The group of us headed towards Borneo Rainforest for pre-dinner. As the executive chef is a personal friend, my friend wanted him to meet her family.
He is the model – perfect chef; round, jolly, loud and jovial. Hahhaa…
Food here is just so-so, in my personal opinion. If the chef himself whips up the orders, then it’s sinfully good. Else, mediocre dishes is served. To quote the chef; “It’s not the recipes, for I have taught them all, it’s the hand and the heart that does the cooking, hence one must have passion, for it translates directly into the food dished out..”
Enough said.
The concept of this place leaned towards Sarawakian (hence the name Borneo). Signature dishes are Sarawak Laksa, Kolo mee and Umai – umai (Umai is a raw fish salad popular among various ethnic groups of Sarawak, especially the Melanaus. Normally served as appetizer). However, open the menu and you will be spoilt for choice; for they serve Asian (char kuey teow, etc), Nyonya (lor bak), Western, Italian (pizzas), Mamak (roti canai) and even seafood!
I had the Sarawak laksa on my first visit here back in August, and was annoyed by the stringy, hard noodles that it came with. Soup-wise, he told me the paste was ordered from Christina of Nam Chuan at Bangsar. Still, I was not impressed.
We had the otak-otak and that left an impression, for it was rich, creamy and loaded with seafood.
So naturally, we ordered two of our favourites again that night; the otak otak and the roti canai.
It came looking like this. Asthetically pleasing no? *grin*
Yup, what does an otak-otak got to do with a chicken, you may ask. I asked the chef the same question and got a cheeky answer ” For fun laa.”
Well, I told you he was jolly right? One can’t say he’s has no sense of humour 😉
Items on the menu are named creatively, for he like his customers to think and take time to wonder about each dish, such as why was it named as such and the history behind it.
Back to food..
Open sesame! Cabbage wrapping around the otak paste.
All the seafood underneath.. prawns, mussels, thick slices of fish & ample cuts of squids.
The roti canai here deserve a special mention. Though of course, if you are paying RM3.50 for a piece and there is service tax-able as well.. it better be good right? Still I had worse in those uppity restaurants and had even paid more.
I didn’t manage to eat much of it that night, for so many hands were tearing at it the moment it was served. Very much alike, now you see it, now you don’t! ;p
But you can see from the pic that it was really flaky, but with the right chewy consistency yet somehow manages to stay “light” at the same time.
Chef gave us a basket of his new creation – the Prawn Tofu.
Minced prawns mixed into a paste with fish and carrots in the middle of a piece of tofu, deep fried and sprinkled with sesame seeds just before serving. The bottom layer (the tofu) was nice and crispy and the prawn paste was delicious. Can’t comment much of the sauce as it was the normal sweet and sour chilli Thai sauce but each piece was good enough to be eaten on its own.
Sad to say, though the calamaris looked promising, I had to rate it mediocre at best. The squids was soft and the outer batter crispy, but..but..it was tasteless and the accompanying sauce was bland. Sighh.. how can one go wrong with deep fried squids???
Can’t do without dessert, and mine came in the form of our local ais-kacang. Called “Ice Borneo”, it was a perfect ending to the meal; sweet, doused generously with syrup added with a splash of coconut milk, loaded with chockful of jelly, red beans, cincau and nutmeg strips and topped with chocolate ice-cream.
Some pics of the surroundings..
Entrance to the restaurant..note the “timber cravings”..
Liberal use of timber, rocks, attap leaves and plants for the effect of a rainforest.
From what I heard, RM2-3 million was spent on deco alone. Other than the restaurant, there is an attached club, which is small compared to Euphoria just across the road.
Borneo Rainforest is open daily from 4pm onwards till 4am. Kitchen opens 630pm till late.
this in Pyramid itself? never seen that. but the deep-fried squids reminded me of my Izzi visit though.
and i’ve the same question playing on my mind that time …
“how can one go wrong with deep-fried squids?!”
The decoration of the restaurant is very nice… kinda like authentic 🙂 but looking at the food.. uhmmm.. doesn’t look authentic and a bit so-so, no?
J2Kfm: Nope, not in Sunway Pyramid shopping mall. its right outside the Sunway Pyramid Hotel, across the road.
Haha..I banned Izzi’s food long time ago! 50% off or whatever!
Selba: Yes, the deco is trying to stay with the theme, but the food aint.
Sounds like a real touristy place. Good decor, pricey local food with mediocre taste.
tummythoz: well, its owned by Tiara Jacqueline so $ flows like wine… ;p
wow, looks like a big project! kinda reminds me of borneo baruk at bukit bintang! 😉
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