Hanare Weekend Buffet + Plan B Roasters, Intermark KL

The Unc was back for a short break, and as always, one of the things he was craving for was Japanese food. And where better to satisfy our craving than at the best Japanese buffet in town (in my books) - at Hanare Japanese Restaurant at Intermark Mall, KL.

The buffet is available every weekend from 12 noon to 2.30pm and is priced at RM148++ per person.

Chef Akira-san at the sushi counter

Here's a short summary of what's different / same compared to our last visits. You can read these posts here, here and here which documents our previous visits.

What's different: 
1. In the past, the buffet was available only on Sundays, but now it is available on both Saturday and Sundays. Reservations are recommended since it can get pretty busy.
2. More variety - lots more sushi, appetizers, dessert options.
3. Sashimi is not sliced to order, except for chutoro. In the past, you will need to place your order and wait for the chef to slice and plate it up. No more long waiting time - they are laid out nicely and you can help yourself to as much as you like! The sashimi at the counter is constantly replenished by the sushi chef.
4. Speaking of chutoro (tuna belly), it is no longer free flow and each person is limited to 3 pieces only. You will be given a token to redeem your chutoro at the sushi counter. I admit, I was a little upset at first but the really fresh (unlimited) salmon and hamachi sashimi made up for it.:)


What's the same:
1. The price - still RM148++ with free flow green tea.
2. The same great quality of food. The sashimi are super fresh and thickly cut and we love the Wagyu beef, king prawn and scallop from the teppanyaki counter too.
3. Good service - green tea refilled and plates cleared efficiently.

Chutoro.... sadly, it's limited to 3 pieces per person now

Oysters

Lots of sushi, makis 

Unagi

Shishamo

 Had lots and lots of sashimi... :)

Teppanyaki... Wagyu, scallops and prawns are our favorites!

They replenish this pretty often... and everytime they do, it disappears in 2 mins! :D I "may" have been responsible for some of the disappearing acts. Excellent marbling.

Wagyu teppanyaki..... so so good! Buttery-goodness!

A few desserts on offer too, my fav being the green tea ice cream.

After lunch, we stopped by at Plan B Roasters by BIG for some coffee. Affogato and double espresso.

Verdict: Totally enjoyed the buffet at Hanare. Great quality and good service.


The Hanare Japanese buffet is available every weekend from 12pm to 2.30pm. Priced at RM148++ for adults.

Price: Total bill RM515.05 for 3 pax.

Location: Hanare Authentic Japanese Cuisine, Lot G06, Ground Floor, The Intermark, 182 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2164 2133 / 03-2164 2633

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Opening times: Mon - Sat 8am - 8pm. Closed on Sundays.

Location: Plan B Roasters by BIG, Lot G-03 Ground Floor, The Intermark, 348 Jalan Tun Razak, KL

Tel: 03 2161 2368

GPS Coordinates: 3.161620, 101.719670

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ROOST, Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar, KL

We stumbled upon this restaurant when we were in Bangsar last week. ROOST is located on Jalan Telawi 3, taking over the spot previously home to F by Buffalo Kitchens. Apparently, it's the same owners but just a change of restaurant name. 

Stairway to ROOST

With the tagline "From Farm to Fork", ROOST aims to showcase minimalist, rustic, Nordic and sustainable food. Whenever possible, they want to utilise local sustainable ingredients and translate them into modern European cuisine.

The 2-page menu comprises of snacks, appetizers, pasta, mains, burger and dessert. Some interesting dishes on the menu include deep fried frog legs with tamarind jam, crispy cuttlefish with ink aioli and lavender smoked king prawn. They also do a set-lunch for under RM20 (salad + sandwich).

To start, Hubby ordered the apple wood smoked duck breast (RM18), served with browned butter onion puree and pomegranates. Presentation is nice, and flavours are well-thought out. Clean and nice dish.

I am so glad that I ordered the Duck Liver Pate (RM16) - the pate is so smooth and rich and tastes absolutely amazing! Been a while since I had such a good one. Very surprised that it came in such a generous portion too, and really delicious eaten with the tomato jam and toasted bread. Highly recommended.

Sadly, the other dish that I ordered was pretty disappointing. I was attracted to the mangrove crab meat and scallop salad as it sounded promising on paper. For RM25, I was definitely expecting more than limp watercress, some cherry tomatoes, 1 scallop (cut into half) and a few slivers of crab meat. Pretty uninspiring.

We did however enjoy Hubby's mains - pan seared seabass atop a creamy pumpkin butter risotto (RM35). Nicely done.

Oh and look - I spotted my photo in December's issue of Time Out KL. 

Hubby had an affogato (RM12) here too. Good coffee, he says.

Verdict: Overall, we had a good meal here - I enjoyed the duck liver pate in particular and would certainly return for this.


Opening times: 11:30 am - 11.30pm. Closed on Mondays.

Price: Total bill RM115.40

Location: ROOST, 69-1, Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (previously F by Buffalo Kitchens, above Chawan)

Tel: 03-2201 1710

Website: https://www.facebook.com/Roostkl

GPS Coordinates: 3.130232, 101.67101

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Vietnamese Promotion @ Link Restaurant, Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar

I've always been a huge fan of Vietnamese cuisine, so when we were invited to Link All Day Dining Restaurant in Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar to sample their latest Vietnamese Food Promotion, I had to say YES!

Vietnamese cuisine is known to food lovers as a cuisine featuring the harmonious combination of five elements of taste - spicy to represent metal, sour to represent wood, bitter to represent fire, salty to represent water and sweet to represent Earth. There is so much to love about Vietnamese food, from the abundance of fresh herbs and vegetables to fresh ingredients and pleasing presentation.

