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This is the 6th review on this buka puasa buffet 2014 series, and this time we check out the Balik Kampung Buffet at Grand Hyatt KL’s JP Teres restaurant right here in the heart of the city.

at JP Teres, Grand Hyatt KL with Rizal & Shabana

Grand Hyatt is located right between Mandarin Oriental and the KLCC Convention Centre right on Jalan Pinang. In fact, you can walk from KLCC to the hotel within a few minutes.

While the lobby and flagship restaurant is located on the top floors of the hotel, JP Teres, the restaurant that specialize in local cuisine is on the ground floor to the right as you walk into Grand Hyatt KL.

a variety of kurma, ulam, acar, and salad

Like the whole of Grand Hyatt, JP Teres is a pretty classy and beautifully decorated restaurant. There’s both indoor and outdoor seating areas, with several open concept show kitchens not unlike the arrangement at Thirty8.

The Balik Kampung buffet, priced at RM 148++ for adults and RM 74++ for children, is available from 30th June  to 25th July 2014.

Malay kuih, ice cream roti, kek lapis Sarawak, and the all important tapai

While many hotels try to have a mix of Western and even Japanese cuisine in their buffet spread, JP Teres concentrate solely only local delights.

I personally love this idea and believe that this is the direction that will help keep our traditional food culture in Malaysia alive. If you have friends from outside Malaysia and wish to bring them for some local cuisine in a classy place, JP Teres should be pretty high on the list.

dhal tadka, nasi, lamb curry, chicken tikka masala,
paneer makhani, bhindi, do pyaza, sambal,  chicken curry

For the Balik Kampung buffet, there are hundreds of dishes to choose from.

Starting from the cold selection you’ll find rojak buah, ulam-ulam, acar, kerabu daging, kerabu udang, kachumbar salad, tofu salad, and more.

To go with the ulam, there’s sambal balacan, cincacluk, air asam, cili kicap, budu, sambal kelapa, and chutney. The only thing missing is tempoyak.

ikan bakar, roast lamb, otak otak, and freshly made pohpiah

Like most every respectable buffet for this holiday season, there’s roast lamb. In addition to that, JP Teres also serve very delicious chicken rice (strongly recommend), freshly made pohpiah, ikan bakar, nasi briyani, satey ayam & daging, and even otak otak (which I don’t quite recommend).

daging masak cili padi, labu masak lemak, ikan tenggiri masak tau choo,
meehun goreng, kepah berlada, sambal telur itik, sup ekor, bubur lambok

The main dishes here are separated into three sections – with Malay, Indian, and Chinese hot sections.

Here you find dishes such as ayam goreng berempah, ikan merah greng berlada, kepah masak lada hitam, sayur lodeh kering, ayam masak ros in Malay hot section.

Lamb curry, fish amritsary, chicken tikka masala, vindi do pyaza, dhal tadka, paneer makhani (this is a must try!), and nasi briyani can be expected from Indian hot section.

At the Chinese hot section, there’s ayam mayonnaise with Thai sauce, ikan tenggiri masak tau choo, sotong masak oat, kailan ikan masin, meehun goreng, and so forth.

In addition, there’s also a Tandoori station serving roti india, ayam tandoori, udang tandoori, shish kebabs, and talapia merah.

more dishes from Malay, Indian, and Chinese cuisine

Apart from the hot stations, there are a number of stalls located at both indoor and outdoor dining area at JP Teres that offers anything from lemang, ketupat, makanan laut, gulai kawah, asam laksa Johor, curry laksa, prawn mee, roti canai, yong tau foo, and even murtabak.

In fact, they cover most everything you can expect from local cuisine, with most of the dishes being of very high quality. I enjoyed them.

there are also various cooking stations, including rojak buah at JP Teres

The dessert area is perhaps the only place where a few Western pastries and a few selection of Japanese mochee creep into this otherwise 100% local spread. There’s Malay kuih, ais krim roti, fruits, Malay biscuits. roti jala, cendol pulut, sago gula Melaka, and more to be expected.

If you’re looking for local delights in a classy place in town, this is definitely a place to check out.

Address:
JP Teres
Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur
12 Jalan Pinang
50450 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.15381, 101.71234
Tel: 03-2182 1234 ext. 2333

For the forth article of the buka puasa buffet 2014 series, lets go to Jalan Yap Kwan Seng for a positively meaty Ramadan buffet at Las Vacas meat shop.

