Sushi Zanmai @ The Gardens, MidValley

I am definitely no connoisseur when it comes to Japanese food. I usually find them either too raw, too pretentious, two pricey and three don't know what the food is all about. Don't have the interest to find out either. Fortunately, I have a Sayang who loves her Japanese Food, whereby once in a while she will drag my reluctant ass into a nice restaurant.

I mean all these genki sushi, sushi king, edo sushi restaurants have given me the impression that there is no hope for Japanese food.

Here's how she dragged me into this one, a new place which is quite nice. Your uncle's been here many times and he recommends this place. My eye brow raised abit and I was like, ok la... can la... I thought wa, this place look quite attractive also wo...

As usual, you are bombarded by a whole lot of greeting in Japanese by local people. "Sushi ma zen !!!" one of them greets, I go, Hello !..... another waiter walks past and goes Tsim Sha Tsui zen... and I go Hello! again.... I actually wish they could just speak English to me instead...

I have no idea why, I've been here twice now and we've been seated at the same spot twice. I bet Sayang's been there more often than I have. Anyways, I wasn't into picking plates of the conveyer belt so when the waiter came, this was how I ordered

I looked at him sheepishly and go, can I have this Beef Noodle Soup in Maggi mee type noodles. What do you call those again ?
Waiter : That would be Ramen sir.
Me: ok, ....thanks... Hot Tea pls...

Sayang ordered her Chicken Chop noodles, in soup. I think it was a Soba...

When my noodle arrived, I was suprised that the noodles were straight and not curly like Maggi Mee.. kekekeke. I put a piece of the beef into my mouth first, followed by some soup. Good man, this bowl of noodles. I mean the beef was juicy and tender. The soup wasn't very MSG laden either. Great stuff. Wanted to share with Sayang, but she don't take beef...
Sayang's noodles came steaming hot, and it was those really fat ones. I thought, mana boleh. Makan Mee Kosong Soup meh... But then the chicken chop came shortly.

Sayang was nice enough (actually its her plan to make me FAT) to pass over a few pieces of her chicken to me. I find it to be very tasty ( abit like if it was marinated with fermented beancurd ), although it was a tad salty. But then it was suppose to accompany a bowl of soup noodles ma, so I guess salty is alright. By the side, they give you some salad, and am still wondering what the lemon was for....

Sushi Zanmai is located on the third floor of The Gardens, and is located in between Fong Lye and Flying Chillies. I remember now, one plus point about this Japanese Eatery is that, it doesn't play old fashion Japanese songs, instead they just played simple Hit songs...

The meal came up to about 30 bucks, which I thought was quite reasonable considering it was pretty good Jap food, and its in The Gardens.

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Gurney Drive Transported to The Gardens MidValley

This post has taken a long time to reach here, as we have been busy with work, church and preparation for our wedding dinner coming June. So much so, it has somewhat affected my blogging habits. Whats a more fitting time though, that I have just recently come back from a Penang trip last week ( food reviews to be posted in time), memory still fresh to compare the food in Penang and at this Gurney Drive place in The Gardens.

Above: A very nice hard cover menu, that holds the menu, quite a substantial menu full of Penang's Hawker Favourites.
Below: Nice traditional sign board, gives you that very traditional rustic kinda feel. But the restaurant is of course nicely air conditioned, the seats and tables are spacious and comfortable. As we walked in, a nicely dressed customer service personnel will usher us to our seats. The restaurant setting is made like hawker stalls in a modern food court, but you do not order at the individual stalls. The entire restaurant is actually a restaurant, with table service....

This restaurant claims to serve authentic Penang Hawker food, but I am sure a lot of Penangnites who is willing to part with Rm15 - 20 for a plate of their favourite hawker fare, will probably tell you, nah... KL Penang food is never as good as the real one.

We ordered some drinks, but the stuff that stands out are these two, Penang Road Cendol, and Penang Ice Kacang. I just had two helpings of the Penang Road stall recently, and hmm... I thought at The Gardens, it did taste quite good. Maybe or perhaps they get it direct from the same Penang Rd proprietor who also has stalls in Subang.

I gotta, say though that their Ice Kacang was not as good as I like them to be.


We ordered two of the most Eaten hawker foods in Penang. Their Prawn Mee and the Asam Laksa. As far as I remember, I thought their Prawn Mee was quite nice. The soup base was quite rich, had nice big prawns, came with some pig intestines (not standard ingredient in Penang though), and a generous serving of bee hoon in it. Try la toptaste Prawn MEe at McAllister Rd, thats my favourite...

The Asam Laksa was done quite, well. The soup base again, very rich, and served with a spoon of Prawn Paste, just liek they would at Penang. Hmm... yummmy.......but my number 1, still try the Air Itam market's Asam Laksa (Kek Lok Si Temple), very tasty but also very dirty.
Now, their Char Koay Teo didn't disappoint at all. I thought it tasted quite good, but of course when you pay so much for a plate of something you can get for only Rm6 at Lrg Selamat, but it tastes quite nice. Much better than a lot of CKT you find in KL/Pj.

