Cheap Japanese Bento @ Ume-tei Bento House, SS15 Subang Jaya

After finishing up my final year presentation at college, my friends and I decided to go for lunch. A friend introduced this place, Ume-tei, located in the busy streets of SS15 Subang Jaya. He described it as economical japanese food and tastes decent too. There aren't many economical japanese food around town(not in Subang Jaya at least), especially bento sets, which usually go for at least RM20 onwards. Without hesitating, we carpooled our way down to ss15.

Ume-tei is located just beside Peppercorn Cafe. Fairly easy to spot if you are a regular at ss15. It is on the same row as Salmon Steak House and the back of the wet market.

Inside was a little quiet, especially during lunch hours. Interior decorations were fairly simple, japanese potraits, wooden chairs and glass table. I must say, the selection of food choices here isn't great, but it is more than enough (most places have menus as thick as a magazine, here is just a sheet of laminated paper). I mean, it makes life easy to decide on what to order.

We ordered Unagi Don(rm18), Chawan Mushi(rm3.50), Chicken Teriyaki Bento(rm11), Shake Bahayaki Bento(rm12), Sliced Beef Steak Bento(rm12), Macaroni Salad(rm2). They have a choice between garlic fried rice, or just plain white rice. I had garlic fried rice to go with my bento. I have to say, it is quite nice. I had sliced beef bento. The beef wasn't overcooked, which resulted it in not being too dry, which was good. Serving portions were not bad as well; quite large for this kind of pricing.

I would definitely recommend this place if you are looking for cheap japanese food. Although if you are looking for sushi, you would have to go somewhere else as they only serve bento and various noodles. They also pack their bentos so you could call them to order and go there to pick it up.

Ume-tei Bento House
No. 19, Grd Floor, Jalan SS15/4,
47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor.
Tel: 03-56367895

Dinner at Star Grill, Taipan USJ 10, Subang Jaya

Today my friend wanted to treat me dinner for my birthday celebration and he asked me to pick a place. I've been eye-ing on this place called Star Grill, located in Taipan, USJ 10. It is just beside where Burger King once used to be. He agreed and we went there.

To my surpise, I saw a familiar face. He greeted me like an old friend. It was the old uncle from Meaty House across the parking facility. No wonder I didn't see him there anymore, he moved to Star Grill! With his usual enthusiasm, he quickly introduced us with some fairly new dishes which I did not seem to have come across the old place last time. He recommended the German Pork Knuckle, which was for 2pax. There were 2 variations of it as well; one being the regular crispy version, and the other skinless, but wrapped in bacon instead. Oh my god, can you imagine how sinful is that? Bacon + pork knuckle = instant fat.

Anyway, we ordered Ice Lemon Tea and Barley Lime. Complimentary crackers and salad were given as well while we waited for the main dish. We also had mushroom soup. It was definitely filled with mushrooms, but it did not taste as good as the one at Dave's(which effectively is double the price as well). When the Pork Knuckle came out of the kitchen, my jaw dropped. literally. It was that huge, larger than what I would have estimated. We ate and ate for an hour and barely managed to finish it. 2 people definitely won't be enough to take down this behemoth, unless you have a black hole appetite.

The Pork Knuckle was served with minty sauce and the usual brown sauce. We had to go 2 rounds of the sauce as it finished before we even had half of the pork. The skin was very crispy, akin to the chinese roast pork belly, except this in one huge lump. Meat was still pinkish and very tender, which probably meant it was just about right.

Overall we paid about RM70, which was a little high, but for this chunk of meat, I think it was worth the while. The uncle recommended we make a 2nd trip back for the German Pork Knuckle wrapped with Bacon instead. I would need to bring more friends the next time around.

StarGrill Restaurant
No.4, Jalan USJ10/1B,
USJ Taipan,
476200 Subang Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Tel: 03-5621 8100

...and I aged today

Guess my age :D