Noble House, Imbi

After seeing Jackson's post on Noble House back in June, I decided to surprise my mom. I didn't let her know where we were going or what we were eating till we arrived at the destination. After letting my brother know earlier, he decided to also follow along with my nephews. Noble House opened in 2003 was recently awarded Best Restaurant 2007 by Malaysia Tattler. Upon entering the building, the place was quite impressive with its decor and koi fish pond in the lobby area. However, those who were there for the buffet were ushered to a bare big function room where the spread was laid out. We arrived there just in time and were the first few ones to enter the room. Ethan, my older nephew and I took the opportunity to take photos of the spread that was before us while the food was still untouched. Check out his photos HERE.

This special "New Wave" Chinese buffet is only available on Sundays and public holidays and we have two buffet sets to choose from. RM39++, (RM46, about USD13 with taxes) which comes with a bowl Braised Shark's Fin with Crabmeat and Crab Roe or the RM50++ (RM58, USD16 with taxes) which comes with an order of Double Boiled Shark's Fin Stuffed in Chicken Wing. Well, the truth of the matter is I've been abstaining from shark's fin but having the buffet here meant it came along with it. The 5 of us opted for the RM39++ set and with that, we were all promptly served a bowl of the braised shark's fin.

I have not eaten Shark's Fin in a long while and I must say this tasted really good, they definitely didn't stinge on the ingredients. Served with an optional light coloured and good quality vinegar, this had to be one of the better shark's fin I've tasted in a long while. But then, it's really been a long while that I've eaten some! ha ha ha...After we were done with the bowl, we started on our buffet round.

The wonderfully tossed Lobster Salad....lip smackin' good!

Lidako - Baby Octopus. There are many other appetisers around. You have to be there to fully appreciate the way the spread is laid out. Individual tiny bowls, on spoons and also in little glasses like the next photo.

Here you have what one might call "Prawn Shooters".

Escargots-Chinese style which was sweet sourish with bits of cucumber and pineapple

Some food here are visually outstanding in their presentation. This was also my first time eating New Wave Chinese Food, still wondering what that really means actually. There are enough varieties available to keep us busy and as a matter of fact, we left the place without trying quite a number of them.

Fried dumpling with slices of lotus root

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Simple hollow cucumber with small diced potatoes tossed in light salad dressing.

This was strangely addictive....pan friend chee cheong fun (flat rice noodles). With bits of chives and dried prawns, it was somehow plain yet tasty at the same time to me. Biting into the slightly chewy texture, I couldn't really figure why I like it more than I should. Ha ha ha...On the other hand, I am a big fan of Chee Cheong Fun. so, that might explain why.

My favourite Peking Duck-had several servings of this. The duck skin has very little fats on it, so that's good news for those who likes to indulge in some good food minus the fats :o) but that would also mean that it isn't as fragrant as the ones with fats!

Claypot Salmon with Mushrooms and Fu Chook ( Beancurd Skin). The gravy was a bit too starchy but otherwise, it was alright.

Char Siew Bao - BBQ Pork Steamed Bun was rather nice. Here's one broken into three parts. Me and my rule of three when it comes to taking photographs! ha ha ha....

Ma Lai Gou (Malay Kuih???) has always been a favourite of mine and the ones here are nice and not that sweet, which is good! But the nicest ones were from Ming Room, Bangsar Shopping Complex (which is also under the same Oriental Group as Noble House) but they were given a fancy name like Thousand Layer Sponge Custard. Check out Oriental Group of Restaurants HERE.

Noble House Restaurant
No.19, Jalan Delima, Off Jalan Imbi,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03- 2145 8822 Fax : 03- 2141 3822
Directions/Map to Noble House
(Please take note that road directions have changed as at Aug 11 and this is not reflected in the map).

