow peas which many restaurants failed to do.

This is one of my favourite dish in the beancurd category, Beancurd with Pumpkin Gravy. I like the way they prepared this dish because it has that creamy buttery taste with a hint of spiciness from the bird's eye chili (cili padi) and fragrant smell from the curry leaves.

Now let's proceed with the meat dishes...

This is the Claypot Kampung Chicken with Chinese Wine. Maybe because of a bad first experience, I usually try avoiding this dish... even if it was cooked by my mom. I didn't want to be picky about food in front of my friends, so I decided to give it a go. To my own surprise, it was good! 

This is the Pork with Salted Fish in Claypot. It is also nice because the meat is not too fat and on overall, it's not too salty.

We also ordered another pork dish called the Pork Ribs in 3 Flavours. It is savoury, sweet, spicy and a fragrant taste of curry all at the same time.

And the last dish is my all time favourite, Salted Egg Mantis Prawns. It is crispy and well covered with salted egg. Yummy!

I highly recommend this place if you're looking for a decent place for a Chinese style dinner with your family or friends. Also, it won't burn a big hole in your pocket at the end of the meal.

OUR RATING

Ambience : 3.5/5 

Service : 3.5/5

Food Quality : 4/5

Price Range : $$

Status : Non-Halal

Other information:

Shah Alam Branch :

Address : No.10 & 12 Jalan Kemuning Prima E33/E Kemuning Utama, 40400 Shah Alam

Contact No. : 03-5131 9279

Business Hours : 11am - 3pm / 5.30pm - 10.30pm (Closed on Wednesdays) 

Transaction : Credit cash & Cash

Subang Jaya Branch :

Address : No 51, Jalan SS 18/1B, SS 18, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor

Contact No. : 03-5611 0488

Business Hours : 10.30am - 3pm / 5.30pm - 10.30pm (Only 10.30am - 3pm on Wednesdays) 

Transaction : Credit cash & Cash

Puchong Branch :

Address : No 7 & 9, Jalan Kenari 18B, Bandar Puchong Jaya, 47100 Puchong, Selangor

Contact No. : 03-8080 7800

Business Hours : 11am - 3pm / 6pm - 10pm (Daily) 

Transaction : Credit cash & Cash

Doma, Mont Kiara

Date visited : 28 January 2018

It was one of those days where we couldn't decide on what to eat and I decided to try out a new place recommended to me.

I passed by this area so many times and I didn't even realize this place being here. 

Doma is a modern Korean restaurant that serves Korean food with a twist and some Western food with a Korean twist.

Pineapple Juice

Sikhye

This my favourite Korean drink... sikhye. Sikhye is a traditional sweet Korean rice drink. This is the best one so far served in a can.

Korean food is never complete without banchan. So even though it is a modern restaurant, banchan is definitely a must.

Everything looked interesting in the menu and since there were 4 of us, we each chose a dish.

This is the Spicy Pork Slice Rice with cabbage, carrot, paprika and chili sauce. It is very tasty and it is served with a very generous portion of spicy pork slices.

This is the Crab Meat Fried Rice. It looks rather pretty when served because the tuna flakes spread all over the fried rice seems to be dancing gracefully.

Next is the Spicy Chicken Rice. This is somewhat similar to the Spicy Pork Slice Rice just with a different meat.

This is one dish that I don't always see in a menu of the usual Korean restaurant...Wok Fried Baby Octopus Rice. It is interestingly delicious.

Now the main reason of our visit here is because of their signature dish, their fried chicken called Doma's KFC.

It comes in 4 flavours, original, honey soy, hot spicy and sweet chili. We ordered the sweet chili flavour because it came highly recommended by the staff.

It was crispy on the outside but still juicy and tender on the inside. The white cube pieces you see in the center are actually pickled radish.

We also ordered 3 items from the Korean BBQ selection...

Fresh Pork Belly

Gochujang Marinade Pork Belly & Spicy Baby Octopus

Maybe because we requested for them to be barbecued for us, when it was served, it has cooled down a little. So this was a bit of a let down for me as it did not taste as good as it looked.

By the time we finished all our food, I was so full that I thought my stomach would explode anytime. It was disappointing though because I have no space left in my stomach to try their bingsu. Their bingsu looked awesome on their menu.

I guess the bingsu will have to wait for me to come back next time.

OUR RATING

Ambience : 4/5 

Service : 4/5

Food Quality : 3.5/5

Price Range : $$
Status : Non-Halal

Other information:

Address : Unit No. 15-0-1E, Ground Floor New Wing @ Mont Kiara Shoplex, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara

Contact No. : 012-490 7928

Business Hours : 10am - 12am (Sunday-Thursday) / 10am - 12am (Friday-Saturday) 

Transaction : Credit cash & Cash

Links : https://www.facebook.com/doma.modern.korean/

Restoran Tian Tian Seafood, Sunway

If you are looking for a place to have a simple Chinese dinner with your family and friends, this would be the right place for you.

This can be considered a hidden gem as it is not located at the busy parts of Sunway and it is known mainly to the locals and people working in Sunway. I too did not know about this place until a friend who works in Sunway brought me here. I would have never wander to this part of Sunway on my own.

By day, it's just an ordinary neighbourhood food court. But in the evening, after the other food stalls closes, Restoran Tian Tian Seafood opens and dominates this place.

They have quite a variety of dishes to choose from and I have yet to try most of the items on their menu.

