The Rustic Grill @ Damansara Uptown

I came to know about The Rustic Grill @ Damansara Uptown through my blogger friend's visits and what she had looked interesting enough for me to want to try.  So, I chose this place for my next makan outing with my makan buddies (it was actually our pre-Xmas gathering two Saturdays before Christmas).

Unfortunately, on that evening, it rained cats and dogs...that put a damper on our datenite from the get-go! When we reached the restaurant, we had to wait in the car for a while as we couldn't even get out because of the heavy rain (this shot of the restaurant was taken when we left).

We got out when the rain subsided a bit and were greeted by two lady servers.  Once seated, I noticed the cute kapak (axe) that acts as a knife and the so-called romantic fake candlelight that my blogger friend mentioned...and what's worse than a fake candlelight?...an out of battery one that's not even lighted (not sure why they kept that distasteful, not working thing on the table!).  Anyway, one of them then proceeded to explain about how the dinner menu works although I already got the gist of it when I made my reservations.

With every main ordered (the prices of which have been reduced to not include the RM30 which was originally inflated in the prices), it comes with free flow tapas at an additional cost of RM30 and all of us went for that which I duly relayed to the server when we ordered our 3 mains.  But what transpired was a series of she didn't seem to understand what I'm saying while she spoke with a strong accent which I found hardly audible as well.  I ended up repeating a few times until I felt agitated.  The lady (at the next table) must have overheard and sensed my agitation and walked to speak to a gentleman seated at the back of the restaurant who was having his dinner then (she must be a friend or family as there were other tables with customers who also seemed to be conversing with some member of staff).  When he started walking over to me, I realised he must be the owner (co-owner actually).  He apologised for her shortcomings (and to inform me that she's new on the job) and proceeded to repeat and confirm my orders.

Some restaurants tend to underestimate the importance of the front of house.  They fail to understand the first contact sets the tone for that dining experience.  If a server is new, not trained (well enough) or not well versed with your menu, he/she should not be put on duty to take orders.  There are even restaurants who will put dedicated or their more senior staff on taking orders while the rest will do other menial jobs like serving and clearing tables.  Some of them are so good at their job they don't even need to jot down the orders...and this server was writing down everything slowly and intently.  She didn't seem to understand that I wanted my meat medium rare...and repeated "well done?" to me (?!).  Finally when all was sorted out, I told her to start us off with one each of everything (there were 10 tapas that night)...and she proceed to ask my friend what tapas she would like! :O  Omg, common sense will tell you one person can't eat all 10 tapas on her own...and that it was for sharing among us.

I don't want to come off sounding like a difficult customer but this is an upper class restaurant selling food that can cost RM100-150 per pax, should I not expect a bit better service than what I got?  Anyway, putting that debacle behind me, our evening started with a flow of tapas from the kitchen (the tapas menu is written on the board and may change daily).

Tapas 1 - Sauteed Clams

The clams were cooked in a creamy, garlicky, spicy sauce with lots of chopped garlic...that's how I like them! But when I see mostly empty shells with most of the clam meat having fallen off their shells, it's usually a sign that the clams are not at its freshest but, not withstanding the less than stellar clams, they tasted good (with the spicy sauce and garlic masking the could-be-fresher clams).

Tapas 2 - Smoked Duck Breast

True to its name, the tender duck breast had some nice char marks on them and we could taste the smoky flavour in them.  This was another winner!

Tapas 3 - Grilled Eggplant

Nothing to like or dislike...these were just simple grilled slices of eggplant till super soft.  Didn't have as much grilled flavour as the previous tapas.

Tapas 4 - Ratatouille

This is a vegetable stew featuring tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers and onions.  But the plate we got felt like it has been reheated (from a bigger batch cooked earlier) as the vegetables seemed to have gotten overly soft.

Tapas 5 - Grilled Eryngii

The chewy grilled mushrooms needed more grilling for that lovely charred flavour and I thought I detected a hint that they've just begun to spoil when I ate one with a funky taste (well, mushrooms do have a tendency to spoil rather easily).

