Chapters Urban Bistro @ Empire Damansara

Bistro with a Soul!

Foodies will be pleased to hang out at Chapters Urban Bistro for eclectic grub and drinks! Located in Empire Damansara, Chapters Urban Bistro has been operating for the last 8 months, serving up an array of comfort food made even better by their cocktail master.

We adored the bistro the moment we walked in! The smart casual ambiance, flanked by a large mural of a sultry gal as well as humour-ology food words on the chalkboard wall oozed with charm. Diners can also opt to dine al fresco at both front and back of the bistro.

The outdoor bar and dining area has a rustic industrial mode for much needed casual relaxation. Head on to the next level of the bistro for a game of pool or simply some private functions your company. Chapters Urban Bistro seemed to have covered it all with their plan.

The kitchen is helmed by Chef Vicneswara Thenamirtham, who when asked what he likes to eat, replied with anything that relates to comfort food. Hence the menu at Chapters is a posh mix of cuisines from all over the world, inserted with a few local dishes as well.

But before we began any meal, we were told that their cocktail master has prepared new signature cocktails at Chapters. Our giggle juice were definitely crowd pleasers with one strong enough to knock some socks off!

Clockwise from top left: Cub Royale Mocktail (RM12), Lychee Martini (RM28), Emperor Sirk (RM34) & Jazz Jager (RM28)

Take on the Emperor Sirk, a bold concoction of gin, Kahlua and Campari finished with an orange twist that is strong enough to make your day end a lot happier. For ladies, the Lychee Martini and Jazz Jager are sure hits with their fruity sweetness.

Tuck into these glorious Posh Bass Sliders (RM24) with cocktails or beer. Local crispy sea bass seasoned with generous spices, slapped between mini buttery brioche buns, greens and basil pine nut aioli summed up this starter. While this sliders looked ordinary, the flavours are amazingly awesome. The spices really elevated the sliders deliciously.

The Moroccan Lamb Meatballs (RM26), made from scratch, were moist, plump with robust flavours and satisfyingly comfort food at its best. Served with a dollop of yoghurt and two thick toasted slices of sourdough bread, this is irresistibly yummy! The spices elevated the whole dish of meatballs and chunky tomato sauce beautifully.

For salad fix, opt for the Marinated Mango & Avocado (RM18) that is not only colorful and pretty at sight but taste fruity and creamy. Sweet mango flesh, luscious avocado, toasty almond flakes on a bed of crisp greens and finished with honey lemon vinaigrette, the salad is light with a healthy goodness.

Chef Vic takes on a healthy twist for his Grilled Fish & Chunk Chips (RM34) in honor of the classic fish and chips. By now, we are in agreement that he masters the balances of spices very well. Using a blend of Spanish smoked paprika, cumin,, dried mustard and fresh herbs to spiced up the fish before finishing it on the grill, the fish is cooked beautifully. It may looked a tad on the dark side but rest assured, the fish was not burnt but rather smoky and sumptuous. Along with seasoned steak chips and garlic aioli, this twist is a sure crowd pleaser.

The Charbroiled Leg of Lamb (RM52) epitomized a Sunday meat roast with vegetables except this one is jazzed up with brown butter, rosemary ad some spices. Served with charred brussel sprouts and crispy crushed potatoes as well as some carrots, the dish makes a well-balanced meal.

Another fish dish drool worthy of an order is the Spiced Grilled Salmon & Pesto Conchiglie (RM36). Pan seared salmon topped with mango salsa on a bed of nutty and aromatic pesto pasta shells was a match made in heaven. Another comfort dish that warrants a reorder to cure any blues away…

Hot from their stone oven, the thin crusty Salmon & Alfredo Pizza (RM28) was decent and nicely topped with flaked cherry wood smoked salmon, capers, red onions and wild arugula on warm homemade alfredo sauce.

There was only two local dishes on the menu and we cannot help but to order the Mutton Tossed Basmati (RM28). It was probably the Malaysian soul in us that had us enjoying the robust flavours of tender mutton braised and cooked with basmathi rice, spices, curry leaves and more. Finished with cashew nuts, dried raisins, fresh coriander, cucumber raita and crispy pappadums, the dish is profoundly satisfying.

We like the fact that the Mamak Mee Goreng (RM26) came with large prawns and squid to justify its price. Chapter’s homemade secret mee mamak sauce infused the noodles well. A generous squeeze of lime worked its magic in boosting this noodle nicely with a hit of tang.

While the bistro don’t have much dessert choices on their menu, we were pleased with their housemade Salted Caramel Cheesecake (RM18). Familiar flavours of sweetness and lusciousness are elevated by the light addition of salt for a touch of sublime notes.

