Pork noodle must be one of the most popular non-halal soup based hawker dish in Klang Valley. It’s in almost every single multi-hawker kopitiam. After all, what’s not to like about a bowl of flavorful soup with all the porky goodness and your favorite choice of noodle?
Ten Noodle, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, PJ
When it comes to this dish, many people will gravitates towards the like of Kean Fatt SS3, Ah Or, Win Heng Seng, OUG’s version. While they’re all very good, there’re often some “flaws” – either in wait time, parking, or lack of certain ingredients.
Well, here’s where TEN Noodle steps in.
The modus operandi seems simple here – be efficient, priced competitively, and give people plenty of what they want.
When you get to TEN Noodle, you’ll be handed a sheet of ordering paper – ticks several boxes – choice of noodle, wet/dry, ingredients, snacks, and beverages. Food is then served rather swiftly, which is always a good thing.
dry mee suah with mixed pork
Mine was dry mee suah with mixed pork and additional pork kidney and bitter gourd. The result was this huge bowl of ingredients loaded with everything I wanted!
To be fair, taste wise it was .. decent, perhaps 80-90% up there if compared to some of the others mentioned above, but they more than make up for it via value and experience.
my favorite innards – kidney!
So yes, if I’m at Kota Damansara looking for pork noodle, this is definitely in my list.
Address: Ten Noodle Restaurant No.25-1, Jalan PJU 5/10, Kota Damansara, 47810 Selangor GPS: 3.151422, 101.593351 Tel: 016-205 1741 Hours: 11am – 9pm daily
We don’t always go to Kota Damansara thanks mostly to the fact that traffic is quite horrendous due to the on-going MRT construction, but when WeiZhi & Lex asked that we join them for a steamboat lunch review at Gourmet Definition Steamboat, we immediately agreed.
Gourmet Definition Steamboat at Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara
The reason is two fold – the two fellas behind KBCG are good friends, and secondly, the photos from what I can find about Gourmet Definition Steamboat looked mighty promising.
we tried both the spicy and signature golden soup
Located at the main strip of Sunway Giza, Gourmet Definition has quite a “fresh” and new look to it that’s unlike any other steamboat places in town. The restaurant manager and part owner explained to us that great expense and thought was put into the planning and renovation stage of the restaurant, to ensure a comfortable dining experience, and most of all, top notch cleanliness standard.
I felt that they definitely achieved these goals with white marble tables, good air conditioning, and above all, prompt service (they even change your plates from time to time).
the deluxe set menu A for 4 pax at Gourmet Definition
We were served the Deluxe Set Menu A for the four of us (RM 238 promo, usual RM 328), and it came with the following items:
signature golden soup or heat reducing preserved egg & parsley soup
King’s water prawn (4 pcs)
sliced pork
handmade three treasure meatballs (fish, pork, octopus, 4 pcs each)
There are only two items we tried here that’s not in the set menu – the HUGE imported fresh oyster, and the extra flavor of soup (the spicy one). Everything else is as listed above.
the fresh oyster was absolutely delicious, and huge!
But enough with the listing of ingredients, the important question is, are they any good?
The answer is a resounding yes. Fresh ingredients with pork bone infused herbal soup base, it is actually not easy to go wrong here.
My favorites were the iberico pork slices, those red roe in the river prawn’s head, the homemade fish balls, and also most definitely those huge oysters. Those chicken wings too were pretty spot on as well.
Haze, Weizhi, Lex, & KY
Prices at Gourmet Definition is on the higher side, but the ingredients, service, and dining experience more than equal what you’ll see on the bill. If you’re up for some top notch steamboat, this place should be on your radar screen.
Address: Gourmet Definition Steamboat Unit A-13A & 15, Sunway Giza, No. 2, Jalan PJU 5/14, PJU 5, Kota Damansara, 47810 Selangor GPS: 3.150799, 101.581231 Tel: 03-6151 8638 Hours: Lunch & Dinner daily
Being a fella from Penang, the name Bali Hai Seafood Restaurant isn’t foreign to me. The bright red signboard with a huge green lobster is a sight quite familiar to, having seen it at Gurney Drive on numerous occasions. It is also a bit of a go-to seafood restaurant for some of my extended family members.
Well, the good news is, Bali Hai is now in Klang Valley, and we went to sample their set dinner menu.
Bali Hai, now in Kota Damansara too
Bali Hai is located at Sun Suria Avenue at Kota Damansara, a stone’s throw away from Sunway Giza Mall. There is ample parking right in front of the restaurant, and we only had to pay RM 1 per entrance during our visit. It was well worth it.
Most of the tables are situated at the center area at the huge semi-alfresco dining area, but there are also some air conditioned rooms for private parties. We were seated in one such room for the session, the room comes complete with a TV & karaoke system too.
The restaurant has an impressive wall of tanks housing a huge variety of live seafood for your picking. Boster lobster from US, rainbow lobster from Indonesia, geoduck from Canada, Alaskan king crab, oyster, tiger prawns, “soon hock”, giant grouper, and even exotics such as empurau fish. You can pick your spoil, aided by clearly written prices of each spices on the side of the tank so there’d be no surprises.
