Paragon Thai Food Village is a gorgeous restaurant we accidentally passed by while we were driving around Cheras one night. The colourful and brightly-lit place was too attractive to ignore, so we gathered a few of our buddies and returned a week later to try their food.The Mango Salad came in a pretty generous portion of shredded green mango on a bed of lettuce. Don’t underestimate this plate of salad though, it was superbly sour and spicy! Just perfect as an appetizer dish.The Tom Yam Seafood was served piping hot with burning charcoal within the fire pot. The soup was light but packed a punch! The first sip really sent me back to my senses with an explosively hot and fiery flavour. Within the soup, we found pieces of shrimps, fish fillets and calamari rings in addition to mushrooms and tomatoes. They certainly did not skimp on the ingredients. The more I drank this soup, the more addicted I was to it.If you think the Tom Yam soup was spicy, you haven’t tried the Thai Steamed Fish! The spiciness of this dish was a notch above the soup and it’s not for the faint-hearted. Each time I took a sip of the sour and spicy broth, I could feel it trickling down my throat all the way to my stomach, giving me a tingling hot sensation. It’s THAT spicy. On top of that, the fish we had was very fresh! Each piece was firm, smooth and flaky, you could tell even from the picture.The pandan chicken was nicely fried until it was tender and juicy inside, but I thought it could do with little more marinade to give it the extra flavour.Surprisingly, the Kangkung Belacan was quite a big portion, more than enough to feed 4 of us! As with most of the other dishes we ordered, this was also spicy and savoury, perfect to go with the fragrant white rice. The hint of belacan was distinct and the addition of chilli made this all the more appetizing.I won’t say that this is the best Thai food that I’ve ever tasted, but their food is mostly above average while their pricing is quite pocket-friendly. But more than everything else, the ambience made us feel like we’re out of the country.

Ko Hyang Korean Country Delights is one of the many Korean restaurants making a prominent mark in our food scene. You’d be happy to know that this restaurant was started by a family (Ms Chung Hee Jung & parents) who originated from Incheon, Korea, with recipes that have been passed down for generations. We were at the branch at 1 Mont Kiara last week for dinner and found the place to be very comfortable and clean. Their open kitchen was also well-maintained, with every step of their food preparation exposed to the public.Hubby ordered the cold version of rice mixed with vegetables, chili paste and chicken, topped with a sunny side up. Give it a good mix and we have a bowl of orangy-red rice that is savoury, slightly spicy and a little bit sweet. Don’t be hindered by the red mixture thinking that it’s very spicy, because it’s not, really.Similar to the Bibimbap, I had the Dol Sot Bibimbap that was served in a hot stone bowl. The ingredients were pretty similar except that I had it with sliced beef instead of chicken. The stone bowl still sizzled when I mixed the combination, emitting an irresistible aroma in the process that had me salivating before I ate. It was definitely a good appetite-stirrer, the process of mixing that is. Between the cold Bibimbap and the one on hot stone, I preferred the latter because there’s always something about piping hot food that makes it taste so much better and comforting to the tummy, don’t you think soKo Hyang is what I would call a fuss-free dining venue where the menu is straightforward, the food is served in a jiffy and the dining environment is clean and unpretentious. It goes without saying that the food must be good too, to keep people coming back frequently, because the country-inspired dishes here make you feel right at home.

Hailam Kopitiam Bangsar may well be seen as another copycat restaurant but as the saying goes, “Never judge a book by its cover”. Indeed, that’s what we did not do, as we marched straight ahead inside, hoping to find something that makes this restaurant unique. And boy, were we glad we did! Firstly, their Toasted Sliced Bread with Butter & Kaya was oh-so-crumbly and light! I finished eating a piece only to find that my shirt was filled with fine crumbs, but it was so good! Eat it once it’s served, when it’s warm and the butter was just slightly melted within. What makes it different Instead of using the bread supplied by Hailam Kopitiam’s central kitchen, this cafe gets its supply of Hainanese bread from Ah Weng Koh in Imbi Wet Market. Yes, you can only find such brilliant toasts from the Bangsar outlet.Their Nasi Lemak Special with Rendang Ayam came with the whole works – sambal, a whole boiled egg, fried anchovies, peanuts, chicken in curry gravy, slices of cucumber and fragrant santan (coconut milk) rice. I especially loved the rendang ayam (chicken) which was served with thick, coconut-y gravy that wasn’t overly spicy. It gave the rice that much flavour, while the chicken remained deliciously tender and moist.The Hailam Tomyam Fried Rice did not look too enticing but it had all the elements of a nice plate of tom yam fried rice – sour, spicy, savoury and a hint of lemongrass flavour within. The chicken chop was surprisingly tender and juicy, with no sign of dryness at all. In fact, it was not even oily – the skin was only lightly battered and very crispy. This was also when I found out that instead of using the frozen supply of chicken chop from Hailam’s central kitchen, they painstakingly get their supply of fresh chicken from the market daily, therefore these chops are not frozen. Highly recommended!I was most certainly impressed by their toasts and chicken chop. Those are the two main reasons that make this kopitiam different, and the same reasons that would keep me returning for more.

