Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea Room

Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea Room

I am unshamefully a regular to Sunway Pyramid as it is the nearest mall to my terpencil home. Haven't been there uncountless times, I still have difficulties answering the most basic but hardest question of ALL time- "What to eat?"


Sourplum Jasmine- RM4.90, Papaya Milk Shake- RM6.90

Perhaps the next time you are undecided like me, you can try Xian Ding Wei, a Taiwanese cuisine restaurant located just opposite Starbucks.

What is synonymous to Taiwanese food? Bubble tea, Taiwanese sausage, XXL Chicken, Oyster Mee Sua? Xian Ding Wei is an avenue for you to explore more of the Taiwanese delights and cuisines without having to produce your passport. To start off with, treat yourself a good healthy papaya milk shake or refreshing sourplum jasmine. Thick and yumz, and good for the digestive system too!


Salty Crispy Chicken- RM10.90

Snack on salty crispy chicken while waiting for your mains. It's similar to your pasar malam Uncle Bob or the more famous Shihlin XXL chicken. Thumb sized chunks fried to crispy perfection, with the flavours of curry leaves and sprinkled with generous amount of white pepper and chilli powder. I'm sure alot of you out there will agree it goes well with beer :)


Oyster & Large Intestines Vermicelli- RM9.90

Another one of Taiwanese famous exports is the oyster mee sua, a thickened soup containing small oysters and Chinese vermicelli. XDW's version has large intestines, which makes it quite exotic.


Sweet Braised Squid Set- RM19.90

For those who prefer a wholesome meal, there are a variety of set meals to choose from. Much similar to the Japanese bento sets, the set meals come with rice, three side dishes and a soup. The rice is served with braised minced pork, just like what you will find on the streets of Taiwan. The sweet braised squid fared quite well, thank goodness because I'm a fan of all things sotong.



The ambience is nice, service is good and commendable food.



Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea Room
OB3.LG1.7 & OB3.LG1.8
Oasis Boulevard (New Wing),
Lower Ground Floor, Sunway Pyramid.
Tel: 03-5631 3322

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

Jin Shan Cheng Steamboat

Steamboat places are mushrooming around Sunway's Dataran Mentari area. Sometimes I just wonder whether the feng shui there is good for opening a steamboat business or people just like to jump on the bandwagon when they spot something is doing well in that area. This often makes the business becomes diluted and most often not, the food in 9 out of 10 shops there is below par.

Jin Shan Cheng is another steamboat outlet, except unlike the other steamboat shops in the neighbourhood that thrives on buffet concept, JSC is solely ala carte. The establishment is on the 1st floor which means you'll need to walk up a flight of stairs. My first impression?

0_O errrrrm is this a steamboat place? *walks into the shop* ok certainly looks very dodgy here. There were hardly any filled tables and I had the feeling of walking into a dodgy Chinese restaurant with China import waitresses, red lanterns, unclothed tables, wornout cushion chairs. Hmmmm.



We were given a menu ala HK tick yourself style. Sauces and tidbits were then served to us but we declined the tidbits. The sauces available are chilli oil and flakes (ala chilli pan mee), peanut sauce, sesame paste and fermented fu yu.



We ordered the Winter Melon Ham soup base which came slightly cloudy with wolfberries, winter melon and few slices of chinese ham to give it a sweet taste. We also opted for a spicy base in the middle. The pot was really quite huge!

Being the ever enthusiastic foodies we are, here are what we ordered:
- fish noodles (RM8), beef slice (RM18), pork slice (RM8), crispy pork intestines (RM6), golden mushroom (RM6), smooth bean curd (RM2), fu zhou fish balls (RM8), pork balls (RM8), fish balls (RM8), meat roll (RM8).



The hits were definitely the beef and pork slices, very razor thin but when dipped in the boiling soup it cooks and unfolds perfectly. The balls were so-so. The miss would be the crispy pork intestines that were unfresh, we left them untouched completely and also notably a miss would be sighting of a baby cockroach on our table.

If any chance I would ever be back is to take away the awesome beef and pork slices (note- take away not dine in!).

