Weekend Cat Blogging (WCB) 47

Sorry WCB is late this weekend as I have been pretty busy with the Labour Day holidays. I thought I'll share with you these adorable kitties I found yesterday when we were around the Asian Heritage Row at Jalan Doraisamy. Our original plan was to have a bit of tea at Vanilla Box Bakery but they closed early for an anniversary dinner.

However we found a family of cats living on top of their lot at a concrete ledge. What attracted us to these felines was the mother cat looked exactly like the one we have at home and she had ginger and black kittens. A quick zoom on them and we managed to capture the mummy cat and her ginger kitten. Simply adorable and they looked so at home among the hip sandstone statues from the next door outlet.

P/s visit eat stuff for more kitty pictures and a story about Kiri's adventures.

Tagged with: WCB 47 + Weekend Cat Blogging

Bangsar Pasar Malam

I dug through the folder and found these pictures I took last year of the Bangsar pasar malam (night market in Malay). I reckon I did not put them up earlier on as I had to spend time resizing them for the blog plus there were too many nice ones to choose from.

There's always an assam laksa stall or van in the pasar malam that offers such satisfaction to any rumbling tummy with their hot and sourish soup. Each pasar malam will have different proprietors as this one is called SP Assam Laksa that is located at the corner opposite Devi's Corner. I love how they have prepared the bowls of laksa topped with a large handful of mint leaves. When you order a bowl, they will ladle the hot soup from the pot and pour on top of the noodles with a dollop of ha koh (Chinese for prawn paste).

This is the famous Stadium Popiah which is always difficult to get as there is always a long line of people queuing up for their popiah fix. I guess I should try and emulate what he does so I know how to wrap my popiahs next time we have a party. My popiah is always a bit soggy as I can never get all the juice out from the filling.

The lok lok stall, another always present feature in all pasar malam. Sometimes you can get them outside pubs late at night or during the daytime next to a 4D shop when it's a draw day. I love the way the arrange the sticks of fishballs next to blocks of ice to keep them fresh. To enjoy your lok lok experience, get a plastic container from the vendor - spoon in some sauce from the pots you will find at the side of the van. I usually like to mix the peanut sauce with just a dash of chilli sauce. Pick a stick of whatever you like and chuck it in the pot with the boiling water. Let it cook for a while - depends on what you pick and once it's ready, take it out and dip in the sauce to savour. I sometimes indulge in a few sticks and my favourite is the water spinach they wrap up around the sticks. It tastes great with the peanut sauce.

Although it was not dumpling season, you can get these dumplings or what we know as Bak Chang everywhere. This particular stall was selling the sweet and savoury variety with various fillings. If you wish to know more about these dumplings, click here for my older post which shows step by step pictures on how to make them.

I love these Teochew Crystal Dumplings known as Chai Kuih. You can see the fillings through their transculent skin which is nice and thin versus the ones I featured the last time. The best thing about these are the vegetables i.e. chives and carrots they add with dried prawns to give them flavour.

Here's a close up on this great stuff called serunding that originates from Kelantan. I used to be hooked on these when I was studying overseas as I love to make sandwiches with them. They're like the chicken floss but spicy that offers a kick you need especially when you are shivering during dreary British winters. If you are in Kelantan, make sure you pop by the home factories to grab a packet of them as it's delicious.

You can get lots of fruits at the Bangsar stalls like these pink pitaya or dragonfruit especially when it's in season. Nowadays most of the dragonfruits are locally farmed as it's a booming industry. It must be easy to get a dragonfruit plant as my uncle used the seeds he got from one of the dragonfruits which he planted and they are now growing! Hope he is successful as it'll be great to have your own dragonfruit tree at your backyard.

These are starfruits or carambola which are great for you. I love their crunchy and sweet taste. Take them when you have sore throat as they help a lot.

My all time favourite stall - the appam one at the end of the street. This variety is the thin ones whereby a thin coconut batter is poured into tiny little woks over gas fire.

Once it's cooked, they will take it out, quickly place them on a table and fold them. Dunno why but I have always loved these since I was a kid as it was a treat for me when I was young. I love this stall which is helmed by a family - sometimes even the young kids make the appam when their parents are busy. They're directly opposite Devi's Corner and they also sell deep fried items.

What is unique about the Bangsar pasar malam is they sell flowers there. Wonderful flowers at reasonable prices that will perk up any dreary home. My favourite are the orchids - reminds me of the numerous orchids we used to have in our garden. When I was a kid, I kinda hated them as I had to spend so much time watering them carefully as per my mother's instructions.

My absolute favourite - the dancing ladies that are so bright yellow and dainty.

You can also get roses of different hues and nowadays they also inject artificial dyes in them to produce strange colours like the bright blue ones. My favourites are still the pure white roses and the deep pink ones. Besides these flowers, you can also get lilies, bird of paradise, daisies, sunflowers and etc at the stalls.

Hope you enjoyed the pasar malam and hop over there this Sunday as it's at the street in front of the Public Bank. Just a word of warning, make sure you don't park at that street during the afternoon or else you will find your car stuck when they start opening their stalls. I've seen some cars stuck there and it ain't a pretty sight.

