In order to promote a healthier diet, and to allow those who misses home to get a taste of homecooked food, the owner of In The Bowl has aimed to bring in the homecooked food with least MSG and reasonable price. Indeed, some of their food really remind me of my mum’s cook’s food, indirectly making me to miss home so much. Locating along the food street in Ikano Power Center Lower Ground(LG) Floor, In The Bowl is easily spotted with their very cute signboard with a ‘bowl’ illustration, and is directly opposite to Ketam Village Steamboat.
At In The Bowl, they have different mains with different side dishes and surely there will be a version that suits you so. Usually, the rice will be accompanied with a beautifully done sunny side up and a bowl of soup, as In The Bowl believes that some customers like to have their rice along with some soup, to moisten the throat before digging into rice.
We got the chance to sample quite a number of their dish on last Wednesday night, and I would say that all their mains tasted quite memorable.
Omelette with Tomato Sauce
The first main went to Omelette with Tomato Sauce. Hidden beneath a bed of thick and sweet tomato based gravy, vegetables and minced meat was an omelette in great taste. This dish resembled the egg omelette I always had in the Malay restaurants in Cyberjaya, and prompt to be a good company for rice. It is a bonus we get to savour a dish which is originally prepared by a certain race, but as time developed the dish started to be tried out by other races, and turned out to be slightly different in taste but they are all delicious.The good of being a Malaysian.
Kam Heong Squids + Mango Salad+ Fish Ball Soup-+Honey Green Tea Cold (RM 11.90)
For this dish, the squid was deep fried in a quick glance and stir-fried together with Kam Heong sauce. Richly flavoured with the piquant sauce, the Kam Heong squid was toothsome. Fish ball soup was simple but tummy warming, while the mango salad was surprisingly good with tangy and spicy taste.
Marmite Chicken On Rice (RM8.90)
Marmite has accompanied many of us since we are small, as mum always fed it to us with congee. My love to Marmite is always there but I seem to have it lesser as I grew up. Happy to see Marmite Chicken on the table that night, as it had been a long time since I last tasted it. In The Bowl’s Marmite Chicken was nice, as the distinctive taste of Marmite wasn’t overhelmed, instead it coated just nice to the slightly pan-fried chicken, and drizzled with sesame.
Lemongrass Chicken on Rice (RM7.90)
Chicken pieces was lightly fried, tossed with homemade lemon sauce, sprinkled with sesame and layered on a bed of rice and side with a sunny side up. A simple but tempting dish.
Fish Katsudon on Rice (RM11.90)
Parting the stir fried omelette with red onion revealing a big slab of deep fried breaded fish beneath it. Lightly seasoned, breaded and deep fried, the fish was crispy outside and juicy inside. Though the outer layer wasn’t as crunchy and well done as Japanese Katsu in Japanese restaurants, their version was good too. The very home-styled stir fried egg with red onion was a top notch.
Don’t get turned off with the green colour sauce. It was actually green chilli pesto sauce stir fried with red onion, which has an outstanding taste with sweet, sour and spicy in a row. The sauce was topped over a big piece of fish fillet that is fresh and fleshy. The dish was rather outstanding, in term of taste and physical look, making it the most special dish that night.
Black Pepper Chicken on Rice
Comparing with other mains, this dish turned to be a little weak as the black pepper taste was quite strong. Black pepper lover will like this.
Chicken Tomyam Soup with Rice (RM9.90)
Served with a bowl of rice, the soup was really spicy, soury and fully loaded ingredients such as prawns, squids, mushrooms, carrot, brocolli etc. At RM9.90, I would say that having such an appetizing and generous portion of Tomyam soup in a shopping mall was a steal.
Chinese Salted Vegetables with Tofu Soup
In The Bowl is really generous with the soup ingredients. The salted vegetables with tofu soup too, was gracefully loaded with tomato, tofu, pieces of chicken, salted vege, etc., definitely a very good bowl of soup to reduce heat as weather was extremely hot recently. I especially like the soft tofu as the little tiny holes of the tofu has fully absorbed with the goodness of the soup, making it so yummy. Nicely boiled, the soup was not too salty, not too sour, just hearty and tummy warming.
Other than mains, In The Bows also have some snack that you can order to nibble on.
Cucur Udang (RM5.90)
My mum prepares this at home sometimes and I am always the one stood by the side, not to help out but waiting for it to out from the wok and grab the very first piece. The steps of making cucur udang is merely scooping flour batter consisting shredded carrot, chives, prawn, taugeh into hot oil and deep fried till golden brown, then drain away the excess oil and serve. The process is simple, but to make it good and non oily is always a challenge. In The Bowl did this quite well, their cucur udang was tasty, crunchy and a little fluffy, didn’t get soggy and oily after turned cold. What made this snack remarkable would be their green chilli sauce. The happy green made it looked mild? No, it was punchy, hot and fiery.
Deep Fried Squid Ring (RM6.90)
Batter-coated and deep fried into till crunchy, the snack was the favourite of everyone that night. One plate was never enough.
Crispy Chicken Skin (RM3.90)
Those who loves to eat fried chicken skin, this is a must for you. The fried chicken skin was not oily at all as the fat layer beneath the skin was extracted out.
Fried Boxing Chicken (RM5.90)
The “fancy” version of fried chicken wings, with all the meats of chicken wings being pushed up till the end to reveal the bone and form a ‘boxing glove’ look. I loved this finger food, not because it was fancy, but the meat was juicy with lightly salty and very crispy skin.
Not into expensive food but want to opt for a decent meal? Now you can have a valued, healthy and home cooked meal in a shopping center without having to burn a hole in your pocket. Don’t forget to get yourself a cup of chilling and fresh fruit smoothie from Bobalicious Smoothies next to it while tucking into your bowl of delicious rice!
Photographer: Summer
Writer:YLing
Address:
In The Bowl
LG 3, Lower Ground Floor,
Ikano Power Center(IPC) Shopping Centre,
Jalan PJU 7/2,
Mutiara Damansara,
Petaling Jaya.
