A couple weekends ago Suanie, Nicholas, and I arranged a trip down to Seremban to lepak a bit at Era Square, a pretty new commercial area just right to the yet-to-be-opened Terminal 2 interstate bus terminal. We met up with Cheeser the local girl there, and of course, the first agenda after the 45 minutes drive from KL is to get our stomach stuffed.

Kensington Western Restaurant at Era Square, Seremban
the awesome prawn, and live oyster from Canada

Due to the power that be, we had an invitation to eat at Kensington, a nicely decorated Western/Fusion restaurant. The owner Grace Chia had prepared a total of 8 dishes for us, she was super friendly and actually sat us through the whole meal to tell us everything about the individual dishes and how they (with her husband the chef) got into this business.

Grace actually lived in UK for quite a number of years and have been involved with satisfying stomachs of the public for over 15 years. Kensington at Era Square is their latest venture.

Kensington Western Restaurant at Era Square, Seremban
KY, Grace the owner, and Ringo (Cheeser)

Now lets get to the food, shall we? Since there are so many dishes and Grace had laboriously explained each of them to me, I think I shall just list them one by one here.

Prawn Mango Salad (RM 18.50) – This is one Suanie’s favorite, an American recipe that has the prawn cooked with fresh mango (seafood and fruit, interesting heh?). The slightly sourly sauce is particularly excellent, very buttery and flavorful.

Aromatic Crispy Duck (RMR 18.50) – A quarter duck peeled off from the bone, served with lettuce, cucumber, and plum sauce. I find this to actually taste better than the Schezuan duck I had at Soho, 1 Utama. The fresh vegetable compliments the taste of duck meat and the sauce very well.

Kensington Western Restaurant at Era Square, Seremban
prawn mango salad, aromatic crispy duck, live oyster, and baked potato

Live Oyster (RM 6.50) – Flown from Canada, fat and juicy. You can have them cheese baked for an extra buck.

Baked Potato – Somehow I have lost the description for this dish, but if you like potato and cheese, do not miss it!

Filet Steak with Shitake Sauce (RM 31.50) – A generous serving of beef with the shitake mushroom in with cream and a touch of wine. I gotta admit that this dish did not look like a proper steak and I had doubts about it. However, a bite the red meat confirmed what Suan kept telling me “You gotta try this, it’s great omg!”

Kensington Western Restaurant at Era Square, Seremban
filet steak, lamb shank, chicken veronique, and mushroom soup

Lamb Shank (RM 18.50) – A huge piece of lamb shank serve prepared with black pepper sauce. The meat is very tender and it definitely tastes better than those you can order from the particular chain restaurant famous for their cakes. A very good value too.

Chicken Veronique (RM 15.30) – Chicken breast cooked with grapes (yes grapes!), cream, and white wine. While chicken breast is chicken breast, the sauce made all the difference, a very interesting taste with actual pieces of grape in it. Though I’m not used to having chicken served this way, I like it.

Mushroom Soup and Garlic Bread – When the mushroom soup came, I was already more than half full and wasn’t exactly overly keen on “just mushroom soup”. Grace proved me wrong, the soup actually have bits of onion, potato, shitake mushroom, and celery in it that made the taste and texture that much better. Goes very well with the garlic bread too!

Kensington Western Restaurant at Era Square, Seremban
Suan doesn’t eat oyster, so I had extra. Grace the friendly owner

This is certainly one of the best lunches I’ve ever had. I really really wish Kensington can open a branch just outside next to my house. The price is very affordable, and the food is excellent, combined with a comfortable dining area, there isn’t anything to complain about.

