Review: Star Cafe & Bistro, Taman Desa

Overall comment: Extensive variety of dishes, larger than average serving sizes + they have live bands
Halal: No

Star Cafe & Bistro is no stranger to those who live around Kuchai Lama & Old Klang Road area. Being one of the more popular spots for a drink, this bistro offers some good live band music every night from 9:00p.m. onwards & an extensive variety of cooked dishes as well.

Spacious & has many sections to cater for different crowds (smoking area/outside)

Interior of the restaurant (non-smoking area)

Live bands playing every night

[photo taken from Star Cafe's FB page]

The review session was offered such abundance of food that I was really full! We tried various cuisines, from western to local & it's just "wow" that such a bistro cum restaurant has SO much to offer! Here's what we had that evening (each dish had 2 portions for the whole group to share!) & my personal review.

Fresh Salmon Ceviche (RM22.00/serving)

Sashimi grade salmon slices served with our super spicy Asian citrus dressing

Fresh slices of chilled salmon - those who love sashimi can finish up 1 serving by him/herself! An appetizing starter indeed.

Tofu Salad (RM18.00/serving)

Silken tofu and crispy spring roll skins on a bed of salad

leaves. Served with peanut and Japanese sesame

dressing.

I found the dressing a little too salty for my liking. It's fragrant, but somehow the combination of ingredients in the dressing didn't compliment each other harmoniously. The vegetables & tofu were fresh though, so it's not too bad if you don't pour all the dressing served onto the salad.

Otak-Otak Snapper Fillet (RM32.00/serving)

Traditional Malaysian otak-otak spiced coconut marinated fillet of

snapper served with rice.

The otak-otak was fragrant, but the level of intensity of aromatics/herbs wasn't up to my expectations. The fish was slightly over-cooked as well for that evening.

Braised Lamb Shank (RM39.00/serving)

Cooked for 4 hours in a red wine marinade. Served with creamy mash potatoes

The flavor was not too bad, but somehow the lamb wasn't tender enough. Perhaps it needs to be braised even longer? Hahaha...

Chicken Deminoff (RM25.00/serving)

Tender 1/4 chicken braised in a cream sauce served mashed potatoes and fried capsicum

This dish's color combination isn't the best, but the flavor is quite pleasant. For those who prefer something simple, slightly creamy & comforting, I think this would be suitable.

Beef Wellington (RM58.00/serving)

Juicy beef fillet smothered in a blend of mushrooms and ham wrapped in puff pastry cooked to your liking. Served with red wine sauce

What a rare treat - beef Wellington?? I'm immediately reminded of how Chef Ramsey raises his voice when his famous beef Wellington recipe is cooked below his expectations. This is one tough dish to master. Overall, I think that was one of the most well accepted/loved dishes by all the bloggers that evening :P

Hainanese Lamb Shank (RM42.00/serving)

Tender lamb shanks in a traditional Asian root and wolfberry consommé served with steamed rice

This is my 1st time trying a Chinese-style soup with lamb shank. I enjoy herbal soups, so I felt that this minimally herbal soup could do better with the intensity of the herbs & perhaps some Chinese wine...hahaha.

Star Pork Knuckle (RM65.00/serving)

Super crispy pork knuckle served with sauerkraut and potato

wedges. Great sharing plate

Who wouldn't like crispy pork knuckles? This pork knuckle was quite crispy & well seasoned. It would be more delicious if it's crispier :D

Golden Grilled Spring Chicken (RM42.00/serving)

Half a spring chicken grilled and baked until golden brown. Served

with a side of salad and special Hainanese chili sauce.

Interestingly, this was one of the better dishes for the evening. Eaten immediately when it's served, I think the chicken would be really moist & tender. We were snapping photos of all the dishes 'til the food turned somewhat cold, so this poor chicky didn't taste as great as it could have been.

Cockles Fried Kuey Teow (RM20.00/serving)

Charred wok-fried flat rice noodles topped with fried cockles & tiger prawn

I still prefer my road-side stall/coffeeshop version of fried kuey teow, but I have to say that the fried kuey teow here isn't too bad. There's still some wok hei, which is highly essential in Chinese-style cooking.

Giant Prawn Crispy Noodles (RM36.00/serving)

(Sang Har Mee) Giant fresh water prawns served with crispy noodles in a Cantonese-style sauce

Ah, I love "sang har mee" & I'm VERY particular with how my "sang har mee" tastes. There are 2 major criteria for a good "sang har mee" to the PerutBesi: 1 - it has to have sufficient eggs so that it'll be really fragrant, 2 - it has to have some heat/aroma from ginger & some spring onions as well. This version fell short of my 2 personal criteria as mentioned. It's not a bad "sang har mee", not at all, but I prefer mine to have more eggs & more ginger. This version didn't seem to have ginger at all, I think. But I'm thankful the prawns were fresh & the noodles were crispy yet could soak up the gravy to be slightly 'bouncy' + crispy at the same time.

Bittergourd Fried Glass Noodles (RM18.00/serving)

Glass noodles fried with seafood and bittergourd slices

Innovative. I would never have thought of such a dish. I found it a little too dry, so I didn't fancy this dish a lot.

Deluxe Curry Mee (RM20.00/serving)

Special star curry mee served with all the trimmings

Different from the usual curry mee that I've had in the past. This one feels like a vegetable curry + yellow noodles. The portion is huge!

I find the serving portions here at Star Cafe larger than the average size. I would prefer to order for sharing so that I'll have more options/variety in a meal :) For some live band music, substantial food, some drinks & even desserts, this is your one-stop restaurant that will not burn a hole in your pocket. Their menu is pretty thick! Hahaha...


Star Cafe & Bistro
63-65, Jalan 109E
Taman Desa, Off Jalan Klang Lama 
58100, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia.
Tel: (+603) 7971 3550
Email: reservation@starcafe.com.my
FB: https://www.facebook.com/StarCafeKL


Looking forward to an evening with live band + good food,