Bangsar Night Market
Along Jalan Telawi

Starts from 4pm onwards

Every Sunday

Tagged with: Bangsar Night Market + Orchids

+ Pink Dragonfruit + Malaysian Food

Cake & Coffee @ Bakerzin, Bangsar Village

I was flicking through my pictures folder and came across these old pictures I have. It's from one of my indulge myself sessions I had at Bakerzin in Bangsar Village long long ago - so long that I have lost the receipt! My original plan with these photos was to feature their different cakes but then I never got round to sampling anymore or taking their pictures every time I ate a take out cake. Bakerzin seems to be the all time favourite of the family - my niece is a fan of their Mango Mousse cake. She's somehow converted her love for the Mango Tart at Strudels to the Mango Mousse cake nowadays. Try that as it's really yummy - layers of light mango mousse with mango cubes and sponge cake.

The Sumatra above was pure chocolate i.e layers of dark chocolate, white chocolate and coffee mousse encased in a chocolate ganache. The chocolate ganache is a bit strange as it's kinda jelly like hence I suspect they must use some industrial technique to ensure it's smooth all the time. The cafe uses Valrhona chocolate as they display the chocolate brand all around their outlet. Sorry, no picture of the inside of the cake as I was too busy digging into it while struggling with a conversation with a friend who was asking me where to get a Spanish translator.

There's also a teatime promotion they run - a coffee plus cake for I think approximately RM16. I had a teeny weeny cup of macchiato that came with their signature swirly heart on top except the heart was not too perfect.

Give this place a try if you want to indulge as the cakes are quite pricey (about RM8 onwards) versus your normal cake shop places but then it's an entirely different ball park of ingredients they use. Usually commercial cake shops scrimp on the natural ingredients of their cakes substituting them with chemicals - i.e. non dairy whipping cream is actually full of chemicals, ovalette is used to make featherlight sponges, they substitute butter as the real stuff is too expensive and etc. I've seen some of the products they add on to make the always perfect cake and it's scary!

The only problem about Bakerzin is somehow they always seem to be open next to a Delicious cafe i.e their outlets in Bangsar Village and 1 Utama. If given a choice between the two, I'll always end up at Delicious which offers me better value for money since their portions are bigger for the same price (this is the finance part of me talking). However note that their desserts are both in different categories - Bakerzin's offerings are very Parisian boutique with their tiny individual servings (Daniel Tay was inspired by Pierre Herme from Paris) while Delicious is more wholesome Australian cafe style desserts.

Bakerzin

G5 Floor Level

Bangsar Village

No. 1, Jalan Telawi Satu

Bangsar Baru

59100 Kuala LumpurMalaysia

Tel: 03 - 2284 7514

(Their second outlet is located at 1 Utama Shopping Centre - new wing at the Concourse Level)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review

Other reviews:

1. Makansakan - 12 December, 2004
2. Just Heavenly - 10 January, 2006
3. Danielyc blog - 10 April, 2006
4. La Bloggie de la Dana - 21 April, 2006

Tagged with: Cake + Bakerzin

Nasi Dagang @ Kemaman Classic Kopitiam, PJ

I spied this brand new kopitiam when I was around the Section 14 area and decided to try it out last weekend since they served Kemaman coffee plus Nasi Dagang from Terengganu. I'm using a replacement camera - the Sony DSC P9 which I am not too happy with as the white balance in this camera is so off that it's not funny. Been playing around with the menu to try and get the best setting ever and till to date, yet to be satisified. Aaargh! I hate this as my camera was perfect everytime I took a shot. With this camera, I have to take a million shots before I am satisfied with it - by then the food is already cold!

On to food, this is not their first outlet, it seems there's one at IOI Mall in Puchong. They mainly serve their famous Kemaman coffee that comes hot, ice or ice blended. I had the Kemaman Kopi with Ice (RM2.30++) which I thought was nothing great. I didn't like how they packaged it - in a plastic cup with the film on top. Kinda waste of good monies and I suspect this is like a poor imitation of the ones in Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf where they always give you the plastic cup if you order ice blended. Splashie Boy had the Honey Lemon (RM4.90++) since he ain't no coffee fan which came with lots of honey to mix with your lemon juice hence the slight brown tinge at the bottom of the glass.

I heard their specialty is Nasi Dagang (RM6.90++) hence I ordered a plate. It's the Terengganu version that comes with white glutinous rice rather than the usual reddish grain from Kelantan. This one came with few pieces of keropok (crackers), vegetable pickles and the fish curry (ikan tongkol in Malay). The Nasi Dagang is not too bad despite the pale appearance of the rice and I quite liked it. Besides the Nasi Dagang, they have noodles, keropok lekor, nasi lemak and etc.

I was beginning to think this place may have potential but then they went and messed up Splashie Boy's order. He ordered a plain dry noodles with fishballs which we saw the lady tick on the order sheet. First it took forever to come and we patiently waited for his food thinking they needed time to cook his noodles versus my Nasi Dagang which was probably all pre-cooked. Then when I asked again for his noodles, the waitress went back to the kitchen and checked. Few minutes later she came back to our table with a bowl of curry noodles which she placed in front of Splashie Boy. By then, he was furious already hence he told her to take it back and cancel his order (he hates curry in all forms hence there was no way he would have eaten it).

I know they messed up terribly but usually one gives them leeway if they are new and etc. but what happened next made me realised they were beyond hope. Since Splashie Boy was too angry to face them at their cash counter (he knew he will start creating a scene there if he saw them), he got me to pay them. I patiently waited there and they printed out the receipt with the curry mee. She realised it had been cancelled and asked me if we cancelled the mee and I said yes. I think there was a glitch in their system that once the food is out, it has to be billed so she had to call another guy from the kitchen to override the system to change the receipt. Now throughout all this, none of them offered me any apology for what happened but pretended that it was perfectly normal that they messed up our order and we cancelled it. That really irked me as it showed bad customer service that the bosses of the kopitiam could not at least offer me an apology for messing up our lunch. Looks like they are obviously not interested in their customers since they couldn't be bothered to appease me.

Have you had similar incidents like this? If you want to share them, drop me a comment.

Kemaman Classic Kopitiam
208, Jalan 14/20
Section 14, Petaling Jaya

(At the shophouses near Jaya supermarket - located at the far end and is underneath the Korean restaurant, Dae Jang Geum)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Nasi Dagang

Soto Ayam @ SS3 Pasar Malam

Before I start on the food (most important to all our rumbling tummies), thanks to all your lovely comments and encouragement. I've started doing my replacement documents and it amazes me how easy it is to just get them without showing a copy of the police report! On another note, it's Splashie Boy's birthday today!!! Happy Birthday!!!! He's probably going to kill me for announcing it to everyone but hey, birthdays only come once a year so why not?



Okay, food food food! This is a food blog hence I'm sure you have been patient with my personal rantings but it's food that you all want. I had this really yummy Soto Ayam (Chicken Soup in Malay) last week during the Tuesday night market (Pasar Malam in Malay) at SS3. The night market in SS3 is pretty unique among all the popular ones in Petaling Jaya as it features a large variety of Indian, Malay plus Chinese stalls. Usually the night markets only seem to have Chinese stalls and if you go to everyone of them each day of the week, you usually find the same stalls i.e. the assam laksa man, the bake shop, Uncle Bob's chicken and etc.

Soto Ayam is essentially chicken soup with spices which originates from Indonesia. We get quite a lot of Indonesian influences since they are our neighbour plus we have a lot of foreign workers. This stall is really popular and sits at the corner near the Darul Ehsan mamak stall. Tables are placed behind it where you can enjoy your soto. You can have your soup with any type of noodles or if you're like me, the nasi impit which is compressed rice cakes.

There's a huge metal pot boiling away with the chicken soup that smells great with all the spices inside it - turmeric, lemongrass, bay leaves, pepper and etc. It's really chicken soup for the soul and the stall owner is an expert in ladling the soup in packets for people to take home. They serve their soup with a sprinkling of crunchy bean sprouts, some chicken parts plus shredded chicken. Really yummy and a steal at only RM2.50 a bowl. The Indonesian fellas who shared my rickety plastic table were seen ordering extra bowls of the soto after trying out one satisfying bowl.

The soto is not too spicy as the spices are more subtle hence if you want to add fire to your mouth, try this kick ass chili paste they had at their table. It looks lethal with all that green chilli padi (bird eye chillies)! If you're in the vicinity, do drop by and try one bowl of the soto ayam but leave room in your tummy for the yummy assam laksa (also available at SS4 and the other PJ pasar malam). The Indian stall I featured the last time is super popular - people were crowding around it to grab the ready made ragis even before they started unloading their cookware from their lorry.

Soto Ayam Stall
At the corner of Darul Ehsan Restaurant
Along Jalan SS3/64
Available every Tuesday from 4 pm onwards

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Soto Ayam

My Worst Friday Ever

Last Friday was my worst ever! It started out hopeful since I was happy from celebrating the blog's first birthday but then crashed mid morning when the vet called me about the poor baby kitten. Since no one else was around, I had to sort out everything myself - extremely sad to dig up your own backyard to bury her. I didn't want the vet to handle that part since I wanted her to be beside the black kitten who was her faithful companion when she was alive.

I thought that ruined my day but what happened in the afternoon was worst! The afternoon was stressful as suddenly one of the cats i.e. the ginger one decided to spout white foam from her mouth. That freaked me out totally since we have no idea how the other kitten died and I was worried there's a virus epidemic or poision lurking around. Sent her straight to the vet who said she had to be kept for observation. She's now okay and we suspect she must have played with a dead lizard that was toxic.

