Over the weekends I went to Kuantan for a short trip with Sheryl. We didn’t have any concrete plan, and it was basically just an opportunity to spend some time and catch up after she’d come back from her post graduate studies in Europe. After all, it was some 7 years since we were last living together in the States.

Pak Su seafood restaurant, with the best al fresco dining experience

After spending better part of the afternoon chilling at Cherating beach sipping coconut juice, we decided to check out Pak Su seafood restaurant by the beach. It was partly due to convenience as Pak Su is located rather close to where we were staying.

While this is a Chinese restaurant, it is also halal, and there were quite a number of Muslim patrons and workers alike at the premise.

We took a table at the al fresco dining area by the beach. The scenery was incredible, full moon, strong waves, and the rather powerful sea breeze makes up for one of the best seafood dinner ambiance I’ve experienced.

fresh Canadian oysters, vegetable, butter prawn

For the two of us, we ordered a pair of fresh Canadian oysters (RM 8 each) to start. They were huge, juicy and absolutely delicious, the other other place with comparable oyster would be Kensington at Seremban.

Butter prawn (RM 20) was another commendable dish, it was cooked in the “wet” style (there’s also the other butter prawn preparation you might have had from Chinese wedding dinners, this is not the same method). The prawns were huge, fresh, and rather delicious.

To fulfill the illusion of having a complete meal, we ordered a plate of vegetable (豆苗 RM7) too. It was however, a bit too old and not something I’d recommend.

stuffed crab and steamed siakap

The one famous seafood dish everyone must try when at East-Coast is the stuffed crab. Pretty much every seafood restaurants from Kuantan to Kemaman will have this particular dish on the menu.

We ordered two stuffed crab from Pak Su (RM 6 each). It was basically a crab shell stuffed with plenty of crab meat and god knows what else, but it was quite tasty! I would order more than one next time, it was like having the best of crabs without having to deal with the whole peeling off crab shell nonsense.

The steamed siakap (RM 18) we had was forgettable. The fish steak as per recommended by our server was way too tough it felt like we were chewing on cardboard. There are quite a lot of other live fish to choose from though, so perhaps other choices would be better than what we ordered.

KY, the awesome view, and Sheryl

The service at Pak Su follows the life style of east-coast Malaysia quite a bit too much, it was horrendously slow. While it didn’t take too long for us to get our food after ordering, getting the attention of servers to start the prepare our table/ordering/paying/getting change took way too long.

Our dinner was RM 84 in total, including 5% government tax, pretty reasonable price that is comparable to KL standard.

As for the food, there were dishes that was rather good (oyster, stuffed crab, butter prawn), and some were pretty lousy (vegetable, fish). However, I do feel that this place is worth visiting even if just for the ambiance. You really have to be there to appreciate it.

Address:
Pak Su Seafood Restaurant
No.4/1417, Batu 6, Lot 922, Kg.Bahagia Beserah,
26100 Kuantan , Pahang Darul Makmur.
GPS: 3.87582, 103.36636
Tel: 09-544 8025
URL: paksu-seafood.com.my

Tags:  crab,  kuantan,  oyster,  prawn,  seafood,  sheryl

Posted by KY | 26 Comments »

After hearing so much about Tenji from friends and other food blogs, Suan, Horng, and I decided to give it a try almost 2 months ago. One of the reasons it took us so long to finally go there was to actually avoid the madness during their half price promotion (which still runs once in a while, check their website).

Tenji Japanese Buffet at Solaris

Tenji is often compared with Jogoya, the first premium Japanese buffet restaurant not in a hotel to hit KL in early 2006. Personally I think that the comparison is justified as both Tenji and Jogoya caters for slightly higher end market and offers dishes that are quite similar, and more importantly, they’re priced competitively with each other at full price.

At Tenji, lunch is priced at RM77++ while dinner and supper at RM88++. Jogoya’s buffet is RM78++ for lunch, RM68++ for late lunch, RM88++ for dinner, and RM78++ for late dinner. (Jogoya pricing, Tenji pricing)

ohh, the oysters!

Located at Soho Solaris, Tenji is a much friendlier place for those who drives. Parking is a breeze if you don’t mind paying a couple ringgit for the underground carpark, on the other hand, Jogoya is accessible via public transport since it is located at Bukit Bintang.

As for the restaurant itself, Tenji is huge, with both air conditioned indoor area as well as quite a bit of alfresco dining, especially for those who wish to punctuate an extended buffet session with some nicotine.

KY, Suan, and Horng

I started off the late lunch with some oysters, steamed prawns, and sashimi.

The oysters here were pretty big and certainly fresh and juicy, the good thing is that the oyster bar is always being refilled anytime it is less than half filled. I am very very annoyed at places that takes forever to refill their most sought after ingredients/dishes (like Yuen steamboat’s chicken wings, or Talipon’s prawns).

always start with raw or lightly cooked food

I like their surf clam, scallop (albeit a bit small) and their rather fatty salmon sashimi, the butter fish was pretty decent too but I would stay away from tuna and squid sashimi if you’re particular about quality. As with most buffet places, the tuna served are of pretty inferior quality. This is due to the insanely high price of tuna these days I suppose.

