CLOSED- Kafe Vietnam @ Bandar Puteri Puchong

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone celebrating! It's a long weekend and with most Chinese restaurants closed, we decided to venture further for something different. That's how we ended up in a quiet part of Bandar Puteri Puchong is a nice little cafe  called Kafe Vietnam. Note the mannequin dressed in Ao Dai (traditional Viet costume) outside that seems to be calling you to enter.

 

The quintessential Vietnamese starter - Cuon Tom or fresh spring rolls - with fresh herbs and prawns - a great start to any meal. Dip it in the spicy peanut sauce for full effect.

Fresh spring rolls - RM7.90

Next, Goi Rau Cau Tom Thit - a pork, prawn and jelly salad. Sounds weird on paper but it came together very well on the dish. Best when scooped up and eaten with the provided prawn crackers. 

Salad of prawn, pork and jelly served with crackers _RM13.90

Another quintessential Vietnamese dish, Bahn Xeo - a crispy crepe with various fillings. This one came with slices of pork and prawns. Best eaten wrapped in the salad leaves and dipped in the accompanying chilli sauce. 

Bahn Xeo - RM15.90

For many, Pho is to Vietnamese food what laksa is to Malaysian food. There are many variations, and this this premium version of Pho Bo Dac Biet came with tender slices of beef, brisket, tendons and beef balls in a light but flavorful broth. Add whatever herbs and vegetables you wish and a squeeze of lime or some chilli padi or fish sauce. This would be a perfect brunch for me.

Pho Bo Dac Biet - RM16.90

A dish that is found everywhere in Vietnam is Com Tam (broken rice), almost like chicken rice in Malaysia. Usually served with pork chop or fried chicken, other side dishes are a sunny side up and runny egg, a slice of steamed minced pork and egg, pickled vegetables and slices of tomato and cucumber. The marinated pork chop here is flavorful and is a perfect foil for the broken rice. A simple dish that I could happily eat everyday.     

Com Tam - RM14.90

Another noodle dish, Bun Moc is a rice noodles soup with various pork ball, minced pork slices, pork cuts and sprinkling of fresh spring onions and herbs as well as fried shallots. Again, you can add fresh herbs, lime or chillies to your own taste but for me, the stock was flavorful enough as it was.  

Bun Moc - RM14.90

For the Lunar New Year or Tet Festival as it is known in Vietnam, a rice dumpling similar to the Chinese chang is served. They did not have the dumpling but we sampled Com Chien La Sen a fried rice in lotus leaf. The lotus leaf imparts a lovely fragrance to the rice, which is fried with slices of pork sausages.  

Com Chien La Sen (Fried Rice in Lotus Leaf) - RM19.90 for 2 pax

The iced coffee is thick, strong and sweet just like in Vietnam. Highly recommended as well. You can also pick up Vietnamese coffee, instant noodles, fish sauce, rice paper, pickles and a few other  supplies from the store. 

 

A lovely place for a weekend brunch, we understand that it is considerable crowded at dinner time.  

 

Overall, this was a great find. The food took me back to my trip to Ho Chi Minh City. We spotted groups of Vietnamese workers eating here too, so the food must be pretty authentic for them to be here too. Service was lovely too since it was pretty quiet when we visited.  Possibly the best Vietnamese restaurant in Klang Valley? Give it a try and tell us what you think.

 

Location : No 1, Jalan Puteri 4/1, Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong

Contact : 03-80527472  

FB Link :  https://www.facebook.com/kafevietnam?ref=ts&fref=ts

Banh Mi @ Bandar Puteri, Puchong

After my recent trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, I have been on the lookout for nice Vietnamese food in Klang Valley. After reading about this place on Eat Drink KL blog, I was tempted to give it a try.

Located behind the Columbia Asia hospital in Bandar Puteri, this is a relatively quiet neighborhood for a restaurant, far from the hustle (and parking madness) of the Bandar Puteri town centre. Lots of parking in this vicinity.

They have a very limited menu - maybe less than 15 items, of which half are choices of Banh Mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwiches). You can have it with choice of pork (bacon or grilled pork), fish, chicken, egg or a combination of these (on request).

Banh Mi with bacon - RM6.80

Banh Mi with grilled chicken - RM6.60

Banh Mi with Grilled Pork - RM6.60

I liked the grilled chicken and grilled pork as these had the added smoky aroma and flavors from the grilling. Recommended.

Also available are rice sets with braised pork belly or lemongrass chicken. I tried the lemongrass chicken which was served with stir fried bitter gourd with egg and a vegetable soup. The chicken was nice and tasty but if would have been better if it was served with hot steaming rice instead of the lukewarm rice I got.

Lemongrass chicken with rice set - RM6.80

Lastly, we had the Bo Kho or beef stew. Served with a baguette, the stew was nice but not as thick and flavorful as I anticipated.

Stew beef with baguette set - RM6.60

Special mention about the unique decor made with real unused baguettes. The baguettes are made fresh daily so the unused ones get used as decor for the shop. Brilliant! It's a small non air-cond cafe so it does get stuffy in the afternoon.

The entire operation is run by Vietnamese so you're ensured of an authentic experience. Vietnamese drip coffee (hot or iced) and Ice Lime Tea are available and are recommended as well.

Location : No 21, Jalan Puteru 7/9, Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong, Selangor (opposite the Bandar Puteri Police Station)
Contact : 012-3225548 (Cindy Pham)
Website : www.banhmi.com.my
Operating hours : 10.30 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. (closed once a month)

CLOSED-O'baroi @ Taman D'Alpinia, Puchong

O'baroi is basically a Thai restaurant, with some local and Western dishes thrown in. Chef Mei who helms the kitchen is a 10 year veteran of a resort in Pulau Perhentian. He dishes out good Western and local dishes but hailing from Kelantan, he excels at Thai dishes.Here's what we tried during our recent visit:-

Serai drink and ice lemon tea - both were nice and refreshing.