Since I was out and about, I decided to go to Taman Megah to get their pet food. Bad mistake as when I was about to cross the road along Jalan 24/3, my handbag plus camera got snatched. After it happened I was in a bit of a daze - in fact before it happened, my mind was a bit disturbed already with the whole day's events hence I reckon I was not as alert as normal. Luckily my mother was around that time so she accompanied me to the police station to make a report while I was on the phone cancelling/blocking my credit cards and bank ATM cards. It's strange how things are - we met these young guys at the police station when I was waiting to see the investigating officer, their motorbike got stolen on Thursday night at almost the same spot. I suspect the thieves who stole his bike went on a snatch spree on Friday with it as it will be difficult to trace their whereabouts even if I saw the registration number. The next day when I spoke to the pet shop, it seems they don't really have snatch thieves around that area as the lady was very surprised it happened.

I'm not so upset about losing my money and cards but I lost my precious digital camera!!! That means (these are the little ironies in life after celebrating the blog's first birthday) possible disruption to the blog plus the camera has been very much a part of my life that losing it is like losing part of my arm! Aaaaargh! The frustrations of it all. Anyway, rant over as I ranted on Friday to Splashie Boy and friends at delicious in 1 Utama (thanks to Mau and Joan for listening!) I have told myself not to mull about it as mulling about these things just does not help.

I'll be super busy from now on: I need to get replacement mykad (another irony is I just got my new mykad on Tuesday!), driving license, credit cards plus ATM cards. We are also looking hard for a replacement digital camera - it looks like a choice now between the new Sony DSC H2 or the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ7. Seems to be conflicting views about these two in the dpreview forums. I thought about moving down to a compact camera but I didn't like the feel of them since I am used to a bigger camera. Also thought of moving upwards to a DSLR with the basic Nikon D50 but decided that's too huge a jump for me since I am a beginner.

I'll still be posting for a few days since I have "old stock" in my pictures so do look out for continuing food posts tomorrow. For today, no food photos but I would love to hear your opinions about what digital camera I should get to replace the old digital camera - the ever faithful but ancient Sony DSC-505. We were veering towards the Lumix but such conflicting views about it on the forums got us worried as everyone seems to think the H2 is better. We plan to do a print out image comparison soon. Sadly I can't wait for the new H5 to come out which sounds much better than the H2.

Weekend Cat Blogging (WCB) 46 - In Remembrance

Very sad news - the baby kitten passed away late Thursday night but I only found out about it on Friday morning as she was at the vet. At one point, we were all so hopeful about her recovery from the attack and she came home last Monday. Sadly, her immunity system must be too weak that she caught a virus and couldn't recover from it.

I am actually pretty torn up about it as I keep thinking I should have looked after her better but Splashie Boy is telling me this could have been for the best for her since she is no longer in pain. I like to think she is jumping around with joy with the black kitten in kitty heaven since they were such good playmates. Sniff!

Tagged with: WCB 46 + Weekend Cat Blogging

Happy First Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my blog! Can't believe it's already one year old as I am hopeless in celebrating anniversaries and birthdays. I almost forgot it's one year birthday until yesterday when I checked through my old entries. We decided a little celebrating is needed hence we bought a teeny weeny cake from Bakerzin i.e a Coeur Noir. Since we will be celebrating Splashie Boy's birthday soon, I got him to blow the candle out.

The past year has been great fun and I still can't believe I actually have fans for this blog. When I first pondered on starting the blog, I knew I wanted something to let out some writing steam plus force myself into trying new things. We are both horrible creatures of habit and tend to stick to certain places or food items to eat. With the blog, I tend to explore the food trails in Malaysia and everyday I discover something new and fascinating about Malaysian cuisine.

Even after one year, I'm still shy about the blog - not many friends and relatives know about it. I have been lucky as I made lots of friends through the blog who are just as interested in food. Another great plus point is when I meet strangers who ask why I take pictures of food and I mention the blog's name - they actually nod and say they have read it on the Internet. Wow! That really makes my day. Hope I make your day brighter with my daily entries and thanks so much for supporting my blog.

P/s the cake was super yummy! The moment I took it out from the box, I got hit by the smell of the delish bittersweet chocolate.

Pan Meen @ Restaurant Paramount Garden, PJ

I read about this place from Good Food, Good Life hence I decided to try out the food. Although this place has been opened since June 2005 (per their banner) one tends to miss it out since it's at the quieter end of Paramount Gardens i.e. along the shophouses that lead to Seaview Restaurant. Another reason that you'll miss this place is parking is not too easy to find along the narrow street.

Based on Mark's review, he mentioned that they serve loh pan meen i.e. pan meen which is hand made noodles served with a loh meen broth which comes in a thick gravy. However when I was there, I noticed they also serve carrot and spinach pan meen(RM3.70 for small) hence I could not resist trying it out. I could have had the option of trying it out with the loh meen broth but decided to go for the traditional soup version.

Here's a close up of my noodles before I tucked in - the green colour comes from the spinach while the orange one has carrot juice in it. There's no additional taste to the coloured noodles but they remind me of the colourful tricolour pasta you can get in a packet. The dough is usually mixed ahead and kept under wet towels at the kitchen to prevent it from drying out. As and when you order your pan meen, they will add the dough into the pasta machine to make the noodles. It's topped with minced meat, young yam leaves, deep fried ikan bilis (anchovies in Malay), shreds of black fungus and Chinese mushrooms.

The restaurant also serves loh meen with different kinds of noodles - usually it's served with yellow mee. Here they offer you a variety of their pan meen and mee sua which is good since some people have been avoiding yellow mee with the reports that it contains high levels of boric acid. There is also portugese grilled seafood which is packed in tin foil packets and cooked over a hot grill, seafood tomyam noodles (I wonder if it packs a punch like Yu Ai's?), fish paste noodles, curry mee noodles and etc. You can also have your pan meen with their tomyam broth if you want it spicy.

Restoran Paramount Garden
55 Jalan 21/12
Paramount Garden
46300 Petaling Jaya

Tel No: 03 - 7873 5703

(Open from 7 am to 4 pm daily. Non-halal. Good Food Good Life has a Google Earth map on his blog.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Pan Meen

Other reviews:

1. The reflector - 14 April, 2006

Spaghettini Aglio Olio with Grilled Prawns

I hate eating alone hence once in a while, I get into a frenzy to cook something I really like to perk up my solitary dinners at home. Since it was catch up time with the girls on Wisteria Lane last night, I thought pasta to be eaten in front of the box would be just the thing.

Inspired by a great meal we had recently at Alexis Bistro's latest outlet in Bangsar Shopping Centre, I decided to make my version of their Angelhair Aglio Olio with Grilled Yabbies. My version is very different from theirs as I didn't have the same ingredients they served but I made do with what I had and I must admit it was very nice! It's also not too expensive to make this since the major expenditure are only the fresh water prawns which I got for RM4.

Since it was a very much splash and dash dish I made up in my head, here's the rough instructions if you wish to recreate this at home:

• Buy really fresh prawns. You need to trim the heads and legs. Cut them into half - I used a kitchen scissors which is easier. Just place them on a tray, sprinkle sea salt and crushed black pepper on top and grill them. I just estimated the time by checking in on the prawns till they turn white from the opaque colour.
• Chop garlic cloves and fresh chillies finely. Heat up olive oil in a pan over a slow fire and add the chopped garlic and chillies. Infuse the oil by leaving it in for about 5 minutes. Make sure the heat is not too high as you do not want the garlic to brown.
• Boil water and add salt into the pot. Add spaghettini or desired pasta shape you want to the pot and cook till al dente. I usually eat a strand to check. Drain and leave a bit of pasta water in the pot.
• Chop parsley finely and toss the spaghettini in the pan with the oil, garlic and chillies. If it's too dry, add a bit of pasta water. Don't add too much as you don't want it to go soggy. Season with salt and black pepper. I like lots of black pepper hence I add quite a few crushed peppercorns. Toss the chopped parsley and serve the pasta with the grilled prawns.

Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Tagged with: Pasta + Prawns

Mama Nyonya @ Ikano Power Centre

During the weekends and weekdays, we often end up at Ikano Power Centre since it's right next to Ikea where we hang out all the time since we need to stock up on items for the house. Incidentally for Ikea fans, they have their summer collection out already - lots of very pretty hanging lights, tealight holders, colourful items, hammocks and etc to brighten up your garden. As usual the place was packed to the brim with people running from the pouring rain outside. Since we were not in the mood to jostle with the crowd at the Ikea cafe or Uncle Lim's plus lazy to walk all the way to the Curve and Tesco, we decided to catch a very quick bite at the lower ground floor.

This nyonya place sells all kinds of items ranging from nyonya cakes, tong sui, fried rice, fried meehoon, assam laksa, hakka lui char and etc. Most of the items are all ready packed except the assam laksa(RM5.50) which needs a bit of cooking especially the noodles. That seemed to be the popular item at this cafe as every table had at least one bowl. I tried one bowl and it was huge with lots of noodles and not much fish. The assam laksa broth is not that fantastic though and I prefer the ones you get at the pasar malam (Malay for night market) or Mark's Assam Laksa.

They serve different tong sui each day but since I'm always at Ikano Power Centre during the weekend, I've only tasted their Yee Mai Pak Koh (Barley Bean Curd with Gingko Nuts in Chinese) (RM2.50) which is pretty okay. The quality is not standardised as I remember one Sunday having a bowl which tasted better.

Mama Nyonya
LG 41
Ikano Power Centre

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Assam Laksa

Chee Cheong Fun & Yong Tau Foo @ Taman Cahaya, KL

Recently we visited one of our 4WD friends who had ventured into the restaurant business. He has always been in the food business hence we call him the Chicken King but this is his first time opening a place that serves food i.e. chee cheong fun and yong tau foo. We sampled his food - the chee cheong fun which came with curry sauce they make themselves. I must admit I don't usually take my chee cheong fun with curry sauce and it was yummy.