I am sure I will go there again, after all, going to Seremban can actually be faster than heading down town KL sometimes.

map to Era Square, Seremban
Kensington is situated at Era Square, just 5 minutes from Seremban Toll

Address:
Kensington Western Restaurant
34, Jalan Era Square 3,
Era Square,
70200 Seremban, N. Sembilan

GPS: 2.726541, 101.931442
Tel:
06-768 7288

KY eats – Kensington Western Restaurant at Era Square, Seremban
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53 thoughts on “KY eats – Kensington Western Restaurant at Era Square, Seremban

  • January 24, 2008 at 11:01 am
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    i see food! sea food! omg so lame i think i need to get some sleep.

    Reply
  • January 24, 2008 at 11:50 am
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    i wanna go! omg the oysters….

    Reply
  • January 24, 2008 at 12:41 pm
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    It can be a fattifying experience!

    The prawn dish looks very tempting..

    Reply
  • January 24, 2008 at 12:41 pm
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    Cheesie,
    My whole site all collage pictures what….

    Suanie,
    Come pick me up!

    Bee Nee,
    luxury of sleep at working time.. grr

    Kim,
    Come pick me up!

    Reply
  • January 24, 2008 at 3:21 pm
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    Wooa… that live oyster is simply irresistible…

    Reply
  • January 24, 2008 at 3:34 pm
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    Didn’t know there’s such a good restaurant in Seremban! So feel like trying it since it’s on the way to Malacca. OH btw..KY, is there wine in most of the dishes?

    Reply
  • January 24, 2008 at 3:41 pm
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    haha, there’s loads of nice places to eat at in seremban! kensington’s is one of those places, but there are certain things you must try, ie :

    1) king’s beef noodles, which is really near the store (or really near pasar besar seremban)

    2) quinn’s (or queen’s?) beef noodles in kemayan square

    3) a small roadside stall near the store also sells some really nice sui mai and little tidbits.

    4) fei chai restaurant or fat boy restaurant in kemayan square is packed every night without fail, good food at really affordable prices and relatively fast service (when you take into account the number of customers) as well!

    and lots more!

    Reply
  • January 24, 2008 at 4:29 pm
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    hcfoo,
    don’t work up too much zinc in your body ok.. you’ll need to find a release eventually. 😀

    twosuperheroes,
    Only some of the dishes, not all, but you can request to exclude the wine too.

    michelle,
    OoO, nice list. I shall head there again one of these days. 😀

    Reply
  • January 24, 2008 at 6:29 pm
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    Eh, so far away. You’re so cruel lah!!! Why not feature something in Connaught so I can feast happily.

    ==

    At least KL also okay lar….

    Reply
  • January 24, 2008 at 8:03 pm
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    saw ur quote in the star today

    Reply
  • January 24, 2008 at 11:16 pm
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    wow. everything looks so good! i must drop by there next time i go bek home town!

    Reply
  • January 25, 2008 at 12:17 am
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    Let’s go for the BBQ crabs next time!

    Reply
  • January 25, 2008 at 1:57 am
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    I also wish they will open one branch next to my house. *praying hard*

    Reply
  • January 25, 2008 at 4:21 am
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    Eh eh! I’m from Seremban! *waves at KY* lol, but I’m not AT seremban now 🙁 next time come visit me! 😛

    Reply
  • January 25, 2008 at 9:09 am
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    Michelle,
    Take a bus! KTM goes there too. 😛

    jason,
    Just 3 paragraphs. hehehe, I saw it too.

    Nicholas,
    BBQ crab sounds good!

    Simon Seow,
    Are we praying the same god?

    crysV,
    I’m sure you’re happy with your spaghetti in Italy.

    Reply
  • January 25, 2008 at 1:02 pm
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    Saliva dripping.

    Reply
  • January 26, 2008 at 7:59 am
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    Those picutres look absolutely mouth watering…Note to self. Do not visit KY’s blog unless I have immediate access to food…

    Reply
  • January 27, 2008 at 10:07 am
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    wow…a new western restaurant
    gonna try it out

    Reply
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  • January 28, 2008 at 9:33 am
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    Lyrical Lemongrass,
    Grab a tissue!

