Tables of Joy, Damansara Utama

 13, Jalan SS 21/1a,
Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya
Tel#03-7710 0388
https://www.facebook.com/TablesofJoy/

 There's been an explosion of cafes in this hood ever since The Starling Mall opened. The parking woes are only slightly improved with the shopping mall car park hence, getting a car park spot here is akin to winning the lottery. However, don't let that deter you from venturing this neighborhood as it's been made to be pedestrian friendly with large and brightly lit walk way. When is the rest of Klang Valley going to catch up?

 Touted as one of the places serving home cooked food, the girls opted for this over Nara. To be honest, I wasn't sure if either of those were still in business. So the only way of knowing is by going to their Facebook page and see if it still exists when was their last post. I kid you not.

 The place is brightly lit (oh joy for camera phone bloggers) but I brought along my DSLR as it's been awhile. Somehow, people still ask me why I have it with me 😑This is a nifty way of transforming boring cutlery stand using washi tape. Or  something like that. I'm still not buying into the trend.

 Lemongrass chicken wings RM 12: Thai-inspired fried chicken wings
It's funny because this appeared on their ala carte and sharing menus. The former was for 3 while the latter for 6. Obviously, being the cheap calculative economical Malaysian meant taking more for the same price. Turned out that it's the same i.e. 3pairs of wings (drumlet & wings) only the  pieces meant it's been chopped for your convenience 😒 That's false advertisement. Like wonderbra.

Fortunately for them, the chicken actually does taste of the lemongrass and was crunchy on the outside. Despite being fried, they weren't very oily either. Good to start the meal or while waiting for the rest of your company to arrive.

 Mom's pork bolognese RM15: Joyce's go-to comfort food
At first glance, it didn't look convincing enough to be a good plate of pasta. But it was. The tomato sauce was great. Despite the pasta not looking that shiny, they are forgiven once you mixed them all up.

 Lamb Curry RM 18: Mom's signature, served with vegetable acar, crackers and rice
It's funny because I was deciding between this and nasi lemak but settled for this instead as it sounded as though the rice is just a side dish. How very wrong I was as you still do get a bowl of rice sans the coconut milk. The lamb curry was rather small in portion for the price you pay for but it was very rich with coconut milk and almost spicy. Great with the rice. Acar was also quite good, not too sour.

 Nasi lemak with pork curry RM 15: All-time Malaysian favourite with pork curry
The one that got away 😆However, I did manage to try the pork curry and it's not the same taste as the lamb version. Similar but not the same. This one also features heavy does of coconut milk. Great version of a local favorite.

 Grilled chicken chop RM15: served with house slaw, mash and black pepper gravy
Generous with the fries and slaw, but they did make the chicken flatter to give the illusion of a bigger piece. No complaints on this so I guess it was all right?

 Cendol RM 6
The one thing that really surprised us was the use of proper gula melaka. Too many places would say that they use gula melaka but most of the time, it's just a cheap ripoff. Not here though as you can taste the slight caramel thick sweetness.

Sago gula melaka RM 6
It was a difficult decision, so someone else took it to himself and ordered this for me. I didn't want something that's too cold for my cough. While this didn't come with ice, it still wasn't conducive for my illness. However, I did enjoy it with the gula melaka and the coconut milk.

All in all, Tables of Joy is a good place to have Malaysian favorites but I have to say, prices are almost steep for the portion they give.