Maiu, Damansara Perdana

A friend spoke of Maiu, a Japanese buffet that's really reasonable, and serves fresh sashimi.

I didnt mind trying and while gathering some friends to try, I realised, there's a handful that still avoids Japanese food because of the recent unfortunate events.

And off we went sometime ago, which to my surprise, was already packed with customers. Luckily we made reservations.

We were promptly seated, and was provided with the menu. Yes, Maiu serves ala carte buffet.

A quick scan and I was rather disappointed with the menu. The choices was rather limited, think there was about 50+ types to choose from, inclusive of appetizers, soups and rice (you can guess how much's left for mains).

Since there's only 3 of us, we cant order everything on the menu :p and here's what we did try..

As I took lots of photos, I'll write less..else this may be a 3 pager post (if printed out)..hehe

Since my kawan said the s

ashimi's fresh, we ordered a few plates..

One of the plates..

Fresh? Yes. Very. Thick slices, fresh springy meat. Best of the lot was the butter fish.

I always enjoy mackerel, hence my Saba Shioyaki..

Fatty, sweet and crisp skin. Just a dash of lemon juice and it's delish.

So far so good.

Grilled Shishamo..

Was fine, but must have it while it's still hot. Once cooled, it's soggy and a tad hard to swallow..

Ebi Nigiri..

This was average. Nothing to shout about.

Spider maki..

Generous amount of spider crab, suprisingly for buffet. Enjoyable.

And yes, we ordered spider crabs too..

Served with mayo. Too greasy for my liking.

Yakitori chicken..

Skewered chicken's that's dry, not well marinated and had the frozen chicken after taste. Save your stomach space for something else.

Chicken karaage..

We should have just ordered either the karaage or the yakitori to realise, the chicken on the menu's not worth ordering.

Bland fried chicken that again, with frozen chicken after taste.

Grilled capsicums..

Slightly under grilled..

Fried tofu...

Again it's oily and greasy. Started to feel nauseous by then. Think the oil used was not fresh :(

Luckily the mushroom soup gave a brief reprieve from oiliness...

Clear, not too salty broth. Piping hot to wash the greasiness away.

I cant recall what's this..

Luckily this was not greasy, the fish paste was actually tasty.

Chawan Mushi..

Hot, smooth, comforting to slurp down..

Tempura mori..

Pretty decent- large prawns, and quite a lot of vegetables per order.

Agedashi tofu..

You can order this too. The dashi/ soy sauce was not too salty, and went well with the silken smooth tofu.

To finish off our meal, we had some green tea ice cream and wasabi ice cream..

The verdict? Although the price was reasonable, about RM42 (with tax) for dinner, I wont return. The menu was basic (there was no unagi, salmon, scallops etc) compared to Tao which has a wide range (though average tasting food). And I still felt nauseous after dinner.

Maiu is located at G-3A, The Place, Jalan PJU 8/5D, Bandar Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya. Tel 03-77290015.

Aria, Bukit Damansara

It was not my intention to eat at Aria at the beginning. We were at Bukit Damansara during one of those packed festive season and could not get a place to eat. We settled for some pub grub, which left me sorely disappointed..

But didn't you try Aria? The food's pretty good.. My friend told me the next day when I complained.. Actually, I didn't really notice Aria, as it was at the quiet end of the block. Keeping that in mind, I decided that I should try it the next time I'm over at Bukit Damansara. A couple of months later, I did managed to made my way there. Aria's a cozy little place, service was just ok. We started the meal with Black Mussel with White Wine sauce (RM22) This was a fantastic starter, the mussels were thick and fresh, the sauce was thick, aromatic with white wine and very sweet. The crisp bread were perfect to mop up all those yummy sauce..

The Grilled Portobello mushrooms Salad (RM22)Came out rather skimpy. When they meant mushrooms (plural), it means 2 pieces. And it's the smallest portobello I've set my eyes on. Well, to be fair, the mushrooms were grilled to juicy perfection, with crisp cheesy top. Just that its so very little to satiate me.

The Seafood Zuppa (RM25) was next..

The amount of seafood stacked on the bowl was generous- but we were not impressed by the seafood, it was the flavour of the soup that got our votes. It was light, not heavy with tomato flavour, filled with sweetness from the seafood and a hint of smokiness in the soup. Very satisfying.

The pastas were next.. Linguine Aglio Olio Smoked Duck (RM28)

Though the pasta was cooked al-dente, the pasta was a tad too oily and salty. Eat it with smoked duck and olives added to the saltiness. Only order if you like your food salty.

Spaghetti Alla Opus (RM32) was next. And yes, if you find the name familiar, Aria is run by the same management as Opus, hence some similarity in dishes..

Though this dish scored low for finesse (seems like they just dumped the whole thing on the plate), again they scored high on the flavours. Fantastically addictive, sweet sauce, seafood fresh and springy, the pasta nicely al-dente. Delish.

And lastly, our meat for the night..