Tapas 6 - Deep Fried Baby Crabs

Who doesn't love salty, crispy, deep fried anything?  Not me!  These baby crabs came out piping hot and crunchy and whatever seasoning was used, it was fragrant and salty...yumzzz!  This was a hit across the table.

Tapas 7 - Sauteed French Beans

A simple stir-fried french beans with some slivers of red and green peppers, they tasted nothing out of the ordinary though I appreciated that they used more garlic.

Tapas 8 - Meatballs

Pleasant enough this dish of beef meatballs cooked till tender in a nice, tomato-ey broth (much like a meatball marinara)...maybe the meatballs could be a tad juicier.

Tapas 9 - Chicken Wings

Ok, my blogger friend has warned me about these chicken wings...and she was right, the wings were dryish and not even tender (I think the wings were far too small and not meaty enough).  If you compare this with simple charcoal wings from a stall, I know which one I'd rather have.

Tapas 10 - Chicken Picatta

These were thin pieces of chicken breast coated in egg and fried before topping with some kind of tomato sauce...and they were among one of the better tapas we had.  This was more like a chicken picatta pomodoro (unlike a more traditional one made with lemon juice and capers).

And that brings us to the end of the different types of tapas available that evening.  As they're free flow, you can choose to repeat any of the tapas that you like (if your stomach still has space).  For us, the 3 tapas that were worth repeating were the spicy clams, smoked duck and crunchy baby crabs...and we did but, unfortunately for them, they had to bring us new plates and cutleries as they cleared our plates after we were done with our mains without enquiring if we wanted any more tapas.

 

Onto the mains, the first dish that came out of the kitchen was the Seafood Stew @ RM65 described as a rustic Spanish-style stew containing various seafood such as prawns, mussels, squid, fish and la la in a lobster and saffron broth together with diced up vegetables of bell peppers, tomatoes and onions finished with a sprinkling of parsley and some slices of red radish.

The broth was just nicely thick and delicious...and the seafood were plentiful indeed (mussels were huge and there were another 3 peeled prawns besides that big head prawn), just that I was hoping for some better quality seafood as I felt some could have been the frozen kind like the peeled prawns and fish (I believe it was frozen tilapia) lacking just that sweetness that fresh seafood is known for.  Nevertheless, it was still adjudged the best main of the evening for me.

Our next main was the Seared Salmon Fillet @ RM55 featuring a piece of seared Norwegian salmon with dill cream sauce and lemon zest served with sauteed greens of broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes and red turnip (topped with some alfafa sprouts).  It was also accompanied by a vegetable salsa of chopped red, green and yellow capsicum, tomatoes and lots of fresh herbs.

The moment the dish arrived, I knew instantly something was missing as I've seen photos of phonghong's partner having this dish twice.  I let it slide coz I didn't want to be a difficult customer.  Although the description only mentioned one sauce (dill cream sauce), visually I can see 4 as shown by the streaks of green, orange and yellow and a dollop of white.  Eaten altogether, the dish was alright as the salmon was cooked well but missing the cripsy skin was a bummer! >_<  The server so happened to ask how was the dish when he cleared the plate...and that's when the opportunity presented itself for me to ask what happened to the crispy skin?  What he replied was quite shocking...he said the kitchen must have forgotten about it! O_o There was "no apology", "no let me check with the kitchen and get back to you"...it was as if he knew...and left it at that! >:(

Our final main was the Angus Striploin @ RM88 boasting of a boldly flavoured cut with house jus and crispy shallots.  I chose beef seeing that my blogger friend has shared the 2 beef dishes she liked here, the BBQ Beef Back Rib and Beef Tenderloin.  But what was coming was the biggest disappointment yet...one of the worst beef dishes I've tasted in a long time! T_T

When the beef was served, the server immediately informed me that the beef is cooked a little further than medium rare.  I was taken aback and didn't know how to react (as I've never heard a server owning up that the doneness is not what the customer asked for even before I had a chance to cut into it).  The fact that they knew the doneness was not right but still brought it to us tell me that it means I've to accept the dish no matter what.  

