Ma Maison @ Ampang

Ma Maison - My Home

Somewhere in a quiet residential area in Ampang sits a cozy, warm, simple, unpretentious French restaurant. Ma Maison is the ultimate place to visit if you are craving French fare with reasonable portions and exquisite taste. Sandal and I have been here quite a number of times but this is the first time that we actually remembered to bring our camera along.

Prawn Bisque @ RM16

Oysters directly flown in from France @ RM8/pc

For starters we had the prawn bisque and two air flown French oysters. The prawn bisque was perfect; light with a strong aromatic flavor of prawns and saffron unlike Ze American counterpart of comfort soups which are usually too thick and creamy. As for the oysters, they were not only fresh but sweet and Chef Bertrand (the owner) was kind enough to give us one extra complimentary oyster.

Cod Fillet @ RM46

For mains I had the Cod Fillet with basil and lemon butter and Sandal, the Veal Sweet Bread with green peppercorn which is actually the glands of the veal (Sandal being very adventurous today). There was only ONE word to describe the Cod - DIVINE. It was cook perfectly; in timing and in style. The texture of the fish was  succulent, bouncy and firm. In fact, texture wise I have not tasted another which comes even remotely close to, and trust me, I have eaten cod in many different restaurants. The sauce that accompanied it was buttery yet light, and this allowed the sweet natural taste of the fish to shine out.

Veal Sweet Bread with Green Peppercorn @ RM60

Potato Au Gratin

On the other hand, Sandal's veal was actually rather strange tasting albeit having a good chewy texture. The sauce that accompanied it was very nice (Chef Bertrand is a pro at making sauces) but the veals' glands actually had a very strange, bland taste to it. Perhaps it wasn't our cup of tea, after all the both of us are not big fans of organs. So much for being adventurous eh? However, we loved the potato Au Gratin which came with the veal!

For dessert we were looking forward to  the very delicious moist, rich chocolate cake drizzled liberally with vanilla sauce served here. Alas! it was not to be as the cake was sold out during lunch.

** Dear Readers,

    I recently visited Ma Maison for lunch (1st Dec 2010) and found that they have changed 

    their Chocolate Cake recipe. I regret to inform that the new recipe is a disappointment and 

    the texture of the cake was very dry. For any readers who have  visited and  tried the cake 

    based on my recommendation above, please accept my sincerest apologies if you found 

    the new cake to be as excruciatingly bad as I did yesterday.

Romantic Little Gem

If you have never been here, do do drop by. We have tried the beef, foie gras, duck, venison, veal (meat not the glands) and we can strongly vouched that nearly everything we have tried here is delicious.

If you are in KL during lunch hour, they also have a lunch set for just RM 32 nett, where you can choose a main meal from two options given and have a free appetizer buffet which features pate, Kalamata olives, caramelized onions, cheeses, garlic bread, tuna salad, apple salad, egg salad and pasta. All very delectable.

Verdict :

I love love love this restaurant as it is unpretentious and all the prices you see in the menu is nett. Furthermore, Ma Maison offers complimentary plain water (instead of forcing you to buy bottled water at a ridiculous price), and that to me is a mark of a true first class establishment.

Our meal came up to RM 138, and in my opinion, was very reasonable for a French restaurant of this quality. However, do take note that Ma Maison does not offer credit card facilities so be sure to have cash when you bring your date to this romantic little gem.

Toothpick says : Hearty, good food at a reasonable price

Sandal says : One of my favourite dining places

Address :

32 Persiaran Ampang,

Desa Pahlawan,

55000 Kuala Lumpur.

(Open daily except Tuesday)

GPS :

N = 3° 9' 28.92", E = 101° 44' 49.05"

Google Map : 
3.158033, 101.746958

Croisette - Home Deli'v @ Level 3 Cascadium Condominium Bangsar, KL

French food is synonymous with small portions of food bursting with full flavor at an exorbitant price. Yesterday, Sandal & I were invited to dinner by 2 friends at a newly open French cafe called Croisette at Cascadium Condominium in Bangsar. Hearing from them that it was French and reasonably priced, we were immediately game to join them. Upon reaching there, we had to obtain a visitor parking, park at the 2nd level, walk back down to the 1st level to be buzzed into the building and then ride the elevator back up to the 3rd level. This made the deli slightly inconvenient and inaccessible especially to new patrons.

