Lucky Sichuan Cuisine @ Kota Damansara, PJ

After my awesome meal at Empress of Sichuan in London, I have been craving for some spicy Sichuan food back here in KL. There are many Sichuan restaurants in Imbi but the area looks dodgy so I have not been there to try any food. My dream is to one day dine at Si Chuan Dou Hua at Park Royal Hotel but as it is quite expensive, I'll have to make do with a cheaper version from Lucky Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant at Kota Damansara.

Shop Front

Stir Fried Rape (RM 12)

No, that's not a typo. No, I'm not illiterate. No, I know what it is its real meaning. That was what was written in the menu and being bananas, we had to wait for Maggot-chan's boyfriend to help us translate. We decided to order it anyway just because of the name =P It was a good thing we did too because it was the only non-spicy dish we had and the vegetable disappeared in mere seconds. But truth be told, it was a pretty average dish and we would not have gobbled it up if not for the spiciness of the other dishes =.=

Ma Po Beancurd - Extra Spicy (RM 12)

Ma Po Tofu is my favourite dish but those in other restaurants can't even touch this by a km-long stick if they tried, spiciness-wise. I didn't expect it to be so spicy and actually it's not. The main problem with this dish was its tongue-numbing effect which renders you unable to eat anything spicy for a while. There was also this weird pungent taste that I dislike which I suspect contributed to the tongue-numbness. I didn't touch it at all after the first bite but Maggot-chan liked it a lot.

Yu Shiang Shredded Pork (RM 15)

This is one of my favourites as its spiciness was bearable and the tender pork is well flavoured with the scallion-chilli combo.

Stir-Fried Chicken with Hot Chilli (RM 28)

The bomb O.O When it arrived at our table, everyone literally stopped eating to stare at this mountain of deep fried chillies. The popcorn chicken were all buried underneath this heap of spicy hell. This dish was the most addictive for everyone although the crispy yet succulent chicken was spicy just through skin contact with the chillies. Can't remember if we ordered spicy or extra spicy but it was such a waste that I didn't eat more as my tongue was still numb from the wretched tofu > . < Not good for those who dislike oily food as you can feel the oil squirting out when you bite into the popcorn chicken...

Spicy and Sour Soup (RM 12)

They were very generous with the soup which had tons of ingredients such as tofu, wood ear fungus, ginger and scallions. The soup was very sour and spicy and definitely opened up our appetites for the other spicy dishes. The portion above was sufficient to feed 6 of us and some had more than a bowl.

Griddle Cooked Chicken with Pepper (RM 38 - Medium)

This chicken dish was quite pungent and spicy with the numerous dried chillies and lots of spicy sauce at the bottom of the heated pan. It was tasty although I felt the high price tag was not really justifiable. Another favourite of Maggot-chan.

Remains of the popcorn chicken

This was the aftermath of the Stir-Fried Chicken with Hot Chilli. We resorted to clearing out the "landfill" in the end and dug out as many bobs of chicken as possible.

Oh well, I found out my spiciness tolerance level was not as high as I thought it is. I guess this is as authentic as you can get since the staff seem to only be able to speak Mandarin with a China accent and judging from the typos in the menu (Stir Fried Rape above, The Potato Burns the Beef and Fine Fried Colon are some notable examples), the team probably came from Sichuan province. Anyhow, I'll definitely return to try the other less spicy dishes such as Stir-Fried Chicken Dices in Hot Chilli, Deep Fried Spicy Prawn, Stir Fried String Beans and Griddle Cooked Bullfrog in Spicy Sauce. And we'll definitely order Stir-Fried Chicken with Hot Chilli again =D

PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Tomato


Lucky Sichuan Cuisine

19 Jalan PJU 5/12
Kota Damansara
Tel: 03 6140 7755
Daily: 11am - 3pm, 5.30pm - 11pm

Tokyo Kitchen @ Sunway Giza Mall, Kota Damansara

Tokyo Kitchen is a quaint little place, with lots of zakka stuff on display. It is located outside Sunway Giza Mall near Full House.

       

                

Exterior

              

Cute plate

                 

Sashimi

                 
The sashimi was, we felt, their redeeming grace. They were very generous with the sashimi as evidenced by the thick slabs of salmon and butterfish. The sashimi was cold and juicy too. Definitely fine dining standard.
                         

Ebidon

             
The Ebidon came with 4 big pieces of ebi tempura. It was sufficiently good but nothing particularly outstanding. Also there was way too much rice that even a rice lover like me couldn't finish it. Perhaps they should cut down on rice and prevent a bit of wastage there.