Pecorino Lamb Cutlet (RM55)

This dish didn't leave me impressed. The lamb rack was deep fried and the crust tasted suspiciously akin to KFC batter. The lamb was fully cooked, while I prefer ed mine still pinkish and juicy.

Of the dishes I've had, I feel that Aria does well in seafood dishes but average on the rest. I'll definitely pop by again, there's still a number of dishes which caught my eye, but didn't have the stomach space to try it this time ;).

Aria is located at 44G&44M, Plaza Damansara, Jalan Medan Setia 2, Bukit Damansara, KL. Tel: 03-20950016.

Erawan, Kota Damansara

When I heard of Erawan last year, I've tried to arrange for a makan session there. However, it was a busy period for me and my friends, plans were delayed, further delayed and perpetually delayed.

It took Mr Chardonnay to remind me of Erawan, he and MC wanted to buy me a belated birthday meal and the venue? You guessed it...

We had preordered our food- it was recommended to ensure that the dish was available and that the waiting time would be shorter..

First up, drinks to quench our thirst..

Interesting name like Black Rose and Trilingual, but the flavours were less surprising.

Started our meal with their Pomelo salad..

Large chunks of sweet pomelo topped with condiments (peanuts, dried shrimps, shallots, desiccated coconut etc) and drizzled with their homemade sauce. The burst of flavours were refreshing- the juicy, sweet pomelo coiled with tangy spicy sauce and ended with the crunch of the peanuts. Tremendously enjoyable, do order this if you're in Erawan.

Up next, the seafood tomyum..

Served in a dainty bowl, we chose a level 1 spiciness, as we were forewarned that Erawan's spiciness level was rather severe. Although our tolerance for spicy food was fine, we decided not to risk it and were so glad we stuck at level 1 (they have 5 levels). Even at 1, the soup was so very pedas that we started sweating heaps after a few sips. We all loved the tubular Chiangmai mushrooms in the soup, gave a nice bite while we're slurping down the soup.

We were ready to eat as the soup has opened our taste buds- and were served with the Fish and Salted Egg green curry.

A rather uncommon green curry dish, this was beautifully presented and tastes as good as it looks. The fishball was made from tenggiri fish, with a lovely bouncy texture when I bit into it. But what I love most was the creamy, velvety green curry sauce- the fragrance was enchanting and perfect with white rice.
The Steam seabass with lime sauce looks very fresh..

While Chardonnay finds this delicious, I enjoyed this, but not to the extend of gobsmacked for words. The fish went well with the spicy, sour sauce- which soaked right into the fish flesh. The more we ate, the spicier it gets, but hey, no complaints here :p

The kailan with salted fish gave our need for greens..

Simple dish, no faults to pick. Tasty.

To end our meal, we decided to try some of their desserts. Most unfortunately, the choice of dessert that we wanted was not available, so we settled for coconut ice cream and red ruby dessert.

The coconut ice cream was different from those I've sampled- there's no cream involved- just thick coconut juice frozen and mixed with julienned coconut flesh. Very enjoyable version. The red ruby on the other had, was forgettable.

Erawan serves fine Thai cuisine, the food was obviously prepared with care and patience. Overall, it was a great dining experience, I'll definitely come by again. Oh, do note, the pricing is towards the steep side, our meal for 3 pax costs RM200.

Erawan Classic Thai & Fusion is located at 22-1,Jalan PJU 5/16, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya.Tel: 03-6141 2393.

Happy Beans Cafe, UEP Subang Jaya

Andrew brought us to Happy Beans when we wanted something sweet for tea time.

There's some interesting stuff here.. can try la

Yes, interesting indeed...

Happy Beans speciality is handmade yu yuan (yam balls) that you can have it served with a few ways..

Andrew ordered the yu yuan special..

His bowl consists of yam balls, sweet potato balls, cubes of yam and pearl balls. Served in piping hot ginger brown sugar soup, it reminds me of eating tong yun and bubur cacar condiments at the same time. The yu yuan has an interesting texture- it's very QQ-bouncy, compact yet does not stick to the teeth. Andrew and WF really enjoyed it.

WF order something cold, it's cincau with her selected condiments..

With yu yuan and a few types of beans. It was served with a small cup of vanilla creamer, but WF who does not enjoy milky stuff did not add it in. I actually thought it tasted pretty good with the milky stuff :p

As for me, I'm not a fan of doughy flour stuff (with no filling :p) so I decided to have their dou hua with beans.

Their version of dou hua (bean curd) was silky smooth with distinct soy bean taste. It was pleasant to eat the non sweeten dou hua with the sweetened beans and slightly ginger spicy soup. The only bean type I didnt like in this was the kidney beans. A tad hard and rather tasteless.

Happy Beans have a range of shaved ice with fruits, which looks much better than those served in KTZ. Shall pop by to try that one day.hehe..

Happy Beans Cafe is located at 46, Jalan USJ 10/1E, 47600 UEP Subang Jaya, Selangor.