Zense Restaurant, Bangkok

I read about Zense from Bangkok Tatler just before I went to Bangkok. It's new, it's hip and sounding rather enticing, I thought we should pop by to check it out. Went over on our last night in Bangkok, we wanted to pamper ourselves with a nice, long relaxing dinner before we leave ;)

Zense is located on the 17th floor of Zen Shopping Centre, right in the heart of the city. When the lift doors opened, we were greeted immediately by it's trendy interior..

It was very spacious, techno music filled the air and we thought we stepped into a club instead.hehe. Quick look around, we saw the inside bar, lots of beds, large beanies seats... and we finally saw some elegant dining area but we were only drawn to have our dinner alfresco. It was a balmy, breezy night..we should be dining alfresco, dont you think?

The alfresco area was wide and spread along the building, with different corners for your choice of dining pleasure- you can choose the cushioned rattan with dining height tables, have dinner in bed, sink into a large beanie cushion with low jap style tables or at the high bar area. Take your pick :)

Zense serves 4 cuisines- Thai, Italian, Japanese and Indian. Hmmm, tough choice but we went for italian since we OD-ed on thai for that many days..haha

We ordered a few stuff to try, since we have been eating the whole day- we were not that hungry :p

Started with fresh bread with lemon butter and our order of Grissini Parmaham (RM27)

We enjoyed the bread and the grissini parmaham was warm and crisp. The parmaham saltiness goes well with the grissini..nice to nibble while we chatted.

Though Zense looks chic and expensive, it's actually affordable classy dining but the waiters didnt really followed the serving rules here.. mains were served before we finished our starters :(

The Ravioli Neri (RM39) looked dark and mysterious..

This was absolutely scrumptious! The filling of chopped lobster was aromatic, the squid ink ravioli were meltingly smooth and the accompanying sauce was velvetly rich, but not cloying. Loved it.

Risotto Scoglio (RM43)

This risotto needs time to really enjoy its full flavours. The rice was still grainy and feels compact- the sauce slowly seeps deeper into the rice with every mouthful I took. The seafood aroma was evident in the rice- I could just eat the rice without the seafood. Delicious.

Alas, I wondered if we spent too much time enjoying the first 2 mains that we totally forgotten about our Pizza Diavola (RM29)..

We were happily cam whoring (or was that just dragon girl? :p), taking in the panaromic view and drinking...and we finally decided to have the pizza. We ordered an italian sausage pizza.. but was suprised that it looked like meatballs instead. Closer inspection confirmed that it was baby meat balls. The pizza was rather chewy at the base and the meat balls were salty. The girls were not impress, this was just mediocre at best. Oh well.

The cheeky bartender offered a pose without us requesting...

Panaromic skyline of Bangkok- though not as high as Sirocco's and Vertigo's

What a lovely way to unwind and to end our last night in Bangkok- with the soft jazz at the back ground and the cooling breeze brushing my skin. I know I will be back yet again. Wait for me Bangkok :)

Zense is located at Zen Shopping Centre, Rajadamri Road, Bangkok. For more information and much better pictures, click here. Thanks EL for the pictures!

Senjyu Sushi, Cineleisure Damansara

Just a short post today to start off this hectic week :)

Went to Senjyu some time back on a rainy evening- I wanted somewhere not too pack and can grab a bite quickly. Well, the interesting many-green-bottles-hanging-on-the-wall interior got my attention and sorta pulled me in too :p

Bollywood Queen who was with me at that time royally declared that she was not hungry as she had a lots of food during tea time, so the food choice was just mine. Though platters of sushis were readily available on the conveyer belt, I decided to order mine- I like 'em freshly made.

Had the cod and unagi sushi (RM6)

This fared pretty well. The cod and unagi bits were springy and fatty; drizzled with some teriyaki sauce- it goes well with the rice base. Looks so enticing that BQ took a piece of it.

The spider maki (RM8)

Fully expecting the spider crab being wrapped in the rice, it was served on top of the sushi instead. Freshly fried, the spider crab was still warm and crisp. Senjyu serves grated wasabi paste, which goes well with this maki. BQ tried a piece of this too. Hmmm, I thought she was not hungry??

