October Steamboat @ Paradigm Mall

Steamboat & Seafood Delight

For something unusual on steamboat, head over to October Steamboat for a hotpot feast! Located at Paradigm Mall, October Steamboat is halal and serves up Malaysian’s local version steamboat along with some Chinese seafood dishes.

The restaurant is spacious and there are two dining sections available. October Steamboat serves individual steamboat soups but there is a big table available for big dining party that wishes to share the family style steamboat servings.

On one side of the restaurant there are few tanks holding live seafood. From live crabs to clams and prawns, there’s more than just steamboat at October.

The menu is filled with lots choices. For steamboat, there are many choices of locally inspired soup base. From Chicken Soup to Asam Laksa, there is even a Herbal Soup. Besides those, there’s the favorite Signature White Tom Yum Soup and Nyonya Tom Yum Soup too.

October Steamboat is also generous when it comes to sauces for their steamboat. One gets to choose from the many condiments and sauces available to make your own sauces.

We took the big table since there were a few of us that day and opted for the Chicken Soup for our kids and the Asam Laksa soup for the adults.

There are plenty of steamboat ingredients available. There are also set ingredients with a little of everything. We had the Set B which is good for 3-4 persons (RM72.54). These sets are certainly value-for-money. Fully filled with lots of ingredients such as fish slices, prawn, cuttlefish, handmade fish ball, chicken ball, cheese fish ball, fish & soya, fish cake, squid ball, assorted mushrooms and vegetables as well as noodles.

One can add-on more a la carte ingredients such as Beef Slices (RM7.16), Prawns (Seasonal price), Seafood Fuchuk (RM6.13), Fish & Soya (RM6.13), Homemade Otak-otak Paste (RM14.42), Cheese Fish Ball (RM7.16), Handmade Otak Otak Ball (RM8), Seafood Taufu (RM6.13), Siew Bak Choy (RM4.05), Choy Sum (RM5.08) and Beech Mushroom (RM6.13).

While they are nothing fancy, these are pretty classic choices that one can enjoy often. From the many choices of available, the Cheese Fish Ball, Fish & Soya along with the Seafood Fuchuk was a crowd pleaser, so much so these warrant a repeated order.

While the Chicken Soup was decent, the Asam Laksa soup was deliciously yumm. Bold and robust with spicy and sour piquant flavours, the soup had lovely hits of spicy herbs and fish flavours. The longer the soup boils with all the ingredients, the more flavourful it becomes.

Besides the steamboat, we also tried some seafood from the live tanks. The Salted Egg Crab (Seasonal price), though not big in size, was fresh and sweet. Deliciously coated generously in salted egg yolk sauce, it was lip-smacking yummy. There’s also other flavours such as Kam Heong Crab, Kung Pao Crab, Sweet & Sour Crab and Marmite Crab too.

The Kam Heong Clams (RM20.65) are good too. Aromatic and moreish in flavours, the clams were nicely cooked and the kam heong flavours are nicely balanced.

From the snack section, the Fried Chicken Wing (RM11.31) and Fried Dumpling (RM9.24) were sufficiently tasty for snacking.

One dish that surprisingly good at this steamboat joint is the Hokkien Mee (RM14.42). Braised till the thick noodles has absorb all the soya sauce flavours, the noodles also had some prawns and squid along with some vegetables.

Decent place for steamboat and some seafood, October Steamboat should easily satisfy foodies who are shopping at the mall and looking for some familiar comfort food.

OCTOBER STEAMBOAT

Lot 18 & 30, Level CC, Paradigm Mall

No. 1, Jalan SS 7/26a, Ss 7,

47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: +603-7886 8808

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OctoberSteamboat/

Business Hours: 10.00am to 9.30pm, daily

Souliquid Restaurant & Bar @ Puchong

Soul-food Goodness with Live Soul-jazz Music

From German to Mediterranean, there’s much sumptuousness going on in Souliquid! A hidden gem of restaurant cum bar, Souliquid is tucked away in Puchong Financial Corporate Centre (PFCC). Despite there is no signboard, fans know how to track down this place for some awesome good bites and beer!

The restaurant cum bar may not be as big as some others but is well designed with much comfort in terms of space and interior outlook. At the end of the room is where the bar and there is even a stage for live music.

The evenings at Soulquid are filled with much live music from bands belting out classic Chinese jazz and oldies. As one unwinds at minimalist ambiance filled with dark table settings among velvet-covered violet sofas set in dim lightings, one can tuck into Souliquid’s European food menu and a solid beverage list.

We kicked off with Chilli Chilli Bang Bang (RM18), a comfort classic of spiced and meaty Bolognaise sauce with melted cheese and crispy triangles of fried tortilla chips. Sufficiently tasty, the presentation of the appetizer is also very pleasing on the eye as well as the palate.

