Tucked away in the hill of Changkat Kia Peng, just a stone's throw away from KLCC, a beautiful abandoned mansion converted into a chic French House, thanks to the vision of owner Sainy Chun. This establishment is truly an urban gem. A little representation of Paris in the middle of Kuala Lumpur.

It's all about details at Maison Francaise, and we are not even talking about the food yet. Blessed with plenty of natural light, the decor is classical French while relatively minimalist, with a monochrome colour theme, fresh roses on the dining tables, elegant chandeliers, and French accordian music in the background. There is also a pool area downstairs which is only open for functions and events. Looking out the windows or balcony, a sea of green with partial view of the sparkling Twin Towers is a sight for sore eyes.

Headed by Chef Franck Lamache, whose accomplishments include his stints at the 3 Star Michelin, Crillion hotelin, Paris (Les Embassedeurs), Alain Ducasse and Le Taillevent to name a few, you can expect nothing but well-executed authentic French cuisine here. Yet, contrary to what we know about French cuisine, Chef Franck focuses on light, refined and healthy cooking style, hence we can enjoy our meal without worrying too much about our waistlines.

Service staff are well-mannered and attentive, without being disruptive, making the dining experience such a pleasure. They were truly on top of their game. Now to the food. Amuse Bouche came in a form of light and airy Monk Fish mousse accompanied by tangy tomato coulis, showcasing Chef Franck's delicate touch with seafood, while the vegetarian Amuse Bouche played safe with several mouthfuls of earthy mushroom soup, elevated by a touch of truffle oil.With increasing numbers of health conscious diners, it's always reassuring to know that there are more than just salads for the vegetarians. The vegetables terrine with kalamata olives and goats cheese struck a chord with my vegetarian lunch company with its vibrant colours and classic provencal flavours.The terrine consists of delicate layer of red capsicum, zucchini and tomato, pairing extremely well with the aromatic chopped olives, peppery arugula, and the rich goats cheese.

The Smoked fish platter is one of the signature dishes at Maison Francaise. Arranged beautifully on a black slate, it was almost too beautiful to eat, a masterpiece actually. Smoked inhouse, the paper thin slices of fish were delicate and less salty than store-bought variety, although the co-star of the show was the refreshing and delightful cucumber salad.Vegetarian Risotto is not actually on the menu but can be requested. Topped with a parsley pesto and supported by tomato coulis, the creamy grains were comforting, to say the least. Simplicity at its best.It's not easy to do justice to black cod as it's such a delicate ingredient. Chef Franck kept it simple by pan frying and finishing in the oven, then pairing the fish with well thought out accompaniments: Heady Lobster Bisque, Quenelle of mash with mushrooms, Vibrant Pesto, Slightly crunchy vegetables for textural contrast. Crispy skin and buttery flesh, the black cod was textbook perfect.Maison Francaise offers very affordable High Tea daily from 1pm-5pm. So instead of dessert proper, we got to sample a variety of teatime treats and the Canele de Bordeaux was a clear favourite with a caramelised shell, fluffy interior and custardy centre. Also superb was the roasted figs, lemon madeleines and the refreshing apricot sorbet.

Whether it's a romantic date for two, a girly hangout in the afternoon, a business lunch, even a wedding dinner, Maison Francaise has it covered. More than its good look, it has the potential to become one of the best French restaurants in Klang Valley.

Dropped by The Social for a couple of drinks after our dinner and thought we would share a salad. The only really vegetarian option (apart from the mushroom on toast) was this Grilled vegetables and avocado salad. It sounded pretty good on paper, but when it arrived, we felt a little bit puzzled. Where are the grilled veges? All I could see were lettuce leaves and some avocado and tomatoes.Nope, still plenty of leaves but that's about it.

There were a few pathetic pieces of avocado, and at the bottom, one sad piece of grilled eggplant, and one piece of grilled capsicum along with about 10 pine nuts. Don't even get me started with the balsamic dressing, it was quite horrendous really.

For RM20++ I felt that this was definitely a rip off. A salad can't be so hard to be put together, heck, I do better ones at home with just a fraction of the price. *facepalm* I guess the social is only good for drinking and chilling, not so much for eating. As my other half mentioned, if you can't even do a salad well, what hope do you have in the other courses?

Fahrenheit 600 is relatively new to Solaris Dutamas, just below the very well-known Red Beanbag. It specialises in pizzas. Rightly so, because the name itself (600F) refers to the perfect temperature to cook the pizzas. Having heard raving reviews about this place, we decided to try it out.

When we arrived at the restaurant, it looked pretty empty (3 tables on Sunday night), and the staff was nowhere to be seen. Only when we walked further in (nearly to the end) then someone showed up and ushered us to a table. I guess that was not a good sign.