My dad ordered this Mee Goreng Mamak, on the menu I think it says RM18. Immediately when I saw it coming, it put my palm on my forehead. Alamak why you go and order mee goreng pulak. I normally don't like to order them because its usually salty, and too spicy hot.

I grabbed a fork and pinched some, and it was a pleasant surprise. Very very good mee goreng mamak. It is a must try...

O Chien , RM18, lousy....

I have very mixed feelings about this restaurant. I mean the seating and table arrangement will instantly give you the impression that its an expensive restaurant, but the stuff they offer on menu are hawker stall favourites from Penang. Its definitely a good place to bring your foreign friends to go try our local food, if they are afraid of eating at dirty stalls, at Jalan Burma, or Penang Road. Ok, prices were from 15 - 20 bucks for each plate of hawker favourite. Drinks were from 6 - 10 bucks each... wah damn pricey.... but the food here is definitely quite good, better than most of what KL can offer anyways..

When you go try their food here, try to ignore the price, and evaluate their food based on taste only.. If you ask me, definitely serves better quality food than the Little Penang Cafes....

Gurney Drive,
Lot T-201, The Gardens,
Mid Valley

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Fong Lye Taiwan Restauran @ The Gardens, Mid Valley

There was a few times we walked past this Taiwanese restaurant at The Gardens, noticed it but went on to patronize another restaurant. Everytime you walk past this place, it is always packed. Surely it will make you wonder, Taiwanese food so nice meh... so Sayang and I walked in one day lo...


To be frank, I am not sure how much all the dishes cost us, but as a reference from Boo's review of this, she calls this place, Not Cheap, and she also mentioned that their good taste made up for the expensive prices.

I ordered this bowl of Fried Noodles with Prawns. To me I thought they put in some pretty good stuff. I mean, I am not very familiar with Taiwan cuisine, but it sure does taste a lot better than the Little Taiwan experience I had , at MidValley. It came out pretty ok, the prawns were fresh, and we did not have to wait too long for the food to come.


Sayang had her set meal. I think it is Taiwanese Pork Chop meal set or something like that. It came in some fancy square type of bowl and a semi circle porcelain plate for its sides. The pork chop was alright, but I don't Sayang really enjoyed eating those sides.


I think it is really a nice place to dine, its bright, service is attentive, and the food is not bad. I just thought it could be a bit pricey, but for comparisons sake, it taste much better than Little Taiwan (their taiwanese counterpart on the Megamall side.)

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My other review at cafes around Fong LYe:
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Flying Chillies

Flying Chillies Restaurant @ The Gardens, Midvalley

We must be in the mood for some back to back action , because here we are posting a review on another Thai Restaurant. To tell you the truth, we were here early December but never got the chance to write about this place.


The Gardens is a new shopping complex, connected to MidValley on the 2nd floor via a bridge and the basement. Every time a new shopping complex opens up for business, eateries will surely mushroom. For instance, Pavilion has already got lots of reviews on other blogs.

If I remembered correctly, I got mixed up between North Point (also Mid Valley) and The Gardens. We were looking for Red Ginger. We walked the basement, toured it, no Red Ginger. Took a lift up to the 3rd floor, saw Flying Chillies, and we said, ok la, we give up, lets try this Thai place.

This restaurant is obviously new, judging from its simple paper menu. Can't help but think of their super tag line, Simply Thailicious..... niama, I wonder who came out with it... and look at the menu, it has got flying colors meter for you.... one chili for spicy and two chillies for explosive.........

After browsing through their simple menu, I decided to take this bowl of Duck Soup Noodles. Its like wantan mee in a light broth (obviously Thai style), cooked with Duck Meat, topped with lots of vegetables. It wasn't spicy at all, but I had to eat my noodles with lots of chili padi to get the sweat, which was what I enjoyed the most. The duck soup, really smelled very ducky, which can put off some people. There is a reason why in Bidor, Pun Chun cook their duck soup with lots of herbs....


Sayang will go for her Tomyam Noodles (beehoon). It has two chillies on the meter, so it was really hot. If you enjoy sweating while eating even in a very cool environment, this is the bowl of noodles you should get. It was a nice sweetish, very sourish, and very spicyish tom yam, with little hint of the soup being made by some sort of Tom Yam paste. Have you had tom yam which is reddish ? Those are the celup ones, over here, it looks quite authentic.

To be frank, the food is not cheap and yet its not too expensive. Price wise, I believe we spent about RM50 on this meal with two drinks and a dessert. To be fair, this restaurant is nicely decorated, has got good service, the staff are always doing the Thai Hospitality thing to you, if you know what I mean..... always smiling and bowing at you....

I recommend this restaurant, for nice ambiance, good service and fairly authentic food.

Flying Chillies,
T219, Third Floor, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2287-7708 Fax: 03-2287-7710

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