A Tapas classic, the Gambas Al Pilpil (RM28) may not look super enticing but the flavours and aroma was spot on. Garlicky with a little heat and aromatic from plenty of rosemary infused into the olive oil, the prawns and oil go wonderfully well with the toast.

Large prawns wrapped with bacon and fried summed up Brochette (RM38). Needless to say, the dish was polished off within minutes of it arriving on the table. Bacon and prawn is quite the match made in heaven and bacon does make everything taste better!

Souiliquid Meat Balls (RM20) was pretty much decent with moist and plump meatballs on a bed of lightly chunky tomato sauce. It’s familiar in taste with the tangy and moreish spiced tomato sauce and meatball but pale in comparison to the earlier appetizers.

The Shrimp Pizza (RM35) had all the markings of a yummy pizza. Medium thick pizza base, there’s plenty of toppings like prawns, bacon and cheese to make any pizza lover a happy camper…

Perhaps the surprising dish in the menu is the Nyonya Pasta (RM28). A fusion twist, this one is well studded with large mussels and generous shredded lettuce. The luscious kaffir leaf aroma in the sauce heightened the dish among the rich spices. Creamy, piquantly spicy and lightly tangy, the Nyonya inspired sauce made the dish unique and delectable.

Moving on to meat haven, the Chicken Cordon Bleu (RM33) scored brownie points for its generous portion of juicy chicken filled with ham and lots of oozing cheese. The juiciness of the chicken is very commendable, and the sides of roasted vegetables and sauce completed the dish well.

Grilled Lamb Rack (RM58) looked beautifully ravishing with light pink of doneness at sight. Cooked well, the French-trimmed lamb racks were tender and succulent. A lightly fruity sauce with some mustardy zing compliments the meat and roasted vegetables well.

The Guinness Braised Lamb Shank (RM48) is drool-worthy with a large lamb shank, beautifully glazed in a lusciously dark and rich Guinness sauce, on a bed of mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. Fork tender, the lamb shank was well-braised, enough to be deliciously flavourful from the wonderful moreish sauce. The sides were the classic perfect accompaniments to that lamb.

Swine lovers will swoon at sight of the Pork Lover Platter (RM148). A smorgasbord of porky fare, this sharing platter has crispy roast pork knuckle along with sublime housemade crispy strips of luncheon meat, three sausages of smoked Hungarian, Nuernberger and Baconwurst, roasted potato, crispy golden potato spirals, corn on the cob, sauerkraut, garden salad and sauce.

Talked about mouthful, this platter is surely enough to feed three ravenous meat foodies and can even stretch to four or five small eaters.

The Roast Pork Knuckle was sublime comfort food. Crispy and crunchy pork skin, moist and tender meat with fatty bits pretty much is soul food to many, especially in times of much needed comfort and satisfaction. Hand me my beer please…

A very commendable house made Luncheon Meat batons to the chef! Salty and moreish addictiveness that pulls one to keep going back for more.

Sausages, all three types, are yummy and nicely grilled with a smoky heat of sweetness from Hungarian, cheesy from Nuernberger and pleasurable bacon-makes-the-world-better in Baconwurst!

Fear not if your dining party is not big enough to take on the Pork Lover Platter, instead go for the Garlic Herbed Roast Pork Knuckle (RM79). Equally satisfying in all swine aspect, the pork knuckle is just as pleasing as the earlier platter.

For a savory ending, the Cheese Platter Set (RM199) with Marqués de Càrceres works out to be a good deal. A lovely selection of cheeses and cold cuts might even be a good starter. From hard cheeses of aged Cheddar to soft Brie and Blue cheese, these certainly goes well with the salty Salami and Ham with the Spanish red wine that tasted of dark plums and cherries with a lingering spicy finish.

Souliquid has got the potential to make your evenings better. Comfort soul food to solid list of drinks and live music, it’s pretty much a hangout place that warrants plenty of visits for good times and lots of satisfying moments!

         

SOULIQUID RESTAURANT & BAR

Lot 1, Ground Floor, PFCC Tower 3

Jalan Puteri 1/2, Bandar Puteri Puchong

Selangor, Malaysia

Tel: 603-8066 8883

Business Hours:

Daily: 12 Noon to 1.00am

Night live music

Sunday to Thursday: 9.00pm to 11.30pm

Friday-Saturday: 9.30pm to midnight

Website: www.souliquid.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/souljazzbar/

Alibaba & Nyonya @ TTDI

Tasty Peranakan Cuisine

Peranakan cuisine has such complex and rich flavour that many finds it hard to cook these days. The nyonyas and babas of yesteryears spent so much time and effort in the kitchen just to prepare a meal for the family. These days, finding a good Peranakan restaurant to enjoy this cuisine is also quite a task.