Looking at the dish, my first impression was the beef was not even properly seared (it came all pale-looking with only a few grill marks) with a thick layer of fat on top that did not seem to be properly rendered down. Cutting into the steak with my tiny kapak, the meat revealed it was cooked well done (and not a little more than medium rare as the server claimed).  I had a hard time cutting the meat into slices (even with my axe!) and the resulting meat was chewy and tough (I literally had to chew till the cow comes home)....and, even more surprising, was that the plate came with the exact same condiments and sauces of the previous salmon dish! >.<

When I get something like that, I get the impression that the chef doesn't care enough (or cutting corners) by serving 2 dishes with the exact same sauces/condiments (they won't always work in another dish and I thought the sauces/condiments worked better with the salmon dish).  I can understand why kitchens use the same sauces/condiments but you have to change it up a little to tailor-make it to each dish...and, more importantly, it has to be cohesive in the dish you're serving (and it wasn't in the steak dish).  There was a house jus and a creamy white sauce (again possibly the same one as the salmon dish) served separately with the meat.  Didn't think much of the sauces coz the house jus was a little thick and over-reduced while I don't often have white sauce with my meat.

There's also a (very limited) buffet section (I think they're mainly for the kids) where they serve French Fries, Pizzas and a cauliflower dish that night....with a chocolate fountain as well (for dessert).  I took some French Fries when I saw a fresh batch being served, so I got some to nibble on.

As for drinks, we ordered two Iced Lattes @RM11 and one Iced Capuccino @ RM12 remembering how my blogger friend had a wonderful Iced Americano with her Rustic Big Breakfast 2 months earlier.  When our coffees arrived, we thought we'd be in for a treat...woohoo....such a big glass!

My first impression...it looks too good to be true....actually it looks too pale and milky...and my suspicion was proven right...it was too diluted with not enough coffee taste....uuurrggghh~  We also asked for water to be served not knowing (at that time) that we'd be charged RM2 per person for it (they did refill it once)! >.<

And if you think that was the end of our troubles...not quite.  When I asked for the bill (and luckily I checked before paying), we were billed for 4 mains.  I said why 4 mains when there were only 3 of us?  They hurriedly took the bill back and it was a pretty long while before they came back with the corrected bill.  How incompetent can their staff be when there were (as I remember) only 4 paying tables that night (the large table who knows someone from the restaurant, a lady with her 2 kids who knows the co-owner, a table that left earlier...and us).

My Personal Opinion

Did I get a different chef that night (from my blogger friend)?  Or maybe I was just unlucky that he/she was having an off day!  Whatever it was, if you're looking only to fill your tummies to the fullest and taste is not your most important criteria, the meal offers great value (with free flow tapas and an all-you-can-eat buffet spread that's very limited though).  If not, nothing will endure you to this place...not the ambiance...not the service....and certainly not the food! >_<

In the end, it was a meal with some hits but more misses...one that was flawed from the beginning to the end! >_<  Based purely on taste, I'm not sure why they have such a high rating on Google coz what I tasted that night was no where remotely near 4.8 (maybe a 4.2 rating is more befitting...and I'm being generous) but if I were to take the overall dining experience into account, it's even lower.

I hope they iron out their issues soon now that they've been in operation for 4 months but there were still rookie mistakes made from the beginning to the end...from overall service to food ordering to kitchen mistakes to errors in billing.  I think they need a good second commander-in-chief to keep everything in check and working like a well-oiled machine (more so if the owners are not there to oversee their baby, the co-owner actually left after his dinner which doesn't quite scream passion to me).  For now, I'm sorry to say it's a "no" (from me and my friends) to the place being worthy of a second visit...and that rarely happens with my choices...haiz! :'(

The Rustic Grill

72G Jalan SS21/62

Damansara Utama

47400 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Tel: 017-659 8248

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

Char Koay Teow King @ Damansara Uptown

It was my husband who alerted me to this new char koay teow (CKT)'s grand opening about two weeks ago. From the photos he sent me, it looked good.  My husband had actually visited the place (on his own) the week before and wanted to bring me there just to see what I thought about their CKT.

