where and what to eat lah?

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Purple Cane created a new food concept with the usage of tea and founded Malaysia's first tea restaurant in 1997, the Purple Cane Tea Restaurant. Started off at the Chinese Assembly Hall and followed by another two branches located at Shaw Parade and The Gardens, Mid Valley. The branch we went to was located at the ground floor of Shaw Parade.


With a modern Zen-style fixture, this restaurant gave a simple yet striking addition to any traditional tea house. The interior carved out a warm, comfortable and cozy environment that you'll sit here for hours sipping on your perfect cup of tea.


Interesting, they serve you a cup of complimentary pu-er tea before the meal starts. Pu-er has significant effect to clear body fat, especially drinking after meal. But if you drink it before meal, it'll likely to make you feel hungry and boost up the appetite, hmmmm....


Inspired to create dishes with a difference by pairing tea with food, Purple Cane advocates a modern concept of light but flavourful dishes with less salt, oil, sugar and no artificial flavours while retaining the original aroma of tea. With over 50 appetizing selections prepared with different types of tea including tea beverages, soups, vegetables, seafood, meat (pork free), noodles and rice as well.


I had the oolong tea (RM 1.80/pax) that came with two clay teapots, one for brewing while the other for serving - this is to avoid over infusing the tea. You can get it topped up with hot water at no extra charge.


Tea soup is a double steamed soup in a clay teapot with tea in it. I had the tea (Dong Ding Oolong) and wine chicken soup (RM 4), it was clear, sweet and tasty with a slight trace of tea and wine in it.


Green tea (Long Jing Green tea) rice (RM 1), rice cooked in brewed green tea with bits of tea leaves within the fluffy rice grains. Unfortunately, I couldn't really taste any tea in it.


1/4 aromatic crispy duck cooked with lychee black tea (RM 15), served with fresh green vegetables, pan fried egg sheets, sweet sauce, shredded green onions and cucumbers. It was a popular and recommended dish, but it didn't score well for me. Why named it aromatic crispy duck when it wasn't crispy and tea aromatic at all? Well, at least it was tender.


Pan fried egg with anchovies and Tie Guan Yin tea mill (RM 7), luckily the crispy anchovies compensated for the lack of saltiness in the egg.


Steamed slice fish with pickles vegetables and tofu in Teochew tea sauce (RM 18), sourish salty with a distinctive appetizing clear broth. The slice fish was fresh and there wasn't any fishy smell at all.

Fried tea (Long Jing Green tea) rice homemade style (RM 6.90), even though it was filled with wok hei (high heat cooking) but the lack of saltiness and taste disappointed me.


Herbal tea (lychee black tea) egg (RM 1), this is probably the darkest herbal tea egg I've ever eaten! It was really 'kao' till it tasted sweet instead of salty, didn't really enjoy it.


Green tea peanut paste (RM 3), don't expect to taste any green tea but it was really smooth and rich. Surprisingly, it was slightly too sweet this time - surprisingly throughout the meal, everything was plain except this.


Slowly sipping my cup of oolong tea after couple of refills at the end of our meal - a high grade oolong tea typically yields 5-6 brews with the 3rd and 4th brews offering the best flavor and aroma. Service was blazing fast, our food was impressively served within 5 minutes upon ordering. Plus, if you have a Jusco card or any credit card, you'll get 10% off the bill.

Verdict: Overall, the food is pretty decent but I must say the selling point of using tea in their dishes are almost non-evident, the taste was too subtle and plain for me. However, the vibe of the interior was excellent with great selections of high quality teas.


Address:
Lot GL-02, Ground Floor, Shaw Parade
Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah,
Off Jalan Pudu,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2145 3090
Business Hours: Opens daily from 11am - 10pm
Pork Free: Yes
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.13984, 101.71223
Map:

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Udon has for centuries been one of the favorite foods of the Japanese. Sanuki udon is a traditional product of Kagawa Prefecture (known as Sanuki in the ancient time), legend has it that Sanuki udon was first brought to the region from China in the ninth century by the famed monk Kukai. Now, you can have a taste of Sanuki udon located in Taman Bukit Desa, well hidden within a quiet neighborhood. The owner, Mr. Seiji Fukimoto make his own fresh udon in the shop daily.

Original soup udon (RM 5) with chopped scallions and choy-sum (???...added maybe to suit the Malaysian palate). So, what's so special about Sanuki udon? It's the texture of the noodles, which have a soft and silky feel combined with an al-dente firmness, and the way they are complemented perfectly by the lightly seasoned bonito-kelp (dashi) based soup in which they are served. Well-worth the price for a good bowl of fresh hand-made udon like this!


Original soup udon with wakame (seaweed) (RM 6). Here, there are 7 serving styles of udon along with some toppings (priced between RM 1-2) like egg, wakame, kakiage (deep fried mixed vegetables), kitsune (sweetened tofu) and ebi tempura (disappointing deep fried prawn), all in a simple single page menu.


