I’m not an avid coffee fan, but was certainly turned on by the choice of pastries I had. Their selections inclined to offer a taste of Française, with many flavored Mille Feuille, which is not very commonly found in many cafés, also the Macaroons, Crème Brulee and other usual cheese and coco selections. For those less fancy about sweet food, they offer vegetarian or non-vegetarian Quiche and pies.

Mango Mille Crèpe, I’m already craving for it now!

Rum and Raisin Mille Crèpe. In fact, they make more than 10 flavors including the Durian!!! But only a few are available each day, unless on special request.

All coffee beans are roasted and brewed by the staffs, and then served with adorable characters on top that is sure to put a smile on the customer’s face even before taking the first sip. Coming from two big coffee drinkers, the coffee was very satisfactory, aromatic and had fine strength. It’s not hard to tell when both my brother and our friend seemed so determined to try all of the coffees on the menu, only if time and their tummies allowed.

Taste just as great as it looks!

Signature Mint Latte

The huge glassware is not some mad scientist collection but what they use to make excellent Ice Drip Coffee. A MUST try on my next visit!

A little chit-chat with the staff (my bother’s ex-classmate) revealed that they were also making Maco Café into a small art space where their paintings and art works would be showcased. They were adding in glamorous strokes on the wall progressively, and no doubt, the latte art was part of the project too! To me, it’s really great to see that somewhere in the middle of a highly consumerized world, they are people who still believe in passion and do what they love.

A highly recommended place for chill-outs, meetings, dates, with economical price but awesome quality! I just got to know that they are launching Valentine’s Special menu soon, well here’s another reason to pamper your sweet tooth!

Maco Café and Bakery

65, Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/2, Taman Sutera Utama, 81300 Skudai, Malaysia. (Near Sutera Mall, JB)

Tel: 07 5568490

Website: http://maco.com.my/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MacoCafeBakery?sk=wall

Opening Hours

Mon – Thu: 12pm-10pm

Fri – Sat: 12pm-1am

Sun: 12pm-10pm

Almond Paste Soup with Lotus Seeds.

Walnut Paste Soup.

The other dessert called Loranthaceae Tea 桑寄生茶, which appears to be a new thing to me as I have never heard about it in Malaysia, has also been included in my favourite Cantonese dessert list. Loranthaceae is known as a good agent to lower high blood pressure, cure flu and very nourishing to women, that’s why pregnant women usually take it. Yuen Kee serves the tea with the right sweetness and with boiled egg.

Loranthaceae Tea with Lotus Seeds and Boiled Egg.

Cantonese Steamed Egg.

Yuen Kee opens from morning till late night. You might have to wait for seat during peak hours, many people go there for supper. Average price for one dessert is 25 HKD, though slightly higher compared to others, but you can certainly tell the difference from the taste.

源記甜品專家Yuen Kee Dessert 

Address: G/F, 32 Centre Street, Western District, Hong Kong.

地址：西環正街32號地下

Getting There: Take tram and get down at Western Street.

Tel: +852 25488687

There’s one restaurant located at Central, Hong Kong that serves vegetarian cuisine. I’m not usually a fan of Chinese vegetarian food, especially when it involves excessive flour-made meat, however this particular restaurant makes impressively delicious Dim Sum using all kinds of vegetables, beans and nuts. Not only it suits my less-flour appetite, but is also a good news to all Halal diners. The soft Oriental ambiance is cosy and friendly, environment is clean, air-conditioned and spacious enough to hold banquet.

 Mixed Vegetables Dumplings with Black Fungus.

Wild Mushroom Dumplings with Black Truffle Sauce.

 Chives and Leeks Fried Dumplings.

These dumplings, both steamed and fried come with very thin skin and generous fillings. The aroma of fresh vegetables coupled with the sensation of sauce oozing out especially in the very first bite immediately set us on a voluptuous state.

 Peach-shaped Steamed Bun with Lotus Seed Paste Filling.