I must say that Bali Hai really do live up to their tag line of “If it swims we have it”.
Canadian geoduck and lobster sashimi and steamboat
On this session, we were treated to their RM 1388 set menu which comes with 9 dishes (including dessert) for 10 pax.
Our first dish was the Steamboat Canadian Geoduck and Lobster, which were actually served raw on crushed ice with a clay pot of superior soup , tofu, string mushroom, and vegetable.
I’m a big fan of sashimi and was glad that a side of wasabi and soya sauce was provided. The fresh rainbow lobster we had was fantastic, if you haven’t had lobsters before, having them raw is a great way to really taste the sweetness of lobster, distinctly different from that of crab or prawns. I’ve had the same style of geoduck from Pantai Seafood in PJ before, and the version is equally good.
Bali Hai Siam mini lobster in claypot
After the great introductory dish, we had the Bali Hai Siam mini lobster (crayfish) in claypot. This dish has a kick, spicy and full of flavor, a welcoming change to heighten your palate after the more subtle lobster & geoduck dish. It’d go great with some steamed rice too I think. The curry has a tone of sourness to it which I really enjoyed.
deep fried thai style mackerel
Next up was the deep fried Thai style mackerel. A fish that is pretty common. The execution was good, with really crispy skin but soft, and not overcooked meat that only a high temperature fryer could achieve. The Thai style sauce in this dish is spicy and sweet, another change from the previous sourish taste.
dried shrimp with cili padi clam, beancurd with minced chicken, emperor vege
Dried shrimp with cili padi clam is as advertised, a lot of small pieces of cili padi and tiny fragrant dried shrimps in it. I felt that the clams were perhaps slightly overcooked. That or because I’m half way in my invisalign treatment resulting in uneven bite at the moment, chewing was a bit difficult.
We also had some of the softest and tastiest beancurd in the beancurd with minced chicken dish. While traditionally paired with minced pork, this pork free version actually impressed us.
Emperor vegetable with deep fried lotus root and mushroom was our green of the day, and it never disappoint, which is why emperor vegetable is among the more expensive vegetable you can get from the market.
steamed salted kampung chicken, Japanese style seafood fried rice
The lone meat dish in the set was the steamed salted kampung chicken with herbs. I love the fragrant broth, and the chicken was well flavored too. Anyone who likes kampung chicken would love this dish. As for me, I’m not a fan of kampung chicken so it was pretty neutral for me.
Our stomach stuffer at the end was the pretty unique Japanese style seafood fried rice. The blackish color you see in the fried rice is actually tiny pieces of dried seaweed. Add in tiny chunks of seafood & egg resulting in a cacophony of taste that I’ve never experienced before, it was pretty good.
The last dish on the RM 1388 set was a plate of mixed fruits, which was your typical blend of papaya, watermelon and so forth.
KY & Haze, Josen & Mei, sweet and sour lobster noodle (not part of the set)
Since it was also during their lobster promotion period, we got to sample another sweet and sour lobster noodle dish, which came with rainbow lobster drenched in sauce on top of yummy yee mee. I wish I can have this for breakfast, or lunch, or dinner actually. Was yummy!
If you’re looking for a proper seafood restaurant with plenty to choose from, Bali Hai should definitely be in your short list. From 13th Sep – 3rd Oct 2013, they also run the “buy one free ten” promotion. Buy a Boston/rainbow/Australian lobster and you get 10 free crayfish (mini lobster) for free.
Address: Bali Hai Seafood Kota Damansara Suria Avenue, Persiaran Mahogani, PJU 5, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor GPS: 3.1544, 101.5904 Tel: 016-461 2333
A couple weeks ago I was invited to a pretty sweet offering – a food tasting session at My Honeymoon desserts at Kota Damansara.
Now desserts is often favored by female more than guys, and I think there’s a very good reason to it. DESSERTS is spelled exactly backwards of STRESSED,and are usually chilled, hence the XX portion of humankind are often the more chillax of the two.
We shall learn.
Update 27/8/2019: this place is closed
My Honeymoon Desserts
The story is, the owners of My Honeymoon went to Hong Kong for their, well, honeymoon and fell in love with the desserts during their the visit. The cravings started to mount when they’re back home, and hence the restaurant was born. Long version of the story here.
Mix Fruits Lo, Mango Special Lo
There were 11 of us at this review session, and 10 of them happened to be female, just like I mentioned earlier right?
We had quite a lot of different desserts over the night, in fact, it was the most desserts I had in one seating, and here I shall attempt to categorize them slightly:
The Lo down:
Mix Fruit Lo – honeydew, mango, watermelon, and more in this mixture of goodness, best of those who can’t decide
Mango Special Lo – the mango at My Honeymoon desserts is imported from Philippines, you can be sure of the quality. I’ve always love the mango from Philippines, even the dried version, but this one’s just superb!
