Plan B @ Bangsar Village 1

I’ve heard a lot about Plan B that just opened a few months ago in Bangsar Village I. It always seems like it’s crowded and on this fine weekend, we decided that we’d stop by at tea time to give it a try.

Drink prices are reasonable for this type of establishment and considering it’s just located across from Starbucks, I suppose it had to be at least competitive.

The interior of the place is rather cramped and almost up market “warung” like.

This is the hot latte. We actually order 2 of them one with skim milk and one with regular (for me) but they got the order wrong and they both came as skim. So I swapped for the cappuccino which was supposed to be skim but came with regular milk. A sign of things to come?

The hot cappuccino was actually quite good. Comes with a sliver of biscotti.

The sugar container. Nothing to do with the food, I just liked the lighting on this photo.

We ordered a Raisin Scone which cost RM4. It was served with some creamed butter and jam. The scone was light and fluffy.

We also ordered the Almond Croissant at RM6 which had a lot of almond slices. It was served just plain but was very tasty.

As we sat there having our food, we could not help but feel that the service really sucked. It was like “warung” service in a cafe. We couldn’t help but feel that the waiters were just really off the mark. For example, we were served with food that was supposed to go to another table. Not once, but twice. We also got some change with the bill that was for another table (which we returned of course). Service was completely horrible. There was also a feeling of not being welcome in the place. Actually when we first arrived at the place and were looking for a place to sit, one of the waiters was showing his frustration in trying to find seats for the patrons like he’d had enough of having to seat new patrons coming in. This is the crappy service that we seem to be getting in establishments in KL these days. The fellow below is the main culprit for the bad service (don’t mind the blur photo but I had to show his face).

Overall, I would have to say that Plan B had good food, reasonable decor and horrible service. I’m definitely not coming back.

Din Tai Fung @ Mid Valley The Gardens

Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese based chain of restaurants which has now expanded internationally to many parts of the world including here in Malaysia in which it has 2 branches, in Pavilion and Gardens. I also found out that it’s rated as one of the Top 10 Restaurants in the World by the New York Times. Those kind of ratings usually don’t mean much to me if they don’t deliver to their promise of quality and service.

As with most restaurants of this vein, they have a part of the kitchen which has the open concept so that their patrons (and passers-by alike) can view their chefs at work. I really like their “supercharged” steamer element thingy that shoots out steam to heat the food quickly.

Din Tai Fung is best known for their Xiu Long Bao (Soup Dumplings). For those that don’t know what a Xiu Long Bao is, it’s a very interesting dumpling. It’s not just where you get meat inside the dumpling, it’s also filled with clear soup. People will punch a hole to consume the soup before eating the dumpling skin and the meat inside.

As usual, it is taken with some black rice vinegar and ginger slivers. I have to admit that I was never a big fan of the Xiu Long Bao but I really like the ones served at Din Tai Fung. Definitely one to come back for more.

B ordered the Sour Spicy Soup La Mien. It was exactly as the name describes. If you like thick spicy and sour soup with your noodles, then this is right up your alley.

The Prawn Wanton noodles that A ordered were very tasty and nice.

I ordered the Pork Bun which was very good. The order comes with 2 buns and the inside is filled with meat. I really enjoyed it.

Lastly, B ordered the Yam Paste with Gingko nut dessert which she loves. It was a small portion and just nice for 1 person. I’m not a big fan of this dessert but I’ve had it at some other restaurants. I found the one here had a little bit more of a rough texture. If you like small munchy yam bits to chew on then it might be right for you but I personally think that this dessert has to be smooth like the ones I’ve had at other places.

Overall, I was a quite impressed by Din Tai Fung. Both the service and food are excellent.

Yee Sang at Boston Cafe @ Soho KL, Solaris Mont Kiara

Today is the 7th day of the Chinese New Year and according to most, it’s the day for Yee Sang or Lou Sang (don’t ask me why).

Anyway, the idea we had was just to go eat Sushi King’s offering of the Yee Sang dish (which is quite nice) and the nearest branch that we knew was in Soho KL in Solaris Mont Kiara. Alas when we got there, the place has just seized it’s operations at the end of January. Considering that we pretty much had out hearts set on Yee Sang, we stumbled on a poster that had a promotion from Boston Cafe just a few doors down. I’ve and heard of this place as it’s around our area but have never actually been in. Checking their website, it seems like they have a lot of branches all over the country. The place was completely (and I mean absolutely) empty when we walked it. It was like we booked the whole place to ourselves.

The decor of the place is actually quite nice. It’s quite a colorful place but I wonder if the place is always this quiet.

Since it was only around 8pm and it was still happy hour, we proceeded to order the “buy 2 free 1” offer of Hoegaarden for RM70 which is pretty good pricing for 3 pints.

