Kiku Zakura Japanese Restaurant

Went to Midvalley Exhibition Centre for  Expo this morning. After walking around for some time we felt a little hungry and decided to eat first and then head back to the exhibition hall. As we did not want to waste too much time wandering about, we decided to check out Kiku Zakura, a Japanese restaurant which was located on the same floor. FYI, they have few other outlets (refer to photo at end of this post)

At  1pm, the table located near the main entrance were not occupied. We walked in and noticed that most the patrons were seated towards the inner part of the restaurant. We also noted that 2 tables had that very ‘Japanese’ seating style, where you take off your shoes and place them in a drawer. Your legs are then hidden. Anyway, here goes our dining experience.

The waitress led us to our table and immediately asked for our drink order. We ordered 2 hot green tea and a fruit juice each. The green tea (RM2 each) is refillable and I must compliment them for their efficiency in topping up this drink every time without fail. I also liked the beautiful tea cups used.

The watermelon juice as well as the orange juice were both very delicious, but slightly over-priced at RM9 each.

Well, perhaps I can’t and shouldn’t compare Kiku Zakura with other Japanese outlets, but I just couldn’t help doing that. The wait for the food was long!

Finally the edamame arrived. Oh, what a tiny portion. At more than double the price of what it costs as some well known sushi chain (yeah, comparing again!), the portion was really very small. What I don’t like about this edamame was that  salt was sprinkled on top. So, eating it became quite a messy affair. If you are still wondering how much it costs, wonder no more…RM10 – that’s the price tag!

Here’s the ikura sushi. No complaints  in terms of presentation or taste but price wise yeah…RM38 for 2 pieces, which worked out to be RM19 each. Quite expensive, I would say.

Here’s the sushi with udon. I was disappointed with the sushi – totally tasteless and not up to mark. The udon, on the other hand, had a very soft and delightful texture. Unfortunately, the soup was way too salty.

Finally, came our assortment of sushi. 15 pieces for RM68 which we had a tough time finishing. I’m sure you can guess why.

Address : Lot No-025 Third Floor

Mid Valley Megamall

58000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +603 2284 0173

Mastercard, Visa & Amex accepted

Restoran Wooka Yong Tao Foo, SS19 Subang

It’s close to 7pm as I walked in and only one other table is occupied.

My dinner partner said ‘Is that an indication of the quality of food served here?’.

‘Let’s not make any assumptions, give it a try, and we’ll find out’, I replied.

So we looked at the menu – many items were crossed out..sigh!  Wanted so much to have assam fish but was told it wasn’t available. So we settled for these:-

Chee Cheong Fun – I was surprised to see it served this way –all chopped up and filled with gravy. Well, maybe it was my expectation that left me a little upset. I prefer the uncut version with just a little gravy.

Ladies fingers, brinjal and fried tofu – no complaints here. Taste wise- normal.

Foochow fish ball and normal fish ball in soup. Foochow fishball is normally stuffed with minced pork. Since Wooka is pork-free their version was stuffed with minced chicken. Frankly, I prefer the former. FYI, all the yong taufu here are selling at RM1.20 per piece which is slightly steep.

Fried wanton comes in minimum order of 6 pieces . Presentation wise – slightly boring as there was no greens on the plate.

Oat fish cake – I took a piece and really couldn’t figure out what I was eating. I had to douse this in chilli in order to make it palatable. FYI, this dish plus the 6 pieces of wanton cost RM10.50

The fried yau mak (RM7) was garnished with lots of fried onion. I found it a tad oily for my liking.

By the way, the sauce, which to me I a very crucial part of any yong taufu meal just didn’t work for me. The sweet sauce was ok but the spicy one wasn’t up to mark. What made it worse was these 2 sauces just couldn’t blend in terms of taste.

At the end of the meal, I was close to RM50 poorer and I think you can easily tell whether I’ll frequent this place again!

Address : 10 Jalan SS19/6

47500 Subang Jaya

Tel : +6012 236 9793

Only cash is accepted

Mamam De Café, KL

Mamam De Café is situated on Jalan Yap Ah Shak which is just a stone’s throw away from the Dang Wangi LRT station. I made my way there this afternoon as the sun was blazing hot and I needed a break from all the walking I’ve done before heading back on the LRT.

I walked into Mamam without knowing what they served as the name doesn’t give a clue! Oh! Lots of ready cooked food arranged in a pretty row with fire to keep them warm.

“Buffet!”, I exclaimed.

“No, we don’t serve buffet. This is nasi campur”, said the lady in charge.

“Oh, it really looked like buffet to me. So..err…how much is the nasi campur?”, I enquired.

“Depends on what you take”, came the reply.

“Fair enough”, I said.

I then got myself a table and decided on the ala-carte. I ordered Nasi Kukus Mamam which looked like this:-

Steamed rice with a piece of chicken (whole leg) and a bowl of spicy gravy. This costs RM6.50. I like the rice as it was fragrant. The chicken was tender but would have been better if they had put less salt.

I also took some ulam – raw vegetables i.e four angled bean, tomatoes and lettuce along with some paku cooked in chilli. The paku lacked belacan but I finished it nonetheless. All these vege for RM3 – not bad lah!

Watermelon juice (RM3) – found this too sugary –would have loved it had the sugar level been reduced –by a lot!

Address : No 5 Jalan Yap Ah Shak

50300 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +6012 2660172 (Intan Liana)

Jojo Little Kitchen, SS15 Subang Jaya

Along the main road from Subang Jaya to where the many colleges in SS15 are, you will see a row of shoplots fronting the NPE. Here lies a shop lot which houses an air-conditioned shop called Jojo Little Kitchen which specialises in noodles - pan mee to be exact.

For a simple dinner, we headed that way and ordered 3 types of noodles:-

Fishball boodles with soup (RM6)

Jojo's pork soup noodles (RM7)

Jojo's dry noodles (RM7)

All the noodles were very tasty and the texture was superb. I must say that this is by far one of the best pan mee I have ever had.

We also had hot lemon tea (RM2.50) which was a great relief for sore throat and tau foo fa (RM2.50) - smooth and it certainly left me begging for more. Chestnut with wintermelon (RM3) -another delicious drink which really quenches thirst in this unpredictable weather.

Chestnut with wintermelon, hot lemon tea and taufu fah

All in all, dinner was simple yet very satisfying.



Address : 30 Jalan SS15/4D
47500 Subang Jaya

Cash terms only

Opens 9.30am to 10pm

Asian Corner, Bangkok

After a very fulfilling shopping and eating trip it was time to head to the airport. My flight was 20 minutes after 8, so I had no choice but to leave early for the airport in order to avoid the rush hour traffic. That means only 1 thing – dinner at the airport.

Well, airport food has always been known to be over priced and I would say that even Suvarnabhumi lives up to that. Sad!

We checked in & then headed to the 4^th floor for this place called Asian Corner. The place was full, so we had to wait for some time for someone to vacate their seats.

After the long walk from immigration to Asian Corner, we were tired and hungry. We ordered fried rice. With a few slices of cucumbers and a single piece of tomato and a slice of lime at the side, this fried rice was surprisingly delicious.

Japanese curry with rice – yes, again as I just couldn’t get enough of this. I frankly think the Thais do a better version of this than the ones we can find locally.

Vegetarian dish of vegetables and rice – quite tasteless, actually.

Well, I’ll keep the price of food to myself so as not to ‘shock’ you guys!

Til then, Sawadee Ka!!

Address: Level 4 , International Departure

Suvarnabhumi Airport

Bangkok, Thailand

Bobae Tower Food Court, Bangkok

Bobae Tower is a popular whole sale centre for fashion enthusiasts. However if you do not like to purchase items in bulk, then give this place a miss. I went there to …SHOP, of course and found out that this tower is less known to tourist as compared to Platinum Mall. Perhaps this explains why things here are slightly cheaper. I spent an entire day shopping here and could not even finish seeing all the shops in the tower.

Lunch time -  a simple meal it had to be this time –cash strapped already after all the bargains I’ve got! So to the 6^th floor I went for a simple meal. Once again , I had to get coupons –and this came in the form of paper coupons –which are refundable if you still have any leftover.

I chose to eat this – fish slices with rice & also a bowl of fish slices with noodles. You have to understand the the normal sized serving of food in Bangkok’s food court are typically very small….hence, a normal sized Malaysian eater like me need at least 2 bowls of food  just to ‘line the stomach’.

Anyway back to the food – the fish slices were fresh and the soup simply delicious – can’t complain much for a meal that costs less than RM10.

Address :

6^th Floor , 488/800 Bobae Tower, Damrongrak Rd.,
Klong Mahanak, Pomprab, Bangkok 10100 Thailand

Bangkok Sky Restaurant ,Baiyoke Sky Hotel Bangkok

84 floors, with the highest level serving as a revolving viewpoint  for us to have a bird’s eye view of Bangkok City, Baiyoke Sky Hotel is the tallest building in Bangkok.

The best way to enjoy this spectacular view is to first indulge in a  buffet offering a sumptuous spread of both Western and Asian cuisine on the 78^th floor of the building and then proceed to the 84^th floor where the revolving view point is located .

I was told that they serve both buffet lunch and dinner, and opted for the latter. I paid 650 Bahts for this wonderful experience as my ticket was pre-ordered from a local Thai agent who informed me that there are 3 sessions for dinner i.e starting at 7pm, 7.30pm and 8pm respectively. I guess this is done to avoid everyone arriving at the same time…and that I say is a very wise move to avoid any chaos.

I managed to obtain the 7.30pm slot as the earlier one was sold out. As I arrive at 7.20pm, I was informed by the staff on duty that I had to first go to Level 19 to get my voucher exchanged for the ‘real’ ticket. I noticed that the queue for buying tickets was as long as a train. Phew! Luckily mine has been pre-booked.

I took the lift to the 19^th floor and within seconds was given my tickets. I then took the lift to Level 77 which housed the observation deck (the lifts don’t bring you to level 78, you have to walk up a flight of stairs from level 77). I found the lift rather slow as compared to the one in KL Tower. It actually displayed which floor you were on as the lift made its slow ascend.

Finally, I arrived at the buffet spread. Wow! I was in awe.

There was an entire section called seafood, where you can get mussels, an entire crab to yourself, prawns, scallops, fish, clams and lobsters. Having a penchant for seafood, my ultimate target was of course the lobsters.

They also serve Western food –steaks specially made for you when you order them, pasta – macaroni, spaghetti cooked in various styles – carbonara, marinara – you name it.

Salads, soups, fried food, etc..I was spoilt for choice.

Free flow of soft drinks are included too. That night they served Coke, Fanta and fruit juices such as orange and guava.

I tried the birds nest soup. Despite it being as hot as molten lava found in a volcano I quite liked the taste of the soup. There was also pig’s tail, chicken curry and so many others.

Otak-otak

Another section was Japanese food – sushi, sashimi, seaweed, kimchi (don’t ask me why they place kimchi under Japanese……but I know for sure the Koreans will be very upset when they see this!) and rice, was found here. If you prefer tempura and tepanyakki, don’t despair as they serve that too. Oh ya, their chawan mushi was steamed to mouth watering perfection and I loved it.

And to wash all this down the belly there was also a dessert section with fruits and bite seize Thai desserts as well as cakes and ice creams which you could choose to eat in a bowl or a cone.

After a very satisfying meal I made my way to the revolving view point  on Level 84. You literally gaze into the sky from this height and look down at other buildings out in the open as it is not covered. With the wind howling and as a slight drizzle began I absorbed in the beauty of Bangkok and said to myself that this city had indeed developed a lot since I last came here over a decade ago.

Address : 222 Soi Ratchaprarop 3, Rathaprarop Road, Ratchathewi,

Bangkok 10400 Thailand
Tel : 66 (0) 2656 3000, 66 (0) 2656 3456, Fax : 66 (0) 2656 3555, 66 (0) 2656 3666

International Buffet Lunch: 11am to 3 pm
International Buffet Dinner: 6pm to 10pm