The Mutiara Palace Restaurant

Psst.. let me tell you a secret! Want to dine like royalty in a palace this coming holiday?

Mutiara Palace, located in the PJ triangle of The Curve, Ikea and Tesco, is a heavenly site yet to be discovered by much. It is located in Wisma Bentley where Courts Mammoth is and is also directly facing Tesco hypermarket. The restaurant belongs to the Palace group that owned other entities like Imbi Palace, Klang Palace, Jaya Palace and Grand Palace Pavilion.

So far, this place is only 2 months old, hence its not visible to a lot of people but I can vouched that once words get out, this place will be swamped with foodies and gluttons like me!

I had my very first Chinese New Year (CNY) “lou sang” there recently and words cannot even describe this royalty experience. (Ok, maybe I exaggerated but then I was really impressed with their quality of cuisine served.)

The restaurant was tastefully decorated in a modern contemporary design unlike the usual traditionalist Chinese restaurants. This palace is certainly designed to impress and I have to credit the designer and owner to modernize the whole food experience. Everything felt so right when you walked in as the room was well spaced (no hearing of your neighbor’s conversation is a good thing!), gorgeous lightings, sublime colours of deco and royalty table place settings! Mutiara Palace is certainly fit for royalty dining in my opinion.

The restaurant has quite a few private dining rooms that are designed with comfort, space and style in mind for diners. The room we had for our set meal had plush sofas and a plasma TV with a glass view of greenery shrubs to block out the condensed malls around the area.

Bronzed theme table place setting fit for a king!

I love the modern chandelier and just could not resist showing it off.

We had the CNY set meal for 10 persons at RM 898++.

Prosperity Goldfish Salmon ‘Yee Sang’

Traditional Superior Sharksfin with Crab Roe

Roasted Sucking Pig

Braised Abalone with HK Dried Oyster & Sea Cucumber

Sautéed Sexy Prawns & Clams with Vegetables

Steamed Coral Grouper with Ginger & Chilies

Steamed Rice with Assorted Wax Meat

Sweetened Red Bean & Tangerine Skin Dessert

Homemade Fortune Pastries

 

There are many other set meals ranging from RM288++ (4 pax) to RM1488++ (10 pax). Recomended to make early reservations to avoid any disappointment.

** Get ready to be in awe and drool…food of the Gods coming up next! This is going to be a long post, so be warned…

First up is a CNY delicacy called “Yee Sang”. Yee Sang is a raw fish salad available during this period to symbolize the abundance and prosperity for the Chinese. This was a traditional painstakingly prepared salad which consists of many finely shredded vegetables and thinly sliced raw fish. This dish used to reflect the skills of a chef on his knife work. Although the basic ingredients are commonly found, there are humongous variations of Yee Sang available today.

The divine Salmon Yee Sang set. Aren’t the colours a sight to behold? 

We had a modernized version with fresh thick slices of salmon and crispy salmon skin called Prosperity Goldfish Salmon Yee Sang. I was told that you can order a full order of this Yee Sang ala carte at RM 73.00

Fresh, creamy thick slices of salmon…sigh with happiness!

Chef is very generous with salmon slices unlike some other places where you cannot even find the pieces of fish after it’s mixed in the salad.

Crispy salmon skin added a crunchy touch to further enhance the salmon’s existence in the Yee Sang.

One more picture of the gorgeous hues of sunset coloured salmon slices and crunchy skins before it was “lou hei”!

I always look forward to this next dish which features soup; one of the most important Chinese household dish. Anyone can make a soup but to make a heavenly and nourishing soup to empower the soul, quality ingredients and patience are essential.

Traditional Superior Sharksfin Soup with Crab Roe was served. In the golden days, sharksfin was considered a status item, hence the creation of this soup. However, I find that shark fins do not really contribute much to the soup but in fact, a quality broth is the root to this soup.

The broth was light in flavour and beautifully enhanced by the fresh crab meat and its bits of orange hue crab roes floating effortlessly on top. If given the option, I don’t really mind having this without the shark fins.

In every set meal, there is one dish that gluttons like me would finish faster than a speeding bullet… Roasted Suckling Pig!

Mutiara Palace certainly did justice to the little one. Close your eyes and imagine.. a piece of gorgeously roasted crispy crackling, layered with a thin piece of melt in your mouth goodness… salty, crispy and a gentle hint of sweetness from the accompanied sauce. Perfectly roasted and simply divine….

I just could not resist inserting another scrumptious pic of this suckling delight! I also love the fact that there was a bit of meat with the skin to add a bite to this. Garnished with artfully cut scallions and served with a side of floury pancake, I would eat this as my last meal on earth.

If there was a dish fit only for a emperor, this would be it…Braised Abalone with Hong Kong Dried Oyster & Sea Cucumber.

One can actually feel the effort and tenderness put into this dish by the chef. Whole abalones nestled comfortably on black fatt choy and juicy dried oysters, all carefully tucked into a thick luscious huge sea cucumber, laced with quality broth and pieces of green bok choy.

Close up look at the highly prized baby abalones!

Abalones were perfectly cooked to tenderness. Oysters were juicy and well braised without the fishy smell of dried seafood. Sea cucumber was another masterpiece that united the whole dish. These are top notch ingredients and the chef was certainly generous in using the best for his dishes. This dish was like a beautifully synchronized orchestra, where everyone sang in harmony to enhance each other!

Check out my portion. ;0)

See how luscious the thick piece of sea cucumber was? I was told that sea cucumber is good for beautifying as it contains fatty acids that supplement our skin tissue, hence giving us a more youthful complexion. (I guess I should start saving up to buy more sea cucumbers! Hehehe)

In every auspicious CNY meal, there will usually be a fish course. We were served Steamed Coral Grouper with Ginger & Chilies.

At first glance, I thought that this dish was going to be spicy with the amount of red chilies on the fish. First bite, I was surprised at the smoothness of the fish and its subtle flavour of chilies and a stronger bite of ginger. The chef has skillfully controlled the spicyness of the chilies by adding the minced ginger and soya sauce.

Sauteed Sexy Prawns & Clams with vegetables. Sounds exotic but it was really a simple dish of stir fried prawns with crunchy clams, peas and cashew nuts.

Freshness is key ingredient to this dish. All ingredients are lightly fried with good hint of wok hei and seasoned well to leave the prawns to showcase its freshness and sweetness followed by the nutty flavours of cashews.

Just when I thought the meal could not get any better, Steamed Rice with Assorted Wax Meat arrived.

Rice cooked in a claypot, topped with a great variety of waxed meats such as waxed duck, waxed pork belly, waxed sausages and wine liver sausages. This certainly hit my quota of waxed meats for the year…wink wink! This is one dish that I had wish the flavours were a bit stronger as it was quite bland despite the amount of waxed meat.

I was stuffed!! I thought desserts would be impossible but then I was served a steaming hot bowl of Sweetened Red Bean & Tangerine Skin Dessert.

Simple and not sweet at all, the broth was heavily scented with tangerine (kam pei) and there were small pieces of mochi in it. Creamy and not sweet at all with a slight texture of the coarsely pureed red beans, I thought it could use a little more sweetness since this is a dessert after all.

Homemade Fortune Pastries were simple desserts of sticky rice cakes or nian gao and sesame balls of lotus. Nian Gao is glutinous rice cakes steamed till caramel colored and soft gooey goodness. It is considered good luck to have nian gao for the new year to symbolized the raising of oneself higher in each coming year.

This is homemade 100%. I do not like nian gao as they are usually super sweet and super sticky, The nian gao here is steamed and lightly coated with fresh grated coconuts. Very lightly sweet and soft, this was perfect for me. Dainty bite size sesame balls stuffed with lotus was another hit. Crispy and not oily at all, one bite lead me to a soft center filled with delicate lotus paste.

As the meal was incredible, we asked to meet up with the chef responsible for the outstanding creations!

Chef John Kew, aged 36 years old, was surprising young with such great skills. Shy and smiley, he actually opened up when describing his passion for food and his creations! He was really pleased we enjoyed his dishes.

Conclusion, this set meal is valued for money as the portions and qualities are top notch. Mutiara Palace certainly knows how to treat their diners like royalty. I have had other set meals around this price range but never experience such a satisfaction of being fed like a royalty! Make sure to experience this to celebrate the upcoming CNY holidays...

This is one unforgettable experience that will leave a long lasting memory in my journey of gastronomical cuisine.