There are also plenty of pre-cooked items on the buffet spread, the Singapore chili crab was actually very delicious, and there’s always the added advantage of choosing only the pincers (who cares about other customers, right? hehe). Other dishes include grilled vegetable, squid with dark sauce, fish, lamb, beef, and dozens more I can’t recall.

buffet spread, including drinks and dessert area

Like Jogoya, Tenji also employs the clips system whereby you drop a clip with your table number at the bowl indicating certain dishes, wait for a few minutes, and they will be served freshly cooked. The downside is that you might end up waiting for quite a bit if the restaurant is particularly busy, but since it wasn’t when we were there, we didn’t need to wait for more than a few minutes before our orders were served.

The steamed cod with soya sauce was good, but the serving was rather miserable so it’s best advised that you order 2-3 at one go. Another more memorable freshly prepared dish was the soft shell crab and this vegetable (a type of beans?) with black beans. We also ordered steak, some teriyaki dishes, mushroom, fish filet, and so on. In general they tasted pretty good and very few of them were disappointing (for eg. the soup with razor clam).

Singapore chili crab, soup, steamed cod

In the drinks department, you have fresh brewed coffee, cappuccino, latte, quite a selection of fruit juice, soft drinks, and my favorite – chilled fresh coconut. I think I had about 4 of those.

Haagan Dazs ice cream was what I had for dessert while the huge selection of pastry and other desserts lay sitting in front of me. We were simply full to the brim after spending about 2 hours having the late lunch. If I remember correctly, we skipped dinner.

Tenji is located at SOHO, Solaris Mont Kiara

Compared to my last 2 visits to Jogoya, I would personally prefer Tenji. Although the buffet spread is smaller, the food quality reminds me of the earlier days of Jogoya. Fresh, tasty, and with good service, they just somehow managed to aged in the last 4 years to a point that I stopped going there, hopefully Tenji never follow the same path.

Address:
Tenji Japanese Buffet
Lot L-01-01, Soho KL,
Solaris Mont Kiara,
No.2, Jalan Solaris, KL
GPS: 3.174689, 101.659595
Tel: 1700-80-1818

Tags:  Buffet,  crab,  horng,  mont-kiara,  oyster,  sashimi,  soho,  solaris,  suanie

Posted by KY | 42 Comments »

I had been anticipating my second Friday Wine Lunch ever since the first installment at Carat Club last month, so when Lenny from Millennium Associates invited me to Chinoz a couple weeks ago, I was overjoyed.

Nigel Dolan, chief wine maker, Wyndham Estate

The Friday Wine Lunch at Chinoz was hosted by Wyndham Estate, and organized by Millennium Associates with Pernod Ricard Malaysia. We were lucky enough to have Nigel Dolan, the chief wine maker from WE to join us for the session.

Lionel Lau and Chris Low who blogs at the cork brothers played excellent hosts, while Eiling, Gareth, Kim, and I were joined a few dozen Friday Wine Lunch regulars in this session.

foie gras bon bon, wild mushroom consomme oxtail ravilioli

We started off with soup, the Wild Mushroom Consomme with Oxtail Ravioli paired with chilled Wyndham Estate Bin555 Sparkling Chiraz. I actually liked the soup quite a lot, it kinda carry stronger mushroom and a weak marmite taste to it. The texture of oxtail ravioli and it’s rather raw meaty taste gives the soup a very strong contrast. The sparkling wine washes the soup down just nice.

Next up was foie gras bon bon with caramelized apple. I love foie gras, and while this dish tasted pretty good, the portion left me with somewhat unsatisfied cravings. We had Wyndham Estate Show Reserve Cabernet Merlot to go with it. Cabernet Merlot is one of the earliest wines I’ve tasted back when I was in the states working in a restaurant, memory of yesteryear rushed back as I sipped the wine, not unlike the effect you get from listening to an old song on radio.

Confit of Salmon with poached oyster

We were given a choice of two main dishes and I went with the salmon. The color of the fillet captured my attention as soon as I set eyes on it, still bright orange and just very, very lightly cooked with minimal salt or any other spices to preserve its natural sweetness. It was so good I savored every single bite of it. The poached oyster adds character to the dish as well.

Fish is often paired with white wine, and it was not surprising that Wyndham Estate Show Reserve Chardonnay is chosen for this dish.

Oven roasted Beef Fillet and Green Tea and White Chocolate Mousse

Wyndham Estate Show Reserve Shiraz, the last of the 4 types of wine for the session, is paired with the other main dish – the oven roasted beef fillet, which was a little too tough and too cooked for my liking. However, I did enjoy the Show Reserve Shiraz and took liberty in having a couple glasses before the session is over.