Since our objective was to Lou Sang tonight, we got the small plate of Salmon Yee Sang which was meant for 2-4 people. It was pretty reasonable for  RM18.80.

So, you get the usual mixture of stuff that you expect with the Yee Sang dishes.

Not the best looking salmon in the world but I suppose you can’t expect much for the price.

The plum sauce that flavors the dish laid on generously.

The completed Yee Sang dish ready for us to dig in.

Strangely they only provided us with forks and spoons. It’s quite odd for me to Lou Sang with a fork. We did the best we could. Generally, the dish was quite reasonable for the price we paid.

In addition to the Salmon Yee Sang, B ordered the “Love at First Bite” dish which was a beef noodle soup dish. I didn’t try it myself but she said it was nice with a generous helping of meat. For RM10.90 it was good value. This place has all sorts of “creative” names for their dishes. Reminds me a lot of the (now defunct) Hongkie Place @ E-gate Penang.

A and I wasn’t too hungry so we ordered a “Hancock’s Supernatural” (or something like that) which was a nacho with cheese dish. When the platter served to us, I got a whiff of something strange. I didn’t put too much thought into it until I saw A continuing to smell the nacho he had in his hand. I took one and gave it a whiff and I was right, the strange smell I got earlier was coming from the nacho. It kinda smelled like smelly feet. I wonder what brand of nachos they use. We proceeded to eat it anyway. Overall, it wasn’t bad except for the strange smelly feet aroma of the dish. The nachos are served with the requisite salsa (tastes bottled). I think that this dish is a bit of a cash cow for the place at RM15.95. Oh well, it’s beer food.

We came away from the place thinking that it has some potential for us to return for some food and drinks when we’re in the area but the music they had playing in the background while we were there seemed a bit chinky for me. Maybe it’s just the Chinese New Year atmosphere they were trying to give us.

Dim Sum @ Restoran Hong Lim, SS15 Subang Jaya

It’s the 2nd day of Chinese New Year and my dad wanted to take us to this Dim Sum place that he likes in Subang Jaya. Actually I was quite surprised that it’s even open on the 2nd day of CNY (according to the boss, he didn’t close even on the eve or the 1st day).

The place is called Restoran Hong Lim located at SS15/4E, Subang Jaya. I suppose the people in and around Subang might know the place but it’s my first time.

Ordering of the items are done at the front of the shop with the usual spread of dim sum fare.

The steamed items section had the essential items that one would go for.

Then there’s the fried & crispy stuff items (which I always like).

The Siew Mai was quite good quality and tasty.

The Lo Mai Kai was just alright. Not the best I’ve had. I have to say that I’ve had better.

I kinda consider myself a bit of an chinese egg tart connoisseur, I found that the egg tarts here left me severely wanting. The custard was dry and the pastry was not fluffy. I will definitely skip the egg tarts the next time I come here.

This was the fried Sui Kow with mayonnaise which both my brother and I really liked. Definitely gonna order this the next time.

The Fried Yam Dumplings (Wu Kok) was also really awesome.

This was a very interesting dish. I’m not sure what it is especially but it tasted like some first meat or fish paste in chilli and bean sauce. Very tasty.

The Har Kow (shrimp dumplings) was especially good. It’s just the way I like it, although I have to admit I’m usually not a big fan of the item. It’s good because the skin of the dumpling is not too thick or pasty and also it’s got like 3 shrimps in each one of them.

The Pork Rib dish which also a pretty standard item in all dim sum places was nothing special. It’s not one of those stand out dishes. Might give this a miss the next time.

Actually this one is more a Yeong Tau Foo dish than a Dim Sum dish but I notice that they usually serve it at Dim Sum places as well. The ones they had at this place was really nice. The sauce was good too.

They say that the measure of a Dim Sum place is how good the Char Siu Pau is. The Char Siu Pau here is very good. We ordered one each and I’m definitely glad that we did.

This fried carrot cake with egg dish was so good that I even forgot to photograph it before it was half devoured. It’s got the 2 things that I personally think are essential for making carrot cake dishes good. Lots of bean sprouts and it’s gotta be well fried. I hate those that are undercooked and pasty. This is very well done. If only they used Ipoh Taugeh (bean sprouts). I suppose now I’m asking too much.

Overall, it was a really good experience. The food was good and the prices were pretty reasonable considering the amount of food we had. However, I think that today we were overcharged for drinks. If you look at the picture above, it seems like we were double charged for the single pot of tea we had. According to my parents, the last time they went, they were charged RM4.80 for that pot of tea (for 4) but this time there seems to be another RM6 (RM1.50 x 4) charge for drinks. Wonder where that came from. Maybe it’s the CNY tax. Oh well. Will make sure the next time we check the bill before paying.

