I must be one of the luckiest guy around. In conjunction with my unceremonious birthday, I had a total of 6 free meals from my closest friends. Steamboat from Suan, late night porridge from ST & Kim, Wendy’s thanks to Douglas, Zanmai from Ringo, lunch at Ah Yip soup place from Lorna, and last but not least, Ninja Jones courtesy of my ex-housemate Kerol. What more could a man ask?

Wait, it’s actually 7 meals altogether with Eiling’s pre-birthday dinner at Il Divo Italian restaurant, which I have yet to blog.

beware of the automatic sliding door!

Anyway, we went to Ninja Jones on a weekday evening. The restaurant is located at NorthPoint, just across Mid Valley Mega Mall, you have keep to the right and go into NorthPoint’s parking lot lest having to walk all the way from the main mall via the not-so-well constructed pedestrian bridge.

The restaurant is located on the ground floor, with a pair of automatic sliding door leading to the dark but very well decorated interior. We were seated on the first floor. There were really some waiters dressed up as Ninjas, though none of them looked remotely Japanese.

chawanmushi, salad, soup, tofu

The menu is rather extensive, you can find kobe beef, sashimi, sushi, noodles, sake, and many set meals as well. I also like the fact that most entries in the menu is accompanied by a photo.

We ordered two set dinners for the night. Kerol had the Ninja set while I chose something that is priced just below RM 50 with a name that escaped me.

grilled chicken on hot stone, beef cubes, sashimi

Kerol’s set came with a lemon soup served in a teapot, soft shell crab salad, grilled chicken on hot stone, tofu, tempura, smoked salmon, and some sushi roll (my camera ran out of battery when they were served).

The soup carries a slight lemon taste to it and were pretty unique and refreshing, and I really love the grilled chicken. It was done in a minimalistic way and yet very very delicious. Of course, smoked salmon with vinaigrette never disappoints.

kerol enjoying her favorite cuisine

The set that I had came with salad, chawanmushi, miso soup, sashimi, rice, and grilled beef cube. The sashimi was fresh and really good, especially fatty cuttings they gave for the salmon.

However, the best item on my set had to be the beef. They were really succulent and carried none of the foul smell. I can only imagine how the Kobe beef version would taste like if this version is already so good.

Ninja Jones is located at North Point

The total bill came to slightly above RM 100. It was good ambiance, good food, and good company. A place worth revisiting

Address:
A-G-5, Ground Floor, Northpoint,
Mid valley City,
No.1 Medan Syed Putra Utara,
59200 Kuala Lumpur.
GPS: 3.120346,101.677834
Tel: 03-2288 1646

Tags:  beef,  Japanese,  kerol,  mid valley,  miso,  sashimi,  tempura

Posted by KY | 33 Comments »

Huai Bin was in town a few days ago, so Ringo and I took the opportunity to meet him at Midvalley Gardens for dinner. My previous time meeting this formally notorious dude was actually during the PPS bash in June 2005 when this blog was just barely 5 months young.

Time certainly flies, the dude went through a national fame and a year of rehab since. How many of us could boost that kinda personal history? And then there are those crazy piercings. Anyway.. lest I digress.

this place is constantly packed

Fong Lye to Taiwanese food is pretty similar to Dragon-i in Shanghainese food, relatively affordable, comfortable ambiance, with a high turnover rate. The menu is not overly extensive, but most importantly, it is laden with many pork dishes, some beef, and a few chicken entrees.

I ordered the pork intestine set while Ringo asked for hot & spicy dimsum. Huai Bin went for the three variety supreme diced chicken, Melody the Taiwanese braised beef noodle, and HB’s friend a beef roll.

braised beef noodle, hot & spicy dimsum, pork intestine, and 3 variety supreme dice chicken set

The sets come with soup, a small portion of vegetable, a yong tao fu style brinjal, and a meat ball of sort, and steamed rice with some minced pork on top (was very good!) as standard package. The Three Supreme Diced Chicken was probably the tastiest of what we ordered. Very flavorful with just enough hotness provided from the dried chili, it is pretty similar to kung pao chicken, except better.