One of the latest new eatery in TTDI, Alibaba & Nyonya hopes to satisfy the palates of Peranakan fans with their signatures of the cuisine. Locating this eatery is rather easy as it is located next to Secret Recipe.

The restaurant has a bright and casual vibe that makes dining comfortable. From the eye-catching hawker stall-on-wheels at the entrance to the street art mural that is bound to be a hotspot for some social media ops, the restaurant is also designed with pretty and colorful tiles and old fashion furniture.

    

The menu is well filled with lots of Peranakan classics and familiar favorites. There’s plenty of appetizers, main courses of seafood and meat as well as vegetables and dessert to cater to diners of all ages.

Apple Juice with Chia Seed (RM9.91), Calamansi Asam Boi (RM8.02), Cincau Lychee Juice (RM8.02), Fresh Lime Juice (RM8.96), Cincau Watermelon Juice (RM8.02) & Fresh Coconut Lychee (RM8.96)

We couldn’t resist ordering an order of Acar Rampai (RM6.51) to whet our appetite. The dish requires a lot of preparation and the version here is decent and yummy. Lots of crunchy vegetables with spicy and nutty sauce certain makes good starter…

Mains started to arrive and the first one was this delicious Kerabu Udang (RM27.26). Large plump prawns dressed in piquant spicy and tangy dressing along with crisp red onion makes a delicious kerabu salad.

The Chicken Pongteh (Small – RM20.66, Medium – RM39.43) here is a solid dish with a good balance of salty and sweet with a lingering note of moreishness. The chicken and potatoes are tender and has been well-braised to absorb all the flavours of bean sauce. It’s a dish that goes perfect with fluffy rice.

At sight, the Ayam Dara Goreng (Small – RM18.77, Medium- RM33.87) looked golden and delicious. The deep-fried kampung chicken is a tad dry but the flavours are good. A heavier salty note, the chicken goes well with Nasi Ulam and sambal belachan. We feedback on this dish so hopefully the chef can consider making this fried chicken a bit juicier.

Ask for the Sambal Belachan for extra yummy flavours…

For something a bit more unusual than our all-time-favorite Asam Pedas, we savored the King’s Curry Fish Head (RM70.75). The garoupa fish is fresh with a firm and sweet flesh. Paired with the thick and creamy curry well-spiced up, the fish and vegetable is deliciously delectable. The curry was so yummy that I even find myself spooning the gravy and drenching my rice with it.

The Sambal Petai Sotong (Small – RM25.38, Medium – RM36.70) had good flavours too but I personally felt that there was something missing from the overall flavours. The sambal was a tad too watery and the flavours were good but not a dish that is memorable for me. Still, the dish was generous with tender squid pieces and petai.

The Mutton Curry (Small – RM27.26, Medium- RM51.70) is superb! Faultless an utterly delicious, it was a plate of gorgeous spicy flavours that is well balanced and sublime. The mutton is also fork-tender and very aromatic from all the slow cooked spices and curry leaves. A must-order if you love thick and rich meaty curry…

I have tasted quite a few Telur Belanda (RM10.19) and most of them seemed to be on the sweeter side. The version here is one of the best I have had. Fried egg drenched in tamarind sauce, the version here has a lovely vibrant tang and is not overly sweet. Cooked well, the egg had that slightly crisp edges while the yolk is still soft.

We also tried their Sambal Fried Pucuk Paku (RM13.68) which is also delicious and faultless.

While all the dishes go well with steamed rice, the Nasi Ulam (RM6.13) is still worthy of an order. The rice is full of fresh herb flavours as well as spices. It really doesn’t need any dishes except for the sambal belachan because the rice is already so tasty.

Alibaba & Nyonya also offers some tea time specials. One can opt for various choices from Nyonya Kuih to Crispy Popiah, Mee Siam and Mee Goreng that comes with a hot beverage.

Nyonya Kuih 2pcs with Teh Tarik/Hot Coffee (Tea Time Treats Set 1 – RM5.50)

Mee Siam with Teh Tarik/Hot Coffee (Tea Time Treats Set 3 - RM9.50)

Crispy Popiah with Teh Tarik/Hot Coffee (Tea Time Treats Set 4 – RM5.50)

Our lovely Peranakan meal ended with sweet and icy desserts of Cendol Gula Melaka (RM6.13), Sago Gula Melaka (RM5.19) and Signature ABC (RM7.08).

Desserts were palatable and my favorite was the ABC which was full of lovely bits and fine ice shavings.

ALIBABA & NYONYA

54, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 1,

Taman Tun Dr Ismail,

60000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +603-7732 3170

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlibabaNyonyaMY/

Operating Hours: 11.00 to 10.00pm, Daily