Donkai, The Exchange TRX, Kuala Lumpur

Seeing the name of the shop made me vocalise a certain Ichigo Kurosaki's iconic constipated two syllable trigger in my head. 😂 Anyways, we were here because the hamburg looked and smelled good when we passed by the shop (C.90.0, Level Concourse, The Exchange TRX, Persiaran TRX, Tun Razak Exchange, 55188 Wilayah Persekutuan, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 3-2110 5653).

Basically, what one can get here is hamburg(s) that comes with free flow of vegetables, miso soup and rice. There's the usual additional toppings and sides which could be added on. Tried a couple of their hamburgs. One was stated as just Angus and the other was Japanese wagyu. The wagyu in this case was better for the intrinsic flavour of the meat. 

Their truffle sauce tasted like cream of mushroom. It's not bad actually.

Oh yeah, tamago too. I wasn't sure if it was meant to be a dip for the hamburg or for making my own tamago kake gohan but I used it on the rice. 👍🏼

Bunga Raya Shake from Shake Shack Malaysia

At least as of this post, the only Shake Shack in Malaysia is at TRX (Lot PL.11.0, Level 3, The Exchange TRX, Persiaran TRX, Tun Razak Exchange, 55188 Kuala Lumpur). Took us a while to navigate the place to find it. It wasn't so difficult once you've figured out where exactly it is.

Only here for one thing - which is the Bunga Raya Shake. The exclusive flavour for Malaysia that's...somewhat based on their national flower, the hibiscus.

According to the description, the shake's dragonfruit with vanilla and hibiscus jelly. Generic flavour profile was coconut. If I had to venture a blind taste, I'd think it was coconut. There seemed to be a lot of it. Only other flavour that stood out was the hibiscus. It was at least better than the Singapore exclusive. Why so? We managed to finish this.

Village Park Restaurant, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya

Have heard plenty about Village Park (5 Jalan SS 21/37, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, tel : +60 12-273 8438) and how their nasi lemak have inspired a small legion of....nasi lemak people. Since we weren't that far away, I wanted to scratch that itch and understand it for myself. Seeing that they're an institution and all. 

The rice was pretty good. I like it. Will not wait in line for more than say 10 minutes for it though. Without getting into a pseudo dissertation, what made them stand above many was their willingness to adequately salt their rice which was well infused with santan. Sufficient coconut milk infusion isn't so uncommon but I notice that many local renditions tend to do skimp on the salt

Sambal's onion-y and well flavoured with dried anchovy/ikan bilis. I like it. Their ayam berempah was an outstanding rendition which was heavy on the turmeric. Skin was crispy yet light. Meat was tender, moist and easily removed from the bone. Nicely done.

Got a cup of their "our special white coffee". Not bad tasting actually.

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, Jalan Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur

Been wanting to visit Bijan (No.3, Jalan Ceylon, Bukit Ceylon, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 3-2031 3575) for years. 

It's finally happened. 21 years after they have opened. 😂 I've encountered a description of their food as 'Malay fine dining'. While I'm ambivalent with that label, I don't think that's far from what they are. Food's good quality and a good representation of what an aspect of Malay cuisine can be.

Masak lemak udang tempoyak. Tempoyak is a spiced fermented durian sauce/paste. First time having them and said sauce had an interesting tangy durian flavour and a velvety texture. Detected kaffir lime leaf in it. Loads of prawns and onions in fermented durian sauce. Found this intriguing as a new flavour.

We had grilled lamb which was accompanied by a variety of sambals and pickles. Not bad tasting meat that had the smokiness from the grill. The latter accompaniments were great with white rice. Which we did also order.

This was ayam masak kuzi. Chunks of chicken in a creamy tomato based sauce with bits of almond and raisins. Tasted like butter chicken.

Pucuk paku goreng tahi minyak - stir fried fiddlehead ferns in chilli and caramelized coconut. And prawns. Nice. Another one which was good with rice. The ferns were savoury with a layer of sweetness from the coconut.

Tried their nasi minyak out of curiosity. The name translates into "oil rice" which essentially means flavoured rice. I couldn't tell what spices/oil were in it but it's not bad tasting. Even better when paired with the sweet fruit relish or the sour achar on the side. 

Wanted to know if their durian cake was good. It wasn't bad tasting but neither was it unforgettable. I don't know what kind of durian was it but it wasn't mao shan wang. 😂 Guess that varietal doesn't fall into the "traditional" category. So while we were definitely getting plenty of durian between chocolate cake, it wasn't the "premium" bittersweet grade of fruit which I was hoping for. Even though I had already suspected from the start it wouldn't be those. Now we know. 

A coconut coffee to end. Not bad this one.

Two Sons Bistro, Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur

Lunch at Two Sons Bistro (Lot 6.44.00 & 6.45.00, Level 6 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, 168, Jln Bukit Bintang, Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 10-222 8282) while waiting for our tea from Chagee next door. Restaurant exuded a vibe that seemed to convey that it was once popular but they're no longer so much. Like a fading star. Or maybe I'm just over-imagining.

Nasi lemak sambal paru petai.

Rice was decent. A little dry, some lemongrass and adequate salt. Sambal's sweet from the onions and infused with flavour from ikan bilis as was expected; just like how the textbooks would have described. Just like the textbooks as well, it felt uninspired. 😂

We were mostly intrigued by the paru goreng petai dish on the side with the nasi lemak. Flavour was sweet and salty but the lungs weren't marinated much. Not tasting any of the spices I normally taste in paru goreng nor did they taste beefy. Also noticeably more chewy than I think is appropriately done like.

Laksam Kelantan.

Broth had plenty of coconut and fish flavour. What bothered me was the raw tau gay. 😅 Rice rolls had the texture of a composite with more rice flour than other flour but the flavour didn't taste particularly rice-y. Not a bad tasting dish but the tau gay was almost overpowering everything else and the sambal belachan on the side definitely helped us get through the plate.

Mansion Tea Stall, Jalan Masjid India, Kuala Lumpur

Doing the food tourist thing here getting roti canai breakfast at Mansion Tea Stall (Jalan Masjid India No 2, Lorong Bunus Satu, Selangor Mansion, Kuala Lumpur 50100, tel : +60 12-331 1456). 

Place was a lot older than I imagined from the pictures I saw online. Vibe felt like an era gone by.

But first, tea while waiting. I like what they're doing here. It's not particularly strong but it's sweet without being excessively so and milky without being overwhelmingly creamy. Just sweet tea with milk in my  range of preferred equilibrium.

Pretty much everyone was getting their roti special which was presumably roti canai that was banjir-ed, hit with a dollop of spicy sweet sambal and a couple of soft boiled eggs. "Presumably" because those didn't taste like roti canai. Something was missing in the bread. Not that it would be easy to tell in the eggs and sambal and curry but I'm pretty sure it tasted different. Anyway, not bad. I wouldn't come out all this way for it the next time though.

Decided to end it with a roti boom.

Can't tell if it's Planta and sugar or if there's condensed milk in it but that golden hued insides with sweet grease sure was delicious.