For those who aren’t familiar with Las Vacas, they have several branches in Klang Valley, including one at Kelana Jaya and another at Mont Kiara that even serves breakfast.

Las Vacas Meat Shop at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng

The branch at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng is Las Vacas’ latest and biggest, so naturally it is most suited as a location to offer their buffet dinner for this fasting month. Parking is plenty and free, while the location is quite suitable for those who work in the city and decide to buka puasa before heading home.

The buffet is priced at RM100++ for adults and RM50++ for children aged 12 years and under, and served from 6.30pm – 10.00pm, 8th July 2014 to 27th July 2014.

canapes, salad, kuih, salad, and drinks

If you compared to the offerings from hotels, the buffet spread here isn’t particularly impressive in terms of size, tho there are certainly enough variety to provide a more than balanced meal. However, you don’t come to Las Vacas to have 300 different dishes, you come here because of the meat.

Anyway, starting with appetizers and desserts, there a selection of canapes and salads, including smoked beef with mustadard, tuna mayo egg, teriyaki, black olive tapenade, chicken with creamy pesto, smoked turkey salad with balsamic, salad with beef strips, girlled begetables and red cabbage slaws and so forth.

There are also some traditional kuih as well.

nasi hujan panas, ayam masak merah, spaghetti with mushroom,
tempura, sayur campur masak lemak putih

For main, you can find classics such as nasi hujan panas (the version here was very good!), nasi minyak, nasi tomato, beef rendang, ayam masak merah, ikan bakar, ayam pedas, and more.

Australian steaks, New Zealand lamb, burger patties, and sausages

Then, we get to the real reason why you would come to Las Vacas for buka puasa – the all-you-can-eat Australian steaks and New Zealand lamb! There’s also burger patties and sausages too if you prefer a little bit of variety.

be sure to ask for how well you want the meat to be done

For someone who likes my steak medium rare, I find the preparation served here slightly too cooked, perhaps it is to cater for the general public. Luckily, you can always tell the chefs to prepare the beef at your preferred “doneness” and they’ll be more than happy to comply.

Las Vacas also stock some pretty delicious French and whole grain mustard that goes very well with the meat.

Haze, Suan, Horng, & KY at Las Vacas Jalan Yap Kwan Seng

On Friday and Saturda, there will also be traditional Malay performances to compliment your meal. As with many other places, imported dates from Middle East is available to provide a “proper” way to break fast. The restaurant also have an in-house surau for your convenience.

All other ala-carte menu item will still be available for order as usual during this period.

Address:
Las Vacas Meat Shop
No. 33, Lot 5, Ground Floor,
Wisma Winbond,
Jalan Yap Kwan Seng,
50450 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.162898, 101.714842
Tel: 03-2181 5586

As previously mentioned, for my invisalign treatment at MyDentist, I find myself at Jalan Ipoh around twice a month. Naturally, I take the opportunity to explore eateries around the area.

Today’s soya sauce chicken rice is one of those places that was suggested by the friendly staff at the dental clinic, thank you Belinda!

soya sauce chicken rice, Jalan Ipoh

The stall is located at a small stretch of hawker centre along the part of Jalan Ipoh that is pretty close to the Jalan Kuching intersection. There are two kopitiam at the same vicinity with chicken rice stalls as well, but those will not be the correct location.

soya sauce chicken, bean sprouts, and pork ball soup

Unlike most chicken rice stalls that offer roast chicken, this place has a pretty unique soya sauce chicken in addition to steamed chicken. The skin is smoother compared to roast version, and carries the aroma of soya sauce. It is not exactly the same as the recipe of soya sauce chicken I posted on this site before, but there are certainly resemblance in taste. It was pretty good.

For a little bit of change up, there’s also fish ball and pork ball soup in addition to bean sprouts. Mixing them up in a dish proves to be a welcoming combination. The standard minced ginger and home-made chilli sauce are presented as condiments as well.

and that makes a simple, cheap, delicious lunch

A plate of chicken rice is priced at RM 4.50, and they also serve rice noodle in addition to rice.

If you’re looking for chicken rice with a slight twist, check this place out.

Address:
Hawker Centre
Jalan Batu Ambar
by Jalan Ipoh,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.202508, 101.674270

Several weeks ago I was invited to one of the most unique dining experiences at Chyuan’s Tiffin Underground Supper Club.