The Mutiara Palace Restaurant

Ground Floor, Wisma Bentley Music

No. 3, Jalan PJU 7/2

Mutiara Damansara,

47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Tel: 03 7726 6676 (Hunting Line)

Fax: 03 7726 6171

Disclaimer: The opinions and experiences articulated on this blog is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may be at odds for other foodies.

Sweet Fluffy Soft Buns

What a weekend! During such time, I do go over board and cramp up my weekends with lots of baking. Somehow, the coming CNY holidays just makes me go nuts in the kitchen with lots of baking and cooking.

I just L.O.V.E fresh baked bread and the wonderful fragrance of freshly baked fluffy bread in my kitchen. The aroma is addictive and although I am still learning to bake, I just cannot resist baking them recently despite my cookie bake out for the holidays. Today, I nearly burn out my mixer because I left the mixer too long as I was side tracked on another matter! Note to thy-self, never leave any electrical item on unless I can see them.. :)

I saw this wonderful recipe from Wendy's blog, click here, and I just couldn't resist baking them. Check her out as Wendy is very creative and I love her recipes as they are very precised and detailed.

The recipe is really simple and ingredients are very easy to get. The result is what Wendy said, wonderfully soft and very fluffy bread. Taste sweet and light, I baked some with hotdogs, otak otak and left some plain.

Here is the outcome of my baking today.

I doubled up the recipe and got 6 hotdog buns, 6 otak otak buns and 9 plain sweet buns. Although they look ordinary, I am very please with the outcome as this is my first time getting fluffy and light buns!

See how fluffy they are?

Plain golden sweet buns waiting to be devour or stuff with yummlicious fillings.

Hotdog or... my family called them "Alien Dog" buns because I can never shape them perfectly like those sold outside!  hehehe

My otak otak buns.. some bursted as they were not wrapped properly. Guess I have to keep baking to practice my skill at filling up a bun! For those who are wondering what otak otak is, it is a spicy concoction of fish and herb batter that has a texture like a quiche.


Sigh.. as I am writing this post, I can still smell the freshness of the bread! Just cannot resist.. I think I ll go and stuff myself with one more bun before I hit the sack! (wink wink!)

Jarrod & Rawlins Sri Hartamas

I woke up late on the 1st day of the new year as I as taking meds. Since I skipped breakfast, I decided to have a nice lunch with my family. I have been reading so much about Jarrod & Rawlins from other blogs that I decided it time to go there and experience their much talked about breakfast.

We were there after lunch hours at the Sri Hartamas branch, hence it was really quiet with only one table occupied. I took a glance at the menu and changed my mind about breakfast.. hehehe.

I said to myself, I could cook up the breakfast, so I should pick something more adventurous. :)

The place also serves as a deli where one can actually buy deli meats, cheese and other delicatessen products. I took some picture of its ambience and some of its products for sale.

Check out that huge blocks of ham. I could use one as a pillow! There were plenty of sausages with various flavours and bacons of various cuts..

I could also see some marinated vegetables such as olives, pearl onions, peppers and eggplants and a good variety of cheeses.

They also have a limited shelf with some imported sauces, jams, pasta, pancake mix, olive oil and spices.

J&R carries a great variety of imported fine wines on their shelves and beers in their coolers.


We put in our order of their popular Pork Burger with bacon and a speciality of Toad in a Hole. Service was really excellent and our waiter was very smiley. Its so nice to be serviced with a smile! Wish this is more often found in other restaurants. When one receives good service, food somehow taste better.

Toad is a Hole is actually an English dish which is very popular in UK pubs. It is actually a simple fair of sausages baked in a savory Yorkshire pudding batter and served with gravy. Yorkshire pudding is a simple batter of eggs and flour. When made right, it is really puffy and crispy on the outside and soft pudding like in the inside. The recipe is quite easy as a pan is placed in the oven with some kind of fats or oil and heated till it is really hot. The batter is then poured into the pan and baked till puffy and golden with the sausages.

I could tell the sausages were cooked separately instead of baking it together with the pudding. I am ok with this as the pork sausages was perfectly grilled, moist and crusty.

