Public Bank Food Court - KL

A few people have mentioned this place and a few more have actually been. So, we decided to give it a shot today.

Location : The Public Bank main tower across from KLCC. Just get onto the car park lifts and get to the fourth floor.

Can make it within an hour ? (travel + service) : Yup... on foot too ! There's about 10 stalls there and its a mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian food.

Decor/Ambience : It's open air, no walls I mean, so, I guess you'll be gambling with the weather. It was pretty breezy when we were there.

Food : Well, it was a bit of a mix. Some had pretty decent stuff, whilst others had mediocre fare. I had rice with some dishes at one of the malay stalls and the beef was actually pretty good. The murtabak looked a bit 'reheated'... maybe breakfast left overs ! You can also order the 'goreng' syuff like mee goreng, and maggi goreng etc.

Price : Standard for a food court I guess, RM5 to RM8 for rice with a few dishes

Return Trip ? : Nah, no real reason to.

Restoran Puteri - TTDI

We had a company organised lunch at Restoran Puteri. In all honesty, not many of us have heard the name of this restaurant before.

Location : If you come from Penchala Link and exit at Taman Tun Dr Ismail, you will come across this restaurant to your left, on a hill slope. It is next to a luxury car showroom.

Can make it within an hour ? (travel + service) : Well, yes... if the roads are clear heading out of KL. It's a buffet style retaurant so, no service waiting required.

Decor/Ambience : Very nice. It's a stand alone building that looks a little like a minangkabau house... a bit. It has two floors with sitting on the outside too.

Food : Malay food, buffet. There's actually not that many dishes, about 10 in all. But they are all cooked 'home style' and is very good. The ulams were fresh and the sambals were very good. I believe they change the dishes day to day. When we were there there was daging chilli (like dinding), pucuk masak lemak, gulai ayam. and a bunch of others

Price : RM28 per head.. all you can eat.

Return Trip ? : Possibly, if we're in this side of town.

House of Biryani - Bangi

If in Bangi, then pop over to this interesting Biryani place called House of Biryani. The gang had a client meeting near Bangi and we decided to go over and check this place out... a competitor to the famous Biryani GAM Putrajay I was told.

Location : Behind the Pasaraya Warta in Bangi, there's a new'ish block of shops. You'll be able to find this one pretty easily.

Can make it within an hour ? (travel + service) : Nope, the drive to Bangi takes about 30mins on an empty highway. Service was pretty cool. All you have to do is queue up and choose the type of Biryani and the dish to go with it, either beef, chicken or lamb.

Decor/Ambience : Very clean, bright and airy. What's interesting is the fact that you have to take your shoes off to eat here. I guess with everyone shuffling around in their socks, they don't need to clean the floors either !

Food : On the shop banner, it says Arab, Afghanistan & Iran. I'm not sure what that meant.. either they have shops there, or the biryani recipe is from there. But anyway, the biryani came out pretty good. The rice was very 'granular' and fragrant. The lamb was fantastic. The gravy was very thick and 'spicy' but not hot. The chicken too was very well cooked. This is serious 'afternoon nap inducing' stuff !!

Price : It was about 10RM per head. Very reasonable for the rather big serving.

Return Trip ? : Definitely !

..and the feasting continues..

Eka Shogi - Wisma Central

Eka Shogi ? Yeah, I was wondering what it meant too.. but never mind, all you need to know is that the Soto and Nasi Ayam here is darn good.

Location : Ground floor of Wisma Central. From the main entrance, walk straight pass the main stairs and it's on your right.

Can make it within an hour ? (travel + service) : Yup. Service was pretty fast too, you just pop into the shop and order the Soto or Nasi Ayam which are at the back of the shop. Otherwise, grab a plate of rice and slap on the dishes.

Decor/Ambience : There are seats inside and outside the shop. Inside is a little stuffy, so, opt to sit outside. Clean.

Food : The soto ayam can be ordered with either mee, bee hoon and/or nasi impit. We all orderd the 'full' version and got all three. You also have to order the bergedil. The soup for the soto was very good. This is apparently an original Indonesian recipe. It's darker than the Malaysian soto, and slightly sweet. It comes with some sambal which was also excellent.

The nasi ayam was also pretty good. It's the 'malay' style where the chicken is covered in a sauce. There's also

There's also other dishes that you can eat with rice. We didn't try them though, but they looked good.

