PETALING JAYA, March 16 — Since Oriental Cravings in 1 Utama Shopping Centre closed its doors in 2021, many have missed their comforting home-style eats.
This includes Kimberly Chew, 23, who has now opened The Oriental Cravings in Damansara Kim.
“I used to dine at Oriental Cravings when I was around eight years old when my maternal grandmother Madam Ong Kit Ching was around. It used to be my second home.”
After Madam Ong died, Chew did not return to Oriental Cravings because it held a lot of memories of her. Later, nostalgia pulled her back.
“I cannot find the same food that Oriental Cravings used to serve that brings back the nostalgia.”
Once Oriental Cravings shuttered, almost all of their staff was absorbed into Farm to Plate, Le Sense and Mera, which are owned by Chew’s family.
Kimberly Chew is behind the revival of Oriental Cravings. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
Through their time working at Oriental Cravings, the staff brought their expertise in cooking up the dishes and even brewing up the signature drinks like the ice blended cucumber with lime to the new place.
When they decided to open The Oriental Cravings, Chew looked up friends who had once dined at the old place with their families, as she wanted to recreate the taste of the past.
Some of them suggested slight tweaks in terms of flavours.
With that in mind, they have ramped up flavours. For instance, your beloved Claypot Loh Shi Fun with its piping hot rice noodles, salted fish, minced meat with egg is served with more chee yau char.
Currently, they are offering their soft launch menu. It’s a test menu peppered with familiar favourites from Oriental Cravings and some dishes from Chew’s family vault and the restaurants they operate.
The feature wall will feature a collage of old photographs and family photos from Kimberly Chew. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
Feedback will also be collected over the next month, allowing that data to be used to tweak the final menu to customers’ satisfaction.
Super fans of Oriental Cravings will be happy with the return of best-selling Claypot Loh Shi Fun with egg, Crackling Pork Curry Laksa, Ah Ma Rice Wine Chicken Mee Suah and Fried Yam Cake, to name a few.
As there were many dishes served at Oriental Cravings, the selection for this menu is centred around crowd favourites. For instance, they picked their top two soups: Salted Mustard Green Soup (Ham Choi) and Bittergourd and Seaweed Soup.
It also includes dishes from Chew’s family and restaurants such as Nam Yu Pork Belly, Salt and Pepper Chicken Wingettes, Thai Basil Clams, Chilli Prawn, Crispy Salmon Skin and the Loh Hon Cai.
This restaurant also adopted the same concept of Farm to Plate, where all of the ingredients are fresh and not stored beyond two days. For instance, the prawn dishes utilise airflown Ayuthaya freshwater big head prawns.
The restaurant is next to Table and Apron at Damansara Kim. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
Many diners have also asked why they didn’t open back in 1 Utama Shopping Centre. It’s partly due to the high rent and also a need to make it more accessible to older folks, including Chew’s grandfather.
Fans of their desserts like Cendol, Ais Kacang and Eight Treasures will have to wait a little longer.
The next project is to open a pop-up stall in front of the restaurant offering these sweet treats. It will also allow easier access for takeaways.
It doesn’t stop there. Expect another concept upstairs too, where diners can enjoy dim sum and claypot congee. The congee would include century eggs with lean pork, supreme seafood, sliced fish and crispy pig intestines.
The Oriental Cravings,
25, Jalan SS20/11,
Damansara Kim,
Petaling Jaya.
Open daily: 10am to 10pm (Monday to Friday), 11am to 10pm (Saturday and Sunday). Instagram: @theorientalcravings
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