Twins Signature Roast Duck @ Damansara Uptown

This place is a favourite (and very regular) haunt of one of my blogger friends whenever she needs to satisfy her carnivorous craving for roast duck.  Needless to say, she's pretty well known there...who wouldn't be when your regular order is half a duck (or sometimes a whole duck)...lol!  Another blogger friend has also tried the roast duck here (with a different outcome), so it was inevitable that I had to see for myself what Twins Signature Roast Duck @ Damansara Uptown was all about.

When I told my husband about the place, he asked, "Is it that place that's always empty when I pass by?" (he frequents PJ & Damansara areas quite a bit in his work).  That statement led me to think...hmmm, that can't bode well for the place (but I'll reserve my judgement for later).  We reached there just before 10am (on a Sunday morning after church service) to find the shop empty with no customers at all (by the way, the shop opens at 9am on Sundays and 10am on other days).  That made me second-guess if they were indeed ready to serve customers, so I checked before seating down.

I got down to ordering and thought I'd get the Triple Combo BBQ Meat @ RM46.80 so that I could taste all 3 types of meat in one go (it's the obvious thing to do after coming here all the way, right?).  

Let's start with their signature meat which is their roast duck, of course.  The meat of the roast duck was tender and moist and I liked that it wasn't overpowered by herbs and spices but there was no crispy skin though.  Reading Google reviews, there were those that showered compliments on the crispy skin while some weren't as fortunate to get crispy skin (even PH mentioned she got crispy skin in a recent visit).  So, I guess it's a case of inconsistency (and your luck) whether you get crispy skin or not! >_<  Inconsistency is something a shop should try to eliminate if they want new customers to visit again and regulars to continue to patronise.

I actually noticed 2 ducks hanging as I was walking in.  I even had to ask the lady boss (there were two of them) if they had siu yuk and char siew since I didn't see it at the shop front.  She assured me that those meats are ready and available in the kitchen.  Seeing that I was pretty much their first customer (since we were the only ones there), surely those two ducks were freshly made to start off their day...so how did it not have crispy skin, I don't know. >.<  

As for the siu yuk, the initial outlook was good, the cut was nice and short...the looks that I like.  It came with crispy skin with the ratio of meat a good balance between lean and fatty.  It could do with a bit more savouriness though but overall still a very decent siu yuk.

The savoury-sweet char siew wasn't quite at the standard of some of the excellent char siew we had.  Even though it had a good ratio of fat to lean, it wasn't quite the luscious melt-in-the-mouth bite that we were looking for which is the hallmark of a good char siew.

Of the three roasted meats we tried, I thought the siu yuk was the most successful of the three with the roast duck coming in second and char siew in last place.  My husband loves to eat siu yuk the most while my son is a big fan of char siew but, unfortunately, both these did not seem to meet their expected standards.

The meat combo came served with a dark sauce on the side...I wasn't quite sure if it was for the char siew or duck...lol!  Either way it wasn't of crucial importance since I wasn't liking the taste of the sauce all that much anyway.  It was neither here nor there...not quite the sweetish char siew sauce nor the type of sauce normally served with roast duck that we've come to know.

We got some artery-clogging Pork Lard Rice @ RM7 (how to resist when you see pork lard rice on the menu, right?).  The bowl arrived with freshly fried, crispy pork lard cubes sprinkled on top.  Why do I say it's freshly fried...coz we waited quite a while for it.  When it appeared, the looks of it immediately told me that the pork lard crisps have not been fried long enough (good pork lard has to be fried slowly till well browned and crispy).  This was just crispy...that's it, it wasn't fragrant nor had any flavour.  

