XO @ IOI Business Park, Puchong

October has been a relatively busy month for me... business generally peaked starting from this month until Chinese New Year and therefore, I had to be more aggressive in marketing as well as sourcing for materials. Not an easy task considering that I have to pay cash for materials to my suppliers while giving terms (ranging from 2 weeks to 2 months) to my customers. Business was so bad in 2008 & 2009 that it had quite an impact on my company during the 2 years period. Oh well... this year is better and hopefully I can get it back on track!

As most of you already know, Puchong has come a long way to become on of the busiest area in Klang Valley. I could still remember how it looks like back in 1997 when I came to study. Then I lived in this area for a few years till 2006 before moving to PJ. Now my sisters are occupying in the house in Puchong. Fast forward to 2010... having spent most of my time in PJ area, I hardly went back to Puchong. But there were times when I missed my siblings so much.

One of my suppliers informed me that he had opened a Shabu-shabu styled restaurant in the new IOI Business Park Puchong. I took the opportunity to ask them out for dinner to catch up on each other & at the same time, to try out this new place. As soon as they knew that I was footing the bill, they dressed up faster than a rocketship and joined me there.

Named XO, it wasn't hard to locate this outlet as it was facing outwards next to the old shoplots in Bandar Puchong Jaya. There was still some tables available and we quickly looked for a table inside the restaurants, as I couldn't stand the heat outside.

Its interior was brightly lid with tables and chairs placed closely to each other in order to utilise its space - something I'm not fond of as it could get crampy once full capacity was reached!

One thing for sure was that they have numerous choices of dipping sauces for you to choose.

All you have to do is to pick what you want to eat and bring it to your table... you will be spoilt with the choices

Choose your soup base - we had the chicken soup, herbal soup and also tomyam soup. Forget about the tomyam and stick to the former two.

Some of the fraction of what my sisters and brother had taken... starting with thinly sliced pork strips.

Wantan filled with minced pork meat.

Abalone slice.. normally I wouldn't order this but they took at least 3 plates!!!

Fried fu chuk... fresh from the kitchen and we were one of the fortunate fews (as we sat near the kitchen) to be able to get our hands on these. Crispy and non-oily!

Bittergourd with minced pork stuffing

I forgot its name but it was good!

Didn't have time to take all the pictures of what we had eaten so I walked to where they put all the food and started snapping :)

My 2 beautiful little sisters.. don't let their petite size fool you! Their appetites are bigger than mine.

Leo's verdict - according to the boss (who was so busy attending customers), they prepared the food using the freshest possible ingredients. However, the price didn't come cheap as I forked out RM200++ at the end of the meal. Judging at the amount of food and type of food that we had taken, I'd say that it was a little expensive but the freshness of the food justified the pricetags. Located right next to The Pork Place, parking is rather hard to find as Puchong Jaya is always congested days and nights!

XO Shabu-Shabu
No A-GR-33A, IOI Boulevard
Jalan Kenari 5, Bandar Puchong Jaya
47170 Puchong, Selangor.
Tel: 8076 5348

P.S: Non-halal

Disclaimer:
1) I'm not paid to promote/endorse any particular event, restaurant or person in this blog. ALL are based on my unbiased personal opinion.
2) My reviews are based on my personal taste and preference and therefore may vary for others.

Restoran BBQ Soon Heng @ Jalan Bandar Tiga, Pusat Bandar Puchong

I had been fasting for more than 16 hours, as I had to go for blood test earlier in the morning. Having stopped eating since 8pm the other night, my stomach was growling... felt more like drumming for food. I needed a quick fix before continuinng my chores for the day. CK suggested a restaurant which was nearby. According to him, the wantan mee is good but I have yet to try it myself.

Located on the same row with Maybank (Tesco side), and fronting LDP... With its bright red signboard, it should not be any problem to locate. It was not lunch hour yet and therefore not many people were seen having their meal there.

Most (OK.. maybe all) of their workers are foreigners... including those who cleaned the table, taking your orders (mind you... I had difficulty understanding their slang) and to the one holding the cleaver.

Pictures were shown on the wall together with the price so you know what to order.

Since CK spoke highly of their wantan mee, naturally this dish would be my order. I had it together with roasted duck and char siew. I found the roasted duck to be kinda bland while the char siew was hard to chew.

Jenn's version of wantan mee with shredded chicken and mushroom was no better. The chicken meat was tasteless and overly soft to her liking hence she is of the view that the chicken is not that fresh. On the other hand the mushroom lack the usual braised gravy taste but maintain the woody taste of mushroom.

Leo's verdict - Also, their tea, milo and coffee were pre-mixed and not freshly brewed... not forget to mention that it tasted bland too. There are other dishes such as Ipoh hor fun, curry mee and economy rice... but then I doubt that I will come here again...