The Apartment

It has been a long couple of days with the exams and after work this afternoon , I had to run some errands for Anita, preparing for Idlan’s birthday party next weekend. We headed initially to Damansara Perdana, to a newly renovated shopping complex called Perdana Shopping Centre - previously called the Tropics. We wanted to order the birthday cake, but unfortunately the shop was closed. Mama Min - the owner - was out for a couple of hours and we just missed her, which was a shame.

Next stop, the Curve for some afternoon tea and more shopping. I actually missed lunch and was therefore rather hungry. A few weeks ago, we wanted to try the Apartment restaurant there, but Idlan wanted to go to Marche instead. Since it was just me and Puan Anita this time, we thought why not.

The Apartment was best described as cozy. It was nearly empty when we arrived. We took our seat on the back room, on a sofa. There were three other tables taken up in the restaurant at the time, so we got our privacy and was attended by a Pilipino gentleman as our waiter. The menu was more extensive than I thought, and items containing alcohol were clearly marked. Therefore, the famous mussels they served there was out of the question.

I ordered three items - buffalo mozzarella salad as starter, seared salmon for main and for drinks, I ordered the tangerine cooler. Anita ordered prawn skewer from the tapas menu, shepherd’s pie and tea. The prawn skewer was really nice. We ordered a small tapas portion, and got ourselves only 4 succulently-baked tiger prawn, in a pineapple, peppery, nutty sauce, with hints of oregano. Difficult for me to describe the exact ingredients, but definitely something we will order again in the future. I was quite disappointed with my salad. The portion of cheese was small compared to the potatoes and shallot which made up the rest of the serving. The cheese was also too mild to contrast with the sour taste of the tomatoes, and the dressing did not do much to add to the flavour. I ended up leaving most of the tomatoes, and munch on Anita’s prawns instead.

My buffalo mozzarella salad Anita's prawnThe seared salmonThe seared salmon however saved the day. It was served with baby potatoes and puree sauce. Simple but nice. The salmon was very well poached, although I wished that the portion was bigger. Anita’s shepherd’s pie was not much to write about I was afraid. It was baked well, but was too dry in the end. I definitely prefer the chicken pie from Smokehouse over this.

My tangerine coolerI must say that the specialty of the Apartment was definitely the drinks. My tangerine cooler was definitely ……. cooling. It was lemonade with a hint of citrus, topped up with mint. Definitely will order that again should I drop by here in the future. Hit the spot in the hot sun. Shame that they don’t to drinks to take out …..

Will I come here again? Definitely with friends for a chat, but not for serious dining. I doubt that my parents would have appreciated the food. It was certainly more fusion than traditional - my parents were a bit more conservative when it comes to food. Cost? Medium, comparable to Marche and the likes. In short - grab a nice corner sofa, order the cooler and some tapas, and sit back. Didn’t check if they do free wifi here but I did see a few of the customers opening their laptops. For those on the rush, there was also an express lunch menu - very reasonably priced, but I was not sure if that was a regular fixture.

Lot 72, 73 & 74, 152, Ground and First Floor (next to TGI Fridays), Western Courtyard, The Curve Shopping Centre, Mutiara Damansara. Check out their neat website here.