Aimori Nihonryori, Solaris Dutamas

Steaming-hot meals that stay true to Japanese traditions: Steered by head chef Tamada, who hails from near Kobe, Aimori Nihonryori is Publika's latest spot for bowls of classic comfort, serving up soulful noodles, rice and more, with sauces and soup bases crafted in this kitchen.

Aimori's current specialities include pork-laden recipes that make for terrific rainy-day sustenance to soothe the spirit: Order the Hakusai Nabe (RM22) for a substantial pot of sliced pork layered with cabbage, poured over with broth and cooked at the table to bring on the heat, perfectly proportioned with protein and fibre for a balanced lunch or dinner.

If you're craving fire in your belly, Aimori's Hell Ramen (RM35) should prove heavenly for spice seekers - the tonkotsu ramen is tantalising enough in its original form, crowned with savoury pork, fermented bamboo shoots and a wobbly egg for all the essentials, but its secret weapon is on the side, a condiment made with lots and lots of chillies. Dunk it into the ramen and stir, to feel the burn in its brilliant intensity.

If you prefer to shine the spotlight purely and potently on pork, the Buta Kakuni (RM22) is your best bet - braised pork belly that's luscious and clean-tasting, complete with an irresistibly runny yolk for a melt-in-the-mouth, soy-simmered staple that's creamy, dreamy and all-umami.

Prefer rice? Aimori has plenty - the restaurant's recommendation is the Yakiniku Don (RM23), doing justice to a familiar favourite. Firm grains blanketed with tenderly grilled beef and onions in Aimori's own gently mellow teriyaki sauce, rounded out with egg and miso soup, make for fuss-free fulfillment that some customers might keep coming back for.

Aimori's repertoire extends to yoshoku-style, Western-influenced platters like the Chicken Nanban Don (RM23) - crisply chunky, succulent chicken, richly coupled with a sauce of boiled eggs and pickled cucumbers in Japanese mayonnaise, made extra-hearty with potato salad and a pile of thinly shredded cabbage, plus rice and miso soup. Capably executed for a certain crowd-pleaser.

Back to noodles: Udon and soba are also well-represented at Aimori, with many distinct varieties. Our top ten has to include the Tori Ten Udon (RM23), thick and slurp-worthy in mild-mannered dashi broth, showered with chopped scallions and some lovely tempura chicken for quality udon at its most quintessential.


For meat-free Mondays, order the Ontama Bukkake Soba (RM18), slim buckwheat noodles that could be the least guilt-inducing of carbs, with the ideal onsen tamago to add a dose of decadence.

There's much more to munch on at Aimori, from snacks to share like gyoza, plumply packed with pork, to other offerings like rice boxes topped with salmon, ikura or unagi, to teishoku set meals that showcase everything from pork steaks to beef fillets, to bentos filled with sushi and skewers.


If you're here for happy hours, Aimori has promotional offers all night long, from 530pm through closing, with Asahi poured fresh at sub-zero temperatures at RM12 for a 320-ml medium serving and RM18 for a 500-ml large. You'll also want to glug Aimori's take on chuhai, carbonated shochu highballs in fun fruity flavours like lemon, grapefruit, lychee, passion fruit, watermelon and more (RM18 each).

Many thanks to Aimori Nihonryori for having us here.

Aimori Nihonryori Publika
A2-UG1-9, Solaris Dutamas, Jalan Dutamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
Open Monday-Friday, 1130am-230pm, 530pm-10pm; Saturday-Sunday, 1130am-1030pm. Tel: 03-6206-5526

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

ANTE: Hainanese Pork Chop, August 2020

Having Hainanese family roots, we're genuinely excited to try different versions of Malaysian Hainanese dishes - though our favourite is chicken rice, we wouldn't say no to pork and chicken chops. So when ANTE announced it's serving Hainanese pork chop throughout August, we had to return to one of our long-recommended restaurants for pork.

ANTE's pork chop pays homage to the recipe rooted in this country's colonial era, when Hainan-born cooks worked to create recipes for their British employers, resulting in unique culinary hybrids. True to ANTE's reputation, its kitchen has redesigned this classic from scratch; its founders spent weeks sampling Hainanese chops across the Klang Valley before launching this.