 Plain Rice Rolls, dipped with Yellow Mustard and Black Sweet Soy Sauce. The sesame seeds give a really superb kick to the plain flavour, like maaagic!!

Vegetables and Pine Seed Fried Rice. No added flavour and MSG.  Healthy food can be really delicious too!

It’s a wonderful place to dine in. Take good care of both health conscious and taste buds! Average spending per person is 100hkd.

Pure Veggie House 心齋

Address: 3/F, Coda Plaza, 51 Garden Road, Central

地址: 中環花園道51號科達中心3樓

Going there: Take CityBus 12A from Admiralty and get down at YWCA, MacDonnell Road.

Opening Hour: 10am – 10:30pm

Tel: (852) 2525 0552

Located at Shangri-la Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, I wouldn’t say it had terrific fine dining ambience, but the key feature that made the dining experience absolutely memorable was the heartfelt effort that was put into creating each and every scrumptious dish, combining various fine ingredients. The were two options for ordering, you can either go for the set tasting menu with/ without wine pairing, or choose the dishes according to your delights. Wine is usually what makes the meal costful, so if you want to save a bit perhaps you could do away with the alcohol. But then again, le vin est la partie intellectuelle d’un repas! (wine is the intellectual part of a meal!) For true enjoyment, a little indulgence once in a while is necessary. La Fite offers a great variety of wine to pair with different dishes, and the waiter/ waitresses are always ready to give recommendations, so don’t worry if you find yourself dithering over the menu, not knowing what to choose.

Minced Wagyu Beef Tartar Millefeuille, topped with Avruga Caviar and Sour Cream. Highly recommended!

Foie Gras with Truffle Foam. It’s very near to what I’ve tasted in Paris, so I’m sure you will relish the experience too!

Chef made Tagliatelle Cabonara.  One bite and you can tell it’s hand made, the texture is so much different from those of mass machine produced. Very creamy but don’t worry, the portion is hardly enough to make you feel too full for the main course.

Wagyu Ribeye

Poached Butter Lobster and Hokaiddo Scallop with Black Truffle. Very strong seafood taste, and might get a little heavy after a while especially when you’ve had quite some hearty appetizers.

We had Soffiato and Chocolate Soufflé as dessert, I would say though they are decently created, they don’t leave as much of impression on me as the food does.

Certainly a good choice for dates or business entertaining! Approximate spending for dinner: RM300++without wine & RM450++ with wine (per person)

 Lafite

Lunch: Noon – 2.30pm, Monday to Friday
Dinner: 7pm – 10.30pm, Monday to Saturday

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 400g potatoes, cut into wedges
• 2 tomatoes
• 6-7 tbsp oil

Spices (A) ? ground

• 10 dried chillies, deseeded
• 5 red chillies, deseeded
• 30 shallots
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2½cm fresh turmeric root
• 2cm galangal, sliced
• 3 stalks lemongrass
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp paste (belacan)

Spice (B) ? mixed with enough water into a paste

• 3 tbsp meat curry powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp fennel powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder

Ingredients (C)

• 2 star anise
• 4cm cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 5 cardamoms split
• 2 stalks curry leaves

Ingredients (D)

• 1 litre thin coconut milk
• 200ml thick coconut milk

Seasoning

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

At the first time, there was already an obvious shortage of hands. The owner of restaurant had to sweat off his brows personally, busy walking up and down taking customers’ orders, follow-up and stopping by occasionally to make sure the patrons were enjoying the moment. Although there was a minor mistake of sending a wrong dish, it was quickly rectified and we did enjoyed the meal. However on our second visit, the situation got so worse that all the credits we initially thought of this place were discounted.

Despite having increased the numbers of waiters, the service didn’t improve and instead got worse and turned off a few table of patrons as we observed. Firstly, the menu was slow to be presented, it was as if no one bothered to serve until you had to put up your hand, loudly called out “excuse me!”, or show whatever gestures obvious enough to get the staff’s attentions. This was what we’d seen happening to other customers. For us, the menu was shown too many times by different waiters even after we already had our order taken. Just how disorganize the system was.