Since BQ had an appetite after all, we ordered the day's special, Chicken Katsu Don (RM6)

Special not because it's the best seller, but special for the day as it was on promotion- ie, cheaper. By now, BQ was eating like she was the hungry one. Quite decent, the chicken pieces were moist and was enveloped with half cooked eggy bits. Lots of onions to give that sweet crunch to the combo. But a tiny bowl though, well, I guess that's why it's RM6 :p

Since it was raining, I wanted something to warm me up...Beef sukiyaki seems to be a nice choice (RM18.90)

I thought the serving was rather petite and we had to wait quite a fair bit for the food to cook. We waited just to get disappointed. I did not like Senjyu's version. The soup was waaayyyyy too sweet..like sickeningly sweet. Can't even drink it to warm my belly. :-(

Senjyu Sushi is located at LotG2&G3 Ground Floor, Cineleisure Damansara. There's also a branch at Sunway Pyramid.

Lek Seafood, Bangkok

I read about Lek online, a couple of years back when I was about to visit Bangkok then. Always, it'll be slotted as part of my eating itinerary, but somehow, we never did managed to try it. This trip, I was determined indeed...well, partly we were just in Bangkok for shopping, and secondly, my friends left all the planning of the food crawl places to me :p

It not hard to get to Lek Seafood at all, just take the BTS to Chong Nonsi station. Lek is just next to the station(ground level)

It was rather packed when we reached, and we chose our noisy corner. Filled with only local customers, I really hope for a good meal..

Since we have been trying out different cuisines before that, we went for the ubiquitous Tom Yum Goong(RM15)..

Lek's version was scrumptious! The soup was rich, yet not too sour nor overly spicy. You can actually enjoy the fragrance of this soup. And a generous amount of prawns and mushrooms helps too! However, if you are looking for those tom yum that burns your tongue, losing sensation for a few minutes, then this soup is not for you.

And those yummy grilled fresh water prawns (RM20). How can I miss it right? :p

These were super huge, the length of the head was about the size of my palm. The prawns were cooked to perfection; the meat was just cooked, absorbing the smokiness of the charcoal while the roe in the prawns heads were still runny..we were drinking sweet, creamy roe soup..*slurps*

Some local vegetables..Water minosa (RM7)

Looks like kangkung, though center was not hollow. Texture wise, it's similar to paku-pakis, but slightly more fibrous and sweeter. Takes longer to chew, enjoyable nonetheless.

We saw many tables having hot plates.. and we ordered too..

Sliced pork on hot plate (RM12)

Not what other tables had :(. Their's were very dark looking meat. Most probably ostrich meat. Ok, this dish was not bad at all, tasted like a typical chinese stir fried pork slices with bean paste. Pork was tender with some fatty strips.

Our last dish was steamed fish in lime soup (RM30)

Quite a large portion for the 3 of us after the other dishes we had, the slow burning charcoal keeps the soup simmering and the fish, warm. As the fish was kept simmering throughout the meal, the soup gets thicker and sweeter (though the base was still very sour and spicy). Rather addictive, alas we were too full to have the soup refills.hahaha.

Lek Seafood is located at 156 Soi Phiphat, Narathiwatrachanakharin Road, Silom, Bangruk, Bangkok. Just next to Chong Nonsi BTS station.

Ole Ole Bali, Solaris KL

We planned a lazy Sunday lunch. A girls lunch to catch up on gossips and just yak away :)

I never like venturing to Solaris though, it's always packed, but with the exception of sunday mornings. Parking is almost a breeze :p

Ole Ole serves predominantly balinese food and also a selection of western food. Our focus were solely on the balinese food though.

Amy was pleased that they served Avocado Shake (RM10) here; something that she took aplenty when she was in Bali. Me on the other hand? I decided to have the Ice blended Pulut Hitam (RM9)

Amy's Avocado shake was creamy and smooth. Taste very much like vanilla milk shake with slight hint of avocado. Very nice. My Pulut Hitam tasted like the bubur pulut hitam blended with gula melaka and coconut milk. Lovely too, just a tad sweet.

