Madam Kwan actually offers a good range of local food and they are all quite delicious. This outlet is for people who shy away from street food, but of course the price range is higher as a result. I have tried their nasi lemak which was quite good with large portion size. Not long ago I brought some of my friends who were visiting from Melbourne to the Pavilion outlet. While they enjoy their assam laksa I ordered a Char Kuay Teow for myself.Very good looking plate of CKT I must say. With quite a few big prawns, good amount of other toppings as well. Only thing missing there is the blood cockles (and crispy pork lard since it's a pork free outlet). No matter, I still enjoyed it as the noodles were fried perfectly with plenty of wok breath. Yum! It does get quite busy during mealtimes but service is efficient enough.

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of anything spicy. And I'm glad there are many places in Klang Valley now offering Chili Pan Mee. Kin Kin and Super Kitchen would be my top 2 picks, and funnily enough on Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman 1, these 2 outlets are almost directly opposite each other. The major difference is that Super Kitchen has airconditioning, and the service is friendlier for sure.

Of course, since I'm at a Chili Pan Mee joint, there's only one thing to order. As usual, the Chili Pan Mee comes with minced pork, fried anchovies, poached eggs, some fried shallots, and well as spring onion. Then all you need to do is grab the container of chili paste and add to your heart content. I'm crazy with spicy food so I add at least 4 spoonfuls. Then, mix everything together and you get this beauty. Yum! The portion here is also slightly larger than Kin Kin, so one bowl is plenty enough to satisfy me. The chili here is also quite explosive, perhaps not quite as good as the one at Kin Kin, but still good enough to warrant return visit. Aahhhh, suddenly I'm craving for Chili Pan Mee! Also, when you order the noodles, it automatically comes with a bowl of clear soup with pucuk manis. Good to calm your stomach down after all that chili.

To be honest, my food radar wasn't on Madison's until I saw their menu for KL Restaurant week. It just reminds me so much of Melbourne! It's no wonder though because Owner/Chef Kelly Delaney is from Adelaide and was actually head chef for one of the award winning restaurants there called Auge. Not far from Melbourne after all! When I found out about that, I was even more excited to try out their menu. First course was Potato and Bacon soup. Proper Pork Bacon that is. The portion might seem small but that's because they have very kindly split the portions into 2. Which is actually just nice for me. The soup is delicious, perfectly seasoned, not overly rich. The bacon bits were very satisfying. The other starter was a plate of Salumi. Very very thinly sliced, lovely. Went very well with the soup actually.My lunch companion ordered the Roast Suckling Pig filled Pastry Pillow (what a cute name) with caramelised apples and tomato chutney. The portion size isn't huge but then again, neither of us wanted a big lunch so this was just perfect. Let's see the inside shall we? I love the contrast of crunchy crispy filo pastry with the soft filling. The combination pork and apple is a classic one, but nonetheless delicious. The moment I saw beetroot chips and parsnip mash, I knew I had to order the dish. Having the sea bass is just a bonus, really. This dish is perfect in many ways, the crispy, earthy and slightly sweet beetroot chips were the bomb! The sea bass was cooked perfectly too, with nicely crisp skin and sweet juicy flesh. And that parsnip mash is just smooth, creamy and comforting. Parsnip is such an expensive ingredient to get from supermarket and I was just glad to be able to taste it again. Well-executed dish. For desserts, we both opted for the Lemon Meringue Pie (any dessert with meringue and I'm sold) and lookie how pretty it is! I love the deconstructed plating. I would have prefer a little bit more tartness (lemon curd) to go with the super sweet meringue, but the texture of the meringue was really luscious. I also enjoyed the candied lemon. This was the perfect way to end the meal.

Looks like I will have to revisit soon!

The original Imbi Palace restaurant was set up on Jalan Imbi in 2003 by KMN Mr. Lum Tuck Loy, Yap Yook Wah, renowned HK chef Mr. Chin Hon Yin, a few other partners, their executive chef Jason Tong and their General Manager Annie Chang. It specializes in Cantonese food with a wide range of seafood, dim sum, roast meats, Lanzhou ‘la mien’ and Cantonese porridge and noodles.

