100C Steamboat, Teppanyaki & BBQ at "Niu Zhe Xui" – PJ, Ara Damansara

Cow Cart Water aka Niu Zhe Xui is located at Ara Damansara (a most obscure place really…). Apparently it opened in September ’07. I was only introduced to it recently by my friend Kev and it seems to me that this place is still relatively unknown as most friends I spoke to gave me a blank stare and go “Where?”
However, places with food does not escape the vigilant floggers of KL, *grin* so a quick search yielded some reviews of the place, in particularly FullHouse.

We went late at night last Sat, and the place was packed. Atmosphere was most festive, as there was some kind of Disney carnival going on and now being the school holidays, both parents and child throng the place. Loads of teenagers too, think Sg Wang kinda crowd.

Browsing around,I find the concept is pretty much like a street market, but with proper permanent shoplots. These are in the middle of the “square” and each square lot is divided into 4, with each corner going for RM2K in rent per/mth.

3 stories shops surrounds the sides, suitable for retail, food or beauty business (some sort like Telawi Street) and outside, rows and rows of office lots are available for rent. Parking was a breeze, with a big underground parking space (RM2 per entry) as well as at the sides of the street.

There were of course FOOD outlets, of which 2 notable ones (to me at least) are Fullhouse and 100C Steamboat Cafe.
That night we were too stuffed from pasta & Pick and Brew so we just checked out the menu at Fullhouse. I adored the deco, though it doesn’t really reflect on the food, for food was more towards simple western grub and mix of local dishes.
However, their tiramisu was highly recommended by my friend.

Deco – really English-like.. makes me think of English afternoon teas with scones, dainty cakes and delicate teaware. That night it was err.. full house (pun intended ;p) and we couldn’t even get a seat.

So I made it a point to come again on Sun afternoon, and this pic was taken then.

not so packed...

After securing a seat, I immediately rattled off my order (having decided the night before!) and was informed that mains are served from 6pm onwards only.
Aiyahh.. I was already hungry, and needed something substantial to fill me up quick. They ran out of Tiramisu too, (on a Sunday??!) so I hopped over to my next choice. Guess FullHouse will have to wait.
No worries: Good reviews and pics to share here:
she,the epicurious gal
kampungboycitygal

Moving along, this is what I ordered from 100c. The value set. Comes with fish balls, beancurd sheets, crabstick..etc.. and a ball of what they call, “steamboat noodle”.

Real value for $$, Rm8.80 only, not incl of 5% service charge.
Soups comes in 11 varieties:

Original, tom yam, curry, fish head, porridge soup, golden porridge (this was what I had), herb, thai sour & spicy, BKT, vegetarian and ma-la soup.

The soup on its own is sweet and has the robust flavour of pumpkin..

Of course, it was even better after I dumped the whole plate of liow in!

Temperature is self – controlled, this panel is facing you and attached to the table.

Heat is by induction, so no smoky smell here. below: The hole where the staff will slot in the pot of soup.

One of their specialties; Fish noodle.

The interesting part: 22 types of sauce!

Very nice layout yea? So chic! ;p (for a chinese restaurant)

This is the Chilli vinegar sauce..I think..forgot..

Anyways, this is what I took:
From left to right: Dried shrimp sauce, peanut sauce + a bit of chilli flakes at the side, honey mustard sauce.

The super-kick-ass 100C special chilli sauce. Really fiery and made every piece of food dipped into it utterly delicious!

Cincalok (fermented shrimp) sauce. Can’t find this often nowadays..

The list goes on. Those which are uncommonly served during steamboats are such as apricot sauce, teriyaki, green chilli oyster sauce, mint sauce, chef’s special mayo, tartar, sweet garlic and spicy fish Thai sauce.

Besides steamboat, the BBQ here comes with some good options of marination.

Sitting area for BBQ is outside..

The main sitting area downstairs..

Upstairs is where they have the tatami rooms. Below each table there is space for diners to put their legs through. Much comfortable than sitting crossed legged while enjoying your meal.

Funny thing is, chocolate and cheese fondue are offered here as well..hhmmm.. fish balls with chocolate??! Anyone?
Below: The choco fondue – still wrapped up as I was there at around 5pm..which is not the normal dining hour. ahem.

In all honesty, I really liked the food and my verdict is that it does warrants a return visit. Of course, groups are always better as there are so many items to choose from! It was proudly proclaimed in the menu as homemade too. Others are the seafood, meats, vegetables, sausages and mushrooms. One thing worthy of mention, I did not feel unnecesarily thirsty after my meal so I take that as a good sign!

For drinks, it is almost like Kim Gary or all the Chan char teng places, with blended ice, milk teas and the works. Portions are big so it is again, value for $.

Not sure if NZX is trying to mimick the infamous NZX in Singapore, as I have not been to the Sg one, I won’t be able to offer any comments.

Oh, another thing, I would like to recommend this. Papaya puff!

It is from Kai Fei Tiam, and I tried one since it is something unique. (I’m game for anything really..LOL)

Delicious! As you can see, it was very flaky (cheh) , minus the oily taste and the filling not overly sweet. Love it! ;p

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Selba

    Whoaaa… there’s chocolate and cheese fondue? Yummy….

  2. thenomadGourmand

    yup! I’m sure there got it in Indo as well right?
    Do call me up if ur in Msia ya, can go hunt for food together!

  3. Selba

    Yes, we have fondue but very few places, and for sure, not at a Steamboat restaurant 🙂

    Definitely, I would love to go hunting food together with you, that would be awesome!

  4. Nic (KHKL)

    the NZX in malaysia is very different than the one in singapore. while this is modern and chic, singapore’s nzx brings about a sense of nostalgia.

    oh, i remember nzx malaysia during cny. they have nice deco! 🙂

  5. thenomadGourmand

    selba: can’t wait!
    Nic: I’m not sure abt the modern n chic part *grin*..I think it was supposed to be initially.. now its really Sg -Wangish !

  6. KampungboyCitygal

    whoa the buffet looks good! nzx is a tad too quiet though

  7. thenomadGourmand

    kampungboycitygal: Hellooo!! yeah, I can that it will be more quiet comparatively to Bkt Bintang area. But all the shoplots are taken when I asked! So they will be open soon. And I went during the school hols so guess that’s must be why.

  8. Anibal Machle

    Awesome post. Just found it on AOL. Thanks for the useful info. Keep up the nice work 🙂

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