ronnycakes reviews: The Grind Burger Bar, Section 17, Petaling Jaya

We’ve had our fair share of burger hunting these past few weeks, and the latest thing to hit this blog is the newly opened The Grind Burger Bar in Section 17. If I’m not mistaken, it has only been open for about two to three weeks and I actually think this is the soonest we’ve ever visited a place since it’s opening.

On the same row as Kanna Curry House, it was a quiet Sunday as we turned up before 12pm (The Grind’s opening time) and took our seats in the still-empty restaurant. The Grind sounds a lot like The Daily Grind, and the decor looks a lot alike too but what makes The Grind preferable to us is that it serves pork (yay!!) and the prices are definitely a lot cheaper than at The Daily Grind. Less talk, more pictures!

  
Vintage pin-up girls holding burgers race the brick and white walls; sauces and condiments; the empty (but not for long) seats.
The Grind Burger Bar is cozy, comfortable and well-lit.

The Fiery Peppercorn Burger (RM16); pork patty with crusted peppercorns, natural cheddar, greens, onion silvers, fresh tomato and mayonnaise.

All-pork patty encrusted in pepper. I found the pork patty a little dry and a tad bit bland, but maybe that’s just me as Wils was happily chomping away.

Something different from your usual hot dog: The Big Black Dog (RM16); pork bratwurst served on a pitch black charcoal bun topped with chilli pork, natural cheddar, mozzarella and fresh onions, served with herbed fries and greens.

The pork bratwurst was juicy, and went very well with the chili pork. I loved this!

Extra flavour was contributed by the generous heaping of mozzarella and cheddar.

 
Special mention should go to the fries, because they were sprinkled with nori seaweed salt. Delicious!

For our meal, the bill came up to only RM37.40, that’s definitely value for money for taste and portion as burgers like these would probably set you back more than RM25 in other places.
We’ll definitely be heading here again to try the other things on the menu.

Address:
The Grind Burger Bar,
7, Jalan 17/45, Section 17, Petaling Jaya.
(Same row as Kanna Curry House, further down from the Police Station)
Noon-3pm, 5pm-10pm.

Map *here*

ronnycakes reviews: Kompassion by My Elephant, Damansara Kim

My Elephant has branched out to include a new non-halal Thai cuisine outlet by the name of Kompassion; and because My Elephant’s Thai food has always been something we enjoyed, Kompassion naturally made its way into our must-try list.

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon at about 1pm and already the entire shop was almost full to the brim. Luckily there was a tiny table for 2 that was available.

One thing you’ll notice on the menu is that there are a lot of fusion concepts at play and the dishes such as Thai Curry Ramen and Linguine Pad Thai to name a few, are dishes that you definitely don’t see in usual Thai restaurants. Another major plus point about Kompassion is that they serve pork whilst most commercial Thai restaurants are restricted to just duck/chicken/fish/beef offerings.

For starters we had the Smoked Salmon, Pork Bacon & Kimchi Salad (RM18.90). Who would have thought salmon, bacon and kimchi could go so well together? Both of us loved this so much and practically had to fight each other off for the last bite. Absolutely delicious and definitely out of the ordinary!

For mains, I had the Tom Yum Fried Rice with Grilled Seafood (RM18.90). A generous helping of scallops, prawn, squid and a piece of grilled salmon was served up with my rice. I loved the fried, but found that it lacked a little oomph in terms of spiciness and sourness but I suppose that is just personal preference.

Kimchi was also served on the side for the rice and it lent a sour-ish and savoury taste to the rice.

Wils had the super hearty Linguine Phad Thai served with Prawn, Crab Stick and Squid (RM15.90). Fried linguine noodles tossed with peanuts, chili flakes and seafood. Very refreshing!

 

If we had come to Kompassion with a larger party we could have tried their sharing platters of pork or Tom Yam Soup (costing about RM50 per bowl :O) but since it was only the two of us we went for the lighter stuff.

The next time round, I’ll definitely be trying that curry ramen for myself, and not forgetting a repeat order of that Smoked Salmon, Bacon and Kimchi Salad!

Address:
KomPassion Thai Fusion Food (same row as Euro Deli),
5, Jalan SS20/11,
Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya.

Map *here*

ronnycakes reviews: Crumbs x Luxbite Christmas Macarons, 1U Petaling Jaya

‘Tis the season to be jolly and grow fat from all the food and sweets and because the year-end holiday season mentality is eat first think later next year (or maybe that’s just me hehe). One thing I looooove about the Christmas season is all the imported indulgent sweets and chocolates that come pouring into supermarkets – the other day I spotted mint chocolate M&Ms! But since Wils and I will be jetting off to LA next week, better save our stomachs (and our pockets) by spending over there instead. :D

I recall saying that macarons were probably not my most preferable sweet but recently by some mysterious power I’ve found myself slightly addicted to them... maybe because I just haven’t managed to find good ones in the past. After spotting these Crumbs x Luxbite macarons on Facebook, I immediately had to have Wils get me a box because they were just too damn adorable.