Let me show you some of the dishes I have tried so far...

This is the Salted Egg Squid. This is one of my favourite dish here.

Their Sweet & Sour Pork are quite delicious too.

This is their version of the Butter Milk Mantis Prawn. It may have been better if it was prepared differently because I find this a bit dry and the taste of the butter milk is not distinct enough.

I quite like the Steam Eggs served here. The texture is very soft and smooth. There are bits of century eggs, fried shallots and spring onions added into it too.

Stir Fried Kai Lan

Siong Tong Yuen Choy (Chinese Spinach Soup)

In summary, this place serves good food that will not burn a hole in your pocket. So if you happen to try out this place, let me know if you've discovered any other dishes that you may like.


OUR RATING
Ambience : 2.5/5
Service : 4/5
Food Quality : 3.5/5
Price Range : $
Status : Non-Halal

Other information:
Address : Selera Sunway Food Court, Jalan PJS 9/5, Bandar Sunway, 46150 Subang Jaya, Selangor
Contact No. : 016-283 3495
Business Hours : 6pm - 10pm  (Closed on Wednesdays)
Transaction : Cash only

Softcore, Sunway

Date visited : 1 January 2018

I've passed by this place many times but I have never made it a point to try it out. My chance came on the first day of 2018. I had a late brunch so I was looking for a place to have some light snacks and dessert. So this was the first place that came to my mind... Softcore.

The interior was very cozy and tastefully decorated. They have a variety of teas and juices to choose from. So even if you're not hungry, this would be a good place for a drink as well.

Before I start with the food that we ordered, let me show you our pretty drinks...

The refreshing pink drink in front is called the Pample Rose. It is made of pink grapefruit and sun dried orange topped with soda. The yummy white one at the back is the Oreo Cookies Milkshake. It is a blend of vanilla and oreo cream cookies.

And as for food, my husband and I didn't want anything heavy so we decided to go for some snacks instead.

My husband ordered the Hashbrown Stack. Their homemade hashbrowns are crispy on the outside while still soft and delicious on the inside. It is served with crispy beef bacon, coleslaw, a fried egg and some salad.

I on the other hand had a hard time choosing what to eat because there are so many interesting selections on their main menu and their special menu.

I finally decided on their Golden Toast. The two brown pieces you see in the photo are their version of french toast and they are topped with caramelized banana, fresh strawberries and blueberries. The toast are unique and it doesn't look nor taste like ordinary bread. It also have a crispy outer layer and a soft inside. They are drizzled with maple syrup served with lemon puree, strawberry jam & whipped butter. It has a combination of salty, sour and sweet flavours all in one dish.

Since the signature dish of this place is their molten cake, I had to try at least one of their chef's recommended selection.

I chose their Taro Molten Cake. It is made from purple yam, fried yam strips, yam coulis, gula melaka and served with vanilla ice-cream. I'm glad it did not disappoint me but made me want to come back and try other flavours as well.

On overall, this place is a very comfortable place to chill and chat with your friends while enjoying your food and drinks.

OUR RATING

Ambience : 4/5 

Service : 4/5

Food Quality : 3.5/5

Price Range : $$

Other information:

Address : 56, Jalan PJS 11/7, Bandar Sunway, 46150 Subang Jaya, Selangor

Contact No. : 03-5613 7273

Business Hours : 11am - 10.30pm (Sunday-Thursday) / 11am - 11.30pm (Friday-Saturday) / Closed on Tuesdays

Transaction : Credit cash & Cash

Links : https://www.facebook.com/gooeyness/

Maria's Steakcafe, Bangsar

Date visited : 31 December 2017

To be honest with you, I'm actually not a big fan of steak. My usual intake tolerance is only half the size of my fist. So I never thought I would recommend a place for steaks based on my own opinion.

I was introduced to this place more than a year ago and this was my 3rd time here. I don't come to this place very often because this place for me is not for casual dining and meant for special occasions.

Just as written on the shop front... Nothing Fancy, Simply Good Food, it may not seem like some posh and fancy dining place but the food here is really no joke.

Their main highlight are their beef steaks. If you are one of those who love steaks and knows your beef well, you must try steaks here.

Since it was New Year's Eve, we could only order from the set menu. 

This is the appetizer of the day, US scallops. The scallops are very fresh and juicy.

Next is the Truffled Mushroom Soup. It is very tasty and it's definitely not soup from the can.

And now the highlight for the night...

I ordered the US Prime Black Angus. But if you're a beef lover, you should try their Wagyu. For me who is not a regular beef lover, even the US Prime Black Angus tasted like heaven for me. Can you imagine what a Wagyu will do to your taste buds? My guy friend said it's the taste of First Love and First Kiss.

Last but not least, the dessert.

We were served the Cranberry Prune Cake which was delicious. But since my brother didn't like Prunes, he requested for a different cake...

And this is a very delicious moist chocolate cake.

So if you have a special occasion and you're looking for the place to have a quiet celebration, this would be one of the best place to consider.

OUR RATING

Ambience : 4/5 

Service : 4.5/5

Food Quality : 4.5/5

Price Range : $$$ (The steaks are quite pricy but it's really worth it)

Other information:

Address : 58, Jalan Maarof, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur

Contact No. : 03-2282 2220

Business Hours : 12pm - 10.30pm (Daily)

Transaction : Credit cash & Cash

Links : https://www.facebook.com/marias.steakcafe/