    Friedbeef,
    Eat more laa, it’s good for you.

    alex,
    Yeah, mouth watering.

    Reply
  • February 1, 2008 at 11:26 am
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    I can’t believe I’m reading write-ups on where to eat in Seremban! Wah! Seremban so femes dy! 😛

    There’s another Kensington in Oakland Commercial Square (near Columbia Hospital and Tesco), did Grace mention she had another branch? Will usually frequent that one because it’s nearer to home but not anymore because food and service getting more and more unsatisfactory.

    Reply
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  • February 27, 2008 at 2:32 pm
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    eh?

    i’m from seremban. dunno got nice place to eat there. har har.

    halal or not?

    Reply
    • January 31, 2016 at 9:38 pm
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      Its halal do far. Cause i oftened when there had my fav dish. Chicken caserole.

      Reply
      • February 1, 2016 at 5:25 pm
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        Nadia: sounds good, they kept the standard up then!

        Reply
  • February 27, 2008 at 3:52 pm
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    zaza,
    It is pork free. 🙂

    Reply
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  • December 1, 2008 at 5:02 pm
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    hi…

    Seremban westernised?! or dim sum-ised
    least known

    Do U know we have
    de’ best crabs dishes,
    Hakka noodles,
    beef noodles – Pasar,
    siew pau & egg tarts,
    sotong noodles,
    cendol, rojak,
    satay…

    BTW, i have not been to Era Square.
    Out-of-town Seremban mari

    Reply
  • May 2, 2009 at 10:00 pm
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    Service at Kensington, Era Walk is extremely bad. I was with my family this evening, and were shocked that the waiter did not find our reservation. After searching for some time, they finally found but the table was not set up yet. The waitor only brouhgt us 4 menus but there were 6 of us. When I asked for 2 extra menus, his mouth was widely opened for about 5 seconds, before bringing us the extra menues. One of the menu has a terrible smell too!! After decided what we wanted, we called for order but no one responsed, they were all inside the counter talking away…again we called at a hihger tone, no one responded to us too but one of them came out…bringing drinks for another table and another waiter still inside the counter. We left without ordering any food and headed to another western restaurant in town. Service is 100% better than Kensinton Era Walk and food were good too. Maybe the boss is always not around, that’s why the attitude of the staff were so bad.

    Reply
  • May 3, 2009 at 3:12 am
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    Jessica,
    That’s extremely bad! I’ve been to Kensington 4-5 times now and never had such bad service though.

    Reply
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  • June 10, 2009 at 10:23 am
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    We went there to celebrate Mom’s Day…nice food…great service as well….We will b back again…..

    Reply
  • June 10, 2009 at 2:28 pm
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    Jonnie & Lennie,
    Good to hear that. 😀

    Reply
  • June 14, 2009 at 10:00 pm
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    I have taken below meals and here is my comment:

    1) Mushroom soup and garlic bread. This defnitely tastes far better than Pizza-Hut. I think everybody will like it. It is a good thing to take before main course.

    2) Beef filet (steak) @ 75% cooked with shitake sauce – the taste is fantastic. I have visited about 10 restaurants in Switzerland before and this one is better than most of them. In Switzerland, the same quality could cost you about RM 75 to RM 90 (price at about 2 years ago). So, it is worthwhile to have it here for only RM 31.50 and save your air ticket.

    3) Lamb shank. Quite big piece. To me, this is actually 2 persons’ share. Soft and tender, but not as yummy as it looks like.

    4) Baked potatoes. This is a starter. Nice but filling stomach. If you finish up all 4 pieces in one plate you might feel full.