So, we decided to drop by the following week to Char Koay Teow King @ Damansara Uptown to give it a try.  They had been in operation for about a month when I visited.

Their signboard says Penang authentic char koay teow (frying since 1992 in Bukit Mertajam as per their Facebook page) though they go by the name Koay Teow King.  

The place is air-conditioned and clean, of course, since it's so new.  Once seated, you'll find a one-page laminated menu on the table with just 6 options...CKT with either chicken egg (RM12), duck egg (RM13), soft-boiled chicken egg (RM14), crab meat (RM16), roast pork (16) or mantis prawn (RM20).  I had a sense of deja vu looking at the menu but I shall get to that later.

You order at the cashier counter and once you've paid for your orders, you'd be given an electronic pager that will beep (with flashing lights) once your orders are ready.  You're then expected to collect your plates of CKT from the kitchen counter.  So, if you're expecting to be served, you're not gonna get it here where service is kept to a minimum.

Out of the six options on the menu, two weren't available yet (the roast pork and mantis prawn versions).  My husband was actually here the week before and they mentioned that the roast pork will be available the following week (which meant the week we visited) but it was still not available.

Our first order was for the CKT with Duck Egg @ RM14.  Oh, besides just the 6 items on the menu (4 when we were there), there's only koay teow when it comes to the noodles since Penang authentic CKT only comes in koay teow.  So, if you're one who prefers a mixture of koay teow and mee (like me) in their CKT...well, too bad! >_<

A plate of CKT here has the usual ingredients of see hum (cockles), lap cheong (dried Chinese sausage), nga choy (beansprouts), gao choy (Chinese chives) and freshly fried chee yau char (pork lard crisps...but you'll need to go on a 'treasure hunt' to find a few measly pieces).

It also came with 3 big prawns (though the menu, their Facebook page and in my husband's first visit, only two were given initially).  I'm not sure why they decided to give three instead of two prawns.  Perhaps they realised that their plate of CKT may be overpriced with only two prawns (or maybe it's two if they're larger and three if they're smaller in size).  That tells you how profit-minded they are...until they're not even willing to give you three if they happen to be slightly bigger! :P  The prawns I have no complaints as they were firm, fresh and sweet tasting.

Next, we went with a more decadent CKT with Crab Meat @ RM16 only to find out that this CKT is not fried with egg! O_o  The lady at the counter said the CKT comes with the usual ingredients of see hum and lap cheong...which got me scratching my head...isn't egg considered a usual ingredient in a CKT?  What CKT is not fried with egg (unless you specifically request it to be omitted)! >.<  In the end, I asked for a chicken egg (to be fried with the noodles) that cost an extra RM1 (additional RM2 for a duck egg).

Take note also that if you order the crab meat version, your CKT will not contain any prawns but you can have it as an add-on (RM7 for two prawns, the lady at the counter told me).  RM7 for just two prawns is expensive IMHO as I can get a prawn of that size (from the wet market) for about RM1 (but they can probably get it cheaper direct from their supplier due to the large quantity they buy).  So, 'no thank you' to adding on prawns as I can't imagine having to pay RM24 for a single plate of CKT! O_o

I wouldn't recommend this CKT version with crab meat as the crab meat plonked on top was served cold, not super cold, but you know it has been chilled and it hadn't been taken out long enough from the fridge for it to come down to room temperature.  Further compounding the cold crab meat was the fact that there were some shell fragments that weren't picked out completely.  It wasn't the nicest experience when you had to bite into shell fragments when taking a mouthful of the CKT with crab meat.  In some places, finding a shell fragment or fish bone left unpicked can even lead to the dish being sent back to the kitchen....haha! :D

I chose the CKT with Soft-Boiled Chicken Egg @ RM14 for our final choice as I wanted to showcase a different CKT.  I was stupid enough to order it and would soon regret my choice.

