Back in 2008, Shiang and I had a little year long bet. The exact details aren’t important, but due to some luck and a lot of cheating, I emerged the victor. We then decided that the appropriate winning prize would be a nice dinner, and Diadomon Japanese BBQ restaurant was chosen.

Horng and Jeff were the two lucky dudes who happened to leech this meal off Shiang for absolutely zero effort, risk, and monetary contribution.

Diadomon Japanese BBQ restaurant, buffet style

Diadomon is located at Great Eastern Mall, which is in turn situated on Jalan Ampang, roughly half way between Ampang Point and KLCC. Getting there during rush hour can be a bit daunting, but with the liberal usage of the newly opened DUKE highway or our super advanced SMART tunnel (depending on where you’re from), it shouldn’t be too tough.

Parking isn’t a problem either if you are willing to part with RM2 to go into the basement. If you’re willing to spend a good chunk of money on food anyway, why not a couple bucks to park your car?

sashimi, grilled fish, prawns, and chicken.

Daidomon is one of those buffet places where you get to order the dishes, or in this case, raw and marinated ingredients so they are served fresh. However, an extensive line up of ready-to-eat dishes are available too, and of course, you don’t have to wait for those. There’s sushi roles, fried chicken, snail meat (very delicious!), edamame, kimchi, sashimi, and more.

From the ocean, we had sashimi (salmon, tuna, butterfish, mackeral), oyster and scallop (limited to one serving only), prawns, and marinated seafood. The sashimi were pretty decent, but honestly speaking not something to shout about. The grilled seafood though, were quite good, but it takes a bit of practise to get it just right.

Prawns were quite large and fresh, and I particularly love the big scallops, but too bad it was only 2 pieces per person.

ox tongue, beef sashimi, marinated beef

From the farm, we had plenty of beef with some chicken and lamb too (Jeff doesn’t eat beef). The marinated beef belly was really awesome and are ready to eat after minimal grilling time. I suggest asking for a serving of raw garlic and fry them on the grill first before starting to grill actual food, that’ll add an extra hint of aroma to the grilled food.

Ox tongue is one of my favorite part of cow to eat, and it’s great that Diadomon allows unlimited order, somewhere in an Australian farm, a deft cow hates me.

yukke sashi, KY, Shiang, Jeff, Horng

For the braver souls, Daidomon also serves several types of raw beef. The gyu sashimi (thinly sliced raw beef) is probably the easiest to swallow, while the yukke sashi (marinated beef with egg) can be a bit too much especially for a first timer. I love the gyu sashimi but to be frank, I think the yukke sashi was a bit too raw and maybe slightly too rich for my liking. It’s no wagyu tartar at Cilantro that’s for sure, but Shiang loves it.

Over all it was a very satisfying dinner that left all of us barely able to walk back to the carpark. With their ever long lasting promotion, the price came to over RM60  per person after service charge and tax. Pretty good deal if you ask me, I have no doubt this won’t be my last visit.

Check out their promotion on the website.

Address:
Diadomon
Lot 4, Level 3, Great Eastern Mall
No. 303, Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.16027,101.736746
Tel: 03-4252 8155

Tags:  BBQ,  beef,  Buffet,  grill,  horng,  Japanese,  jeff,  sashimi,  seafood,  shiang

Posted by KY | 32 Comments »

It was Kim’s 24th birthday last week, and Suan suggested that we celebrate the momentous occasion by heading to this seafood place at Klang. Cheesie, ST, Douglas, and I were most happy to forget about the fuel price and drive a bit further for some good seafood that night.

Looking back, I realize I’ve known Kim since before she could vote, and now she’s already an old hag who’s spent most of her two dozen years in Cheras. She’s put on weight, went on diet, lost the weight, rinse and repeat; but this was not a night Kim needs to worry about eating too much.

most everything is grilled around here

Hing Ket Grilled House is pretty well hidden at the less populated part of Klang. Heading there isn’t too difficult though, just take a right turn at J. Kebun exit after Shah Alam toll and go straight till before the road bends, and the kopitiam style restaurant is on your left. We didn’t have much trouble finding the place.

