Tu-Long, Midvalley KL

Tu-Long shanghai steamed meat dumpling la mian in hot & sour soup

We are frequent visitors to Midvalley Megamall as it offers convenient parking at lunchtime when we’re not in the mood to walk the distance to Petaling Street only to sweat it out in the unbearable heat over a hot bowl of wantan noodles. When you’re in corporate clothing, airconditioning is a premium, and so it made sense for us to look out for airconditioned restaurants whenever we went out.

We had noticed Tu-Long a long time ago. We called it the Red restaurant, primarily because the entire facade was red! I must admit that I am attracted to anything shiny, so the long row of chandeliers lining up the centre aisle of the restaurant felt very welcoming. Tu-Long is located in the Boulevard Offices directly across from Starbucks.

The first thing that caught our eyes was the shanghai steamed meat dumpling (siu long bao). The two young men in the glass cage skilfully and intently produced the dumplings like a factory line, unperturbed by the nosy glances of the curious patrons. We were pleased with the dumplings (RM8 for 4 pieces). Despite the rather salty broth enveloped in the prettily wrapped dumpling, it was full of flavour and passed all tests. The skin wasn’t too thick either.

The other “performance” which I thoroughly enjoyed was the solo la mian (noodles) puller. I also found out that the Master Chef got his name in the Guiness Book of Records when he made 8192 Noodle Strings from a single piece of dough in 59.29 seconds! Well, naturally, if they were promoting la mian, I was going to try it. My order of la mian in hot & sour soup (RM12) was nice, hot and sour (but of course!) and I certainly have no complaints about it. Perhaps, at RM12, I was expecting something extra, but it felt very ordinary.

la mian dried scallops and chicken soup

If you have lost all your tastebuds due to a recent illness, then the la mian with dried scallops and chicken soup (RM14) is perfect for you. The noodles were nice, but the soup in which it came was so plain, it made hot water look good. One would have thought that the accompanying bowl of dried scallops and chicken soup would be some compensation, but try as she might, Bouncing Barbie was unable to recognise any taste of scallops in her soup. Digging all the way in, she found a few slivers of scallops, but that didn’t improve her mood. She ended up drowning her noodles in FOC chilli paste which she said tasted a whole lot better than the RM14 she paid.

shanghai fried rice flour cake deep fried durian pancake

Pretty Pui’s shanghai fried rice flour cake (RM14) was the best tasting dish among all that we picked. The rice flour cake was sufficiently cooked with a soft bite to it and the sauce complemented it well.

Our order of deep fried durian pancakes (RM12) arrived early. Like Christmas morning, we wore wide grins on our faces at the anticipation of biting into the durian pancakes. Pretty Pui took the first bite, and said nothing. I was curious, and took a bite. My expression changed. Barbie looked at us, concerned. “That bad?”, she asked. Barbie took a bite. The decision was unanimous. It was horrid and absolutely TASTELESS. Every tourist’s dream….smell-less durians. My worst nightmare. I wished Nigel would appear at that moment with his lovely chocolate durian cake. Service was good. They apologised and took it away. I was more concerned about the fact that the chef didn’t recognise that the durians were tasteless. What happened to quality control anyway?souffle egg white ball with red bean paste and banana souffle ball with red bean paste and bananan

As a replacement, we ordered the souffle egg white ball with red bean paste and banana (RM9 for 3 pieces). This was a lot better. The white dust that you see on top of the balls is icing sugar. Biting into the marshmallow-like texture, I found a very small quantity of red bean paste and a small slice of banana. Despite the rather measly ingredients, the entire dish tasted lovely.

Also check out Pasankia‘s review.

Tu-Long
25G, 25-1, 27-1, The Boulevard Office, Midvalley, KL.
Tel: 03-2283 3115

Conjoined twins of KayEll

This is totally unrelated, but I felt that after such a negative review of food, I should feed you with something better. Photo taken at the Attic last Thursday.

Introducing the conjoined twins of KayEll.

Bald is the new black, folks.

Sunday Brunch at Saravanaa Bhavan, Bangsar Baru

We were in the mood for a healthy vegetarian brunch today. A week of overeating had put my system in a turmoil and I needed to set it right. I am certainly not advocating that vegetarian meals are always healthy. The preparation of these meals also matter.I have always enjoyed indian vegetarian meals. Growing up, mum would make it a point to cook a vegetarian meal at least once a week, and so I got acquainted with “baby food” (as my Makan Club always calls it) at a very early age. My friends call it baby food for a very simple, and obvious, reason. A lot of these vegetarian meals are mashed up with the various ingredients until they are unrecognisable. “You mean that’s spinach??” is a normal reaction to a popular mashed spinach dish cooked with onions, garlic and a dash of tamarind juice. The Bald Eagle stopped eating eggplant after seeing it all gooey and slimy in another popular vegetarian dish.

