We reviewed Ploy way back in August 2011, soon after it opened. As a restaurant that prides itself in reinventing modern Japanese and Thai cuisines, it has tantalized many a taste bud since then. Almost two years since it established its niche in Damansara Heights, its ultra-cool retro-chic interior still retains its charm while the menu has been enhanced with some new items to cater to the ever-changing palettes of its patrons.
The current menu has seen some new additional offerings since the beginning of the year. We checked out some of those dishes recently.
Tuna Wakame Salad
For starters, we had 2 salads: Tuna Wakame Salad (RM23) and Golden Needles Salad (RM15). Of the two, I prefer the Tuna Wakame which isn’t surprising, considering how much I love tuna sashimi. Cubes of fresh sweet tuna and avocado are tossed with some fresh garden greens flavoured lightly with a dash of sesame shoyu dressing.
Golden Needles Salad
The Golden Needles in the other salad are actually deep-fried strands of dried lily bulbs and a handful of these garnishes the salad of mixed greens with tofu and broccoli drizzled with wafu dressing. If you are not partial to dried lily bulbs, you would find that their slightly briny taste could mar the fresh flavours of the other ingredients in the salad.
The Godfather Special (don’t you just love the name!) is a bowl of Salmon Don with Ikura, avocado, royu and nori. The Japanese rice is given an extra crunch by the presence of tempura flakes, so every spoonful of this is a burst of crackling surprise in the mouth, thanks also to the ikura. At RM22 a bowl, the quality of the ingredients justifies it. I picked the bowl clean, leaving not a spot of ikura unpopped.
Kabocha Tempura
Tempura Surprise
I didn’t quite fancy the fried items – Kabocha Tempura (RM8.50) and Tempura Surprise (RM15). The former is salted eggyolk pumpkin tempura … I felt the thin slices of pumpkin somehow got buried under the thick layer of batter and the crumb-like salted eggyolk sprinkled on top didn’t do much for the dish. The Tempura Surprise consists of nuggets of seabass fillet wrapped in Oba leaves, bread-crumbed and fried. Oba leaves are actually quite bland so there’s no flavour imparted onto the fish so in this case, I found the dish to be quite uninspiring.
The Crab in a Wrap (RM28) is a softshell crab maki given a punch by the crispy spicy kani strips. Although the description says mango is included, I couldn’t quite discern it in the roll as the avocado takes almost centre stage next to the crab. This is an Americanized sushi roll as it is slathered quite generously with a thick mayo-based sauce. If you, like me, prefer sushi rolls sans sauce, then you’ll probably find this version rather overwhelming.
The Pasta from Heaven (RM28) and Smoked Duck Breast & Chicken Ham Pizza (RM28) fared better with me. The angelhair pasta is nicely al dente and all it needs is just a quick toss with truffle oil, and then sprinkled with sakura ebi and lots of tobiko! Although the sakura ebi had lost some of their crunchiness, this pasta dish still scores high points from me.
Pizza Ploy-style has a very thin crispy base, very Japanese that way and topped with general lashings of ingredients. In this case, succulent slices of smoked duck breast and chicken ham are arranged densely on the pizza. You can eat the entire pizza and won’t feel guilty about carbs overload.
How magical is the Magic Puff?
The Magic Puff (RM32) didn’t quite hit it with me. Although the oven-fresh home-made puff pastry was served still-warm and crispy, it’s just basically pastry topped with goat cheese, truffle oil and wild rocket.
I’m not a dessert person but I was bowled over by their Rum & Raisin liquid nitrogen icecream (RM18). I think that’s the highlight of my meal that evening. The 2 scoops of delicious icecream were densely packed with alcohol-drenched plump raisins and they were so good I almost wanted to order another serving!
The Durian Panacotta (RM10.50) is as good as I remember it. The wobbly custard with a big dollop of mashed Raja Kunyit durian in the centre is something that all durian lovers must have!
From left to right: Tomyamtini, Apple Sour Cube and Ploy Bonanza
There are numerous other new additions to the menu which we have yet to check out. It’s a great place to chill out, too as their range of beverages includes enticing cocktails like their signature Tomyamtini, Apple Sour Cube and Ploy Bonanza.
PLOY
G-2, Work@Clearwater
Jalan Changkat Semantan
Damansara Heights
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2095-0999
Website here
Open Mondays-Saturdays: 12.00pm-3.00pm; 6.00pm-12.00am
Closed on Sundays