The Feedmelah.com team were recently invited to our very first food tasting by Maria’s restaurant, in Damansara Perdana. Having never been to any official food tasting before, we were not sure what to expect and what to do (I even asked Amy, one of the owners, if we had to pay for the food).

We’d actually been told about this place by a fellow blogger, Ken, of Foodpoi.com in a comment he left in a previous post. He told us to head to Maria’s to eat their steak but until I got to Damansara Perdana  I had forgotten he had said that.

Maria’s was first established 9 years ago in Greentown Business Centre, Ipoh, by Maria Tan and her late husband Phillip Tan. It became a huge draw for patrons who love Maria’s steaks and signature cakes.

Both shared a passion for good food to eat, and to cook. At a time when Ipoh had little to shout of in terms of fine western restaurants, Maria and Phillip would scour the world in their travels to discover delightful kitchen secrets.

They opened up their Damansara Perdana branch about 2 years ago, which they styled with a country style influence, giving it that slightly ‘homey’ look and feel.

The branch manager, Mary Ann, one of the daughters of the owners, welcomed us when we got to the restaurant and immediately started laying out what she had planned for us to eat. And she had planned ALOT of food. Good thing I can eat alot and so can Steve…

Starters

First up, something light and easy, a simple Caesar’s salad (RM12). Shaved bits of Parmesan, bacon bits (beef), walnuts and croutons with a light dressing.

Next up came two thick hearty soup dishes, the pumpkin soup and oxtail soup (RM18) respectively. The pumpkin soup (RM7.50) was freshly made, thick and creamy, which I particularly liked because alot of places I’ve been to serve canned soups and this one was definately freshly made.

Steve and Sue Ann particularly liked the Ox tail soup, asking for them to leave it on the table so that they could munch on the excess meat.

By this point the rich soups were already begining to fill us up but the main meals were yet to come. Mary Ann had chosen 4 main dishes for us to try.

There were only 3 of us eating.

Main Meals

The first main meal to come was the Grilled Salmon Fillet (RM35)  in a tangerine sauce.

Mary Ann was telling us that instead of regular salmon meat, they used sashimi grade salmon (chilled, not frozen) which they cooked medium rare, with the inside of the salmon still very pink. The result was a very soft and almost buttery texture, which blended great with the tangerine sauce.

In quick sucession came both the steak dishes they had made for us, a slab of Black Angus (top) and Wagyu (bottom) steaks respectively. Both steaks look almost identical but they had extremely different tastes.

The Black Angus (RM40/100g) has a more smokey flavour and firmer texture than that of the Wagyu, with the outer sides of the meat tasting a bit more charbroiled.

The Wagyu has a more buttery flavour (due to the marbling of the fat in the meat) and a much softer texture on the inside, almost melting in your mouth.

The cut of Wagyu we had was a grade 5 (grade 9 being the most expensive and the most fat content) which cost RM60/100gm. Mary Ann was telling us that they would have grade 7 Wagyu steaks for their customers soon, which would have been even softer than the one that we ate.

The final dish was NZ Baby Cutlets (RM48), with exactly one piece each for us to pick up by the bone and munch on the soft succulent lamb meat. Nicely seasoned with the same charbroiled taste as the steaks before.

After 3 starters and 4 main meals, we were truely full by now. But there’s always space for dessert right?

Dessert

A slice of Blueberry cheescake (RM7)…

…and a serving of Tiramisu (RM12).

Both desserts were made by the chef (Mary Ann’s uncle – it’s a family business after all), but be warned, the Tiramisu has quite a ‘kick’ in it due to the alcohol.

All in all, a nice way to finish the meal.

Eating at Maria’s was a treat, especially the steaks, as I had never eaten Black Angus (which tasted great with the seasoning and charbroiled flavor), before with the Wagyu and Salmon dishes having a great melt in your mouth texture. We’d definately go back again.

Maria’s Restaurant and Cafe
C313A, Center Wing, Metropolitan Square,

No 2, Jln PJU 8/1, Bandar Damansara Perdana,

47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Cuisine: Western (Steaks)

Pork Free

Telephone Numbers
Outlet: 03 – 7725 2313
Mary Ann (Manager): 012-5200772
Jane Low (Manager): 012-2977996

Map:

* Prices are subject to change, please contact the restaurant for the most current prices.

On my birthday the other day, we went for a simple dinner at a restaurant Sue Ann’s friend had told her about. Guzzle restaurant and bar in Damansara Perdana is a small restaurant which serves mostly western food, accompanied with a variety of beers and wines.

The interior of the place was decorated with wine bottles (empty bottles unfortunately) on shelves and only had around 10 – 15 tables inside the restaurant. Low lighting and simple furniture gave it quite a homey feel to the place.

As we were pretty hungry by the time we got there, as usual is the case, we ordered more than we should have and ended the night more full than we should have been. The one gripe I had was that they only sold water in bottles, i.e. mineral water. I never understand why they do that in Malaysia – filter your tap water and serve it to me, I’ll still drink it, don’t try and charge me for ‘reverse osmosis’ water or anything similar.

For starters we ordered ‘The Godfather’ (pizza) and a bacon and egg salad. I especially liked the salad because it had a poached egg on top, although the egg was cold, which I think they did on purpose. The pizza has a nice garlic taste to the base and crust for those garlic lovers out there.

Sue Ann ordered the ‘Hog’s breath’ which is basically a beef burger with jalapenos to give it a nice kick and served with home made french fries. The french fries were similar to the ones you get from TGI Fridays, which was a nice change to ‘crinkle cut’.

I had the bangers and mash, which was 2 jumbo chicken sausages served with brown sauce on top of pumpkin and potato mash, also a nice change. The sausages were really huge but still tasty.

My mum ordered the beer battered fish and chips, which is exactly what it says. Fish dipped in a beer batter sauce and fried, served with the home made fries as well. The batter used on the fish gave it quite a nice taste, not so bland as usual fish and chips.

My youngest brother ordered lamb chop served with pumpkin and potato mash as well. I only had a small bite so I can’t really comment much on it.

All in all, quite a nice simple western dinner, with the bill coming up to RM137.85, which is pretty goof for a meal for 4 with starters. Worth a visit one day.

Guzzle

C111 Ground Floor (Near Citibank),

Metropolitan Square, Jalan PJU 8/1,

Damansara Perdana

Cuisine: Western

Tel: 03 – 77251459