And then for the dishes to serve, it wasn’t only a painful wait, but also a challenging moment where the patrons needed to be alert and smart so as to avoid mistakenly consuming food or drink that you hadn’t ordered. When asked to confirm the dishes or drinks (sometimes they look really similar, or when you’re trying out new food that you not know), the waiter only responded with yet another clueless look.

To be honest, the food was great, but I’m sure the customers are not only paying for the quality of food, but also expect substantial pleasant treatment. That doesn’t require exclusive attention such of fine-dining, but at least sincere and diligent enough to be enjoyable. I truly hope that improvements will be done as it is a nice place to makan and hang out.

Nasi Briyani Daging (Mutton Briyani Rice). Generous portion, aromatic concoction of various spices without over- heavily use of Ghee.

Nasi Lemak with Beef Rendang.

Lok Mei Tong. Still better at Chinese restaurants.

 Air Batu Campur.

Citta Mall

Jalan PJU 1A/48,

PJU 1A, Ara Damansara,

47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Map courtesy of CITTA Sdn. Bhd

In our regular order, there always was the Ade Scotch Chicken, to which also I rated as my favourite thus far. This time we’ve decided to have a change of taste by trying out some other dishes.

Braised Broccoli Soup and bacon. The richness and smoothness of braised broccoli cooked with chicken broth and blue cheese made a memorable introduction to the meal. Only the use of Rocket leaves was not that much to my liking.

Baked Ôeuf Florentine. This stuffed egg with spinach and turkey ham topped our favourite list this time. The cheese, spices and hint of wine made a divine concoction.

Roasted Lamb Shank. The tenderness and juiciness were well up to the standard, but it’s relatively forgettable and tasted like any other steaks that you are likely to get with similar price at other restaurants.

Chocolate Brownies. Although decently served, it didn’t really induce those kind of mouthwatering sensation that you’d otherwise find on truly decadent dessert.

Although there’s a few hits and misses, it is still a commendable neighbourhood dining place. Better if you know what to pick and what not.

BoatHouse TTDI
16, Lorong Rahim Kajai 14,
Taman Tun Dr Ismail,
60000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : 03-7727 4426

Agedashi Tofu. Topped with Bonito flakes and seaweed, it’s perfectly crispy on the outer and soft inside.

The crunchy soft shell crabs elevate what would otherwise be an extremely bland spinach. The amount of vege could be a little overwhelming for the non-vege fans though.

Unagi and Saba Dinner Set, served with rice, miso soup and fruits. It’s kinda fusion with the pasta in the middle, what’s most memorable is still the Saba. Juicy and firm, so fresh and Oishii!

Savoury curry chicken katsu, just nice to warm the evening up.

Kinpachi Japanese Restaurant

Lot 1.06, 1st Floor, Wisma Padicorp, 13 & 15, Jalan SS17/1A, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: 03 5632 2017

The Caramelized Roast Pork (Honey Siu Yok) :/ Not that wise of a choice IMHO.

The BBQ Pork Ribs

The Braised Beef Ribs

Overall, the service was awesome, food was beautiful and the we particularly enjoyed the atmosphere.

Must return!

Address: 120-122, Jalan Kasah, Damansara Heights, 50490 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2096 1645

Opening hours: Noon till late. Kitchen closes 3.00pm to 6.00pm. Closed on Sundays and certain public holidays. Call to enquire.

Download Menu Here

We had 2 dinner sets and an awesome bottle of warm sake!

Saba Dinner Set

Emily had the Saba dinner set while i chose the Salmon set. It was a grim atmosphere that night, due to the Japanese earthquake that happened a few days ago. The restaurant staffs had a sad look in their eyes, while watching the japanese news on tv.

Food’s good, friendly staff, great environment. I’ll surely return soon.

Hyotan Japanese Restaurant, SS15

Address:
Hyotan
63 Jalan SS15/5A,
47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor
GPS: 3.081059, 101.592636
Tel: 03-5636 0326