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!