Eiling's review on JSC here.


Jin Shan Cheng
42A-2 Jln PJS 8/2,
Dataran Mentari,
Bandar Sunway, 46150 PJ.
Tel: 03-5631 8220

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

Pommes Frites

Pommes Frites sounds like a really atasan/foreign name for a food outlet, but before you jump into conclusion thinking this is another one of those expensive eateries that I am going to review, you are so wrong!

I first read about Pommes Frites through The Star's daily food column in the Metro section (I read that religiously, apart from the daily comic strips of course). It then slipped off my mind until I had to make a trip to Sunway Pyramid a week ago to meet up with Yi Fang and Khian. Pommes Frites popped up in my mind again and I took them to try out the food with me.


Belgian Fries with Chocolate Dipping- RM4.50

It has a pretty small space in the Asian Avenue section, you'll probably missed it if you've not been there before. We had the Belgian Fries with Chocolate Dipping to share. We find the fries with chocolate combination an amazing discovery as it tastes something out of the ordinary yet tasty. This place is actually famous for its fries and the variety of dippings, from cheese, bbq to wasabi to the usual suspects of ketchup and chilli, and the more exotic chocolate, roasted eggplant, rosemary aioli, for those who prefer exotic and healthy, there's a choice of fruity dips such as mango, strawberry and cinnamon. They claim to have over 30 kinds of dips!

Belgian fries are not your usual McDonalds fries, from frozen to fried. In fact, Pommes Frites claim to peel, cut and fry the sinful snack right at their kitchen, so no frozen or defrozing involved here, and hence the freshness. I do not doubt this claim as the fries has a layer of crispy skin but soft and fluffy inside. The regular serving is priced at RM4.50 with a choice of a dip and large at RM6.90. For those who want to try a few sauces/dips at one go, each additional dip cost RM2.50.


Beef Bacon Fettucine- RM10.90


Spaghetti Marinara- RM10.90

For our mains, we had a serving of Beef Bacon Fettucine and Spaghetti Marinara from the pasta menu. All the pastas are priced at RM10.90 which is quite a steal after seeing the portion and in all honesty, they taste pretty good too. Of course, don't expect it to bloody fantastic but hey it's better than paying close to RM20 for a pasta at Resipi Rahsia!


Mussels + Clam Provencal with White Wine- RM17.90

While mussels and clams are regulars at steamboat places, it is quite rare to see any eateries brave enough to offer this dish on its own (dai chow doesn't count). The first time I had a pot of mussels was sometime last year when I was in Singapore at Brussels Sprout. The second time was probably in Perth, chilli mussels at Nero's. This would be my third I guess.

Diners can have the option of choosing a pot of mussels or clams or a mix of both at the same price, RM14.90 per pot and RM17.90 if you want to add white wine. I chose the latter. There are also other shellfishes such as oysters and scallops done au gratin. Every pot of mussels/clams comes with a bowl of belgian fries with mayo too, very similar to Brussels Sprout's concept.


Huge mussels

Give credits when it is due and credits I must give. While the bowl is not spectacularly big, I must say the size of the shellfishes are not too small and stingy either. I appreciate the big mussels, though not alot, about 5 pieces and the generous amount of clams. For RM14.90, one cannot expect the serving to be as big as your grandmother's prized pot eh?


Belgian Fries with Mayo

More fries for you and I to linger around longer....... though there's no free ice water :(

But definitely deserves a comeback for the fries and other dippings, their variety of pasta and perhaps the oysters!

p/s: I think Pommes Frites is inspired by the same name eatery in New York specializing in Belgian Fries and the variety of dippings. Click here to see more.



Pommes Frites
F1 AV196 Asian Avenue
Sunway Pyramid (New Wing).

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

Not only RIB-licious... @ Tony Roma's

Complimentary bun w garlic butter spread

Shamelessly I have to admit, I have never been to Tony Roma's. Yes, glare at me if you want but despite having read so much about it (most commented on the ridiculousness of TR Malaysia's 'halal' ribs), I wasn't too enthusiastic about it. But! Finally we managed to make a visit to a TR outlet at Sunway Pyramid few weeks back.