    Reply
  • June 15, 2009 at 10:29 am
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    Sunny,
    Your review is probably more in depth than most I’ve written. 😀

    Reply
  • June 30, 2009 at 11:59 am
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    Although I am Seremban girl, I haven’t got a chance to visit Kensington. Look forward for my 1st visit on 9th July 09. 🙂

    Reply
  • June 30, 2009 at 3:22 pm
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    JC,
    Then you have to make it happen! 😀

    Reply
  • June 30, 2009 at 4:14 pm
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    Haha.. I have just called to make the reservation.. however it’s a bit weird, the girl didn’t even ask my name and my contact no…!How if others also book for a table for 2? @_@

    Reply
  • July 13, 2009 at 9:08 am
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    JC,
    LOL interesting, maybe she got your number? 😀

    Reply
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  • March 13, 2010 at 9:17 am
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    yeah i can tell from what bad comments from you as i have been with them these years ,, they dont actuallly do a right at the right time .. bad service and price ..
    do you know where can i look at their menu ?

    Reply
  • March 13, 2010 at 8:44 pm
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    dave,
    Menu? at their tables. LOL

    Reply
  • April 1, 2010 at 5:15 pm
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    Today (29/3/10) I, together with a friend, decided to have dinner at Kensington’s for a change. However, to our dismay, the experience at Kensington’s today was one of the worst ever. Here was the many of our grouches:

    1. We were not even halfway through our appetizers, and they were serving us our main courses already. Isn’t there some certain protocol to follow whereby the main courses are supposed to be served when patrons are more than halfway/nearly done with the entrees? Probably not to clutter the table and to make way for the dining comfort of patrons?

    2. When the main courses were served, the waiter wanted to clear our plates which meant for the appetizers. My friend insisted that we still needed the plates, but somehow the waiter decided to clear my plate instead. This we could probably blame it on communication, as obviously there was a barrier in language.

    3. I ordered Green Tea from the menu, and what I was served looks like very diluted Lipton tea. I took a sip of it and it tasted like very diluted Lipton yellow tea made from recycled tea bags. I called the supervisor over to ask about the Green Tea, and just with a glance at the tea bag, she confirms to us that it was indeed Green Tea. I must admit that I had not drunk Lipton Green Tea before, but from the colour and the taste of it, it tasted more like water with just a lil tinge of tea taste in it! Even though it probably is indeed Green Tea!

    4. After our meals were done, no one came to clear up our table/the plates. We tried getting the staff’s attention, but to no avail. After much waving and calling, short of jumping on the chair to get their attention, we managed to signal to the supervisor (we assumed she was, since she was the only one giving orders and not doing much) at the counter to clear our plates. She signaled to another staff to get them to clear our table. What we did not understand was, why couldn’t she have come over to clear our table? There weren’t many customers, in fact inside the restaurant there was only one other table of patrons to tend to. And we weren’t sitting that far away from the counter, I’m sure she must have some freedom of how many centimetres she is allowed to stray from her counter right? Anyway, after a few minutes, probably due to her not being able to summon anyone, she came over to clear our table.

    If this were a lower end restaurant, we would have disregarded the service rendered. However, for the price that we paid for the food and definitely the ambience, I’m certainly sure we deserve more as well-paying customers? We came to Kensington’s for the good food, but we were really disappointed with the service. We hope that Ms Grace would do something to better the service, as I know we’re not the only ones being driven away by bad service. The only thing we customers need are the staff to be attentive to our needs, without us begging them for their attention.

    Reply
  • April 5, 2010 at 12:07 pm
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    Steven,
    that’s the problem with many local restaurants. Service is usually not consistent and sometimes downright horrible. I’m sorry for your experience.

    Reply
  • May 19, 2010 at 9:01 pm
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    I’ve stopped patronizing this restaurant ever since we experience very bad service last year. Try Le Esquina and Fireworks for better service and food!!

    Reply
  • May 20, 2010 at 6:18 pm
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    Jessica,
    ahh that’s sad to hear, service is always a problem in m’sia.

    Reply
  • May 9, 2012 at 11:27 pm
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    I been here so many time i went also in okland other branch so nice d food and goof service

    Reply

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