Last Friday, the traveling Australian dude Dabido decided to spend a bunch of us to a vegetarian dinner on his last night in Kuala Lumpur. Suan decided that Jade Garden at Bandar Utama Centrepoint would be a good place for such occasion because she knows the food is great, or maybe just because it is a place close enough for her to walk there with her under utilized legs.

acha as appetizer, and the 4 season dish

Dinner was scheduled at 8, but inadvertently we only got to eat at around 9pm. I guess it is a good thing cos we were able to show Dabido the full extend of our culture, including the Malaysian Timing when it comes to having a group dinner. There was 14 of us split into 2 tables, and Suan ordered the food for everyone. Nice and dandy.

imitation luncheon meat, tofu, imitation fish with mango salad, fried vegetable

We had about 7 dishes in total. There’s the 4 season dish with some imitation meat and fake fish balls that actually tasted quite good despite it being a cold dish. The tofu soup was more like a thick broth that goes well with rice, I like the fungus that came with it. Then there’s my favorite, the imitation luncheon meat that tasted almost as good as the real thing minus the oily bit.

kang kung with nuts, tomyam soup, and the bunch of jokers

The imitation fish tasted pretty decent as well, and with no real fish in there, you don’t have to worry about getting your neck pierced by fish bones, which isn’t a particularly nice thing to do, speaking from experience. There’s also a fried kailan that tasted just like any fried kailan you’d expect. Other than that, we also have a fried kang kung dish with nuts and some imitation seafood that I didn’t think tasted very good, slightly too sourish with the imitation seafood a poor substitute for the real thing.

However, the tomyam soup with imitation squid and some very real tomato was an excellent dish. It was actually one of the best tomyam soup I’ve tasted and surely a must-order item if you find yourself at Jade Garden.

Jaime, Suan, Dabido, Jack, Erna, Reta, Paul, Kim, ST, Tim, Samantha

In all, it was a very good meal, and the total bill came to about RM 370 for 14 of us. That translate to about RM 26 per person for a pretty good vegetarian meal. The price is just slightly more than the Restaurant Kuan Yin at Seksyen 17 that I went, but with a nicer ambiance and free and easy to find parking spots at Centrepoint.

Thanks Dabido, see you at Perth!

map to BU Centrepoint

Address:
Centrepoint, Bandar Utama,
Petalig Jaya, 47800 Selangor
GPS: 3.137988, 101.610124
Tel: 03-7710 2939

Tags:  bandar-utama,  centrepoint,  chinese,  eats,  imitation fish,  ky,  luncheon meat,  vegetarian

Posted by KY | 15 Comments »

Note: this restaurant is no longer in business

I had an appoitnment at BU Centerpoint the other day at around dinner time, and thought I might as well settle the little whining sound my stomach was making over there instead. BU Centrepoint has been a totally new place ever since the expansion and renovation earlier this year, with Starbucks, Dragon-i, 1901 hotdogs, and many other international franchises now occupying the floor space. In sharp contrast with the earlier years.

old school but clean and pleasant setting

As I was walking around the mall, I came across this curious little place with the weird name, Shanghai 1930’s Cafe. The interior decoration bare resemblance of a Nyonya restaurant, and the menu offers mostly local dishes, albeit the presence of siu long pao (小龙包). After a quick check on their menu and price list, I found myself sitting in this restaurant with the strange name. Partly due to the name, and partly cos I wanted to have a relatively light dinner (ie, not Momo).

We ordered 2 of the fish sets that comes with rice. A Thai style Tengerri (Mackerel) and sweet and sour Tengerri. We had wanted to go for the black Pomphret with black sauce but unfortunately they ran out of stock for the evening.

two fish and two rice, a nice and simple dinner

The two dishes actually tasted quite good, the Thai style is prepared with some sliced okra and onion, while the sweet and sour dish with spring onion. The filets were slightly smallish but just enough for a single portion. The strong taste of the sauce gives good compliments to the relative bluntness of the Mackerel filets. However, some might find the sweet and sour sauce a little too sour.

With drinks, the total price came to be slightly under RM 20. A pretty decent value for a place with air conditioning and clean, if not comfortable eating environment. By the way, their sambal isn’t bad either, though up to par with Mum’s.

BU Centrepoint is just right next to the big 24hr McDonald’s

Address:
Lot G4, Ground Floor, Centrepoint,
Lebuh Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.138245, 101.610231
Tel: 03-7722 1152

Tags:  bandar-utama,  centrepoint,  mackerel,  sweet-and-sour,  tenggiri,  thai

Posted by KY | 3 Comments »

Running out of ideas on where to dine last saturday night, I suggested to the noobs that perhaps we go for MOMO at BU for their Japanese buffet. I have been to Momo some half dozen times since about 2-3 years back, it’s no Jogoya in terms of selection and atmosphere, but the food is great and the value is excellent.

sushi, sashimi, oyster.. yumm

We got there half past eight and got ourself busy right away. To start off, I usually head to the raw food area. The sashimi selection wasn’t huge, there’s salmon, tuna, butter fish, and another type of i-don’t-know-the-name fish, but they were all fresh and taste pretty good. Another raw item would be the fresh oyster. Several types of sushi were available, and you can get the chef to make you a california temaki (handroll) too. Kerol had two of that.

sukiyaki, teppanyaki, miso soup.. drools..

There were actually 4 buffet areas. The main line serves sushi, sashimi, a host of other popular Japanese food such as miso soup, chawanmushi (steamed egg), soba, grilled eel, grilled fish, etc. On the opposite, you have another line where you can find oyster, shrimps, baby octopus, sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, dessert, and fruits. On the outdoor area, you can find tepanyaki, teriyaki, and the excellent tempura selection, all freshly prepared. Last but not least, you can find ice cream, DIY chendol, and green tea on the refreshment line.

cold soba, green tea ice cream, chawanmushi, grilled prawn & tempura

The tempura were pretty good, crispy and fresh. There’s your usual lady’s finger, yam, pumpkin, fish, and prawn. Teriyaki is served on a stick ala satey style. Do remember to try their beef teppanyaki, they are excellent, I almost died from stomach explosion trying to down the last few of those beef cubes, but it was all worth it.

we were definately satisfied with bloated stomach

For dessert, there are fruits, ice cream, DIY chendol, and several types of Japanese “kuih”, Kenneth had a whole big plate of those. The green tea ice cream was very good and tasted very strong, highly recommended and especially fun if you hide some wasabi in it, as tested by one unfortunate noob.

For 10 sen less than RM 45.00 Nett (RM39.90 for Sunday lunch I think), Momo definately offers value for money and pretty darn good food. My housemate horny recommends this place over Shogun anytime.

what’s a food review without a map?

Address:
Lot F9 Centre Point Bandar Utama
Lebuh Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya
47800 Selangor, Malaysia
GPS: 3.137988, 101.610124
Phone:03-7725 9688

Tags:  Buffet,  centrepoint,  Japanese-Food,  sashimi,  sushi

Posted by KY | 24 Comments »