Royale Vietnam @ Starhill Gallery, Bukit Bintang

Ekkkk….with an offer of pay RM40 and get a RM80 voucher, how can, how can, how can one resist the temptation ? me for one can’t ! …And so, we were tempted and bought the deal to dine at Royale Vietnam..

I don’t know about you, but I find it confusing to navigate around Starhill Gallery. Choosing a suitable floor to get out of the lift from the car park was already a task..Grrr….anyway, we made our way to the floor that took us to the lobby of JW Marriot and upon exit ,  asked one of the staff for directions to get to the Feast Floor, -expecting to received a series of complicated directions that might puzzle Yoda , we were pleasantly surprised that we were accompanied to the staircase, and more amazement followed , where we were accompanied down the grand staircase and delivered to the front step of Royale Vietnam . I told the young gentleman – oh, we won’t know how to get back to the lifts later can you come and fetch us ? He looked at his watch and without hesitation said that if we can give him the time we finish our meal, he will come for us. I quickly told him that we were joking. This is what we call service !

The entrance to Royale Vietnam spelt luxury (and expensive)

 We were shown to our seat by a waitress clad in traditional Vietnamese costume. We took a really long time to study the menu..you know la..with RM80 to spend..we do not want to be spending under or too much over this value la..sure la, what do you expect from  people that dine with discount vouchers one, huh ? We decide to go for Combo appetizer (RM39.90), Lotus fried rice (RM24.90) and lemongrass chicken (RM28.90)

While waiting for the food to arrive, we soaked in the ambience..

 

 Moved the table piece hoping to achieve a better composed picture

Not too long later , the Combo appetizer came sailing in a boat-like dish, offering five different types of appetizers

Accompanied by three types of sauces. Except for the vegetable spring roll that came in four sections , there were three units each for the  rest of the appetizers. And the verdict – the sugarcane thingy- good, the prawn thingy – good, the fried spring roll thingy – good : these were stuff with deep fried seafood paste- which was a burst of rich and sweet seafood flavour and was slightly crisp on the outer section .  As for the vegetable spring roll, ahhh…they were good too .

 The cutest passenger on the ‘boat’ were these baby birds, with chili padi for the beak and quail egg for the face- cute ! and the seafood paste taste as good too. Both Chunny and myself agree that this was probably one of the must-try dishes here and the price was reasonable considering that you get 5-in-1 appetizer.

 Lotus fried rice, when it arrived, with the ‘packaging’ intact – it reminded me of the leatherbacks turtles at  Rantau Abang- not that I have seen one and not that I have been to Rantau Abang.  

Once we open the parcel.. the fragrant -not unlike that of dumplings drifted to our nostrils..the rice was very tasty and my favourite part was biting into the soft lotus seeds..hmmmm..nice

 Lemongrass chicken, I must say I was a bit taken aback at the petite size of the dish as it looked like the prop from a masak-masak game  complete with a wooden stove. Taste wise- another winner ! The chicken pieces were well marinated and burst of the distinct and refreshing flavour of lemongrass.

 Overall – an enjoyable meal. I likeyy very muchie ! All the food delivered to our table were delicious and the ambiance was great. I would come back again..if you are buying me dinner…haha. On top of the RM80 voucher , we had to folk out an additional RM17- what bad mathematicians we were !

We were charged RM1.90 for a glass of warm water. The prices for the dishes were pricey but probably fitting to the Feast Village range  …

Location :

LG 7, Feast  Floor, Starhill Gallery,
Jalan Bukit Bintang, 58100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: +603 2143 9778

Dar Her Yuen大和園 @ Binh Duong, Vietnam

Was in Ho Chi Minh for a short working trip, the first day of arrival was  a long day, I was looking anxiously at my watch and hoping that we could stop the discussion soon, as it was already 8pm ( and 9pm in KL , which meant that my feeding time was long overdue ). Finally, the last question was asked and discussed and then we set off for dinner. Huraaahhhh

Before we drove into the compound of the restaurant, I remembered that our host had brought us there before and of course I was pleased as I have had a pleasant dining experience here. Read about the previous visit here.

