The Elixir Kitchen @ Bandar Mahkota Cheras

After finding a gem in the form of a Japanese restaurant (Two Chefs Lab) in this housing area, we were on the look out for more good eats here.  We were attracted to this place, Elixir Kitchen @ Bandar Mahkota Cheras, where one is assured of a meat feast at reasonable prices.

Similar in concept to another one in the Cheras area, Anne Elizabeth near Cheras Leisure Mall, where you choose the meat/seafood you want and they cook it for you, we were eager to see what this six-months-old restaurant had to offer.

The only difference between Anne Elizabeth and Elixir Kitchen is that the former offers meat simply seasoned with salt and pepper only while the latter marinates their meat with herbs and spices.

The only thing you order from the menu are your drinks.  As for the meats, you need to order them at the Market Place (aka the meat counter).  Any other orders (like sides and pasta) can be ordered from the menu written on the chalkboard at the meat counter as well.

As you can see, you're spoilt for choice when it comes to meat as they have a lot to offer from pork belly to pork shoulder loin, pork chops, Spanish ribs, lamb racks, roast beef, ribeye, duck, chicken, seafood, bacon, ham and plenty of sausages.

After making our meat choices and side dishes (the friendly and helpful lady boss offered recommendations), we made our way back to our table.  The side dishes were the first to arrive.

The Mushroom Soup @ RM7.90 had the right consistency and loads of mushroom flavour.

The Onion Rings @ RM7.90 were a letdown.

Although the coating was crisp, the layers of onion were way too thin (+ the rings were cut too thin as well) for it to be enjoyed.  It was neither juicy nor sweet.  I think this stems from the type of onions used (this, I believe, it's the cheaper red onions and not the sweeter yellow onions).

The Garlic Bread @ RM3 was a bigger letdown...3 pieces of lightly buttered baguette with hardly any garlic taste...and, worst still, the baguette slices were super hard and inedible.  We took a bite and left the rest untouched.  I'm afraid if I threw that at someone's forehead, it'll probably cause a concussion! :P

The Purple Coleslaw @ RM6.90 didn't look like purple cabbage.  Is it too much to expect purple cabbage when they say purple coleslaw?  So, when I see purple coleslaw, I expect purple cabbage...not purple-stained cabbage! :P  If they want to offer the cheaper white cabbage, they should just call it coleslaw, right?  I don't know why some restaurants would do this...sneakily replace it with something cheaper?  Do they think we can be easily fooled or won't notice the difference?  And, worst still, I actually saw pics of purple coleslaw served by the same restaurant in another blog.

With the sides failing to make an impact (other than the mushroom soup), let's see how the meats fared.  I'm holding my breath...and not expecting much, honestly! >.<

The meat platter finally arrived with our selected choice of meats, the first being their highly recommended Signature Pork Belly @ RM21.90 which arrived looking the part...well caramelised with great grill marks.

But looks can be deceiving! ;)  As it was a fatty cut of meat and the fat wasn't rendered down, it became chewy rather than melt-in-your-mouth.  Although it had that slightly sweet sticky glaze, the overall marination was off.  I can't pinpoint what was wrong exactly, all I can say is that it wasn't very pleasant tasting.

Next, we had the Hickory White Wine Pork Chop @ RM17.80 which is a favourite with the customers, the lady boss told me.  Well, it wasn't a favourite with me.  I don't know what was in the marination but something was off again (I tasted something bitter, perhaps from too much white wine not cooked down?) as I took more bites.  This was even more off-putting than the pork belly! O_o

We chose a Salmon Sausage @ RM14.90 to round up our meat fest as it's not a sausage I see often.  Wait for it.....at least this one was palatable...but, then again, they didn't do anything to it, this was a 'as is'...haha! :D

We also wanted to something other than meat and were shown some salmon and Alaska rainbow trout but I found the pieces of fish cut too thin.  This meant it'd be easily overcooked and you know I like my salmon still pink in the middle.  And when the lady boss let on that her customers like the salmon cooked all the way through, it made my decision not to pick it even easier.  In the end, I picked some other seafood, Squid @ RM15.80, that was simply chargrilled.

It didn't taste all that fresh (I guess I should have known better seeing that the uncooked squid, after marination, was lying in a pool of murky liquid).  It was so overcooked and chewy, it was difficult to eat.  I could have chewed 'till the cows came home' and it wouldn't have mattered.

All the meat and seafood was accompanied by two sauces, a mushroom sauce (which I originally thought was black pepper) and a cream sauce (as informed by the waiter).  The reason I asked if they had any other sauce (like perhaps black pepper) was because both sauces were unappealing.  The exceptionally dark-coloured mushroom sauce was pungent and slightly bitter in taste (probably from using too much of those intensely-flavoured dried shiitake mushrooms instead of fresh mushrooms).  I was also hoping a strong tasting sauce (like black pepper which they didn't have) would help drown out some of the undesirable marination as well! >_<

Drinks of Chilled Mango @ RM5 and Fresh Pineapple Juice @ RM8.  I apologise if I sound condescending when I say the fresh pineapple juice was the best thing here.  I had to since everything else was so underwhelming! >.<

My Personal Opinion

When I came here, I was hoping expecting it to be better than Anne Elizabeth since there's marination in their meats but, ultimately, it turned out to be worse.  Maybe the other meats (and pasta dishes) will fare better or, better still, take no risk, and go with the 'as is' items like sausages, bacon and ham.

In the end, we couldn't bring ourselves to finish any of the food (except the mushroom soup).  I'm afraid this will be my one and only visit as this did not sit well with me.....at all...from the meats to the sides to the sauces (that I tried)! :'(  Perhaps (and hopefully), you might have a different and better experience.

I like the concept of "we pick, they cook" and I'm always on the lookout for these type of places offering good and affordable grilled meats....but alas, my search continues.

Elixir Kitchen
No 69G Jalan Temenggung 19/9
Seksyen 9 Bandar Mahkota Cheras
43200 Cheras
Selangor
Tel: 03-9010 0407