Food Trail @ Damansara Uptown

- Inspired by people who have done numerous food trips all over the place. -

Here's what you'll need:

1) 5 hours of your precious time.

2) Good company - in your terms. A small party of 3 is excellent for the sake of seating convenience.

3) A relatively big appetite. Don't be fooled by the idea of walking around being quickly burning off what you have eaten.
4) Money. About RM35 - RM40 per person should be sufficient in this case.

A tip that will most probably save your lives:

Control yourselves and do not get ambitious at each stop.

Ready, set, go!
p.s. link to the map of this food trail available at the end of this post

Stop #1: Village Park

Yup, no surprise that this is a part of the lot. I can finally say that I have had tasted their nasi lemak. The place was swarming close to 11.00 a.m. and you'll need luck to get a table. Fortunately for us, Carmen managed to get us a spot.

Nasi lemak with fried chicken [RM9.00]

It took ordering through 3 waiters to finally get this dish to our table. The way the rice was done wasn't up to standard (a little towards the dry side and not fragrant enough) but the sambal did some justice. The fried chicken had a gingery hint to it which complimented the rice. In all honesty, I had set some expectations for this place but this turned out to be rather ordinary to me. 

If you wish to have a classic Malaysian breakfast of roti bakar and soft-boiled eggs, you can get them here as well. Might I suggest a cup of kopi ais to accompany them; something I ordered to kick start my day.

Information

Address: 5, Jalan SS21/37, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Contact no.: +60377107860

Opening hours: 7.00 a.m. - 8.00 p.m. (Mondays - Saturdays) & 7.00 a.m. - 6.00 p.m. (Sundays and Public Holidays)

Ratings (out of 10)

André (A): 7.5

Carmen (C): 8.0

Emily (E): 7.0

Stop #2: Ecole P

Located along the same row as Village Park, Ecole P is a restaurant designed for you to reminisce about your primary school days. 

Upon entry, you'll see a whole bunch of your childhood candies, chocolates, biscuits, etc. available for sale.

Anyone's school canteen had cups like these? Mine had styrofoam cups though.

This is the most classic one of all, methinks. I'll let you figure out the significance of the clock. 

Hint: We did not visit at 10.10 a.m. 

This drink is called the Pokemon [RM8.90] which comprised mango, pear, raspberry, lemon, orange and passion fruit juices. It's technically a punch and there were too many competing flavours in one drink. T'was refreshing, nevertheless. 

Chicken chop fried with goldfish biscuits batter [RM16.90] served with a nicely done side of mashed potatoes and mushrooms along with a sour-ish fruity salad. The concept is pretty clever but we found the chicken chop quite ordinary. 

Despite the friendly owner and atmosphere, I personally don't plan on returning knowing that there are cheaper and more filling options around Damansara Uptown. I still, however, recommend that you try this place out at least once because it's not often one discovers such a nostalgic environment.

Information

Address: 19M, Jalan SS21/37, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Contact no.: +60377329711

Opening hours: 11.00 a.m. - 10.00 p.m.

Closed on: Thursdays

Ratings (out of 10):

A: 5.0

C: 5.0

E: 5.5

Stop #3: Annie 1 Family Restaurant

We stopped by here to try only one dish: their dry wantan noodles with char siew. 

[RM6.50] The char siew was pretty amazing and no complains about the noodles. We only found the boiled cabbage, instead of the typical field mustard leaves, a little out of place.

We arrived at lunch hour only to find one table indoors available in the entire double shop lot restaurant. For the sake of lighting, we decided to sit outside anyway.

Information

Address: 18-20, Jalan SS21/58, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Opening hours: 7.30 a.m. - 9.00 p.m. (Mondays - Fridays) & 8.30 a.m. - 3.30 p.m. (Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays)

Ratings (out of 10):

A: 6.0

C: 7.0

E: 6.5

Stop #4: Obanhmi Shop

One of the most talked-about places in Damansara Utama serving Vietnamese sandwiches.  

Fresh bread ready to be eaten - the reason behind the mesmerizing smell of the restaurant.

