Monday 27 May 2013

Pork Pizzas @ Skippys Pizza, Phileo Damansara PJ

Guess how I found this place? I was bored at work and decided to google "pork" and "pizza" and Skippys came out top of the list lol. This is a dedicated thin crust pizza parlour specialising in porky ingredients and they even do deliveries to areas within the Klang Valley - how convenient is that!
        
       
So cute!
   
They've got lots of Australian themed decor so I gather the owner must be an Australian?
      
Condiments
   
For condiments, they've got minced garlic for that extra oomph in the pizza as well as some sort of chilli oil which is somewhat like sambal mixed with tomato paste but it wasn't too fragrant to my picky nose.
       
Pork Meatballs (RM 15 for 6)
   
We originally wanted to try Crispy Fried Pork but too bad they were not available that day so we had Pork Meatballs instead. The Pork Meatballs are huge and served swimming in concentrated tomato gravy. The taste of herbs is quite strong and the meatballs definitely taste homemade with lots of meat packed in. Quite good but more than 1 of these balls will definitely lessen the space in your tummy for the other yummy dishes.
      
Meat Lovers (RM 26 for 9")
   
Meat Lovers is true to its name and is laden with pork bacon, pork ham, pork pepperoni and minced pork. It is slathered with BBQ sauce and baked to perfection. The thin crust is not as flimsy as some other restaurants' (although this probably qualifies as not being sufficiently thin but I like it this way) and is able to hold up without being leaden down by the weight of the toppings. 
      
Fey's Special (RM 26 for 9")
   
Fey's Special is like a Hawaiian pizza with minced pork, pork ham, pineapples and mushrooms. The pineapples are still juicy, giving an overall sweet flavour to the pizza.
             
Lasagna (RM 18)
   
On another occasion, we had takeaway with pizzas and lasagna. The pork lasagna is a must-order for all Garfields as it is chockful of ingredients, very cheesy, very tomato-ey with lots of minced pork.
   
Marc's Special (RM 26 for 9")
   
Marc's Special includes pork ham, baby spinach, mushrooms, a fried egg and garlic. No wonder this tasted a bit off for me as garlic is pawprints' public enemy #1 >.<  Nevertheless for garlic lovers or fence-sitters, this pizza should be good as evidenced by my friends' comments.
   
If you love pork and pizzas, Skippys is the place to be. I can't wait to revisit Skippys Pizza and try the other pizza flavours especially the Spicy Pork Pizza as well as the Pork Vindaloo, Crispy Fried Pork and Pork Spring Rolls =D
   
 
PawPoints: 5 Paws
Pawket: Olive
        
http://www.skippyspizza.com/
        

Skippys Pizza
107 Block D
Phileo Damansara 1
9 Jalan 16/11
Off Jalan Damansara
Tel: 03 7931 2555
Mon - Fri: 11.30am - 10pm
Sat: 3pm - 10pm

Sunday 19 May 2013

Rama V Fine Thai Cuisine @ Jalan U Thant, KL

When our friend told us about an ala-carte, fine dining Thai buffet with free flow beer and drinks, we could hardly wait to try it! Rama V's buffet is only available on weekends during lunch and I must say it is a pretty good deal for the amount of food we'll be able to try. It is located in KL where there is a cluster of embassies and housed in a refurbished bungalow. Parking is somewhat limited so best to car pool although it doesn't seem like there are many patrons on weekends.
     
Very fine indeed
      
Pity the rest of the house does not match the entrance
     
Inner garden
     
Place setting
      
Buffet Menu
   
Buffet Menu
   
To minimise wastage, there is a guideline for the number of dishes one can order which depends on the number of people in one's party. Once you have finished the ordered dishes, you are welcomed to order more so it is best to come with a group of 6-8 friends to be able to fully taste most of the dishes available in the ala-carte buffet.
      
Fruit punch
     
Array of drinks available
     
Yam Pla Duk Fu
   
This dish is a spicy catfish salad with dressing made from sliced mangoes. The catfish tastes quite dry as it is deep fried til crisp but provides a nice crunchy texture to the salad. The sliced mango dressing infused with fish sauce is quite spicy and gives a yummy flavour to the overall dish.
     
