Seremban 2 Seafood Steamboat & BBQ @ Seremban 2

Here is a post about another veteran shop in Seremban. Mr Foodpacker and his family have been customers of this restaurant for years. It is one of the first established steamboat joint to ever hit the town of Seremban (Pork-free for the very least) Long ago before Jusco Seremban 2 was even built, the land used to be a driving range. Directly opposite it was where this humble steamboat restaurant used to be. Mr Foodpacker could still remember the countless visits he and his family has paid this shop, most of the time, after his father was done playing golf. But that was ofcourse, a very long time ago.. it has now relocated to a new 2-storey building located not far from its original spot.

Prices are as follow:
Adults = RM20
Seniors (Aged 55 and above) = RM16
Children (Aged 5 to 10) = RM7

Its own gated building. Used to be attached to the side of Seremban 2 sales office. Operational hours: 6pm to 11pm daily.

An open environment that allows the free movement of smoke (from the steamboat, not your cigarette! FYI they don't allow smoking here. Talk about Southern "family" hospitality! Way to go Serembanians!) They also provide an indoor air conditioned seating, but they are mostly used only for functions. As you can see, the tables are far apart from one another (unlike other steamboat restaurants in KL) which provides you with extra comfortability to roam around and get your food.

All-you-can-eat buffet. Ranging from grilled items (meat and seafood) to steambot items. In our experience, it is single handedly the longest strech of food in a steamboat buffet we've ever seen. (Not sure if this shop is too generous, or other shops are too stingy..) Like they have advertised - "120++ varieties of food to choose from!" Click picture to enlarge.

Other than that, they have many selections of uncooked items such as noodles (even Udon! T_T y u so kind), eggs, corn and fresh vegetables. For cooked items, they have fried rice, fried beehoon, some wantons and not mistaken, we even spotted some big oysters! Also, did we forget to mention? The drinks are free!!!!!!!! (Where in the heck people give free drinks in a steamboat restaurant??!!! highly rare and unlikely we say!) They come in flavors of concentrated orange, rose syrup and chinese tea. This is the first shop where we saw a huge self service ice compartment too. You can either put in your glass or even in those small classic buckets which we always see at a steamboat shops.

Some highlights of the shop.. Quail eggs (telur burung puyuh) In 2 variant we might add, normal and not sure what the other one was but if we took a wild guess, it might be tea eggs. If you are a fan of quail eggs, you MUST come here. Only a real fan would know how expensive these things are and how difficult it is to find them as a part of a buffet! (No kidding) Most of the other steamboat restaurants we went to, either did not provide them or provide the unpeeled version of them so you would have to take the shell off yourself. (Trust us, it is a very tidy process and we stopped after peeling off just 10 of them)

Another item that other steamboat restaurants don't normally serve.. Lamb (if you can spot it, most top rack on the right below the bar. Others are selections of chicken from blackpepper to curry and wings) Its unlimited baby! So go ahead and take any amount you want! Don't worry, they will refill them if it's empty. =D

A small sample of what we took.. garlic chicken, prawn, wings and Mrs Foodpacker's favourite, sliced fish! (Best cooked in pot, instead of grill. Not sure what type of fish it is but it has all been white in colour XD)

The necessities needed for a Masterchef. On left: Butter for grilling. On right: fragrance sauce, pepper and soy sauce (kicap) for porridge. 

You have the choice to pick the soup you want. Either it is a half-half or one full pot of chicken soup and/or tomyam soup (No extra charge) Let the feast begin! A friendly tip: Always grease the grill pan with butter first to make sure the food doesn't stick. But you have to be careful not to put in too much butter as it will create a small pool at the corners of the grill (seen in bottom left picture) that tends to explode and pops small amounts of hot oil at you. Also do pay attention at Mrs Foodpacker's fish grilling artistry on the bottom right picture ;)

A perfectly cooked chicken wings and a not so perfect chicken cube.. Both are our favorite "greasy" dish from this restaurant haha Goes well with fried rice too!

And ofcourse Mr Foodpacker's and ALL of his brothers childhood favourite.. Lamb lamb lamb lamb lambbbbb! (Yup, they normally take 5-6 plates full of lamb all to themselves) There's nothing much we can say about it.. (besides most are attached to bones) It tastes freaking awesome! The marinate used on the lamb makes us speechless, it doesn't matter how you cook it as long as you have it on the grill for 5 minutes, it comes off from the plate tasting perfect! This is truly the main benefactor of why Mr Foodpacker and his family revisited this restaurant many times when he was small and it still tastes as tasty as how it used to be even after all these years.

This is the fun and easy part of the visit. Do REQUEST for a porridge together with your soup as it is part of the deal! (No extra charges. But if you do not want to have porridge, the charges will still REMAIN the same. Adults = RM20 etc) This is a new addition to the menu and our first thought on this was, "This is the most value for money steamboat restaurant we've ever been to! =D" You can't get a good deal such as this anywhere else!

The end result. A tasty looking thick porridge with quail egg and many delicious ingredients inside. =P~ *slurpp* A few tips to make a fantastic porridge Mr & Mrs Foodpacker style: 

1)Dump in any ingredients you like especially chicken cubes, spinach, golden mushroom and most importantly an excessive amount of quail eggs!!! P/S: take lots of green veggie, it will melt and taste good in the porridge later ;)

2)Add in the right amount of fragrance sauce, pepper and soy sauce to your liking. Fragrance sauce is the key here, so put a lot of them!

3)Don't adjust the level of the fire (just leave it as it is) and close the lid. BUT remember to open it up and steer every 5 minutes (very important so the rice doesn't stick and burn at the bottom. it will affect the whole taste of the porridge) 

4)After approximately 30minutes, off the fire, open the lid and leave the porridge to dry for 5minutes to achieve its most desired level of thickness.

5)Everything will be mushy and blend together nicely now. So scoop it into your bowl and enjoy! =)

Polar ice cream. Our favourite is durian flavor! As it reminded us most of the "roti ais krim" we used to order from the ice cream man as kids.

Dishing it out: Personally, we think that this is the best value-for-money and the most complete steamboat restaurant out there. RM20 for Steamboat, BBQ and Porridge + free drinks + lamb + peeled quail eggs + udon + oysters? A similar shop in Klang/KL would normally cost around RM25 offering less items and no drinks. Heck we've been to a steamboat restaurant that charges us for the amount of utensils we use! Some even charge for tissues! But at S2 Steamboat and BBQ, rest assured there are NO HIDDEN CHARGES. However, if you'd like to drink something else than the fixed selection of free drinks, you can order a big jug of fresh juice that costs RM10 to share with everyone =D

p/s: If this shop was to operate in KL, it would immediately run out of business as it'd be swarmed with customers.

Coming back for more value: ABSOLUTELY YES
Crowd: YES
Cleanliness: CLEAN

Service: VERY GOOD here is another worthy mention. Unlike every other shops, the staffs here are VERY helpful and friendly. They would come to check your table from time to time. Just to make sure your food is not overcooked/burnt, the fire level is alright and that you don't forget to steer the porridge =P You don't even have to do or say anything to them, simply watch them as they go to work!

Category: HALAL/PORK-FREE

GPS Coordinates: N2.695226,E101.914455


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If you'd like to know the COMPLETE ADDRESS of the restaurant, please click on the "Location" tab below. (After Facebook comments and right before Blogger comments, its in between!)

Tel: 012 266 7293 / 012 776 4065

..and that's our "DISH" of the day!!!!!

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Mantra Restaurant and Bar @ Sunway Pyramid

Long have we known this under-rated shop in the midst of all the culinary potential in Sunway Pyramid. It has been there for quite a while, even since before the new wings were opened in the mall. Blessed with a good view overlooking the whole of Sunway Lagoon Theme Park, this shop has an exotic range of Indian cuisines to offer local and foreign visitor. We have never failed to see 1 or 2 groups of Arabics in the restaurant. The major contributor could be because of its strategic location which is right infront of Sunway Hotel's - Sunway Pyramid entrance.

The last-through-the-test-of-time entrance. You can view the artificial ice ring below from here. Operational hours:10am to 10pm daily.

Creamsicle orange juice with ice cream and whipped cream. RM11.90. As good as it sounds, it is nothing compared to the meal you're going to have! The meals are more of a highlight to the restaurant than their drinks.

Naan ki tokri bread basket. RM16. A combo of mixed naan: plain, butter, cheese and garlic. The naan breads were soft when it first came, but like every other normal naan, it is advisable to consume them right away because as time goes by the thickness of the bread will slowly overcome its softness. Personally, we prefer to have cheese + garlic naan in most restaurants we go to.

Tandoori murg half set. RM16.90. Full set RM28.90. Sweet tender tandoori meat! A must have when you go to any mamak stall. In this case, we just had to compare how different the "high end" tandoori taste like. Well, it's pretty much the same =P but the quality can be assured in this one! Everything was well cook and even when sometimes the thickness of the naan bread starts to kick in, the tenderness of these chicken are there to save the day. The freshly cut onions were delightful as well!

Kang kung belachan. RM9.90. Not sure if the foreigners would eat these. But im pretty sure an real Malaysian would! Don't worry, despite its name, it is not spicy at all. A good fresh green to go with rice. Our No. 1 recommended dish!

Cashewnut chilli chicken. RM18.90. THE BEST MEAL OF THIS SHOP and our No. 2 recommended dish! Believe me when we say that, we are not exaggerating! Not only the mixture of colorful vegetables makes this meal very pleasing to the eyes, it is indeed very tasty! Mr Foodpacker could still remember the first time he tried this and the few days that follow when he craved to come back to this restaurant to have another taste. Only set back is, it comes in a pretty small potion and the cashewnuts seem to run out faster than the chicken each time! :(

Garlic tiger prawn. RM29.90. Small to medium sized prawns that goes very well with garlic (there are small cuts of it in the dish) We order them each time we visit the restaurant. Goes very well with rice but if you are going for value for money, you might want to reconsider this.

Steamed seabass. RM39.90. No. 3 recommended dish! How can you refuse entry of such a beautiful thing into your mouth? ;) This was a big fish with a lot of white meat! But the secret to success of this dish is mainly its sauce. A little bit spicy and a tad sour + sweet which moists and flavours the rice you eat it with very well. You will not find any balance of remaining sauce once you are done with this dish!

Dishing it out: Undeniably we have many dishes to recommend from this shop. (We've come back to this shop again and again to order the same thing too!) Not only the eating environment is cozy, the food is great and you will have the privacy you seek when eating. There aren't to many visitors in this shop, the most we've seen was 5-6 groups of people. A perfect situation for you to roam around the shop especially when it offers you a very good view of Sunway Pyramid. Be sure to give their cashewnut chicken a try, you won't regret it =D
p/s: We've also tried and like their butter chicken and mango sticky rice very much. Will try to get their pictures up after our next visit.

Coming back for more value: ABSOLUTELY YES and maybe try a different dish next time, such as their briyani rice and banana leaf rice
Crowd: NO
Cleanliness: CLEAN
Service: GOOD
Category: HALAL/PORK-FREE

GPS Coordinates: N3.07236,E101.606947


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If you'd like to know the COMPLETE ADDRESS of the restaurant, please click on the "Location" tab below. (After Facebook comments and right before Blogger comments, its in between!)

Tel: 03 7492 0488

..and that's our "DISH" of the day!!!!!

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Delicious by Ms. Read @ Sunway Pyramid (EXTENDED)

We were first exposed to this restaurant at One Utama. At that time as we could recall, it was called "Ms Read's Cafe". It was not that easy to forget as it was located right beside of Ms Read's fashion boutique, but due to unknown reasons it is now named as "Delicious" (can't say that we disagree with the decision XD but it might be because the cafe is a collaboration with her son and he'd like to create his own distinctive brand)

Our first impression was, it had comfy seating, felt homely, serves good desserts and was packed with customers during the weekend. As delicious as the name suggests, this restaurant displays a lot of its tasty desserts (whichever is still available) for your eyes to feast upon, even before you are escorted to your seat. Be sure to pick the one you fancy most and order them right away to avoid others from snatching them away haha

One of many new Delicious branches which spread fast and vast throughout KL/Klang in 2011. Operational hours: 10am - 10pm daily.

Delicious is also known for its beautiful interior design. You just can't help but to feel relaxed by the ambiance created from all the unique decorations.

 Different branches seem to use its different surroundings to their advantage. So far we are impressed with the decorations we saw at Mid Valley branch and the newly opened Penang branch which faces the ocean (Straits Quay) looks to be quite promising too ;)

Watermelon and lychee blast. RM9.90.

Four cheese macaroni. RM21.90. Consisting of mozzarella, guyere, parmesan and white chedar cheese. Not exactly the portion size we were expecting for the price and Mr Foodpacker was clearly shocked when he saw this being put on his table as he gave the "Is this enough? =O" expression on his face haha That was the case in a glance but once he has tasted it.. it was a completely different story! You can taste all the 4 different types of cheese in it clearly, each of its taste are well defined and it works so well for an exceptionally cheesy dish! The top part was crispy as well adding a little texture to the creamy, moist and cheesy center filling. The salad was not just for show too. It was very fresh and crispy!

Aglio olio spaghettini. RM15.90. Add shitake mushroom & sundried tomato +RM7.90. Add beef bacon +RM7.90. Add seafood +RM8.90. In this picture is with added beef bacon, thus the price is RM23.80. Despite the small portion (again) this dish was spectacular! The perfect mixture of oil and herb with a VERY generous of added beef bacon. This dish instantly turned Mrs Foodpacker into a any-pasta aglio olio fan.

Carbonara spaghettini. RM24.90. Contains oyster mushroom, beef bacon, oregano and cream. We got to admit, this is the highlight and the come-back-for dish of the shop! It is very creamy and very cheese. If you noticed, those are chunks of sliced cheese on top of the pasta! Generously spread together with a balanced amount of bacon, you won't find yourself limiting its amount of intake as it is enough to last till the last strand of spaghetti! The presentation is good as well, it is not simply thrown on the plate, instead it is rolled into the center part of the plate and results in all of the small spaghetti stands to united as one. That is how a classic plate of paste should be served and THAT is what we call culinary art. One of the best carbonara pasta we've ever tasted ;)

Nasi kerabu with ayam percik. RM23.90. Served with ulam, salted egg and keropok (there is also kerabu hidden below the keropok) This is one meal we didn't expect to find in the menu. A shop simply can't have a too diversified menu and be good at all of them. Thus the reason why this nasi kerabu was a let down. First off, the rice is not in blue and eventhough the chicken was big, it did not taste like how a real authentic ayam percik should taste like. Still, it is a filling dish for big eaters.

Sambal udang tumis. RM29.90. With achar jelatah, steamed rice and beef serunding. The prawn size is HUGE if you consider the ones you can normally find in KL. It is not too spicy and has a strong nice sambal taste. Prawn shells are peeled off so there is no hassle in eating. The prawns are really strong and pack a punch!

Masala lambshank. RM30.90. Served with nasi pilaf, cucumber raita and papadom.

Thai style steamed seabass. RM22.90. A simple dish with rice and asian greens.

Berrilicious chocolate pavlova. RM13.90. We are big fans of the Pavlova cake from Serai @ Empire, so when it comes to this one we had our expectations pretty much parred. Unlike the one from Serai that has a soft texture inside and hard texture outside, this pavlova is hard all around so we kind of prefer Serai's better. It could be due to its limited small size, but nonetheless it is still a good pavlova dessert compared to other shops!

Chocolate brownie. RM12.90.  Flooded with chocolate sauce and melted with vanilla ice cream. Very sweet. Possibly the best ice cream brownie one could find. It is as delightful to the mouth as it is a delight to the eyes. You can start drawing patterns once the chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream are mixed together haha If you are not a fan of nuts, stay away as there is A LOT of them in this one =P

Marmalade bread and butter pudding with custard sauce. RM11.90.

Flourless orange cake with vanilla ice cream. RM11.90. This was just and okay dessert. You ought to try something different.

Dishing it out: We believe that the real reason as to how Delicious is able to attract its costumer is by serving okay food with good desserts in an excellent environment. (kinda sums it up in 1 sentence haha) Perfect usage of its surrounding resources to create a one of a kind ambiance where people can meet up with ease and enjoy each others company for celebrations or gatherings or simply to eat their FANTASTIC pasta.. IMHO the carbonara n aglio olio spaghettini are enough to make you come back as a regular customer =)

Coming back for more value: YES solely for its pasta!!
Crowd: YES
Cleanliness: CLEAN
Service: GOOD
Category: HALAL/PORK-FREE

GPS Coordinates: N3.072745,E101.607267


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If you'd like to know the COMPLETE ADDRESS of the restaurant, please click on the "Location" tab below. (After Facebook comments and right before Blogger comments, its in between!)

Tel: 03 5631 8181

..and that's our "DISH" of the day!!!!!

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Yuri Japanese Restaurant @ Allson Klana Seremban (EXTENDED)

Mr Foodpacker and his family have long known this restaurant (since he could remember, say 7-8 years) and he has paid quite a considerable number of visits throughout the years. Safe to say, it is one of his favourite places to have dinner with his family everytime he comes back during the weekends. Some people say that this restaurant is "the best japanese restaurant in Negeri Sembilan" and it is quite hard to argue with that as there are not many of them in this state. The restaurant is quite small but they have 4 private Tatami rooms (where you seat on the cushioned floor with a hole to put your legs below) that are suitable for family gatherings.

The entrance which is sort of hidden below the stairs right before the hotel's coffee house.



The normal seatings. The ones to the back is near the sushi bar where you can see the chef prepare freshly made sushi for you.



Tatami rooms require you to take off your shoes. Good for a little privacy with no extra charges ;)



Multiple awards throughout the years.. proves that this restaurant is very underrated!

Kani tanuki salad. RM15. Consists of crab meat, tempura crumbs, topped with fish roe. The tempura crumbs make this a crunchy and delightful appetizer!

Unagi maki (Eel). RM30. One of the best the restaurant has to offer. The chef wasn't feeling too generous that night so he gave us thin spreads of mayonnaise. Normally it's pretty thick. A+ for taste!

Yuri maki (Prawn). RM25. Mr Foodpacker's other must-order sushi to go with eel sushi. The taste is a little lower than Unagi maki but the crunchiness of the prawns makes it an enjoyable meal nonetheless. Again not to generous with the mayonnaise there. After requesting the chef to add more, the sushi came back with another line of thin mayonnaise. Guess that must be one heck of an expensive mayonnaise.



Sashimi shake (salmon). RM44. Nigiri (a smaller potion). RM18. Trust me, I've been to Rakuzen, Sushi Zanmai, Jogoya, Sushi King and Sakae Sushi and NONE of them taste as good as this! It is very fresh (the orange texture speaks a lot of its level of freshness) and dare I say it, milky to some extent. Absolutely marvelous!!!

Ebi tempura (Prawn). RM30. Mr Foodpacker's mum's favourite when she's on a diet =P

Tori katsu (chicken). RM22. Just an okay dish. Comes with sweet sauce to overcome the dryness.

Yakitori (chicken skewers). RM11. Just a normal appertizer dish and FYI the lemongrass is not edible.

Genkikara tahu. RM25. Huge tauhu(s) inside.



Kaisen tofu. RM18. An instant hit with Mr Foodpacker's family. Gone in a few minutes. Better than Genkikara tahu above.



Garlic fried rice. This comes with the set meal. One word "FLUFFY". This is what all of Mr Foodpacker's family members are looking forward to the most to eat in this shop! 1 fluffy garlic fried rice is normally not enough for each of them (his brothers especially) and they tend to add extra orders. Truly wholesome.

Sirloin beef teppanyaki course. RM48 with rice (above), chawan mushi, salad, miso soup, fried beansprout, and watermelon fruit. The gravy of the beef is simply heavenly (wish they had put more) and the beef is very tender to perfection. The fried onions also helps to add a delightful crunchy texture to the meal. Highlight of this restaurant! A++ for taste! =D
(This dish is cooked using a slight amount of white wine, if you are a Muslim like we are, do request them to cook WITHOUT the wine)

Tempura soba. RM29. A beautiful clear soup garden-like delight. Look at all the fresh ingredients in there harmonizing as a whole. Better eat the prawns fast (or put it aside) before it gets soaked and lose its crunchiness.



Matcha ice cream. RM8. This beats every other ice cream brands out there in terms of green tea flavour (beats even Hagen Daz IMO) The staff said that this is home-made and its powder is brought all the way from Japan. The white threads of 'seaweed' (that's what they said it is made of) is an unusual compliment to the ice cream. Another signature of this shop and another must try!



A matcha green tea for everyone. Ended up ordering 2 more and the staff was nice enough to give it FOC! though it came in smaller portions, we would have gladly paid for the bigger ones. XD

Dishing it out: Given the lack of Japanese restaurants in Negeri Sembilan, this is truly one of the best (if not the best) Japanese restaurant in the state. Every meal is authentically Japanese and they were able to maintain the high quality over the years. They also serve buffet on Sundays from 12pm- 2.30pm. This is the time when it seems the place is full so do make a reservation. Buffet is around RM50++ increased to RM55++ / RM63.80 nett for adults, but i think it'll be worth the price as rumor says they serve huge slices of all you can eat unagi!

Coming back for more value: YES
Crowd: NO
Cleanliness: CLEAN
Service: GOOD but it is hard to get their attention to add additional orders sometimes, especially if you are sitting in the Tatami room. So just clap your hands if they can't here you. That's the Japanese way.

Category: HALAL/PORK-FREE  okay, this is slightly confusing. When we asked the manager whether the restaurant was Halal, she told us that it is and they had acquired the certificate. But when we asked if any types of wine, liquor or sake were used in the meals, they told us that they use it on only 1 dish. Which is the beef teppanyaki. If you'd like further clarification regarding this matter, do give them a call at their number below =)

GPS Coordinates: N2.721676,E101.951044


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If you'd like to know the COMPLETE ADDRESS of the restaurant, please click on the "Location" tab below. (After Facebook comments and right before Blogger comments, its in between!)

Tel: 06 762 9600 / or call the front desk and ask them to connect you to Yuri at 06 766 7888

..and that's our "DISH" of the day!!!!!

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