Zestful Eats

I have a slight fondness for Jaya One. I don’t go often, but when I do, I like it because its not crowded like Curve or One Utama. Its also the place I go for udon and hot soup (Marufuku!) and cheap drinks (RM50 for 3 glasses of Kilkenny/Guinness or beer). Not to mention there’s PJ Live Arts where I occasionally go to watch a show or two.

After passing by this place numerous times and hearing things about this place (both hits and misses), we decided to hang out here before and after a show we were seeing. Before the show just for drinks and a snack,  and after the show for a proper dinner.

The Bee’s freshly-made House Lemonade (RM5.50) – The lemonade was recommended on Foursquare so I ordered it. And Yes, it was really refreshing and sourish, just the way I like it to be. No pic sorry.

Nachos Plate (RM18.50) Tortilla chips topped with Mexican beef chili, jalapenos, sour cream, avocado salsa and melted cheese – This one was nice too. The chips were nicely drenched in beef, cheese and guacamole and sourcream without being soggy. The chilli needs a bit more spices and I hardly tasted any jalapenos. Plus point : the cheese doesn’t taste ‘cheap’.

Tori Katsu Burger (RM15.50) Japanese-crumbed chicken with house-made Bulldog tartar sauce, lettuce, tomato and house-made aioli on a lightly toasted burger bun and served with fries – There were a lot of fries. The chicken is freshly fried but unfortunately turns soggy pretty fast due to the sauce on top. The homemade sauce was an interesting twist on a unique burger. Nice, but I preferred the next burger.

The Bee Burger (RM18.50) House-made 100% beef patty, beef bacon, cheese, pickled cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes and house-made aioli on a lightly toasted burger bun and served with fries – This came highly recommended on twitter. It’s the burger at the back. I liked this much more than my katsu burger (why is the grass already greener on the other side? or in this case, the burger on that other plate is greener). The beef was not tough nor dry, cheese was nicely melted. I can see why its recommended.

My only gripe is that the burgers are a bit small. Especially when you think of places like Chili’s or Carl’s Jr that have huge burgers at about the same price. Also, way too much fries. Plus point is that plain water is free, they have The Last Polka icecreams and you can redeem PJLA tickets for 10% discount.

Will I come back? It’s a big maybe.

Croatia (aka Hrvatska). I bet you’ve probably never heard of it. Well, I didn’t. Until I got invited to an event at Dubrovnik Restaurant last year. Croatia is actually close to Hungary, Slovenia, Bosnia and Romania. In the map its that boomerang shaped orange thing in the middle. And Dubrovnik is actually the name of a city in Croatia. Based on pictures I’ve seen, I think it’s a city by the sea. Really gorgeous place.

My friends and I were invited over for some chit chat and some makan-makan. I’ve been here twice previously so haven’t really sampled all their food so it was a good time to check out the rest of the food!

What’s unique about Croatian food is the mix of Mediterranean, Greek and even Turkish (correct me if I’m wrong?) influences in their food. So expect a lot of lamb and different spices that what we’re used to. But first, a bit of history of Dubrovnik Restaurant Dina Djumic, GM & our host for the evening.

Dubrovnik Restaurant has actually been in Solaris for the past 3 years. In fact I believe they were one of the few restaurants who first opened there. At first glance, it may look intimidatingly expensive when in actual fact, there’s much to learn about this place. In preserving the authenticity of the food, they make most of their items like bread, sausages, pasta and even cheese themselves! Dina’s father, Zoran Djumic, is the Head Chef and he oversees the cooking.

So now on to the food! Warning, photo heavy post after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

After seeing Marcky tweet over and over and over about Salad Bar and how healthy and cheap it is, and after reading the blogpost he finally wrote, I had a to really try it out myself.

I don’t eat salads. At least I don’t eat those Lettuce, tomato, cucumber tossed together and dumped at the corner of the plate kinda things. I usually just leave that on the plate as I consider it garnish, not a meal.

And, as anyone who read my food blog or checks out my Twitter/Foursquare knows, I generally eat more unhealthy food than healthy food. Unless Im eating at home. This time, I was hankering for a good, hearty salad with chicken, green and nuts. Yea, nuts.

I like my salads a bit sweet-ish – either the dressing or having some fruits in the salad. One salad that I like is Chili’s Asian one with greens some mee hoon, cubed chicken and mandarin oranges though I’m not exactly sure if its still available. I have to check.

Anyway, so last night, I decided to take a trip to this well-mentioned Salad Bar. I must say that the location puts you in a spot, being next to Darabif and all. SHould you go for a Lamb Glam, or a healthy meal? I chose the latter.

I was greeted by an assortment of greens and a VAST variety of toppings! We were asked to sit as we looked lost standing in front of the salad bar. We plonked ourselves on the seat and browsed through the menu. It was a flipbook of all the SuperSalads and SuperSandwiches they had.

