Olla Restaurant at Hotel Granada in Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru ...

Posted: 26 Mar 2014 07:50 AM PDT

Olla-Restaurant-Hotel-Granada-Bukit-Indah-Johor-Bahru

I have been looking for Halal Hainanese chicken rice in JB, and so was glad to be invited by Faizal, F & B Manager at Olla Restaurant in Hotel Granada to try their popular local dishes.

Olla Restaurant is spacious, bright, neatly laid out, very clean and comfortable.

The key man behind Olla Restaurant is Executive Chef Peter Lim. After a lifetime in kitchens around the world, Peter retired contented in Kuala Lumpur. But, it was not long before Peter's wealth of experience was called upon. He was head hunted to help set up Olla Restaurant which took him out of retirement to Johor Bahru. Peter agreed only because he couldn't stay too long away from his passion.

A true blue Hainanese, Peter is proud to share his Hainanese chicken rice with guests.

The large chicken is hung on hooks to air cool after poaching, in true Hainanese tradition.

Good Hainanese chicken rice requires a lot of skill in cutting the bird correctly - along the right grain, correct size and parts to present the chicken's best flavours and texture.

Hainanese Chicken Rice RM18++

The chicken meat was tender, juicy, smooth and had that subtle natural chicken flavour that I liked.

The aromatic rice was fluffy. The chili and ginger were freshly blended.

So, if you are looking for a good Halal Hainanese chicken rice, you know where to get it now :D

Oxtail Asam Pedas RM28++

Chef Peter suggested that we try their Oxtail Asam Pedas. As I am a big fan of oxtail and asam pedas, I was eager to try this dish.

Chef Peter said that this dish was created in Sabah. The oxtail was stewed with local herbs and spices till tender. It was served in a claypot "dry" with additional asam pedas sauce provided in a gravy boat. The gravy was a blend of tangy, sweet, and spicy.

Olla Restaurant is the only place that I know of in JB to enjoy this unique Sabahan dish.

Ayam Percik RM28++

We also tried the traditional ayam percik made with spring chicken and aromatic spices.

The flavourful mildly spicy grilled chicken was caramelised and crisp outside while still juicy inside.

Udang Sambal Petai RM25++

Udang Sambal Petai uses fresh prawns which are cooked with crunchy wild petai beans and local fragrant spices. This popular dish is a blend of sweet, bitter (from the petai), savoury and mildly spicy.

The good sized prawns were cooked just right, keeping them succulent.

Olla Restaurant is a good and convenient place to enjoy delicious authentic local dishes in comfort.

Restaurant name: Olla Restaurant (at Hotel Granada)
Address: 55, Jalan Bukit Indah 15/2, Taman Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/oTRDo
GPS: 1.482688,103.659197
Hours: 7:00am to 11.00pm
Halal

Date visited: 17 Mar 2014

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Seafood Buffet, Harbour Cafe @ Traders Hotel, Puteri Harbour, Johor

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 05:51 AM PDT

14 March 2014

Trader hotel is having seafood buffet every FRIDAY. YES, FRIDAY..... TGIF...... Next day is Saturday. I can still work out on the next day. Makan dulu, Nanti baru fikir （Eat First, ^^ later only find solution for the weight......）

Variety of food

Executive Chef Allan Wong recommend us to try the fried Shisamo and fried soft crab to kick start our buffet. Shisama is a kid of fish with lots of egg. I used to buy its as tidbits in Thailand. The fried soft crab is very nice. Every time my brother comes back from the counters, sure he brings back fried soft crab.

Lotus and Peanut soup is Chef Allan Wong 's mother recipe. Chef Allan Wong speaks proudly about this soup. I like the light lotus fragrance in the soup. Chef adds some dried squid for the extra flavor.

Sasimi Combination

All Sashimi is prepared fresh. This remind me of 将太の寿司 Shota no Sushi。 The main protagonist, always in search of the freshest and best ingredient for his customer. The fresh scallop and octopus are y favorite.

Thin crust pizza with garlic and cheese

I like the thin crust.

Seafood and some chilled white wine is a great combination.

Chili Crab

A very big crab to be shared by us. Do you know what is the best thing while eating crab? seafood cracker? Hammer? hand glove? No No NO. ... The best thing is we got a special crab cracker, Mr Kelvin. He is a really professional. The crab meat is clean neatly from the crab shell. All crab meat is then put on a plate and rotate among the girls. Till today, I still very grateful for him. I don't eat crab. My brother do. Based on his feedback, the crab meat is very fresh and sweet. A very good combination with hot and spicy chili sauce.

Photo Credit: Trader Hotel

Salmon Baked in Salt Crust is one unique dish I ever tasted. Egg white and salt is beaten together until fluffy foam. The foam wrapped the whole salmon fish. The fish is baked for 4 hours before served. The fish still maintain its moisture and authentic taste. I really like this dish

Dessert Station

There are more than 30 types of dessert at the dessert station. Sadly, my second stomach is ot big enough to try all the dessert.

This is the first double chocolate fountain in Johor.

It may be the first one in Malaysia. There are 6 layers for the chocolate to flow. (May be the tallest too in Johor)The more layer mean the smoother the chocolate is. This statement is stated in the anime, Yumeiro Patissiere. Marshmallow can be easily wrap by chocolate. In the dipping process, I noticed that there is no hard pieces of chocolate stick to the mash mallow. The marshmallow and smooth chocolate is great combination

Crepe with Red Bean Paste Filling / 豆沙窝饼

Special dessert by Chef Neon Meng. Chef Neon Meng learnt this dessert in Shanghai. This dish need a lot of skills and technique to make. It took him more than one day to make this prefect crepe. 2 types of dough are mixed together. The paste need to be freeze first.Next, he need to double check that the crepe is free of hole. Before he fried it, high oil temperature need to be tested. This is to ensure the crepe will be fried to golden brown.

Crepe with Jade Green Paste 翡翠窝饼

I prefer the jade green paste. Jade green paste use natural pandan leave juice. Thus it give the light green or jade green colour with pandan flavour. Thank you Kelvin. The crepe is quite tender soft. Not to forget pipping hot. He have to "tahan" for some time just to let me take this angle. It is best to use hand to pick up this dessert. Avoid chopstick as it may spoil the texture.

Ler's Reviews:

No Pork, No Lard, No Halal Cert

Delicious: 4/5