Monday, April 30, 2012

Lost and Found @ Piccadilly

One of the biggest problems of eating out is that you simply don't know where to go. But when faced with such a conundrum, my go-to place would almost always be Piccadilly. This restaurant/cafe promises one of the most unique experiences you can find. Piccadilly is actually split into two restaurants located side by side, one called Piccadilly and the other is called Bangkok Masala, a name which was given after they introduced their Thai menu.You can eat and order from either menu at either venues and there are no issues. For all intents and purposes, I will from now on just call this place Piccadilly. 

First and foremost, it is located right in the middle of a housing area in Section 14, which is relatively well-hidden to the uninitiated, right beside a big monsoon drain (big longkang). This should be a sign to any food lover that the food must definitely be better than decent because any food eaten beside a big longkang must certainly taste better. True story. 


Secondly, the restaurant has two menus and each of them consists of at least 200 items. Granted, there is some overlap in the two different menus, but that should promise at least 300 items to choose from overall. This is not even including the drinks portion yet. 

This time around, we ordered the Chicken Tomyam from the Thai menu. On the surface, it looks relatively unassuming, but it tastes exactly how a tomyam should. The presentation of the soup does no justice to the sublime combination of sourness and spiciness of the soup. 


Another dish from the Thai menu (although not exactly a Thai cuisine) is the Stir-Fried Kailan. Well, it is not very easy to mess-up a dish like this, but at only RM6 per plate, it is definitely worth its moxy.



Finally, we ordered one of my favorite things to order at Piccadilly, which is the Marmite Chicken Rice. It is served with an extra large portion of rice (fit for 2 normal eaters), and a side of chips, "salad" and fried egg. For some, the marmite chicken could be a bit too sweet, but combining it with the above two dishes makes it just nice. Amazingly, this dish only costs about RM5.90.


This brings us to the third reason why Piccadilly is so unque. A dinner meal like this will only cost you less than RM20. Of course, I did not include the price of drinks, but you can rest assured that pretty much every item on the menu brings at least as much value as its cost.

Here are a few more items that we tried on the Piccadilly menu from other visits:

This is the Chicken in Butter Sauce, but it is definitely not among the things that I would recommend unless you have a serious obsession with butter sauce.


Piccadilly also offers a fairly extensive dessert menu, which I must admit, I have not tried much. In general, very often, I am just too full to eat any dessert. But this time, we tried the Banana Split, which tastes as good as it looks. But you can't seriously go wrong at making banana split, nonetheless, the three scoops of ice cream wedged between a split banana served on a banana boat only costs a mere RM5.90.



On top of that, the restaurant is equipped with way too many flat screen TVs which shows several sports programs at the same time. This is also a great watering hole for the alcohol-junkie as a beer tap only costs a mere RM50. The only drawback is the relatively loud music, which is not exactly conducive if you decide to have a quality conversation over a quiet dinner.

Verdict



The food is considered very good given its price. Coupled with the extremely excessive variety, this is a must-go if you are lost and don't know where to go for food. It has all kinds of food, ranging from Chinese, Indian, Thai, Italian, Japanese, American, Western, etc. It really is a place that can satisfy each and everyone's craving, even when you are dining with a large group of friends.

Of course, at a cafe-ish place like this, you shouldn't expect top-notch service. You wouldn't get a please and thank you for everything, but what matters is that the food tends to be served very quickly despite the crowd sizes. But do bear in mind that if you dine in, there is a 10% service charge. Having it to go does not incur such charges.

Usually, parking is free if you were to park illegally outside Millennium Square, but every once in a while, for goodness knows why, the MBPJ decides to work overtime and writes summons at night. Nevertheless, if you choose not to risk it, parking is relatively cheap at RM2 per entry inside the building. There is more than ample space for it.

Details:

Piccadilly Restaurant
LG006 & LG007, Millennium Square
Dataran Millennium
98, Jalan 14/1
46100 Petaling Jaya

Other reviews:

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Saturday Dinner @ TGI Friday's (24 March 2012)

On the same day after we went for the salmon sashimi spree at Hokkaido Ichiba, we were quite full and didn't feel hungry again until around 8 pm, so we decided to have something to share in T.G.I. Friday's. There was a queue when we got to the restaurant in The Gardens, but we didn't have to wait very long until we got a seat. This is in contrast to the insane no reservation policy at Chili's which has a waiting time of up to one hour sometimes. 


We ordered the Sizzling Chicken Fajita to share. Previously, we had fajitas from Las Carretas and wrote about it here before.


Our food was served rather fast, and there is definitely no false advertizing on the sizzling part. The sliced cajun chicken on top of grilled peppers and onions was served on a hot plate. The picture does no justice to the presentation as taking a whiff of the fragrant cajun-laced aroma coming from the steam is simply mouth-watering.


The sizzling chicken came with the bunch of sides - shredded mozzarella cheese, guacamole dip, pico salsa, and sour cream. Yum... The colorful combination just makes me drool.


The dish also came with four pieces of warm tortilla. Mexicans like to mix all their food when they eat. The general idea would be to stuff as much as you can into the tortilla before you dig in. So, we placed a few pieces of chicken slices on a piece of warm tortilla, add the whole bunch of good stuff into it and wrap them all up. For some, such a diverse mixture would appear to be gross. I don't know how, but the Mexicans seem to get it just right.


The meal was not too filling, just sufficient for the 2 of us who wanted to have a light dinner. The restaurant was quite dark, but the staff were extremely casual and friendly. It is a good place to have a birthday celebration with a bunch of crazy friends (their staff will help in singing), but not so conducive if you are looking for a quiet and romantic dining place.