               

Katsudon

             
The Katsudon was a disappointment. The chicken katsu were hard and the smell of reused frying oil was evident. Didn't enjoy this at all.
             
Both the Ebidon and Katsudon came with a bowl of miso soup which was salty to me. Other people would probably find it very salty since I have relatively higher salt tolerance.
               

Please come visit us!

           
Hmmm I guess it's quite a unique place to come for a meal but I will probably head to Sushi Zanmai instead...
           
           
PawPoints: 2 Paws (5 Paws for Sashimi)
Pawket: Cheese
                      
                      
Tokyo Kitchen

Lot C-01, Sunway Giza Mall
Tel: 03 6151 1268
Sun - Thur: 12pm - 11pm
Fri - Sat: 12pm - 12am

Restoran Damansara Hokkien Mee @ Kota Damansara

Damansara Hokkien Mee is another outlet serving good hokkien mee. There is a branch at Damansara Uptown which I usually frequent but this review is for the Kota Damansara outlet which is next to Sunway Giza mall.

Extra tables on the road in preparation for brisk business

Menu

The menu is relatively simple and straightforward. The staple on each table is, of course, the Hokkien Mee.

Pork Soup (RM 16 for 2 person)

The Pork Soup was hot and comforting with lots of pork slices and cabbage. It also helps to counter the heatiness of the Hokkien Mee.

Stir-Fried Kailan with Garlic (RM 8)

Vegetables were average but having a plate of greens helps alleviate the guilty feeling of consuming lots of deep-fried pork lard...

Hokkien Mihun Mee (RM 13 for 2 person)

Both the Hokkien Mee and Hokkien Mihun Mee came piping hot with lots of wok hei. The thick strands of yellow noodles and scraggly mihun were evenly coated in the concentrated and glistening dark sauce. Each plate came heaped with lots of deep-fried pork lard. Innards are not served here so people who detest them can rejoice =P

Hokkien Mee (RM 13 for 2 person)

The folks at Restoran Damansara Hokkien Mee really do know how to serve a good plate of the glorious black noodles and I frequently come here if Tong Fong and Kim Lian Kee are out of the way. Plus they do give lots of deep-fried lard! ^_^

P/S: You can even top up lard for an extra RM 1 for a big portion...how awesome is that? =D


PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Dough

Restoran Damansara Hokkien Mee
35 Jalan PJU 5/9
Kota Damansara
Daily: 5pm - 2am

Ichiban Boshi @ Sunway Giza

I've been seeing Ichiban Boshi's sprouting everywhere like mushrooms and finally, I paid it a long-due visit. It's quite value for money considering the options available and the price (somewhere between Sushi Zanmai and Rakuzen). 

 

Can't comment much about the quality of the food as I have yet to try their sushi. However I must say that the feature picture on their sushi menu (forgot to take a picture again) - was that meant to be appealing and appetising? The Ebi Sushi on the cover looked extremely gross and it's not just fussy me saying this, my friends who were with me agreed too.

 

Salmon Meshi Don (RM 19.90)

   
Since I didn't want to go for anything deep fried that day, I selected the Salmon Meshi Don which looked extremely good in the menu. And the real product did not disappoint either =) The set came with a bowl of miso soup.

 

The donburi came with plenty of crumbled slightly seared salmon, finely sliced spring onions and a good dose of Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese Seven Spice Powder). Here's another close-up of the donburi.

 

Comfort food

   
Mix it all up and what you get is a big bowl of comfort food. My salt intake is quite high so a good splash of soya sauce made the dish even yummier ^_^ Small eaters will feel extremely full upon finishing the entire bowl as the size is larger than a small order from Sushi Zanmai. 

 

The complimentary miso soup was average - could have been better though. The large salad which my friend ordered looked quite small in size when it arrived but then the price tag was about RM 11 so can't complain too much.

 

Ichiban Boshi has quite a number of udon meals which is a good variation from the usual rice sets you see in other restaurants. I was however disappointed that there weren't any ramen options. The bento sets at Ichiban Boshi are quite unique in the sense that you get to customise some of the sets with individual tofu, rice or miso soup options. Wouldn't mind returning to try other stuff.
  

PawPoints: 3 Paws
Pawket: Onion

 

Ichiban Boshi

Block D, F.01, 1st Floor

Sunway Giza 

Tel: 6148 1844

Daily