Mango Cream with Sago & Pamelo, Durian & Mango Pancakes
The pancakes:
Durian pancake – this is one of the must-haves at My Honeymoon Desserts if you’re a durian lover, but a must-avoid if you can’t stand durian for this is the real deal, plenty of King of fruits with all it’s glory… and smell.
Mango pancake – yep, it’s the mango again, mango and cream doesn’t work that well for me, but some swear by it.
Mango cream with sago & pamelo – the sweetness of mango & sago in contrast with the explosion of citrus when you bite into pamelo sacks, very interesting
Sweet Memory – Durian and beans, the name is perfect for durian lovers!
Shaved ice, new age ice kacang?:
Assorted Summer Special – almost like a shaved ice version of mix fruit lo, best for those who can’t decide
Tofu magic snow ice – the healthy choice, I like the big red beans and the tofu was a bit unexpected but in a good way
Mango snow ice – mango, shaved ice, pearl, do I need to say more?
special baked rice cake, Rachel presenting the mellow fellow pastry
Pastry items:
Special baked rice cake – I felt that this one could be a little sweeter, essentially a baked “nian gao” (chinese sticky rice cake), not oily like the fried type
Mellow Fellow Pastry – topped with a scoop of chocolate ice cream, the crispy pastry with it’s filling were truly awesome, a perfect blend of sweet,s lightly salty and the right amount of savory tastes.
hello, chocolate sweet ball with crushed peanuts, sweet ball coated with crushed peanuts, mango special maruko
Pearly goodies:
Hello – a mixture of tofu, pearl, cincau, and mango base. The pearls are big and juicy, I like them. Could probably use a better name though
Mango Special Maruko – more pearls and mango, if you love them equally, this is a good choice
We’ve got balls too:
Chocolate sweet balls with crushed peanuts – half a dozen ping pong ball sized tong yuen with black sesame fillings served with crushed nuts and chocolate sauce, addictive
Sweet balls coated with crushed peanuts – same as above for those who doesn’t like chocolate sauce
7 up mint syrup with sago-blue, mango magic snow ice, mango glutinous roll, mango pudding
Other desserts I couldn’t categorize:
Colorful granulated rice – I think this is a two in one type of deal where you get to have fruits and glutinous rice at the same time, main meal and dessert in one go, pretty good!
Mango pudding – yet another mango dessert, this one without any ice, done rather well, and the paler color shows that there’s no artificial coloring involved
Mango glutinous roll – the shredded coconut in this dish brings out the sweetness of mango even more
Scarily, the desserts you see here is but 1/4 to 1/3 of what is available at this outlet, so there’s plenty of choices to fit every type of taste. Most desserts here are priced below RM 10 and come in pretty good size portion, better deal than having just a cup of coffee at many places, and a cheaper too.
Ultimately, the desserts were made even better with the company I was with, the lovely girls from Nuffnang made this possible and it was a blast!
Address: My Honeymoon Desserts No. 22, PJU 5/10,. Kota Damansara, 47810. Petaling Jaya, Selangor GPS: 3.151556, 101.593044 Tel: 03-6150 3325
By the way, first FIVE commenter who state Karen’s last name correctly gets free RM 20 voucher! (you’re not qualified if u work for nuffnang hehehe)
Steamboat has always been one of my favorite type of Chinese food. There are mainly two types of steamboat places around, ala carte/set, and buffet style. While some swear by the buffet places such as Yuen at Sunway, I actually prefer the former version more. I find it usually a lot less stressful, and you don’t ever get the feeling of having to try to gorge yourself just to squeeze a bigger bang for the bucks.
Xin Chun Steamboat – Pulau Ketam style
A couple weeks ago I joined the guys at a simple dinner at Xin Chun Seafood Steamboat Restaurant at Kota Damansara. The place was pretty busy when we got there, the tables inside the restaurant were all filled up, and there are even tents set next to it shop filled with even more diners.
a glorious pot of steamboat
Since we aren’t exactly teenagers in puberty anymore, only three single set of steamboat is ordered (RM 13.50 per set). The set comes with prawns, dumpling, fish meat, pork ball, fishball, tofu skin, corn & carrot (to sweeten the soup), vegetable, egg, noodle, and a few of those other fishball lookalike thingy.
dumpling, steamboat set, condiment, pork slice
For good measures, we also ordered a plate of sliced pork and dumpling.
The most important ingredient at these Pulau Ketam style steamboat places is the sambal, and it doesn’t disappoint at Xin Chun. The sambal’s spicy and flavorful, if you like a bit of complexity, add the fried shallots in it.
While the soup isn’t as great as the one with herbs at Damansara Village (extra charge of course), it holds up on its own pretty well. The ingredients were good though, I particularly like the sliced pork and their very yummy dumplings.
Other dishes available at Xin Chun includes crab meehun, lala meehun, deep fried fish head, steamed clams and so forth, perhaps we should try those too next time.
With drinks, our dinner came up to less around RM 15 per person, simple, satisfying, and pretty economical. No wonder there’s the big crowd.
Address: Xin Chun Seafood Steamboat No 15, Jln PJU 5/3, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor GPS: 3.15188, 101.59548 Tel: 012-544 5582
