Eat Drink KL

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Moon's Kitchen @ Putra Heights

Billed as a haven for lobster lovers & meat maniacs, here's a cheerful little restaurant tucked in the Putra Heights township.

Moon's Kitchen is helmed by friendly young couple Aizuddin & Atikah (Aizuddin's one of three chefs in the kitchen; Atikah runs the front of the house). Its origins hail from a hawker stall that Aizuddin's cousin, nicknamed 'Moon', started 18 years ago in Pandan Indah. Last year, the family finally chose to launch their first full-fledged eatery on this Putra Heights shop-house row.

Moon's Kitchen takes plenty of pride in its Boston lobster (RM22.90 per 100 grams), prepared in one of three styles - Thermidor, or with garlic butter, or with four cheeses. It'll steal the spotlight when presented on this eye-catching platter.

Rib fans will have a field day here, especially folks who seek red meat; from the BBQ Wagon, choose either Aussie beef ribs braised with Mexican-inspired chipotle chilli sauce, flame-grilled for a smoky charred exterior (RM49.90, with chips & coleslaw) ...

... or lamb ribs, also from Down Under, glazed with a tangy mango chutney puree & black peppercorns, accompanied by corn, broccoli, roast tomatoes & mash (RM39.90). Moon's Kitchen relies on rich marinades & robust sauces for its recipes, which will work for customers who are comfortable with a heavy touch for their meat.

No lack of options for steaks either, which can be served as a sizzling sirloin in the time-honoured manner (RM24.90 for 200 grams with thick mushroom, black pepper or brown sauce) or a flame-grilled rib-eye flavoured with the likes of garlic & herbs.

For patrons seeking a splurge, Moon's Kitchen offers Wagyu rib-eye, also available in various preparations (RM139.90), alongside other choices like house-made beef burgers topped with shiitake mushrooms & cheese (RM21.90, with 200-gram patties), rosemary chicken (RM23.90), classic fish & chips (RM15.90) & pasta aglio olio with salmon & mussels (RM24.90).

If you're looking for lighter bites, possibilities range from a creamy spiced beef broth with caramelised baked onions, flame-seared cheddar & garlic croutons (RM8.90) to NZ mussels crowned with lemon-&-herb sauce & spring onions (RM17.90).

Appealing cakes are showcased on the counter; many thanks to Aizuddin & Atikah for warmly hosting us at their restaurant.

Moon's Kitchen
12A-G Jalan Putra Mahkota 7/6B, Putra Heights, Subang Jaya.
Open Tues-Thurs, Sat-Sun, 12pm-10pm & Fri, 3pm-10pm. Tel: 03-5887-1081

Check out the latest edition of Eat Drink KL: 100 Favourites, featuring 100 recommended restaurants for January-March 2015. This eBook is available to read or download at this link: http://eatdrinkkl.cld.bz/2015

This link expires March 31, 2015. Please check the newest blog entries after that for fresh links.

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Eat Drink KL: Small Businesses, Huge Flavours is the first eBook to help customers navigate the diversity of independent F&B entrepreneurs who bake & boil in their own kitchens, offering some of Malaysia's finest, most fascinating food products.

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Eat Drink KL Official Mobile App For iOS & Android

It's here! By restaurant lovers, for restaurant lovers: The new Eat Drink KL mobile app is now available for iOS & Android, connecting restaurants with customers & promoting a positive spirit of community.

Download the iPhone app at: https://itunes.apple.com/my/app/eat-drink-kl/id958657326?mt=8

Download the Android phone app at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eatdrinkkl.EatDrinkKL

Starting 2 March 2015, every restaurant featured on this app will reward users with a 6 percent discount off their receipts, instantly & conveniently, everyday, all day long, with no advance bookings required. In return, users will share photos of their experiences at these restaurants, creating a new community of food fans across the Klang Valley.

For every transaction made through this app, 20 sen will be channelled to a different charity every month. The funds will be completely contributed by the restaurants. Our first charity for March is the Dignity For Children foundation, which works to help underprivileged Malaysian children break the cycle of poverty through education.

The app offers something for everyone who enjoys eating out. Besides a photo feed that's fully powered by users, it also provides a news feed of the latest promotions & highlights at your favourite restaurants.

