A Japanese High Tea Affair @ Kissaten, Jaya One

After months of full-force preparation for my examination, I can finally be back to writing about the things I love - food & eating!

To celebrate that, KS brought me to a Japanese-style high tea at Kissaten @ Jaya One.  I always know Kissaten for its Teriyaki Pork Burger and Char Siew Pizza, but never did I know they do serve high tea too.  So, being a fan of all things called high tea, I had to try it, which turned out to be a worthy experience.

For only RM 58++, this entitles two person to a variety of Japanese-infused sweet and savoury treats, accompanied by a choice of two beverages (coffee, tea or milk-based drink).  For this price, it seems pretty reasonable.

The bottom tray (clockwise):  Tamago Sushi Sandwich, Salmon Sushi Sandwich, Smoked Duck with Bacon, Pork Belly Bruschetta, Tsukune Meat Balls with Teriyaki Sauce & Tuna Tart.

The upper tray:  Poppy Passion Jelly, Rosella Jelly, Mocha Butter Cupcake, Japanese Cheese Cake, Coffee Panna Cotta, Green Tea Parfait & Eggmushi.

Time to taste!

I started off with the mini Tuna Tart.  The buttery tart shell is filled with a lot of tuna mayonnaise, which is very light in taste.  What I liked about the tuna mayonnaise is that although it has been mashed and combined, you can still feel some chunkiness in the tuna mix and hence, the natural sweetness & juiciness of the tuna meat.  It just makes you feel like you're eating some real, fresh food.

While I was eating the Salmon Sushi Sandwich, which I find has nothing much to shout about, I was distracted by KS who keeps telling me how nice the Tsukune Meat Balls are.  Tried it myself and I totally agree - it was really good.  Looked ordinary and a little unappealingly dry, these handmade meat balls are very juicy with a lovely, crispy crust on the outside.  Drizzled with their sweet BBQ-like teriyaki sauce, they make a lovely yummy snack.

The Tamago Sushi Sandwich, like the salmon sandwich, was also mediocre.  I think it could be partly because we started off with the more flavourful treats first, which sort of spoiled our expectations for the remaining ones.

For the Smoked Duck with Melon, unfortunately, we have a pretty weird feeling to it - not because it tasted bad.  Something seems to be missing, but we just can't pinpoint what it is.  Somehow, the smoked duck just didn't really blend well with the sweet honeydew and the overall combination was a bit too wet.  They are good on its own though, but definitely not as a pair.  

Then comes the Pork Belly Bruschetta - thinly sliced pork belly dressed with a fragrant sesame-based sauce topped on a toasted sliced baguette.  Oh, I love the complexity of the flavours in the sauce - a bit of saltiness and acidity, with a final kick of the nuttiness.

I think the most interesting piece of the whole afternoon tea set that will catch almost anyone's attention would be these cute and adorable savoury egg custard served in eggshells.  Eggmushi, they call it - well, technically, you can't call them chawanmushi when they are not steamed in a tea bowl.  They may be tiny and have very simple ingredients (only egg and mushrooms) but they are bursting with flavours.  Although the texture was far from silky, every spoon of the juicy egg custard was so good.  Wish there were more of it.

After finishing a series of savoury treats, we started off the sweet treats with the refreshing Poppy Passion Jellies and Rosella Jellies.  Served on mini cupcake cases, these tiny jellies generally are not very sweet while the fragrance of the ingredients they have put into (the passion fruit and rose petals) gave a nice palate cleansing effect.  For me, between the two, that hint of tanginess in the passion fruit jelly was my favourite.

Green Tea Butter Cupcake - I love this piece of dessert the most.  From the top, it looks like any ordinary butter cake, but as you eat into the cupcake, you'll discover the hidden green-coloured portion, which has been combined with green tea.  A good butter cupcake, I must say.

If you're a big fan of green tea, then you should not miss the Green Tea Parfait.  This smooth, creamy dessert is heavily flavoured with a lot of green tea powder and hence, there is a slight hint of bitterness.  But I liked it, very much.  It's like a concentrated dose of green tea essence, spoon after spoon.

Another dessert is the Coffee Panna Cotta topped with some crumbles.  As opposed to the intense flavour of the green tea parfait, this is slightly less outstanding due to the mild coffee flavour.  It is still nice, though.

Then, lastly is the Japanese Cheese Cake.  I'm not sure if it was because I was already full to the brim, but the taste of the cheese in my mouth somehow turned me off completely.  However, judging from KS expression after he had his first bite of the cheesecake, I was pretty sure it was good.  Definitely very cheesy.

For drinks, I went with a hot cup of Matcha Au Lait - a light milk flavoured with green tea powder.  I quite love this green tea milk as it is not too creamy or powdery and very gentle on the taste-buds (and my digestion).  Plus, there is a hint of sweetness that is just not too overbearing.  Some may find it a bit diluted, but for me, it was just nice.

KS ordered coffee instead.  I barely had much of the drink as KS was very quick in finishing the coffee.  Based on just one sip, the coffee is not too bad - quite bitter at first sip but soon leaves, in my opinion, a nice nutty aftertaste.

Overall, I will give my thumbs up for this Japanese high tea at Kissaten because they looked fantastically appealing and tasted great.  Well, at least, they did a real good job in brushing away my post-exam blues.

Kissaten

L12A-1-1, Palm Square

Jaya One

Jalan Universiti 

46200 Petaling Jaya

Farewell Lunch @ West 57th Street Cafe, Pavillion

When I first started working, I came here often for company lunches as I find the food delicious.  Fast forward a few years later, I realized it was so long ago since I stepped back at this beautiful cafe again.  So when it was the last day of my intern's stint, I brought the team for a lunch at West 57th Street Cafe @ Pavilion.

More commonly known as the Zang Toi Cafe, its dishes are rooted deep into the Hainanese food tradition, bringing a more Asian touch into the Western dishes.  They have various set menus, and one of it which I usually order is the West 57th Set Menu B (RM 20.90) as the choices includes their signature Hainanese Chicken Chop and the huge West 57 Club Sandwich.

For drinks, it was the Zang Toi's Signature Tea Punch, a fruity tea infused with mint, orange and lime peels.  In a way, it tasted like ice lemon tea mixed with orange juice.  It was not too sour or sweet - just nice.  Only setback, they should have strained those annoying bits of peels away as I don't fancy things getting into my way when sipping through the straw.  Another surprising thing was that the tea punch was actually refillable, which was not available previously.  This is quite a plus as I find the serving so small that you can finish within seconds.

For the mains, I usually order the club sandwich, but since I am on a diet mode, I couldn't bear to stuff myself with the huge sandwich anymore.  Instead, I ordered the Hainanese Chicken Chop, which KS has repeatedly claimed was his favourite.  Indeed, it was delicious but definitely not as memorable as expected.

The deep-fried chicken chop was nice and juicy in the inside, with its skin still on.  Although a bit oily, the chicken was fragrant and seasoned nicely.  To go with it is a sweet and sour tomato-based sauce with button mushrooms and mild black pepper flavour.  However, I felt it was lacking some saltiness to balance the flavours appropriately, which would otherwise be perfect.  The coleslaw was a bit too creamy, drowning with too much mayonnaise.  Of all, I love the crispy curly fries the most.

The last to arrive is the long-awaited Banana Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice-cream, drizzled with warm chocolate sauce.  A few years ago, this dessert was definitely a signature dessert to die for and almost everyone who have been to Zang Toi Cafe will highly recommend this heavenly dessert.  Even I felt that no other places could do a banana chocolate cake as well as them.

However, eating it again today, I felt very disappointed - super disappointing.  The cake was very dry and lacking a buttery fragrance.  Also, the banana slices looked as though they are a character on their own and didn't blend in naturally.  How should I put it - it was a dead piece of dessert which failed to tell a captivating story.  Everything is on the plate but they are just not co-operating as a team to deliver.  A pretty sad ending, I must say.

Overall, West 57th Street Cafe is quite a nice place to dine in as it is quiet and quite laid-back since it is tuck deep inside Parkson.  Food-wise, it is reasonably decent but don't have too high an expectation.  It's just not the same as before anymore.

West 57th Street Cafe (Zang Toi Cafe)
Parkson Pavilion
Lot 4-42, Level 4
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

Asian Fusion meal @ Henry Cook, SS2 Mall

It was a rainy weekend and practically difficult to go far without being stuck in some meaningless traffic jam.  With that, we decided to go somewhere near and ended up in SSTwo Mall.  Having read some good reviews of the chef behind this family-run business, Henry Cook which features a variety of western food with a touch of Peranakan flavours, we decided to give it a try.

I ordered the Crispy Fish Batter with Baked Herb Potatoes, which looked pretty appetizing from the menu.  The fried Dory fish was served a bed of salad and topped with some with sambal and lime, along with their Signature Power Chilli.  It also came with acar, which I find was just so-so since it lack some flavours, only acidic.  But for the fish, I enjoyed as it was really juicy and the coating was nicely seasoned.  Eaten together with the sambal and some squueezed lime juice, it was very nice and not too overpowering.  The baked potatoes were okay although I would have preferred if they had been cooked a bit longer.  The brown sauce, unfortunately, was a bit tasteless.

For KS, he had the Beef stew with Yellow Fragrant Rice - large chunks of tender beef stewed with mixed vegetables served with a refreshing cucumber salad.  Compared to the fish dish, I preferred the beef stew as the taste is more intense and wholesome.  The beef was cooked until very tender and almost melts in every bite.  Despite being a bit diluted, the sauce was delicious, with a lovely balance of sweet and sour and goes very well with the mildly flavoured rice.

As for their Signature Power Chilli, it is really no joke.  Even with just a very small intake of it, it is so hot that it can make you choke from it.  I think it better paired with the rice than the baked potatoes as the chilli has a more Asian take to it.  For me, I didn't really enjoy the chilli very much as, in my opinion, all it has was just the hotness, and nothing else.

We also ordered the soup of the day, which is Cream of Mushroom Soup topped with croutons.  The croutons were my favourite and adds so much texture and flavour to an ordinary cream soup.  Although very similar to an out-of-can soup, it has added large bits of mushrooms and meat.  It would have been better if the soup was hotter.

To quench our thirst, we ordered the Homemade Chrysanthemum, which I find was a bit too sweet for my liking, and a refreshing Barley with Lemon drink.  Nothing out of the ordinary.

Overall, the experience was good.  Service was indeed quite fast and prices were pretty reasonable given the portion.  The ambiance is quite laid-back and relaxing, but I do realize it was not very packed even on a Saturday night (could be the location?).

Henry Cook

Lot LG-54, SSTwo Mall

Jalan SS2/72 

42400 Petaling Jaya