While popular in some parts of the world, the idea of supper club is relatively new in Malaysia. It is basically a private dining affair at someone’s residence with with a menu of the chef’s choosing. A sort of omakase or degustation menu at a more intimate dining setup restaurants can’t provide.

Chyuan’s Tiffin Underground Supper Club

Chyuan’s Tiffin is located at Endah Promenade at Seri Peataling, while it is an “underground” supper club, the premise is actually pretty high up in the air with a great view of KL city.

Chef Raymond Kwong, Chef Muk and Chef Eddie Kwong are the three contributors to this idea. Chef Muk specialises in Thai cuisine while the two guys in Nyonya recipes. The combination works well for my kind of taste. 

our dinner for the night, mixture of Nyonya and Thai delights

Chyuan’s Tiffin caters group of 4-8 people per dining session (call or enquire on FB, more people = cheaper). Our review session was for party of seven. When we arrived in the evening, the mixture of Thai & Nyonya affair was already mostly prepared.

Thai laksa, steamed tilapia, raw prawn salad, fried chicken with lime leaves

We started out with raw prawn salad that’s served with home made green chilli dip that packs a punch. The raw crystal prawn here reminds me of the one we had at Thai Garden Village at Kepong, except better.

The Thai laksa has a thick broth with sardine fish as one of the main ingredients, together with rice noodle, mint, basil leaves, and some sambal, made for an excellent main dish. Many of us went for second.

The steamed tilapia was stuffed with herbs and best consumed by wrapping chunks of it with lettuce and mint leaves, a dash of the same green chilli dip and you’ve got a winner.

steamed banana cake & santan marshmallow, petai with prawn, salted fish tofu

Fried chicken with lime leaves is a dish best consumed while hot, so perhaps it lost some crispiness while we took our time taking photos, I did like the fact that copious amount of garlic is used.

Petai is one of my all time favorite Asian food ingredients, hence it is suffice to say taht I really enjoyed the stinky bean stir fry with kaffir lime. The dish isn’t overly strong, and having it prepared in a non spicy way provided a welcoming change.

The salted fish tofu is another pretty interesting dish, if you like “cincalok”, you’d love the pairing of this slightly harder type of tofu with it.

Haze and KY showing the biggest and smallest tea sets

For dessert, I really enjoyed the santan marshmallow and the steamed banana cake  with coconut milk. However, the Coconut Cake with Green Peas Paste and Coconut Meat wasn’t executed to perfection as it should.

Overall though, it was a very unique experience with pretty good food. If you haven’t tried anything like this before, give them a call.

Address:
Chyuan’s Tiffin Underground Supper Club
Endah Promenade,
Seri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.063769, 101.697083
Tel: 012-917 6268
FB: fb.com/pages/Chyuans-Tiffin-Underground-Supper-Club

Korean food is usually associated with retractable chimneys on every table with meat grilling on the stove and a plethora of small dishes everywhere. Well, that sort of formula is glorious for weekend dinners, but not exactly practical or economical for lunch.

Then we have the lunch sets at Onsemiro Korean restaurant at the Intermark.

Onsemiro Korean Fine Dining restaurant at Intermark KL

Onsemiro is located at the end of the second floor at the Intermark Mall, right above the entrace to Double Tree Hilton. On the outside, the restaurant is much bigger than the exterior would have you believed, with classy decoration, semi-open kitchen, and a side of wall displaying wine and soju to choose from as well.

spicy tofu soup set, RM 25++

Unlike most Korean restaurants, Onsemiro is pork free (which can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the individual), so dishes that comes with pork traditionally, such as kimchi jiggae, is substituted with chicken. The result turns rather decent though.

For lunch, there are quite a lot of sets to choose from, with pricing started at about RM 20 to RM 40 and up. If you’re flash an Intermark pass card, there’s a 10% discount too.

lunch sets starts at around RM 20 upwards, with plenty to choose from

One of my favorite lunch sets there is the spicy tofu soup that packs quite a bit of punch in intensity. There’s half a crab in the soup, silky smooth tofu, and of course, kimchi. The set also comes with six banchan (small dishes) and rice (you can ask for cold noodle too). Additionally, every set is followed by desserts.

Their beef short ribs set (RM 43++) is rather delicious as well, and my colleagues reported that the beef patties were more than satisfactory too.

If you work nearby, try this, but do call ahead for booking as it tends to get packed everyday.

Address:
Onsemiro Korean Fine Dining
The Intermark,
Jalan Tun Razak,
50400 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.16154, 101.71996
Tel: 03-2161 2461