We pored over our menu and decided on a fully vegetarian meal. The first to arrive was our Mushroom and Eggplant Lasagna.Lovely presentation, though I have the exact chopping board at home. Haha. The lasagna itself was sinfully cheesy (mostly mozzerella), and emitted a lovely aroma when it hit the table. Inside, the layers weren't so distinctive, probably because it was a little bit on the mushy side. Taste wise it was decent. With the sweet tangy tomato sauce and rich cheesy note. The vegetables were definitely cooked to a mush though. Luckily, the side salad provides the extra crunch for textural contrast.

There was a huge gap between the serving time of the lasagna and the calzone. I understand that calzone probably takes longer time to cook, which they could have warned us beforehand. (But I thought the heat should be able to bake it instantly, unless they are using a different oven for it) We were twiddling our thumbs for good 15 minutes after the lasagna and after checking with one of the staff (who was more interested in playing his phone) and the manager, it finally arrived on our table. This calzone is called "I'm a vegetarian today" (although funnily enough when our waitress who obviously doesn't speak much English repeated it back to us as "I am a vegetable".... had a good chuckle over that), and it sure looked pretty good. Cross-section: filled with mushrooms, eggplants, olives, green capsicum, tomato and of course cheese. This actually tasted pretty good with very solid dough. Although at some part the dough was slightly too thick for our liking. Nevertheless this was one of the better calzones we have tasted in Klang Valley.

Overall, the food here has great potential however they do need to improve on their service. By miles. The price is reasonable however, and the ambience is ok. Although the music can be a bit distracting at times, especially when they starts playing Miley Cyrus. (Sorry Miley but your music don't belong to a chill-out Pizza joint I think).

When it comes to choices of eateries in 1 Mont Kiara mall, it can be quite limited and most of them are you run-of-the-mill chain restaurants. Ko Hyang is located on the first floor, same floor as Sushi Zanmai, Sukiya and Steam Room. For some reason, even though I absolutely love Korean cuisine, I have not actually been to this place. Probably because of their less than desired 'kiosk/stall' setting. It is however rather popular and even at time of my visit (3.30pm) there were still quite a few tables full of customers. So I decided to walk in and try something on the menu.

I like how their menu is small and manageable, consisting of some attractive set menus too. I chose the Dol Sot Bibimbap set because having lots of vegetables mixed together was pretty appealing to me. They offer a chicken or beef version and I opted for beef. The set comes with a small bowl of soup. I'm not sure if this changes regularly but what I got was egg drop soup. It tasted pretty light but well seasoned. Comforting for my irritated throat. The ban chan are all served together and here we have Kimchi (from left), Marinated anchovies and Potato cubes cooked in soy and garlic. All pretty tasty. I was particularly intrigued because the anchovies was sweet, rather than salty. My glorious bowl of bibimbap arrived shortly after. I'm willing to overlook the overcooked egg (no runny egg yolk, but nevermind). What I really like though, is that they use purple and some mixed grains rather than plain white rice. Which means it's much healthier! As for the toppings, apart from the minced beef and egg, we have thinly sliced shitake mushrooms, shredded carrot, cucumber, onion, seaweed and radish. A good dollop of gochujang binds everything together. All I needed to do (and that was the fun part) was to mix everything together well. Tada! Ready to eat! The colours are just so appealing! Taste wise, it was pretty balanced with sweet, salty, spicy and hint of tang (from the gochujang). Wonderful textural contrast happening there too, as most of the vegetables are still pretty crunchy, combined with some of the charred rice at the bottom. Needless to say, I finished this well and good! Oh I also added the Kimchi to the rice just for extra flavour boost. I guess if I'm ever too lazy to make this dish, I will just come here instead. Great discovery! Perhaps I will ask them to drop an raw egg in instead next time.

Service is surprisingly quick and very friendly. And my bill came up to RM21.60 with a bottle of mineral water.

Strangely I don't venture to Plaza Damas (or Hartamas Shopping Centre... isn't it confusing?) that often even though I live quite close by. I suppose there isn't much to attract me there. But I heard that there are plenty of interesting eateries there. The other day while waiting for an appointment. I check out Room Eighteen and decided I like their menu, so I walked in and ordered a 2 Combination Wanton Noodles.

Clearly this is a very Cantonese or Hong Kong inspired restaurant judging by the emphasis they put on BBQ Meat as well as Dim Sum items. I choose char siew and siew yoke to go with my noodles. Both the siew yoke and char siew looked good! The char siew in particular, has a balanced meat: fat ratio. So I was eager to take a bite. While it wasn't the best char siew I've had in Klang Valley, this was pretty high up there. Sweet, tender and flavourful! The siew yoke was pretty good too, with excellent crispy skin, enough amount of fat and tender meat. The noodles were retaining their bite, and nicely seasoned. Overall a pretty satisfying dish! I will keep this place in mind if I crave for this again.