The new MC decided that she should be adventurous, so she ordered Cucumber with Passion fruit cooler (RM11)

It was way too sour for my liking. MC seems to find it ok. Jun said it tasted like cough syrup :p

The Sop Buntut (RM14) was very rich..

More like beef stew, this balinese version of oxtail soup was very heavy in flavour. The beef was tender, and served with nasi impit- this bowl of soup could easily be a main meal for a light eater.

Our salad was Tipak Cantuk (RM13)

Is that another name for Gado Gado? I'm not sure but the ingredients do seemed very similar. All of us find it mediocre as the peanut sauce was too sweet and reek strong tamarind taste.

We all preferred the second salad better- Grilled squid salad (RM14)

Huge portion, this salad had generous amount of grilled cumi cumi (squids) and greens. The dressing was tangy yet refreshing- hence complemented the sweet vegetables wonderfully. The grilled squids had a subtle smoky aroma that goes well with the salad. My only gripe was the very hard keropok.

We were all captivated by the Ole Ole Trio platter (RM38)

The platter was generous and the colours were so pretty. A combo of sate lilit, cumi cumi goreng and grilled chicken wings. The sate lilit was juicy and well marinated, and goes very well with the sambal and herb sauce. Jun liked with deep fried squids- crunchy batter with softer squids. The grilled chicken was good too; it was smoky and a wee bit dry- tasted like those I had in Bali.

The Nasi Kambing Bumbu (RM26)..

The mutton was served with yellow rice and kangkung. The mutton was cooked dry in their spices and sauce- I liked this too. The slices of capsicums and caramelised onions balanced the meat perfectly. The rice and vegetables were nothing to shout about though.

Overall a satisfying experience at Ole Ole Bali. The food here does remind me of the food I had in Bali- ie, it's more on the dry cooking style, not much gravy and the balinese sambal is readily available. Though the sambal served here was not that fiery. Oh, and they dont serve bebek and babi guling (for obvious reason :p)

Ole Ole Bali is located at J-0G-15 & J0G-16, Soho KL, Solaris Mont Kiara, 2-J, Solaris KL.

Restoran Yat Mun, Puchong

I am guilty.

Guilty of not clearing my very old post on time and wasted Gary's effort on introducing Yat Mun to me. Sorry ya, dude!

But Yat Mun's business is brisk, and sure it's still bustling with business now :p

It was already rather packed by the time we reached there, lucky us, we managed to get a table fast. Ordering was a little harder though, the waiters were all busy running about, and to get one's attention takes quite a while!

Left the ordering to Gary instead, since he knows the what's famous here :)

First dish, kam heong fish head (RM20)

Looks like a main favourite, many tables had this. The fish head was deep fried until crunchy and stir fried with kam heong sauce until dry. I was afraid that the strong flavour may mask the sweetness of the fish head, but surprisingly it didnt. The fish meat was still juicy and quite smooth at some parts.

We also had steam fish with ginger sauce(RM15)..

The fish was fresh, but slightly over steam. Lots of ginger sauce, you can almost drink it.

An alternative to sharksfin soup? Have the beancurd soup instead (RM12)

Smooth beancurd slivers in thicken broth. Add a dash of vinegar and it warms up a hungry belly anytime.

My favourite? The stir fried eggplant with long beans.

Absolutely scrumptious, the vegetables were full of wok hei and so very fragrant. The eggplant had a slight crisp while the long beans was crunchy still (not those dead withered type). Delicious.

Order some meat from the BBQ section..

Char Siew (RM12)

Pretty ok. Solid, non fatty type. Not overly sweet too.

The roasted duck (RM15) was average too.

Would have tasted better if the skin was crisp and the meat warm. Taste wise, it's quite nice(for a cold duck :p).

Restoran Yat Mun is located at No47, 49-3 Jalan Puteri, Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong.

