The Humble Food Company @ Desa Pandan

The Humble Food Company @ Desa Pandan happens to be a restaurant that I discovered recently through ShopeeFood.  With a name like Humble, I'm wondering if I should expect humble dishes, humble prices or humble ingredients?  Lol.

I'm also wondering if they were the same entity as Humble Chef once since their name and menu seems pretty similar.  However, if you check Humble Chef's Facebook, they specifically state that they have only two branches in Damansara Heights and Setapak (and that they've already closed their 3 branches in Desa Pandan, Damansara Perdana and Shah Alam).  Hmmm, we've seen this one too many times before...the parting of ways...very common when business partnerships don't work out.  So, I'm only making a guess here that the parting owners took over the latter 3 branches (only they, the owners, know the real story).

Anyway, for my first order from The Humble Food Company, I immediately wanted the Grilled Fish Set Meal @ RM24.90 as the deliciously looking promo pic of the fish convinced me to give this dish a try.  This was how it was packed (I had to pay RM1.50 for the packaging and requested for no cutleries).

My bad for not reading the fine print description of the dish carefully and was confronted with 4 pieces (two of them pretty small pieces) of pan-grilled dory fillet when I opened the box.  Adoi, I'm not a fan of dory fish (who is anyway!) because of its taste and texture...though I'm a fan of Dory in Finding Nemo (just because it was voiced by Ellen DeGeneres.....lol).  As expected, the grilled dory was pretty much tasteless.....and looked nothing like the nicely grilled fish in the photo! >_<

The grilled fish comes with two sides (a choice of fries, mashed potato, cheese omelette, fresh salad or coleslaw) but no pasta (misleading photo in the food pic again).  I chose fries and coleslaw, the latter of which was just sufficiently dressed and was cold and crunchy.  I can't say the same for the fries as they were no longer crisp (as some smarty-pants decided to pack the fish on top of the fries!).  I would have at least packed the fish on one side of the box and the fries on the other so that the hot fish fillets don't steam over the fries and make them soggy.  The set meal also comes with a free drink (mineral water only) though you can pay extra RM3 (for a can of Coke or Minute Maid Pulpy Orange) or RM1.90 (for Ice Lemon Tea).

Besides the nice coleslaw, there was this little tub of appetite-inducing tomato salsa (don't ask my why it needed to be packed in a separate plastic tub when there's still a vacant compartment space in the box). I would have packed the fries in that extra compartment and packed the salsa tub together with the fish. That's why I didn't realise that the salsa was supposed to be spooned over and eaten with the fish (I would have plated it differently if I had known).  I did eat the very refreshing tomato salsa, with chopped onions and bits of parsley and red chillies, together with the fish since the fish was so bland (sans any sauce) and it did taste a bit better that way with additional cracks of sea salt and black pepper.

Another time I tried the Laksa Goreng Set @ RM9.90 (not inclusive of RM1.50 for packaging) which comes with free mineral water.  This is the petite portion (but portion will not be enough even for a petite person), so better go for the larger portion @ RM13.90.

They use laksa noodles (the same ones as assam laksa), so expect it to arrive clumped together (I loosened it up) as the texture of these noodles are really soft.  It may look a bit uninspiring for its lack of ingredients. You have to treasure hunt for the bits of thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms (other options include minced chicken or chicken breast), finely diced green & red capsicum and daun sup (celery leaves).  It had lightly spicy and sourish notes as it was fried with a tamarind-infused shrimp paste.

Luckily, it tasted better than it looked though some will probably complain that the noodles have no ingredients (do bear in mind that this is cafe pricing after all...and any main dish below RM10 is not the norm).  You can opt to pay an extra RM1 to add-on either prawns, beef or smoked duck (that would hopefully make this dish seem less kosong...but RM1 is unlikely to get you much of anything).  In the end, it was an ok dish if you can look beyond the lack of ingredients.  I would say it's something different from the fried noodles I'm used to.

The Spicy Honey Chicken Wings @ RM14.40 (packaging costs a further RM0.50) came with 5 wings and 1 drumette (I'm not sure why they didn't give 3 wings + 3 drumettes equally...fortunately, I like wings more!). Portion size of 6 pcs is good value for the price.

One bite into the wings and I could only taste the crunchiness of the spicy sauce coating (in parts) as they arrived steaming hot/soggy in its packaging.  Perhaps they would have been sufficiently crispy if served on-site.  The amount of chilli oil left at the bottom of the paper tub was worring in the beginning as I thought it'd be very spicy....but no, the spiciness was very tolerable.

The wings were surprisingly very tender and juicy (not sure if it was because of the steam created in the packaging that made it that way).  Flavour wise, I had no complaints (though I didn't taste the honey or any sweetness).  But would it compete with 4Fingers for my affection?  Well, the answer is obviously no....at least not until they learn the secret of how to maintain the crispiness of their chicken wings in the recipe itself or when enroute to the customer (like 4Fingers)...haha! :D

My Personal Opinion

The menu is simple (nothing that'll wow you in terms of creativity) with the usual western food of pastas (some with local twists), chicken chop, grilled chicken, grilled lamb, mushroom soup, salads and snacks.

