ronnycakes reviews: Bali Hai Seafood Market, Kota Damansara PJ

Bali Hai Seafood Market is a restaurant that hails from Penang, and this Kota Damansara branch is their first one in KL. It’s a huge open air (but surprisingly cooling thanks to the bamboo-ish hut covering on the roof) seafood restaurant that has more than a dozen seafood tanks on one side showing delicacies like live Alaskan Spider Crab, Snow Crab, geoducks, lobsters, fishes and such.

Starting off with the Indonesian Style Deep Fried Chicken Wings, this was the one thing that stood out for me all night. The chicken wings were fried just nice, meat was tender and the skin was just a hint of crispy. Coupled with the sprinkling of chili salt on top, one was definitely not enough for me (was there with a large group so only managed one piece T_T)!

Super delicious fried chicken wings.

Venison Stir-Fried with Kai Lan was a twist to the classic veg dish, oyster sauce with garlic and slices of venison. There was no gamey smell to the venison and it paired perfectly with the Kai Lan.

Tofu with Chicken Floss, your run of the mill deep fried tofu with chicken floss and dried shrimps adding slightly more oomph to it.

Steamed Lala in Spicy Ginger and Lime Sauce was tangy and spicy and very fresh.

Freshwater Prawns in Sweet and Sour Sauce were very fresh (and lots of prawn roe in the heads), and were priced at RM30 per prawn.

The obligatory Soy Sauce Steamed Fish at all Chinese dinners. The fish was very fresh but the sauce was quite forgettable.

Squid with Salted Egg Yolk was sufficiently savoury and rich. The squid pieces were tender and fresh too!

On to the star of the show! Large and juicy Meat Crabs in Kam Heong Style were delicious. Once again, the freshness of the meat was top-notch and the sauce was done very well. Kam Heong is my favourite style of crab! I especially love the intensity of the curry leaves.

All in all there were a few hits and misses at dinner, but all the seafood was very fresh. On the downside, food at Bali Hai is not what you would call cheap (the meal cost about RM1000 for 9 people) and the captain gave us a larger portion of prawns than she should have due to the amount of other dishes that we ordered. Maybe I’ll go back just for the fried chicken wings. :p

Address:
Sunsuria Avenue,  Persiaran Mahogani
Kota Damansara PJU5
47810 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
(nearby the Tune Hotel in Kota Damansara)

Map *here*

ronnycakes reviews: Zipangu Weekend Buffet, Shangri-La Hotel

Japanese buffets are a dime a dozen these days but what makes Zipangu stand out a little more is the freshness of the food served and the fact that it is authentic Japanese. Zipangu is considered one of the best Japanese buffets in KL and the food you will find here is Japanese and only Japanese, no mixture of any other sort of cuisine.

Service is quick and staff are friendly (as you would expect from a restaurant in a hotel like Shangri-La) and the ambience is peaceful as well, with dimmed lighting and a nice Japanese garden lining the side of the restaurant’s glass panels.

There was a wide range of sushi prepared freshly by chefs at the counter.

Free flow of oysters! Which were incredibly fresh.

Sashimi was top notch in freshness. Thumbs up!

Chicken Teriyaki.

The dessert section was quite big with a wide variety of different cakes, pastries and jellies.

Some appetizers and condiments: my favourite colorful Japanese pickles and smoked duck slices that were delicious!

Tempura Prawns were tender and juicy with a crunchy exterior.

Mussels and scallops with tabasco sauce was heavenly. The teriyaki beef was tender and marinated to taste as well.

The chawanmushi was pretty good in my opinion, one of the better ones I’ve tried but it could have been kept warmer as it was just lukewarm when we tried it.

The Clam in Rice Wine Soup was one of the first to go and I had to wait about 10-15 minutes for them to refill it! Clams were large, meaty and fresh and the soup was heavenly. Double thumbs up!

The seafood fried rice was only mediocre, dry and bland. The chicken gyoza was average as well (nothing beats pork gyoza in my books).

Mango Pudding was delicious, very aromatic and you can tell that its made with the good stuff.

Strawberries with clotted cream! I loved the fact that they had fresh strawberries. Also tried the chocolate brownie (very moist) and a green tea truffle which was delicious and not at all sweet.

I’m not entirely sure what this was, but it tasted like cherry pudding. Fragrantly tangy, this was delicious as well!

Zipangu also serves ice-cream but you have to order it directly from the waiters/waitresses as it’s not displayed at the buffet counter. There are 4 varieties: green tea, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. We opted for the green tea ice-cream which was smooth and dense with flavour. I personally prefer grittier green tea ice-creams but for some they like theirs smooth so it’s a matter of personal taste.

