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Monday, June 29, 2009

Dining Out @ Indulge, Tropicana City Mall, Petaling Jaya

1. melons standing on attention, 2. the gorgeous salad, 3. cheery interiors to bring a smile for Monday

"If you believe in the power of magic......" That song keeps playing in my head the whole morning from Alan Parsons Project's Don't Answer Me (if you do want to listen to it, see
my blip.fm) I guess all of us don't believe in the power of magic but definitely the power of great presentation and cheery colours. Indulge at Tropicana City Mall seems to have got those two finer points, down to the pat with its sunshine yellow interiors (cynics will probably call it too jarringly yellow) and their beautiful plating of food.

miso cod on a brushstroke of orange sauce (menu says lemongrass foam but didn't see any around?)

A great place to chase away those Monday blues today....Indulge is run by Chef Pele Kuah who used to work in Mandarin Oriental Hotel and The Rennaisance Hotel. Hence you find little touches on the plate usually found in fine dining - that artistic sweep from a brush for the sauce, the beautifully turned and cut vegetables until they resemble flowers and leaves and etc.

1. yellow like the Digi Man, 2. grilled lamb cutlet, 3. masterpiece of vegetables, 4. goulash in a mash potato ring

I especially love the Melon Salad (RM16) - a combination of rock melon and watermelon balls drizzled with reduced balsamic vinegar and a salad to win my heart over. I'm always partial to great salads and this one was pretty good with assorted leaves, finely diced green apples, walnuts, sundried tomatoes, orange segments and strangely enough, bits of canned lychees. Splashie Boy had the Duo of Lamb (RM35), lamb done two ways to give you a contrast of textures and flavours of the lamb. Beautifully plated, the orange lamb goulash was encircled in a mash potato ring, while you had a very small portion of lamb cutlet on the side. Vegetables here are served to look like a beautiful masterpiece. Tastewise, we preferred the goulash more to the lamb cutlet, which had a slight gamey taste and was a little too fat for our liking.


My Miso Cod (RM35) was a sight to behold, with a bright orange brushstroke decorating the plate on one side. Served on top of a wasabi potato mash (not much taste of wasabi though), the cod was a nice thick slab but I thought it lacked the juiciness I usually like in my codfish. I especially loved my vegetables and even found a cucumber cut to resemble a leaf.

Overall, it was a pleasant dining experience and for both of us, we felt the best dish was the melon salad! Although it scores top marks for plating, food taste felt a little short I reckon or maybe we had such high expectations of this place to taste like fine dining, since the food looks similar to fine dining. Nevertheless, we definitely won't mind returning for their other interesting items like pastas, the grilled beefsteaks with various sauces, the salmon with vodka cream and etc. They also serve a value for money set lunch for RM12.90+ served with ice lemon tea but only for Monday to Fridays. For more bigger pictures on the place, see my Flickr set.

Indulge

L1-12
Level One
Tropicana City Mall
Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03- 7710 6112

(Pork free. I don't think it is halal since they have vodka cream in their dishes? Place is located next to Esquire Kitchen and near the escalators. Parking in the mall during the weekends is getting a little painful now with the opening of the cinema. From July 1st, parking will be charged also.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

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14 comments:

  1. Thank you for publicising my site here... I always like visiting yours. Keep the good work & have a pleasant day. hApPy HaPpY...

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  2. ooo, i still haven't stepped into tropicana city mall yet. have been waiting for bad ass coffee to open (any idea if it has?). then maybe i'll go and kill a few birds with one visit (bad ass, indulge, santini, room 18 ... did i miss anything!) :D

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  3. Yeah I've tried it on their 1st day of opening. Melon salad is good and looked pretty too. However I think the prices is a bit steep for the simple decor.

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  4. gotta give this place a try since I go to tropicana city mall so often. :D

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  5. Nice western fare in smaller packages, me think. Green peas look slightly over-cooked?

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  6. Ya loh... parking used to be a breeze in the past! But I went there last 2 weeks and it took me 15 min to find a parking! Sigh...

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  7. I passed by the place the other day while having dinner and it did caught my eyes, esp the hanging plants on the outside and the cozy decor.

    Food looks great and artistic. Must get my colleagues over since we work right opposite.

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  8. The set lunch was excellent value. Try the Tuna Belly and be pleasantly surprised. The Roaster chicken with thyme was really tender and juicy as well and now I know why because we have a five-star hotel chef...

    The crepe suzette was also very nice. You can really taste the fresh orange zest. Must try....

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  9. Eric woolfson of Alan parsons project is on Facebook! He is posting some pretty cool stuff everyday. If your an APP fan, its definitely exciting news!

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eric-Woolfson/94942377217?ref=ts

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  10. Yeah, food taste fell short...or maybe I was expecting too much? Like the decor though. Don't mind coming here to chill.

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  11. oooo, now this sounds way better than the kimchi place i went at tropicana city...

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  12. Please be informed that Chef Pele does not run Indulge...He is a hired chef working in Indulge...

    But "syabas" to him for doing a great job....


    thanks

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  13. Ah, finally some good response on the eateries here. Thanks for the info!

    Btw, if you're looking for parking on weekend here, I might be able to help :)

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  14. went to Tropicana mall mostly for Santini but didnt know abt this plc!
    And yes, parking s a drag now..boy..last time it was empty enuf to do the drift ala Fast & Furious! Now ya gotta do the crawl...

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