Although the original outlet has stopped operating, we still have a few other branches available, one of them being the Grand Palace at Level 6 Pavilion. And it is indeed quite grand. A while ago during an event, I got to sample some of their signature dishes and must say I was suitably impressed!We started our dinner with a healthy and nutritious soup made with cordyceps flower and fish maw. Cordyceps flower (冬虫草花) literally translated to “worm grass flower” in English, though it is neither flower nor grass, nor does it resemble a worm. It is actually a cultured mushroom fungus and boasts similar medicinal value and chemical composition as Cordyceps Sinensis (冬虫夏草). It claims to help improve skin complexion, nourishes our Yin, and cleanses our kidney.
The soup has the distinct and unique taste of the delicate herb, it’s a delightful tango of tender meat, chewy fish maw and fragrant broth. Very hearty.Next the Peking duck. Typically, the Peking duck is sliced in front of the diners, and the authentic versions serve mostly the skin and just a bit of meat. The meat is eaten with “Momo”, the house-made thin pancakes, scallion, cucumber and specially prepared Hoisin sauce. Take a bit of everything, and wrap it up.

You are supposed to use your hands for this too, and when you do it right, the juices should trickle down your finger tips. Mmmm.

Our third course was Pan fried Canadian Scallop, stuffed with Banana Prawns from the Gulf of Carpenteria.Generally I’m not a huge seafood fan, but I applaud the freshness and simplicity of this dish. The doneness was just right, both seafood were tender and juicy.

But the next course, 8 Treasures Truffles Chicken definitely won my heart. Not only it was stuffed with 8 types of Mushrooms, the mushrooms were infused with Truffle sauce.Admittedly it is not the prettiest of dish exteriorly (especially for the semi-vegetarians, I think Frank’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets), but once the content was revealed, we were instantly wowed. The flesh remained juicy and rich, and the stuffing was decadent. I just wish I had a bigger tummy so I could pack more of these in.The Chinese loves Abalone because it looks like a Golden ingot which signifies wealth and prosperity. These one came from the unpolluted seas off the coast of Hermanus. Presented simply in aromatic broth and accompanying wombok, the abalone was chewy, sticky and quite flavourful. If you are into abalones, you’d love this dish.

By this time I was suitably full, but I can never say no to handmade noodles. These Knife Shaved Noodles (刀削面) was served in a Pickled Vegetable Soup. The Ramen is shaved off a bowl of dough so none of them look identical.I love the texture of the noodles. The soup was tasty too, even better with addition of chili. I guess you can’t go wrong pairing pickled vegetables with noodles. Very comforting. Something that I shall replicate in my Kitchen soon!Coconut Pudding is one of my favourite desserts and we used to order it all the time at one particular restaurant in Bintulu. Their version was supremely smooth and soft and it was love at first sight. This version is slightly firmer, but I’m still glad that I finally found somewhere that serves this.

It was definitely one of the most memorable Chinese banquet for me and hopefully I will get to visit again soon!

The reason Sushi Zanmai remains a popular Japanese chain is that they do serve reasonable good food with cheaper price tag. Sure, the setting is much more casual, but it doesn't mean that the service is compromised. Instead of paying RM25+ for few pieces of fish, you can get the same here for less than half the price and it is actually pretty good, even the more premium cuts such as Salmon or Tuna belly are available for cheaper price too. So whenever I have a craving for Sashimi, Sushi Zanmai will remain my choice. The only problem is the queue though. But there are other outlets (Mont Kiara, for example) with slightly less crowd. Salmon Sashimi is a must order for me. I like the thickness of the fish, and they are pretty fresh too. Perfect way to start a meal. Their chawanmushi (steamed egg) is also good. Smooth and soft egg custard, with mushroom, narutomaki, chicken and prawns (no skimming on ingredients here), guarantee to soothe the tummy.

I didn't take a pic of my main dish (had Katsudon that time) but usually the small Katsudon is good enough to satisfy my craving for Japanese food. Although it's a pity they don't serve pork, so it will have to be Chicken Katsu instead. For RM9, you really can't complain though.