C.i Xpress 大家爱@ 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya

As many people aware that 1 Utama is in going into a refurbishment stage, many renovation is going on, many stores closed down and re-launching, many restaurants also closed for renovation, relocation and there are a number of new restaurants opened this past weeks. One of them is C.i Xpress.

Many patrons may not aware that the concept and the theme is almost (not 100%, but 75% at least) copying a well-known chain restaurant in Hong Kong. It is the Café de Coral 大家乐 (Click link here and their website here). Firstly, the décor, they are using orange as their main theme color whereby Café de Coral is yellow theme. Concept wise is almost the same. Customers may find it very comfy and spacey.

Then to the food ordering part, they also copied the way the presentation of their menu. They put on right at the entrance where the customers can view and order at the cashier right beside the menu board. After that, you have to collect your food at another counter.

Since C.i Xpress has copied the concept, they also copied Café de Coral’s signature dish, the Baked Pork Chop Rice. Obviously, the author has very high expectation and expected something great which turns out……... a totally bad experience. The presentation wise is ok, because cover with gravy sauce. Portion is small for the price you are paying. First bite, the gravy doesn’t taste good at all as has little tomato paste in it and used a lot of corn starch to thicker the sauce. It didn’t have that sweetness of the tomato in it, tasted very artificial, and didn’t have enough salt too. And then they give a couple of tomato slices, onions and celery. No green vegetables at all. Luckily the chef fried the rice which is fragrance and the pork chop is pan fried which is tender enough but lack of seasoning. Mix all together, the dish will be oven baked. But the dish came out not hot, that kind of oven baked “hotness”. Suspect they use microwave oven baked or they didn’t baked long enough. Overall the dish is lacking in taste at many level, didn’t blend well with all the ingredients, especially lack of heart to cook this signature dish.

Next the milk tea ice, easily you can find a better milk tea ice at some other restaurants in 1 Utama. The tea is ok, the milk is alright but there is something wrong with the quality of the water supply. Because you can get the tap water after taste, which gives a very bad impression to patrons.

Today is their opening day, that’s why the quality control is not up to the standard yet. But a word of advice, send your chefs to Hong Kong Café de Coral and ask them to try their signature pork chop rice dish. Your chefs will surely know why C.i Xpress pork chop rice is nowhere near that standard. Furthermore, the pricing is bit high for a concept that it’s a self-serve business.

Food Review

Food Type: Chinese (Non-Halal)
Address: Lot G120 & G121, Ground Floor, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, No. 1, Lebuh Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Price: Average: RM17 per pax
Operating Hours: Daily (10am-10pm)

Taste Rating: 3.5/10
Ambiance Rating: 8/10
Service Rating: Not applicable (Self-Serve)
Value Rating: 6/10

Overall Rating: 5.8/10

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Dirty Nelly’s Café & Bistro @ Damansara Jaya, Petaling Jaya

Beer, alcohol, band and most important….food!!!! The first 3 elements, you sure think of pub, very western pub culture décor with the one of a kind smell, like stale smell. And of course, if you can find a place with nice food, why not pay a visit to Dirty Nelly’s Café & Bistro. Its located at Damansara Jaya shoplot area. Perfect place for a quick cold beer after work. If not wrong, this bistro is owned by a couple Radio DJs. Most likely you’ll bump into them. The place is cozy and surrounded with friendly attendants.

For porky lovers, they offer quite a number of porky dishes. Thumbs up! One of the must try is their Pork Chop with Apple Cabbage Slaw & Passion fruit sauce. The pork chop is pan fried till perfection, the chef served it with Apple Cabbage Slaw and drizzled with their special passion fruit sauce. The pork chop is juicy and tender, eat it with the sauce is damn nice.

Next is the Gammon Steak with Pineapple & Fried Duck Egg. The steak is grilled and pineapple is caramelized, pair it together for a instant classic dish. But here, they add a fried duck egg to give a rick creamy yolk to the flavor. The verdict, the steak is tasty with pineapple and duck egg. But it’s a bit dry side and not enough sauce for the entire dish.

Lastly, the Wild Boar Pie. For once, you don’t get this dish anywhere. Wild boar meat texture is quite tough and the meat has a strong smell. If the chef didn’t cook it in a right way, it’ll go disaster. The chef here is smart enough to use it for pie filling. The meat is fried with spice coated, seared then tossed together with other ingredients then buried with creamy buttery mashed potatoes. The combination is fantastic. The bite is succulent and fragrant, and it’s healthy too. Yummy!!!

If you wanna try the food, you should try making it before 9pm. Pack with people enjoying beer and band performances. Overall, a bistro that people enjoy beers and some might want to enjoy foods. This is the place for hang out.

Food Review

Food Type: Western (Non-Halal)
Address: No. 27, SS22/19, Damansara Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel: +603-7731 3719
Price: Average RM40per pax
Operating Hours: Daily (5pm-1am weekdays, 12pm-2am weekends)

Taste Rating: 8.5/10
Ambiance Rating: 7.5/10
Service Rating: 8/10
Value Rating: 6/10

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

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Mee Ayam (Chicken Noodle)@ Jalan Tanjug Duren Utara 3A, West Jakarta, Indonesia

After a long break for work, family and back from Jakarta. So let’s take a break from the usual Malaysian food and change gears to talk about Indonesian food instead.

There is a saying that when thou traveleth to a foreign land, thou is well advised to first maketh sure that thou hath a friend in the very place thou art visiting. That is because thine friend wouldst be in a better position than thyself to know where all the local good eat are. The longer thy friend hath been in that country, the better.

Now that the commandment has been reinforced, let’s talk about food.

This is not a posh place, but if you are going to look for the authentic Indonesian food, you should venture into food areas that are from the shopping malls and posh restaurants. This particular food stall is located at West Jakarta, at Road Tanjung Duren Utara 3A. Many may not know where it is, it’s near Taman Anggrek Shopping Mall (Mal Taman Anggrek) and the newly opened Pullman Hotel. You have venture further in for another 1.5KM. It’s right behind shoplots areas, operating on a corner house.

This place is famous for one thing and one thing only, Mee Ayam (Mie Ayam/Chicken Noodle). Basically, every morning is jam pack with food lovers waiting for their mee ayam to be served. Although is a bit dirty, hot, humid and long queue/waiting time. Patrons don’t mind about it. Their focus is mee ayam. You have choice of chicken breast meat or drumstick. The chicken is braised with their special herbs soup for properly for a few hours, to maintain the tenderness of the chicken meat and must describe it as tasty, tender, flavorful and heavenly. The noodle is obviously handmade, because you can see the inconsistency on the size of the noodle. Still, it’s good enough for patrons to ignore it. All they want is good noodle which it’s bouncy bites and flavorful. Yummy!!!

If you want some spiciness, you can try their local made chili sauce. It’s not bad actually. Spicy and bit of sour taste.

The picture below is their handmade deep fried fishball. It’s tough for the first bite. After that, you can taste its heavily seasoned and slowly melts in your mouth. Overall is a good but not great deep fried fishball.

The next dish is not for everyone. Beware! Mouthwatering-Food condemns the way they prepare this dish. This dish called “Telur Muda” (Young Egg). Here's the deal: They take chicken eggs in which the embryo has begun to form in to a real live chick, and hard boil them. Good with salt, pepper and lime. They serve with egg shell off and the chicken egg is surrounded by blood vessels, and patrons can see the early form of a chick within egg yolk. The first bite had a hard outer layer skin and soft surprise in the middle. Anyway, the whole treat had a pleasant savory flavor and denser texture than conventional hard-boiled eggs. This is a popular breakfast food with locals eating it while to work, watching TV sports, or as an appetizer to a full meal.

If you decided to visit this place and yet can't locate it. Just ask around..... Good luck...

Food Review

Food Type: Indonesian (Halal)

Address: Corner House, Jalan Tanjug Duren Utara 3A, West Jakarta, Indonesia

Tel: Nil

Price: Average RM6-10 per pax

Operating Hours: Daily (Early morning till finish)

Taste Rating: 9.5/10

Ambiance Rating: 2/10

Service Rating: 4/10

Value Rating: 8.5/10

Overall Rating: 6/10

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d’italiane Kitchen @ Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya

Sometimes you don’t know what to eat and you wanted to treat yourself to some nice delicious food. Just explore Sunway Giza at Kota Damansara. Most likely you’ll find something that you like. Why not go try the d’italiane Kitchen. First impression about the ambiance is very homey and comfy. Customers will find the place a dominance westernize design with one dedicated wine cell which you can choose your own wine if you wish.

Whether or not the food is gonna be good, you got to order the salad. The Caesar salad, they serve with baby romaine, crispy chicken slice, shaved parmesan cheese, Caesar dressing and lastly one nice poached egg on top. Portion very big and tasty.

Next, the Sicilian Chicken, this salad comes with roasted chicken strips, with mustard dressing, mixed salad and herb dressing. Overall a good salad dish.

Some said the risotto dishes are good. Can’t resist to order the Risotto Shirraglia, they cooked it with smoked chicken and roasted chicken and used light cream to give it a low fat dish. It is quite yummy and creamy.

The other is the Risotto Smoked Duck. Using premier smoked duck and the chef opt for light cream to slow cook the risotto. Eventually it gives a very fragrant smell and soft bites to it. Nice!!

For main course, this is the Poultry Platter. It consists of few poultries, starts with the leg of chicken stuffed with chicken and mushroom farce, then breaded and deep fried. Topped with shallot brown sauce and served with sautéed chicken slices with onions, jumbo chicken sausage and fresh mashed potato. This dish is huge, recommend to share with 2 ladies or one huge guy. Overall is tasty but the mashed potato is not so smooth and too dry. Recommend to put more cream into it and don’t overcooked it.

They do have quite a range to choice from at the pizza section. You can’t go wrong with the Hawaiian Pizza. Instead of using the traditional chicken meat, here they choose smoked turkey (it’s a healthy choice) along with pineapple, mozzarella on tomato sauce. The crust is thin and which is quite scrumptious. Luckily is not dry and doughy.

Food lovers should pay a visit to this place. Food is good, portion is big, design is classic and simple. Because it’s so good that every night is pack and always short of staff = service is not up to par.

Food Review

Food Type: Italian (Halal)
Address: Sunway Giza Shopping Mall, Block D, F.10, first floor, No. 2, Jalan PJU5/14, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
Tel: +603-6148 1828
Price: Average RM40 per pax
Operating Hours: Daily (10am-10pm)

Taste Rating: 8.5/10
Ambiance Rating: 8/10
Service Rating: 6.5/10
Value Rating: 8/10

Overall Rating: 7.8/10

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