Plan B

There was no plan A when we ventured out for dinner on that Saturday evening. Plan B was suggested by Crystal and we went along. It is actually a small chain of chic cafes and restaurants around the Klang Valley. They have outlets in Mid-valley, Bangsar Village, Paradigm Mall, 1Utama and the Publika in Solaris Dutamas.

1U is nearest to our home, and that was where we headed to. Plan B in 1Utama is located inside the Isetan Departmental Store, in what they call the Eat Paradise on the first floor. 

It was a small place, tucked in a corner of the Eat Paradise. The ambiance was somewhat busy and noisy. But they had comfortable seats and a partitioned area that could still be conducive for a relaxing meal.

I don't know where they prepared the food. I did not see a kitchen - just a large counter from where our dishes apparently emerged.

The menu had an interesting message - "When life gives you lemon, make lemonade". This proverbial phrase is apparently used to encourage optimism in the face of adversity and misfortune. However, when it is on the front cover of the menu, I take it to mean - whatever that is in the menu, eat it.

But the menu was really not that bad. In fact, it offered quite a wide and interesting selections. It had good breakfast and brunch options, snacks, soups, salads, burgers & sandwiches, pastas, pastries and desserts, and wide ranging drinks including coffees and teas, and even wines, liquors and sakes. The selections were repeated in this large display board.

We started our meal sharing this duck confit & orange salad. It was an Asian-Western fusion dish and it was delicious. It had slices of duck meat in watercress, onion, orange segments, pumpkin seeds in a orange maple syrup. It is not often we see watercress used in salads. Perhaps it is not a suitable vegetable. But in this duck confit, it tasted very good indeed.

Next, we had the spicy crabmeat linguine. Another fusion preparation. The pasta was scented with lemon grass and kaffir lime, and tossed with tomato and garlic in a spiced prawn oil. And the portion of crabmeat was generous. It was another most credible fare. The linguine was nicely al dente. The tangy and spicy flavour was very much to our taste.

I particularly liked this Asian soft-shell crab spaghettini. The fine spaghetti was cooked in a rich creamy butter sauce. In it was chilli padi, crispy fried curry leaves and sprinkling of chilli flakes. It was served with a huge portion of spicy deep fried soft-shell crab. The crab blended superbly with the pasta. Again, the pasta was nicely al dente. It was a simple yet delicious preparation.

The teriyaki salmon fillet was served with a small potion of cold soba in a light soy sauce and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. It was very pleasantly presented. The salmon was wonderfully done - crispy yet succulent inside. The soy sauce blended the fish and noodles elegantly. The flavour was subtle and mild, and yet so delicious. Credit to the chef for the innovation.

We had this side order of fried calamari (squid) to supplement our dishes - not that the dishes needed anything extra. The serving was big. It arrived piping hot (where is the kitchen?). The squid was very fresh and it was not overdone as to be rubbery. It was served with a slice of lemon and a mayo dip.

It was only 3 of us. And we ate all that, with more to come. Dessert was apple pie and ice cream. Fortunately is wasn't a very large serving and we managed it.

I had my usual long black to complete a most satisfying meal. 

With a Plan B like this, who needs A? But the plan was not exactly cheap. The total damage was more than 200 bucks. The next time we come across small inconspicuous eateries like this - especially those with funny names - we shouldn't under-estimate them. They can be really big in taste as well as in prices.

Deli Oasis Fusion Cafe

This small and friendly joint is our favorite neighborhood fusion makan place. When it first opened, we did not take much notice of it. Like a number of eateries in our quiet neighborhood, we did not really expect it to stay opened for very long. But we were grossly wrongly. The place not only remained open but flourished and recently underwent an upgrade and renovation.

The Deli Oasis Fusion Cafe is located on Jalan PJU 1A/20A in Ara Damansara, PJ. Our neighborhood is quiet and isolated and I believe it draws its business from surrounding residents and from workers of the Saujana and Subang airport areas.

The decor of the cafe is simple and tastefully done. It is bright and comfortable, and is indeed a very pleasant place to have a meal.

 
It is fully wi-fied and they even have electrical outlets at the seats for you to plug your laptop into.

The place offers a fusion of Malay, Chinese, Indian and western fares. And they are all very good. We were impressed the first time we went to the place, and remain impressed ever since.

The pictures below were taken over our many visits there. The quality of some pictures are not very good as they had been impromptu-ly taken with my mobile phone.

Their nasi goreng (fried rice) is very good. You have a choice of various preparations, like this nasi goreng ayam dara which was served with a nice piece of fried chicken.

The nasi goreng kampung (village style fried rice) was also very nice. It had crunchy ikan bilis (anchovies) in it. I also liked the accompanying keropok (fish crackers). However, the prawns in it were not shelled and are quite a mess having to use my fingers on them.

The nasi lemak was delightful. The rice was very aromatic. It was served with a nice separate plate of sambal which really was very considerate. I prefer it this way, rather than messily having sambal all over the rice. You have choices of meat with your nasi lemak - fried chicken, rendang chicken or rendang beef.