My regular pork noodles stall has one of the best pork lard I've eaten, super fragrant and lightly savoury (some would even add aromatics into the oil to impart more flavour into the pork crisps).  Not only that but the rice was also too oily. I know one should expect oily rice if one orders pork lard rice but it turned out oilier than we expected (it was rather oily when we got to the bottom of the bowl).  This pork lard rice was a letdown, so skip this as the calories is not worth it! >_<

Even the normal Chinese Oil Rice @ RM4 was a little oilier than expected.  The flavour was ok, not outstanding but nothing to complain about either.  My only grouse was that it could have been served a bit warmer (not sure why the rice was barely lukewarm since it was just the start of the day).  When the rice was served, the server came with a tray filled with condiments/sauces of pickled green chillies, fresh chilli dip (on the spicier side) and a (cooked) sambal.  I took the latter two (and not the pickled green chillies) since I was not having noodles.  Both the chilli dips were alright except that the sambal seemed a bit of an odd pairing with roasted meats.

I ordered a plate of greens to go with our meaty meal of Stir-Fried String Beans with Minced Pork @ RM15.80 and it was expertly executed.  Other than the disappointment with the small serving size, the french beans were well wiltered, charred and soft and the minced pork was tasty.

It reminded me of a similarly popular dish in Esquire Kitchen which is still my gold standard when it comes to this dish.

Of course I had to end my meal with an order of Kopi-C Kosong (Cold) @ RM3.50 that my blogger friend has raved about countless times.  I've not had a cup of coffee for 6 months and decided to break my coffee fast with the one here.  It better be worth it, I said to myself! :D  Luckily, it was.  Perhaps, I can consider having kopi-c kosong once in a while (since it uses unsweetened evaporated milk, not as damaging as sugar since I find it difficult to drink kopi-o kosong without sugar, can only take it less sweet).  I say this with some conviction since my glucose reading was encouragingly within acceptableble range...even with a glass of coffee! ^_*

My Personal Opinion

I'm glad I finally came to try this roast duck that PH enjoys so much though my experience wasn't quite on a similar note as hers.  In the end, though their roast duck is the signature meat here (and it was certainly decent), I thought their siu yuk fared better.  But having said that, there's definitely better duck, siu yuk and char siew to be found elsewhere (and nearer to me).

Though prices of the roast duck seem fair (since duck is known to be expensive), I thought they were a little bit steeper based on the small portion size.  The food we ordered for the three of us (which cost more than RM80 for a simple meal of roasted meat rice) was clearly not enough to satisfy us.  My family didn't seem to enjoy the food as much as they were noticeably quiet throughout the meal...lol.

I guess when you come on a Sunday morning to find the place empty (including my husband's statement of "you mean the place that's always empty when I pass by") may be subtle clues that the food isn't quite on a stellar level (or maybe the steep prices played a part), otherwise flies will descend (good food places are always crowded no matter what time of the day...lol).  Not all is lost though as I did enjoy the coffee! ;)

I read that this place is run by twins (hence the name?) and they were formerly from the now-closed London Duck in Gurney Drive, Penang and an offshoot of Village Roast Duck in Bangsar (unconfirmed), the latter of which has a much higher Google rating (incidentally, their food photos do look a lot more tempting, especially the roasted meats, even the wantan mee, + I noticed that their roast duck is served with a sauce underneath unlike here)! @_@

Twins Signature Roast Duck

25G Jalan SS21/1A

Damansara Utama

47400 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Tel: 016-716 3613

New Soon Soon Lai @ Taman Shamelin Perkasa

I was first alerted to this coffee shop, New Soon Soon Lai @ Taman Shamelin Perkasa, when we drove past and noticed the banner promoting Uncle Soon Fried Rice.  I've first heard about the ever popular Uncle Soon's Fried Rice presence in many coffee shops (mostly in PJ) since they were in Subang Square but most of their stalls are located far away from me...and it's not likely that I'd go all the way somewhere far just to eat a plate of fried rice.

So I was pretty pleased ecstatic to find that Uncle Soon (not sure if the name has anything to do with the shop's name) has finally opened a stall near me.  I now have the opportunity to try this much talked about fried rice.  They do a few varieties of fried rice and you can choose whether you want it with char siew, prawns, squid, la la or the simplest version with just egg (prices range from RM8 - RM12 depending on the protein you choose).