Since Suan was the only one who’s been here, she was trusted to order food for everyone. This proved to be somewhat of a mistake as we ended up with too much crab (pun somewhat intended).

lala meehun, fried vegetable, the difference sauces, grilled squid

The first dish of the night was lala meehun, something that has gained popularity at Klang in recent years. The sweetness of lala with the freshness of bean sprout is always a very good combination that makes a very good substitute for steamed rice in any seafood meal.

Then we have some fried vegetable to give us an illusion of having a balanced diet before digging in with some pretty awesome grilled squid. The squid was served on banana leaf and came with a blend of chili sauce that was pretty unique, not overly spicy yet packed a bit of a kick. There were 2 other types of chili sauce for our choosing too.

crabs and lamb chop; cheesie’s wtf face looking at kim

Then came this rather big plate of grilled lamb chop. One of the must-order item around here. We each had a generous slab of lamb that was very tender and juicy. Even the fatty part was not chewy (which might be a bad thing as I ate all of them!). The mint sauce and lamb combination was better than the one I had at 6-10.

However, the crown jewel of the night was the grilled crab. 4 KG of crab grilled to perfection, without any additional seasonings. This would only work if the crab is very fresh, you can tell if the meat is still very juicy and still sticking to the shell (which makes it a bit harder to eat, but it’s all worth it).

The crab was really awesome, fat, juicy, and very sweet. Suan of course over ordered but we ended up finishing all nine crabs with Kim having 2.5 crabs all by herself.

the shop is a fair bit of drive from the Jalan Kebun exit

The dinner ended up costing us just less than RM 45 per person with plenty of drinks (and a beer) included. The big ticket item was the crab at RM 120, but I think RM 30 per KG is a pretty good deal for what we got. Lamb was RM 45, squid RM 30, and meehun RM 20. All in all I think it was worth it. This wouldn’t be my last time there.

Address:
Lot 3569, Batu 3 1/4,
Kampung Jawa,
41000 Klang
GPS: 3.03185, 101.47775
Tel: 03-3371 3913

Tags:  cheesie,  douglas,  gareth,  grill,  kimberly,  klang,  seafood,  suanie

Posted by KY | 35 Comments »

Ever since I came back from the States, I’ve been having a tough time finding good steak. The “western food” hawker stalls are usually pretty good with their chicken chop and perhaps fish and chips, but the steaks are about as thick as a notepad and tasted equally disappointing. I’ve also tried some of the restaurants like cafe chinoz at KLCC but the steak was not exactly up to standard, I couldn’t even finish the filet mignon there. I’ve heard that Le Meridien’s Prime Grill serves very good steak, but the price is a bit out of reach. I’ve almost accepted the fate that I shall just forget about having steak, until I went to Gaucho Grill at Chulan Square last week.

excellent interior, chef Kamaruddin and yours truly

Gaucho Grill is one of the very few Argentinian restaurants in Klang Valley. Chef Kamaruddin explained that Argentina is actually the 2nd largest consumer of beef in the world, just after US (with 7.5x more in population). Vegetable is not exactly popular, the south Americans love their meat. Gaucho Grill imports all their meat from herds raised by gauchos (cowboys) of Argentina.

starters: garlic bread, seafood soup, escargot, mixed crunch

The three of us that attended this review session by foodstreet were first served with some really nice garlic bread, Escargot, their Sopa Oceano (seafood soup), and the rather large portion of Mixed Crunch.

The seafood soup has the texture between that of a minestrone soup and pasta sauce, very thick and packed with the sweetness from the scallops, prawns, and mussels that swim in it. It was good. The Mixed Crunch is a dish of finger food that would go very well with beer. Crispy prawn with garlic mayo, mussels, fried mushroom, onion fritter, salmon floret, bruschetta of tomato and feta cheese, and seared scallop with balsamic oil, it was actually pretty hearty for a starter.

main: t-bone steak, salmon and half lobster, beef tenderloin, lamb rack

Next came the four main dishes for the day, we had the La Boca (T-bone Steak), Peublo (Prime Steer Beef Tenderloin), El Codero (Lamb Rack), and El Rey de Mar (Salmon and half Lobster). Two beef, a lamb, and a seafood dish, perfect!