All in all although the spread at Zipangu wasn’t extensive, the freshness of the food saved the day. The desserts were also a highlight as there were just so many that we couldn’t try them all!

The buffet is priced at RM96++ per person and is only available on weekends whilst on weekdays, Zipangu only serves ala-carte dishes which I’ve also heard good things about.

Address:
Zipangu
Shangri-La Hotel
Kuala Lumpur
1800 88 7881 (toll free)
03 2716 3112

Map *here*

Wils reviews: Grand Imperial Restaurant @ 1 Utama Shopping Centre

Being an authentic Chinese, the severe need of excellent Chinese food is a no brainer. One place you can never go wrong is none other than at Grand Imperial. Established in 2008, it is a recognised Chinese restaurant chain in Malaysia and it has also recently gone international in the UK. Just last week, my family and a few of my relatives were at the 1 Utama branch for my grandpa’s birthday. Of course, being the restaurant that it is with a classy ambience and excellent food, reservations is a must especially on weekends. With a total number of 10 people at the table, my dad decided to go for the special family menu where there are 3 sets to choose from, each being a 9 course meal.

For starters, we were served with an excellent Deep Fried Seaweed Chicken and Prawn Roll Coated with Thousand Island Sauce accompanied with Deep Fried Oystal Roll Wrapped with Salted Egg Yolk. Now that was a mouthful. As simple as the serving looks, it is indeed a mouthful and I assume a pretty tough order preparing them. The one on the left, being the Deep Fried Seaweed Chicken, has a delicious equal essence of the seaweed, chicken, prawn and thousand island. The Deep Fried Oyster Roll containing one of my all time favourite salted egg is not one to miss with crispiness and not being overly salty. Finishing off with a cheery tomato tops off the start of a delicious meal.

Next up, is none other than the Braised Shark’s Fin with Dried Scallop and Winter Melon. This bowl of shark’s fin in particular is different than the average ones you get because it is so rich in flavour that it is as good not putting vinegar as it is if you put it.

Ah, how can we not love roasted ducks. This being the Crispy Roasted Black Pepper Duck, it was indeed something new to me because we most commonly have black pepper accompanied with chicken, beef or lamb but never on ducks. The first bite is heavenly. Juicy, lean meat with just the right amount of skin and fat and a black pepper sauce that you will not get to taste anywhere else. The duck has of course made the black pepper sauce taste even better from its rich flavour.

Personally, THE highlight of the night.

Being the biggest fan of seafood (in my books at least), I was of course looking forward to this entre; the Steamed Ocean Garoupa Fish with Basil and Shredded Ginger & Chilli. As I am very particular with the freshness of the seafood I eat, this dish hits the spot of perfection. Steamed excellently with rich flavour without being too salty. One has to be there to have this because it is unexplainable in words.

  

Prawns. You either love them, hate them or is unfortunately allergic to them. If you’re either of the first two, you will not be disappointed one bit. This is called the Fried Tiger Prawns with Preserved Bean Paste and Szechuan Sauce. Many might think that this is a spicy a entre as it has a szechuan essence to it but in actual fact, it isn’t. The prawns were fried to accommodate the flavour in order to not have that burning flavour in your mouth. It was fresh too.

As the night is nearing to an end, comes the greener and healthier dish; Sautéed Kai Lan Vegetables with Black Fungus in Yellow Rice Wine. Refreshing.

 

Time flew by so quickly, that I had to leave at the 6th dish because of the urgency to catch the Liverpool – Manchester United match (YNWA). With only 3 dishes left, the last 2 being desserts, I took my chances to leave to an already excellent meal by any standard. Following the Kai Lan, comes the Stewed “Ee Fu” Noodles with Shredded Pork and Preserved Vegetables as the last main course ended by the desserts Chilled Lemon Grass Jelly with Longan & Two Varieties of Chinese Pastries. Although I wasn’t there to taste them, I was told by my parents that it was as good as it sounds.

This particular set costs RM688.00++ which is actually not that all pricey considering the quality of food, ambience and the number of people it is serving to.

This being my 3rd time in Grand Imperial (twice at the Bangsar Shopping Centre branch), I have to give it to them for serving the freshest food with a very friendly and proactive service with the perfect ambience for any occasion. Indeed, a MUST GO.

Address:
G218, Promenade, Ground Floor,
1 Utama Shopping Centre,
No. 1, Lebuh Bandar Utama,
Bandar Utama, 47800 KL

Telephone Number: 03-7729 7223