The super adorable Teddy and Santa macarons are 100% handpiped (!!!) and designed by Aleena from Crumbs, whilst the two conventional looking ones are imported from Luxbite Melbourne and are anything but conventional in taste. One box of four costs RM30 and comes in two combinations:

• Teddy Bear and Santa Chocolate Hazelnut Praline
• Watermelon and Guava
• Peanut Butter and Jelly

• Teddy Bear and Snowman Chocolate Hazelnut Praline
• Mandarin Jaffa
• Ribena Lemonade

The one that Wils picked up for me was on recommendation from Luxbite, the Teddy Bear and Santa set.

The macarons are so adorable that I really couldn’t make myself bite into one of them.

 

 
The Watermelon & Guava one was a thick layer of watermelon flavoured buttercream with guava bits (which felt a little bit like coconut bits) whilst the Peanut Butter & Jelly one was a peanut butter ganache with proper jelly. Both tasted heavenly and were crisp and fresh, but I personally preferred the Peanut Butter & Jelly one because of how the sweet and savoury paired together.
The Hazelnut Praline one was as yummy as the Luxbite ones, and I especially loved the chocolate ganache. Adorable and yummy!

These macarons will be available in the booths outside Isetan 1st floor at One Utama until 25th December, so hurry before they all sell out! I’m sure these would make charming and wonderful gifts for all your loved ones. I’m sure I would like another box. :P

Address:
Crumbs x Luxbite booth
Outside Isetan 1st Floor
One Utama Shopping Mall
Petaling Jaya

Map *here*

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: Kungfu Paradise, Paradigm Mall

If you’re looking for a casual dining spot with affordable food to hang out and linger at, Kungfu Paradise may be somewhere you should add to your list. Part of the Paradise Group which brought Paradise Dynasty (which we will shortly be reviewing) and Paradise Inn, Kungfu Paradise is the Paradise Group of restaurants’ brainchild for “the young and young-at-heart”.

We were invited for a food review at Kungfu Paradise but thanks to the rush hour jam, by the time I left work and arrived at Paradigm, it was way past dinner time and we missed the first few dishes. Luckily we some photos were provided for us (only watermarked photos belong to us)!

Drinks for the thirsty!

First up, we had the Seafood Chili Crab Pasta (RM18.90) which came with prawns, crabstick and had a spicy tangy tomato based sauce. I underestimated how fiery the sauce was and ended up with some numbed up lips.

The Dry Noodles with Chicken Chipolata (RM10.90) were basically “kon lou mien” with two juicy chicken sausages. Downside of this was it was a litttttle on the dry side. Contrary to the picture, the one we tried at the restaurant was actually made from slightly broader dry noodles.

Kungfu Master Salad (RM9.90) – bits of fried chicken in a bed of vegetables and strong garlic sauce.

The half and half Duo Master (RM16.90) which is perfect for those who can’t make up their mind on what they want to eat. On one side is fried chicken and tomato sauce with rice, on the other half side is fried fish and mozzarella baked rice. Even though it looked a bit weird at first, surprisingly it was one of our favourites of the night.

Stir-fried Beef Hor Fun (RM13.90) had succulent pieces of beef and enough wok hei. Not too greasy or oily which is a plus point.

KungPao Chicken Rice Bowl with Lava Egg (RM12.90). Deep fried chicken chunks lathered in Kung Pao sauce on rice, paired with green veggies and lava egg makes a balanced meal!

The KungFu Bumger (RM7.20) was another highlight (yes Bumger, not a typo and you read that right). Well marinated chicken thigh smothered in garlic mayo and Kungpao sauce was sufficiently tasty.

The waiters helpfully cut it into 4 pieces for easy sharing.

Nippon Power Ice (RM13.90), your classic shaved green tea ice with red adzuki beans and jelly balls. Very smooth and aromatic without being too sweet.

Tango Mango Mousse Cae (RM8.90) was deliciously fluffy and had chunks of real mango between the layers of mousse.

 

Finally, we ended with a Chocolate Lava Cake (RM12.90) which came with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream and was my favourite for the day. The outer layer of the cake was crispy whilst the inside was sufficiently gooey and was not too sticky or sweet at all! In fact it tasted strongly like bittersweet chocolate which makes it all the more easier to have right after a heavy meal.

Overall, the offerings at Kungfu Paradise are pretty alright, with a few dishes standing out more than others. If you’re in Paradigm and looking for a place with affordable food to hangout, why not try Kungfu Paradise?

Address:
Lot 2F-21 Level 2, Paradigm Mall
No.1, Jalan SS 7/26A
47301 Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Map *here*