Both the T-bone steak and tenderloin were some of the best beefs I’ve had for a long time. While our dishes were prepared in medium, I personally would like it in medium rare for an even juicier experience. The T-bone is a whopping 450 gram (1 pound) of steak served with rosemary butter. No other sauce is used to distract the natural taste of beef. It was really good.

For the most tender cut served at Gaucho Grill, the good chef prepared the Peublo, a very thick cut of prime steer beef tenderloin that is served with mushroom gravy, zucchini, and fries. The meat was very tender and juicy it brought back my filet mignon (the good one at States, not the lousy version at KLCC) experience.

juicy meat, almond crumble and choc madeleine desserts

As good as the beef dishes were, the El Codero (lamb rack) was equally delicious. Three pieces of very juicy and tender ribs (280gm) served with ratatouille and pesto, I don’t think I’ve had lamb this good before. Even better than the marinate Jaime’s mom made during one of our BBQ sessions.

Other than red meat dishes, we had the El Rey de Mar (roasted salmon and baked half lobster). The salmon was roasted just nice and lobster, well, it was how lobsters taste like, very succulent and never disappoint.

We managed to sample 2 desserts after all these food, the Choc Madeleine is perfect for chocolate lovers with apricot on moist choc, ice cream, and warm choc fudge. The Panna Cotta is similar to creme brulee, but served cold with dark cherry and raspberry stew. The desserts are made in house as well.

Chulan Square is adjacent to Pavilion KL

Steaks are priced at around RM 68-80, desserts are RM 13-16. There’s also a very good deal for set lunches on weekdays between 12-3pm, for RM 26 you get soup, salad, ice lemon tea, and a main dish (rib eyes, burgers, etc).

The food was really good, and I have no doubt I will go there again.

More pictures of this place at my flickr set

Address:
Block B, Lot 5 Chulan Square
92 Jalan Raja Chulan,
50250 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.148518, 101.716114
Tel: 03-2145 4268

Tags:  argentina,  delicious,  dining,  eats,  grill,  lamb rack,  steak,  Western

Posted by KY | 22 Comments »

I was informed of 6 to 10 grill & nasi lemak by one of my housemates who read it on the Chinese daily Sin Chew Jit Poh. Since the restaurant is conviniently located at Petaling Jaya and we haven’t had “western food” for a while, I figured, why not? Surely Sin Chew didn’t review this place just because they want to save on transportation claims by the reporter.

typical decent kopitiam set up

6 to 10 Grill & Nasi Lemak has quite a selection of western food items on the menu, and of course, the nasi lemak. I ordered their claim of fame, the red wine lamb special, and the other noobs had grilled salmon and chicken chop. We didn’t bother to try the nasi lemak, I’ve read it was nothing special anyway.

mouth watering western food, look at the lamb, yum

The red wine lamb certainly took quite a while for them to serve, but when it came, it was a generous portion with 4 pieces of decent size lamb shoulder marinated to perfection. On it’s own they tasted pretty good, but to get the best taste, you will have to add the mint sauce that came with it. The tender texture with the hint of red wine, mixed with the lamb’s original taste and the extra dimension the mint sauce brought in, YUM!

I stole a taste of the grilled salmon, it was really good. The sauce was rich but not too overpowering, and the filet wasn’t overly grilled either. The chicken chop with black pepper sauce was pretty decent as well. But as chicken chop goes, there isn’t alot of things you can do to make it better.

the mint sauce does the trick, only bones left

The garnish and sides that came with the dishes weren’t exactly spectacular, only the usual “salad”, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, and fries. Next time I’m there, I’m gonna order the mixed grill, the pictures hanging on the wall looks great, with at least 3-4 types of meat and shrimps.. *drools*

a rather hidden place, but thanks to this map, you’ll know how to get there

6 to 10 Grill & Nasi Lemak opens for lunch and dinner, not exactly just 6pm to 10pm. They are closed every Monday and Tuesday (yah, only 5-day work week for these folks)

Address:
6 to 10 Grill & Nasi Lemak
BG-1, Block B,
Happy Mansion
Jalan 17/13, PJ
GPS: 3.123268, 101.634489
Tel: 03 7955 4993

masak masak wrote about it, so did dDoinkster.

Tags:  chicken-chop,  grill,  ky,  lamb,  PJ,  salmon,  seksyen-17,  val,  western-food

Posted by KY | 25 Comments »