That's because breaking the runny yolk and mixing it with the noodles made the plate of CKT rather wet. Order this only if you like your CKT wet.  For me, I think it's a stupid option to offer (a soft-boiled egg has no place in a plate of CKT).  I'd much prefer the option of an add-on well-fried sunny side up egg instead (but I didn't see that option on the menu and they didn't tell me I could have it that way).  As this plate of CKT originally does come fried with a chicken egg, I needed to pay RM1 to change it to a duck egg.

Now that I've featured all three plates of CKT, let me tell you what I thought of it.  At first bite, the noodles were fairly tasty but the beansprouts weren't all that crunchy nor were they the fat, juicy type that I like. The koay teow itself didn't have any charred bits and was missing the much sought-after wok hei.  The addition of a fairly generous amount of lap cheong with the hardly noticeable chee yau char did add an element of a much-needed fragrance to the noodles but there was simply not enough chee yau char.

Contrary to what they 'advertise' in their FB of WYSIWYG, it wasn't the case...especially when it came to the see hum...what you see isn't what you get!!  The see hum weren't as generous (in amount) or as raw as shown in their FB.  The cockles were well cooked through in all 3 plates of CKT.  My family's portion of cockles all ended up on my plate (yay!) coz they don't eat cockles and I wasn't about to tell them to omit the cockles seeing that each plate cost us more than RM10.

If you're lucky, you might get one or two larger ones but most of the cockles were smallish in size.  That, unfortunately, is the fate (or should I say state) of our cockles stock these days.

All plates of CKT come with a free drink, a choice between pat poh (herbal) or nutmeg (not of the fresh kind, probably of the concentrate/syrup kind)...and, if neither pleases you, there's a plain water option. Didn't like the pat poh nor the nutmeg, the latter of which tasted like some kind of sweetish syrup water with barely a hint of nutmeg.

#Interesting Story

Coming back to my feelings of deja vu earlier, a number of similarities got me feeling this way.

1)  The use of the word 'king' in their shop name.

2)  The limited options (in their menu) and similar-type ingredients (in their dishes,

     especially mantis prawns and siew yuk) is something I've seen before.

3)  The use of similar black-coloured crockery.

4)  Just the overall decor/feel of the place.

5)  Plus I remember reading about a collaboration project on their FB.

So, to satisfy my curiosity, I checked their FB page upon my return...and, lo and behold, my hunch was right...they're by the same people (or at least the same guy who helms Prawn Noodle King)!  (1) and (2) above was a dead giveaway!  In future, if I come across a shop by the name of 'Beef Noodle King' (their other potential collaboration project), I'd be alerted to the fact that they might be related to Prawn Noodle King and Char Koay Teow King...hahaha! :D

P/S: On my way home, I noticed that there's a new Prawn Noodle King branch (their third) in Damansara Uptown at Jalan SS21/37 (joining their existing two outlets in OUG & USJ Taipan).  Looks like there are many fans of their prawn noodles since business is blooming.

My Personal Opinion

The taste of the noodles was decent by most standards, especially those who don't mind not having the necessary wok hei or aren't looking for the noodles to be charred.  For me, those two aspects are critical for a good plate of CKT.  Having said that, I did enjoy the fresh, large prawns and the lap cheong...but that's about it.

For a plate of CKT of that price, I expected more!  The taste has to be way better than that...and it wasn't. Perhaps, I'm a bit harsh with my judgement but I've had better CKT for less, that's why.

And now that I know the taste and quality of their siew yuk and mantis prawn (from my previous experience at Prawn Noodle King), I probably won't need to try those two options here.  Worst still, not only do you have to pay a premium price, they make you 'work' for it...you have to queue, order, pay and collect your CKT from the counter! O_o  Will I be back?  I think you know the answer to that already.

Char Koay Teow King
8G Jalan SS21/58
Damansara Utama
47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel: 7731 9818