My Pork Intestine Set came with intestine, coagulated pork blood, tofu, and salted vegetable in a tomato based broth that is sour and spicy. It was pretty good, but I thought the portion of salted vegetable might have been a little excessive, and Ringo should stop stealing my coagulated blood though!

coagulated pork blood, beef noodle, beef roll, peanut snow mountain

Hot & Spicy Dimsum was somewhat similar with the previous dish, except that it doesn’t have much broth, and a lot more spicy. Tofu, intestine, vegetable, and some other pork parts with the “ma la” spicy sauce. It was pretty interesting but a little too spicy though.

Beef Roll and the Taiwanese Braised Beef Noodle were delicious dishes themselves too, as you would expect from a restaurant specialized in Taiwanese food.

Huai Bin’s gf was the camera lady, secret identify

We also had a Peanut Snow Mountain as dessert, but unfortunately the memory of two girls one cup killed my enjoyment for this item.

While the main dishes were pretty reasonably priced at less than RM 20.00, drinks are pretty pricey here. A pot of tea for two is RM 12, a beer RM 12.50, and yoghurt drinks at RM 7.30 each. I guess you gotta make up for the rentals at Gardens somehow.

Fong Lye is on 3rd floor, Mid Valley Gardens

Fong Lye can also be found at 94, Jalan Imbi; and No. 9 Plaza Prismaville at Hartamas.

Address:
Lot T208, 3rd Floor The Gardens,
Mid Valley City Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.118675, 101.676085
Tel: 03-2282 8699

Tags:  beef,  cheesie,  huai bin,  ky,  mid valley,  pork,  taiwanese

Posted by KY | 27 Comments »

Earlier this month I was invited to the Wild Rice restaurant at Mid Valley Boulevard hotel for a food review session courtesy of foodstreet. I looked through the list of my MSN and found a dinner partner in Ringo to go there with me. (you know, a fehmes blogger to increase my street cred.)

wild rice restaurant, with indoor and outdoor seatings

The wild rice restaurant is situated on the 9th floor with nice indoor seatings as well as the open terrace with a beautiful pool view.

We were greeted by the friendly communication manager Mr. Huang, and shortly after that the dishes started coming in. The good chef prepared eight dishes for just the three of us for the night. Other than their weekend buffet, Wild Rice restaurant serves Malaysian food as well as Western dishes.

clay pot chicken rice, char kueh teow, Penang seafood hor fun

Our first dish of the night was none other than Char Kueh Teow. I usually have my reservations when it comes to this dish, but the chef (who has a very strong Penang tie) actually pulled this off rather well. The good size prawns, chives, bean sprouts, and egg combined to deliver a dish that tasted pretty good.

Similarly, the Penang Hor Fun was very nice as well. I like the way the egg is done with the yolk still half cooked while the white spread over the flat noodle. The hor fun comes with prawns, squid, dory fish fillet, and vegetables.

The chef also prepared two versions of clay pot chicken rice for us, the more usual recipe with salted fish, and a version with century egg. Although I love century eggs, I think the combination is a little weird though, this little experiment from the chef didn’t turn out very great (the dish is not on the menu). Then again, I always applaud chefs who are willing to experiment.

Hainanese chicken chop, avocado burger, pan fried salmon, oxtail soup

Then there’s the very crispy and juicy Hainanese chicken chop that I wish I have a bigger stomach to eat more. The chicken chop consists of 1/4 quarter chicken with thigh and drumstick, fresh button mushroom in brown sauce with some mixed vegetables, and of course, fries. (I wonder if they have fries in Hainan, but lets not digress)

The pan fried salmon was good as well, but I think the most interesting dish for the day goes to the avocado burger. This vegetarian dish has beet root, cheese, butter, and a generous serving of sliced avocado. If you had California Roll, you know how avocado tastes like. The combination of avocado relish, and cheese in the bun was actually delicious.

the good chef and Ringo

Ringo’s favorite dish, if my memory serves me correct, was the Malaysian oxtail soup. It wasn’t too spicy nor tasted too strongly. The soup was just nice with the meat tender and the carrots soft, serving it in a clay pot does help by keeping the temperature.

Boulevard Hotel is situated at the North Court of Mid Valley City

The best thing about Wild Rice restaurant is the fact that it is open 24 hrs a day. To me this spells the end of mamak after midnight show especially if I’m at Mid Valley.

