Review: Fine & Relax Café

Venue: Taman Wawasan Puchong
Overall comment: I dare say that the food's good...and it's not pricey too! :) I liked the presentation & ah, I enjoyed the espresso as well :D Stepping into a café/restaurant filled with the aroma of coffee just takes me into another realm...
Halal: Pork-free

I have never heard of this place before I stepped foot into the cafe, but I was invited by Jessy Kam, co-business owner of this place for a review, through the recommendation of my sister's boyfriend. This proud business prototype began its operation around half a year ago & has been doing pretty well in its interesting concept of casual fine dining & ala carté dinners. They're also opened to have aspiring/ fresh graduate chefs to train under the supervision of their consultants in kitchen duties & on how to manage a restaurant/café of their own. How interesting.

The Café

The Interior

The café is neatly decorated with warm lightings & simple furniture. It's spacious enough to house a small party/function, apart from the usual dinners :) In the photo, it looks as if there's no one there, eh? You'll be surprised...at times the place is fully booked! Most of the time, people come here with a reservation made. So happened that the day I was there, it was quite late already & the place wasn't packed. Check out their photos on Facebook!

Casual Fine Dining (RM49.90/person)

One of the highlights of this café. FR's casual fine dining course offers a mixture of fine-dining style dishes & services, at a certainly more affordable "casual-price"! You'll get a flow of fine dining dishes served at your table for 2 (or more), in some nice ambiance, usually on weekend nights. Ala carté dishes are served from Tuesdays-Thursdays. If you really want to have some casual fine-dining dinner, the management can also arrange one for you during the weekday nights.

Promotions

From time to time, FR will have some irresistible promotions. For a very affordable price, you'll practically get to dig in to a lovely main dish alongside some snacks & a drink as well!

FR boasts of their coffee!

Espresso
I'm not a coffee addict, nor do I know much about coffee, but I surely enjoyed this! I love the fragrance of the coffee (cukup "kao"/strong for me), accompanied by some cool whipped cream & chocolate sauce. Hahaha...."proper coffee lovers" will be SO against this! Yes, yes, coffee's supposed to be drunk in its natural self, without sugar/cream/anything else added :P FR's coffee consists of Arabica & Robusta.

Honey Lemon (RM4.50/glass)
Just nice. Not over-powering in either honey nor the lemon. Sure does well for people who want something refreshing/good for the throat.

Latté
My 2nd cuppa coffee...hahaha...smooth. I've no idea how to rate/comment on coffee, but I actually prefer the espresso to the latté. I find the latté a bit too light & seem to have more milk/creamer than coffee.

Twin Coffee (RM8.50/serving)
I didn't drink this, so I can't really comment. But the coffee here must be quite good cos my sister's coffee-lover friend had 4 cups of coffee!! Yes, in 2-3 hours...

Chip Mud Dark Chocolate (RM11.90/glass)
I loved this. Rich, thick, cold dark chocolate with crunch! The drink is topped with oreos, making the drink slightly salty :P Lovely...it's a drink that I will order again the next time I come here...it's not overly sweet as well! Oh, it's PerutBesi's personal recommendation...(but our preference may differ ;))

Iced Dark Chocolate (RM6.50/glass)
If you prefer something not as thick as the ice blended above, but still want the richness of a cold chocolate drink, this is for you. It has less substance, certainly smoother & it's just a drink for those who need a simple spirit-lifter from a tough day at school/work.

Ice Rumba Coffee (RM8.50/glass)
Interesting! Coffee with rum....yums! With more rum, it will taste even better! Hahaha...the rum used is slightly fruity & blends pretty well with the aromatic coffee.

The Rum in the Rumba!

Grilled Portobello (RM18.90/serving)
- Mozzarella cheese, jalapeño chilli, stewed vegetables on top of Portobello mushrooms -
Juicy & bursting in flavour :) Me likey! It's a starter that you have to eat when it's freshly served.

Some ala carté orders:

Sausage & Champs (RM8.90/serving)
A light, yet really enjoyable meal. I must say that for the price paid, it's surely a worth-eating meal! Four sausages, k? The sausages were served with own-made BBQ sauce :) The mashed potatoes tastes smooth, creamy, fragrant & delicious as well. This is actually one of my favourite dishes! Simple, yet lip smacking ;) I won't mind going there just for this...hahaha...kids will certainly love this!