Reasons to visit Chapters Urban Bistro? Pub grub soul food with awesome drinks and a cool ambiance…

CHAPTERS URBAN BISTRO

G13, Empire Damansara,

Jalan PJU 8/8A,

Damansara Perdana,

47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Tel: +60 3-7732 9484

Facebook: www.facebook.com/chaptersurbanbistro

Business Hours:

Daily 8am to 12am

Boat Noodle @ Empire Damansara

9 New Dishes to Tempt You!

Our culinary industry has really been boosted by many international cuisine around the world in this era. With many being able to travel and with let’s not forget the speed and power of social media, the choices of cuisine available in our country is really mind-boggling. I am not complaining, in fact, I am happy as can be as one really need not travel far to get a taste of other cuisines in the world.

When Boat Noodle hit the F&B scene, the founder Mr. Tony Lim, also Executive Director, didn’t expect such a big welcome by Malaysians’ taking a huge interest in boat noodles or kuai tiao ruea. It is certainly not new to our country as these noodles are a national dish in our neighboring country Thailand.

The Thais also shares the same passion as we Malaysians in the food scene. Said to be have been served since 1942 according to Wikipedia, these noodles were served from vendors who lives along the Bangkok canals and uses their boat as their vehicle to travel. It is indeed a challenging task to sell noodles in a boat but I think the Thais have years of practice and has mastered the art of single handedly maneuvering the river currents and whipping up bowls after bowls of noodles.

Getting back to Boat Noodle, the menu started with basics of the boat noodles served in mini proportions. The concept to dare Malaysians on how many bowls of noodles one can eat seemed to have taken the nation by storm. Eager foodies like me would queue in long queues when Boat Noodles first open its first outlet Empire Damansara. As one waited in queue, the aromatic spices of meaty soups are tempting foodies and convincing them it’s worth the wait.

After more than a year, Boat Noodle still has it going for many. Visiting the original outlet in Empire Damansara, the place was still packed. Though the queue is not as long as before, business is still really buzzing. Wait staff scurrying around balancing trays of boat noodles as many are seen eagerly waiting and chatting. The air in the restaurant smells wonderfully comforting. We were here for a taste of their new menu. After months of sorting out the operations of Boat Noodles, this eatery has now grown to a staggering 9 outlets within a year’s operations and is also now able to offer diners more choices of Thai dishes.

As Boat Noodle import quite a fair ingredients from Thailand for authenticity, I was told that quite a few items were not available in their drink menu. I was still pleased though as there is a new beverage of Iced Blended Coconut added to the menu recently. The icy creamy smoothie is pretty amazing with its rich aromatic coconut flavour. It can be filling but I am not complaining… yum!

Before we hit the new dishes, we savored the signature boat noodles of course! Basically there are four variations of boat noodles served with two main soup broths of Pathumthani and Ayutthaya.

If asked to choose between beef or chicken, I seemed to gravitate more towards the beef for its richer and robust beef notes of the beef and its spices. I also prefer the Ayutthaya for its extra creaminess in the broth. I don’t mind the rest as I think they were all good on their own flavours.

A bowl of noodle is barely two mouthfuls but it is indeed fun to see how many bowls can one slurp up! I heard the record of the most bowls of noodles consumed at one go was 77 bowls for men and 74 bowls for women. That’s insane… especially for the women… whoever you both may be, my utter respect and salute to you!

The Pathumthani Beef Thai Rice Noodle (RM1.90) and Ayutthaya Beef Thai Rice Noodle (RM1.90) is a bowl bursting with earthy rich notes of beefy flavours spiced up. The broths are both laced with aromatics such as star anise and cinnamon and one is creamy while the other is not. There is an edge of tangy flavours in the broth as well. The noodles are thin and smooth so slurping them is delicious. There bits of minced beef and half a beef ball in the noodles too. Chopped water spinach stalks and fried garlic added textures.

The Pathumthani Chicken Thai Rice Noodle (RM1.90) and Ayutthaya Chicken Thai Rice Noodle (RM1.90) was also good but the broth was lighter since its chicken. It still has got a good kick of the spices. There are some shredded chicken meat on the noodles together with the water spinach stalks and fried garlic.

Besides slurping bowls after bowls of noodles, one can now order other new dishes such as Thai Popeye’s Tempura (RM6.90), its water spinach leaves or kangkung in a light tempura batter fried till golden and served with Soot-Yot dip. Soot-Yot means awesome and indeed the sauce is pretty fabulous. It’s got a good hit of heat and is lightly tangy and moreish. I love the sauce so much I actually put it on my other dishes.

