Hua Yu Authentic Chinese Food, Sunway Mentari

I was driving along Sunway Mentari and chanced upon this place. What attracted me were the wooden benches placed outside this corner lot restaurant. The potted plants and red lanterns grabbed my attention too.

At 12 noon on a very hot afternoon, the place was virtually empty, except for a few table occupied by their staff, having a quick lunch before the customers come in.

I love the ambience in this restaurant. Firstly it helped me escaped from the sun’s scorching hot ray – there was air conditioning and the fans were spinning fast. There was also the sound of water from the tiny water fountain giving me a sense of tranquility.

We ordered our drinks. I must commend them for the organic soya bean (RM2.30). What you get is a glass of soya bean and a special dispenser with sugar i.e you put in the amount of sugar (syrup) that suits you. I personally find this a plus point as many restaurants serve drinks which are way toooooo sweet for me.

This is the 100% watermelon juice. I find the price of RM4.50 very justifiable as you are served with 100% pure juice.

Dongpo pork with mantou (steamed buns) –RM38. I heaved a sigh of relief when this dish was served –reason being it had more lean meat than fat in it. Taste wise –gratifying.

Sauteed sweet corn with pine nuts (RM16.80). Corn is sweet, green peas are often starchy whereas pine nuts have a bitter, metallic taste. The outcome of this combination gives a felicitous combination of flavours.

Lion’s head stewed meatballs (RM32) –sounds interesting? This ‘alluring’ name actually refers to oversized pork balls representing a lion and is often served with green vegetables representing the lion’s mane. I like this dish a lot as the finely minced pork was easy to eat. Inside the meatball …you will find a gem – salted egg yoke. I found this truly astounding.

The inside of the lion head

Egg custard with fish (RM36) –well, I think the Chinese name describes this dish better i.e fresh fish steamed with eggs. Yeah, that’s what this dish is all about. The fish was de-boned and cut into thin slices making eating  effortless. The fish was caught from the aquarium in the restaurant and was thus very fresh. The steamed egg had a soft, silky texture that I enjoyed.

Braised spare ribs with potato and long beans (RM18.80). This dish was moderate. I found it slightly oily.

Overall I'll say I had a gratifying meal.

Address : No 12-G Jalan PJS8/10

Dataran Mentari

Bandar Sunway

46150 Petaling Jaya

Tel : +603 56121180

Mastercard & Visa accepted

Opens 11am to 11pm

Ah Yat, Life Centre, KL

Ah Yat Abalone is reknowned for its good food. So when the Life Centre outlet opened a couple of weeks ago, I made it a point to jot it down in my diary. I finally had the chance to go savour the food there today.

The ambience is as good as the ones at their other outlets. What I did not like were the private rooms which were a little stuffy, probably due to the air conditioning problem.

Braised shark’s fin with crab meat and bird’s nest – I love this bowl of yummy-licious soup. Filled with lots of superior quality products such as sharks fin & birds nest, this soup was clear and very tasty.

Stewed fresh abalone with sea cucumber – when I looked at the size of the abalone my jaw literally dropped –amazing! And yes, the same word can be used to describe the taste too.

Stir fried Hong Kong kai lan with abalone sauce – another pleasant dish. Love it!

Braised yee meen with mushrooms – frankly I found the noodles to be slightly plain and not up to the Ah Yat mark…if you know what I mean!

Roast duck – roasted to perfection, the skin was crispy and the meat just right!

Baked prawns with superior soup – again,the size of the prawns were commendable. The freshness of the prawns can be felt as I bit into the prawns.

Tau foo fah in a coconut – simply a great way to end my very satisfying meal here. The tau foo fah was really smooth.

I can’t wait to come back to Ah Yat and try the other interesting dishes they have on their menu.

Address : 2^nd Floor Life Centre

20 Jalan Sultan Ismail

50250  Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +603 2155 3131

Opening hours:-
11.30am – 2.30pm Lunch.
6.00pm – 10.30pm Dinner.

Credit cards accepted

大 城 小 厨, Bandar Sunway

The signage is only in Chinese and it also mentions la mien and siu long pao. I was a little hesitant to enter as it really gave me the impression that this placed only served what I call a light meal of noodles and paos.

We somehow gathered enough courage to walk in. As we walked in we notice the left side was an area where noodles- la mien to be precise –was being made.

With air conditioning and soft Chinese music, I would say that it gave me a sense of comfort. For those who do not read or speak any Mandarin, ordering food would not pose a problem as the menu has lots of pictures albeit no roman letters. The restaurant is immaculately clean as it has just been in operations for a few months.