Ranch Old Fashion Rib-Eye Steak (RM39.90/serving)
- served with Béchamel sauce -
I'm not a steak-lover, but Jon surely whacked this clean. He said it was juicy, well prepared & marinated. Just look at the generous portion of the rib-eye steak...oolala...the huge slab of meat comes with creamy mashed potatoes, cob of corn, & some greens. It's a meal for beef-lovers!

Grilled Lamb Shoulder (RM17.90/serving)
Not too bad. Also nicely marinated & prepared. At least it's a far difference from what we had at Chilli's@Empire, Subang. I personally prefer the simple mint sauce to this yoghurt mint sauce as it gives the meat a fresh taste & feel, & doesn't over-power the fragrance of the lamb itself :) This meat dish comes with a serving of Mediterranean-style rice (something alike couscous), cob of corn, & some greens. It's SO much more affordable as well...oh Chilli's@Empire, Subang so failed my expectations.

Here's a preview of the casual fine-dining flow:

Starter: Tzatziki Salmone

Salmon flakes served with raisins, chopped apples, celery, pine nuts, & pears. It's actually quite appetizing & refreshing, even with the youghurt-base sauce. The best part is that there's no yucky fishy taste/smell! :D

Soup Dimare

- Classic Italianne seafood soup with prawns, squid, & fish -

I personally found this soup slightly "fishy" & would be better with more onions, tomatoes, potatoes & crushed black pepper :) On the overall, it's still acceptable since the seafood is fresh.

Main Course Option C: Chicken Supreme
- Tender chicken fillet marinated with special herbs & spices, served with corn chow-chow & black fungus cream sauce -
My mum & I actually enjoyed this dish. It's quite different from what we usually get elsewhere. It's not too heavy 'til "jelak", & I dare say that the chicken fillets were so nicely marinated that it's tender & flavourful :)

Main Course Option D: Sear-Dory Fish

- Pan-sear dory fillet served with classic greek salad & Beurre Noisette -

Compared to the chicken dish above, this one gained lesser points. For one, it was a little too oily, although I actually enjoyed the slightly sourish sauteed mushrooms & aubergines. The herbs used in this dish enhanced the taste of the humble dory fish fillet. You must eat the fish with the sautéed vegetables & mushrooms. It blends so well!

Dessert: Home-made Wet Cheese Cake

It's certainly a very interesting presentation of cheese cake. After such a heavy meal, it was quite a challenge to finish the cheese cake. It's lovely cheese cake though. Thankfully the serving is quite petite & goes just well to end the full course meal with a touch of added happiness :) I'm not an avid dessert-lover (since I don't fancy sweet stuff), but I appreciated this dessert...my sister whacked the whole thing up on my behalf!

To end the meal: Have a sip of happiness - Peppermint tea/coffee

Ah, bliss! What an enjoyable meal. It wasn't too expensive for such a sumptuous & scrumptious meal too!

Map to Fine & Relax

View PerutBesi in a larger map

No regrets in going there. It's not because I was invited for a review that I wrote "good stuff" about this place, but hey, it's the truth that the food's good (suits my palate, not sure 'bout yours)! The chefs there are quite young, but they're surely well trained/talented :) I enjoyed the ambiance & the coffee there as well. It's a good place to hang out with family & friends. They're even opened for small gatherings/parties/events. Just gotta make a reservation ;)

Thank you, Jessy & Philip, for the wonderful meal :)

I'll be back there the next time to try out the pasta!

Fine & Relax Cafe
39, Jalan Wawasan 5/1
Taman Wawasan Puchong
47100 Puchong
Selangor Darul Ehsan.
Tel/Fax: (+603) 8061 8197/(+6016) 233 9799 - Philip
Reservation: (+6016) 219 7269
Email: hicnkey@gmail.com
Business hours: 4:00pm - 12:30am (Tue - Sun), Closed on Mondays
Blogsite: http://www.frcafe.blogspot.com/
Facebook: Click here
GPS: N03 1.500' E101 37.712'


Ratings:
Presentation: * * * *
Price: * * * 1/2
Environment: * * * *
Taste: * * * 1/2
Service: * * * 1/2


Overall:

I'll be back at Fine & Relax,