First bite of the sausages was honest to goodness De-Li-Cious. A bit salty but I think most sausages are anyway for better flavour and storage.Yorkshire pudding was a bit on the thin side , hence it was really crispy overall and no soft pudding on the inside. I was so looking forward to this but I still think it is delightful on its own way. Crispy and savoury, I like the sausages and pudding (RM25) doused with the gravy. Overall, I do find it a bit salty but my family seemed to love it!

J&R Pork Burger (RM 24) was next. Ah... the long awaited and much blogged about pork burger. I added bacon (RM3) to the burger to get the full overloaded experience of porky goodness!

The burger was served with a load of shoestring fries, a cornichon (gherkin or small pickled cucumber), coleslaw and a salad with mayo and ketchup on the side. I do love and appreciate this as one can actually build their own burger to their taste. Check out the bacon.. isn't this the most beautiful sight to behold?  :P

Burger was moist and salty again. Bacon also added to the saltiness. It's really a heart attack waiting to happen but then again, its the 1st day of the year! They do provide salad and coleslaw to counter this.. wink wink! kekeke... I do think the chef should go a bit easy on the salt but tastewise was what Mary Poppins would say.. "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".. :0) (Try saying this backwards!)


We only shared two dishes as we had a full set dinner coming up in a few hours. I have to say, the verdict was a hit because of the service and quality of the food. I am gamed to come back and try other dishes that looked really good as well. Pricey from normal standard but thats what you pay for quality and ambience.


They have three outles currently with the one in Sri Hartamas, Damansara Heights and Ampwalk. Check out their website for more details.

website:    http://www.jarrod-rawlins.com/home/


Jarrods & Rawlins ~ Purveyors of Fine Food & Wine
Desa Sri HartamasNo. 36 (Grd Flr), Jalan 27/70A
Desa Sri Hartamas
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2300 0708, Fax: 03-2300 0706
*Credit Card accepted

Disclaimer: The opinions and experiences articulated on this blog is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may be at odds for other foodies.

Fang Xiang Bak Kut Teh

“Watcha doing on Sunday? “ asked my friend. Before I could answer, he said “Wanna go pig out?”  Being a huge fan of the dearly beloved pork, how can I refuse… kekeke! This triggered the pig out session (literally!) at a new Bak Kut Teh place at Setia Alam area.

Before you read further, please be warned of an obscene amount of pork dishes coming up. J

Bak Kut Teh (BKT) is basically a Chinese soup boiled with tons of meat and offal, which is legendary in Asia countries with high population of Chinese gluttons. Chinese herbs are usually added into the soup to provide more flavour and nutritional value (or so they say..). This soup is usually consumed with rice and “yau cha kwai”.

There many versions of BKT depending on the influence of the various Chinese enclave in a certain geographical location. If you are in Klang area where Hokkiens dominate, BKT is a super thick and robust soup, dark and almost creamy to the lips. If you are in Singapore where Teochews dominates, the soup is light and gentle flavoured with fewer herbs and is more refined to the taste buds. There are also many imaginative forms of BKT as my favorite one is a dry version of BKT. These are limited to only certain area in Klang where the BKT is boiled with minimal soup till thick and dry and ingredients such as dried chilies, okra and dried squid are added to boost up the strong flavours of BKT. Most universal BKTs are boiled with pork but due to health and religion, there are now poultry and seafood BKTs in some places available.

This new BKT opened 4 days ago in the Setia Alam area in a business called Setia Avenue, which is located next to Tesco. There are only two shops occupied and one of them is Fang Xiang BKT. Fang Xiang is owned by a young business owner named Ms Lee or Fang who is barely in her mid twenties. Check out her cute picture on her signboard! Good comical version of her…

I am impressed! This gutsy owner had the gallantry to take up a challenge of coming up with her own recipe of BKT after she sampled almost all the BKTs around KL and Selangor area. Sweet, courageous and friendly to boot, I really admired her guts to open a BKT shop. We had a chat with her and found that her father who is a pork seller, supplies the pork to her; therefore quality is rest assured.

She is currently the cook as well as she is very passionate about controlling the quality of the soup. Such an entrepreneur, she personally took our order and proceeded to prepare the food in the open kitchen.

Simple and minimal ambience, the shop is very open with good ventilation. Currently, Fang advised that she is still tweaking the interior and is also waiting for air condition to be installed. Bright yellow painted walls brought up a cheerful ambience and there is even a second floor waiting to be renovated for future growth.