Dry cha-cheong style udon (RM 6), served with cha-cheong sauce, sliced cucumbers and topped with chopped scallions. Well, not very Japanese, not very Taiwanese and not very Malaysian either, maybe somewhere in between, definitely not my type of cha-cheong sauce - it was too starchy.


Japanese curry udon (RM 7), with well-cooked small cubes of potatoes, carrots and chicken meat. The Japanese curry was a little diluted for my Malaysian tongue, considering others Japanese curry udon (Sushi Zanmai, Sushi Tei, even Sushi King, etc.) that have a stronger curry fragrant in it.


House special udon with egg (RM 5), lightly flavored with sesame seed oil and topped with chopped scallions. Indeed, it was very simple, plain and light.


On the menu there are also few side dishes that you can choose from. One of it, edamame (green soy beans) (RM 3) with lightly salted.


Karaage (deep fried marinated small chicken cutlets) (RM 3), chunks of boneless chicken meat lightly battered and deep fried till piping hot tender and juicy. If only they served it with my favorite Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise, it'll be perfect.


Kakiage (deep fried mixed vegetables) (RM 2), rather plain with a slight sweetness from the vegetables.

Only after 5:30pm, they serve yakitori (grilled skewered chickens) from RM 2-3 per stick with different chicken parts like skin, gizzard, liver, heart, leg meat and bishop nose. Shiitake mushroom (RM 2) yakitori, small but flavorful.


Momo (leg meat) yakitori (RM 3), tender juicy chunks of boneless chicken leg meat.


Kawa (skin) yakitori (RM 2), fattening stuffs.


Bonjiri (bishop nose, the polite way of referring chicken backside) yakitori (RM 2), this is probably the best variations from their list of yakitori. It was scandalously smooth and juicy.

Verdict: Overall, it was worthwhile. Reasonable pricing with generous portion of udon. Original soup based udon (maybe with added toppings like wakame and an egg) is probably the best among all. Sometimes, the simplest things are the best and often the hardest to perfect.


Address:
No.9, Jalan Bukit Desa 5,
Taman Bukit Desa,
58100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-7980 3704, 012-2418 131 (Mr. Seiji Fukimoto)
Business Hours: Opens daily from 11.30am - 3pm and 5pm - 9pm. Close on Monday
Pork Free: Yes
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.110758, 101.684815
Map:

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Ampang is an area long known for its large number of Korean expatriates and Korean barbecue restaurants. Woo Ga Chon is just one of it and located slightly deep inside the Korean town, away from the other cluttered strips of restaurants.


I used to dine here fairly often many years back till there was a change of ownership. Long before, there wasn't any private tatami rooms, and prices were cheaper too. Nevertheless, it is still cheaper than some of the upper-class restaurants located outside plus their marinated meats are still delicious.


Best of all, you don't have to move a finger except to eat. You'll have the pretty Dae Jang Geum waiter that does all the cooking for you. Just wait with your mouth wide open :P


Like any typical Korean meal, you are presented with a free flow buffet of banchan (side dishes), some of which are great, some of which are not (depending on how Korean are you) and they might be different each time you go.


Banchan (side dishes) are set in the middle of the table to be shared. Served in small portions and can be replenished during the meal as they are finished.


Complimentary pot of spicy clam stew with tofu meant to be shared. Hot, strong and flavorful - perfect soup for the cold rainy weather.


Complimentary pot of gyeran jjim (steamed egg casserole), it was light, fluffy creamy like consistency. Nice!


For 5 persons, we ordered 2 portions of daeji galbi (marinated bbq pork rib, RM 27/each) and 1 portion of mok deung sim (non-marinated fresh juicy sliced pork, RM 25/each), enough meats to go around for everyone and it was sufficient. I love their marinated meats most, daeji galbi is absolutely delicious, it was sweet, juicy and tender.


Refillable salad with condiments like sliced garlic, some seasoning and doenjang (fermented Korean soybean) sauce. A popular way of eating Korean barbecue is to dip the meat into the seasoning, then wrap the meat with lettuce and chuck everything else into it (salad + garlic + sauce).

One of my favorite Korean dishes, dol sot bibimbap (stone pot mixed rice, RM 18).


Mixed the bibimbap with the gochujang (fermented soybeans and red pepper) paste to enhance the flavor. It's nice but still somehow lacking compared to my usual favorite bibimbap place at Ampang Point, Gomone for only RM 13.

Verdict: Their side dishes might not be the best but their marinated meats are really good. Decently priced (referring to pork only, beef more expensive though) and expect to pay about RM 25 - 35 /pax which is quite reasonable comparing to the other Korean restaurants.


Address:
G20 Jalan Sulaiman 1,
Taman Putra Sulaiman,
68100 Ampang,
Selangor
Tel: 03-4270 4211
Business Hours: Opens daily for lunches and dinners
Halal: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.150885, 101.749019
Map:

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