Walking into the restaurant, one can't help but to relate American food joints like TGIF, Itallianies and Chilli's to Tony Roma's. The familiar and default long benches and long tables for family gatherings and parties, the drinks bar, the way you're being greeted by the restaurant crews, the menu... and perhaps the pricing too ;-)


Half Loaf Onion Rings- RM12.90
Giant hand-cut Spanish onions, breaded, deep fried
and served with in house BBQ dipping sauce

I suppose this is a MUST HAVE item on the menu seeing that 9 out of 10 reviews I read had this on their tables. We ordered a Half Loaf option, just enough for 2 persons. The Onion Rings was pleasantly delicious. You could taste the onions in thick cuts, unlike other places where the batter overrule the onions or onions so thinly sliced that it taste more like fried rings w/o the onions.


Rib Dinner Combo- RM49.90
2 pcs ribs, grilled prawns kebab, pesto salad and mashed potatoes

We opted for the rib combo as it will be a better option to try some other things as well as the ribs. First off, The Ribs. What can I say... Though much criticized for being halal, the beef ribs is just as good as their porky counterpart. Smoky and grilled to perfection- the meat falls tenderly off the bones. Couple it with TR's Smoky BBQ Sauce, it was delicious! Please don't even try their other sauces (Honey, Original) as they taste bad and it will only destroy your perfect ribs.


Grilled prawn dipped in melted butter

The grilled prawns were very tangy and generous in size. It also comes with a little cup of melted butter and lemon for dipping. Squeeze the lemon juice over the melted butter and you're good to go to savour those lovely grilled prawns.

We opted for the pesto salad and mashed potatoes as sides. I love the mashed potatoes as it has some bits of skin inside, rather different from most mashed potatoes I've eaten. As for the pesto salad, well I've never been quite a fan of salad, so...


Empty plates: testament to good food... yumm yumm

Needless to say, we polished everything off! I even licked the bones clean :D

TR in my opinion deserves a comeback, not too soon but surely will.


Tony Roma's
LG1.43, Sunway Pyramid.
Tel: 03-7492 1188
(Old wing, facing skating rink)
www.tonyromas.com

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

Batavia Cafe Indonesian Food

How does it really feel to be away from work and worries for all 11 days from Christmas to the 4th day of the New Year? I think it feels pretty awesome. Kinda brings back the same feelings of having year end long semester break. Having a day of break feels as awesome as having a week off.

While everyone was toiling blood and sweat at work (recession is coming to town...), both of us were happily deciding what to eat for lunch before our movie at 1 Utama.

Please allow me to digress.

Ip Man (not related to Yes Man, Cicak Man...) is the must watch Chinese movie! It stars the awesome/manly/kungfu ABC hearthrob Donnie Yen. It's actually based on the real kungfu master (also the sifu of Bruce Lee) who made history by defeating the Japanese. Anyway the highlight of the movie is Ip Man's super awesome Wing Chun moves and how calm the man is when he fights! Donnie Yen is the Man!

/ends digression.


Bakso- RM4.20

One of our main motives to have Indon food was of course the Bakso (beef balls). Unlike the Bakso we had at Ayam Penyet Ria (just a stone's throw from Batavia), the Bakso here opens up really nicely... similar to the Chinese 'fatt koh' which requires superior skillz to make it 'smiling'. The Bakso greeted us with a very welcoming smile indeed tempting us to eat them! Hahaha. Not too beefy, but the soup is flavourful.


Empal Penyet- RM4.50

Loving all things beef, we ordered the Empal Penyet, literally meaning flattened beef. Flattened to make it tender, it didn't disappoint. The meat was floss like and the accompanying chilli gives it an extra kick, making it more 'syiok'.


Pecel Ayam- RM4.50

Following the recommendations of Michael from Food Street, we also had Pecel Ayam. We did not go for the ayam penyet this time around. Pecel ayam is basically ayam bakar accompanied with a sweet sauce. Pecel is an Indonesian sauce based on peanuts, similar to the sauced used for Gado-Gado (Indon's version of the rojak). The chicken meat was tender and the sauce made the dish rather interesting.