Meang Kam
   
The typical Thai appetizer, Meang Kam is served beautifully on a square plate with defined slots for each condiment. The condiments include lime cubes, deep fried dried shrimps, ginger cubes, bird's eye chillies, cubed raw onions,  toasted groundnuts and some little sticks of I-dunno-what...probably herbs (or coconut shavings if Wiki is correct). The sauce is thick and I prefer to put more of it on the chaplu aka kadok leaf as otherwise the leafy bundle tastes quite bland. My favourite condiments are raw onions, dried shrimps and lime cubes =)
     
Build your own salad
       
Tom Yam Kung
   
The Tom Yam Kung is murky and spicy with lots of seafood and parsley shavings. One of the best I've had and definitely much better than Khuntai's with just the right sour notes (on a side note, I have no idea why there are so many hits for Khuntai when the dishes are SOOOO sour!!!).
     
Poe Tak
   
I'm not sure if Poe Tak is commonly available in other Thai restaurants but this is the first time I've seen this dish. I was initially quite hesitant to order it as clear soup, to me, just means bland or tastes something like chicken soup. Never have I been so wrong and I must say that Poe Tak is now my favourite and even tops Tom Yam Kung!! =D
   
This clear seafood soup is spicy and infused with Thai herbs. As with the Tom Yam Kung, it consists of lots of seafood and parsley which is my favourite herb. Its spiciness was bearable but the more I drank, the spicier it became! >.< In the end I had to halt my drinking and take a few mouthfuls of other dishes before resuming another spoon of soup. But it was extremely addictive with its light clear bittersweet taste (somehow it tasted like extremely concentrated ginseng chicken soup to me but JS disagreed) and sharp zing. 
     
The culprit
   
The culprit turned out to be a whole family of black peppercorns hiding in the soup with its accomplice - dried chillies.
     
Kai Pad Ka Pao
   
This is a quintessential Thai dish of minced chicken stir fried with lots of fresh basil leaves and chillies. Fragrant and heartwarming, this is the perfect dish to go with rice.
     
Gaeng Ped Pol Linchee
   
Ooo this is yummy...thick red curry with a hint of sweetness by the plump lychees. The roasted duck surprisingly went very well with the curry combination but the brinjal I felt was too hard and did not absorb the curry flavours. There were also these giant pea pods which looked very cute, dotting the dish.
     
Pla Dang Sam Rod
   
This fried red snapper was my favourite of the lot. The fish had a lovely light batter and its meat was still moist and firm despite being bathed in hot oil. The 3 taste chilli sauce was spicy and complemented the fish very well.
   

Kai Hor Bai Toey
   
The Pandan Chicken was really flavourful and well marinated and did not need the help of the accompanying chilli sauce to boost its taste. The chef also managed to retain the juiciness of the chicken despite being deep-fried until its skin was crispy. We were really stuffed by then but I still forced myself to finish the chicken as it was that good.
      
Dessert time!
   
Two in the party were ecstatic that it was finally time for dessert and let me assure you, it wasn't the girls...
       
Chendol, Taro and Sticky Rice in Coconut Milk
   
The cendol expert said this Chendol was so-so only. It was creamier than the local version as evidenced in the picture and JS didn't like the addition of yam in it.
     
Water Chestnut Dumplings with Jack Fruit in Coconut Milk
   
No comment on this as I did not try it but looks good!
     
Longan
   
Tasted like it was straight from the can haha but still good! The chunk of ice helped reduce its sweetness.
     
Mixed Fruits
   
Fresh fruits with a surprise strawberry - what else is there to say? =P
   
Guess how many of us were there for this meal? Only four and we were stuffed beyond words but what a great meal! Although it was a buffet, every dish was prepared with care and tasted better than your average Thai meal. For a price of RM 65, I have to say this is a very good deal as you can sample lots of dishes without breaking your piggy bank (considering the amount you'd have to pay if you ate this much ala-carte).
 
