PIGGIN OUT @ ORIENTAL BANQUET, PETALING JAYA

For RM39++ per pax, this place was definitely a love at first taste when we first visited it during a friends full moon party. However, it’s been hard to revisit the lunch buffet as it’s held only during Sunday lunch which clashes with our church on Sunday and going for buffet over church will definitely incur the wrath of God and diarrhea would probably follow suit. They also have it during public holidays but do call for a reservation first as the buffet would not happen if they have a reserved event on that day.

The long and short of it all, we finally manage to re-visit our favorite Chinese buffet spot on Wesak day while everyone else was busy performing prayers, we were busy eating. Apart from the very reasonable price of RM39++, we love the extensive choice of dishes that is served. From the usual hot dishes, to fresh salmons, to delicious Chinese herbal soups, ice mussels, chukka idakos, Peking duck, roasted pig and even rojak and an array of really good nyonya kuih. The RM39++ buffet also comes with 1 servinf of sharks fin soup which you would need to request. It’s no wonder this place is always pack during hteir buffet promotion.

If you still have any doubt about how good this place it, allow the pictures to summarized the rest.

Location:

16, Jalan 19/1, Section 19,

46200 Petaling Jaya,

Kuala Lumpur.

GPS: N3.115984, E101.627972

PIGGIN OUT @ iL LIDO, YAP KWAN SENG

I nearly lost RM200. Partially due to iL Lido and for most part due to my forgetfulness. I specifically bought the vouchers off Groupon in March for my wife’s birthday in May after hearing about the place. Come May, I totally forgot about this place and made reservations for Le Meridien and if I had not decided to just check if I had any unutilized Groupon vouchers, I would have lost RM200 spend on this.

Thankfully we managed to get a reservation and off we set leaving our kids with both our parents for a well deserved fine dining on my wife’s birthday.

For a start, it’s quite a shame that iL Lido is located in Mayang where the carparks are really tight and the elevators are crampy and upon reaching the 1^st floor, you’re at a lost as to where to go if not for the voice of the waiters shouting “Ahoy there”… actually it was more like “Welcome”.

But upon stepping in, the ambience albeit it being simple was cosy, welcoming and really relaxing. Just by sitting at our table, we felt absolutely at ease. That was really not easy to achieve as I had my office staring back at me the whole night.

We decided to opt for the degustation menu (RM198 per pax) to have a better selection of what they had to offer.

While waiting for our meal of two, water and bread.

Water was bland and tasteless as it should have been.

  

Bread was really nice and warm inside but a little bit too crusty on the outside.

1^st up on the menu was Amuse Bouche which translated in French means “mouth amuser” (don’t ask me why Italian restaurant, French wordings) which was really a slice of raw tuna on a slice of eggplant. The tuna was fresh but I wasn’t quite sure if the eggplant complemented it perfectly.

Next up on the menu was Hokkaido scallops with truffle.

Next came the foie gras with duck bacon and lentils. The lentils and shaved pears definitely complemented the fattiness of the goose liver although I thought the liver was a little tad fattier which gave you the muak feeling thereafter.

This next dish was a little bit of a disappointment. Chitarrugi (some sort of noodles) with lobster. Noodles tasted like yellow mee and that alone puts you off.

The main for the menu was Wagyu Beef Cheek. In all honesty, there wasn’t really much to shout about this dish. It was ok, but the meat felt piecey and the sauce dominated over the taste of the beef.

For desserts, Molten Lava Chocolate with Vanilla Ice Cream. This – was good. Warm tasting chocolate would overflow when you cut through the cake and of course, nothing complements it better than berries and ice cream.

Overall, it was a good meal but above it all, the ambience of the place was something really that I love.

Location:

183, Jalan Mayang (Off Jalan Yap Kwan Seng)

50450 Kuala Lumpur

Directly opposite the Australian Embassy and AmBank.