Pantrie @ Oasis Square

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food”, so said George Bernard Shaw.

And so echoed Alice Tuen, owner and chef of Pantrie.  Located in the up-and-coming busy commercial centre called Oasis Square, Pantrie is just a few months old.

Alice relates how she had to constantly come up with healthy and interesting dishes to ensure her 4 kids eat proper meals.  As the mother of 4 stormed up more and more new recipes, she noticed that her kids’ friends started to come over more frequently for meals and that’s how her house always seemed to be full of people who loved her wholesome cooking!  Once her children grew older, she enrolled into a 2-year fulltime culinary course in Taylor’s University to learn more about food and refine her cooking skills.  After she graduated, Pantrie was set up and her staff members are mostly from Taylor’s culinary course.

Branding Pantrie as a restaurant that serves “international western cuisine”, Alice explains that her menu showcases the best of Italian, English, French and American dishes.

Settling myself comfortably into the plush colourful cushions propped against the long sofa seats, I dug into the Beetroot, Orange, Feta and Pine Nuts Salad (RM16).  It proves to be a refreshing start to dinner as the orange dressing leaves a nice citrussy taste on my tongue.

Prawns saute’ed with chives in garlic butter can’t get any more fragrant than the Prawn and Asparagus salad (RM24) served.  Shelled plump prawns with crunchy asparagus are arranged over a bed of crisp salad leaves – so easy to eat, they disappeared very quickly.

Next, a deep pie dish comes with some crumbly topping – it turns out to be Cream Escargot (RM25) – shelled escargot baked over spinach, topped with mozzarella and crusty bread crumbs.  What a treat – no cumbersome snail shells to deal with. Just scoop the delightfully cheesy chewy bits of escargot into your mouth and enjoy!

You can also opt for soups for starters.  Alice has listed 6 freshly-made soups on her menu, from Smoked Salmon Cream Soup to Oxtail Soup, with prices ranging from RM12 to RM24 per serving.  Croquettes, spicy chicken wings, bruschettas, salmon carpaccio and foie gras are other options.

Pastas feature prominently in the menu as it’s always popular in Pantrie.  The Spaghetti tossed with Spicy Duck Sauce (RM22) has some Asian slant to its hot and spicy duck sauce.  It’s very tasty but I wish there’s a little bit less oil in it.

Crispy Skin Salmon Confit 

Pan Seared Cod 

Between the Crispy Skin Salmon Confit (RM36) and Pan Seared Cod (RM68), I sway towards the cod.  The salmon confit is pretty good too…the sous-vide airflown chilled salmon is executed well, with its crispy skin perfumed by truffle oil.  The pan-seared cod offers a beautiful burst of flavours from the glistening soy glaze and accompanying wasabi mayo dressing.

Pantrie’s Crispy Fragrant Duck (RM56) is their No.1 signature dish and not to be missed.  The half duck serving (good for 2 people) is boneless, flavoursome and fork-tender, topped with skin so fragrant and crispy, it’s a dish that I’d want to go back for.  The tamarind dressing and cucumber salad served with it are perfect balancers.  Remember to pre-order this one day in advance to avoid disappointment.

Another meat dish that’s not to be missed is the Roasted Rack of Lamb (RM56).  This is also Alice’s personal favourite.  The special marinade penetrates into the lamb and it’s skillfully roasted rendering the insides tender and juicy.  The dish is made heartier with generous sides of saute’ed Mediterranean vegetables and thick slices of roasted potatoes.

Steak lovers would do well with the Australian Grain-fed Ribeye 200g (RM63).  Ours is done medium-rare … a very fulfilling piece of meat served with seasonal vegetables, shimeiji mushrooms saute’ed with teriyaki sauce, herb roasted potatoes and a simple brown sauce.

Braised Ginger Duck

There are a few Asian favourites on the menu too…from Ipoh Chicken Hor Fun (RM13) to Beef Balls Soup Ramen (RM16) and there’s also Braised Ginger Duck served with steamed rice (RM15).

There are currently 5 Desserts listed.  The Vanilla Crème Brulee (RM8) and Chocolate Lava Cake with Ice-cream (RM14) are decent.

Pantrie is a good place to head to for some straightforward western cuisine – nothing too fancy or over-the-top… just hearty wholesome food served in a comfortable contemporary setup … food that you would serve to family and loved ones.  Service staff are mostly ex-Taylor’s University culinary course students so you can expect some friendly and enthusiastic service there.

 

Pantrie
D-G3A Block D
2 Jalan PJU1A/7A (Capital 4)
Oasis Square
Off Jalan Lapangan Terbang Subang
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7859-9920

Opens: 11.30am-3.00pm; 6.00pm-10.30pm
Closed on Mondays

*Pork-free

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