Dae Jang Gum Korean restaurant , section 14 PJ

There are so many Korean restaurants in PJ/KL now that we have lost count trying them out!

For those who live in PJ, you don't have to go really far for good, clean and affordable Korean. Dae Jang Gum is situated near the old Jaya supermarket, section 14, along the same block as KFC.

The fried "tong fun" is a must - tasty yet low in MSG. It doesn't leave you feeling thirsty after the meal.

Not only do they give you the normal starters, this place also throws in, on the house, steamed egg white and corn on a hot plate ! Don't over order or you will be sorry!

The Galbi either marinated or just plain red is succulent and does not disappoint. Don't forget the "melt in your mouth pork belly either".. not for the faint hearted i tell ya !

However, for all those meat lovers who aren't squeamish about eating innards, (and this is my favourite as well) the ox tongue is a MUST! All that fat and red meat is guaranteed to send your taste buds into over-drive.. haha

There is no better way to wash down the meal than with BEK SE JU. Which is 100 year old Se Ju (not really the age, so much as the health benefit), and we normally mix this with the 50 year old Se Ju.... hey presto....

....

...reduced potency!! - that takes the edge out of the drinks as well, as Se Ju can sometimes be less smooth on the palate! .. Aren't the Koreans fantabulous at their drink and wine :) bliss!!!

Food : 7/10

Ambiance : 5/10 (smokey.. but aren't all korean bbq restaurants)

MSG level : low

Fat level : High

Service : 8/10

Cleanliness : 8/10

Price : Average

Ninja Jones

Why is a Japanese restaurant called Ninja Jones? What a name! So bizarre!

When I was told about this place I just thought that it was plain strange and assumed that Mr Ninja Jones would have no clue on how to create great Japanese cuisine.

I was wrong!

This restaurant is tucked away in the North Building of Midvalley, KL. Just ask for directions at the Main shopping center if you get lost.

Firstly before i hit the food review, let me just congratulate Ninja Jones on their super friendly and well mannered staff. They made our dining experience really fun!
Take for example Carol (above left) - she was our waitress for the day and she made sure she took good care of us - service with a smile. If all service personal were like that, what a delight! Carol is from Myanmar and she was telling us about the horrors in Yangon. Her mother told her not to return just yet, and that KL is far safer. Despite her adversities and her worries about home and family, she continues to display a positive attitude. Very nice person.

The other person who was equally delightful was the Ninja man! He served us all our dishes.. This was an interesting touch and added some mystery to our dining experience. Definitely innovative and different ... I like !

One thing you will notice at Ninja Jones is an extensive salads menu. Most Japanese places don't offer much choice in terms of vegetables let alone salads. Most places cook their veges to death.

Anyway, for the green lover, (like me), NJ is the place that satisfies ... not only that, the salad rolls are amazing. What you see above is the avocado and soft shell crab namaharumaki salad. The paper used for the roll is akin to the Vietnamese rice paper roll. This salad is bursting with succulence and yet crunchy due to the greens. Trust me, a must eat!

The sashimi was no less amazing. We were recommended the seasonal fish and this did not disappoint either . What you see above is Mekajiki (swordfish), Ishidai (white fish), Maguro chu toro (fatty tuna belly) and the hiramasa (yellowtail family).

Now we were really getting warmed up for the mains..

Enter the spider roll....

Followed by the Dynamite Roll...

(I must say at this point in time, the only thing I felt slightly disappointed with was the fact that the dynamite roll, was less than dynamite. Not hot enough la.. common... please improve on this NJ)

And the grand finale... Kobe beef, on a hot stone. Medium rare... 100 gram of exquisite, melt in the mouth, succulent, air-flown beef... nothing but the best... of course..

Food : 8/10

Service 9/10

MSG levels : moderate

Ambiance : 7/10

Price : High end

La Fite, KL

Looking for some good French, we headed down to Lafite, KL. Imagine our despair with they told us that lafite had renovated, not just its restaurant front, but its menu as well. It now serves 'fusion'. Alamak! so many places serve fusion.. so few good French outlets. Never mind , we started the night off with cocktails. I was already drunk from the cocktails that husband made at home, but never mind that ;PThe martini extra dry was so-so. The long island tea was really rather interesting - boiling hot liquid at the bottom, and freezing steaming cream on the top. You drink it as the two surface layers mix together to normalize the extreme temperatures.

We were then shown to our table and as we were hungry, we wanted the works.a truffle and brie concoction to tickle the palate.. followed by a gnocchi dish.

Then we got down and dirty with the starters - foie gras mango otherwise known as NO.8 (like in some james bond flick).

For the main course Oyster Tzaziki for the lady and Lamb Cappuccino for the guy .. all served fusion style.We finished it off with the Crepes Suzette - served on a hot plate.

The orange caramel was administered to the dish via a mini pipette.To make our entire eating experience extra special they gave us a sunflower(my favourite flower - how did they know!) as a parting gift. There were nitrogen sorbet ice balls at the base of the sunflower. CIKI tried to eat the nitrogen sorbet ice balls using nothing but his tongue... hahaha All in all, a nice dining experience :):)

Ambiance : 8/10

Friendliness of staff : 7/10

Food : 7/10

Price : High side

MSG level : Low