ANTE has always taken pride in top-quality ingredients. This Hainanese chop (RM26.90++) relies on 300 grams of US-sourced pork loin, smooth, lean and tender. The meat is deep-fried in a batter of crushed Graham cream crackers, for a coating that remains crisp to the final bite, especially since it isn't smothered with brown sauce.

The sauce is a blend of old and new inspirations - ketchup, Worcestershire and soy remain present, with white onions, diced carrots and corn, plus sliced mushrooms and fresh edamame (begone, frozen peas!). It's tangy and zesty, not overly sour or cloying, complementing the pork chop.

Each plate is completed with red cabbage slaw and choice of buttered mashed potatoes or onion-oiled rice, available 11am to 5pm daily at all ANTE outlets in August (while stocks last).

What to pair the pork with? Apple cider certainly works.

Many thanks to ANTE for having us back.

ANTE Publika
A2-G1-09, Solaris Dutamas, Jalan Dutamas 1, 50480 Kuala Lumpur. Daily, 11am-9pm. Tel: 03-6206-3364

ANTE 1 Utama
Lot F346, First Floor, Rainforest, New Wing, One Utama Shopping Centre, Lebuh Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Daily, 11am-9pm. Tel: 03-7732-5204

Le Gourmandin, Solaris Dutamas

With a Toulouse-born chef toiling in the kitchen, a Paris-loving picture of the Seine on the wall, and the 1979 classic Ma Reverence by Veronique Sanson playing on the speakers, Le Gourmandin brings Malaysians closer to France than most of us will get this year. Run by a French-and-Malaysian husband-and-wife team, this new restaurant takes pride in classic brasserie-style cooking, honoured through slow, meticulous preparations that result in sumptuous, memorable flavours.

Le Gourmandin's founders, Fermin Rieu and Fadhilah Joni, are only in their mid-twenties, but they've worked hard in recent years in order to launch their own restaurant. Fermin helms the kitchen, while Fadhilah runs the front of house, a dynamic duo who ensured we enjoyed a very pleasant evening.

Duck dominates the menu: Order the locally sourced duck breast, distinctively cooked medium, as full-fleshed as a steak but unmistakably poultry, with a smooth, firm bite and succulent chew, robust in the pure, clean flavour of duck, sliced in a hearty, boneless serving that two light eaters can share, buoyed by a softly tangy sweet-sour sauce aigre douce (RM50).

Duck devotees, take note of the leg confit too, a far cry from the despicably dry and overly salty renditions elsewhere - this is a rich but not cloying confit with achingly tender meat, splashed with a gorgeously aromatic garlic sauce that makes it even more memorable (RM50). These main courses come with a choice of mashed potatoes or hand-cut fries - we love both!

Chef Fermin is no quack - the success of these recipes rests not only in his French heritage but his drive to offer top-quality fare, prepared from scratch whenever possible. Three-kilogram ducks are delivered whole to the restaurant, so he uses the bones to make stock for his sauces, for example. He also air-dries the meat for a month to make magret seche, the cured duck equivalent of prosciutto, punchy protein for the salade gersoise with mustard sauce (RM27). 

One of Fermin and Fadhilah's collaborators, Francesco, is Italian (the three met in Malaysia), so it makes sense to serve lovely, luscious tagliatelle that marries French and Italian comfort cooking, with plenty of duck slices in mushroom sauce (RM45). Also try the truffled duck burger, layered with slivers of foie gras for a little luxury (RM45; with a RM10 foie surcharge).

We'd be happy to waddle out after all that duck, but desserts proved irresistible, from choux classics like profiteroles and the Paris-Brest to lemon and strawberry tarts. Note that wine is currently unavailable.

Le Gourmandin

D4-G4-01, Solaris Dutamas (behind Publika), Jalan Dutamas 1, Solaris Dutamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur. 

Open Tuesday-Sunday, 11am-1030pm. Kitchen opens for lunch and dinner; the menu is more extensive in the evening. Tel: 011-6970-7473

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Mona, Publika: 2020 Menu

It was past lunch hour when we visited Mona this month, but the restaurant remained bustling and boisterous, a testament to its popularity for Publika's visitors. The setting is lustrously polished, coupling nostalgic photographs with glassy, reflective modernity, but Mona's F&B offerings might be the main attraction, promising distinctive flavours from both East and West at some of Solaris Dutamas' fairest prices - perfect if you're planning to indulge without breaking your budget.

