Kopitiam Kemaman had been in Damansara Utama for quite some time already, since I was in my college’s previous campus. Locating this kopitiam shouldn’t be a problem; it is just along the police station’s row. The owner here talks to most of his customers so from this I could say that majority of the customers are regulars of this place. Kopitiam Kemaman serves quite a variety of food besides food from the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

You can have the breakfast set if you’re going in the morning. Perfect light meal to start off the day and it isn’t expensive too. The set comes with two slices of toasted bread and an egg. I would actually prefer them to apply more butter and kaya to the toast though so the taste wouldn’t just be more to a plain slice of bread taste.

Eggs are a good source of many vitamins, calcium, protein and many more. So as long you don’t overdo it, it is a great addition to your diet. Don’t leave out eggs on your next diet!

There’s also a choice of either a cup of tea or coffee and I went with the tea. The cup gives a kopitiam feel but the tea though isn’t strong enough and I think that drinks is one of the most important factor in getting a returning customer. Some people might just visit a kopitiam just for a drink so the drink here has to improve.

Then there’s the nasi dagang which is a favourite in Terengganu. Yes it is a small portion but they are not charging a high price for it so I would consider it justifiable. Taste wise is good but to be honest, it doesn’t match an original nasi dagang.

Honestly, I can’t really recall back the exact price for these but rest assure that with RM5-RM10, you will be able to get a meal here which I would say is affordable. The pricing here does not differ much from those economical Chinese coffee shops and the food here to me is still considered decent but surely there’s more room for improvement.

Koptiam Kemaman
No. 1, Jalan SS21/60
Damansara Utama
47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 03-77221945
Opens daily from 8am to 12am

If you frequently visit 1 Utama, you will probably have at least seen this restaurant at the lower ground floor. If I remember correctly, it is just next to Fish & Co and opposite this restaurant is  a video shop as well as a ‘Feng Shui’ shop if I’m not mistaken. So as long as you’re at the lower ground floor of the new wing, you shouldn’t have any problem finding this restaurant.

As a starter, a common favourite would be a bowl of tom yam soup. The one I had was a tom yam soup with seafood. If you like to have your tom yam soup really spicy, sorry to say but this will definitely disappoint you. I’m not too sure if you could request to have it more spicy but even if you could, I don’t think so it can be really spicy though. The soup is a bit sweet with a little of spice to it. Other than that, the amount of seafood in a bowl is quite a lot and it is only priced at RM10.00 per bowl. This is still recommended as a bowl of hot soup will give you a boost in appetite just before your main course.

Moving on to the main course, pineapple fried rice is a must try if you’re in a Thai restaurant. To me, pineapple fried rice is the basics of Thai cuisine and a chef has got to master it no matter what. When I went to Thailand, I can see many people having pineapple fried rice on their table. The pineapple fried rice from this restaurant is not bad but just too sweet. I suppose the pineapple is the main factor for the sweetness because when I took a bite at the pineapple, it is just that sweet. The pineapple itself does play an important role too. Overall, still a good ala carte dish for RM14.00.

I tried their stir-fried minced chicken rice with basil as well. Being the typical me for liking salty dishes, this one certainly is tasty and not too dry with the gravy. A great combination with the fried egg too. This one is just a little bit spicy so no worries if you can’t take spicy food. This is a really simple ala carte dish in their menu but in my opinion, it is a great addition to their menu as this is suitable for those who don’t take spicy food especially with some children. This will cost you RM13.00 per plate.

Just Thai offers a wide range of variety in the food they serve with acceptable quality. Perhaps their dishes would be better than the ala carte, I don’t know but this restaurant can be quite packed during peak hours such as dinner time. Price wise is still affordable for a restaurant inside a shopping mall like 1 Utama, you can’t be expecting the price of food to be below RM10.00 in most restaurants here after all. This restaurant goes to my recommendation list for new restaurants to try out so give it a try!

Just Thai
LG351, Lower Ground Floor
1 Utama Shopping Centre
Bandar Utama
Tel: 03-77294708

You would probably see a lot of people dining here during the weekends but I’ve never come across this restaurant having to queue up for a table so that shouldn’t be a worry if you are wondering whether you’ll usually have to wait for a table or not. Some comments from other bloggers mentioned that the service here is quite bad and I myself happened to witness a sloppy service for the table beside mine in which the waiter brought the wrong food to the table. This should not happen at all as the right table that ordered it will have to wait even longer should the person had already taken his or her first bite.

Pizza is one of the varieties in the menu. This is called the Hawaiian Hula Pizza. It is similar to the Hawaiian Chicken pizza that you get in Pizza Hut but this is thinner and the ingredients is different but more or less it is Hawaiian style. I wouldn’t say that this pizza is absolutely good but still I enjoyed it. However, do remember to add more cheese to it. This pizza is priced at RM16.90.

Meat is one thing that is a must have in the Western culture, that’s why they too serve chicken chop. This Latino Chicken Chop is one of the recommendations here and I too think that it is nice and isn’t like any other chicken chop you might get from a coffee shop. Served with wedges and a brown sauce, I would recommend this to people. The price tag for this is at RM18.90.

Pasta was also another food that I had on my visit here. This pasta might seem simple but the name is just long, Tagliatelle Mushroom Alfredo with Crispy Fish. The alfredo sauce tasted really good here and it is even better when more cheese was added. Somehow, I think the crispy fish doesn’t really go well with the pasta and they should have used either chicken or beef instead of the crispy fish. This would cost you RM18.90.

Living up to their name New York New York Deli, even their sauce is made in the states. New York New York Deli in my opinion seems to be a good place to dine at with their acceptable quality of food minus the poor service from the waiters and waitress. My verdict, give this restaurant a try.

New York New York Deli
LG311 – Lower Ground Floor
1 Utama Shopping Centre
Bandar Utama
Tel: 03-7727 9400

If you can’t find Sushi Zanmai in 1 Utama, it is just outside of Dragon-I so you shouldn’t have any problems finding it else just look for it in the directory board. Normally there would be a long queue during lunch and dinner hours so you might want to go slightly earlier.

So green tea for a Japanese meal is very much recommended as for some reason it does quench thirst and best of all you can refill it.

I guess salmon is what most people crave for when they go to a restaurant that serves Japanese food. The salmon sushi served in Sushi Zanmai can be said to be one of the best if you talk about Japanese restaurants in shopping malls. However, sometimes they just can’t maintain the quality of it, probably it has something to do with the salmon.

Those who want something that wets the mouth may try the Sukiyaki which I think is good especially when there are a lot of ingredients in it such as vegetables and tofu.

The beef should be nice depending on how raw you want it to be, make it bloody and just taste the sweetness in the blood together with the soup. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Sushi Zanmai
2nd Floor, High Street
1 Utama Shopping Centre
Bandar Utama
Tel: 03-77242030

Face to Face Noodles House specializes in ‘Pan Mee’ so you would be seeing customers in this restaurant having it most of the time. This restaurant is situated along the same row as Astro and it is the row behind Public Bank.

On each table you would find four different types of chili to spice your noodles if yours isn’t spicy or you would like to spice it up even more. Some people prefer to mix it as well.

Dry ‘Pan Mee’

Soup ‘Pan Mee’

‘Kon Lou’ Mee

My verdict on the noodles here will be just nice. Although this restaurant is pretty famous for their ‘Pan Mee’ but for me it doesn’t really have anything special and tastes like most other ‘Pan Mee’ you can get in Chinese restaurants and stalls. It was a bit of a disappointment as I was hoping for something really good and special but it wasn’t. However, this restaurant is still a decent place to have ‘Pan Mee’ if you have not tried it at this place.

Restaurant Face to Face Noodles House
68-G, Jalan SS21/62
Damansara Utama Uptown
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 016-3968711

Locating it shouldn’t be difficult, you just have to find the McDonalds here as it is opposite McDonalds and very near to the Standard Chartered Bank, it is SS21/39 to be exact. You can watch out for the yellow colour board and you won’t go wrong. However, parking around Damansara Utama can be a problem especially during working hours.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I’ve actually been to Sukico Hainan Cafe a few times and quite a fan of their Western food. This may be a Hainan cafe but their Western food is quite good to be honest. This Chicken Cordon Bleu with cheese in it is one of my favourites here. This one is priced at RM13.80.

Hainanese Fried Rice

Well there are a lot of styles if you mention fried rice so it is actually more or less the same. If you feel like eating fried rice, look no further as the Hainanese Fried Rice here in Sukico is really fried to satisfy most people. This Hainanese Fried Rice is priced at RM7.80.

Chicken Chop Rice

Actually it should have been a Hainanese Chicken Chop Rice to be reviewed but didn’t realize there were two chicken chop rice here. This one is the Western style but no worries, it is still that good and so far I have not much if none at all complaints for the food here in Sukico. This one is priced at RM9.00.

Being just a small cafe in an area like Damansara Utama is not easy. The food served here is good enough to have returning customers and regulars to keep this cafe running. Sukico Hainan Cafe has similar concepts with Kluang Station and Old Town White Coffee Cafe but it is just a slightly cheaper version of it minus the air-conditioning. Sukico Hainan Cafe also opens early at 7.30am for those who would like to have breakfast so you might want to try it out too for their breakfast menu. Verdict, Sukico Hainan Cafe offers a good value for their food judging by the taste of it as well as the price.

Don’t know who Marié Digby is ? Marié Digby is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist. She is best known for her acoustic cover version of Rihanna’s number one hit “Umbrella” which was originally posted on YouTube and it was then spread across the Internet. Well I think many have heard of her after her first official single “Say It Again” was aired on radio stations. Her debut album titled Unfold was released on April 8, 2008. Never listened to her songs before ? If you would like to listen to some of her songs then you may listen to it at her official YouTube channel.

Now as stated in the poster she will be in One Utama on the 14th of May 2008 which is a Wednesday at 8pm and the admission is free. The event will be held at the new wing, ground floor, near the GAP outlet. Also, you can get a copy of her album “Unfold” on that day which will be sold there and you stand a chance to get that album autographed by Marié Digby herself. Since it is free, there will be no excuse like “the ticket is too expensive”. This event is brought to you by GAP.