For the appetizer we were served pickled cabbage, luckily ( for me) this was not the full fledge kimchi  but a milder version of it, the cabbage were crispy , a bit sourish and tinge of chili powderDeep fried prawns – the prawns came with plenty of garnishing –garlic, spring onions, dried chili and the potent chili padi. The prawns were fried to a crisp and the flavour from the garnishing had penetrated the prawns which made this so flavourful and yummy, the garnishing was very good to eat too, until one bite into the chili padi and start a coughing fit Deep fried  tofu –crispy on the outside and smooth soft tofu on the inside, not sure what the sauce was but we guess to be fish paste.Vegetable with scallops- I am not sure what the vegetable is, seemed to be something from the gourd or melon family, the vegetable came with scallops and black fungus, the sweetness of the scallops adds to the enjoyment of the dish.Grilled cuttlefish – the grilled cuttlefish were sprinkled with pepper and salt, taste wise, this works but sadly the cuttlefish was a bit chewyBeef fillets on skewers- the beef was well marinated and the addition of the vegetable rolled between the fillets made the whole thing chewy plus a bit of a crunchiness which was good.Seafood hot pot – in the pot were prawns, fishballs, mussels, cuttlefish , tofu and vegetable, this was served with noodles, the soup base  was slightly sourish which was a change from the hot pot we get back in KL, but interestingly, the soup works with noodles or the rice.Overall, an enjoyable meal- Ms Host commented that the dishes that we had were more closely reflecting a Chinese version  rather  than Vietnamese.

Location : (not far from the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park ( VSIP)

11A, Binh Duong, Lai Thieu,

Tel : 06500371888

Du Viet @ KLCC, Jalan Ampang

As I knew that I would be meeting BB later in the day and we will probably be dining at Suria KLCC again,  I did a bit of homework beforehand by checking out the reviews of the restaurants…and the Vietnamese Restaurant Du Viet had rather good reviews..so, when we met , I was ready with a makan place to suggest.

From Di Viet website http://www.duviet.com.my/ : The name “Du Viet” means to “do Vietnamese” for a meal as in “What would you like to do for lunch? Let’s do Vietnamese”. The “Du” is a play on sound as well as to imply the French influence in Vietnam.

Drinks, we ordered Ginger Lemon Tea, from the first sip, I felt my nose, my throat and my lungs cleared..this was a feel good drink –physically and psychologically .

 Apple salad RM 25.90, this is like a replica of the infamous Thai mango salad, just substitute mango with apple and you have it. Apart from the main ingredient : green apple, there were roasted peanut, dried shrimps, cuttlefish in the dish. This is a milder and lighter version compared to mango salad, mango salad has that umpphhhhh and gives you a kick with it’s strong flavours, this one is a bit of a sedated mango salad. But it was still very pleasant and we enjoyed this ( and I should probably stop comparing this with mango salad)

 There were not much of vegetable dish to select from the menu , so we went for bittergourd with prawns RM 22.90. This  was probably what I could achieve at home with  bitterguord and prawns, this was average lah

Lemongrass fish on banana leaves  RM29.90 , the thing we noticed about the food was that that when they arrive , they weren’t hot, they were just like at room temperature  .We weren’t too far from the counter, so the walk from the counter to our table  couldn’t account for so much of heat loss. So, I guess it could be that the temperature at the restaurant was set to too low and caused the dishes to cool quickly. The fish arrived at the table at a lukewarm temperature zone which reduce the appeal of the dish by half. Tastewise, I can’t really comment as when the food hit my taste bud the ‘coldness’ of the dish dominated the sensation. The texture of the fish was a bit soft, I would prefer a firmer texture.

Braised duck in special nut sauce RM 28.90- this was the saviour of the day, the gravy had that powderish / grainish kinda texture and the flavour was impeccable with peanut-ish undertones. The duck was tender and impregnated with the flavour of the gravy, I likeeeyyy

Deep fried stuffed tofu RM25.90, the tofu were crispy and firm with savoury filings, these were quite good too

The blogs highly  recommended the  durian pancake RM12, so we had to order it. The 2 tiny  yellow puffy pillows that arrived at our table looked flawless. We did some maths before cutting it up. RM12 for 2 pieces, so, each one costs RM6, cut that into half and it’s RM3 per section….  But all the equations evaporated  when we bit into the durian pancakes. Underneath that thin and flawness skin were durian puree and a layer of cream. This was oh la la…this was a ten ! I could almost hear angels twanging on their harps and fluttering their bleached flurry wings..

 Overall , an enjoyable meal. The bill , plus 3 bowls of rice and 2 drinks came close to RM200, which was again rather pricey , but this was KLCC !

Thanks again BB for the treat, please come back again soon !

 Location : Lot 416, Leval 4, Suria KLCC , Tel 21663630

 

Du Viet has 3 other branches at Uptown, Pavilion and Sunway.