Next up, Kra-Pow Chicken Rice (RM11.90) is my all-time-favorite Thai comfort food. Its minced chicken stir fried with Thai Basil leaves and is served with rice and fried egg. It’s very common and can be seen almost everywhere in the streets of Thailand. The version here is pretty yum. It has a nice balance of savory flavours but it is the unique basil leaves that makes this dish unique.

I like simplicity in food because flavours tend to be more distinctive from its ingredients. Do try the Bangkok Ommelette with Sood Yot Sauce Rice (RM11.90) as it is a basic dish of fluffy golden ommelette enveloping steamed rice and served with the fabulous spicy piquant Soot-Yot sauce again. Simple but satisfying for me…

The skinny Chicken Wings (RM4.90) that arrive may look a bit sad in portion but it is delicious in flavours. It is well-seasoned and crispy. I didn’t think it needed any sauce and this is great for snacking… now give me 10 bowls of this lah…

Grilled Beef Meat Ball (RM5.90) and Grilled Chicken Meatball (RM4.90) are decent but nothing to shout about. Its good as fillers and great for those who loves meatballs.

Yum Mama (RM8.50), Yum Woon Sen (RM13.00) and Yum Meatball (RM8.90) are three new Thai salads introduced recently. Yum Mama features the classic Thai instant noodles salad studded with chicken sausage, crab sticks, onions and green vegetables dressing in lime dressing. Yum Woon Sen very spicy and has vermicelli noodles tossed with shrimp, crab stick, lots of onions and vegetable in the similar tangy dressing. Yum Meatball has meatball as the main ingredient of the salad in the same tangy dressing.

I really love their Thai Fruit Salad (RM6.90). The fruit salad is super spicy and is a vibrant bowl of fresh fruity flavours. Grapes, cherry tomatoes, corn and peanuts are some of the ingredients in the salad. It was so good, we had to order a second bowl!

If you are hankering for something sweet and light then the new dish of Sangkaya may be your cake. Steamed fluffy bread is served with Boat Noodle’s kaya, a thinner consistency egg custard that the Thais enjoy.

Another Thai dessert available at Boat Noodle is Ka Num Tuay (RM1 for 2 pieces), a lightly sweet and cream custard made from rice flour, coconut milk, pandan leaves and sugar.

It’s a nice touch to introduce more dishes to Boat Noodle fans as I am sure many will appreciate the more variety concept here. Malaysians do love varieties and the more choices the better for us I guess.

Boat Noodle has 9 locations now in Empire Damansara, The School at Jaya One, Ikon Cheras, Berjaya Times Square, Publika, Sutera Mall (JB), Gamuda Walk (Kota Kemuning), Klang Parade and D’Pulze Cyberjaya.

BOAT NOODLE

G3A, Heritage Lane,

Empire Damansara,

Damansara Perdana,

47820 Petaling Jaya

Tel: +6019-477 3119 / +6016-330 4762 / +6019-675 6138

Facebook: www.facebook.com/meesampan

Business Hours:

Daily 11.00am till 9.00pm

Ramen Kanbe @ Empire Damansara

Kobe Style Soy Sauce Ramen

Here’s another ramen contender in town and it’s located at Empire Damansara. Ramen Kanbe is one of the latest ramen players and serves Kobe style Shoyu ramen. The restaurant is located on ground level of this quaint mall and at a discreet area which one may need to ask around to locate it. Thanks to JKdrooling and Naohiko-san, we were invited for a taste of Kobe style ramen at Ramen Kanbe recently. I do happen to be a ramen devotee so I was really interested to see how Kobe ramen would fair up against other regular Japanese styles.

Walking into Ramen Kanbe, the restaurant is brightly lit and spacious. I like the whole modern wood design contrasted with black and white. One can see the injections of Japanese influences and yet there is an element of surprise with a red modern designed hanging chandelier added color and boldness to the restaurant. One can peek at the half open kitchen counter while waiting for your food as well.

The menu at Ramen Kanbe is simple and offers few signatures of ramen, rice and side orders. The menu is pretty detailed with photos for easy references just like other ramen places. In the menu, Ramen Kanbe also stated that their custom blend of soy sauce if the key to all their signature ramens. The restaurant also makes ramen from scratch and their vegetable with chicken-broth based soup simmered for 7 hours. Shoyu ramen broth is clear with a rich brown shoyu color and is more delicate than other tonkotsu or miso based ramens. Diners can enjoy the aromatic and delicate broth with ramen and other condiments in the Shoyu ramen.

Ramen Kanbe’s drink list is minimal but sufficient with its usual Japanese Green Tea and others like Oolong Tea, Lemon Tea, Coffee, Coke and Beer. We tried their Lemon Tea (RM5) and Red Milk Tea (RM5) which is pretty decent.

Karaage (RM10) proved to be one of the highlights at Ramen Kanbe. The Japanese style fried chicken is crispy with a juicy inside. The boneless dark meat is very tender and tasty too. It was so good, we had another order of this fried chicken served with crunchy shredded cabbage and mayo.

Another side order that is worth ordering is the Gyoza (RM10). This is a super popular snack in Japan and also happens to be served at most ramen places as well. The pan seared dumplings has a nice crisp side and a soft one on the other side. The filling is tender and flavourful and makes great snacks while waiting for the ramen to be served.

My little one loves fried rice and so we had an order of Ramen Kanbe’s Fried Rice (RM12). It is a flavourful plate of fried rice with a nice aroma. There are bits of meat in it and the rice is fluffy and moist. My only gripe about this dish was that the portion is a bit small for its price.

Our ramen arrive and the first one was the Charsiu Ramen (RM21). A bowl of house signature ramen with plenty of pieces of Charsiu nicely covering the whole bowl also had     some black fungus, bean sprout and spring onion too. The ramen noodle is nicely cooked with tender texture. The broth is rather delicate with good essence of meat but not heavy or overpowering. One can taste the subtle notes of sweet and savory soy sauce in the broth. The Charsiu pieces are also very tender and are lean as well.

Ramen Kanbe’s ramen is definitely different from the many ramen places I have tried. There is a refine flavour to the overall bowl of ramen. It is easy to enjoy and won’t leave you with a heavy after taste. The price is also cheaper than most ramen places. I rather enjoy the ramen for its refine flavour and it is pretty comforting.

There is also another version with Wantan and Charsiu in the Wantan Ramen (RM21). This version features the same as their house signature ramen but has the added bonus of wantan dumplings together. The wantans are decent with thin dumpling skin and soft filling. I have never had ramen with wantan before but this is not too bad. It certainly makes a nice change from the usual ramen joints.

I chose the Spicy Ramen (RM21) because I was curious about the flavour and I also happen to love spicy flavours. My ramen comes with a minced meat topping rather than the charsiu thought I did wished for the charsiu. Fear not, one can put in additional orders of Charsiu (RM4 – 3 pieces) and Boiled Egg (RM3) like I did.

The Spicy Ramen had good solid flavours of heat and a bold and robust flavour. Its savory flavours really stand out together with the spiciness of the chili. The sheer simplicity of this ramen with minced meat and chives in a spicy broth showed that Ramen Kanbe can produce bold flavours in their ramen as well as they delicate and light Shoyu ramen.

I discovered that I do enjoy cold ramen after tasting it few times. So when I saw that Ramen Kanbe also has a cold ramen named Reimen (RM21), I decided to order this to share together with my foodie buddies. Cold ramen usually has a firm al dente ramen texture which is what I love. Here it is the same again where the ramen noodle has a solid bite in texture and is served with crunchy black fungus, egg, lettuce, pickled ginger and shredded Charsiu together in a chilled soy based sauce. I liked it. I think I ate most of this as I like how satisfying the chilled ramen tasted like.

Our last dish of the evening was definitely comfort food. Tenshin Han-Rice (RM15) is another dish that showed off the delicate flavours of savory with tinges of sweetness. Fluffy white rice is nicely wrapped with an egg omelette sheet and bathed in a light soy sauce broth.

Ramen Kanbe is pretty interesting. The restaurant makes a nice change from the usual heavy flavoured ramens. I believe that this is also a first ramen joint to feature Kobe style ramen. The evening we were there, service was also fast while the wait staff was pretty friendly too. Here’s one place that you can enjoy a bowl of refine and delicate Shoyu Ramen with a few extra goodies thrown in!

Check out Ramen Kanbe’s 1^st Anniversary Promotion

This set contains their most popular dish Ramen, 2nd popular dish Tenshin-hanrice and the choice of 3 various teas together.

Promotional price at RM25 and tax (Normal price is more than RM35)

They serve this great value set exclusively to Facebook users from april 8th until 14th. Other guest will be able to be served this after April 15th for 2 weeks till end of April.

RAMEN KANBE

G28, Block Empire Retail,

Empire Damansara

No.2, Jalan PJU 8, 47820, PJ, Selangor

TEL: 016-202-5812

Business Hours: 11.30am to 10pm

Website：www.ramenkanbe.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rk.empire.damansara