Besides that small error, I would recommend Restoran Hong Lim for those around the Subang Jaya area or those in the Klang Valley who want to take a drive to that area for a change.

Coffee & Spice @ KLCC

If you’ve been to KLCC recently and was looking for Delifrance, you’ll notice that it has been replaced by a new establishment called Coffee & Spice. Our intention was actually to have Kim Gary at Avenue K but seeing that it seemed to have closed down we decided to give this new place a try.

They had the usual kopitiam fare of Nasi Lemak and some other tid bits like curry puffs & stuff but since it was for lunch we all went for something more hearty. B and A ordered the Tomato Rice with Chicken which is looked quite nice when it came. On the side it came with some fried keropok (deep fried crackers), a salad, a piece of fried fish, some veggies cooked with turmeric and of course, the ayam (chicken) masak merah. I think that the Tomato Rice could have had just a little more flavor. Not that it’s bland or anything but it’s just ok compared to other Tomato Rice that I’ve eaten.

I ordered the Beryani (Briyani) Rice with Chicken Curry just to be able to try something different from the menu (I had initially wanted Tomato Rice). I got the same veggies and salad as Tomato Rice but instead of the keropok, I got some Papadoms, a sort of deviled egg and chicken rendang. I have to say that the smell of the spices for the briyani rice was quite strong. If you like the spices for the briyani, you’ll have no complaints here. The chicken curry was quite tasty too.

Since this place is called Coffee & Spice, it would be incomplete if we didn’t order the a coffee to try. So we ordered an iced-coffee. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much but to our surprise, the coffee was actually really good. I made the comment that it tasted like the “original” white coffee that a certain big chain used to sell in the early days which has since deteriorated in standard. The coffee at Coffee & Spice is thick, aromatic and very nice. Something that you definitely should order if you’re going to have a meal here.

So, if you’re ever around KLCC and want something kopitiam like, do give Coffee & Spice a try. They are located at the Concourse Level, Ampang Mall side of KLCC (Opposite Nando’s). The prices.. well, I would say that the prices are reasonable for KLCC.

Oyster King @ 1 Mont Kiara

1 Mont Kiara is the new mall that has just opened in Mont Kiara (obviously). It’s quite near my apartment and it’s now our regular grocery shopping place since it’s anchor tenant is Village Grocer, which we like.

As usual, we need to eat and instead of eating the usual stuff we eat all the time we decided to try Oyster King. Although the chain has been open for quite a while in quite a few malls, we’ve never actually tried it.

As with most places these days, you have a choice of the “value” set or ala carte. Essentially, you have a choice of 2 sets. Set A comprises a “starter”, a plate of fried oyster and a drink whereas Set B has a “starter”, a “favourite” and a drink. Set B costs RM12 which is pretty good value if you’re one to go for a package. The thing is, the “starter” is actually a lala (clam) soup with glass noodles. Although, I didn’t order the set, I tried the one that B had order and personally, I found it rather overly salty and oily. There wasn’t really much lala taste. All you taste is salt.

Together with her set, B got one of the “favourites” (not sure why they call them that) which she chose the Lala Fried Noodles. I wonder why they call this place Oyster King when they keep serving lala dishes. Maybe they should change it to Shellfish King. Anyway, the noodles were alright.

Of course, since the shop is called Oyster King, it would be strange not to order their Fried Oysters, right? So we got one to share. Actually, the Fried Oyster dish was quite ok. However, if you’re expecting one of those crispy type fried oyster dishes with a lot of starch around it, you will be disappointed. This one is not crispy at all but it’s pretty alright. One thing, I did find strange was that they gave a lime on the side to be squeezed into the dish. I decided not to use the lime at all and just have it as it is. I’m so glad I didn’t because the chilli sauce that they provided with the dish is the kinda stuff you get with chicken rice. It’s sour… I mean really sour. The chef/owners of Oyster King must like their stuff really sour or salty.

Together with his set, A decided to get the Oyster Noodles which was basically noodles with a some oysters, shredded chicken on top and oyster sauce gravy. Again, the comment was that it’s too salty.

As for me, I didn’t go for the set but I just ordered Fried Carrot Cake. It actually wasn’t bad at all. However, if you don’t like raw bean sprouts, this might irk you a little. The bean sprouts were a little on the raw side. The main complaint that I had on this dish was that again they gave the same chilli sauce that they gave with the fried oysters. Yes, the sour one that tastes like it goes better with chicken rice. It kinda killed it because this dish had potential.

In summary, I would say that the Oyster King needs to work on the flavoring of their foods. Generally, they are too salty and the chilli sauce is just wrong. I doubt I would go back there for food again.