Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao翡翠拉面小笼包@ Mid Valley

There were 2 pre-requisite for the lunch outing,1- it has to be at Midvalley, and 2- Xiao Long Bao ( mini dumplings) –thus eliminating -Thai, Malay  or Western Food  and streamlined the selection  down to maybe 3 (or 4)  eateries. Having previously dined at Ding Dai Fung (DDF) , I suggested trying out Crystal Jade.

Crystal Jade (CJ)  is not too easy to spot , tucked in an inconspicuous corner and probably outshined by it’s more popular neighbor – Fong Lye (Taiwanese food) . CJ doesn’t seemed to be expecting big crowds, as there weren’t that many tables , and with that too they seemed to be arranged rather close to each  other.  The setting was  casual and open as while dining, you could view the chefs doing their stuff.

Apart from the pork dumplings, la mien is a must order ( well, half the name of the shop is la mien, guess this should be special) . The set meals seemed interesting (or make life much easier)  , each served with entre, main course and some form of dessert. There were 5 of us and  we opted for 3 set meals plus 2 servings of xiao long bao.

The xiao long pao ( RM8.80 for 4 pieces) was exquisite, the wonderfully rich and sweet  broth within  it’s thin,  soft and smooth casing, and the tasty filings. I think these are better than the dumplings at DDF.  One complain is that they are rather stingy with the ginger shreds ( providing only 2 small bowls of sparsely filled shreds) , and the vinegar and ginger  doesn’t seemed as  tasty as those at DDF

 

The set meals with the various desserts and soup came almost at the same time, so I am not too sure which came with which set..oh ahh…but be assured that with a set meal, it’s 3 in a set.

La mien beef brisket  set ( RM20.80) – the noodles was smooth and springy ( not flourly), the broth was full of flavour  and the beef was tender and tasty -they were generous with the amount of meat too. Very nice.

 

I am not sure what was supposed to come with the beef brisket, but anyway, we were also served a cold dish – cubed tofu with century egg plus meat floss, this was interesting, the century egg with it’s distinctive and strong flavour plus the bland tofu, which seemed to work –  this was rather ok.

 

La mien with minced meat and mushroom set (RM18.80) – same yummy lai mien noodles, served with slightly spicy sweet gravy, this was good too.

 

 ’old’ soup – old cucumber soup, rich and had the flavour of soup boiled with tender loving care and over slow fire for many hours. Delicious

 

Vegetable fried rice plus pork rib set ( RM20.80) , I think this must have come with the 2 xiao long bao in the set , as there were caught together in the pix, although I might be wrong, the fried rice was tasteless, did they forget to add something ? or was this meant to be ? the deep fried pork rib ( boneless) was rather ok, thin crispy crust on the outside and tender succulent meat underneath.

 

Spring rolls, black fungus with celery and what seemed to be a soupy dessert with chopped bits of water chestnut. The black fungus thingy with celery was topped with some sesame oil, and the blend of – the crispy green sharpness of celery, the soft sesame oil drenched black fungus – an interesting combination.The spring rolls, ahh..what wonderful spring rolls, the skin was delicately thin ( and crispy but non oily ) and the vegetable  filing was tasty, what wonderful spring rolls. The water chestnut broth was heavenly- not overly sweet and the chopped chestnut adding another layer of texture to this thick soupy dessert

 

Mango pudding – this has a bit more character compared to the usual mango pudding, it wasn’t overly smooth and soft, with a bit of a grainy texture, not overly sweet. Not bad.

 

Overall, a rather enjoyable meal – I would probably return for the dumplings, and the beef brisket noodles ( and perhaps the spring rolls)

The bill ( plus drinks) came to RM111 ( including service charge and GST , and we refused the wet tissues)

 Location :

 

Lot T 210, 3rd floor, The Garden,

Mid Valley City,

59200 KL

Tel : 2283 3129

Official website : http://www.crystaljade.com/

Din Tai Fung Restaurant 鼎泰豐 @ Midvalley

Before Din Tai Fung hit the shores of M’sia, before the mini craze of siu lorng paus 小籠包 ( SLP) I would just nod and say a few polite words of something similar to  ‘really ah…so nice ahh..ohh..they  weigh each dumpling to make sure every one weighs the same ah..oh..like that ahh…so many people queue up one ah..’ when people started to talk about having a meal at DTF.

When DTF newly opened at the Gardens , Midvalley Megamall, I heard that there were long queues and large crowds..and finally, the Malaysian mass  can check out Din Tai Fung  SLP without having to go through immigrations.

We arrived at DTF around 8-ish pm on a weekday, not too big a crowd, we didn’t have to wait to get a table which was good as everyone was hungry. There were 5 of us and as the portions can be pretty big for small eaters ( yours truly excluded in this category), we decided to order 3 bowls of noodles and 2 sets of SLP.

The appetizers were pretty appetizing – strips of crunchy salted veges, fungi, seaweed etc. This gets the stomach juice flowing.

 

We ordered the combo-dumpling set : pork and crabmeat+pork. The SLP’s looked very dainty and simple seated on a white cloth in the steamer. Going through the motions : Lifting up the SLP from it’s nest with the chopsticks, the weight of the broth against the thin skin of the dumpling, dipping the SLP into vinegar and positioning in onto the ceramic soup spoon and adding a few strips of ginger..and the bite..hhmm..feel the taste of the sweet broth on your tongue and you sip the broth greedily ..ahh..so ends the fate of the dainty and simple SLP..and it was pretty good SLP. 

