Sopoong, CITTA Mall

Sopoong's newest restaurant in CITTA Mall welcomes customers to have a picnic in Petaling Jaya, promising the Korean family-run brand's first-ever branch filled with lush greenery. Freshly launched in October, this reinvigorated nature-lover's look, crafted by a Korean interior designer, brings the outdoors into the mall and lives up soothingly to Sopoong's name (Korean for picnic), making this a delightfully distinctive destination for a delectable Korean feast.

Sopoong's selection is encyclopaedic, extensive enough to ensure that every fan of Korean cooking can have their cravings satiated. Recipes adhere to authenticity - the siblings and their spouses who run Sopoong hail from Busan, and they've relied on their own classic and contemporary kitchen creations to populate their Muslim-friendly menu, making their own sauce blends and spice mixes.

Bibimbap has long been one of our favourite Korean traditional staples, and Sopoong does justice to this with a well-proportioned medley of rice with plenty of protein and fibre, served steaming-hot in a stone pot with a choice of chicken (RM18.50) or vegetarian (RM18.50). Complete with gochujang red pepper paste and house-prepared kimchi and pickles, this is Korean comfort food at its soulful prime, tasty to the final spoonful of ravishingly crisp rice at the base of the bowl.

With Korean fried chicken becoming increasingly popular in Malaysia, it's no surprise to see a variety of drummets and wings here, seasoned with everything from sweet-spicy sauce to soy garlic to  creamy onions (mainly RM15.90 per portion). The crisp-to-the-bite chicken is lip-smacking, sufficiently saucy for rich, heady flavours without overpowering the succulent meat.

For devotees of cheesy fare, the kimchi fried rice with mozzarella is a must, with tangy rice surrounded by thick melted cheese for a can't-fail coupling, irresistibly hot and hearty; the egg on top adds even more creaminess to the ensemble (RM21.90).

There's much, much more to explore at Sopoong, with bulgogi, dakgalbi, samgyetang, jjigae, ramyeon and topokki, just to name a few, on the menu for an epic feast.

Desserts run the gamut from refreshingly cold to revivingly warm. You'll find nearly a dozen flavours of bingsu, prepared with a Korean-built ice shaving machine for that delicate 'snowflake' texture. One of the stars is the mango bingsu, heaped with lusciously ripe chunks of fresh fruit (RM23.90), but other highlights span bingsu with watermelon, kiwi fruit, strawberries, green tea, Oreo, and red bean with rice cakes.

We also relished the hotteok: Korean pancakes with an intriguingly glutinous chew, traditionally stuffed with a mellow sweet syrup of brown sugar and nuts (RM11.90) but also featuring other fillings like cheese or chocolate.

Shopping at Sopoong is also possible, with shelves of Korean culinary produce and handicrafts available in case you'd like to bring back a bit of Busan to your household.

Many thanks to Sopoong and CITTA Mall for having us here.

Sopoong
G-40, CITTA Mall, Jalan PJU 1a/48, Pusat Perdagangan Dana 1, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Open Mon-Sun, 10am-10pm. Tel: 03-7662-1209

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Dinetopia @ Grand Ion Delemen Hotel, Genting Highlands

Promising a "360-degree cinematic dining experience," Grand Ion Delemen Hotel's Dinetopia takes customers behind closed doors for a kaleidoscopic swirl to pair with a memorable meal - it's one of Genting Highlands' most captivating F&B offerings, a vivid voyage to excite the senses beyond taste.

Dinetopia makes for a very special outing, a utopian union of art, gastronomy and technology at Grand Ion Delemen.

Dinetopia exclusively serves a four-course meal, four times a day (once for lunch and three times for dinner), seating 64 persons per session. Stroll past the waterfall and be escorted into a room dimly lit by light projections, introducing you to a video menu that ebbs and flows to jump-start this impressively immersive eating escapade.

Soon after we were seated for our visit, the music kicked off, the projections brightened, with ethnic Indian-inspired motifs in the animations spread throughout our tables and walls, plus a brief live performance of an Indian dance while our starters were being served. The cultural perspective complements the culinary, since Dinetopia strives to reinterpret Malaysian and Asian favourites through a contemporary lens.

Our first course comprised Asian-style ceviche of fresh baby abalone on glass vermicelli noodles, sharpened with torch ginger flower on a bed of sashimi-style shiso leaf, balancing briny and herbaceous notes, with crushed nuts cutting through for crunch. Wash this down with some Thai green tea with zesty lime peel for a cool-and-hot contrast of dynamics.

Next up, our Pakistani chicken yakhni soup is served with experimental inventiveness, with capsules of coriander and chilli oil atop blue sea salt for Persian-inflected pleasure. Yakhni is slow-cooked soup, so the broth is bold, robust and complex enough even on its own without the pretty seasonings.

Before the main course, the scenery changed, spiriting us away to a Malay village house, dressed up at night with festive ornaments, a beautiful backdrop for kebaya-clad ladies in their traditional dance.

Of the two main course possibilities, we selected the seared Atlantic salmon, grilled to gorgeous succulence, its flesh tender to the touch of the fork, yielding within a smoky, crisp skin. The fish is partnered with exquisite renditions of Malay staples, such as local glutinous black rice, vegetables in mildly sweet sambal, and a dollop of spicy-smooth coconut cream, like a fine-dining upgrade of ikan masak kuah. But if salmon is not your speed, you might prefer pan-seared Black Angus rib eye steak.

The final change of pace occurs with a burst of 'gushing' water, as we're plunged 'underwater,' swimming with the fishes as Chinese-style cheongsam-donning dancers showcase their skills - dessert is ready to be served!

The sweet conclusion is the mango panna cotta, silky but made textured with berries, chewy sago pearls and a crisp tuille vying for your taste buds' attention, crafted lovingly for dessert admirers.

Here's more information:

Dinetopia
Level 9, Tower 7, Grand Ion Delemen Hotel, Genting Highlands, 69000 Pahang.
Price: RM399 nett per person
Sessions: 12.30pm, 5.45pm, 7.15pm, 8.45pm
Reserve a seat via the hotel's website or call 03-6433-2200 (Ext 8290 / 8123)

Promotion – 2nd pax 50% off till 15 Dec 2019
Key in [2ND50] when reserving to enjoy the promo and [Air Asia BIG ID] to collect 888 points.

Wine pairings for each course are available at an additional RM175 per pax.

Cocktails, mocktails, beverages, petit fours and sliced cakes of the day are also offered.

Many thanks to Grand Ion Delemen Hotel for having us.
Selected photos in this post are courtesy of Grand Ion Delemen Hotel.

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Olhuveli, Maldives

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all-you-can-eat affairs at the Maldives' Olhuveli island resort, with the buffet spreads shining a light on South Asian salads, bread and curries; tuna turns up a lot, so fans of this fish are in luck.

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com