We ordered the BBQ pork sandwich [RM10.50] which was pretty good thanks to the Vietnamese chili sauce. The portion is huge for one person considering the thickness of the bread (not my kind of bread, unfortunately) and the amount of filling it holds. I love the beautiful colours of the ingredients and how they compliment each other so well.

Topped up RM5.00 for a iced Vietnamese coffee and this was superb. Now I understand the hype over Vietnamese coffee.

Can't say much about how authentic this place is but it certainly has a different feel to it judging from its significant flavour in the food. Also, be prepared for ingredients to be falling out of your sandwiches.

Information:

Address: 33, Jalan SS21/56b, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Contact no.: +60377328540

Opening hours: 9.30 a.m. - 9.30 p.m.

Closed on: Monday

Ratings (out of 10):

A: 9.0

C: 9.0

E: 7.5

Stop #5: Fat Spoon

We were stuffed full like teddy bears primarily from Obanhmi despite only ordering one sandwich. Thankfully, we still had room for desserts. Wait, what am I saying?! There is always room for desserts. 

It was a hot day but we were in need of something to flush our system. Hence, green tea [RM7.00] it was. They have free refills so why not? #TypicalAsian

Durian crème brûlée [RM15.00]. I love durians and I'm perfectly fine with crème brûlée but this was a complete rip off because of its tea-cup size of serving and price. 

This was the saviour of the day; cempedak spring rolls served with ice cream [RM12.00]. The warmth of the spring rolls and cempedak filling complimented the ice cream well although I personally prefer having the spring rolls simply by themselves. 

Information:

Address: 73, Jalan SS21/1a, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Contact no.: +60377283323

Opening hours: 11.30 a.m. - 3.00 p.m. // 5.00 p.m. - 10.00 p.m. (Tuesdays to Sundays) & 11.30 a.m. - 10.00 p.m. (Fridays to Sundays)

Ratings (out of 10):

A: 5.5 (3.0 for durian crème brûlée, 8.0 for cempedak spring rolls)

C: 5.0 (2.0 for durian crème brûlée, 8.0 for cempedak spring rolls)

E: 5.0 (2.0 for durian crème brûlée, 8.0 for cempedak spring rolls)

* * * *

All in all, we have covered the following the following cuisines: 

Malaysian, Western, Chinese, Vietnamese, Nyonya

Parking tip: I am a newbie when it comes to food trails but I can tell you that I was in dilemma trying to pick a parking spot. Especially when your first and last location are miles in between, the primary encounter would be, "Do I walk far now or walk far later?" My advice: "Walk far now." Why? You have energy now, use it. By the end of the day, you'll be exhausted, stuffed with goodness, and would want to head to your car ASAP.

Thanks for reading and have a good day!

Click HERE for the map of all 5 locations in this trail.

Special thanks to Carmen and André for being a part of the plan, contributing your calorie counts and your great company.

Kum Chuan Coffee Shop: Hawker Food @ SS13, Subang Jaya

Yes, you read it right. Hawker food. I thought it was time to be blogging about my true blue Malaysian side.

Being half Penangite and faithfully paying annual visits to the Pearl of the Orient, I've appreciated hawker food for as long as I can remember; much thanks to my parents who exposed me to local cuisine. So just FYI, my foodie journey doesn't strictly evolve around cafés and coffee (:

* * * *

Time of visit: 8.15 a.m. (peak hour) on a weekday 

Kum Chuan Restaurant is a coffee shop in SS13 which has been open for quite some time. I've made several visits here before and was never particularly disappointed.

Here's the must-order for any hawker food breakfast/lunch/dinner/supper. A cup of goodness a.k.a. kopi ais (to my non-Malaysian readers, this is our version of coffee and milk).

This was pretty darn good. I'd say it's kao enough (kao - thick, bold in flavour, has "body" ... you get the idea). In all honesty, I could have gone for seconds.

