BLD with Bob and Julie: Charms Cafe @ One Utama

30 January 2013

Charms Cafe @ One Utama

Price Range : Mid-range

Cuisine : Asian & Western

Recommended For : Great for a pre/post-movie meal; just steps away from TGV

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes

The beautifully-decorated Charms has always stood out among the electronics and clothing stores that mostly occupy that old wing/new wing limbo on the top floor of OU. To say that it’s unnoticeable would be a complete lie, but the truth behind our avoidance of the restaurant stems from the fact that Julie used to work there after Form 5, while waiting for college to start. Not that there was anything wrong with the food, but it’s just awkward to have your colleagues suddenly serve you food, isn’t it? You’d feel like you should take the plates back to the kitchen after your meal or something (which, of course, you won’t be doing because you’re now a customer).

Anyways, after all these years, we dropped by here for lunch. AND for dinner, on the same day. Yes, that’s how good the food is! We started off with the Stir Fried Carrot Cake (RM8.50), and rolled our eyes in borderline-obscene satisfaction through each mouthful. Relish its heavenly scent as it arrives fresh out of the wok and onto your eager table; the ooey-gooey bits of carrot cake are well-accompanied by robust flavours of garlic, shallots and spring onion. Before this, we didn’t know where it was possible for us to have a good halal plate of fried carrot cake, so if you’re facing a similar predicament, you know where to look now =)

Another irresistible appetizer: deep-fried chicken gizzards! And lots of it (it should be mentioned that the portions here are highly generous)!. Though it could probably use a more interesting name than Spicy Gizzie (RM8.50), we can see absolutely no improvements needed taste-wise. The bite-sized gizzard pieces, with its addictively crunchy crust, give you that satisfying ‘kruk’ sound when you’re biting into it. Gizzard’s great if you’re into texture, as the meat is very chewy, and deliciously so. The chopped chili padi they’re fried with provides an excellent burst of heat to the dish.

This is our current favourite place to have Tom Yum Fried Rice (RM11.90). It’s been a while since we had fried rice as, well, majestic as the one here! For one thing, the rice tastes like it was cooked in an actual tom yum broth (as opposed to having that artificially-flavoured taste), right down to the kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. The sambal limau that it comes with goes phenomenally well with the spicy rice. As mentioned, the generous portions here mean that this platter can comfortably feed two people.