Mona has carved out its reputation on a crowd-rousing salted egg butter chicken recipe first crafted by its sister venue, Subang Jaya's Jibril. Now, both Mona and Jibril have expanded their repertoire to salted egg butter seafood, as well as exclusive nasi lemak butter creations that pack a lip-smacking punch.

For a show-stopping platter that'll make for the ideal introduction to Mona, sample the Salted Egg Butter Combo, bringing together the triumphant triumvirate of chicken, squid and prawns on one platter (RM28.90). It's not merely buttermilk or salted egg - Mona coats the chicken, squid and prawns in both butter sauce and salted egg sauce, successfully balancing both for luxurious textures. If you'd like to make this even splashier, dip the meat and seafood in butter sauce served on the side.

For an unmistakably Malaysian concoction, order the Nasi Lemak Butter Combo, which layers the salted egg butter chicken, squid and prawns in an extra coat of creamy sambal for a pleasant spiciness, perfectly rounded out with aromatic nasi lemak and all the essential accompaniments of anchovies, nuts, egg and cucumber (RM29.90). Make sure you're hungry before having this - it's a hefty portion, with plenty of protein heaped high.

You can also order the chicken, squid or prawns individually on their own. It looks likely that this will be Mona and Jibril's flagship temptation for many more years to come.

Mona's food menu is more extensive than Jibril's, so you'll find several intriguing treats solely available here. Lamb lovers might adore the Southern Spiced Lamb Rack (RM49.90), Australian-cultivated meat laced with a blend of chilli, turmeric and coriander leaves for clear Asian notes, smashed with a mash of avocados, onions and capsicum. There's nourishment galore on this plate, with no fewer than two salads on the side - one showcasing cannellini beans pan-fried with garlic, the other with rocket leaves and corn with balsamic - plus a tomato-based pomodoro sauce to ensure vivid, vibrant flavours.

Mona's big hit for 2020 deserves to the Butter Chicken Pizza (RM24.90), piled with smooth, tender chicken made ultra-decadent with cheese and curry leaves - if you're a fan of pizzas with fusion twists, this pizza is made for you, each bite channeling the lushness of butter chicken at its most fulfilling. We can imagine many groups of friends returning purely for this pizza.

The kitchen whips up such hearty portions that it's easy to be satiated with a single main course, but save space for the Pisang Goreng XL (RM12.90), a delectable dessert of airily battered, thickly sliced bananas, impeccably ripened, its warmth contrasting delightfully with coconut ice cream for a lovely coupling of two tropical fruits.

Note that even if you can't come to Mona, Mona can come to you - prompt delivery is conveniently offered via  monapublika.eatmol.com with no minimum order, with a reasonable delivery fee of RM5 within five kilometres (add RM1 for each additional kilometre).

But if you're dining in, there are lots of affordable breakfast, lunch and dinner sets to cater for folks working or living in this neighbourhood.

Mona is an alcohol-free establishment, so its bar specialises in playful mocktails like Potter (RM9.90; a cool, rejuvenating reinterpretation of Hogwarts-inspired butterbeer) and Coco (RM9.90; conveying the delicious depth and dimensions of coconut nectar). Patrons who prefer tall, striking refreshments can choose the lychee pink lemonade (RM14.90) or the Mockarita (RM8.90; zesty with orange and lime, rimmed with salt for that Mexican-inflected kick).

If you're celebrating a special occasion at Mona, the restaurant offers beautiful table settings with tablecloth, flowers, candles and even a slice of cake, starting 1 February 2020 (it's advisable to book three days in advance).

Mona also features a VIP room that can accommodate up to 13 persons, equipped with a television and microphone, perfect for celebrations, meetings or more private dining experiences.

For fans of Malaysian movies, when you watch the upcoming political thriller 'Daulat' later this year, note that Mona and Jibril both helped fund the film.

Many thanks to Mona for having us back.

Mona Publika
D3-G3-8, Solaris Dutamas, No. 1, Jalan Dutamas 1, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Email: monapublika@gmail.com
Tel: +6010-245-8056
Social Media: @monapublika (FB, IG, Twitter)
Operation Hours:
Monday-Thursday, 9am-11pm (last order 10:30pm)
Friday, 9am-12am (last order 11:30pm)
Saturday-Sunday, 11am-12am (last order 11:30pm)

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com