My first pick was the Fried Rice with Char Siew simply because it's my favourite "form" of fried rice as char siew provides a more fragrant, savoury note to the fried rice (even better than lap cheong can in my opinion)...and this one definitely did not disappoint.  The first thing that hit me when the plate of fried rice landed on the table was that I could actually smell the wok hei...and that is the very thing a good plate of fried rice needs.  Some have even compared this to Uncle Roger's fried rice...lol.  Since I've not tried Uncle Roger's (high-priced) fried rice (not sure if I want to try such a gimmicky fried rice), I reserve my judgement.

The Fried Rice with Squid featured tiny baby squids used in the fried rice and not a sizeable piece of sotong cut into smaller pieces like the ones we'd often eat.  As squid is usually bland (and these were probably the frozen kind) it didn't offer much taste to the fried rice.  Still, if I want a seafood option, I'd choose squid over prawns or la la.

Then, there's also the option of prawns or la la (of course, both will not add much taste to the fried rice with smallish morsels of prawn and la la or, you can get it in its most basic form, with just egg).  The rice is fried with nicely separated grains even though I witnessed them cooking a fresh pot of rice and scooping it into a tong during one of dine-in meals there.  So who says fried rice can only be cooked well with overnight rice...lol.

If there's one thing that's common in all plates of fried rice is the fried egg (with oozy egg yolk most of the time) which comes as default.  You'll also find a drizzle of sauce over the egg that's not just plain soy sauce (it has a slightly thicker consistency so I'm thinking it's possibly a housemade concoction of thick and thin soy mixed with a bit of oil or maybe it's kicap manis).  Do take note that this brand of fried rice will not be similarly executed in terms of wok hei and taste in all its branches as the fryers are obviously different.

The black char siew rice (from the Brother Fatty Black Char Siew stall) that my son enjoyed is another popular choice here.  It's obviously called black char siew for a reason judging from the well caramelised, almost blackened exterior.  So, I got into the action too and got myself the black char siew with roast chicken combo.

Good portions though the thick-cut char siew I got weren't as caramelised but still tender, just not melt-in-the-mouth tender.  It didn't taste as sweet probably because it was mixed with the roast chicken's soy sauce underneath.  Overall, just an edible char siew and chicken rice.  They're very popular for their sand ginger chicken rice (which came highly recommended) but I don't like sand ginger (I'll tell you why in another post).

The Fish Ball Noodles was recommended by the same person who recommended me the sand ginger chicken rice...and being a lover of fish ball mee, I had to try of course.  I had the soup version first and found the soup base a tad too light and it also wasn't quite the fish ball mee I was expecting.  This one didn't have any fish cake slices or flying saucers (aka fish skin wantans), somethings I would have preferred in my bowl of fish ball noodles.

Then the person who recommended it to me say I should have gotten the dry version (and specifically with lai fun)...and so I did on my next visit.  The dry noodles came topped with minced pork for a lot more flavour.

The thing I did enjoy though with my earlier bowl of fish ball mee were the fish balls themselves.  From the oddly shapped fish balls, it's obvious they're housemade (probably even handmade) fish balls.  They're denser with a more chewy bite and not the overly bouncy type of commercially produced fish balls.  While my allegiance lies elsewhere, I still consider this a darn good bowl of fish ball noodles because of the fish balls.

I also found the same Kai See (Prawn & Shredded Chicken) Hor Fun (the same brand that's found in many coffee shops everywhere in Klang Valley).  It even made it all the way to the city of kai see hor fun, Ipoh...lol.  The one here tasted much better (in terms of the flavour of the soup) than the one in my taman in Thong Kee.  So, even though it's the same brand, not all will taste the same just like Uncle Soon Fried Rice.

When a stall advertises its curry mee as Mom-in-Law Curry Mee (or Mom's curry mee), it always gives me the impression that it has to be something good since it's cooked by the generation before me..lol.  My late mother-in-law is actually very good at making a good curry.  I can remember how special her salted fish and pineapple curry was.  This curry mee, unfortunately, was a disappointment as it failed big time as the curry was just too thin and too light-flavoured.

When this Aglio Olio Spaghetti arrived, served with two minced pork patties (moo ping lookalikes), we were wondering where the heck is the chilli flakes....but take a bite and it had the most heat my son has tasted in an aglio olio.  They must have used cili padi in the mix (lol...Malaysianised aglio olio for our palette).