 

The mee bandung daging is one of my favorite. I enjoyed the rich spicy gravy and the nice pieces of beef. I liked it so much that I ordered it on 3 consecutive visits there. Simply delicious.

 

The soto ayam was another really nice Malay dish. It was served with noodles and a piece of begedil (a Malay potato cutlet). The gravy was rich and tasty. Very authentic indeed.

 

The mee goreng looked and tasted very nice too.

 

So was the koay teow goreng.

And the mee goreng mamak.

The gado-gado (Malay style salad) was so-so and somewhat lacking. The sauce was good but somehow it was not complete.

This was the roti jala with a nice bowl of chicken curry. 

I did not expect very much from the satay when I ordered it. But it turned out surprisingly nice. The meat was tender and aromatic, and the sauce like that of the gado-gado was very nice.

You have to try the keropok leko if you are there. They are served piping hot. Very very nice.

 

The Oasis is basically a Malay establishment. But their Chinese offerings are so authentic. Like this Cantonese style yee mee (伊面). Better than a lot of yee mee in Chinese shops.

And this bowl of porridge. It was delicious. In it was chicken, ikan bilis, kacang (peanuts), salt egg, etc. My wife had this a number of times and she enjoyed it every time.

The beef koay teow, also Cantonese style, was another enjoyable plate of noodles. The gravy was superb.

This bowl was listed as prawn mee in the menu. It definitely was not the Penang Hokkein prawn noodles. It looked good and tasted no bad at all. Very simple and pleasant.

Our daughter had all the western dishes in the following pictures. Starting with the chicken chop, served with a coleslaw, an egg and mushroom sauce.

This was a pasta with a large piece of fried chicken, served with a bowl of sauce. Sorry, this is the best description I can give here. My memory failed me. Besides, I did not eat it.

A plate of fried chicken strips, with french fries, coleslaw and black pepper sauce. Looked very dry. Again, I have no idea how it tasted.

Crispy potato skin stuffed with a cheesy filling, eaten with a salsa sauce. Our dislike was that the potato skin was not that crispy and there still was too much of potato in it. It really was not fantastic.

The apple pie came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a strawberry sauce. I had a bit of it. Not bad at all.

Oh yes. Don't forget the teh tarik. Nice and creamy, and not so sweet. It is better than any mamak shop.

All the above were the making of Chef Abas. He really is a very versatile chef indeed. I tried to take his picture for this blog and up to now, I am still trying. Perhaps he is very camera shy.

Pasta Zanmai

When we decided on Pasta Zanmai for dinner one Saturday evening, I seriously thought that it was a western makan place. But as we entered the restaurant, we were greeted in Japanese and I began to wonder. It was only when I looked into the menu that I realise this was a fusion Japanese eatery serving pasta, pizza and other western food.

Zanmai is chain of Japanese restaurants offering sushi and fusion fares. It has about 10 outlets  in Sunway, The Gardens, Low Yat, 1U, Mid Valley, etc. The place we went to was in the newly opened Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya. It is situated on the ground floor of the shopping complex. It has a nice contemporary decor and has a separate store within the outlet selling various Japanese foods.

We perused the menu in great detail and decided on a combination of Japanese, pasta and pizza. But we were hugely disappointed when the waiter apologetically told us that their oven was broken and we could not have pizza for dinner that evening. We altered our selection and then settled down to sipping our tea.

The potato croquette was delicious. It was mashed potato deep fried in bread crumbs with a filling of parmesan cheese. It was served with some salad. I enjoyed the crispy skin and the creamy filling.

 

The deep fried soft shell crab was another delightful starter. It was served with a nice sweet sauce. It was crispy outside with the flavor of nice crab meat inside. Soft shell crabs have always been one of my favorites. They are eaten when they are in the process of moulding - changing their shells. Poor crabs.

Our entree selection started with the unagi (Japanese eel preparation) pasta. It was served with some salad and a miso soup. What a fusion it was. And very nicely done too. The pasta was cooked with some mushroom and the unagi complemented it fantastically. It was a real culinary innovation.

Next was the terriyaki chicken gratin. The gratin was potato based and the terriyaki chicken was served on top of it. Another great Japanese-western fusion. The combination of tastes did not clash. Compliments to the innovator.

They were all we initially ordered. But we were not sated. We wanted more. This potato salad was added on. It was creamy and smooth. Not bad at all for an afterthought.

This meat sauce omelet rice was also an added-on. It was a kind of tomato rice covered with a plain omelet, served with a tomato based meat sauce. I did not fancy this too much. I felt that there was too much tomato in it. It was rather sweet which was not my type of savory food.

Dessert was green tea tiramisu. It was served with a spoonful of red bean paste. Another great fusion idea. But sadly it did not turn out to be that great for me. I did not quite like the green tea flavor in tiramisu. But my wife liked it. So ignore my preference and go ahead and try it if you are ever there.

Pasta Zanmai is a great fusion novelty. The people there must be really creative to come up with great tasting food from the merging of two very popular tastes - Japanese and western. There are a lot of items in the menu that we have not tried. Going by what we had, I think we will going back.