The food I've tried thus far are pretty standard fare with acceptable tastes (not sure the reasons behind their overly good rating).  The prices seem reasonable (if based on cafe prices) but portions can be a little small (for the lower priced dishes) with minimal ingredients.  Perhaps, it might seem a bit more worthwhile if you're dining in and able to take in the ambience of the cafe? ;)

Besides the one in Desa Pandan, they now have 4 branches including Damansara Perdana, Shah Alam and Bangi (with a new 5th outlet opening soon) if you're interested to try.  In the end, the dishes were certainly humble....the ingredients definitely humble.....the prices maybe not so humble (in relation to portions and ingredients)...lol.  The food experience was just borderline for me though I doubt I'll be wanting anything more from them.

The Humble Food Company

12-G Jalan 4/76c

Desa Pandan

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Burger & Sushi @ G Village, Desa Pandan

We're back!!  Yes, back to one of our favourite restaurants conveniently located near where we stay for scrumptious Japanese food at decent prices.

Yes, we've been back for a couple more visits to Burger & Sushi @ G Village, Desa Pandan after numerous visits here, here and here.  We never get tired of the food here since their menu is pretty extensive, so for this visit we focussed on those items that we haven't tried.

Starting with the Ebi Kakiage @ RM19.80, a tempura of shrimps with the sweetness of mixed vegetables (carrot, eggplant, onions and bell peppers), deep fried into small round fritters (served with grated daikon and a tempura dipping sauce), which tasted absolutely amazing! ^o^

When the dish first arrived, my first impression wasn't great as it wasn't much to look at plus the portion size was also small for the price.  But when I took my first bite, the shrimps had such an intense prawn flavour that I can even smell the prawny flavour as soon as the dish hit the table...and that could only mean one thing....there were more shrimps than vegetables.  This was one of those surprise orders that turned out brilliant as I wasn't expecting it to taste so good.

I've always loved the Japanese version of Potato Salad @ RM8.80 but this one looked a little different from the norm.  Not mashed like the rest that came before it but chopped finely with carrots and Japanese cucumber.  Well, what do you know, I actually loved this texture even more.  When you bite into these very tiny cubes of potato, there's a bit of bite and crunch that I relish and not mushed up like mashed potatoes. This needs some mad knife skills and takes a bit more work to put up.

The Unagi Don @ RM35 is possibly one of the cheapest I've come across.  Sliced diagonally (instead of straight down), the donburi was served with tamago, lettuce and pickled ginger.

It always amazes me just how see-through and paper thin they manage to slice the pickled ginger (look at the one against the plate)! O_o

Despite this unagi not being among my favourites as it lacked a bit of that sticky, smoky caramelisation on the outside, it was still a very decent version for the portion and price.  Delighted that the rice came sprinkled with our best-loved condiment of furikake.

Our other main was the Salmon Don @ RM28 which came with large and generous slices of salmon blanketing the rice and fanned out beautifully for a gorgeous presentation.  Finished with a bit of ikura, the dish tasted as fresh as it looked.

As much as we wanted to try all things new, we couldn't resist ordering 'something old' coz it's our must-have sushi roll when we're here...and that's the Aburi Salmon Roll @ RM26.

On yet another visit, we had to have the Aburi Salmon Roll again (even better presented this time).  The deliciousness of the seared salmon, crunchiness from the tempura flakes, rolled in our favourite umami furikake, and the slightly spicy sauce at the bottom makes this a truly downright excellent roll.

If you prefer complete set meals, they have a good selection of those too...like this Beef & Tempura Set @ RM52 with teriyaki beef, tempura prawns, chawanmushi, miso soup, salad, rice and fruit (watermelon).

However, I didn't enjoy the teriyaki beef as much as I enjoyed the beef teppanyaki I had here previously. This one was less tender.

Another value-for-money meal is the Seafood Combo Set @ RM58 which comes with prawns, squid, scallops, chawanmushi, salad, miso soup and fresh fruits.  Only thing it doesn't come with is rice, so you'll need to order that separately @ RM4.

All the seafood items were nicely seared and delicious except this time it wasn't served with a Japanese ginger sauce.  When we asked for the sauce, we were given another type of sauce which we didn't like as much as the previous ginger sauce.

Hot Green Tea @ RM5

While my Hot Lemon Honey Tea @ RM9.50 did its job pleasantly with its lemony flavours, it brought back memories of the awesome lemon tea I had at Yuzu once... made with just pure lemon and honey while this one was infused with tea.

My Personal Opinion

What can I say except....bring your appetite.....they're going to feed you well here!

Burger & Sushi

Lot 06 Ground Floor G Village

No 35 Jalan 1/76

Desa Pandan

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-9226 9788

Burger & Sushi @ G Village, Desa Pandan

After our first, second and third visits, we were back for our fourth, fifth and sixth visits to Burger & Sushi @ G Village, Desa Pandan.  What can I say...my son loves this place.....and we love it for its convenience and close proximity to where we live with abundant (and cheap) covered parking to boot.