And if your shared photo receives the app's highest number of likes from other users on a specific month, you'll receive an extra reward: A complimentary meal worth up to RM100 at any restaurant featured on the app. From Japanese & Thai to French & Spanish, plus plenty of cafes & coffee bars, you'll find it all here.

The EDKL app is a self-funded, independent initiative by a tiny team of Malaysians. Users can now use the app at the following locations. We'll add many more venues in the weeks & months to come, & will continue updating this list on this page as well as on the mobile app:

BANGSAR

Ashley's By Living Food

KGB Killer Gourmet Burgers

LA/PA

Mercat

Piggy Tail

Rendez-Vous

BANGSAR SOUTH

Nexo

Thirdwave

BUKIT BINTANG

Boat Noodle (Berjaya Times Square)

CHERAS

Boat Noodle (Ikon Connaught)

CITY CENTRE

Cherry Bomb (Menara See Hoy Chan)

Drift Dining & Bar

DAMANSARA PERDANA

Boat Noodle

Cat In The Box

Epique

Friendscino

Mosano Coffee

Sevencups

Talent Lounge

DAMANSARA UPTOWN

Ecole P

Epicuro

Swich Cafe

KLANG

Boat Noodle (Klang Parade)

KOTA DAMANSARA

Bmon Cafe

Burger Junkyard

PETALING JAYA

Boat Noodle (Jaya One)

Go Thai (SS2)

Kitchen Creatures (Centrepoint, Bandar Utama)

Strangers At 47 (Section 17)
The Bee (Jaya One)
Vvaffle (Jaya One)

PUBLIKA / SOLARIS DUTAMAS

Boat Noodle

Swich Cafe
The Bee

The Red Beanbag

SHAH ALAM

Boat Noodle (Gamuda Walk)

SRI HARTAMAS

Breadfruits

TAMAN TUN DR ISMAIL

D Legends

Quar/Tet

Torii

OTHER AREAS

Foodlogy (Viva Residency, Sentul)

Thank you to all readers & restaurants for supporting us on this initiative. We hope you'll have fun exploring the app & its features, & enjoy exploring the featured restaurants.

Here are the THREE easy steps to redeem your discounts at restaurants. Simply (1) TAP, (2) SHOW, & (3) UPLOAD.

1. TAP on the "Activate Discount" button on the restaurant's app profile page, which will take you to a discount coupon page. No advance bookings are required; you only need to activate the discount when you are already physically at the restaurant.

2. SHOW the discount coupon page on your phone (example below) to your server or cashier, either when placing your order or requesting your receipt. The cashier will deduct a 6 percent discount off your receipt before payment. It's as simple as that!

3. On the discount coupon page, tap on the button to UPLOAD your own photo of the restaurant or the food/drinks that you ordered. This photo will be publicly viewable by other users. You must also upload a separate photo of your receipt for administrative purposes; your receipt photo will be private & not viewable by other users. Please complete this final step - otherwise, you cannot activate further discounts, & we cannot channel any contribution to charity for your transaction.

Download the iPhone app at: https://itunes.apple.com/my/app/eat-drink-kl/id958657326?mt=8

Download the Android phone app at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eatdrinkkl.EatDrinkKL

Monday, March 2, 2015

Dewakan by Darren Teoh @ KDU University College, Glenmarie

The Klang Valley's best new restaurant so far this year is an unassuming venue with an ambitious vision, spilling over with a cascade of culinary surprises that coalesce into an enriching experience to remind guests that with great food comes great joy. If you can only visit one restaurant right now, make it Dewakan, which served the most compelling meal I've had in 18 months.

Come to the Glenmarie campus of KDU University College & take a journey through an epically epicurean 10-course tasting menu that'll require north of two hours. Nibble on crispy edible 'twigs' with mayonnaise made with Terengganu's 'budu' fermented fish sauce - a harbinger of Dewakan's harvest of Malaysian flavours that are rarely thrust into the high-end spotlight.

The menu is fun but not flamboyant, playful without being gimmicky, unconventionally remarkable but perceptively restrained. Cucur-style fritters are showered with kerisik, herbaceous & earthy, laced with slivers of duck, a bravura testament to lecturer-chef Darren Teoh's determination to interpret both familiar & unfamiliar local ingredients through an insightful, inventive lens.