Menu with pictures of the various cuts of the pork and other dishes to make ordering easier. There are ten types of pork cuts and few spare parts available. Some cuts do run out fast, hence one needs to beat the crowd and get here early!

Check out the pot of boiling soup with pork…smells better than Famous A cookies! J

Lo and behold, enough pork to make you hit your meat quota of the week at one meal!

As we were there in the evening, quite a few cuts were not available as Fang mentioned that there was a huge crowd on that Sunday morning, which totally swiped out most of their pork. Funny how news spreads like wild fire to gluttons (like me!) on a new BKT restaurant as Fang Xiang is only 4 days old and located in a new area but word has gotten out already.

Rice was promptly served within few minutes of ordering. Fang Xiang served up fragrance shallot oil infused rice which is really yummy. I had to stop myself from ordering another bowl as it was perfectly cooked with each grain separated but still moist and lovely.

First up was a tendon called “Di Ka Geng” (RM11). I am not a fan of tendons, hence I only sampled a little of this. Soft and jelly-like, the tendons were boiled for hours to achieve a smooth and soft texture. This part is still not my cup of tea…hehehe.

Next up, an offal part called “Deng Kia” (RM9) was actually intestine stuffed with intestines! This is a love and hate part for me as it takes a tedious amount of cleaning and preparation time to cook this. If not clean well, the musky smell of the intestine is not a pleasant experience. Fang Xiang’s version is pretty good as the intestine is soft and chewy without the gamey smell.

Small ribs or “Sai Kut” (RM9) is next. Soft meat with a little fat attached on a small riblet was swimming in the thick and dark luscious broth. Meat was tender and nicely seasoned with the essence of the herbal broth.

“Ka Chark” (RM9) is the end part of the leg, towards the knuckle as advised by Fang. For foodies who love to chew on gelatinous bits, skin, tendon and little meat, this is the part for you. An order has a split serving of the whole bone. I am not a fan but my friend walloped the whole bowl quoting…“lip smacking good!”

Big bone or “Tua Kut” (RM9) is a huge bone of the leg with dark meat. If you like dark meat, this is the one for you. One of my friends called this “Chicken drumstick meat or Kai Pei Yuk” whenever she orders this at any BKT shop. Velvety and firm, I simply adore this part. I skipped the skin though as the thoughts of consuming so much meat and fat at one time have me telling myself to go easy on this.

The final meat strangely called “Pua Pui Chia” (RM9) was my favorite of the night! Fang highly recommended this quoting that this part is very limited as it is a small portion on the back of the pig. First looked rendered me thinking of white meat which could be tough and dry. I was wrong again! Meat was so tender that at first bite had me at hello! Texture was similar to dark meat but the colour was lighter and much leaner than dark meat. I ate so many pieces of this and even consumed the thin layer of skin which was so scrumptious and smooth. Melt in the mouth goodness, I would say this is equivalent to the pork belly cut for me minus the fat!

We order the obligatory vegetable dish of Yau Mak with Shallot Oil and Soya Sauce (RM5). Crunchy and tasty, the Yau Mak was nicely blanched.

Another must have is the “You Tiao” (RM2) or fried oil stick. It was average as the oil stick was not crispy anymore, maybe due to the fact that it was evening already.

If you like the thick and dark soup variety, this is the place to be! Fang Xiang has great potential to be swarmed in the future as it provides a homemade goodness of luscious and creamy herbal BKT that does not leave you thirsty or with a sickly stickiness on the mouth after a meal. I did not have to guzzle much tea or water and by the time I reach home, I still felt good despite drinking a lot of the soup and overdosed on pork. They are generous with the soup and provided us with refills (..without a sour look) when we requested. J

Salute to the young owner Ms Lee for perfecting her BKT!


I cannot wait to go back with my family on the weekends to pig out again…with such an almost perfect standard set from Fang Xiang, its going to be hard for me to go back to my normal BKTs around my area…

Fang Xiang Bak Kut Teh

13A-1, Jalan Setia Prima SU 13/S,

Setia Alam

40170 Shah Alam

Owner: Ms Lee

Tel: 016 682 8655

Business Hours

Tuesday to Sunday

8am to 3pm and 5pm to 9pm

Closed on Monday

Disclaimer: The opinions and experiences articulated on this blog is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may be at odds for other foodies.