Kane Mochi, Siam Square, Bangkok

We stumbled upon Kane Mochi when we were on our way for some claypot vermicelli fresh water prawns.

My original plan was to have lunch and later for some cakes and pastries for tea. Most unfortunately, shopping twarted my plans :p and we decided to stop by Kane Mochi instead.

A japanese franchise, Kane Mochi serves mochi ice cream. Yup, just that- have it plain or with toppings/ sauces.

The courteous staff were nice and gave us some samples..we decided order some in the end :)

Quite a number of flavours to choose from...

We finally settled for Strawberry, Blueberry, Green Tea and Coffee (RM8.90)

I was pleasantly surprise from this very lovely dessert. The mochi (skin) was soft and melts quickly with the ice cream. As for the ice cream- it was not too creamy, but the flavours were nice..I like the green tea flavour the best; it was slightly bitter and had azuki aftertaste.

Definitely a place to pop by to hide from the sweltering heat and a quick reprieve for those tired legs :)

Kane Mochi is loated at Soi 3, Siam Square, Bangkok, Thailand.

Fuji Japanese Restaurant, Bangkok

It's always fantastic if you get to travel with a group of friends with the same intention and interests. And when it comes to Bangkok, it's always for shopping and food with girlfriends. Yes, I go shop crazy when I'm there with the gals, and I usually shed a couple of pounds with all that walking during shopping! hahaha

And hence, this trip, all my eating places revolves around the shopping areas- for convenience :p

But hey, convenience dont mean comprimising on good food...and in this case, I took J2kfm's recommendation.

We ate at Fuji, a popular japanese chain that you can find in most of the shopping places in Bangkok. In our case, we ate at Siam Paragon.

It was very late lunch, so no waiting was required, we were led to our seats immediately. J2kfm did mentioned that the food here is very affordable and comparative to the Jap food chains in Malaysia, Fuji's food is better.

A rather extensive menu to choose from, we decided to have..

Salmon Tataki (RM18)

Somewhat localised, this was like a salmon som tum. Sour, spicy but refreshing. Goes well with the raw salmon slices.

Some grilled mussels with garlic (RM11)

Rather puny pieces, the garlic was absolutely aromatic but I thought the mussels were a tad over grilled. Some parts were rather chewy. Served with 3 types of dipping sauce.

Avocado Pork Roll (RM12)

We lurve this to bits. Creamy, smooth avocado melts into the still warm,tender pork slices. Nice texture and flavours.

Ordered some set meals too..

The Roll sushi set (RM25)

3 types of maki in this set- california, spider crab and ebi maki. The first 2 types were delicious; the serving was plump and fresh. But the ebi fell short- it was very average.

Kuro Buta Steak set (RM20)

We were satisfied with this set too. The pork steak was juicy and meat was springy. The thick sauce was addictive too. Goes very well with rice.

If you are shopping around Bangkok city center, you can find Fuji Japanese restaurant at Siam Centre, Siam Paragon, Central World and Platinum.

SS20 Fish Head Noodles, Damansara Kim

When Bollywood Queen returned recently for a short weekend break, we popped over to SS20 for some fish head noodles.

I wanted to try this stall for sometime already, just that I went to another fish head noodle place instead while searching for this stall :p

So nothing will deter me from getting here this time around..

Decent crowd, we got our seats quickly and ordered..

Some baby spinach soup with fish paste..

I really enjoyed this. The baby spinach was tender, not fibrous and sweet. The fish paste had a firm, yet springy texture- lovely to bite into.

There were a few types of fish noodles that we could choose from; I opted for the soong fish head with mixed of fried and fresh fish head, with lai fun.

I find the noodles smooth and springy, however, the soup lacked the aroma I was looking for. The soup was rather diluted, the wine fragrance was missing and lacked that bit of sour plum kick. The fish head was fresh nonetheless, the fried versions were tastier than the non fried ones. Soup wise, I feel the Fish & Noodles just a road away fared better.

SS20 Fish Head Noodle is located at Gerai 20, Medan Selera MBPJ, Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya.