Several weeks ago we were invited to Private Kitchen at Damansara Uptown. From the outside, this looks to be a very modest little restaurant not unlike many other eateries at the area – air conditioned, clean, and with a contemporary furnishing that seems to focus on function than pure aesthetics.

Private Kitchen at PJ Uptown
Private Kitchen at PJ Uptown

This is, however, not just another local restaurant. The kitchen is led by Chef Lam Fai, an experienced Hong Kong chef who was trained both in Western and traditional Hong Kong cuisine, and it is this unique background of Chef Lam that results in some rather creative dishes we sampled during this food review session.

While waiting for food to be served, we snacked off long spring roll with shrimp paste (RM 10). The taste of shrimp paste is not unlike shrimp balls, and the deep fried spring roll skin gives it some crunchiness. A different interpretation of spring roll, easy to eat off your fingers, and I believe, would make excellent beer food.

beef with strawberry sauce, shredded chicken and cucumber, soup of the day
beef with strawberry sauce, shredded chicken and cucumber, soup of the day

Our first dish then, was shredded chicken with Private Kitchen “ma la” sauce (RM 12). The shredded chicken sits atop cucumber that’s seasoned with vinegar, a decent cold dish to prepare the stomach, but not one that I’m overly impressed with though.

Like any Chinese/HK restaurant, soup is a must in any meal. The soup of the day was carrot & radish with lean meat soup (RM 6). Very homey, flavorful, and certainly excellent value for money for this type of setting.

Then came one of my favorite dishes of the night - stir-fried prime beef fillet in strawberry & black pepper sauce (RM 28). According to the chef, the beef is prepared and tenderized using Western cuisine techniques, and he chose strawberry to add a different dimension to this black pepper beef dish after some experiments (Chef Lam jokingly said that banana wasn’t a good idea). The result was excellent, if you are “elite” and like to dismiss fusion food, this dish may very well change your stance.

HK style ginger chicken, panfried pork chop with lemongrass
HK style ginger chicken, panfried pork chop with lemongrass

Hong Kong style sand ginger chicken (RM 25 for half bird) went through some half a day’s work of preparation (boiling in broth, preparing the skin with a bit of turmeric for that color, etc) and was delicious and smooth. I especially enjoy the ginger + spring onion sauce that came with this dish.

The next dish looks almost like mantis prawns, but was actually strips of pan-fried pork chop with lemongrass (RM 25). The pork carries pretty strong lemongrass and ginger taste, and tasted pretty decent with chili sauce, but I thought is one of the weaker dishes in this session.

typhoon shelter tiger prawn, sauteed Chinese chives with pork belly in XO sauce
typhoon shelter tiger prawn, sauteed Chinese chives with pork belly in XO sauce

No HK cuisine is complete without typhoon shelter dishes, and at Private Kitchen, we were served typhoon shelter tiger prawn (RM 38). The preparation method was as I remembered the last time I had typhoon shelter crab at Causeway Bay Spicy Crab at Hartamas – plenty of garlic and chili, the aroma was superb, and the prawns did not disappoint. Now I wonder if this would be a good way to prepare squid, hmm.

Sauteed Chinese chives with pork belly in XO sauce (RM18) was our token vegetable dish, even though there’s pork belly in it. I thought it was slightly sinful, but pretty tasty though.

amaranth with minced chicken in superior soup, Portuguese style fried rice
amaranth with minced chicken in superior soup, Portuguese style fried rice

Another soupy vegetable dish that we had was amaranth with minced chicken in superior soup (RM 16). Most of us would recognize it by the common name Chinese spinach. This is another very homey type of dish, a comfort food.

The Portuguese style fried rice with braised pork belly & seafood (RM 16) wasn’t a dish that looked very good in its presentation, it was sorta brownish overall with little color contrast, but don’t let the apparence fools you. The fried rice was very flavorful, and with prawns, squid, and pork belly, they didn’t skimp on ingredients at all. I had a bowl even though I was already stuffed by then, highly recommended.

deep-fried pork ribs with special salad sauce, typhoon shelter noodles with pork chop
deep-fried pork ribs with special salad sauce, typhoon shelter noodles with pork chop

The deep-fried pork ribs with special salad sauce (RM32) is another unique fusion food by Chef Lam that works well. The ribs were tender and juicy, and the slightly sourish and fruity salad sauce, while a bit unorthodox, worked well in this instance. I really enjoyed it too.