Because we're regulars, we get *star* treatment here...ok-lah, maybe that was exaggerating it a bit....but we do feel very welcomed and at home here just like when "Friends" walk into Central Perk....hehe! ;D

After sampling burgers, beef steaks and teppanyaki, we wanted to give their sushi a try on our fourth visit.  We ordered the Salmon Lover @ RM45 which comprised of salmon sashimi (5 pcs), salmon nigiri (4 pcs) and salmon maki (6 pcs).

No complaints as the salmon and salmon belly sashimi was of good quality, fresh and nice.

The salmon nigiri was good too.  Perhaps just a tad too much salmon in one sitting...haha....strictly for salmon lovers only! ^.^

I went for the Tuna Tataki @ RM35 featuring partially seared tuna served with a ponzu dipping sauce.

When it arrived, I was taken aback as to how thick and big the slices were...and there were six large pieces!  I was happy...it was fresh and delicious.

Look at the nice sear on the outside...the lightly seared tuna was great eaten dipped in the citrusy and savoury ponzu sauce.

Ever since we first tasted an excellent ikura (salmon roe) at Yamaguchi Fish Market, we were bowled over by its taste...the wonderful burst of juices and saltiness from the ikura were simply sensational on the taste bud.

This Ikura Gunkan @ RM17.80 (for 2 pcs) was pleasant enough...just didn't quite match the explosion of flavours as the one we had at Yamaguchi Fish Market.

Then there was the silky-smooth Chawanmushi @ RM9.80.  I like the chawanmushi here as it's always served piping hot like it had just been freshly steamed.

The Yasai Tempura @ RM22, though not the best-looking in terms of presentation, was pretty alright in taste with a light and crunchy batter.  The price seems a bit on the expensive side for just a vegetable tempura (but I think there were at least 10 pcs of vegetable).

On our next visit, we went back to having teppanyaki as it's one of the best things here in my opinion plus teppanyaki has always been a family favourite.  This time we had the Seafood Platter @ RM99.80 for sharing.

The platter consists of grilled assorted seafood of deep sea tiger prawns, squid, scallops and Norwegian salmon complete with a Japanese ginger dipping sauce.  Looking at the portion size though, I thought the Seafood Combo Set we had on our previous visit (which would have cost just RM12 more for two sets) seemed like a far better value.

That aside, the ginger sauce will rally even non-fans of ginger to become ardent fans (like my son)! ^_~  I guess it's because it didn't have that pungent aroma and sharp taste like Chinese ginger.

Having tried three types of sushi roll, we ordered our fourth roll, the Bermuda Roll @ RM36.80 with a filling of deep fried prawns topped with Mekajiki fish (aka broadbill swordfish or big-eye marlin) and mentai.

Love the luscious mentai as usual but probably the least favourite of the five sushi rolls we have tried thus far.

The fifth roll we tried was the Aburi Salmon Roll @ RM26 consisting of a filling of seared salmon and tempura flakes topped with furikake and tobiko.

We loved the element of crunch from the tempura flakes and the saltiness of the furikake with a hint of spice from the sauce underneath.  We soon realised that this was what was sprinkled on the fried kuruma ebi head and poke bowl we had at Eatomo earlier on which we fell in love with.  I later found out that furikake is actually a dry Japanese seasoning containing dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed...and guess what?  MSG!!  No wonder we love the flavour so much....haha! ;D

And because we loved the furikake (and the roll) so much, we ordered the Aburi Salmon Roll @ RM26 again on our sixth visit.  This and the Caterpillar Roll are probably the front runners for best sushi rolls here.

But this time we didn't want any of our sushi rolls to be topped with tobiko, we requested for them all to be rolled in furikake...woot woot! ^o^  I was even more impressed with the presentation this time round.

Again, you can't go wrong with any of their teppanyaki.  We went with the Salmon & Chicken Teppanyaki Set @ RM45 that came with stir-fried vegetables of cabbage, bean sprouts, carrot and green pepper.

A teppanyaki that we have not tried was the Cod Fish Teppanyaki @ RM60 served with the same stir-fried vegetables.

I think the portion size of the cod fish given was fair.  I love, love, love cod fish to death....and this one was delicate, flaky and sweet tasting.  Gorgeous!

Both sets came with chawanmushi, miso soup, rice and fruits.  Add RM5 to upgrade to Garlic Fried Rice.

It's definitely worth your while to upgrade...so much so we ordered a second Garlic Fried Rice.

We had similar drinks most of the time except for this Root Beer Float @ RM11.80 and Iced Green Tea @ RM5.

This was Burger & Sushi getting all decked up for Chinese New Year ^_*

My Personal Opinion

If you're from around the area looking for a good Japanese meal at prices that are reasonable and affordable, this is it!  This place does sushi rolls and teppanyaki well.

Like a blogger friend whose Connie of Hokano takes good care of her, my Netallie takes good care of me too. And it's always nice to get that little bit of special treatment (and discount) *wink wink*

After one burger, two steaks, six sushi rolls, six teppanyaki (and a whole lot more) later, we're not done yet. There could be seventh, eighth and ninth visits.....but who's counting! ^_~

Burger & Sushi
Lot 06 Ground Floor G Village
No 35 Jalan 1/76 Desa Pandan
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-9226 9788