He served us a huge plate of yong tau foo drizzled with curry sauce. For the uninitiated, yong tau foo is basically vegetables or bean curd stuffed with fish paste. It is then fried or deep fried and usually served wih a brown sauce called "thim cheong" in Cantonese. It was my first time eating my yong tau foo with curry sauce and our friend told us that it's very common in Cheras. We also sampled some yong tau foo with his own version of thim cheong - a mixture of soya bean paste, garlic, shallots, soya sauce and sesame oil that is fried together. Amazingly we polished two big plates of yong tau foo as it was yummy.

He kept asking us for feedback since his restaurant is just starting out hence we sat down and suggested he could try rolling out various dishes as specials to test his market. One suggestion was to introduce yam cake since he could use his thim cheong to serve it with. Hope everything works out for him. I have the address of the place but I'm actually lost about getting there though so if you live around the area, you can call him for directions. I will be posting the full address later as I left the details somewhere else.

Chee Cheong Fun & Yong Tau Foo
SG-01, Pandan Ria 2
Taman Cahaya
Ampang

Opened everyday from morning till afternoon. The place is just down the road from the Star Cahaya LRT station and at the Pandan Ria apartments.

Tel No: 019 - 220 8889

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Yong Tau Foo + Chee Cheong Fun

Weekend Cat Blogging (WCB) 45

It's weekend kitty time and this time round, I thought I'll feature a very adorable cat I found when I was trawling Kuala Lumpur for food. This kitty is enjoying a great life at the nasi lemak stall along Jalan Raja Abdullah.



As the nasi lemak stall fronts an old Malay house, their neighbour keeps these adorable kitties who can't be bothered about the hoo hah of the stall. See how our friend plonks itself right in the path of the stall. Luckily no one tripped over it in their pursuit to get their morning breakfast as this place gets really packed with people rushing around.



It was catching forty winks among all the people moving around when I zoomed in on it's sleep.



Then it woke up and decided a bath is needed. According to the stall owner, the cat is called "Putih" which simply means white in Malay. My friend could not resist bending down to play with the cat and when we were tucking in to our yummy nasi lemak, we spied another cat at the back of the house.

On my kitties - everyone is fine at the moment. The mummy cat has been bundled to the vet to be spayed as we did not want the responsibilty of additional litters at the house. Considering she is officially not ours, we decided paying for that operation is much more beneficial in the long run since we seem to take care of her and her offspring nowadays. My baby kitten who was hurt in the previous incident is in very high spirits even though her injuries are not exactly healed completely. She and her mummy should be back home next week.

For more kitty adventures, please visit eatstuff. You can also leave your link to your kitty's picture there and check Kiri the adorable one rolling on his new toy - the mattress.

Tagged with: Weekend Cat Blogging + WCB45

Ipoh Curry Noodles @ Sun Seng Fatt, Petaling Jaya

The last time I was at Ipoh, I spied this famous shop and was keen to give it a try but I didn't get an opportunity. Hence I decided to try out their Petaling Jaya branch which is near the Cheow Yang area. It seems it's so famous that the curry noodles are sold in Hong Kong.

It's actually my first time trying out Ipoh curry noodles (RM4.90) hence I was surprised to see it come with lots of oil floating on top. The curry soup that it comes in is very much spicier, thicker and a darker red colour than what I am used to for Penang curry laksa. I ordered the meehoon which came topped with prawns, chicken shreds, bean sprouts and mint leaves. Although there was nothing wrong with the curry noodles, it wasn't my bowl of noodles as I hate eating food with too much oil. The thick and spicier curry soup just did not appeal to me either and I found myself craving for the Penang type with the thinner soup.

Besides the curry noodles that is served with soup or dry, the shop also serves Ipoh's version of prawn noodles and the poached chicken. I also ordered some seafood dumplings(RM1 each) which I had fried or boiled. The dumplings are packed with fillings - fish paste, bits of prawns and water chesnuts which were very nice and crunchy. The place is relatively quiet with an al-fresco area for smokers in front of the air-conditioned area. Service is extremely efficient and Ipoh's famous white coffee is also served here.

Sun Seng Fatt Curry House
No. 28, Jalan SS2/10
Petaling Jaya

Tel No: 03 - 7875 0670

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Ipoh Curry Noodles

Other reviews:

1. AllMalaysia.info - 5 September, 2004
2. Travel Times
3. Charkuayteow.com - 3 December, 2004
4. Everything That Is Or Was Began in A Dream - 21 October, 2005
5. Makan Hunter's Diary - 4 February, 2006

April 2006 Calendar

Sorry for the very late calendar but no one seems to be updating the food event calendars so I had to track down the events:

• 20 April, 2006
  Blog Party # 9 - Dessert? Well, just a bite...
  Hosted by Dispensing Happiness
  
  
• 21 April, 2006
  SHF # 18 - Candy is Dandy but Liquor is Quicker
  Hosted by Lick the Spoon
  
  
• 29 and 30 April, 2006
  IMBB # 25 - Give Us this Day Yesterday's Bread
  Hosted by An Obsession with Food (and Wine)

Little Wok @ Asian Flavours Food Court, Suria KLCC

Whenever I am in Suria KLCC, I'm always at a loss at what to eat during lunch time. This time round, we decided to check out the latest outlet opened at the Asian Flavours food court at Level 4 called Little Wok. They have only been opened for one month but it looks like everyone is making a beeline for them during lunch as there was a pretty long queue waiting for their food. They offer a large variety of food that is served in little stainless steel woks instead of plates and bowls. The food items are around RM5.50 and at the top of my head, there was cantonese fried noodles, singapore mee hoon, egg fuyong with rice, pan meen, porridge and etc. Most of the items are fried at their kitchens hence you need to wait a while for the food especially during peak times.

I tried their sambal seafood (RM5.50) which was recommended by the stall owner - not too bad and quite spicy (for me). It came with chopped onions, chopped long beans, prawns and brown sotong pieces that was fried with sambal and served with white rice.

Splashie Boy had beef porridge(RM5.50) that came with an egg cracked into it which is swirled in the hot porridge to cook. It was a pretty huge portion. The porridge is actually cooked ahead which they will ladle into the little wok while the beef slices, ginger shreds and egg is added when you order the item. Wouldn't say the porridge was superb as there were lumps in it but overall it tasted okay.

If any of you are familiar with this area, I would love to hear any food recommendations you have that I can try out.

Little Wok

Asian Flavours Food Court
Level 4, Suria KLCC

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Sambal + Porridge

Gula Tarik @ Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur

Here's a real blast from the past - I found a stall selling this old fashioned candy known as gula padi or gula tarik (Malay for pulled candy) along Jalan Hang Lekir one day. This candy was extremely popular during the olden days when chocolate bars were difficult to obtain. It's usually sold by hawkers who ride around in their bicycles with trays of this hard candy made from mixing palm sugar with coconut milk that is cooked until it becomes thick and elastic. The mixture is then placed in round trays buttered with oil which will harden into one solid mass. What was equally unique about this candy was the hawker would have to use a hammer and a wedge to break them into small pieces. If I am not mistaken, it was also known as "kok kok candy" since that was the sound it made whenever they tried to break it into pieces.

I didn't manage to catch the stall owner breaking the pieces but this is what it looks like when it's all broken up in pieces. Each packet costs RM2 and should be eaten as soon as possible as it can harden again. The candy is extremely sweet which I only managed a few pieces. Usually when I was a kid, I used to see old men riding their bicycles to sell this but this stall owner is a young chap who told me he learnt the trade from his father. I wouldn't say the candy is fantastic since it's too sweet for me but it really brought back memories to hear the "kok kok" sound when you walked past the stall.

This stall was also selling molasses candy in two forms. One which was harden into little lollipops which you could pop into your mouth(RM1) and in a semi liquid form(RM2.50) that can be used to add to cooking or as a dip. The molasses is usually used in Chinese cooking.

Stall directly opposite Old Town Kopitiam
Along Jalan Hang Lekir
Petaling Street
Kuala Lumpur

Tagged with: Gula Tarik + Malaysian Food

Party time again

It's party time again last weekend and this time, it was just a get together among us to catch up with my friend who stays in London. Usually, she comes back once a year but due to family circumstances, she made a trip back for a few weeks. It was good to sit down and chit chat among all of us even though we see each other once in a blue moon.

Lunch was the famous Mee Siam that is a family favourite. Fantastic stuff as my friend's mother has perfected her receipe. Although we always get to eat this during Christmas time, it's such a treat to have it twice in a year!

Essential with the Mee Siam is the tau cheo sauce to give it additional flavour. Heat it up and pour over the Mee Siam and I'm in heaven.

My friend's wife, M is an excellent cook. Last Hari Raya, all we did was sit at her dining table eating her rendang, soto and curries until we were stuffed as the food was fantastic. She brought fried chicken marinated with lots of yummy spices - turmeric, lemongrass, cumin and etc plus chicken sandwiches made with her own mayonnaise.

Dessert was chocolate fondant which didn't turn out like my first attempt as they refused to come out of the ramekins. We eventually ate them in the ramekins with vanilla ice cream. Not sure why that happened but I did prepare the batter ahead and it was my first time using my friend's oven. Incidentally it was christening time for the oven too as it was the first time anyone baked anything in it since it has been installed.

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Mee Siam

William's @ Taman Mayang Jaya, Petaling Jaya

I took a long blog holiday this weekend since no updates plus I decided not to participate in Weekend Cat Blogging after what happened to the kittens. On the kitten's progress - she's doing fine in terms of spirits as she acts like normal but her swelling of her face is still quite bad hence we are worried about it catching infection. Didn't manage to get to see her yesterday since the clinic was being run by another vet on Sunday but will visit her with Fluff Puff today to check her progress.

On to food! We tried this place last Friday evening and since it was still early when we got there, I managed to get decent pictures until the end. I read about this place on Klue magazine and Charkuayteow.com. William, the stall owner is also famous for being related to owner of the ever popular Murni's in SS2. It was a bit difficult to locate the place since there is no signboards but I looked through all the wooden shacks along Jalan SS26/9 and managed to find it after spying a whiteboard which states their pasta, western meals, naan and drinks menu.

I spied a neighbouring table having this tall drink and ordered it - the Ribena Longan(RM6). It comes in a huge jug (see reference to Splashie Boy's hand span) which we both shared and has Ribena concentrate (the purple comes from the black currants) and probably half a can of longans in it. It's pretty sweet but leave it for a while and the ice melts hence it dilutes the drink a bit. At the end of your meal, you can scoop up the longans which get tinged purple for dessert. We both liked the drink as we are great fans of Ribena having grown up drinking the black currant goodness. Besides this, they also have fruit juices served in these huge glass jugs.

I tried their signature pandan leaf chicken (RM5) which was different from the usual varieties you get in Thai restaurants. Usually the pandan leaf chicken are pieces of marinated boneless and skinless chicken thigh meat wrapped in pandan leaf which is then deep fried. William's version uses a Chicken Maryland with a pandan leaf wrapped in it's middle that is coated with a sticky honey topping and I think roasted in a turbo boiler. The skin gets sticky while the chicken meat is succulent. This is definitely the best seller at the stall as everyone around us ordered at least one plate of the chicken.

Besides their menu items, they also serve dishes to accompany rice which you choose from the counter. I tried their Nasi Lemak (RM2.50) which came laden with coconut rice, sambal, fried ikan bilis (anchovies) and peanuts, a hard boiled egg and cucumber slices. Not that fantastic as I didn't like the rice which came in clumps plus the sambal was too spicy for me. However, if you are a student, this will be a great deal since it's such a large portion at very reasonable price.

Splashie Boy decided to try out their Chicken Kiev (RM10) which took quite some time to arrive at our table until it got dark. Very strange Chicken Kiev as it was the wing part rather than the usual chicken breast. You don't get much cheese filling inside it. It's served with mash potatoes which was nice and a creamy sauce that was pretty gloopy and sticky.

They also serve different varieties of pasta which come in huge portions at RM10 from what we saw at the neighbouring tables. Although both of us did not have fantastic experiences with our food, we reckon that this is a place that we don't mind coming back to if we are around the area since the prices are reasonable.

William's
Along Jalan SS26/9
Taman Mayang Jaya

Petaling Jaya

(Near the Limkokwing Institute. A roadside stall which is directly opposite a mini market with no signboard. They start business from 6pm till early morning.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review

Other reviews:

1. xes.cx - 22 March, 2006
2. The foodie - 12 September, 2005
3. dDoinkster Speaks - 2 September, 2005
4. Crazystrat - 1 February, 2005

Tagged with: Malaysian Food + Pandan Chicken

King Pie @ Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur

Last weekend, we were rushing through KLCC and thought we will grab a very quick lunch from King Pie. I've heard of King Pie from another blogger, Izad but yet to try it out. The kiosk is located just between Cold Storage and KFC at the Concourse Level. It seems it's a franchise from South Africa whereby they serve pies freshly baked every hour.

The pies come in different shapes and three sizes : Just Munch (RM3.50), Traditional Munch (RM4.50 to RM4.90) and Super Munch (RM5.50 to RM6.50). There are numerous fillings such as the traditional Steak and Onion, Apple Pie, Chicken Mushroom and a local one called the Chicken Rendang. Besides pies, they also serve chips (RM2.30 to RM3.00 depending on their size) which is said to be oven baked.

Right behind the kiosk is a tiny area where they bake their pies fresh. You can't really see the guy inside as they sandblasted the glass but he will prepare the pastry and fillings to be popped into the ovens for fresh pies.

Since Splashie Boy had eaten the pies before, he recommended a Spinach & Cheese for me (RM4.50). We had them on the way to Imbi and took pictures of the pies in the car (you can see MNI in front). The pastry is nice and flaky plus the filling was yummy. Very good choice and I loved my pie even though it flaked all over Splashie Boy's car.

Splashie Boy had the Steak & Onion (RM4.90) which I thought was pretty okay since I prefered my Spinach & Cheese. The pies are extremely nice but kinda pricy since you can get a meal with rice in the KLCC food court for around RM5 plus. However, it makes a change from all the usual items you get around and the fillings are extremely yummy.

This is their first outlet and the second outlet is at Tesco Mutiara Damansara while work is being done for another one at 1 Utama (opposite Laksa Shack). They also have daily specials for the pies - for instance that day it was for the Burger Pie which went at a discounted price. You can also order their combos which are a pie, chips and a medium sized soft drink for RM7.90 to RM8.30. If more pies are ordered i.e. 6 or 12 pieces, you can get them at slightly cheaper prices for any of the sizes. Delivery is also available within a fifteen minutes walking distance from their outlet provided you order one hour in advance and a minimum order of RM10.

King Pie
Concourse Level
Opens from 10 am to 10 pm

Tel No: 03 - 2382 0226

King Pie
Tesco Mutiara Damansara

Tel No: 03 - 7725 7881

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review

Other reviews:

1. Chronicles of a Frenchie - 24 February, 2006 (1) and 24 February, 2006 (2)
2. Obsession - 4 February, 2006
3. Life's A Square - 28 January, 2006
   

Tagged with: King Pie + South Africa