Whenever I see Prawn Mee offered in coffee shops, I'm always tempted to order as they're in short supply.  The reason is probably the work involved in peeling prawns and making the prawn stock.  This stall is run by two elderly ladies (I don't see any foreign helper) and I thought the prawn broth was pretty decent.  The prawns given (there were 4) were also sizeable though the texture was a bit too soft...not mushy as in not fresh but soft as in overcooked/overboiled I think.  The other negative would be the fried onions which are store-bought.

Another popular stall here is the Pork Noodles which certainly was of satisfactory standard.  I had yee mee with an extra add-on egg that was cooked perfectly with a runny yolk that was intact which I can scoop into a spoon and into my mouth.  I don't like the yolk pecah and interfering with the integrity of the broth...hehe.

My son has also tried the Char Kway Teow which he found very forgettable (you can pretty much guess from the looks already).  Haiya, no lap cheong in the mix (heck I can't even see the cockles) means it won't tickle my tastebuds.

I also found Steve's Nasi Lemak that has relocated here from my neighbourhood coffee shop.  This is a Chinese-style nasi lemak but their sambal is good.  I was disappointed to find them gone from my taman but luckily we got reunited here.  I was overly greedy (for not having it for a while) and got two proteins, their popular wild boar curry and sotong sambal (it was too much and the sotong sambal not quite up to standard).  It also comes with curried potatoes and a dry hai mai (dried prawns) sambal (both was good and spicy).

I found myself enjoying the Pan-Fried Dumplings too (not the most pretty looking I've to say) with a minced pork (and a bit of chives) filling that was accompanied by a rather spicy but pleasant tasting chilli/chilli oil/ginger dip.

There used to be a stall here selling Fried Carrot Cake which my son says it's one of the best he has eaten. The difference with this one is that instead of frying it in a square piece, they cut it up into cubes before frying.  This resulted in very crispy cubes of carrot cake.  I can see why my son loved this as he loves all things crispy.  I prefer it the usual way, in a much larger piece, so that the sides won't be overly crispy.  Still, I thought it was a good carrot cake (not sure why it closed) as the white carrot flavour was very distinct without too much flour in the mix.

My Personal Opinion

You can get decent food from this coffee shop which offers a variety of food at standard hawker affordable prices mostly in the range from RM9 - RM12 which makes it a desirable venue for all the office workers and housing residents in the vicinity.

Even though we find it jam-packed with people (especially during breakfast and lunch hours), competition is stiff due to the many choices available (some stalls have since shuttered) but the standouts for me (from what I've tasted so far) were definitely Uncle Soon's fried rice, fish ball noodles (the dry version) and kai see hor fun but the rest weren't too shabby either other than the char kway teow and curry mee.

This coffee shop has now become a regular haunt for us as we eat here frequently, at least once a week. There's something for everyone here...my husband goes for the kai see hor fun, my son likes the aglio olio spaghetti while I prefer the fish ball noodles.....but it goes without saying that we all unanimously enjoy Uncle Soon's fried rice! ^_~

Restoran New Soon Soon Lai 

18-20 Lorong 4/91

Taman Shamelin Perkasa

56100 Kuala Lumpur

Bhai Jim Jum @ Aeon Maluri

In my restrictive way of eating, Thai cuisine is probably one I shouldn't partake in too often as we know Thai cooking is renowned for its tantalising blend of salty, spicy, sweet and sour flavours, especially the latter which would need sugar to balance out its tart flavours.

We've passed by this restaurant, Bhai Jim Jum @ Aeon Maluri, many times when I'm here grocery shopping looking for a place to eat and finally decided to walk-in to try since I haven't had Thai food for ages.

I chose the Steamed Tilapia Fish Fillet with Thai Chilli Lime Sauce Rice Set @ RM22.90 that came with sides of a fried egg, rice with braised minced chicken and a small salad.