In conjunction with Vietnam's National Day on 2 September, Link is having a 10-day Vietnamese Food Promotion from 19-28 September 2014 (except Fri & Sat), with invited chefs from Vietnam, Chef Viet Anh Nguyen and Chef Van Son Nguyen who will prepare an authentic Vietnamese experience for guests. The buffet is priced at RM90 nett per person (includes the international spread available at LINK) and is available for both lunch and dinner.

Iconic Vietnamese dishes such as pho, fresh and deep fried spring rolls as well as bo lu lac (shaking beef) are some of the dishes you may find at this promotion. The Vietnamese items are clearly marked out with a Vietnam flag on the dish label.

On our visit there were 3 Gỏi (Vietnamese salads) available to try - chicken and onion salad (nom ga xe phay), grilled squid with beansprouts and starfruit salad (gui muc nuong khe and gia do), and carrot and green papaya salad (nom du du ca rot rau thom). Appetizing and delicious, great for whetting our appetites.

Chicken and onion salad

Grilled squid with beansprouts and starfruit salad

Carrot and green papaya salad

Next, we visited the live station to watch Chef Viet Anh Nguyen prepare the fresh spring rolls (nem cuon tuoi and nuoc cham chua ngot). The delicate rice paper rolls are softened in water then filling of rice vermicelli, lettuce, chicken and herbs are placed on and then rolled. Dipped in nước chấm, we loved this light salad roll.

The making of.. Vietnamese fresh rice rolls

Hubby's favorite dish of the afternoon was the braised fish and ginger in caramel sauce (ca kho to). The sauce is both salty and sweet, really comforting and yummy.

Chicken & Lotus Vietnamese Soup (Sup Ga Hat Sen Cung Dinh)

Bo luc lac aka shaking beef - French-influenced dish of beef cut into cubes and marinated, served with sautéed onions and peppers

Beef and salted vegetable fried rice (com rang dua bo)

Vietnamese-style vegetables

Chef Van Son Nguyen at the live cooking station, preparing the Vietnamese crepes (banh beo)

The making of... fried spring roll

These two items were my favorite, especially the fried spring roll (cha gio) that has just come off the fryer. Little rolls of deliciousness. Definitely had several helpings of this. :)

And the most famous of them all, the Vietnamese pho - available with traditional beef or chicken broth (on a daily rotation basis). I enjoyed the rich, flavorful, clear broth with lots of freshly chopped coriander.

Vietnamese drip coffee, sweetened with condensed milk (ca phe sua) can be ordered separately for RM18nett.

This Vietnamese Food Promotion runs from 19-28 September 2014 (except Fri & Sat), and is priced at RM90 nett per person. Available for both lunch and dinner.


Opening times: 12.00pm - 3.00pm (Lunch), 6.30pm-10.30pm (Dinner).

Service: Good.

Location: LINK All Day Dining Restaurant, Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar, No 1 Jalan Pantai Jaya, Tower 3, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2298 1888

GPS Coordinates: 3.115850, 101.6632

Website: http://www.pullmanhotels.com/gb/hotel-7962-pullman-kuala-lumpur-bangsar-/index.shtml


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Goku Raku Ramen + Cake Sense @ Paradigm Mall, Kelana Jaya

Last week, we were at Paradigm Mall for a spot of shopping. Lunchtime soon arrived and after weighing our options, we settled for Goku Raku Ramen, since Baby C loves eating ramen (and the eggs!).

We have dined before in Goku Raku Ramen's Midvalley outlet a few times, and enjoyed it. Happy that the quality and standards in the Paradigm Mall outlet is also good. We both ordered the their signature, Original Ultimate Tonkotsu (RM24.90 for large).

The ramen was topped with homemade char siew, bean sprout, spring onion, bamboo shoot, seaweed and lava egg. The char siew has greatly improved since the last time we had it and the broth which has been simmered for 17 to 30 hours is rich, creamy and so good.We drank it to the last drop.  The ramen is made fresh daily with their ramen-making machine The egg is also very good... I could have eaten another 2 easily.

Noodles have a great texture too

Perfect lava eggs. Everyone gets an egg (RM2.50) each... too good to share!

The Ramen Poster Girl :)

Price: Total bill RM65. 20% discount if paying with Maybank or American Express credit cards. 

Location: Goku Raku Ramen,Lot 2F-26 & 27, Level 2 , Paradigm Mall, No.1 Jalan SS7/26A, Kelana Jaya, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. (near Daiso/Teh Tarik Place)

Tel: 03-7886 5774

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More shopping, sand art, and 3 hours later, we were ready for dessert. Sadly, Delectable Treats shop is no longer around, so we decided to try out Cake Sense. Baby C had her eye on the Oreo Cheese Cube (RM7) while I ordered the Belgian Choc Cube (RM7). You can also add on coffee/tea for an extra RM5 when ordering any cube cakes, so we went for a cappuccino and tea. They use good quality Lavazza coffee and Dilmah tea here.

The stand-out cake for me was the Oreo Cheese cube, rich and smooth. The Belgian Choc cube was pretty good too - intense, chocolatey flavour.

Hubby also ordered a Lamington (RM3.50), a square of sponge cake coated with chocolate and dessicated coconut and Choc Velvet (RM3), which was a mini chocolate roll which we thought tasted somewhat like a cake-version of Nama chocolate.

Location: Cake Sense, Lot LG-30, Paradigm Mall, No.1 Jalan SS7/26A, Kelana Jaya, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. (near Tesco)

Tel: 03-7887 0189

GPS Coordinates: 3.105378, 101.594757


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