Malay Food Restaurant : Serai @ Paradigm Mall

"Serai"  A Midscale Malay Cuisine Restaurant  at Paradigm Mall

Last Sunday, we wanted to go to a mall that isn't too crowded and has an indoor playground. Usually, we will head to Tropicana Shopping Mall but we decided to go to Paradigm Mall instead to see if the Jkids indoor playground there is bigger and better (the place is bigger but it has the same set up as Tropicana's Jkids, the only thing bigger is the ball pit. The extra space is utilised for bigger kids party area and a small "cafe". Bummer..)

The set up @ Serai - A Malaysian Food Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

We chanced upon a malay restaurant called Serai at Paradigm Mall and decided to give it a try. Serai is a midscale malay cuisine restaurant with a clean modern setting that reminds me of a cross between Ikea and Scanteak. I like the simple interior of the restaurant, seems like a nice place for a business lunch or for bringing tourist friends to experience Malay Food without sweating in hot "warungs" or noisy food courts. Service is prompt and friendly. Food selection was quite ok. 

We ordered:

Malay Food Restaurant @ Serai : Serai Platter

Hubby ordered Serai Platter which is lemongrass infused rice with fried chicken, beef rendang, squids in sweet sauce and acar (cucumber and carrots salad). Hubby said the taste is just average.

Malay Food Restaurant @ Serai : Nasi Kerabu

I ordered Nasi Kerabu, a traditional Kelantanese dish, plain rice that gets its blue color from the leaves of the Noni fruit. It is served with Ayam Percik (grilled chicken), salted egg, fish crackers,serunding (grated coconut) sambal chili, ulam (traditional salad) and a spicy and creamy gravy. The flavour of the Nasi Kerabu comes from the mixture of serunding, gravy, sambal and ulam.. yummy! Word of caution, the sambal chili here is super hot!

Malay Cuisine Restaurant in KL:@ Serai: Satay Platter

The satay @ Serai restaurant are big chunks of meat with no fat. Very nice to eat, the marinade may not be as sinfully strong as other satays (maybe because of the super chunky meat) but goes well with the satay gravy and the cucumber cuts are also generous and crunchy while the nasi himpit (the cubed rice in the pic) is firm and not soggy.

Malay Restaurant Kuala Lumpur @ Serai : Crispy fried brinjals

We first tasted cripy fried brinjals @ Khatijah's Kitchen and though we really liked it, we haven't found any other restaurants that served it. Serai offers this dish but it is different from Khatijah's Kitchen's version. It is quite nice but a bit sweet, I think they coat the brinjals with sugar. This dish tasted crunchy, spicy and sweet. I would prefer it not to be sweet though.

Our Dessert (ok hari tu mood makan besar) :

Malay Traditional Dessert With a Modern Twist @ Serai

Hubby ordered banana fritters with pandan infused syrup and vanilla ice cream. Bananas were crispy on the outside, tender on the inside (I personally think the bananas are slightly under ripe) the bananas by itself are a bit lacking in flavour but tasted pretty good with the syrup and especially nice with the ice cream. 

Pavlova @ Serai 

I decided to try a Pavlova (the first time in my sweet-toothed life) having seen pictures of it many times but never really seen one right in front of my eyes haha.. Didn't know that it is actually a meringue (something like macaroon) and stuffed with nothing but cream and fruits on top. Argh.. super fattening, I immediately regretted ordering it. Not my style! Give me a chocolate fudge anytime, that's worth the calories to me. 

Our drinks @ Serai : Iced chocolate & Iced Lemon Tea

Our drinks, iced tea for the kids (normal) iced chocolate (supposedly for me but hubby finished it up) the warm water requested by hubby came in a small glass and also finished up by my kiddo. Sigh.. walked out of the restaurant super full but thirsty especially after the Pavlova.. 

Serai Restaurant.. nice food.. nice ambience.. definitely the halal restaurant to go to if you are around Paradigm Mall area. Next time, I won't be such a glutton :)



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Marriott Putrajaya Review - What A Disappointment!

When we opted for a staycation at Putrajaya instead of going for a holiday during the peak Christmas + year end period last December, all we had in our mind was a relaxing stay in a hotel where the kids will be entertained and we don't have to step out of the hotel. We chose Marriott Putrajaya over Pullman mainly because of the pool and Kiddies' World pictures on their website. 

We should have known better and go with Tripadvisors' ratings sigh.. while the pool was true to the pics, the Kiddies World is quite sad. The toys are very limited and the slide is small suitable for maybe 2-3 years old only. There is nothing much there that can even entertain the kids past 20 minutes. The library have some musty smell and even the book are not interesting. There are some PS3's but I am not sure what games are available. Even worse, the place closes at 7pm daily. Heh? How am I going to entertain the kids in a dead pace like Putrajaya in the evenings then? Total disappointment!

The room that we got was at the executive level so we had access to the executive lounge for drinks and hors d'oeuvre in the evenings and continental breakfast in the mornings.  The selection was limited and uninspiring. For breakfast, you are better off eating at the buffet breakfast downstairs.

Our room faced the golf course and this was our balcony and view:

Marriott Putrajaya dismal room balcony at the Executive Level

The "beautiful' scenery of the hotel grounds from our room.

The  "Golf Course" scenery from our room @ Marriott Putrajaya

The hotel room's furniture was dated, the couch was rock hard and has a sunken spot and the indoor plants that was supposed to decorate the room did not enhance the room's aesthetics. The only consolation was the toilet which while not awesome , at least was acceptably pleasing to the eyes. 

Marriott Putrajaya's room

Dated furniture at Putrajaya Marriott Hotel

The cluttered snack bar @ Marriott Putrajaya

The only consolation - an acceptable bathroom

Marriott Putraaya Bathroom

It was a waste of money staying there. We were better off staying at home but the kids enjoyed the holiday and as parents that was most important. Will we return again? A resounding "no".