As for price, I think they are pretty reasonable for a hotel. Soup is RM15; the burger and other local dishes are around RM 18 to RM 22. Expect to pay slightly more for western dishes, but the portions are pretty big. The good news is that the prices are nett, no extra 10% or 5%. I like that.

Address:
Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.119262, 101.677802
Tel: 03-2295 8000

Tags:  cheesie,  chicken-chop,  chicken-rice,  ckt,  claypot,  mid valley,  oxtail soup,  salmon

Posted by KY | 32 Comments »

2007 came and went, what did you do to mark the occasion? BBQ? Dinner with family? Party? Thanks to Kim, I got myself a couple tickets to the MidZone Countdown 2008 to dance silly a bit and enjoy some fireworks watching the clock ticks from 23:59:59 31/12/2007 to 00:00:00 1/1/2008.

admiring the fireworks

We got there at around 9 something with surprisingly smooth traffic along the federal highway. I guess these days the party crowds are distributed at several locations such as the area around Curve, Mid Valley, and KL, making the travel to the city a lot more desirable during this time of the year. Among our group we had the hot chick, our friend Dabido all the way from Australia, Suanie, ST, Kim, TBG, Skyler, Esther, Jen, Rachel, Simon, Ed, Jack, kukujiao, and a couple other people whose name escapes me right now.

hot chick, ST, Dabido, Rachel, and Skyler

We got our party packs and gathered around the media reserved area (which was a blessing when it started to drizzle). The crowd builds up as it drew closer to midnight. DJs were spinning some pretty good tracks and you can see bodies started to move. Rachel was especially gungho dancing the whole night like a wild dog let loose.

fireworks and the fan fair

Then came a bunch of chicks wearing skimpy cloths dancing on the stage to spice things up further. But the show of the day has got to go to the laser lady with her funky disco ball outfit that reflects laser light making her look like an electrified Jason, it was awesome. I think the crowd probably snapped at least 50 GB worth of jpeg on her alone.

the party and the laser lady

By the stroke of midnight, Serena C kicked off the fireworks that lasted at least a good 15 minutes, it was pretty cool as the explosions were actually so close to us it hits the buildings on several occasions. I got a stiff neck to start off 2008 from the fireworks.

We left at about 1+, like suan said, cannot party as much anymore since she’s old already. We then tried to have supper at A&W but it turned out to be a futile attempt to find a parking spot nearby. Had our stomach filled at SS2 mamak instead before heading home.

Tags:  mid valley,  new-year,  party

Posted by KY | 6 Comments »

The end of the year usually signifies the time of relaxation; school children have their school holidays, college kids have their college holidays, and for the working people, many of you are clearing leaves that you otherwise couldn’t carry forward to the next year. I, on the other hand, just started a new job and hence do not have any leave whatsoever, but lets not digress…

The question is then, what do you do with all these free time? PARTY of course, that is always one way to make sure that you make proper use of the holiday season. I have a birthday to attend on the 22nd, then there’s the X’mas eve Party on the 24th, and to round up 2007, I’ll be heading down to the SimCity Mid Valley for the Midzone Countdown 2008 on New Year’s eve!

the DJs at Midzone Countdown 2008

This party is going to have it all, the music, the liquid, and even the countdown fireworks! I am really looking forward to be dancing silly with Kim again, there is a video to prove that she actually danced quite silly (while I was just acting silly, she bit the bait u see )

The details:

• Venue: The Boulevard, Mid Valley City
• Date: 31st December 2008
• Time: From 7pm onwards!!
• Ticket Sales: www.ticketpro.com.my
• RM75 (Pre-Sale)
• RM100 (Door Sale)
• Inclusive of 3 F&B Vouchers

Though I’m not an expert in trance music, the DJ list does look impressive. There is DJ Stoneface & Terminal from Germany, DJ Matthew White from Hungary, and VJ SORT from Japan. With these international men of music in charge, I’m sure it’ll be a spectacular night. All I need to do now is to ask Suan to drive me there instead (though the chances of me ending up as the designated driver is far greater)

Last but not least, though I have nothing to give you but information, you might want to check out these guys who are giving out free tickets!

• Kennysia has some to give out
• Kim also gives out tickets
• and TBG has backstage passes to be given out!

Tags:  fireworks,  mid valley,  party

Posted by KY | 5 Comments »