We ordered some drinks –watermelon juice (RM5), orange juice (RM5) and iced lemon tea (RM3). All were good and not too sweet. I noticed that the lady actually used 2 oranges to make the fresh orange juice…..good!

We ordered some dumplings (RM6). These 10 dumplings were truly a delight. Eating them on their own was already satisfying..but when you dunk (yes, that was what I did) them in the vinegar provided, they tasted even better.

This is cucumber –made into a pickle with vinegar and raw garlic. I like the slightly pungent taste of raw garlic which is being neutralised whenever I took a bite of the cucumber. Love it.

This is a simple vegetable dish (RM18). The aroma of sesame oil filled the air as this dish was served. The ‘lump’ in the middle is glass noodle and the tiny bits of red on top are finely chopped capsicum.

Next we had asparagus fried with beef (RM26). This was an interesting dish….I managed to find so many chillies in it – the chillies filled an entire rice bowl! I enjoyed this dish as the asparagus and the beef were both very tender.

This is spare ribs with sesame (RM24). This dish had a sweet sensation and the ribs were easy to eat.

Lotus root soup (RM8 per bowl). Kampung chicken was used to prepare this soup and this is evident from the tasty soup that I savoured.

Address: No 9G Jalan PJS 8/13

Dataran Mentari, Bandar Sunway

46150 Petaling Jaya

Tel : +6017 604 8786 / +6010 425 7088 (Liu Luwei)

Only cash is accepted.

Kay Riches Café & Restaurant, Citta Mall

Another hazy day and the best bet would be to get something to eat at a Mall, where there’s covered car park and we won’t be exposed to the haze. The last time I looked for the entrance to Citta Mall I ended up eating at Da Feng Shou. So, today I was adamant  on succeeding in my search for Citta Mall. It’s a mall I see all the time as I drive to Subang Airport.

This time I had my GPS on and found Citta Mall –what a breeze!

Wash your hands here before your meal

Frankly the mall doesn’t look vibrant. Anyway, I was there to eat and nothing else. So I parked my car in the basement and got the kids to choose where they wanted to eat –within the mall, that is.

And their choice – Kay Riches Café & Restaurant. I’ll tell you why at the end of this post.

The Menu

Set lunch for weekdays

Oriental cuisine

Western cuisine

Kids Menu

As we walked in at 12 noon the place was empty. I have this pre-set idea that if a place is empty….it probably tells you a lot about the food. But, this time I can’t go back on my words..and since the kids have chosen, I had no choice, right?

This is what the 2 little fellos ordered. Kids meal, of course. Each costs RM11.80 and come with a free juice – mango or orange.  I was delighted to see that they actually gave the kids IKEA bowls, plates and  cutlery too.

For the adults we ordered 2 dishes to be shared. The first one was Seafood Bucket rice (RM 17.80). The bucket was filled with lovely fluffy rice, crab stick, prawns, squid and mussels. All these gave the rice a wonderful fragrant flavour.

We also had Roast Cajun chicken fettucini (RM 18.80). The chicken was well roasted and had sufficient spices for me.

This jug contains  longan with blackcurrant (RM10). It was mildly carbonated and would have been better if it had been watered down a little.

Well, parking is still free now, so I guess it’s a good time to check out Citta Mall if you haven’t  already done so. And…the question remains : Why did the kids choose Kay Café? Well,  they’ve been to this Mall before and they know this café is near the Parent’s Room. Inside  the Parent’s Room is a play area –slides, boat, caterpillar, etc….and yes, that was their ultimate destination! Kids these days….I tell you!!!

Kay Riches Café & Restaurant

Lot F43, 43A & 45, 1^st Floor

Citta Mall

Jalan PJU 1A/46

47301 Petaling Jaya

Mastercard & Visa accepted

Rakuzen Japanese Restaurant, Publika

Rakuzen has 6 outlets located throughout the Klang Valley – 2 in Subang, 1 in Hartamas Shopping Centre, 1 in Publika, 1 in G Tower and another in Desa Parkcity.

For many Japanese cuisine lovers, Rakuzen need no further introduction as it serves one of the best Japanese food in town. It’s been said that a picture paints a thousand words and I won't say much about my meal there except that it was excellent!

Address: No.6, Level G2, Publika,
1 Jalan Dutamas 1,
50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : 03 6411 0822
Opening hours:

12-3pm & 6-11pm

Credit cards accepted