Friday, December 30, 2011

Dragon I - One Utama

Dragon I is a chain store in Kuala Lumpur specializing in fresh noodles and dumplings. We came to the restaurant at one utama on a Friday afternoon and found it to be pretty full. There are two chefs making dumplings in the front window.

We ordered the braised fish la mien (fresh hand pulled noodles), the seafood sweet and sour la mien, mapo tofu rice, pork rice, the dumplings, fried tofu, and onion pancake.

braised fish la mien

seafood sweet and sour la mien

Pan fried onion pancake.


Fried tofu

Seafood crispy noodle

For lunch, the noodles ranged from rm14-28 which is mid pricing for lunch here.

The dumpling skin is thin, but the dipping had too much msg. The noodle dishes had fresh noodle, but the noodle was a little too thin, so it did not have much bite to it. I liked the deep fried tofu as the skin was thin and crispy and not oily.

In general food came quickly and was consistent. Service was not as efficient as we had to flag down people to refill our drinks. This is however, a general trend at most local restaurants.








Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Gyo-o restaurant

This is another restaurant from the gyoza king chain. located at continental centre in Richmond, this cozy restaurant was surprizngly full for a weekday night. Unlike a few of the other restaurants from the same chain, they have a much longer menu encompassing all japaneese food styles, from oden, to ramen, sushi, gyoza, don, udon and sushi. The wall decor and paintings gave the restaurant a vibrant yet welcoming feel.

We ordered a clam ramen, gyoza and a squid and fish egg rice. The plum sauce on the gyoza gave it more depth although the gyoza skin was a little thicker than the one at gyoza king. The ramen uses small clams to give the broth a light and fresh flavor. Their rice bowls are very large. The mayo sweetness and the saltiness of the fish eggs complements each other. Good value given its price.

Gyoza

Clam Ramen

Fish Egg rice.


What I liked : good location, nice decor, nice selection of rice dishes.

What I did not like: the menu was a little too big, sacrificing quality for quantity. The gyoza was not up to the gyoza king standard.






Friday, December 16, 2011

Mistral restaurant

Mistral on broadway

As a special treat we decided to come here around Christmas time for some nice and heavy French fare.

Our sitting was at 7:45 on a Friday and the restaurant was packed when we arrived. We were printout seated and given the menu to peruse. we decided on 3 appetizers and 2 mains.
Escargot , chantrelle mushroom salad, large charcuterie plate.

large charcuterie plate

Chantrelle mushroom salad

Escargot

We like that the appetizers were served swiftly. Although they were very busy, the server was attentive enough to refill.our water and bread for the first round quickly. I loved that there was a diverse selection on the charcuterie plate. My favorite being the duck pate and the bison prosciutto.

Braised rabbit

Seafood stew.

Of the 2 mains, the rabbit was the winner. There was more depth to the dish whereas the seafood stew was just overpowered by the heaviness of the cream.


The winner for the night was the pear tart. Fresh crispy pastry with thinly sliced pears and caramel sauce and a side of vanilla ice cream.

I loved the attentive service and intimate setting, but IMO some of the dishes were not that unique. Given the price point there are other french restaurants in the area that offer better quality and value. I do like this restaurant but there are other options that win over it.