Located in the relatively new building called The Scott Garden along Old Klang Road (where Tesco is), is a neighbourhood and friendly pub & grub place called Tom, Dick & Harry’s. We were there for dinner one night just after the rain (it was raining quite often last month!) so we chose to sit outside. Dining al-fresco is nice when the air is cool and crisp, with soft breeze blowing to your face, provided that you’re lucky and there are no smokers around you.For starters, we chose the Six Pigs in a Blanket, partly due to the cute name but mostly due to the pork bacon. We thought these were addictive and good! The bacon was fried to a crispy and slightly charred finish, while the pork sausages were bouncy and juicy. We could totally polish this with a pint of beer for supper.My main course was the Pork Burger, apparently one of the signature dishes at TDH. I was pleasantly surprised to see that two huge patties were sandwiched in between the buns instead of just one. The two patties, tomatoes and lettuce, topped with a bull’s eye egg completed the whole ensemble, making it a very satisfying meal.I enjoyed the patties that had a nice glazed layer on the outside and tender meat on the inside. They were sufficiently flavourful while the egg (as always) made everything better. Not to forget was the huge amount of fries served on the side! Portion was generous and the fries certainly made for good snacks while we continued hanging out in the cool breezy night.I thought the Dick's Favourite Steak was a little overcooked and the meat texture was a tad too soft, almost mushy. Thankfully what it lacked in texture, it sort of made up for in taste. It was quite nicely marinated with a moist interior, and it went well with the brown sauce. But would I order it again Perhaps not.All in all, I’d say we had a good dinner, a satisfying one in fact, with great beer, great snacks and of course wonderful company. It was one of the rare al-fresco meals that didn’t leave us sweaty or smelly in the end. The great news There’s no tax whatsoever! Whatever price that you see on the menu is the nett price that you pay.

It was my first time dining in a Croatian restaurant and I had no idea what to expect. Our first dish was Marco Pollo Pasta, essentially penne pasta with mushrooms, smoked chicken and a dash of cream. I personally don’t fancy penne but this was done pretty well – al dente and very tasty. The flavour of mushrooms was distinct, and the very creamy base made this pasta so good that I did not even notice the chicken’s presence. Sarma is a traditional Croatian dish that consists of sour cabbage rolls filled with minced beef and rice cooked in a light tomato gravy. On the side was a bed of mashed potatoes with a lightly charred top that gave it an aesthetically pleasing outlook without affecting its taste. The combination of sour and savoury gravy with minced beef was perfect with the smooth and velvety mashed potatoes. It’s comfort food indeed.When the dish of Kobase or home-made chicken sausages was served, I was nothing short of amazed! Look at the brilliant hues of colour across the spiral sausage. It was almost too pretty to be eaten. Each piece was savoury and tender, served with sautéed potatoes and roasted capsicum on the side. Growing up in Malaysia, the sausages we have will never be enough as a complete meal, but this, this will fill us to the brim and more.If there’s one thing Dubrovnik is proud of, it’s their signature dish of Lamb Peka. In fact, it is so good that they made a video out of it! A traditional way of cooking hailing from Croatia, Peka means cooking of meat with an open fire. In this case, the lamb was prepared and marinated with plenty of herbs (think rosemary, thyme, paprika, etc) before being baked up to 3 hours in their wood fire oven covered with an iron bell, until the lamb becomes juicy and tender.This dish requires such patience and time to cook that we had rather high expectations especially after watching the video. Fortunately, our expectations were met and even exceeded when we took a bite of the extremely tender and juicy lamb. The burst of flavours from all the herbs, the ease with which it melted in our mouth, made the wait so worth it. It’s hard to describe how good it is so you’ve got to try it to know it!

Finally for dessert, we had the Royal Chocolate Cake which consisted of bitter chocolate top sitting on a crunchy hazelnut praline base, topped with a cherry. The chocolate top was dense and firm, almost like a hardened version of chocolate mousse but so much more chocolatey. Towards the bottom, the praline case and the hazelnut gave it a nutty crunch, one that I could not get enough of. Best of all, this was not overly sweet – just perfect.The Crepe Suzette was served with 2 crepes cooked in a citrus orange sauce, flambéed with Cognac and topped with plenty of orange zest. The tangy and sweet flavours from the orange sauce made this quite an interesting dessert to complete our satisfying dinner.