Food Review - Misaki Udon (Kuchai)

Name

Misaki Udon (Halal) - Closed on Wed nights

Food

Japanese Cuisine

Location

Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park

Getting there

It's located at a secluded quieter end corner of the Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park or if you are there on Wed nights, it's at the edge of the Kuchai Pasar Malam. Be aware also that on Wed nights, the night of the Pasar Malam, it won't be open.
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You may need to drive around a couple of times around the commercial area before you can locate it but it isn't hard to do so as the place is brightly lit with a giant bowl of Udon Noodles right in front of the shop.

Parking

As the place is located in an enclave of shops, including various other dining/food shops, there are lots of street parking spaces in front of the shops.

Ambience
Despite its no-frills concept and small space (I think the place can only seat about 25-30 people at a time) I quite like this place as it's also clean & brightly lit. 

I also like the way the placed the cashier together with the kitchen at the back rather than in the front right next to the door like in most places.

Service

The wait staff (I believe they're either Myanmarese or Filipinos) is really responsive and attend to us very quickly every time we dine there. Diners are given the menu and a piece of paper for the items to be written down at your leisure for your order to be taken & processed. Yes, this is a method that's getting more and more popular.

There was once when we were there, the lady boss was also there. She was very young and pretty. I think she was trying to make some changes to the menu & kitchen and after we had our meal, she had the kitchen prepare a couple of Tempura items for us to try out. She told us that these items will soon be part of their new menu.

Presentation

I love how the food is served, although it's nothing special as many other Japanese-themed eateries also use these type of plastic serving bowls - big and generous looking.

So upon food presentation, diners are already made to think that their meals are large-portioned and has great value for money. 

It's not restaurant food but it's not exactly fast food either as we need to wait about 10-15 minutes each time we eat there, regardless of the dining crowd size, but the bright side to that is that you know that the food actually needs to be cooked.

Variety

There are enough choices from both the hot and cold noodles for diners to try on their visits. Diners can also choose either to have their noodles (Soba or Udon) dry or with soup. Plus, there are a number of side items like scallops, baby octopi (octopuses?), jellyfish, Chawan Mushi (Steamed Egg) etc. Diners who want more of the good stuff like seaweed or Fujok (Soya Sheets) can add on as well.

The noodles I usually order is the Dry Cha Cheong (meat sauce) Udon (RM6).

We usually order the deep fried chicken chunks (RM3) and the Marinated scallops (RM4) with our noodles whenever we're there.

Taste 

All the items that we've tried were very flavourful. I have no doubt that all the other items that we have not tried yet would be equally as good.

The deep fried chicken chunks are always piping hot whenever we order them.

Value for Money 

The noodles are very affordable & are good value for money (at RM5-9 per bowl) and considering it is Japanese cuisine, it's fair to even call it cheap.

Overall

Simple & fuss-free. More importantly, clean, affordable & delicious. This is an ideal place for everybody, from families to young couples or a group of friends as there are enough items for people with differing tastes and enough variety to warrant return visits and at prices that are really budget friendly.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Movie Review (Not) - Avengers 2 (Age of Ultron)

HOT OFF THE PRESS!
It's finally been made official. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (best known for his role as Dave Lizewski in the Kick-Ass films) and Elizabeth Olsen (Mary Kate and Ashley's younger sister) will be in Avengers 2 (aka Age of Ultron, due out on May 1, 2015) as Quicksilver (hmmm, this is a character that's not well-liked by most of fandom, but let's see how he pans out in the movie universe) and Scarlet Witch respectively (yayyyy, I love her and her hubby, the Vision, who by the way is technically Ultron's "son". And since this movie will be all about Ultron, I'm quite certain we'll see Vision by the end of the movie.) 

However, it's not sure how they will address the matter that they both are X-Men arch-villain Magneto's children as both Magneto & the X-Men (Hey, there's another Marvel book title right there!) are still a franchise under Fox Studio's control.

I'm pretty happy with this development as I was quite spot on with my predictions in my 2012 post:

http://jmerb.blogspot.com/2012/05/which-avengers-should-be-in-next.html

Here's my review of the first Avengers movie:

http://jmerb.blogspot.com/2012/05/movie-review-avengers.html

By the way, I found a couple of design images of Thanos, presumably for his upcoming appearance in another of Marvel's movies. Guardians of the Galaxy maybe? However, I can't verify whether it's genuine or just fan art.

Coincidentally, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen will both be also working together in the Godzilla remake out in May 2014.

Food Review - Celsius Restaurant & Bar

Name
Celsius Restaurant & Bar
Food
Western/Fusion Cuisine
Location
Fahrenheit 88 (Bukit Bintang)
Getting there
Located in the heart of the KL Golden Triangle facing the Pavillion. You can't really miss it. It's right at Fahrenheit 88's back entrance facing away from the Pavillion.

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Parking

There are lots of parking options available to shoppers/diners alike in the vicinity of the mall, including street, mall & valet parking. 

Ambience
As this place is a club/bar, the ambience & decor of the place really made it quite stunning visually. There is a centre piece right at the entrance behind the bar which looks like a giant mushroom (hmmmm, subliminal programming for getting high...?) that keeps changing color.

The place is rather dark for photography and the music was kind of loud for merely food. So be prepared for some dance-floor action after your meal. Yup, there is a dance-floor.

I just thought that piece alone gave this place its identity! I love it.

Variety

Bearing in mind that the main focus of this place is not so much the food but more on the beverage (especially the alcoholic variety), we kind of knew what we were getting into when we came here for a try. Unfortunately, despite having quite a number of food items and variety on the menu, most of them were not available when we went there.

Of course, this being a bar, it must have its selection of alcoholic drinks. Hence, there is an area where customers can pick their poisons.

Service

Although the staff were polite, they seem to be rather busy with getting the place ready for the club-goers than serving diners like us.

Presentation

Just for variety, we ordered the fish and the lamb items. The food was presented on large leaf-shaped white china, which made the food look all the more enticing.

Of course, the drinks looked fantastic. After all, this place specializes in beverages.

Taste

There wasn't anything for us to complain about except for the long wait for the food and the non-availability of many of the menu items. Other than that, the food wasn't bad but nothing really stood out either. 

The drinks of course not only looked fantastic but tasted good as well.

Overall

I'd say this place is worth a visit but perhaps a repeat visit just to impress friends with this place's unique look and great location. 

Alas, it is no longer there (guess that concludes the rating of this place as a food destination) as it has recently been replaced by another restaurant.