Monday 18 February 2013

Maria's Restaurant & Cafe - The Right Place for Steaks

Frankly, it's really hard to find good steak in Malaysia even if you are willing to pay for it! Ever since Opus Bistro disappointed me with their Wagyu "grade 7", I have almost lost faith for steaks in Malaysia... Until I pay Maria's Restaurant and Cafe a visit, that is!


Located in the level 3 of Metropolitan Square, Maria's is accessible from the lift in between of the Citibank and Old Town. It is almost impossible to randomly spot it as the 3rd floor is quite deserted, especially in the afternoon. I only got to know about its existence thanks to Ms. Kelly.

The restaurant is mainly being divided into 2 areas; outer and inner while having 4 different types of table settings and wall design:


The Entrance





Sorry for the blurred photo, that's my awesome companion by the way.

Let's start off with some beverages:


Honey Lemon Smoothies (RM 11)

Both me and Ms. Christy were really curious when we saw this in the menu - honey, lemon, with milk? Ms. Christy was really hesitated to order this until we asked Thomas - the waiter of the day, for the ingredients. It was a shame for me to forget about those ingredients but I'm pretty sure there wasn't any milk and it is pretty good according to Ms. Christy! It's refreshing, smooth and well blended. If you are getting tired of the regular honey lemon, why not give this a go?

Mochaccino, Large (RM 10)

Well I'm usually not a big fans of coffee, just that I was in the mood that day. The Mochaccino turned out to be pretty good, just that it's a little flat to my liking.

Since it was already quite late, and we were hungry, we dove head first into the main course:


Wagyu Grade 5 bedded on  Potato Wedges, 190g (RM 80/100g)

We went with the Wagyu 5 as they have the smallest portion at 190g while the minimum available portion of the Wagyu 7 is 270g, which is too much for us. To be honest I wasn't expecting a lot from a Wagyu 5 as restaurants in Australia usually serves grade 6 at least. However, the moment this beautiful slab of meat is served on my table proves me wrong.

It was love at first sight. The color got me drooling, and when I cut the steak to see its inner beauty, my confidence in the steak rocketed! The texture was amazing and soft, only with a slight crisp on the outside of the steak. It was as if I was cutting open a fried bean curd instead of a steak!

The color, my goodness, was dark brown on the outer layer, then a gradual transcendence from a light brown to a pinkish-red on the inside; the perfect medium done-ness for a steak! It was so good that none of us remembered to take a photo of that because we were too busy trying to wipe our drool off the table. 


I gotta sink my teeth into this! And it was divine. The instant it went into our mouths, "WOW", we both exclaimed. The meat was so tender, so juicy, so RICH! It was perfectly grilled that none of the freshness of the meat was lost, and so well seasoned that they just elevates the steak into new heights. Heck, even the potato wedges were perfectly baked and seasoned.

I can claim that this is the BEST steak I've ever had in my life thus far! Even the Kobe I had previously wasn't as good! Kudos to the chef who prepared it! Maria's Restaurant and Cafe, I salute you!



Grilled Canadian Seabass, Premium White Cod served with Sake Sauce (RM 58)
Thanks to the name of the dish, I couldn't really differentiate whether it's a seabass or cod. Although the term 'cod' and 'seabass' are interchangeably used but due to all these years of being a cod lover, I'll justify it as cod.

Anyways, the cod was fresh and the cooking is amazing! The skin is utterly crispy while the meat is slightly crispy on the outside and oh, so tender on the inside. Each and every fillet gives out a rich flavor, soft texture and leaves a lingering aroma of sake behind. The potato wedges going with the sake sauce is simply irresistible; we just loved it!


This is probably one of the most enjoyable cod dishes I've ever had, and I've had A LOT. Definitely going on my "favorites" list

And how could we not order any dessert after such a fantastic meal?


Moist Chocolate Cake, with Premium Vanilla Ice-cream (RM 11)
We thought Thomas (the awesome, polite server) suggested 'White' Chocolate Cake but he was actually saying "Moist" Chocolate Cake, communication's a bitch. Ms. Christy was a little disappointed but her disappointment was being compensated by this delicious Moist Chocolate Cake.

A soft texture with a rich chocolate flavor, accompanied with a scoop of genuine vanilla ice-cream, easily a sweet ending for a meal. I was never very much into super sweet stuff like a moist chocolate cake but this was delectable, especially when it went with the vanilla ice-cream.


Triple Chocolate Ice-cream (Forgot to note down the price, sorry!)
Having a triple chocolate along with a moist chocolate is rather sinful, but who cares? It's a satisfyingly sweet and rich scoop of chocolate, no complain. Eating it with the moist cake instead of the vanilla is basically committing crimes, but we gave in.

Maria's Restaurant & Cafe is definitely one of the best places for steaks! Though the ambiance is not as fancy as some other restaurants and the food presentation is pretty straight forward, but the quality of their food and the reasonable prices definitely made up for it! Can't wait to go back again soon! :)

Also, kudos to Thomas, from Myanmar, who speaks fluent English,  for being polite, attentive and suggestive while serving us! He definitely earned the restaurant a good reputation.

Overall Ratings:
Food:              9/10
Creativity:        5/10
Ambiance:       7/10
Service:           9/10
Value:              8/10

Here's their Facebook page, feel free to pay them a visit!


Petaling Jaya
Address: C313A, Center Wing, Metropolitan Square, No 2, Jalan PJU 8/1, Bandar Damansara Perdana,
                47820 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Contact: +603-2181 2426

Operating Hours: Mon - Sat, 12pm - 11pm
                                         Sun, 5pm - 11pm 

Credits: 
Author: Ang Joonkie

Companion of the day: Christy Lim

Editor: Harrison Tan
Suggestion: Kelly Teong

Photos of the day:


It was a great catch up; the lovely lady of the day - Ms. Christy with such a charming smile!



1 comment:

  1. My family's a regular since eons ago. Never been to the Petaling Jaya branch, but Maria's Ipoh serves the best steaks in town. Any steak connoiseur would vouch for that statement. Hmm.. yes occasionally there's bound to be mistakes like my doneness ain't correct or the meat supply isn't up to standard, but well, cut them some slack ya? I know how it's like to run F&B.

    Friends say the Petaling Jaya branch's steaks is one of the best in KL and even beats the established outlets. There are others who go to the extend to say they are hooked. Haha yes i know the taste. Unless PJ serves better ones than the one I have in Ipoh. Now if they are business-minded enough to change their name from "cafe" to "steakhouse"..... people may just easily compare them to other good steakhouses in KL. Oh yes, their blueberry cheese cake is amazing too.

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