The green tea and white chocolate moose concluded the meal in a sweet note. The two types of moose served in (surprisingly delicious) chocolate cups. I had another Shiraz with this.

Eiling and I, group photo with Nigel, Chris, and the gang

It was a very good lunch session and I would like to thank Lenny for the invitation. Friday wine lunch usually falls on the last Friday of the month, you can check with Millennium Associates for more information.

Address:
G47 Suria KLCC
Petronas Twin Towers
50200 Kuala Lumpur City Centre
GPS: 3.157581, 101.712102
Tel: 03-2166 8277

Tags:  beef,  eiling,  foie-gras,  friday wine lunch,  gareth,  kimberly,  klcc,  oyster,  salmon,  wine

Posted by KY | 19 Comments »

A little over a week ago I had the chance to eat at Nikko hotel for the second time. The first one was a Guinness St. Patrick’s day event about 2 months ago with the awesome lamb shank, this time it was hi-tea at their Cafe Serena Brasserie, arranged by foodstreet. I was again greeted by the friendly host Azira for this occasion.

choices of pastries

To be honest, this was the first time I had hi-tea anywhere. I initially thought that hi-tea would actually involve some sort of really high class tea, but apparently it is just a buffet style late afternoon meal that can be quite substantial. Oh well, learn something new everyday – never to simply assume.

may I have a bowl of that please?

The hi-tea at Cafe Serena Brasserie serves quite a lot of dishes, from a huge selection of pastries, raw oysters, mussels, clams, wantan soup, mee goreng, cheese cakes, ice kacang, to mini potato, mee hun soup, satey, and even chocolate fondue. Definitely more than enough for anyone’s stomach. I was spoiled for choices.

raw oysters, mini wantan soup, baked mussels and more

I started off my meal with a serving from the raw bar, a few fresh raw oysters, mussels, prawns, and clams. As with any buffet, you should always start with things that aren’t very strong tasting and work your way from there. If you started off with satey and plenty of peanut sauce with extra chili, the taste buds will be desensitized to dishes with subtler tastes.

Between chatting with Azira and taking some photos, I had a mini wantan soup, salad, some pastries, pancake, and moved on to satey, fried chicken, and the very very good meehun soup (my favorite). Then of course it was chocolate fondue and some fruits for dessert. But I did sneaked in another serving of oysters as I simply cannot resist.

a bit of noodle, chocolate, raw stuff, fruits, healthy meal ya.

In all, it was a very satisfying and hearty meal. While the food was very good, the hospitality from Azira was even better. We throughly enjoyed the session. Thanks!

More pictures can be found at my flickr set.

Sammy enjoying her meehun soup, and the friendly Azira

Other than Hi-tea on weekends and public holidays, Cafe Serena Brasserie also serves buffet breakfast daily, as well as lunch and dinner on Mondays to Fridays. Buffet dinner has an even wider selection of food, including sashimi from their Japanese kitchen as well.

Address:
165, Jalan Ampang,
50450 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.159767, 101.718045
Tel: 603-2782 6228

Tags:  Buffet,  hotel,  nikko,  oyster,  satay

Posted by KY | 28 Comments »

As a gesture of appreciation for helping a buddy out, I was promised a good dinner at Mont Kiara a few weeks back. After the assignment, as we were figuring out what to have, I spotted this nice little place called Zakuro on the ground floor of Plaza Mont Kiara. Since I’m such a fan of Japanese cuisine, the decision only took a planck time.

Ahhhhh, Sashimi Moriwase, yumm

To satisfy my stomach for this occasion, we ordered a Sashimi Moriwase, some tempura, kaki furai (deep fried oyster), and the BBQ squid. The free appetizer was, I believe, a slice of pumpkin, and our we ordered a bowl of fried rice and normal Japanese rice to go with everything else.

nice ambiance with comfortable chairs as well

The food took a while to come, but I guess that was only because they took the time to prepare with attention to details. The sashimi dish was arranged with some very good cut of fresh salmon, surf clam, tuna, butter fish, and some other stuff I can’t name.

The BBQ squid and tempura were similarly satisfying, crunchy and juicy respectively, and prepared with fresh seafood. However, the most delicious item has to be the kaki furai, this was only the first time I had tasted oyster prepared this way. The oysters served here were really hugey, the crunchy texture of the breading contrasting with the juicy and not overly cooked oyster was just perfect gastronomically satisfying stuff.

sashimi, tempura, squid, and oyster

The bill came to be RM 140 for everything. The sashimi was RM50, tempura & the oyster dishes were RM25, and the squid RM12. Pretty reasonable price for the quality of food as well as the rather nice dining environment.

Address:
C-OG-02 Plaza Mont Kiara
2, Jalan 1/70C, Mont Kiara
50480 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.165637, 101.651956
Tel: 03-6201 6626

Tags:  ika,  Japanese-Food,  mont-kiara,  oyster,  restaurant,  sashimi,  zakuro

Posted by KY | 9 Comments »