Our last “extra” dish of the night was a bowl of typhoon shelter noodles with pork chop in chili & garlic soup (RM15). This is a dish fit for single person consumption and comes with a generous portion of pork chop and the noodle in a soup that has some kick. I tried a spoonful (was stuffed already), and from what I could tell it was pretty decent.

Cheesie, chef Lam Fai, Suanie, Joyce, Dennis & Evelyn, Haze
Cheesie, chef Lam Fai, Suanie, Joyce, KY, Dennis & Evelyn, Haze

Most of the dishes we had at Private Kitchen were pretty consistent and for the lack of a better description – tasty. The prices are reasonable as well. The only downside of the place is, well, the location and challenging parking situation at times. Saying that this place is sort of a poor-man’s Elegant Inn would not be incorrect. Worth visiting though, for sure.

map to Private Kitchen restaurant at PJ Uptown

Address:
Private Kitchen Hong Kong Cuisine
103 Jalan SS21/37
Damansara Utama (Uptown) 
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.13451, 101.62378
Tel: 03-7728 8399
Hours: 11:30 am – 3 pm, 6 pm – 10 pm, closed on Mondays

KY eats – Private Kitchen at Uptown, Modern Hong Kong Cuisine
Tagged on:                                             

15 thoughts on “KY eats – Private Kitchen at Uptown, Modern Hong Kong Cuisine

  • August 21, 2012 at 4:25 pm
    Permalink

    the typhoon shelter prawn must be a good one…..the picture say it all…

    Reply
    • August 21, 2012 at 7:20 pm
      Permalink

      Cindy Tong: ya, delicious 😀

      Reply
  • August 22, 2012 at 8:09 am
    Permalink

    I was there last week with some friends for lunch and the 4 of us had 8 dishes! I must say some are good like the chives with pork and the strawberry beef but some are just so-so. Prices are also ok. Probably need to come back at night to try the head Chef’s cooking.

    Reply
    • August 22, 2012 at 10:05 am
      Permalink

      eiling: ya, for the price it’s a very decent place.

      Reply
  • August 22, 2012 at 11:23 am
    Permalink

    I’ve passed this outlet many times before but never thought of trying it as I thought the prices would not suit my pocket.

    Re Eiling’s comment – does the head Chef only cook for dinner but not lunch?

    Reply
    • August 22, 2012 at 11:45 am
      Permalink

      rudi: I’m not sure if the head chef’s only there for dinner, but ya, it’s a pretty decent place for the price, very good value. Like most places, not everything is super excellent, but if you order the right things u won’t be disappointed.

      Reply
  • August 22, 2012 at 2:42 pm
    Permalink

    Yeah, just passed by this when searching for a decent dinner place in Uptown last week. Ended up at Wai Kei; Hakka food though. Interesting place as the strawberry beef was special enough.

    Reply
    • August 22, 2012 at 8:20 pm
      Permalink

      J2Kfm: ya that strawberry beef is nice isn’t it?

      Reply
  • August 22, 2012 at 10:34 pm
    Permalink

    aiyo…dont la make me lau hau sui (drool) …hungry already. its all your fault. hahahaa

    Reply
    • August 23, 2012 at 8:05 am
      Permalink

      yen: eat eat eat! hahaha.

      Reply
  • August 24, 2012 at 7:53 pm
    Permalink

    I absolutely love the Typhoon Shelter Tigre Prawn. Addictively good…finger licking good too!

    Reply
    • August 25, 2012 at 5:59 pm
      Permalink

      missyblurkit: yaa, yummy!

      Reply
  • December 15, 2012 at 2:14 pm
    Permalink

    Kindly be informed that we have changed our rest day to every Monday instead of Tuesday effective 10 December 2012. Thank you.

    Reply
    • December 16, 2012 at 7:03 pm
      Permalink

      Private Kitchen: thanks 😀

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *