1 post tagged “soho”
This is my first time doing a restaurant review on this blog. I may have attempted a food review in my previous blogs but I've never done a thorough one. So here goes the review of SOHO by Jun restaurant at 1U, Petaling Jaya.
The cosmopolitan state-of-the-art restaurant SOHO is owned by Singaporean ex-stockbroker Jun Low. Her first bakery chain, Bread Story is a hit among Malaysians and has a variety of delicious pastries and buns.
Her new venture, SOHO delivers Shanghai fusion cuisine by professional fusion chefs. The restaurant emphasizes on Dim Sum, la mian and exotic meat such as rabbit and bullfrogs. Yesterday afternoon, my mother brought my brother and I to try 3 of their signature dishes. However I can't really recall the names of the dishes so I'll just roughly name them based on their looks.
The menu was comprehensive and had a description of the food available. It looked perfectly designed and there were not a single grammatical error like many other Chinese restaurants in Malaysia. Somehow they (other Chinese restaurants in Malaysia) will misspell pork as pok or wrapped chicken as raped chicken (no kidding!)
I like the black and white concept they have, it looks crisp and clean. Even their menu was black and white and they have this theme of having movie star potraits as part of their interior. As you can see (the photo on the right), a photo of an unknown movie star is on the cover of their menu. Perhaps you can identify the movie star?
For me, menus are important. They should not have grammatical errors and the explanation should be clear and concise. If its just a jumble of words with no meaning like Fried Wings Steamed Wrapped Dumpling with Rice, I don't think I wanna taste it. What kinda food is fried and steamed at the same time anyway? But that's just an example.
The plastic curtains (sp?) have tiny portraits of movie stars on them and even the chairs are decked out with movie star portraits in monochrome. The cutleries are white and neatly arranged. Here above are photos plus of one with my beloved mother and brother.
The ambience of the place is brightly lit and the place is almost all decorated in white with hints of black. The waiters wear white long-sleeved shirts and black pants. Service was prompt but the waiters are from Mainland-China so they do not understand English or Cantonese. Perhaps they do understand Cantonese but very little.
My mom tried to order some cut pickled chilli in soya sauce but the poor guy couldn't understand what she said. So she switched from English to Cantonese. He nodded with a vague look on his face and only when my mom said it in Mandarin that he understood what she was saying. Hmm...there seem to be more foreign workers in Malaysia. Some of those workers from Myanmar and Cambodia can speak Cantonese better than me :(
Mom had visited SOHO twice before this so she basically knew what to order. She once packed the Signature Golden Flowy Custard Bun for me. It was delicious, an orange pastry with hot delicious custard oozing out once you bite on it. I think its made of egg yolk and cheese; the custard.
We ordered Xiao Loong Bao too. That is, Shanghai Mini Dumplings. The direct translation of Xiao Loong Bao is Little Dragon Dumpling. Its a famous Dim Sum dish from Shanghai. A perfect Xiao Loong Bao will have a rubbery skin on the outside that is firm enough to hold the stock inside the skin. The meat and stock is covered by the skin. You need skill to pick up the dumpling with a pair of chopsticks without breaking the skin or else the stock will pour out.
We also had seafood noodles. The gravy was thick and delicious and it had generous helpings of seafood and vegetables. I think I would order it again the next time I come here.
Chrysanthemum tea is sold by the pot and not per head. Usually if tea is sold per head, it would be very pricey. For example this particular pot of tea is just RM7++. If 3 people were to order per head it would be RM21++ so per pot is more worth it.
I didn't see much difference with this Chrysanthemum tea than any other Chrysanthemum tea sold at other restaurants. It was just served in a better looking pot. I wanted to order the specialty drinks but my mother wanted to order a pot of tea. I will order the drinks next time I go there.
Overall, I would rate this restaurant a 3.5/5. The food is not bad but the price is quite high. It would be better if the waiters could speak and understand English and Cantonese.
I would probably go there again if I had the cash, because its quite a nice place to hang out and chill.