"I went to this restaurant last night that was set up like a big buffet in the shape of an Ouija board. You'd think about what kind of food you want, and the table would move across the floor to it." - Steven Wright

Dune Bashing & Camel Riding

The blogging world has definitely widened my circle of friends, some remaining faceless but in my thoughts nevertheless while some bloggers have become a familiar face. However, before you know it, some familiar ones will be leaving for elsewhere. Being the most recent, Kat and her family.

me: Sigh, when are you leaving? Your dates, I mean
Kat: on waiting list
me: Confirmed date?
Kat: not yet should know by end of this week
me: I see....A bit sad...To have found a new friend and to see you leave
Kat: awww....you come and visit me and we go have kebabs!! hahaha. I am making sure hubby gets me unlimited broadband otherwise i sure die!!
me: Well, I haven't been to AD
Kat: yup! come and we go dune bashing! and camel riding!
me: Well, once you have settled down...haha...camel riding???
Kat: and eat under the stars in a bedouin camp
me: : Wah lau....
Kat: sounds like fun, hor??
me: Can't throttle too much....my eye can't take the vibrations. Got slow and old camel can lah! Muah ha ha

Well, just before leaving, I managed to meet up with Kat and her family again for a karaoke session with KTX joining us too. Singing, eating and laughing ... we spent three hours revealing our hidden talents. And hidden and faceless they shall still be in the blogging world. Yup, definitely some soul baring like you said Kat....I really enjoyed the outing that day. Guess, we all are definitely game for another round when you all are back here visiting.

Mmmm....whose hands are these?

Mmmm.....we did try to sing along but I think we decided to let the pro, KTX, do a solo performance!

The show must go on....he actually woke up the moment we all stopped singing! LOL!

Kat and hubby, HY and WK...hope to see you all soon again. Whether be it back here in Malaysia or over there....I'm definitely looking forward to some dune bashing and camel riding too. Take care and God Bless...Don't be a stranger, see you around...

Meanwhile, this is about as close I can ever get to dune bashing for now....

Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them.
~ Francesco Guicciardini

Kokopelli, Jalan Bukit, Petaling Jaya

UPDATED : KOKOPELLI IS NOW LOCATED IN SECTION 14. CLICK HERE TO READ THE LATEST REVIEW.

(Halal)

I had been wanting to drop by Kokopelli since reading it first from Xiu Long Bao, then Tankiasu and subsequently Lyrical Lemongrass. Not only was I to discover a new restaurant when I first stepped into the premises but I was also greeted with a pleasant surprise (read on to find out).

Kokopelli exudes a certain charm.

The interior-little touches here and there do make a lot of difference

Since I've been to this place on 3 different occasions with 3 different groups, there are quite a number of food pics....So please be a little patient while the photos load. During my first trip here with Precious Pea and her friend for dinner, we ordered the Char Kway Teow (CKT)which is fried flat noodles, and asked for extra chilli. When the plate of CKT arrived, we were shocked when we saw the very reddish plate. Apparently, the original order comes spicy enough. So, we told ourselves that we would come back and NOT ask for extra chilli so that we can access it fairly.

Though I'm not a fan of Seafood, I tried the pasta from this Seafoood Aglio Olio (RM18.90/USD5.50) dish and found it tasty, with the pasta cooked al-dente and enough spices to make the three of us dig in with gusto!

The NZ Lamb - served with Corn, grilled vegetables and baked potato (RM20.90/USD6). We tried the Mushroom Sauce and asked for it to be done "medium". We found it a bit overcooked but the tasty mushroom sauce helped to make it more palatable, making the meat less dry.

It was during my first visit that I found out the place is run by the chef/owner who is Ariff and Soraya who is Ariff's wife. Both were not around that night (hence, we told ourselves that we have to come back to eat Ariff's personal treatment of dishing up a plate of his reputable CKT!) and so, I did not get to meet them. However, staring at Soraya's card, I suddenly realised that she was my ex school mate from the same year. I decided to contact her and we then decided to meet up together with another friend, YSF (whom I keep in contact with) who was her classroom partner! We had a Sunday lunch in store....

But before we could meet up, I went to Kokopelli again (this time, for lunch) as Glorious Jade had wanted to try this place out for quite awhile and Korean Princess was simply dragged along with us. Though Ariff wasn't around, I went ahead and ordered the CKT again.

This time, not asking for any extra chili! Hahaha....I found the CKT (RM8.90/USD2.50) missing in something as it was not fragrant enough though it was certainly spicy. I figured it's because it might have been cooked not using high flames, hence, no wok hei. There's a generous amount of chives, beansprouts, cockles and fish cake. I really need to catch Ariff when he's around to try the "real thing".

Korean Princess' French Onion Soup, took about 20 minutes to arrive as it had to be baked. Now, this is what I call soup...Absolutely heavenly with just the right consistency and lots of onions abound! The two slices of baguette with the layer of baked cheese was lovely. I tried a slice and as I bit into it....the bread released a fantastic combined flavour of soup and cheese.

The cauliflower and broccoli gratin (RM7.90/USD2.30) was Glorious Jade's order. It was baked and filled with lovely cheesy cream which she enjoyed. However, there seems to be more cauliflower than broccoli as I supposed it's because broccoli is more expensive.

My Cantonese Yee Mee (RM8.90/USD2.50) was good too...served with a generous amount of the usual ingredients amd lots of gravy with egg swirls. I drank the gravy like soup till the bowl was almost...(almost!) empty. Ate the noodle with chili padi (bird's eye chili pepper), really satisfying!

Then the awaited Sunday came where YSF and I met up with Soraya at Kokopelli again. We arrived earlier than she did and I proceeded to order the Beef Kebab as this is only available on weekends.

Served with my choice of sweetish black pepper sauce, some salad and briyani rice, the beef kebabs (RM25.90/USD7.50) comes in 5 square cubes. Skewered together with intervals of onions, capsicum, aubergine and mushroom, I had fun eating. The briyani rice seems to be of basmati rice grains and was not starchy and lumpy, cooked to almost perfection according to the way I like it.

The beef was cooked just right, with a pink but bloodless center. Tender and still moist, it was truly a treat.

YSF's Beef Stroganoff Pie (RM11/USD3.20). According to YSF, it was delicious and better than Dome's in terms of taste and price! She's already planning to take her parents her for a meal as she mentioned that they would love eating this pie.

Soraya ordered herself the Big American Breakfast. Consisting of omelette, toast, baked beans, chic ham and two chicken bratwurst, it was really a BIG plate! hahaha....Soraya gave me a bite of the chicken bratwurst. Mmmm....the casing was soft and the meat was flavourful.

We then had our coffee and I did like the Butterscotch Latte that I had. Soraya then suggested that we try a slice of the Royal Pistachio cake(RM6.90/USD2). The cake was nice and moist, very fresh. The cream was light though abudantly evident! Ha ha ha....

We sat from 12.30 till 4 pm, chatting about the old times and breaking out into songs of the 80s. Soraya's a real fan of Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) and it was him who inspired her to take up photography when she saw him holding a Nikon camera in the videoclip of "A View To A Kill". Hahaha.....Who would have thought that would lead to who she is today. By the way, there will be an art photography exhibition held at Kokopelli, check it out...Chan and Ariff, if you're reading this, it was also a pleasure to have met you both :o) See you all soon...Looks like I have found myself three photography mentors??? I hope...I enjoyed the meet up and look forward to our next outing. Friends are important in my life and a lost friend found, is even more precious!

KOKOPELLI Travellers Bistro

Location: 6, Jalan Bukit, Section 11/2,
Petaling Jaya.

Tel: 03-7956 7505 (Reservation advisable as tables are limited)

(If University Hospital - now known at UMMC is on your left, turn right at the traffic lights just before reaching UMMC. Drive straight down till you reach a school on your left, Kokopelli will be on the opposite right side of the road. Alternatively, you can turn left at the traffic lights after passing Jaya Supermarket at Section 14 on the main road. As Crystal Crown hotel appears on your right side, take the left turn. Drive straight through and you will reach Kokopelli on your left).

Business hours:

Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday – noon to 3pm, 6pm to midnight.

Friday – 6pm to midnight.

Sunday – 10am to 3pm.

Also read she, the epicurious girl's review

A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world. ~ Lois Wyse