They've got sister restaurants at Setia City Mall and Paradigm Mall which I hope are cheaper versions and we've already got plans to head to one of them =)
   
 
PawPoints: 5 Paws
Pawket: Cheese
      

Rama V Fine Thai Cuisine
5 Jalan U Thant
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2143 2663
Daily: 12pm - 3pm, 6.30pm - 11pm

Sunday 12 May 2013

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison @ Isetan Foodmarket, One Utama

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison has finally landed on our shores! <does a tonkatsu dance> Although it's been in business since early of this year, we only managed to sample it recently. It's conveniently located in 1 Utama near the cluster of restaurants within Isetan Foodmarket.
     
Logo
      
Condiments
   
As usual, they've got all the condiments to make your meal taste much better - sweet as well as spicy tonkatsu sauce, salt for purists, toasted sesame seeds, and tamari and sesame sauce to flavour the shredded cabbage. Both the spicy tonkatsu sauce and sesame sauce are a much welcomed addition from the usual condiments which are also found in Tonkatsu by Wa Kitchen.
      
Homemade Katsu Curry (RM 25.90)
   
The Homemade Katsu Curry set comes with the usual sides of shredded cabbage, pickles and tonjiru. I like how they serve the katsu and curry sauce separately so that the katsu remains crisp instead of soggy. The fragrant curry had plenty of bite sized chicken meat, onions, potatoes and carrots, and its consistency was just right. The katsu served is rosu katsu aka pork loin and the pork loin at Ma Maison is much better than the one at Tonkatsu by Wa Kitchen in my opinion. The ones at Ma Maison have a higher fats to lean meat ratio, rendering the katsu extremely moist and juicy <drool>
   
The red pepper pickles were new to me and they were quite sweet and went surprisingly well with the curry. The refillable shredded cabbage is supposed to be bland and healthy to counteract the cholesterol laden meal but we splashed liberal amounts of sesame sauce to make it much tastier (the tamari sauce had little effect as the taste was quite light).
 
The tonjiru had lots of ingredients like konnyaku, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and even bits of pork loin fats(!) 
     
Tonjiru
       
Rosu Katsu 
      
Wafu Negioroshi Rosu Katsu Set (RM 24.90)
     
The Wafu Negioroshi Rosu Katsu Set looked quite unique plus I thought the grated radish would help alleviate the heatiness of the dish. The set came with a special sauce plate, tonjiru, pickled radish, temari sauce, shredded cabbage and a huge mountain of grated radish and leeks on the katsu.
   
The negioroshi is meant to be added to the temari sauce which is a dipping sauce for the katsu. This unique addition lends a heavy and sharp zing to the katsu which is refreshing in a way but I think I prefer the spicy tonkatsu sauce sprinkled with ground sesame seeds. The white pickled radish was crunchy but tasteless and went better with the curry.
   
Wafu Negioroshi Rosu Katsu
      
Salty, Spicy, Bitter
   
All sets comes with refillable cabbage, rice and soup. For our review on other sets, check out this earlier post which was for the Singapore outlet. I think at this price, dining at Ma Maison is very worth it and we are already planning our next visit =)
     
    
PawPoints: 5 Paws
Pawket: Tomato
        

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison
Eat Paradise, Isetan
2nd Floor, 1 Utama Shopping Centre
Tel: 03 7727 3337
Daily: 11am - 9.30pm

Monday 6 May 2013

Delicious @ Bangsar Village II

I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of Delicious, the eatery that most likely sparked the change in the eating habits of Malaysians. All of a sudden, dozens of cafe-style eateries serving light Western meals and simple, comfort food popped up across the Klang Valley. But since most people are familiar with its menu, I'll just showcase my favourite that I always order when I frequent Delicious =)
     
Spicy Seafood Spaghettini (RM 25.90)
   
I used to get this confused with the Seafood Linguine but that is a heavy version with thick, sundried tomato sauce and lots of cheese. This Spicy Seafood Spaghettini is very light and refreshing on the palate. It consists of spaghetti's baby sister tossed in oil, chilli flakes and coriander - my favourite combination =D Best of all, it comes with lots of squid and prawns of decent size. A squeeze of lemon and liberal sprinkling of ground black pepper immediately brings the flavour of the dish to another level. 
    
    
PawPoints: 5 Paws
Pawket: Tomato
    
Delicious
Lot GF-1, Ground Floor
Bangsar Village II
Tel: 03 2287 1554
Mon - Fri: 11am - 12am
Sat, Sun and Public Holidays: 9am - 12am