THE RESTAURANT
PLOY restaurant is located at a pretty secluded area in Damansara Heights near one of the entrances to the new Istana. It has a nice view of the KL Twin Towers outside of the restaurant. When you walk into the restaurant, immediately you can feel that its really cozy yet elegant. I really like the gold colored shiny pillows. Looking at the restaurant, its good for doing private events of about 120 people. I really like to bring my friends and family to this restaurant because the food is reaaaaally good and the price is, in my opinion, very reasonable. When we dine there, the staff are all so friendly and it makes me feel like I am having a dinner at home!.. well except that at home, I don’t have waiters serving me :)
The PLOY entrance with a view of the wine cellar…
Here’s a view of their dining hall…
The Private Room that make me feel like home (except that my home is not so nice!)…
My favourite cool Golden Pillows!!!…
THE SPECIALTY DRINKS
One of the things that I try to do is to ask the bartender what kind of special drinks they have that potential guests may find interesting. Here are some of the drinks that PLOY has to offer. I must say… some are pretty ‘interesting’…
- Pardon My Pandan
This drink is a mixture of Thai pandan and local herbs served in a cute martini glass. The contents had some RUM according to the bartender and Lychee liquor. It tastes sweet and sour and I could definitely taste that sweet pandan aroma. - Tomyamtini
This one is an interesting Martini drink. It has a mixture of some TomYam spice, Vodka and Mango juice. I was a little scared at first because the drink looked SPICY… but then when I took my first sip… it tasted nicely sweet and very flavourful! Nice! - Lychee Mint Cooler
This is MY personal favourite. It resembles a little bit like a Mojito drink with the traditional Mint. It is very refreshing with roughly blended lychee. This combination with the mint is just right. I love it! - Some others that are available there are: PLOY Bonanza, Apple Sour with Frozen Sour Plum and Ginger Camper, etc.
THE MENU
The best part about doing this blog is that I get to taste all these awesome dishes! Here are some of my best picks of the menu options you have at PLOY.
1. PLOYs Pomelo Salad – Roast Duck, Pomelo, Fresh Lime, Mint leaf and chili
This is a very light dish and refreshing and for me, it’s a really good starter to increase my appetite for the main course. I like the combination of the duck and the pomelo.
2. Blue Crabmeat Pizza – Avacado paste, Japanese tobiko, spring onion and crabmeat
When I first saw the dish, it obviously looked like… a pizza but I was interested to taste it because instead of the traditional cheese on the pizza, they used Avocado paste! Its kind of like what I would call ‘Asian style’ cause it tasted good, but yet not so filling like what pizzas do to me. Definitely a good dish to try out.
3. PLOY Black Fried Rice – Squid Ink, Seafood, Crunchy Thai Sweet Basil, Egg Yolk and Chili
The first impression when I looked at the dish is a little scary cause the rice is… black! This is caused by the squid ink. I would say that at first glance, it takes a little bravery to try it. The egg yolk is raw and is displayed nicely at the top. So to eat it, we take the yolk, pour it over the rice and stir it in. Then… you take the first spoon and put it in your mouth. After that… you feel the awesome taste and sensations! This dish is really good! I finished it even though I knew I had to save room for other dishes! One of my personal favourite dishes.
4. Spaghetti Thai Anchovies – Anchovies, Chilis and Peppercorn on Spaghetti
The chef told me that the anchovies was specially flown in from Thailand. It’s a kind of a spicy dish familiar with the traditional Aglio Olio. It’s a light pasta dish with a nice Asian flavour.
5. Chill with the Eel – Grilled marinated Eel, Avocado, Crab stick, Tobiko wrapped with finely sliced Cucumber
This is a sushi roll dish and to me this dish is like a craft project on its own. Instead of the traditional sushi rolls that get wrapped with seaweed, this one was wrapped with thinly sliced cucumber! amazing! If you are a Unagi fan, this dish is definitely a MUST TRY…
6. PLOY Special Selection : Emperor Burger
This burger dish is an Australian minced sirloin patty sandwiched in a ‘Man Tao’ bun. A true West meets East dish. When I tried this burger, I tasted something nice and sweet in a sauce. The chef told me that it’s the Japanese ‘Tiugan’ sauce that gives it its flavour. The meat itself is sooo juicy and almost literally melts in your mouth. I’m not a big ‘fast food’ fan personally, but this burger was definitely nice!!
7. Durian Panacotta
I was a little reluctant to introduce this dish in my blog post because Chef Daniel told me that there is a limited number of servings of this dish per night and this is my VERY VERY favourite dish!! So I wanted to be selfish to keep this wonderful PLOY secret to myself!! but… of course I want to share it with you. So this Dessert is a MUST HAVE if you are a Durian fan. They use only the ‘Musang King/Raja Kunyit’ durian! on top of a delightful creamy desert. Writing about it… I feel like I want to go eat it now!
8. PLOYs Red Rubies
This dessert is a popular traditional ‘Tap Tim Krop’ Thai water chestnut dish but with a great twist! The water chestnut is served with cool coconut shaved ice. A nice refreshing dessert after a good meal.
9. Decadent Chocolate Fondant
I like the cool way the chocolate flows down when you cut it. Tasting this dish, it is just at the right sweetness for me. It comes with a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream and I like how it taste together with the fondant.
The Man Behind it All
We had the pleasure to have the Master Chef, Daniel Yong introduce the dishes to us and also take us through his inspirations on his creations. Daniel is really friendly and while we were dining on his lovely creations, he told us stories about his culinary life. He was working in a Japanese restaurant in New York at some point of his life and where he learnt his trade. It was a pretty tough life from what he described but I personally think that it paid off from the food we tasted tonight.
VenueMenu Recommendation for Weddings
Event Capacity: 120 person
Event Option: Whole restaurant can be booked for events
Location Convenience: Damansara Heights, easily accessible from KL or PJ
Halal/Non-Halal: Pork Free
Type of Cuisine: Modern Asean
Price Range*: $$$
*price range is my personal rating system out of the overall venues that we have been to. It is a rating of between $ to $$$$$
PLOY Restaurant
Prakash Ramachandran, Restaurant Manager (Cell: 011 1221 8389)
G-02 Ground Floor WORK@clearwater, Changkat Semantan, Off Jalan Semantan, Damansara Heights, 50490 Kuala Lumpur
Phone: +60320950999
www.ploywithyourfood.com
photos by Edwin Tan | Make-up by Agnes Yip