Seafood tomyam. What can I say? I was impressed! For a Malaysian cook, this may be one of the best tomyam soups that I have had around Kajang. The chef got the balance of tangy, sweet, sour and pungent just right.

We were recommended the deep fried siakap with mango salad but asked for the fish to be steamed with a lemon sauce instead. I think we should have stuck with the recommended preparation as this turned out rather disappointing with the lemon sauce being rather watery and not sufficiently sour.

Sambal squid (with green peppers) was suitably spicy and the squid cooked just right to retain its crunchiness.

Kangkung belacan (ala PM Najib - hahahaha). Done nicely.

'Obaroi' fried rice - tasty and comforting though a tad expensive at RM12.90.

The star of the evening was a dish called 'Thai Style Chicken'. It had pieces of deep fried chicken which were nice and crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. This was topped with a simple sweet and tangy 'kerabu' of carrot, cucumber and onions. I would return to Obaroi just for this dish. Highly recommended.

Its a small restaurant in a quiet part of Puchong near the SKVE. I must try to get the GPS coordinates and post it here later as its a little difficult to locate. Its wort the journey there for the tomyam and Thai Style Chicken. Give it a try.

Location : 10, Jalan D'Alpinia 10, Taman D'Alpinia, 47120 Puchong
Contact : 012-533 2996

Yap Chuan Bah Kut Teh Restaurant, Kg Baru Puchong Bt 14

Now Yap Chuan is a restaurant that I have wanted to try for a long time. I heard about their 14 year old chef prodigy who created the 'dry' bah kut teh which has won over many bah kut teh connoisseurs. Truth be told, our previous attempts to go here for dinner were thwarted by some crisis or another.

Well, Ros and myself finally managed a visit for brunch recently. Located pretty close to Kg Baru Puchong, this is an area known for good food – the famous Puchong Yong Tau Foo is located nearby, as well as many good 'tai chow' places.

The normal BKT

This being our first visit, we had to try their bah kut teh. The BKT was certainly up to mark – thick and quite flavorful and very much the Hokkien-Klang variety. Ros however commented that the soup did not have a strong herbal aroma – maybe less use of the aromatic 'dong quai' ? All the same, I would rate this as one of the best in South Klang Valley. RM9.00 for a single serving.

The 'dry' BKT

The dry version of the BKT came with thin slices of pork (both lean and fatty), intestines, offal, ears etc together with some ladies finger slices. Everything was sliced thinner than the normal BKT to suit the quick cooking method in the claypot. The result is a slightly sweet but very flavorful sauce coating all the ingredients. Very appetizing when eaten with rice. Very worthy of it's status as the signature dish of this restaurant. RM10 for a single serving.

The otak-otak

We ordered the steamed otak-otak. It was quite fresh with sufficient pieces of fish inside. However we found it a tad bland, compared to the Muar otak-otak which packs a spicier and bolder taste. This was not quite worth the asking price of RM13.00 per serving.

The crunchy vegetable

The salad (po li sang) vegetable was served blanched and crispy with a topping of garlic oil. A perfect accompaniment for the BKT. RM4.00 only for a small serving.

Overall we were very happy with our visit and vowed to return for more. I heard their steamed tilapia fish is pretty good too.


Location : 53, Jalan BPU 2, Bandar Puchong Utama, Selangor
Contact : 012-674 4440
GPS Coordinates : 2.994486,101.621094

Puchong Yong Tau Foo

Gd has been frequenting this place for a long time and swears that it beats the Ampang Yong Tau Foo flat. I was a little sceptical, taking into account that the Ampang YTF is pretty good, freshly fried on order (or at least some of the places in Ampang still do this). How much better can the Puchong YTF be ?

Well I found out recently that it is A LOT better than the Ampang places I've tried before. Here's a few reasons:-
1. The YTF is only stuffed on order. You pick your choice of fresh ingredients such as brinjal, lady's finger, fu chook, chilli etc in a small plastic basket. Everything looks fresh. An 'army' of 'stuffers' gets the job of stuffing the ingredients with fish paste done in a jiffy.
2. The freshly stuffed YTF is then fried by a second 'army' of 'fryers'.
3. The taufoo and other soup items are quickly thrown in a boiling fish stock and a handful of sayur manis (sweet vegetable ??) is thrown in to enhance the taste of the soup.
4. The fried YTF reaches your table whilst crispy, especially the foo chuk (stuffed soy bean paste sheets). Other crispy items include the fried wan tan, fried stuffed yau char kway (crullers),

5. Their sweet sauce and chilli sauce are specially made and are thick and tasty.

6. Service is always fast, even when the place is crowded (which is every weekend and public holidays).

The soup is very tasty and I learnt from Gd (who has been chatting with the owners) that they use the ikan parang fish bones to make the fish stock. And the fish paste is nice and springy (a sign that it is fresh and lots of fish has been used) and you actually taste the fish in the paste. Each YTF cost RM1.00.

You can have the YTF with rice, noodles or pan mee (handmade noodles). They do a pretty good curry mee here using thick chicken curry. I love dunking in some crispy fu chook to soak up the curry. There are many Hakka people living in the Puchong and Seri Kembangan area so the quality of their YTF is generally pretty good since YTF is synonymous with the Hakka people.

The food is good enough to get us to take the 30 minute drive from Kajang for some good YTF.

Location : Batu 14, Jalan Besar, Kg Baru Puchong opposite the SRJK(C) Han Ming.