pH Pastry House @ Lakefields, Sg Besi

I read about pH Pastry House in a recent issue of Time Out KL magazine and decided to see if it was as good as reported.

 

It was my first visit to the Lakefields area in Sg Besi and on arrival, I must say that I was impressed by the external fascade and lighting (we visited at dinner time).

 

A display counter showed off their selection of cakes and desserts. There were quite a few cheesecakes and tarts on display. We were impressed.

 

To begin, we selected a Starter - Honey Barbecued Short Ribs. The honey barbeque sauce was thick and tasty but the ribs were tough and contained too many chewy sinews. Some trimming of the meat would have elevated this dish.  

 

Our Main Course arrived next - Beef Wellington. The beef for this dish fared better - lean and juicy. The pastry was buttery and flaky but overall the dish needed more seasoning. The sides of mashed potato and boiled vegetables were rather flat and uninspiring.

 

Our Salad arrived after the Main Course. Perhaps the crab for the Soft Shell Crab Salad  took time to be deep fried first? When it arrived at the table, we were not sure if it was our order. It looked more like a main dish rather than a salad. Anyway, there were two large pieces of soft shell crab coated in a thick batter and deep fried until crispy and topped with a tomato salsa sauce. The salad (on the side) came with avocado, olives, lettuce, baby tomatoes and cream. A real mish-mash salad which didn't really work for us.  Perhaps it should be moved to the Main Course section and renamed Deep Fried Soft Shell crab with a side of salad?

 

Alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks are available. We picked a drink described as Passie (Passion Fruit). It arrived in a shocking blue color and had only a mild passion fruit flavor in it. Hmmmmm. 

 

There were more misses than hits thus far, so we were hoping the  dessert would fare better. We chose the Lady Royale (fancy name for a Blueberry Tart). It looked great, and tasted OK. But the crust was just too thick and hard. In fact it was so hard we just ate the topping and left the crust behind. For a place that calls itself a pastry house, this was disappointing.

   

The total damage was RM112.75.

Final verdict - mediocre. I don't think I'll be making another drive to Lakefields to eat here again.

Location : 1, Jalan Tasik Utama 3, Medan Niaga Tasik Damai (Lakefields), 57000 Sg Besi, KL

Contact : 03-90548339

Taste Gallery @ Bandar Mahkota

Here is a place that was listed in a Top 10 list of places to eat in Bandar Mahkota by an online portal recently. We decided to give it a try and here's what we thought:-

 

Drinks - passion fruit green tea was OK. Iced coffee - OK also. They have Illy coffee too but we did not try it this time.

 

Chef's signature Assam Laksa was OK. We would have preferred chunkier pieces of fish and more sour laksa gravy. And more prawn paste. 

 

We couldn't try their signature charcoal bun burgers on the the day we visited as they had run out of buns! So we settled for a Soft Shell Crab burger in a ciabatta bun. The soft shell crab was nice and crispy and tasty but they killed it with too much mayonaisse. There is much to be said about moderation with sauces. The fries that accompanied the burger were perfect - chunky in size, crispy on the outside and soft inside.   

 

The damage - RM44.75.  

 

First impression was rather average but we're undecided about this place. Needs more exploring of the menu. Give it a try and tell us what you think. 

Location : No 22, Jalan Temenggung 19/9, Bandar Mahkota Cheras, 43200  Cheras, Selangor

Contact : 03-90118016

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

Le Moon's @ Jade Hills

Jade Hills comes to life with the opening of Le Moon's, a cafe, bakery and 'zakka'.

I haven't found out what 'zakka' means but here's what we have tried.

Confit duck leg. This turned out rather dry and the skin was not crispy as expected.

Thai chicken salad. Crispy fresh vegetables but the 'Thai' chicken was heavy on the turmeric and it did not really have any  Thai chicken to us.

Chocolate Marquee. This was finally redemption for Le Moon's. A rich and not overly sweet chocolate cake served with a raspberry coulis. Great balance of rich and tangy. Excellent.

They serve Illy coffee here, which is reasonably acceptable but unexciting. We also packed some pastries - a Chocolate Danish and a Raisin Danish. Both were suitably flaky and buttery. Excellent and recommended.

Conclusion - Le Moon's is a place to go for a cake and pastries. The food menu (at least the items we tried) needs more work. However they win hands down for The Prettiest Cafe in Kajang. Give it a try.

Location :  18-G, Persiaran Jade Hills Utama 1/1, Kajang
Contact :  012-620-3638 or 010-289-9585