Kangkung Belacan- RM4.00

You can't possibly go wrong with the Kangkung Belacan. It was nothing to shout about, I would have preferred it with a little bit of gravy though.


Es Campur- RM4.30

We had wanted to try the Jus Alpukat (Avocado Juice with chocolate syrup) but unfortunately it wasn't available that day. We had to settle on second choice which was the Es Campur, which in Malaysian terms we would have called it the Ice Kacang or ABC (Ais Batu Campur). I think the Es Campur at Ayam Penyet Ria fared much better. We both felt that they were too generous with the atapci (some tasted sourish, too generous with anything can be a bad thing).


Pisang Bakar- RM 2.50

For dessert, we ordered the Pisang Bakar as recommended at Food Street. While the dish certainly looks pretty interesting and fancy with the chocolate rice and grated cheese toppings, the taste didn't quite impress. For a start, the banana was too cooked, hence making it very mushy. The cheese didn't really flavour anything, in fact I couldn't taste any cheese! After some bites, the Pisang Bakar actually tasted like some Indian sweets... which is not a good thing cos I don't quite fancy Indian sweets.

I noticed that there are quite a few Indonesian food outlets around Sunway and SS15 Subang Jaya. Have yet to try all and conclude which is the best. Indon food is one of the most affordable cuisines (of course, I'm sure there are higher end outlets out there), Batavia is an excellent example- nothing in the menu exceeds RM10, ranging from as low as RM2.50-RM7/8. While food portions may not be big, it is nice to order a few items to share. With some hits and misses, Batavia deserves a comeback.


Batavia Cafe
No. 9, Jalan PJS 8/10,
Dataran Mentari,
Bandar Sunway, PJ.
(Behind Shell station- formerly Projet Station at Dataran Mentari)

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

Vietnamese cuisine @ O'viet Restaurant

mixed grill platter- rm24.90
a combination of traditional vietnamese appetizers such as fried spring rolls, grilled beef and chicken, sugarcane shrimps, healthy greens and paper rice to make your own yummy rolls

this review takes us back to at least 2 months ago when calvin and i met up with my fellow ipoh besties fang, her sister yi hua and another bestie jacqueline (who's now in columbia university which is in NY and not columbia, HAHA dont be confused and so n00b like me). with the new wing and all at sunway pyramid, it was still a tough task for me to find a proper good place for a meet up lunch.

calvin and i have tasted the food here, so it was kind of a 'tried and tested' place, but we didnt have the same dishes as we had the first time, so in any way this is still a food review!


paper roll you can eat!

we both were given the ultimate task to order food of course. we decided to have a more family-like lunch where food are shared instead of individual meals. for appetizers, the mixed grill platter was ordered as it is always recommended to have a mix of everything if you don't know what to order!

i would give 2 thumbs up for the appetizer especially the paper roll, nice to see and nice to eat too!! it was quite funny to see everyone trying to wrap the roll without tearing it. wrapped with a little bit of greens and chicken/beef slices, and then dipped with either the peanut sauce or the nuoc cham sauce (a type of vietnamese sauce), it was indeed a delightful start to a great wholesome meal.


don't you feel like taking a bite too?

the main dishes arrived not long after and we had them with rice.


chicken with basil


grilled lemongrass fish on banana leaf


chef's recommended toufu

as this was eaten and digested about 2 months ago, i have misplaced the receipt and couldn't remember the exact price and name of the dishes. but if my memory serves me right, the chicken with basil was ok with the basil not too overpowering but taste relatively normal chinese-style cooking. the grilled fish was another unmemorable dish- grilled fish, on a banana leaf and with the littlest (if not any) hint of lemongrass. last but not least, the toufu came as the most disappointing dish, an absolute miss from what we had expected since it was labelled as chef's recommended.