Each set consist of 6 SLP ( unless you opt for the bigger set which comes in 12 units), and there were 5 of us, so how do we do the math of who gets how many ? we did it the democratic way –  the person who makes the most noise get the extras…that’s fair huh ? ( and it was not me..)

We ordered prawn wanton noodles – the noodles arrived with the 5 wantons in a row..so pretty one..the prawns were fresh , the broth was sweet and the noodles were smooth and springy. No faults here.

 

The crowd were getting hungrier by the moment, so even before I manage to get my camera ready, they had started to attack the noodle soup with fried pork chop .So, sorry la..no photos, and it was one big block of pork – actually, the comment was ..too much meat..the broth taste the same as the broth  prawn wanton noodles.

The same fate befall the braised beef noodle soup – so, I only managed to get a picture of the ‘apportioned/ shared ‘ small bowl allocated to me, again- plenty of beef, big chunks of it. The broth is a dark clear soup and taste of spice, I am wondering why DTF do not serve vegetables  with these noodles ( e.g spinach or others) the noodles just had  some sprinkle of spring onions. It’s almost like meat meat meat and you won’t have any distractions from the vegetables

 Interested to find out more about the history of  Bingyi Yang from Shanxi who started all this and the official websites  ? The  English version is here , and the Chinese version is here 

Din Tai Fung Restaurant

Lot LG-207, Lower Ground Floor,

The Gardens, Midvalley City,

59200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 03 2283 2292

Buka Puasa @The Spread, Midvalley City

C was invited to a Ramadan Preview Dinner from The Gardens Hotel & Residences and asked me would I like to come along. And of course I said yes.

 Our group consist of a mix of colleagues and family members. Some  of us left from the office ( and it was actually one of the guys that had to go home for a shower plus a change of clothes, whereas the ladies just did some  lipstick touch-up at the office )  and arrived  at 7.15 pm. We started our food exploration without any delay. That is the beauty of buffet dinner lah, dun need to wait until everyone is at the table. I was afraid that we might be too early and show too much of eagerness (greediness)  but found that more than half of the tables at The Spread were already taken up.

In the invitation, they mentioned the  ‘must-eat’ items  :- roast whole lamp with mint jelly, seafood on ice, selection of suishi and sashimi, BBQ counter, authentic Malay dishes and mouth watering desserts.

There were 2 soups – pumpkin  soup or soup ekor, I opted for pumpkin soup but the soup ekor looks pretty good with lots of meat and stuff .

The BBQ counter,  tenggiri or ikan pari wrapped in banana leaf, sotong, grilled prawns, some other fish species ( I forgot, sorry). The tenggiri was nice and I enjoyed the sotong.

 Not a fan of raw stuff, I didn’t check-out the sashimi although this seemed to be the most popular counter as everytime I walk past, there will be someone filling or re-filling their plates, and  I see thickly cut salmon slices on the counters. There were also oysters, prawns at the seafood counter

 There are also some hawker fares counter  like – curry laksa, soto ayam, chicken rice, fish balls soup.

The Salad bar,

 

The Malay dishes include :  lamb curry- tender and tasty, nice, ayam masak merah, la-la, curry prawns, curry fish, crabs, lemang+ ketupat and serunding,And also some rojak, plus tempeh, tauhu, taugeh etc

The staff will do refills for the plain water,  there is also a self service counter for drinks with include : ice lemon tea, air bandung or soya bean drink. Tea, coffee and teh tarik are also available

The cut fruits are placed beside the local desserts, but if you would like the fruit to be ‘exclusive’ to you, alone, one can go to the counter and select a fruit ( including : pears, plums, guava, dragon fruit or mango) and pass it to the staff behind the counter and these will be cut specially for you.

For desserts :- Some local desserts plus some ‘western cakes- cheese cakes, black forest, carrot cake, self service Ice kacang, waffles, Tau Fo Far ( soya bean curd) – very smooth, kwai leng kou.

 

The ice-cream flavors was ‘interesting’ – the only 2 flavors that I normally associate with ice cream – vanilla and chocolate ( very very rich, bittersweet) and the rest include  : dried jackfruit, black sesame, wasabi..will we have mee-goreng flavoured ice cream next?

 Comments from around our table : The spread seemed pretty extensive to me, although when someone at our table commented that it’s not really that big- and that the  sauces takes up a lot of the counter space – and when I walk about again-  I think that I will have to agree. Other comments include that for some of the items – they do not replenish the items – I am not sure, maybe as this preview is complimentary, there are some constraints ? and also some comments for the ambiance, it’s a bit too bright- if the lights are a bit dimmer, it might feel a bit more exclusive and cozy.( and the yellow tiles at the lifts lobby looks a bit ‘Jang’-lah, looks a bit out of place in a 5 star hotel setting  wor.

The overall food quality rating from our table : average. ( the buka puasa spread is @RM98/pax and from 6:30 – 10:30 pm)

 

The Spread, Level 6,

The Gardens Mid Valley City,

Lingkungan Syed Putra,

59200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 22681188