I found the photo and description of the food in the menu a little bit misleading.  The sauce turned out to be more like a soup and it was also more broth-like in colour instead of the orangy colour depicted in the menu. Thankfully the Thai chilli lime sauce soup was quite appetising with a nice tangy flavour from the lime.

Not only that but the fish slices were protruding from the little wok (in the menu)...quite unlike what I got as the fish was submerged in a pool of soup and not very visible at all.  Let me dig out the fish pieces for you...luckily the steamed tilapia fish fillets were soft and very flaky without any fishy taste though I suspect they're probably frozen tilapia slices.

The main was supplemented by rice with braised minced chicken (that tasted decent enough) topped with some crispy rice that gave it a crunchy element, a fried egg and a salad comprising of finely shredded cucumber, carrot and onion with a dressing of Thai sweet chilli sauce.

My son's Green Curry Chicken Rice Set @ RM21.90 was served with a typical green curry chicken that Thai food is renowned for with the same sides of the earlier rice set of braised minced chicken with rice, fried egg and salad.

The green curry chicken with some softened pieces of eggplant was well executed, thick and tasty with a favourable coconut-forward creamy taste of green curry.

The Thai Mama Noodles with Honey Sriracha Chicken Wings that my nephew had was like one of those Thai Mama instant noodles type with the chicken wings served separately.

The bowl of Thai Mama instant noodles was garnished with onions, tomatoes, chopped spring onions and lime topped with a raw egg to go.  I'm not sure what flavour the instant noodles was but it was slightly spicy according to my nephew.  I've eaten this brand of instant noodles and have probably eaten this flavour before too.

The honey sriracha chicken wings was lightly spicy from the sriracha and sticky-sweet from the honey as described.  The taste of the fried chicken wings (3 pcs) obviously benefitted from the seasoned glaze.

Seeing that we enjoyed what we had, we returned for a second meal here a month later.  This time I had the Tom Yum Beef Noodles @ RM21.90 served with the typical Thai flat rice noodles with some straw mushrooms and green vegetables.

I thought this tom yum soup was on point with its appetising balance of spicy and sourish flavours.  I liked that it wasn't too spicy or overly sour like some can be.  It also seemed to have a much thicker consistency than the usual thinner and clearer tom yum soup bases we commonly encounter. 

But found the beef to be on chewy side....luckily they were thinly sliced to help negate the not quite as tender and juicy texture.

My son had the Seafood Tom Yum Rice Set @ RM18.90 that came served with seafood tom yum in a mini wok with the same accompaniments as the earlier rice sets.

The seafood tom yum had chunks of fish, squid, mussels and a sizeable prawn somewhere in there too cooked with some enoki mushrooms and tomatoes.  The tantalising flavours of the tom yum soup (just like my tom yum beef) with its moreish tanginess beckons you to slurp up more of the soup.

Drinks of Cala-Cooler (of calamansi juice & assam boi) @ RM6.90 each for them and my son's Thai Lemon Tea @ RM5.90 on our second visit.  Haiz, none for me (of course) other than iced mineral water...so very boring! :'(

My Personal Opinion

Sad to report that at the time of writing, this place has since closed.  I'm not sure why as I thought the food we had was decent enough...that was why there was a second visit.  I still decided to post this anyway as they have other branches elsewhere (in MyTown Shopping Centre, Wangsa Walk Mall in Wangsa Maju, IOI City Mall in Putrajaya & DPulze Shopping Centre in Cyberjaya) that you can try.

The place also offers Jim Jum (Thai Hot Pot) and dishes you can order to eat with rice besides their rice and noodle sets which are obviously more value for money.  Thai food (as we know) is never cheap and the prices for the single dishes you eat with rice coupled with its small portion size may have lent a hand in its demise at this location perhaps as the restaurants here mostly offer very affordably-priced food with good portions which Aeon shoppers are after.

I guess if I want eat this again, my nearest alternative will be the one in MyTown which incidentally happens to have a very good rating of 4.9, a testament that the food is of a respectable standard with reasonable prices.

Bhai Jim Jum

Level 2-S20 Aeon Maluri

Jalan Jejaka

Taman Maluri

55100 Kuala Lumpur