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FRANCO MALAYSIA

The first time I tried this French-Japanese casual dining place was when they first opened in 1 Utama shopping mall. It was always crowded with long queues. So one day, my friend and I decided to walk in and see what was it about this place that was causing such a hoo-ha. 

 Franco, formally known as Miam Miam, is famous for their desserts. It used to be a bakery cum cafe before being turned into the restaurant that we see today. Their menu is pretty short, only a few pages. Two things caught our interest: the "An absolute must-have! Don't ask, just order" Franco French toast and the other must-have, Matcha Soufflé. We looked around and saw almost every table ordered these, so they must be good. Having decided to join the crowd, we placed our orders but were told that we had to wait about 30 minutes for the desserts. Oh well, since we were not in a rush for anything, we went ahead and waited.
The famous french toast
20 minutes passed and the French toast arrived. Topped with a big dollop of chilled whipped cream and served with maple syrup, this famous toast was soft and fluffy, with a lovely buttery aroma. It was slightly tasteless on its own though, so be sure to eat it together with the syrup and cream. I would recommend sharing this as the portion is quite huge (6 pieces of thickly sliced toast) for one person. 

The soufflé came nearly 45 minutes later. Puffed up with a firm crust on the outside, light and airy on the inside when punctured - definitely worth the wait. I actually prefer this to the toast.

Matcha soufflé -  a must-have for green tea lovers.
So, what about their mains? 

We were at Midvalley last week. It was lunch time, we had no idea what to eat and my dad said he felt like having a cup of brewed coffee, so I suggested Franco since we were nearby. We sat down and ordered the Salade Japonaise, Spaghetti Yumeina, Squid Ink Rice, Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich, hot coffee and a bottle of mineral water. Service was pretty bad. Firstly, the waiter did not serve us the mineral water that we ordered til we asked him. Secondly, everyone else was already eating halfway, except me, coz my squid ink rice did not come. Again, we had to ask the waiter, and then to top it all, the so-called hand dripped coffee, brewed with handpicked 100% Arabica beans, tasted like some cheap instant coffee.

Now, the food. 

Spaghetti Yumeina - spaghetti prepared in Japanese style, sauteed with frankfurters, baby spinach, tomatoes and smoked turkey. This was the best. The Franco's secret broth, Japanese shoyu and the oozing egg yolk when you mix the ingredients bring extra flavor to the al dente pasta.

Spaghetti Yumeina 
Squid Ink Rice with Assorted Seafood & Omu Egg. My main finally came after asking twice. Urgh! The squid tasted like rubber and whole dish was way too salty! Almost halfway through and I couldn't take it anymore.

This dish was a disappointment
 The salad and sandwich were alright. Nothing special, but no complaints. 

Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich

Salade Japonaise
Towards the end of our meal, a group of rowdy teenagers walked in and sat upstairs in the loft area. They were practically shouting and laughing hysterically the whole time, and the other guests, including the waiters, were looking at them. The funny thing was, instead of going up to the group and tell them to keep it down, one of the waiters or supervisor actually turned the background music volume louder (to overpower the volume of the noisy bunch??)! It became kind of irritating, so we quickly asked for the bill and left. As we were leaving, we saw 2 other tables asking for the bill too. Lol...


Verdict: I will not visit the Midvalley branch again, that 's for sure. As for the 1 Utama branch, maybe, only if I happen to pass by it and at the same time, craving for the Matcha soufflé...

 Food: 5/10
Ambience: 4/10
Service: 3/10



Franco Malaysia
Address: Lot 146, G Floor, 1 Utama Shopping Centre
48200 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Phone: 03-7731 8923



Franco Mid Valley
Lot GE-01, Ground Floor, Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel : +603 2201 3203




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