Teoh's food forms a tapestry of personal stories, reflecting on people, their culture, the past & the future. This mango curry - brimming with simultaneously pure & rich nuances in every spoonful - is a tribute to his grandmother's late Malayalee friend, whose unforgettable cooking managed to turn the meat-loving Teoh into a vegetarian for one meal every year.

Now, the actual 10 courses after the prelude: First, a vivid ensemble of Pulau Ketam razor clams, sauteed & served chilled with cashew nuts, rose apples, 'tenggek burung' herbs & 'snow.' Teoh's creations are complex, & he likes guests to mix everything up before eating. A symphonic feat of flavour-juggling, ensuring the dynamics on the dish harmonise exuberantly.

'Dewakan' is a marriage of two Malay words - 'Dewa,' or God, & 'makan,' or eat. Essentially, the restaurant celebrates food from God, embracing the life-affirming bounty of the land & sea, from farms to forests, mountains to the coastline, & paying homage to nature's produce on plates of juicy roast king oysters mushrooms, mackerel flakes, green curry pesto & yoghurt.

Not syphon-brewed coffee - Dewakan captures the headiness of a potent mushroom broth enhanced with mandarin peels, garlic & vegetables through this striking preparation, a pour-over for a congee of glutinous black Forbidden Rice with ox tongue & soft-boiled egg. Nearly every offering here qualifies as a 'signature dish,' but this is one of three that triumphantly stand out.

It helps that Teoh has assembled a skilled team, from manager Hafriz, who commands the floor, to kitchen maestros like Sarah, Yik Siang & Tristan whose sparkling resumes spark confidence in their mastery of these prawns - prepared partly as a tartare & partly cooked - with fiddlehead ferns & pegaga. Crustacean heads crunchy enough to consume whole, rich with roe.

Love this one: Charcoal fire-roasted chicken, subtly basted with whey, coupled with chicken liver ragout wrapped in kaduk, made captivating with a beautifully robust puree of buah keluak & kailan, its look inspired by Noma, where Teoh fruitfully staged for a fortnight. In a sense, Dewakan might be the closest thing in Malaysia to that Danish restaurant & its philosophies.

Guests won't find salmon or cod on Teoh's menu, which turns for now to pomfret, elegantly steamed over turmeric leaves; the understated, underrated fish constitutes a clean canvas for a complicated portrait of pleasure, painted with precision, with water chestnuts both whole & as a foam, salted egg yolk, paper-thin sweet potato crisps & puree of chrysanthemum garland.

Confit of lamb breast, perhaps not a part often showcased, fatty & fleshy, full-bodied in flavour, its layers evoking 'siu yok,' served with spring onions & marsala & onion puree. It's the simplest-looking of Dewakan's dining divinities, but it's no less sumptuous. Note that the lamb is one of Dewakan's very, very few ingredients that aren't domestically sourced.

Dessert devotees will be delighted that Dewakan serves three sweet treats at the close of this odyssey (which totals a very reasonable RM175 from start to finish) - first, Dewakan's version of fro-yo, fluffy & punchy with roselle syrup & daun selom oil.

This one's a knock-out, capable of haunting customers' dreams: Creamy Gula Melaka marquise with crispy, lightly sour meringue - both brilliant even on their own, but the pulut ice cream makes this transcendent, certain to be of 2015's finest.

Coming very close behind: Smoked chocolate chantilly & chocolate 'branches' with nutmeg syrup & dill, plus 'pisang goreng' ice cream. Ravishing; customers on a tighter schedule or budget can have a three-course meal with bigger portions for RM75 or four courses for RM125, but if you're able, the RM175 ten-course exploration will prove definitely & definitively worthwhile.

Housekeeping notes: Dewakan is currently only open for lunch, 12:30 pm-2:30 pm, Mondays through Fridays, but will launch for dinner later this month, including on Saturdays. A la carte orders are not allowed; wine however is expected to be offered soon. The restaurant is on campus, but requires a bit of scouting, since there's no signboard for now.

Dewakan

Lower Ground Floor, KDU University College, Utropolis Glenmarie, Jalan Kontraktor U1/14, Seksyen U1, Shah Alam

Tel: 03-5565-0767