On the board (in pic above), you are given a variety of set options with combinations of juice, salads, pasta, sandwiches and soups. For drinks, I had Green Apple Juice (RM4.50) – yes, you can actually choose if you want Green or Red apple juice here. And for dinner, I had the :

Souper Set 5 (RM9.50)
1) Half Supersalad : I chose the  Fruity Nuthouse, – which had err…Guava? I think, sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds with a yogurt based dressing – and added Herbed Chicken (+RM2.50).
2) Soup of the day : Corn Soup

When my food came, I was very glad Marcus warned about the portions. I mean, seriously they were HUGE for a HALF portion. I mean look at that picture (sorry for the weird angle). And the taste? Corn soup was not my preference but I am looking forward to try their other soups. Friend ordered a “Yo Dawg” Supersandwich but it was just so-so.

But the salad?  It was AWESOME! It was everything that I expected – green veggie that isnt bitter (some salads have that bitter leaves in it, I dislike em), nice light herbed chicken, yogurt-based dressing (I think) and LOADS of nuts! Yum!

I also was interested in their “Create your own 2-3-1 Salad”. You can choose from half size (RM5.50) or Full Size (RM9.50). Choose any 2 greens (iceberg, romaine, butterhead, red coral, red oak), 3 toppings & 1 dressing. They make their own dressing. You can add more toppings for RM1 each or add in Cheese/meat for RM2.50 each.

Here are the types of toppings you can choose from :
boiled egg, brocolli, carrot, celery, cucumber, olive, onion, oyster mushroom, peppers (green, red,yellow) pumpkin, shitake, sweetcorn, tofu, tomato, apple, grape, guava, honeydew, mango, orange, pomelo, pear, starfruit, watermelon, dried fruits (blackcurrant, dates, apricot, cranberry, mixed peels, pitted prunes, raisins), almonds, brazil nut, cashewnut, cornflakes, pumpkin seed, sunflower seed, walnut, buckwheat, chickpeas, millet
Mozzarella, parmesan, chicken sausage, herb chicken, spicy teriyaki

See what I mean about a huge selection? Everything is prepared fresh everyday, from the salads to the soups. I forsee that there will be more salad lunches and dinners in my future

The Salad Bar
No 41, Jalan @@ 21/60,
Damansara Utama

Tel : 0377312228
Email : thesaladbar@email.com

Didn’t know what to eat over the weekend so I turned to twitter and asked around. @ImranAjmain suggested the “Ayam Presto” at Anggrek Kuring – chicken fried so well even the bones can be eaten.

After looking through the menu (click photo above for a bigger pic), we settled on our order. We were given a complimentary basket of some kinda keropok thingy, slightly bitter tasting.

Friend ordered the Nasi Ayam Panggang Set (RM 18.90) – Grilled/Roasted (?) Chicken with Rice, a stick of cumi panggang (grilled sotong), small portion of prawn petai and 1 piece each of fried taufu and pergedi (bergedil). Oh and a bowl of sup kosong with bits of taufu and tomatoes. Forgot to take a picture of it, he was too hungry.

I ordered a plate of white rice (RM2) which came with 1 piece of taufu and bergedil. Then we ordered the Sup Buntut (RM13+? Not too sure) and of course the Ayam Presto to share. And yes, the bones really can be eaten. Its like they put it in a pressure cooker before frying and serving. Interesting dish.

THE VERDICT

Sup Buntut was not worth it. Three pieces of oxtail for RM13 bucks is pricy. The Ayam Presto costs like RM30, I found it expensive but I guess its okay to try it just once. Doubt I’ll be ordering it again though.

However, the set was nice, from the chicken to even the sup kosong. I might come again to try out other dishes like the fish and Empal Gempuk (beef), recommended by Andrew who went to their Bandar Puteri branch and wrote a blogpost (and better photos) about the food.

Bandar Puteri Address is as above. I ate at the Kota Damansara branch, as below:

Restoran Anggrek Kuring (Indonesian Food)
No.60-G, Jalan PJU 5/20,
The Strand, Kota Damansara
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia 47810

Not to be confused with Anggerik Kuning, Anggrek Kuring is located right next to Loud speaker Kareoke at The Strand in Kota Damansara. Same row as Gulati’s . Its also next to a kopitiam.

Cova Square is this small area behind Segi College Kota Damansara where there are offices/apartments on top and 3-4 rows of shop at the bottom. There’s also a nursing college there as well, I think, because you will see some students in ‘missy’ uniforms.

Burger Royale is located somewhere towards the end of the row of shoplots. Its a air cond shop with probably 2-3 small tables outside. U walk in and on the left you have the kitchen/ordering table. The prices are all located in the menu overhead.

Read the rest of this entry »

Located in Millennium Square PJ, Piccadilly’s is a great shop to hangout. The food is nice and the price is ok. They have like more than 200 foods and drinks listed on the menu ranging from Westerns, Italians, Indians, Chinese and of course Local delights. We have been going to Piccadilly’s for quite number of times already, but only recently took pictures of the food we ordered.

Tandoori Chicken (RM5.00) – quarter of chicken marinated in red colored spices. Nice but nothing special about it. Served with mint sauce and some veggies.

Spicy Fried Calamari (RM9.00) – deep fried calamari served with Thais chili sauce, my girl said not as nice as the prawn fritter. As for me it doesn’t deserves a “spicy” title if it only meant to be dipped in the chili sauce. Read the rest of this entry »