Oiso Korean Traditional Cuisine & Café | Tropicana City Mall (Updated 4 May 2015)

Let me introduce you to a Korean restaurant in PJ area that I recently visited. I found this restaurant when visiting the Tropicana City Mall two months back. Instantly, I felt in love with their food and I did came back a few time. So, I decided to write about it this time and share with you their delicious food!

The restaurant is called Oiso Korean Traditional Cuisine, located at ground floor of Tropicana City Mall (direct opposite of Sushi Tei). This restaurant has a few branches around Selangor and KL, i.e: Bangsar South, Cheras Leisure Mall, Ikano Power Centre and Menara Hap Seng. I always find it to be packed during the lunch hour and dinner time. So, just be ready to queue when visiting in the peak hour.

The menu is a bit torn, seem like it has been used for quite sometime. (Updated: The latest I went, they have change the menu and new prices as well)

A sample of the dishes and prices in the menu. (Updated: New prices)

Organic Brown Tea- RM 0.90  Organic Barley Tea- RM 1.90

I love this brown tea, taste very similar to the Japanese Genmai green tea. There is the smell of toasted brown rice but lighter and smoother. The best of all- it is refillable! 

Chicken BBQ set- RM 18.90 RM 20.90

The set come with rice, banchan(side dishes) and soup. The banchan is refillable. The chicken BBQ is cooked in gochujang (Korean red chilli paste) sauce, very mild of spicy, don't really feel the pinch. I love the taste of the gochujang, not too sweet or salty, just nice. It is delicious!

Deon Jang Jji Gae Set- RM 14.90 RM 16.90

I always never fail to order this when visiting a Korean restaurant. I always believe if a Korean shop can serve a good Deon Jang Jji Gae, their food will be good (this doesn't apply to kimchi). And their soybean paste soup indeed delicious! However the soup come with tofu, some clams, mushrooms and vegetables, not much of ingredients. I will only treat it as a soup and I will order another main dish. It is best you can have someone to share it together. 

Another dish to try is their Kimchi soup set (I didn't not take photo), although it written spicy level is 4/5 but I personally think it is only 2/5 for my level, I would think our Indian curry is double or triple than that.

 Beef Bulgogi- RM 22.90

The beef bulgogi taste quite nice. This dish is non-spicy, suitable to all who can't taste spicy food. The bulgogi sauce is on the sweetness part instead of salty, but overall was delicious.

Steam Egg- RM 10.90

I always love the Korean steam egg however I feel this one put too much of the seasoning which I taste mostly the Ajinomoto taste throughout my mouth. The steam egg was smooth and nice but the down side is too much seasoning.

There is a small area at the corner that sells Korean snacks and others cooking food that you can buy home. With the reasonable price and delicious food served, it is definitely a must visit restaurant when you come over Tropicana City Mall.

Oiso Korean Traditional Cuisine & Café
Lot G-13, Ground Floor, Tropicana City Mall,
3, Jalan SS 20/27, Damansara Jaya, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel. no.: 03-22421349
Business Hours: Mon - Sun: 10:00 am - 10:30 pm

D'Cuisine | Plaza 33,PJ

If you have been to Plaza 33 at Jalan Semangat (beside Jaya 33), you will probably known to Kampachi and Coliseum. Recently, I visited a restaurant just beside Coliseum which I find it quite interesting, it is called D'Cuisine. 

This is how the inside setting looks like. I actually quite like the concept, comfort dining especially a place for small chit-chat and gathering with friends.

D'Cuisine is a fusion restaurant and recently revamped their menu to Peranakan and Chinese Fusion cuisines. All the food served are pork free, however they do serve alcoholic beverages in the restaurant which makes it non-Halal.

Let's see what they have!

Apple and Orange Juice- RM 9

Freshly squeezed pure apple and orange juice. However the mixture green apple and orange were a bit too sour, probably it will be better if they can add a red apple to bring out the sweetness.

Blackout- RM 13

This was recommended by the waitress. It is blackcurrant and yogurt ice blended. You will love it if you are a blackcurrant fan. There also have a range of mocktail and cocktail to be served, since it is lunch time, we still prefer juices to go with our meal.

Calamari with Salt & Pepper- RM 22

When ordering a deep fried calamari, I always came about the thick crunchy batter which I hate it so much. But this Deep Fried Calamari with sea salt & white pepper actually surprise us and we totally in love with it. Just a light batter on the calamari which you won't feel any crunchiness on it and still preserve the juiciness of the calamari. The wok fried oat flakes and chilli pepper cubes on top is the magic that spice up the whole dish. Definitely a must try dish!

Chicken Tom Yam-RM 28

The portion of this dish able to fit 5-6 persons. The tom yam soup comes with plenty of mushroom and chicken pieces, no stingy on their ingredients. We both love the tom yam soup, it is not super spicy, suitable to those who can't take spicy food too. With the price and portion, I would said it is quite reasonable. Must Try!

Yong Tow Foo Casserole Set-RM 28.80

Their Hakka Yong Tow Foo set comes with cold side dishes, rice and a soup. It looks like an ordinary dish to us but their handmade fish paste that they used actually wow us. The fish paste doesn't have the fishy smell and the texture was nice.

Baked Banana Filo with Butter Caramel & Vanila Ice-creamarfait-RM 16

Another great dessert that I highly recommend. It is fresh bananas wrapped in filo pastry, baked & topped with screw-pine infused butter caramel sauce, and served with homemade vanilla bean ice-cream. Although the banana is a bit soft after cooked, it still taste great with the filo pastry wrap. The Vanilla Ice-cream actually toned down the sweetness of the caramel which make the overall pretty good. He just can't have enough with it! Must Try!

4 new dishes recommended by the chef that you can try out as well.

D'Cuisine, Plaza 33

Unit PG-D & PG-E Level Podium, 

Ground Floor, The Plaza @Jaya33, 

No 1, Jalan Semangat, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

03-7931 8985

Business Hour: 11:00am - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 11:00pm

FB: https://www.facebook.com/DCuisineRestaurant

Instagram: https://instagram.com/dcuisinerestaurant/

MilkCow Malaysia | The Gardens Mall

I wanted to try out their ice-cream for quite sometime now but always was too full after a heavy meal or was rushing back home. Finally last week night, we purposely drive all the way to The Gardens Mall to try out their ice-cream. Last year end ice-cream was the talk of the town, one is the magnum cafe (which I still have not try it out yet T.T) and this one the Korean soft serve ice-cream-Milkcow.

The line piled up after our order and it is 9pm, people are queueing for ice-cream. This is amazing!

Milkcow is located at ground floor of The Gardens Mall, opposite the cold storage entrance. They took up a small space in the middle area and throw in a few small tables and chairs for people to sit and enjoy their ice-cream.

The price has increased RM 0.50 compare to last year and price are inclusive of gst. This means that the price that shown on the board is nett price. 

Let's check out what I have ordered!

Milky Cube- RM 13.50

We ordered their signature honey comb ice-cream. I was told they are famous for the honey comb but we didn't list it to be our favourite. We love their rich texture of the ice-cream however with the honey, it was too sweet. We felt like overdose of sweetness.

Cookies & Cream -RM 11.50

We actually find this oreo cookies blend quite well with the ice-cream. The sweetness was just nice with the crunchy cookies crumb on top. I love it!

Milkcow (Opposite Cold Storage)
Gardens Mall - LG-K23,
Lower Ground Floor.

Osaka Day 2: Osaka Castle,Tsutenkaku Tower and Shinsekai

Second day in Osaka, we decided to slow down our schedule to have more time to enjoy the sakura and our stay. We visited two places- Osaka Tower and Tennoji area. 

Osaka Castle:

Entrance Free: Castle tower- 600 yen, Nishinomaru Garden- 350 yen (peak season)

Opening Hour: 9am-5pm (Closed on Monday)

There are two ways to get to Osaka Castle:

• Use Tanimachi Subway Line or Chuo Subway Line to Tanimachi 4-chrome Station
• Take JR line (JR Loop Line) from Osaka station to Osakajokoen Station, around 10 mins.

Before you get to the Osaka Castle, there is a park towards the castle, it is also one of Osaka's most popular hanami spot during the cherry blossom season which you shouldn't missed. The entire Osaka Castle Park covers about two square kilometers with lots of green space, sport facilities, a multi-purpose arena (Osakajo Hall) and a shrine dedicated to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The recommended approach to Osaka Castle is through Otemon Gate at the park's southwestern corner.

Beautiful Sakura in the park. Some Japanese even picnic in the park.

He managed to capture this beautiful moment, this bird actually belongs to an old man. He brought his bird to the park to enjoy the sakura flower.

Finally we have reached the Osaka Castle. You will need to walk around 5-10 mins from the park as the place is huge. 

No entrance fee to enter the park, however you will need to pay 600 yen per person to enter the Castle. 

Miniatures that tell the story of Osaka Castle 

Top view from Osaka Castle

Next, we took the train to Shinsekai. Shinsekai (新世界) also known as Osaka's "new world," a district that was developed before the war and then neglected in the decades afterwards. At the district's center stands Tsutenkaku Tower, the nostalgia evoking symbol of Shinsekai. When you are in Shinsekai, one of their best known speciality dish is Kushikatsu that you must try.

There are few ways to get to Shinsekai:

• Use JR Loop Line to Shin-Imamiya Station, short walk to Shinsekai from the station
• Use Midosuji and Tanimachi Subway Lines to Dobutsuen-mae Station
• Use Tanimachi Subway Line to Ebisucho Station.

Spotted this place while walking down an alley. Hardly can see any of this nowadays.

Tsutenkaku Tower from Shinsekai street

The famous Billiken, as known as "The God of Things As They Ought to Be". You can see the statues everywhere in Shinsekai.

Hungry? What to have for lunch? Of course the not to miss Kushikatsu!

If not mistaken the English name of this shop is Daruma Kushikatsu, there is always a man statue holding Kushikatsu in front of the shop. This is their logo also mascot for the shop. There are a few outlets in Japan where you can find easily other than in Shinsekai. Just for your information, Kushikatsu is actually deep-fried skewers of any ingredients from vegetables to mushrooms and meat.

Simple layout and small area. We visit the place after lunch hour, so the place is quite empty. However, don't worry if you cant speak Japanese, some of the waitress actually speak Mandarin to us. I think some of them either are from China or they learn Chinese to communicate with China tourists.

In the menu, you can picked either ala carte or set. We ordered the Shinsekai set and added a few ala carte.

They will served you a bowl of raw cabbages and kimchi to go with Kushikatsu. A big bowl of sauce is also served at the table. You will have to dip your Kushikatsu into the sauce before you bite. Please remember of the hygiene, no second dipping into the sauce after you have bite.  

I don't remember what have I ordered extra other than the set, but to be honest, no matter how many you eat, it won't fulfil your stomach. So, just eat for fun and not for your lunch! After awhile, you will feel bored on the taste because everything is deep fried using the same batter.

After our lunch (a.k.a snack), we visit the Tsutenkaku Tower which is just walking distance from the restaurant. We just follow the tower and walk toward it without using any map. You will need to take a lift to underground to get to the top. The place actually look quite old and run down, you can actually google the story behind this tower that made it look like this today.

You will need to pay an entrance fee of 700 yen. Their opening hour is from 9am to 9pm.

The view from the top of the tower.

They actually display the history of Glico Group in the tower before you exit. You can see the original packaging of Glico since 1922 until now. There is also a small shop in tower that selling limited edition Pocky and others Glico products that hardly can find outside. Although the price is a bit higher, but you can choose to buy just those limited edition products.

I actually bought the limited edition Giant Rainbow Pocky, Giant Pretz with Takoyaki flavour and Glico curry for cooking (forget to take the photo). I love the most is the curry, can't find Glico brand curry in Malaysia. I'm sure to get more when I'm back to Japan again.

After the visit, we took the train back to Dontobori area for dinner. We were looking for something different today and found this Chinese restaurant in one of the alley. The super big and bright signboard captured our attention.

We were given a seat at second floor since 1st floor is all full. Although we were given a small table, our orders eventually filled up the whole table as we were so hungry after the lunch (snack?). The overall food here is so-so but if you are craving for Chinese food, don't mind to give it a try.

All tables will automatically come with a jug of cold water for free. You can still order others drink if you like some green tea or hot drinks.

Dim Sum -162 yen

Finally found the dim sum without glutinous rice! The fully meat dim sum, taste wise not bad.

Gyoza (6 pieces)- 216 yen

The gyoza is a bit oily but overall taste is still alright. Don't expect it to be super delicious although we are in Japan. This gyoza is the Chinese style gyoza.

Fried Chicken- 518 yen

I still prefer the Malaysian fried chicken, crispy and juicy!

Mapo Tauhu- 432 yen

He sure very excited every time when mapo tauhu appears in a menu. He will sure ordered it! The best Mapo Tauhu we have was in Kyoto at one of the Chinese restaurant in Porta Dining. This one was quite disappointed, the sauce was very gummy and the taste was weird. Not sure is this really mapo tauhu.

Fried Rice topped with Fried Egg Crab- 594 yen

I ordered fried rice with fried egg but it came out to be one of our Chinese style "Man Fan". I actually quite like this dish because it contained all my favourite food- fried rice, egg and soup! Normally for "Man Fan", they always use white rice and cooked with seafood gravy to pour on it. But when it change to fried rice, the whole thing taste so prefect.

While walking back to our hotel from the subway station, there are rows of shops at the underground. We spotted this Studio Ghibli Store with lots of Totoro merchandises and we were crazy with all of it. How I wish I can bring home everything. At the end, we bought only a set of the Totoro merchandise as souvenir since our luggages already quite full before arriving in Osaka.