Food Review - Star Cafe (Taman Desa)

Name 
Desa Star Cafe (Non-Halal - serves alcohol)
Food

Local, Western, Fusion, Casual Dining

Location

At a prominent corner visible from Jalan Desa Utama

View Larger MapGetting There
Located at a really prominent & strategic corner of the Taman Desa Business Park with lots of tall mature trees that provide ample greenery & shade for the cafe. Located at the far corner of the Business Park facing the Taman Desa Medical Centre, it is very prominent and even if you are entering Taman Desa (from the Old Klang Road entrance) for the very first time, you would not be able to miss it.

Parking
The Lunch crowd may find parking to be a challenge as this restaurant is located at a Business Park after all but the dinner crowd would have an easier time finding parking around the Business Park vicinity as the office people would've gone off by then.

Weekends are pretty quiet for this part of Taman Desa. So, if you are planning a weekend meal here, you'd have no trouble in getting a space.
Ambience
It is well lit and the couple of times that I had been there, I had seen families (including) have their dinners there to business colleagues winding down the day end with a couple of beers. Despite the chairs being plastic, they are very sturdy and look great, as you can see from the pictures.

The double shoplot has also been recently been refurbished so that it is a very cozy place with some good music to help patrons be relaxed .
Variety
Surprisingly, they offer quite a number of items on their menu catering to diners who prefer either Asian fare or Western/fusion food - from Char Kuey Teow to Rib-Eye, Tenderloin Steaks & Braised Lamb Shanks.

On top of that, they do have quite a few desert and beverage items as well. Enough for you to try on your next visit.Taste

The food is actually quite good. As a fairly young establishment, a lot of care has been put into the food preparation.

Presentation

Top marks for the presentation. Again, this is a neighborhood restaurant, hence, it may lose out if compared with some fine dining restaurants located in 5 star hotels or at an upscale mall. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the way the presented the food to us.

Value

Altho' it's considered a neighborhood cafe, the prices are on par with most restaurants in its category. It's not too pricey but it's not a place you may visit daily.

Overall

It's a nice little place to bring your friends for a few drinks or even a meal in a relaxed atmosphere, complete with good food with prices that are quite reasonable. 

Food Review - Ho A One Seafood Steamboat (Fish Head/Paste Noodle)

Lactose, for this, I will tolerate you!

NameHo A One Seafood Steamboat - Fish Head/Paste Noodle
FoodFish Head/Paste Noodle (Lunch only)
Location
Taman Desa

Getting thereI would classify that there are 4 shop-lot clusters in Taman Desa:- The cluster near the Hospital/Bomba (Fire Brigade)- The cluster at Telekom Malaysia/Faber Towers- The cluster near Danau Desa Police Station- The cluster near Shell StationThis place is tucked neatly away in the newer area of shop lots near the Shell Station cluster.

In fact, this one is prominently located directly at the corner where the traffic lights are. You can’t miss is because it has a huge BALI BALI Massage Centre billboard on top of the shop.

ParkingThere are ample parking bays around the shop-lots.

ServiceService is always Prompt as there are many service staff members (easily identifiable by the Ho A One t-shirts they all wear.) there. There are 2 order takers, one for the food and another for the drinks.

However, on weekends especially, you may need to wait for a seat as the place is usually packed. To avoid disappointment, you need to ensure that you get there before 12pm. This is because there were occasions where I had to leave the place because they had simply sold out!

AmbienceThe place offers typical coffee shop ambience but is very clean, well-lit and has good ventilation. This provides a very comfortable experience for customers (except for when they are waiting for you to finish to take your seats!)

TasteI was never a fan of Fish Head Noodles (FHN) in any of its incarnations but this place also offers Fish Paste Noodles (FPN). I love FPN. This place serves it in the FHN soup, thus making it rather unique. Moreover, customer are given a choice whether they want the soup with or without milk. My preference is with the milk option but for the lactose intolerant or for those who (like me, but I have learnt to enjoy it) simply cannot fathom the concept of having milk with their noodles, may opt for the milk-free version.

PresentationVery nicely done I must say. They serve ALL of their food in big porcelain bowls.

VarietyThe noodles come in 2 sizes – Regular and Large (read: HUGE). I have so far only ordered the regular version, and that is a big enough bowl for me.

Besides FPN, they also serve the FHN in 2 varieties:
- Raw fish head
- Fried fish head

Value for MoneyRegular bowl goes for RM6.50 and the big one at RM8.00.

OverallVery good FHN/FPN. I’d say it’s a must try.

Food Review - Sepetang Pan Mee

Name
Sepetang Pan Mee

Being dry had never been this good!

Food
Pan Mee
LocationTaman Desa Shop Lots

Getting thereIf you are coming into Taman Desa from traffic lights at the Mosque heading towards the Hospital, the shop would be located on your left just before the T-Junction.

ParkingThere are lots of parking spaces along the roads or right in front of the shop lots.

ServiceService is usually quick but there are times when customers may need to wait for about 10-15 minutes as they have many loyal returning customers (like me).

AmbienceTypical coffee shop but clean and bright with good ventilation.

TasteHaving tasted both the dry and soupy versions, my preference is for the dry version. However, the soupy version is usually ordered by customers.
The thing about this stall is that the noodles are slightly firmer than what other stalls serve. Hence, it makes the texture quite different from what one can get from elsewhere.

The dry version tastes really good if the chili is poured over and mixed with the noodles. The cornucopia of the combined flavors from the chili, the thick soy sauce with the mushrooms, minced pork and anchovies (ikan bilis) with the noodles is a mini slice of foodie nirvana.

PresentationNicely done because they use porcelain bowls instead of plastic. The soup, served separately if you order the dry version, is also served in a porcelain bowl.

VarietyBesides the soupy and dry versions, they also serve the Pan Mee with fish paste. However, you need to be there early for this variety as they are really popular and sellout really quickly.

Value for MoneyAt RM4 a bowl, ‘nuff said!

OverallPlease try it. I personally think it’s one of the best Pan Mee stalls around if not the best.

Food Review - Hao Wei Dao

Name
Hao Wei Dao
Food
Fusion Food (Non-Halal)
Location
Taman Desa, Old Klang Road

Getting there
I would classify that there are 4 shop-lot clusters in Taman Desa:
- The cluster near the Hospital/Bomba (Fire Brigade)
- The cluster at Telekom Malaysia/Faber Towers
- The cluster near Danau Desa Police Station
- The cluster near Shell Station

This place is tucked neatly away in the newer area of shop lots near the Shell Station cluster, on the same row with Watson’s.
Parking
There are ample parking bays around the shop-lots.

Service
Service is rather quick. However, the menu simply has too many items. First time visitors may be overwhelmed by the selection available to them.

Ambience
The place is clean and brightly lit with a prominently placed red carpet to welcome guests as they walk in. The place is not too big. The seating arrangement is very open as they are all lined up straight but I find that a tad boring.
Taste
The items here taste simply fantastic! We ordered the Butter Garlic Pork Rib Rice and the Brinjal (Eggplant) Sliced Pork in Soy Bean Rice.
The Butter Garlic Pork Rib gravy that was smothered on the rice was thick and flavorful. They were very generous with it. As for the minced pork on brinjal, the taste was just right.

Presentation
The pictures speak for themselves. Very nice!
Variety
There are so many items on the menu that I would not be able to do it justice by trying to list them here but they can be broadly categorized into
- Rice
- Noodles
I think there are literally over a hundred menu items there!

Value for Money
Good value combined with good taste and variety! Definitely worth a visit or a re-visit.

Overall
What are you waiting for? Go out and try it already!