Bossa Nova @ Parkroyal Hotel

Bossa Nova's all-you-can-eat Brazilian grill has always been its main attraction, but there's also an a la carte menu now with intriguing items if you don't feel like indulging in a buffet.

Churrasco prawns in palm oil moistened with coconut milk, tomatoes and garlic, served with Brazilian taro rice and sauteed brassica. The portion was meagre, but this tasted exotic enough. Lots of rich, complex flavours.

Grilled chicken with Mayan spices & chocolate sauce. Evidence that chocolate can be eaten with virtually anything. The soft, sweet & sticky chocolate blended surprisingly well with the tender, salty chicken. A scrumptious way to have both a main course and dessert at once.

Bossa Nova,

Parkroyal Hotel.

Tao @ Taman Tun

A nicely designed place that plays light music in the early evening.

Tao Mist and Tao Slipper cocktails. Decent drinks.

Tao Lounge Bar,

TTDI Plaza.

BnY @ Subang

A fairly popular neighbourhood outlet that specializes in home-cooked Shanghai dishes.

The "lion's head" meatballs are a terrific starter. Chunks of minced pork that are first fried, then boiled before being served in gravy.

The claypot "yee mein ching" tastes like beancurd but is actually fish paste.

Fried kurau fish with sweet vinegar. Well-prepared; the strong-flavoured sauce managed to complement the fish instead of overpowering it.

The braised eel was melt-in-the-mouth comfort food. Absolutely adored this.

Fried pumpkin with salted egg. Served piping hot, this was exceptional, without a trace of excess oil or salt. The pumpkin was light, crisp and somehow even tasted healthy!

Steamed prawns in a sweet, slightly spicy sauce. Not bad, but not the star of the night.

Sliced haruan in rice wine. We lapped up every spoonful of the booze-laced broth, which was perfectly matched with the flaky, delicate fish.

BnY,

Jalan SS18/1B, Subang Jaya.

Tel: 5638-9623

The Pressroom @ Bangsar Shopping Center

No ifs or buts about it: Now that The Pressroom is finally open, there's no better restaurant at BSC. This is a place to which we'll definitely return, over and over again.

Asparagus risotto with chanterelle mushroom ragu & balsamic reduction. Simple recipe, but perfectly prepared. All the ingredients tasted top-notch, with no compromises in quality.

Crispy-skin barracuda. We were sure that that this is a local fish, but we can't recall the Malay name for it. Tasted kinda like seabass, but maybe with an even milder flavour.

Seared foie gras with Muscat jelly. Priced at only RM34. What are you waiting for?

Fish stew. I hate to name-drop, but this tasted like the fish soups that we enjoyed in Venice, all those years ago. Makes you feel close to the sea, even when you're just sitting in Bangsar.

Double lamb chop with bubble & squeak. Bloody good; true-blood carnivores, order this.

Saffron linguine with seared scallops, artichokes and truffle oil. If you've ever complained about not being able to taste the saffron in your pasta, then this is the one you need to order.

Braised Wagyu cheek with turnip risotto. How good was this? One of our friends at the table had never eaten beef before this. We coaxed him into it this time, and he liked it enough that he'll probably agree to a good old-fashioned steak the next time around.

Spinach gnocchi with braised beef, tomato concasse and blue cheese sauce. A bit too stodgy.

Wiener Holstein with fried egg and Spanish anchovies. A basic breaded veal schnitzel.

Pistachio, hazelnut and almond ice cream with whipped cream and butternut sauce.

Meringue with passion fruit cream. Too sour for our liking.

La Petit Jaboulet, Syrah, Rhone, France 2007.

Zacapa Mojito ((Ron Zacapa, Fresh Mint, Lime, Soda) & Pressroom Reporter (Tanqueray 10, Grand Marnier, Lemon Juice, Soda).

The Pressroom,

Bangsar Shopping Centre.

Vincenzo @ One Bangsar

A brief stopover for delectable desserts.

Baked chocolate pudding with vanilla ice cream. At a time when this recipe has become a cliche, Vincenzo's version is still one of the city's best, with a taste, texture and temperature that border on perfect.

Amaretto coffee tiramisu. Provided a nice alcoholic wallop.

Cointreau Orange and Rum & Raisin gelatos. Also wonderfully laced with booze.

Bacio Gelato (chocolate & hazelnut) and Chocolate Chilli Gelato.

White Sangria (orange, mango, pineapple, lime, brandy, white wine) and Red Sangria (same ingredients, except with red wine instead).

Vincenzo,

One Bangsar.

Mandarin Palace @ Federal Hotel

Mandarin Palace has seen better days, but it's still a quaint, nostalgia-imbued place where you can almost feel the ghosts of long-dead diners hovering around.

The outlet hasn't escaped the hairy crab craze. In fact, it's trying to entice customers with recipes such as the Hairy Crab Roe Siu Mai _ seemingly the most decadent of dim sum. These morsels succeeded brilliantly, in a moist, melt-in-the-mouth way.

Alas, the other dishes failed to impress. The steamed hairy crab with glutinous rice was a letdown. The crab had only a moderate amount of roe, while the rice was dry and hardened.

Steamed hairy crab with ginger. Tasted like ordinary steamed hairy crab.

General Tso's Chicken. This was the first time we've spotted this deep-fried, sweet-and-sour dish in KL. Not bad, but not unusual-tasting actually.

House white wine. Thankfully, they serve it by the glass.

Mandarin Palace,

Federal Hotel.

El Meson @ Telawi, Bangsar

El Meson, supposedly Spanish for The Tavern, is a breath of fresh air at Telawi, offering non-halal tapas and other European specialties. It's like a cross between El Cerdo and La Bodega.

The Andalusian bean soup with pancetta is a thick, hearty starter, with lotsa kidney beans and cured pork belly at the base of the bowl.

Calamares Rellenos (squid stuffed with minced meat sauce). An interesting change from the typical squid recipes. Imagine fresh, not-too-chewy squid immersed in a gravy that looked like rendang but tasted like a rich bolognaise.

Paella with pork, chicken and chorizo. We weren't impressed with this initially, since it tasted somewhat Oriental and lacked the aroma of saffron. But it was still well-prepared _ a far cry from the mushy paella at many other outlets.

Confit of milk-fed suckling lamb leg with couscous and roast potatoes. Our favourite for the evening. The lamb tasted almost like fowl, with a fall-off-the-bone texture that made every bite a delight. Rather steeply priced at RM128, but it can easily be shared by two.

The size of the roast suckling pig was also kinda daunting, but the crisp skin and succulent, flavoursome flesh made it pretty addictive. Definitely as good as El Cerdo's, even though the "breaking the plate" ceremony isn't practiced here.

Penamonte Tinto (Tinto de Toro, Spain).

El Meson,

Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru.