Saturday, August 18, 2007

Montien, One Bangsar

UPDATE: RESTAURANT CLOSED (found out in Nov'08)

A very good friend secured an overseas transfer to Hong Kong. Ups. Think supplier of Hong Kong goodies, localised free guide and free stay. *wide grin* Downs. We lost a significant companion for face to face gossips, window shopping, meals and short trips. Her kind sympathetic ear with a healthy dose of understanding clucking sounds is, without a doubt, still available (phonelines) but we will have to schedule around her trips back for our need of her reliable shoulder(s). *sigh*

Only one way to celebrate / bid farewell. Eat talk eat talk eat talk eat make plans for visits.
She foresaw she will be gorging down all sorts of Chinese, Western, seafood dishes over there so we decided to do Thai.

None of us have been here. Just heard it was good but with premium pricing. We only realize none of us made reservations half way there. Okay, if no table available then we just do mamak stalls or hawker fare. Hong Kong lacks those too, right? Standing at the restaurant doorstep around 7.30pm, we found our fear baseless. It was empty. 4 of us practically had the whole restaurant floor and the staff answering exclusively to our beck and call for almost an hour or so.
Yes, 2 warm water 2 cold. Think I’ll have warm too. Oh please change to cold water. Her water’s too cold, can add some warm water? Hey, air-conditioner units not working? Brrr quite cold. Please turn up temperature. That’s too much rice. Yes, half please. Why hers more than mine? No, I don’t want rice. Please bring me one empty plate. Oh, another one please. Aiya, she also wants one. Can give me more sambal? Get her some too. Got chopped chilies? No place d so please change to smaller plates...

Other patrons only started trickling in after 9pm. O.o?? Is that a norm around Bangsar dining scene?

Mieng Kam (Description in menu:- Peppery savoury leaves served with cut condiments - ginger, lime shallots, chillies, dried prawns, peanuts and dessicated coconut with sweet sauce). As long as everything's fresh, this is a hard appetiser to go wrong with.
Papaya Salad. See those crunchy prawns on top? Those were salty and fragrant. Additive. Went great with the roasted peanuts and fresh vegetables.
Hor Mok (Description in menu:- Otak-otak ie mixture of fish curry paste and coconut milk steamed in banana leaf cups). Ohhh so good, so good!
Khanom Jeen (Description in menu:- Thai laksa - a must try. Rice noodles accompanied by a variety of vegetables served with rich fish or prawn curried gravy). Think my friend opted for the fish curried gravy. We disagreed. It is not really a must try.
Phad Kao Sapparod (Description in menu:- Pineapple fried rice). Yummy!
Tom Yam Kung. Served in individual bowls so each can have the level of spiciness adjusted to own preferences. We? Hey, we went the distance of course - super spicy if you please!Kung Phad Sator (Description in menu:- Petai fried in Thai chillie paste with prawns). Am not a fan of those stinky petai pods but somehow I kept spooning the gravy. With those succulent prawns, of course.
Kaeng Khua Kai (Desciption in menu:- Chicken in Thai red curry served with minced pineapple). We decide to go against the norm and ordered a red instead of green. Not much on sight. Remember this was good but got pineapple-meh? Nevertheless, we shared 2 helpings of steamed white rice to soak up the gravy.Thab Tim Gob (Description in menu:- Waterchestnut & jackfruit in coconut milk). Alas, this was disappointing. The picture too so I decided not to post it. Luckily we ordered only 1 to sample as we were oddly, too full. No, the servings were not big. Must be due to the consumption of air - a lot of open mouth gossiping and laughing.

The bill which was split 3 (Hey, good friend, remember that was advance consideration for our coming visit(s)! ;o) :-Location and address:-

Montien
One Bangsar, Jalan Ara, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2283 3116

Knows where Bangsar Seafood Garden Restaurant is? Montien is located in the middle of the row of restaurants behind it.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, the price is a bit steep.
I am normally commenting on how cheap the food is wherever you go but this time, for what you ordered, definitely not worth the price.

But for just over £30 for 4 persons, oh my goodness, stone the crows!!! :)

sc said...

went there when it first opened. think this is more of an ambience over food place. no doubt some food is ok la. :)

Big Boys Oven said...

Look and sound very expensive... for 3 .....is it an exclusive restaraunt?

Anonymous said...

wah, the otak costs 14 RM ... very expensive otak you have there.

Kok said...

tummythoz,
All spicy food! I like! :)

Kenny Mah said...

I was laughing my face off by the end of your review: "...we were oddly, too full. No, the servings were not big. Must be due to the consumption of air - a lot of open mouth gossiping and laughing."

Adoi...

By the way, that petai dish in chili paste... makes me lau hau sui only. Unlike you, I'm a MAJOR fan of those stinky pods... Yums... :D

wmw said...

So, I guess, if we eat here better make sure we talk and laugh a lot...or else will still be hungry from this expensive meal! LOL...

boo_licious said...

LOL on KM and WMW's observations. Food looks interesting but pricey.

Big Boys Oven said...

Never mind, never mind... I will make you green curry this saturday night.

UnkaLeong said...

Oh My God! I better have my share of Som Tum, Khanoom Jenn and all good things Thai before I come back. Steep is an understatement :(

Tummythoz said...

judy, jackson, sc & boo_licious, well considering payment in advance for free acommodation (& maybe a meal or 2) in Hkg, it's worth every sen!

the cooking ninja, your Thai cook book got ecpc-close-1-eye-tie-1-hand-behind recipe for this?

kok, let's breathe fire!

kenny mah and wmw, a marvellous diet plan huh! Benefits of eating with great company never cease to surprise.

big boys oven, looking forward to that! Oops, still dono what to bring-eh..*under pressure d*

unkaleong, if only you will buy lots, deepfreeze them & bring back .. *pleading eyes*

teckiee said...

wahhh never heard of many of the dishes before

gabriella said...

Great blog!! And yummy food!! Am planning to visit Hong kong in November. Do you have any good places to suggest? I am a big foodie and have no fear in trying out new stuff!
Visit my blog http://gabriella-theglasscastle.blogspot.com/

New Kid on the Blog said...

wow!!! so expensive!!!!

backStreetGluttons said...

If the companionship is excellent ( like the team ) and the view is great(like the team vav tummythoz ) nothing is too Xpensive right ! not forgetting the service too , afterall it is Bangsar no 1

MeiyeN said...

well.... true enough, restaurants @ one bangsar quite shocking to me in terms of price... tried da italian restaurant once, not too bad but a bit pricey :)

Tummythoz said...

teckiee, I just copied from the menu. Most are familiar dishes except maybe the presentations different.

gabriella, when in Hkg, I am sheep. I just follow where my friend(s) lead. Hmm.. why not you check out Precious Pea's blog for ideas?
I'll check out yours asap!

new kid on the blog, my pocket still hurts.

the team, right on!

meiyen, trust the Italian bill must be scarier.

Rasa Malaysia said...

This place looks high class. The Hor Mok looks pretty authentic too.

By the way, tell your friend that there are many Thai restaurants at Wan Chai in Hong Kong. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi tummythoz, i kam bek liao, how are you, eh you manage to make any durian flavor tau fu fah or not?

Unknown said...

saliva is dripping whenever i see any images of thai food..hahah but i wont go here..too expensive dy

Tummythoz said...

rasa malaysia, message delivered! TQ.

firehorse, lu-ho-bo? Chiak-pa-boi? So happy to see u! No need so much work. Just eat d fruit as it is aje-lar. U managed to grab some when u were here?

kampungboycitygal, once in a blue-blue moon, ok-qua.

Jem said...

RM16 for a som tum is far too steep. It isn't a difficult dish to concoct and ingredients can be sourced easily and locally.

In Bangkok this would be considered a posh restaurant.

Tummythoz said...

jeremy, hi-hi! Thanks for dropping by a dropping a comment.
Delicious simple inexpensive Thai food - so near yet so far.

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