The deli is situated right next to the condo's swimming pool which makes it perfect for alfresco dining as it is very windy and cooling. However,the deli was quite empty with only 1 other couple sitting alfresco last night...but then again, this could be due to it being open only for a week. The cafe was small, simple, spacious with white walls and about 6 tables indoor and 2 tables outside.

The menu consisted of a limited range of dishes as the French owner, Pierre, who is also the chef has not found enough hired help. Most dishes in the menu are homemade from scratch and I ordered the wild mushroom as a starter and beef lasagna as my main (Yes, oddly enough this Italian dish was in the French menu...IMO, the menu was more fusion than french with a little bit of Thai, Chinese, Italian & French food - a little something for everyone). Sandal ordered the Today's special which was the Morocco Lamb Tajine, and our 2 friends had the seafood spaghetti with pistou (very similar to pesto sauce but without the pine nuts) and another Today's special which was the Seafood Rotizza.

Food Breakdown :

1. Wild Mushroom Soup (RM10.50) - Soup was definitely homemade with no dairy cream. Light, tasty and healthy. Perfect for weight watchers! However, I felt that it was a little on the pricey side for a soup albeit being homemade.

Baked Beef Lasagna

2. Baked Lasagna Beef Bolognese with hard roll and mesclun salad (RM13.00) - Lasagna was tasty but I think it was also very healthy as it had only very little cheese or maybe none at all (Significantly different from the American version of lasagna). The fantastic thing about this lasagna was it was tasty without leaving behind a jelak/unhealthy/too stuffed feeling after finishing. Guess my diet is still on track =)

Morocco Lamb Tajine

3. Morocco Lamb Tajine (RM18.00) - Reasonably priced with lovely soft, tender pieces of delicious lamb. However, the rice that accompanied the dish was cous cous rice and neither hubby nor I are big fans of cous cous.

Seafood Rotizza

4. Seafood Rotizza (RM15) - This seafood pastry is a Today's Special and is not in the a la carte menu. It is actually made of our very own Malaysian roti canai with seafood and red sauce as topping. It was nothing extraordinary and it was a little bit expensive as it was very small - the size of a palm. You will probably need an appetizer to accompany it OR maybe an appetizer + a 2nd main dish, to be full... OR maybe I just have a huge appetite =P

Seafood Pasta

5. Seafood Pasta with Pistou Dressing (RM12 -15) - This particular dish is actually a dish from their lunch box set menu (Yup, they do deliveries too!) and is not in their a la carte menu either. However, as my friend is friend's with the owner/chef's partner, he made it specially for us. The pasta was tasty and healthy with a good amount amount of seafood. Very reasonably priced.

Chili Chocolate Brownie

6. Chili Chocolate Brownie (RM 7 approx.) - Another dish that was specially made and not in the menu yet. Brownie was moist and chocolatey with a hint of spicyness as chili powder was added during the mixing process. It also came with an Earl Grey Sauce which goes well with each bite of the moist chocolate. If you are a chocolate lover looking for something with a Zing, this would be it!

Verdict :

A great place for a very reasonable, healthy, delicious meal made from fresh, good quality ingredients. All prices are nett, and our bill came up to only RM94 inclusive of 3 freshly squeezed non diluted sugar free juices, a cup of Macchiato and water for 4 people. If you are looking for European food without packing on the pounds, think Croisette. If you'd like to enjoy your meal within the confines of your home/office, do visit their website at http://homedelivkl.blogspot.com/ to find out more about their delivery services.

Toothpick says : Worth a try especially for health conscious people

Sandal says : Mediocre but cheap. I give it a 6/10 for the food.

Address :

Home Deli'V

Level 3 Cascadium Condominium

Bangsar, KL.

GPS :

N = 3° 8' 27.9" E = 101° 39' 59.9'

Google Map :
3.141083, 101.666639