As for food, these are the 3 main dishes you should order:

Curry laksa with slices of char siew. One of my foodies mentioned that this has less coconut milk than the one she typically has. I thought this was quite well done! Bear in mind that this is a KL version of curry noodles which is different from the Penang version. 

Wantan noodles with char siew. I do recommend this if you're the type who goes for a slightly sweeter and more flavourful version of wantan noodles. The noodles were well mixed in the sauce before serving.

Hakka noodles. Verdict from my Sarawakian friend: this is close to authentic. Note: close. Still a dish I recommend trying out at this place! 

And of course, no hawker food breakfast is complete without the dynamic duo to accompany all the dishes you've ordered above: roti bakar (toasted bread; typically served with kaya and butter) and soft boiled eggs/half-cooked eggs. 

Yes, I still had room in my tummy for these so you can imagine my monstrous appetite. 

The best seat in the house? Under the tree/umbrella outside. That's where you'll get to experience the hawker food ambiance. 

Note: All dishes mentioned above are less than RM5 each. Sorry, I didn't get down the exact prices. #IrresponsibleFoodBlogger

Special thanks to Hanny & Aric, two foodie friends of mine, for accompanying me!

* * * *

Address: Corner of Jalan SS13/1A, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Closed on: Sundays

Opening hours: 7.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m.

Stay tuned for my next post on a food trail done in Damansara! Have a great day, everyone (:

Meltz Cafe, SS15 Subang Jaya

Do you still ever head to A&W for waffles and indulge in its smell that overpowers any thought of buying burgers and onion rings? I guess that's where smell manipulation pounces illustrations of food.

Being a Subang girl and having to go to PJ all the time for A&W waffles can only be done by grave cravings, or the way some of my friends and I may go to relieve our temptations badly: "Die die also must go!"

Setting

After reading Jia Qi's blog entry on this place, I dragged accompanied my parents and brother to check out Meltz just located opposite a very popular place for shisha and Arabic cuisine, Oregi. Not the cleanest area to locate a cafe at but heck, if they had good food and/or coffee, I'm sold. 

Upon writing this entry, I have visited Meltz easily about 5 times now. This entry tells you the story of my first experience.

* Had only my phone with me when I shot the pictures.

This is pretty much their menu but you might want to pay attention to the column at the most right because this place is known for those items.

Just two cafe setting shots here. If you sit towards the back, you'll find a shelf holding many board games like Reversi, Uno and SNAP!

So they invested in not one but two fountains; one with butterscotch sauce and the other with dark chocolate. Absolutely mouth-watering.

Crêpe in the making! They are indeed quite cruel to allow the smell of cooking crêpes & waffles circulate throughout the whole cafe, making the wait the most severe and "worst" part of the experience.

What went into our tummies

My first cappuccino [usually RM10.00 but was RM3.00 because of their offer. See menu.] which was the nuttiest I've ever tasted so far. Although I was warned about the nuttiness, I didn't expect it to be this strong. Other returns were not too bad and no complains about how they make it.

Basic waffle [RM14.00] topped with vanilla ice cream, which took relatively long to melt, and drizzled with dark chocolate and butterscotch sauce. This would be my parents' favourite. The batter is exactly between light and strong to the extent where you could still taste the sauces and ice cream when eaten along with. I absolutely love how the waffles are constantly crispy, made fresh upon ordering, and not soggy. This is a highly recommended dish if you're looking for an amazing waffle.

Basic crêpe [RM13.00] served with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with the same sauces, butterscotch and dark chocolate. Ordered this only once and I've got to admit the portion is huge which I suppose makes it affordable. On the downside, the texture and thickness of the crêpe just didn't do for me as it was a little hard to tear pieces apart before consuming. Might give it another go soon when I'm up for crêpes! 

I have yet to try the main dishes as all my visits are typically after 9.00 p.m. for supper.

* * * *

Address: 41, Jalan SS15/4B, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.
Closed on: Mondays
Operating hours: 11.00 a.m. - 12.00 a.m.
Email: meltzcafe@gmail.com
Facebook page: https://www/facebook.com/meltzcafe
Payment: CASH ONLY