durian pancake- rm5.90 for 2pcs

all hopes not lost yet as we patiently anticipated for the durian pancake. we both have had this before, so it was not a surprising dessert. it tasted ok, just what it is supposed to taste like- fluffy whipped cream and durian flesh enrobed in a pancake wrap. recommended if you're having durian cravings in a vietnamese restaurant.

overall, it was a hit and miss lunch affair with the mixed grill platter and durian pancake receiving some accolades while the mains were generally disappointing. the bill came to a total of (if i remember correctly...) rm170++ for 6 persons, so it's not exactly cheap.



o'viet restaurant
g1.45 ground floor, sunway pyramid old wing.
tel: 03-74920018

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

Mantra Restaurant and Bar @ Sunway Pyramid

Here's one for the special occasion... Northern Indian cuisine...

First time here for the both of us, it's the Mantra Restaurant and Bar tucked in the old wing of Sunway Pyramid (Our first Northern Indian experience was in Langkawi last year). If you sit by the window, it overlooks Sunway Lagoon Beach Resort. To me, it's not a greatest of views, but it's not too bad when it's at night. You will see that it makes a good background for the food photos in this entry.

Very nice furnishing and has the perfect ambiance for an evening



Mango Lassi @ RM12

The mango lassi tasted alright, nothing to be praised about. It has a good balance of mango puree and yogurt.


Mumbai Tomato Broth @ RM7.90
Creamy and tangy tomato broth made with fresh tomatoes

The tomato broth tastes pretty interesting. It's not something that we've taste before but in my opinion it tasted kinda like tom yam soup (the type with coconut). It's probably because of the Indian spices. I didn't expect a tomato soup to be spicy (like chili spicy not spices spicy :-P).


Plain Briyani @ RM8.90

I have always enjoyed eating Indian briyani cooked with Basmati rice/long grain rice. Though it might look yummy in this photo. The taste wasn't what I'd expect from an Indian restaurant. I thought those that are found in our local mamaks were more flavorful. Quite a disappointment. Not to say it didn't taste good, but I have tasted better.


Butter Chicken @ RM17.90
Exquisite tandoori-grilled chicken, simmered in satin smooth tomato gravy redolent of kassori methi

This was the highlight. It was the chef's recommendation and also according to Yiling, it's one of the those must-try dishes. And yes, this dish tastes great. Though it is called butter chicken, you can't really taste any hint of butter. I'd assume the Indian spices had taken over that flavor. The butter is probably responsible of making the sauce creamy.

Or

It doesn't even have butter? Cause in the description butter or anything dairy hasn't been mentioned. Could "butter" represent the satin smooth part of the description?

What do you think? From what i know, Northern Indian food does include a generous amount of dairy products in their dishes.

I do have one complain... The chicken meat wasn't tender. It was really tough. It wasn't grilled to perfection. Some points taken off here...


Malai Tikka @ RM15.90
Boneless cubes of chicken, steeped in a marinade of royal cumin enriched cream, cheddar and a hint of fresh coriander, glazed in the tandoor

Oh the yummy Malai Tikka... I really enjoyed this grilled chicken dish. It was well marinated and it was grilled to perfection. Meat was tender and the marinate could be tasted deep into the meat. The meat has a slight hint of garlic. I think they spread some finely minced garlic across it before grilling. Dipped with the coriander sauce, it makes it this grilled chicken experience absolutely wonderful.


Garlic Naan @ RM4

This was another disappointment. Again I compare it with the local mamak. Local mamak naan is so much better than this. The naan was thin giving me the impression that it was going to be crispy or maybe fluffy. Unfortunately it was tough and had a much chewy texture than fluffy.

The overall experience wasn't too bad. Paired with a great ambiance and a the perfect company. The evening was wonderful. Give this place a try if you have not tried Northern Indian food.

So our final verdict was...

Calvin: 6/10 (i feel like giving less...)
Yiling 6.5/10

I must add on that after dinner we felt pretty thirsty, so we suspect that quite a bit of ajinomoto was used in their cooking.


Mantra Restaurant and Bar
Lot G1-42, Sunway Pyramid
Tel: 03-74920488

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]