Verdict

The sides in TGIF is a little bit better compared with Las Carretas but the grilled cajun chicken from Las Carretas is simply better. All in all, it is not easy to separate them and will depend on the person eating and probably the chef's mood on that day.


Details:

TGI Friday's (Facebook)
Lot F226B, 1st Floor, The Gardens Mall
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Contact: 03-2287 7611

Other reviews of TGIF:

Malaysia Food, Travel & Tourism Blog

Lunch Delight @ Hokkaido Ichiba (24 March 2012)



It was a Saturday afternoon and we decided to go to Hokkaido Ichiba again to fulfill our need for sashimi. We were given a more private area surrounded by "bamboo sticks", giving us more privacy during our meal.


It was the first time we got to see the Lunch Set Menu. We found out that during lunch hours, the Salmon Sashimi Lunch Bento is actually the same price as the Salmon Sashimi ala carte - RM22! The Salmon Sashimi Lunch Bento also has 7 pieces of salmon sashimi, and it comes with a small appetizer, rice, chawanmushi, miso soup, and fruits. Needless to say, we went for the lunch set.




Once again, the sashimi slices were thick and juicy with a smooth texture. I'd say that the salmon sashimi at Hokkaido Ichiba is one of the best value-for-money sashimi deals.


Besides that Salmon Sashimi Lunch Bento, we ordered another bento with diced beef and stir-fried vegetables, which is also cheaper during lunch hours.


The bento comes with a small appetizer, a bowl of garlic fried rice, chawanmushi, miso soup, and fruits as well. The garlic fried rice was very aromatic (thanks to the garlic) and more or less ruined normal fried rice for me. I just didn't know that fried rice could taste and smell so good.



Judging from the picture, you'd think that the huge chunks of diced beef would be hard and chewy, but we decided to get it medium-rare and it was cooked to perfection. The meat was very tender and filled with teppanyaki flavor with some hint of butter and is absolutely delightfull for beef-lovers.


We were also craving for some green food, so we ordered the edamame ala carte. Our initial impression was that RM7 for a small bowl of peas seemed somewhat exorbitant but when the bowl arrived, it was definitely far from being small. In some other places, the edamame can be somewhat inconsistent as it could either be too salty or too bland. But Hokkaido Ichiba seems to be able to get it just right.


Overall, the meal was more than satisfying and we were pleasantly surprised by the lower price at lunch time. We will definitely try to visit more often during lunch hours.

Read here for our previous comments on Hokkaido Ichiba.

Verdict


Details:

Hokkaido Ichiba @ The Gardens (Facebook)
Lot T-201, 3rd Floor,
The Gardens, Mid Valley City

Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 KL
Contact: 012-612 1060


For other reviews of Hokkaido Ichiba, read here:
The Food Ninja
It's All About Foods
Niche
My Fatty Journey
Mindy's Corner
Maro^gal Food Paradise

Monday, April 2, 2012

Farewell Dinner @ Yuzu

After frequenting Hokkaido Ichiba and Sushi Tei, we decided to check out Yuzu with a bunch of other people to see what all the rave was about. Located on the same floor as Hokkaido Ichiba minus the super long line, it does seem like an attractive place to have Japanese food.


Based on the menu, the bento sets appear to be good deals. Nonetheless, not all of us ordered the bento sets. We tried the Unadon - grilled unagi with white rice (RM29). It came with a small bowl of appetizer and a bowl of miso soup.


Surprisingly, as a fan of unagi, the grilled eel tasted rather normal. I wouldn't say that it was bad, but there was nothing special about the unagi.
 


We also ordered the Yuzu Gozen (RM48), which comes in a huge tray, which I must add, is more hype than it appears.



It comes with assorted sushi, which I thought was sub-par. The rice was a little too damp, and the texture of the sashimi was a little too dry for my liking. The pieces of seafood were nowhere near as appetizing as those at Hokkaido Ichiba. 


The Yuzu Gozen also comes with sides of assorted tempura, which you can't really go wrong at. Pretty much the only thing one can say about it is that it isn't oily. The tofu was not too bad, while the appetizer was also below expectations. If you don't know what I mean, try Hokkaido Ichiba's bento set. 

The side of salad is also nothing much to shout about.



Apart from the sushi, the set also comes with several thin and small slices of sashimi. Once again, the sashimi slices were a bit too dry for my liking.


Pretty much the only good thing I can say about the Yuzu Gozen is about the beef. The medium rare texture was juicy and tender enough, while the accompanying gravy seemed to complement it well.


Of course, as with any new Japanese place that we try, we must check out their sashimi. Given the special occasion, we decided to experiment with something that appeared to be more exquisite. We tried the moriawase that comprised 3 pieces each of salmon, salmon toro and tuna (RM60). I suppose credit should be given for the presentation, but it does not hide the fact that once again, the taste was slightly disappointing. First, the slices were nowhere near as thick as expected, and the term imported sashimi should not be used for salmon from Norway. As much as that is still technicall imported, I think it would have been fair to assume that it should have been fish from the Japanese seas.



We visited the place with a bunch of people so here's some of the food they ordered. Can't comment much on the taste since we didn't get the chance to try them.





You may think I am being a little unfair to Yuzu, but the fact is, the food was disappointing. The staff were not entirely friendly, which did not help their cause as well. The only plus side was that they gave us a private room, so I gave them plus points for ambience.
 

Verdict


Apparently, some of the other food reviewers disagree. Check out the list below. But if you ask me, there is a reason why there is a long line at Hokkaido Ichiba and Sushi Zanmai, while there isn't any at Yuzu.

Details:

Yuzu Japanese Restaurant
T236, 3rd Floor
The Gardens
Mid Valley City
Kuala Lumpur
Tel No: 03-2284 7663

Other reviews: