Coriander Cafe @ Northpoint Mid Valley

Nestled deep in the corner of Mid Valley City sits a cafe. You may not have heard of this cafe, no matter how many times you've been to Mid Valley. Trust me. I've literally grown up in Mid Valley and I didn't even know this place existed. It's located along the bridge connecting Northpoint (the office buildings) and Mid Valley's North Court (the shopping mall), so it's quite easy to miss.

The Coriander Cafe is what you shouldn't be missing out though. A quaint little kopitiam styled cafe catering for the office crowd, Coriander Cafe definitely fits the bill of a hidden gem. Carefully styled after the traditional feel of kopitiams, everything in the cafe; from the lights to the wall decorations and even those huge marble tables, screams of nostalgia.

Heck, they even serve you Coke in those glass bottles to further hype up the nostalgia.

But when it comes down to it all, the food plays a huge role in determining how a cafe fares. We're pretty glad that most of the food served in Coriander gets a solid nod, while others still maintain space for massive improvements.

First up on the tasting list was the Honey Chicken.

I don't know if you have eaten Honey Chicken anywhere else, but this is a certain must try. There is a generous helping of chicken drummets and wings, coated with a thick layer of honey. Each bite is so sinfully sweet, but you just can't stop yourself. If you're ever visiting, this is a certain must try.

Next up came the Singapore Noodles, or more commonly known as Xing Chao Mien (星洲炒米粉).

According to fellow foodie Evelyn, this 星洲炒 was perfectly spicy and reminded her of a place her family brought her a long time ago which served similar tasting 星洲炒. Nostalgia factor + 1. For me personally, I barely tasted it because you know I have a weakness for all things spicy. Still, if Evelyn is willing to return just for this dish, you better know it's good stuff.

The Marmite Fish was next up.

This is typical Marmite Fish; dory fillets doused in marmite sauce and served with rice. It really had the flavor of marmite, though it was a little too salty for my tastebuds.

At this point in the tasting, 3 dishes appeared simultaneously.

Salted Egg Fish with Rice.

A real favorite. I've never liked salted egg with anything but somehow, this deliciously tempting dish made me go for seconds. And thirds. It's a dory fillet fried to crispy perfection with salted eggs and served with rice. Seriously, this is a must try as well.

Peanut Chicken.

The Peanut Chicken tasted a lot like lemon chicken with crispy peanut bits. Perhaps they were trying to go for the nutty flavor?

The Butter Chicken With Gravy.

A fine tasting specimen which did not cut down on the butter sauce, the amount of chicken nor the rice. Noted, there's no real way of ruining butter chicken and Coriander Cafe does a fantastic job to keep it delicious. It's a perfectly filling meal for lunch or dinner.

Below are 2 Malaysian favorites, the Penang Char Koay Teow and the Kam Heong fried rice, both of which are good but exhibit nothing huge to shout about.

This is their signature dish, the Chicken Chop with a wide variety of sauces you can try out, including Black Pepper, Sweet and Sour, Nyonya and Mushroom Cheese. The one we tried was Chicken Chop with Nyonya Sauce, and by golly gee it's really good. Don't let my terrible photo skills fool you. Hidden beneath all those condiments is a chicken chop worth fighting for. And my, did I fight.

Finally we also tried the Curry Kapitan Chicken with Rice. Again, it was nothing much to shout about, though I have to admit that the Kapitan Curry (which Coriander Cafe currently plans to be bottled) is some pretty good stuff.

If you're around the Mid Valley area and want to have some good food in a traditional ambiance, why not head on down to Coriander Cafe and have a taste? It's definitely a hidden gem in Mid Valley City.

Below are more details on Coriander Cafe:

Address: Coriander Cafe, Midvalley Megamall, Northpoint Offices.
Phone: 03-2202 0285
Email: info@corianderleaf.com.my
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/corianderleafrestaurant 

How to get there (thanks to Marilyn): Coming from Midvalley (If you parked at Gardens, head to Midvalley), go towards Northpoint (away from GSC side), First Floor. Nearing the end, you'll see F.O.S. Kids & Teens on your left, a makan place in the middle, and ATM on the right. Walk towards the left side exiting to a pedestrian bridge (Right will head to KTM station instead) After crossing the pedestrian bridge, turn left and you will see the restaurant on your right, beside a Japanese language learning centre.
 
Cheerios!

GTower's Ramadhan Buffet

In a few more days, our Muslim friends will be observing the holy month of Ramadhan, which is the season to fast, to observe and to be generous to one another. It is also a time for everyone to gorge themselves silly with food. I’m not kidding. During Ramadhan, Malaysians just like to makan, and makan and makan some more. I mean, why shouldn’t they? Restaurants all over the country are joining in the hype and are making it a point to provide us all with generous (a virtue of the Ramadhan month!) offering of buffet after buffet, at insanely economical prices, to help both your stomach and your wallet feel fantastic.

Like our namesake, we're forever hungry. So our eyes (and bellies) perked up when we were invited to a special pre-Ramadhan buffet tasting at Rajang Hall, GTower. GTower is located right smack in the middle of the city center, so finding the place isn't difficult at all. Traffic on the other hand....

The thing that we love about buffet spreads is that we can just eat and eat and eat, and to be able to choose from a wide variety as well. Variety is the keyword for GTower's Ramadhan buffet, as GTower's very own celebrity chef Chef Johnny Fua and his team will be preparing a host of tantalizing halal local delicacies for hungry patrons throughout the entire Ramadhan period.

In buffets, there is no such thing as what to eat first. Although it's been implanted in our minds that the proper sequence is always appetizers, mains and dessert, all that goes out the window at a buffet. With all that food laid out before us at this Ramadhan buffet, it took an inhuman effort to try and withhold ourselves from piling everything on our plate. Still, to make things simpler for everyone reading this, we'll follow the conventional style of eating.

For starters, you can try the appetizers, with mouthwatering selections such as the Kerabu Perut, Penang Pasembor, Kerabu Jantung Pisang and the “must-have” sambal belacan.

Basically everything here.

Once you've completed your first round, casually saunter over to the Mains section for your dose of even more delicious food such as Nasi Hujan Panas, Aloo Ghopi, Pau Goreng Berlada, Sambal Udang with Scallops, Dalca Kambing among others.

Note: In our frenzied hunger, we forgot to take down the names of what we ate. That's why none of the pictures below are labeled. Forgive us for our lack of professionalism.

Of course, what is a Malaysian Ramadhan buffet without the Malaysian flavor? Our personal favorite of the lot was the roast lamb shoulder with a side helping of Arabic rice and the satay (with choice of beef, mutton or chicken). There's just no possible way to ruin satay.

 Fancy a slice of roast lamb shoulder? The only answer is yes.

 The roast baked snapper looks mighty angry at being our dinner. 

If you feel that there is too much meat on your plate, take a stroll over to the ulam counter, where a wide variety of ulam and condiments are laid out before you.

 EAT US!

Finally, desserts. What is a meal without desserts? With an assorted range of desserts to choose from, such as the Cendol Banana & Orange Triffle, Pengat Labu and Sagu, Rojak Buah and assorted kuih-muih and fruits, you can be sure that each and every one of your sweet tooths will be satisfied. I know because Bugger Marcus took more than 10 trips to the dessert counter, and wiped out almost half the sweets there.

None of these survived the "Black Hole's" inhalation. 

With Puasa month looming ahead, why not berbuka puasa at GTower with your family and friends? Priced at RM90++ for adults and RM45++ for children ages 7-12), you can be sure that you'll berbuka puasa with a smile on your face. I know we had silly plastered grins on our faces after the meal. Oh yes, kids under 6 years old eat for FREE.

What's more, there will be a rotation menu for the buffet every single day of the week, which basically means that you'll have different kinds of food every day. No two buka puasa meals will be the same.


More information below:

Address: Rajang Hall,
Mezzanine Floor,
GTower,
199 Jalan Tun Razak.

Reservations can be made via:

Tel: 03 2168 1919 ext 7040

OR

Email: fnb.admin@gtower.com.my

Cheerios!

Golden Orchid Oriental Thai Cuisine @ Damansara Jaya

The Buggers recently went on a much deserved holiday to Bangkok for 5 days. Bangkok is famous for its really cheap shopping, and of course delicious Thai food. So prior to going to Bangkok, myself and Jun went for the media opening of Golden Orchid Oriental Thai Cuisine in Damansara Jaya, as an early preparation for the level of spicy food we expected to have in Thailand.

Sawadika, says the figure waiting to greet you outside the door. 

The ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open Golden Orchid Oriental Thai Cuisine.

The interior is cosy enough, and can fit up to 100 patrons.

Golden Orchid is so named because of a massive potted bloom of golden orchids right near the entrance. So it's not just a name, you can actually see real golden orchids. 

But of course, the food is arguably the most important aspect of any restaurant. And Golden Orchid doesn't disappoint, with a spread of authentic Thai cuisine to satisfy all its hungry customers.

First off was the Tom Yam Seafood. What is Thai cuisine without the flavorful and spicy dish?

 Tom Yam Seafood

The tom yam soup was fragrant and exquisite. We could see that the chef obviously didn't hang back with the amount of seafood ingredients; lots of prawns, squid and abalone mushrooms to complement the tom yam soup. Definitely an appetite opener. I actually managed to finish an entire bowl, despite my intolerance to all things spicy.

Next up is the Green Curry Seafood.

Green Curry Seafood

Since I am kinda sorta intolerant to spicy foods, the green curry seafood was a welcome break for my burnt tastebuds. The coconut milk mixed well with the green curry to make a delicious paste well suited for the seafood. Similarly, the chef again poured in a generous amount of ingredients into this dish. Good stuff, especially for those who can't really take spicy food, but still want to give their tastebuds an exciting time.

The following 3 dishes may seem quite plain and ordinary but they are really well prepared and goes very well with the meal in general.

Stir Fried Kangkung

Stir fried with a generous amount of sambal, this dish definitely goes well with your Thai meal.

Thai Styled Omelette

They call it the Thai styled omelette but honestly, it tastes egg-actly (geddit, geddit?) like a normal omelette to me.

Basil Chicken

This was actually pretty good. It's basically minced chicken, mixed well with basil leaves. It's pretty addictive stuff, and because it wasn't spicy at all, I had several helpings.

Golden Orchid BBQ Combo Platter

If you're looking for a sharing dish, or just for a platter of various different dishes, this is a great choice for you. With portions of Thai BBQ seafood and BBQ lamb slices, you'll get the best of both worlds. The homemade green chilli sauce is a perfect addition to this dish, despite it bringing the heat up several notches in my mouth. Dipping the fried squid into this sauce serves only to enhance its flavor, and burn my tastebuds. The lamb especially was really tender and juicy, and it didn't have that tangy taste that comes with poorly cooked lamb meat.

Spicy Papaya Salad

I don't know why I only managed to eat the papaya salad so late into the meal, but that's probably a testament to how awesome it is. In Thailand, the papaya salad is a dish sold almost everywhere. I've read somewhere that papaya salad is also one of the more difficult dishes to make, because a single mistake could cause a lot of problems in the toilet later on. Not with this salad. Made with generous helpings of raw papaya, as well as the sweet chilli sauce and garnished with chilli padi, this is definitely one of the better papaya salads out there.

Pataya Fish with Sweet Chilli Sauce

The final main course of the night. The Pataya Fish. The fish is deep fried until it is crispy and has a look of sheer horror, placed carefully on a bed of their delicious sweet chilli sauce and topped with thin slices of mangoes. Not only does the sweet chilli sauce provide the fish with more flavor, the fish itself is really fresh and fried to crispy perfection. Another must try dish.

I should probably have taken the cover off to show you the fluffiness of the rice. Oops. 

This is how your dinner should look like. 

Finally, dessert.

Red Ruby

I'm sure many of you have already tried the red ruby, chestnuts wrapped up to look like red rubies and topped with shaved ice, coconut milk and slices of jackfruit. If you haven't already tried it before, you really should.

With our dinner finished, we even got this amazing gift all thanks to Golden Orchid, a floating flower candle. I'll probably use it whenever I need to up the romance with my girlfriend, should I ever find one.

We at Forever Hungry just want to thank Golden Orchid for their hospitality and generosity. We had a great time eating the delicious food and it will by no means be the last time we'll have a meal, should we ever get the craving to have Thai food.

More info on Golden Orchid below:

Address: GOLDEN ORCHID ORIENTAL THAI CUISINE
NO 12-14G, JALAN SS22/25,
47400 DAMANSARA JAYA, PETALING JAYA
Opening Hours: 11:30am-2:30pm and 5:30pm-10:00pm. 











You can also check out their Facebook page for more deals and information, or give them a call for reservations or inquiries at 03-7722 2228.



Cheerios!

Pictures by:

Written by: 

 

Vault Wine and Bistro @ Glomac Damansara

This is a post I originally wrote for Forever Hungry. As such, all pictures, materials and logos belong to Forever Hungry and Forever Hungry alone. Please do check out the blog here and remember to like their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter. Forever Hungry needs your support!

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I know we haven't exactly been active these few months but that's because each of the Buggers have begun on a new phase of their lives called 'work'. Work; that time in each and every one of our lives where neither time nor money is ever enough. But even though we've all been caught up with our own forms of business, there really isn't any excuse not to put aside a bit of time for the most important thing; food.

That's why I snapped up the chance to go for a food review at Vault, Wine and Bistro at Glomac Damansara. 

I figured that a restaurant called Vault would be a cozy little place, lights dimmed to near darkness and having rows and rows of wine bottles lined up along the walls. I wasn't wrong. I loved how they designed the place, minimalist and simple, and perfect for a drinking night out. 

There's even a cat who welcomes you. I like cats who welcome me. 

But the interior design of a restaurant doesn't necessarily reflect on their food, as I have experienced many, many times before. Despite its wine and bistro name, Vault does their part to serve food to customers. Vault specializes in bringing an Italian cuisine, to complement the wine I guess. Below is all the dishes we managed to try out. 

 Crispy Calamari

I really enjoyed the crispy calamari (or sotong, if you really want to be Malaysian). Lightly battered and easily chewable and not at all rubbery, this is one of the better crispy sotongs I've eaten so far. Dipping it in the Thai sauce is excellent too. Weird for a restaurant serving Italian cuisine, but in this globalized world, who's complaining?

Roasted Pork Belly

This will be the first of many pork dishes we managed to try at Vault. I'm a huge fan of all things porky but the roasted pork belly reminded me of char siew. Plus, it wasn't better than the char siew I have tried elsewhere. Not my favorite.

 Prosecco Col Solivo Champagne

We were also served champagne, although with my kiddy face I wasn't really allowed to drink much. I only had one glass and because I'm not a champagne connoisseur, I really couldn't tell you if it was good or not. It was okay, I guess?

 Fried Chicken Wing

Frankly, this is no different from any other fried chicken wing I've had anywhere else. Didn't suit the vibe of an Italian restaurant.

 Arugula Salad

This is the healthy alternative to the fried chicken wings, although the bits of pork shaken in will beg to differ. Zesty, tangy and overall quite a salad.

 Seafood Marinara

The most disappointing thing about this dish is the quantity. I doubt that there is enough to feed a single person. The prawns and the sotongs are quite big in size though, and the taste of the seafood marinara is definitely there.  

 Prawn & Scallop Aioli

I wish I could say more about this dish, but I didn't get to try it because they were out of stock. It's one of those things that a restaurant really shouldn't be doing, though it's understandable since Chinese New Year is...well, tomorrow. 

 Trio Mushroom Soup

Again, I didn't get to try this because they only gave us one portion for an entire table to try. In a world where the biggest are the fittest, a scrawny guy like me won't ever be able to win. 

 Smoked Duck

This is their daily special, the smoked duck. Honestly, the portion is really little. I mean, 5 slices of smoked duck. That has either got to be the smallest duck in the world, or the duck with the least meat on it. It was good, I have to admit, being quite succulent but with the small portion, I really couldn't taste anything.

 Marinated Pork Rib

The pork ribs, which again had a very minuscule amount. It was very, very dry, another thing which really put me off. I like my pork ribs to be juicy so that I can act like Conan the Barbarian when I'm crunching on my ribs. 

Mix Sausage Platter

Who doesn't like a sausage fest (guys probably)? Vault offers a mix of 5 different kinds of sausages, including the Italian Sausage, Spicy Nungarian Sausage, Nuernberger Sausage, Chorizo Sausage and German Pepper Sausage. It's great if you're a sausage lover (nothing dirty intended). 

More information on Vault Wine and Bistro below: 

Address: A-G-7, Block A, Glomac Damansara, No. 699, Jalan Damansara, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: 03-7725 7266

Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 10:30 am - 12:00 am

Sat: 5:00 pm - 12:00 am

Rest every Sunday

For more information on Vault and their special offers, you can check out their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/vault.wineandbistro/

Cheerios!