Showing posts with label Pasar Malam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pasar Malam. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

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.
View Larger Map
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.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Food Review - Mandarin Palace (Federal Hotel)

Name
Mandarin Palace (Federal Hotel)

Food
Chinese, Buffet, Non-Halal, Dim Sum
Getting there
Located within the historical landmark of Federal Hotel right smack in the heart of the Golden Triangle (not THAT Golden Triangle). 

Public transport is easily accessible.

Carpark
There are lots of parking at the hotel itself or if you prefer, you may park at any of the malls along the famed Bukit Bintang/Imbi areas.

Service
The wait staff's average age was probably 54, I'm serious! It looked like this place was run entirely by hiring retirees. Sadly, their customer service skills need some polishing up. 

As there was tong sui (dessert soups) as part of the buffet, we had not ordered any Chinese Tea (plus any friend of mine will know I'm not a fan of Chinese Tea). But despite telling the wait staff 3x that we had not ordered any Chinese Tea, it appeared in our bill! Seriously,what kind of service is this? We told them THREE TIMES!!!

Presentation
Another sad note here. The way the food was served made it look like a cheap Pasar Malam (Night Street Market) food stall. It really didn't do anything for the whole dining experience.

The 2 types of steamed Dim Sum (Yes, that's ALL THEY HAD) were served in large steaming trays that contained dozens of pieces all stuck together - hence my Pasar Malam reference.
Ambience
Sad to say, the place had not been well maintained and diners can see how badly kept and run down the place is.

I can imagine if it was maintained better, the place would really look like the interiors of a grand Mandarin Palace like its namesake. This is because the walls are decorated by intricate Wood-Carved Chinese Art and ornate lighting & Dragon-clad columns.

Food/Taste
To be fair, the food was not THAT BAD. However, I've had lots of Dim Sum that were lots better also.

1 of the tong sui (dessert soups) - Longan Dessert was also sour. It wasn't that it wasn't fresh. It was, but it was sour! So I guess it was meant to taste like that? But then, I'm a Chinese, and I've never had sour tong sui before.
Value For Money
Sadly, I have nothing good to report. They actually resorted to false ads because what attracted me to the place was their ad which claimed to have 20 types of Dim Sum + 6 types of meats such as Char Siew, Roast Chicken, Roasted Duck, etc)

I had taken pictures of all the food available there that day and even double-counting, I couldn't find 20 types of Dim Sum nor were there 6 types of meat (there were 3 only).

Totally cheated!

Variety
There were not many different items available and at RM28++ a pop, you may say it's not expensive but I have better uses for my hard-earned $$$$.

Overall
A totally disappointing experience which made me decide to NEVER go back there again unless there is a total revamp of the restaurant or management.

Initially, I was pretty excited about coming here as I had not had Dim Sum in quite a while. Moreover, they had all the awards placed at the entrance of the restaurant, which made me all the more anxious to dig into the food. Sadly, it was the complete opposite.

Yes, it was THAT BAD! False advertising, bad service, average food, badly maintained dining hall...just too many negatives.

So guess what my verdict will be?... >(