Price : A cheap eat. RM5 for the soto and a drink. Same goes for the nasi ayam.

Return Trip ? : When time for Soto ?... YES !

House of Fishball - DU

Felt like something lite today, so, went to the newly opened House of Fishball, at the uptown shops in Damansara Utama. A big banner boasts the restaurant (or chain of restaurant) as being the original 60's Teow Chew Fishball..

Location : Damansara Utama shop lots at Uptown area.

Can make it within an hour ? (travel + service) : Well, KLCC to DU can be a 20 min drive.. fast. Once there, the food was pretty snappy. Oh, parking's a nightmare here at lunch time, so, need to park at the opposite open space parking lot.

Decor/Ambience : Clean. Bright too, like a car showroom. Nice sturdy kopi tiam tables and stools. Pretty functional I guess, but hei, you come here more for the food than anything else.

Food : They've got lots of soupy noodles and yong tau fu type stuff. The special is the Homeland Mee (pic above). Apparently freshly made noodles, cooked with some minced chicken. It was pretty good. We also ordered the Curry Mee and some Kueh Teow Soup with some additional fishballs, taufu, bittergaud and chilly.

The curry mee was pretty good. Not too spicey but a pleasant curry flavour. Of course it comes with the extra sambal and lime to give it that extra kick if you wish. The soup was pretty good too. Not too salty or 'ajinomoto'ish as some places tend to be. I have to say the fish ball was good.. admitedly not a fish ball connoisseur, but I know a good fish ball when I eat one ! It tasted fresh, with a nice springy texture. The sliced fish cake was similarly 'uplifting' !

Price : Under RM10 per head.. and about RM1 to 70sen per extra stuff.

Return Trip ? : Yes, but a little tough to get to the DU branch at lunch time. I was told there's a slightly closer branch in PJ.

Uncle Ho's - Avenue K

A short walk through the underpass from KLCC brought us to Uncle Ho's Foodcourt at the basement of Avenue K.

Location : Basement of Avenue K

Can make it within an hour ? (travel + service) : Yup

Decor/Ambience : Standard foodcourt... stalls all around, and lots of people over lunch time.

Food : The guys bought from four different stall...

Unagi Ramen... it's the japo noodle soup with some deep fried fish. Walter said the soup was not good, not enough, and the deep fried fish was like rubber.

Nasi Dagang.. this is a KL version of the east coast special. Having said that, it's a beef version and tastes just OK.

Pan Mee... this stall has the longest queue in the foodcourt, and the Pan Mee is pretty good.

Lemon Chicken - Chicken Rice. A twist to the usual Nasi Ayam. The lemon sauce is ok, but the rice was surprisingly good.

Price : under RM10 per head with drinks.

Return Trip ? : Most probably. It is conveniently located and the variety is pretty good. There's a total of about 10 stalls.

Ikan Bakar Pak Din - Tangling

After the Bellamy fiasco.. it's time to find a 'real' ikan bakar. Thanks to Boo_licious of masak-masak fame, she recommended this place on Jalan Cendarasari.

Location : Tanglin Foodcourt, just before Methodist Girls School in KL.

Can make it within an hour ? (travel + service) : Well, depending on traffic it's about a 15min drive from KLCC. There's ample parking space which is great. The ordering system can be a little chaotic though. You queue up for the rice and veggie and other dishes at the stall inside the foodcourt. The ikan bakar itself is ordered at the outside. You can either wait there and pick it up, or ask them to send it over.

Decor/Ambience : Obviously this place is popular because they've setup seats with umbrellas outside the foodcourt proper. We were lucky that the day was overcast, so it was nice and cool. I suspect it can get pretty hot on a sunny day.

Food : The fish (kembong, terubok or pari) are actually barbequed on charcoal, not the hot plate style. This adds to the flavour. The cooked fish is then covered in an asam sauce which was very good.

The terubok and pari was fresh and tasty. Even the humble kembong was very good, with the slightly charred flavour and the asam sauce.

Price : under RM10 per head... of course depends on how much fish you ordered.

Return Trip ? : A big yes... and thanks again to boo_licious !

..what's for lunch tomorrow ?

Location : xxx

Can make it within an hour ? (travel + service) : xxx

Decor/Ambience : xxx

Food : xxx

Price : xxx

Return Trip ? : xxx