Saravanaa Bhavan is part of a chain of restaurants around the globe with locations in India, UAE, Singapore, USA, Canada, UK, Oman and of course, Malaysia. In the Klang Valley, there are three outlets: Bangsar, Masjid India and Jalan Sultan, PJ. I am only familiar with the Bangsar outlet, having frequented it quite often for a quick and pleasant vegetarian meal.

curd vada
For our starter, we ordered the curd vada, which is essentially a lentil “doughnut” immersed in yoghurt and garnished with carrots, parsley and crispies. Don’t be misled by the word “doughnut”; the vada is a savoury dish.

parattha
The Parattha (RM3.50/US$1) is a South Indian bread (like roti canai) served with curry.

tomato and onion uthappam

I love the Tomato & Onion Uthappam (RM4.50/US$1.30), a thick rice crepe cooked with a generous portion of onions and tomatoes. If you don’t like onions, I suggest you stay away from this dish! The onions lent a sweetish taste to the otherwise sourish taste of the uthappam. It was thick and fluffy and went well will the dhal and chutney served on the side.

onion rava thosai
The onion rava dosai (RM4.50/US$1.30) is made from wheat and rice and cooked on a flat surface to obtain a crepe-like texture. This is filled with cooked potatoes and onions.

rava kichadi

The Bald Eagle is a creature of habit. A big fan of Rava Kichadi (RM4/US$1.20), he makes it a point to order this dish everytime we visit Saravanaa Bhavan, and today was no exception. The rava kichadi is made of roasted sooji and cooked with onions, tomatoes, carrots, green chillies and green peas and sauteed with flavoured herbs. This dish is served with chutney and sambar, but it can also be eaten sweet with a dash of sugar.

bru coffee with fresh cow's milk

My favourite drink when I visit an indian restaurant is Bru coffee with fresh cow’s milk (RM2.50/US$0.70). To learn the art of drinking coffee served in this manner, check out my post on Anjappar’s.

Also check out:

Saravanaa Bhavan
52, Jalan Maarof, Bangsar.
Tel: 03-22871228

Opens daily, 8.30am – 11.00pm

Groove Junction, Desa Sri Hartamas, KL

(Note: All photographs in this post are courtesy of Riz Ainuddin)

I usually get my yearly dosage of jazz music from the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas MPO Jazz Series, where the Bald Eagle and I hold season tickets. So naturally, I was excited to find out that there was a new kid in town (as far as jazz bars cum restaurants are concerned anyway) called Groove Junction.

Brian from All Dat Jazz, on behalf of the owners of Groove Junction, Joanne and Jennifer, sent us an invitation to sample their food. Jazz musician, Jose Thomas, is a musical director here, while his wife, Ellena, is the head chef at the restaurant. I found out, later that evening, that Ellena used to run a restaurant at Riana Green. The lovely Korean lady has been cooking for a number of years and has mastered not only Korean and Western dishes, but also Indian cuisine.

I love the decor and ambience at Groove Junction. The restaurant is tastefully decorated in earthy tones of cream and brown and the soft lights lend a cozy feeling to the entire place. Live music is always great, and we were entertained that night by Cheong, a bossanova specialist.

The menu has an extensive range of choices with a number of dishes creatively named after jazz greats. We were served an appetizer consisting of two items on their menu, namely Yam Nam – glass noodles with roast beef, and mushroom bruschetta. The Yam Nam is a cold dish with a tangy flavour from the squeezed lime which is refreshing and spicy due to the addition of finely chopped chillies.

I especially enjoyed the mushroom bruschetta made of a velvety creamy sauce with a generous helping of sliced mushrooms.

The mains included Beef Panne, which was essentially tender slices of grilled beef served with a herb sauce which had a strong hint of pepper.

This dish is named after famous American jazz tenor saxophonist, Dexter Gordon. Chicken breast with a ham and cheese filling is fried to obtain a crisp outer layer. I loved the chicken, but didn’t care much for the serving of fries on the side. But I suppose I ought to remind myself that this is not only a restaurant but a bar as well, and fries do fit in well in a bar environment!

I love fish, so I suppose I can relate to Billie Holiday, the name of this pan-fried sole dish. The creamy mint sauce seemed to have a hint of yoghurt or sour cream, and I felt it went beautifully with the fried fillet.

I am no fan of red meat, but this dish, Ellena’s lamb steak, was undoubtedly my favourite. A dish named after the chef herself must certainly be good, and I was not disappointed. The meat was very tender and the sauce sweet. Chef Ellena mentioned that she used fruits to tenderise the meat. That certainly made sense as fresh fruits like pineapples, papayas and pears do have enzymes that can tenderise meat.

The final main course that we tried was the pan-fried chicken rolls in orange sauce named after Sonny Rollins, another jazz tenor saxaphonist. (Incidentally, Sonny Rollins, born in 1930, is still performing, having outlived most of his contemporaries.)

We also got to sample some of the finger food available at Groove Junction. The fried Chickalina’s is a dish of bite-sized pieces of chicken fried in a sweet black sauce. Can I say it’s finger lickin’ good?

I found the lamb curry a little mild, but I suppose it was toned down to suit the tastebuds of the masses. It was, nevertheless, reminiscent of my childhood days (well, and even now, I suppose) where I’d dip slices of bread into curry, gobble down the bread soaked in spicy goodness and slurp up the remaining curry afterwards.

By this time, we were rather full, but still had a little more space for dessert. I do have a sweet tooth and a weakness for cheesecake, so I didn’t require much persuasion to eat this dish!

I liked the creamy serving of tiramisu served with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

These banana rolls were served with ice cream. This is one of Ellena’s specialties, so do try it if you have a chance to visit this place.

It was a pleasant evening spent with fellow bloggers, Boo_licious, KY and Riz Ainuddin. A special thank you goes out to Joanne, Jennifer, Brian and Ellena for organising such a lovely meal for us.

Also check out Boo_licious’ review here.

Groove Junction (visit their website here)

1-1, Jalan 22A/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +603 6201 8990

Closed on Mondays. Open from 6pm onwards.

(Note: Thanks, Riz, for allowing me to use your wonderful photographs. We should do this again! You can view Riz’s gorgeous pictures here.)