Yong Tau Foo and Fried Chicken Wings @ Seong Kee Yong Tow Foo, Petaling Jaya

When it comes to my family, they all seem to know where's the best places to eat whether it's stall or restaurant food. Hence when my mother raved about this place, it's been top on the list of places to try but every time we decide to go out for lunch, it's either too early for this place or we're too far away from it.

We finally struck lucky and managed to make it one day to sample their food. This small stall within the Medan Selera area will only fry or cook your items once you place your order hence one needs to be patient while they prepare the food. It's really worth it since everything is super fresh especially the fried items. There are also other items which you can order that are pre-cooked such as their Hakka Char Yoke which I thought tasted okay and not as nice as the Lorong Peel place. Besides that, there's curry fish head, assam fish, rendang fish, pork trotters in black vinegar on the menu.



Sampling their yong tau foo, you can distinctively taste that they added more fish versus minced pork and there's no salted fish. A quick chat with the lady who runs the stall indicates that they no longer stuff it with salted fish as it's pricey and not everyone likes the taste. Out of the items ordered, I really liked their brinjal and white tofu. The brinjal was pretty huge and well pan fried while the white tofu was very smooth. Also good was their tofu puffs stuffed with fish and meat paste. Although the items are quite pricey at RM0.90 each, the brinjal and white tofu was definitely worth it as they were huge portions.

My mother had also recommended the deep fried chicken wings. Ordering a minimal order of two to sample, it was super delicious as they lightly coated it with turmeric powder. Freshly fried and super crispy, this was the ultimate deep fried chicken wing for me. It's not cheap though as each wing and drumette costs RM2.50 hence a minimal order will set you back by RM5.

Seong Kee Yong Tow Foo
Stall No. 35, Taman Selera
Jalan Othman
Petaling Jaya

Tel No: 03 - 7781 0946

(Non Halal. The stall is open for business from 12 pm to 9 pm except for Tuesdays. They're close for one week during the Chinese New Year period)

*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: Yong Tau Foo + Malaysian Food

Chinese New Year Feasting @ Sek Yuen, Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur

It's amazing how the feasting starts even before the festive season but I reckon any reason to eat and be merry is always a good thing. This year, Chinese New Year feasting kicks off early since it's the last weekend before the festivities start. Most popular Chinese restaurants are also fully booked as nowadays people tend to eat out more rather than cook their dinners at home.

Last Friday, I joined friends who dined with their ex-colleagues at Sek Yuen, the old style dining place I had featured before. It was great fun and we polished off quite a few dishes that night. Some didn't make the cut for this post as I wasn't too careful hence I had some blurry shots but believe me, the people at the restaurant was amazed at how much we could all eat since we kept ordering extra dishes.

Although Sek Yuen has an air-conditioned restaurant, we opted to eat at the older part with whirling fans and the old style atmosphere. I managed to peek into their kitchen and saw them super busy with the preparation of the food. Everyone was zipping around hence you see them slightly blurry since they were on the constant move. It's also amazing how they still use wood for their fires in the kitchen. Ever since I mentioned Sek Yuen, my mother has been telling me stories about how they weren't so famous during her time as there was an even more popular restaurant further down the road. However, it's Sek Yuen which has maintained their business till now while the other restaurant owners' decided instead to close the business and collect rent for their premises.

The table was groaning with the amount of food we had ordered, first of course was the traditional Yee Sang which we had with jellyfish. This was tossed around with lots of good wishes on the stockmarket and as high as we could without all of it dropping all over the table. We also ordered their famous Pei Pa Duck which was featured in my first post, their char siu and onion chicken. All the dishes were classic Chinese items even this sweet and sour pork with the cucumbers and tomatoes.

This was the all time favourite dish - their Kao Yoke with yam slices. Thinly sliced pork belly sandwiched with light yam slices, it was so good, we had to order another portion of it. The moment this dish hits the table, it's all gone within minutes. The sauce here is not as thick as the other places that serve it but you can taste the fermented bean curd (nam yue) they use to marinate the meat.

Slightly blurry picture of the vegetables but it was so good, I had to feature it. Although it's just plain spinach fried with a bit of garlic, it tasted great when you popped a strand in your mouth as they fried it with enough heat in the wok (that wok hei the Chinese talk about or literally translated as breath of the wok) and the spinach was tender. We added another order of the vegetables after we tasted this but it wasn't as good as the first dish. We also had their kailan fried with siu yoke (roast pork) which was pretty good too.

This was something we hadn't eaten for ages - a crab meat, egg, tofu and vegetables mix. Not fantastic but pretty good comfort food especially with their steamed rice.

On the night we ate here, the place was super packed with people who were also having their festive dinners. Since we sat near the kitchen, we saw them preparing the dishes - the typical cold chicken in jelly for the four seasons that were decorated with tomatoes cut to resemble graceful swans. There was even glutinous rice stuffed duck (Lor Mai Arp in Chinese) which looked really good. It seems these dishes need to be pre-ordered. After 10 pm, they started playing music on the gramophone. At one time, they even played marches hence we said, that must be a hint for us to leave soon since they were giving us our marching orders.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and nice meeting people who love to eat. If you want to try their food during Chinese New Year, do visit them as they're open during the whole festive period of 15 days. It's only after the festive season they'll take a break as this is the busiest time for them. (Note most hawkers in town will take off during the Chinese New Year period as it's their annual holiday)

Sek Yuen

313 and 315, Jalan Pudu

Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 - 9222 9457

(Non Halal)

*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 + Chinese Food

Weekend Cat Blogging (WCB) 88

Last week, you saw the ginger stray cat hence I thought the other stray fella who comes over should also be featured. Not as friendly as the ginger boy, it was not easy to snap a picture as everytime I approached nearer, he ran away. Hence these shots are from a distance. There's currently an uneasy truce between the two: basically it's when this fella comes around, he just doesn't want to see the ginger cat hanging around the house or else he'll chase it away.

Although short hair, this fella is handsome with his marble coat. He looks like an exact replica of my Allycat hence I'm a softie towards it. However he can get nasty with the other kitties and they're all scared of him.

For my kitty cat stories, do pop over to Catsynth who is hosting this weekend.

Murtabak @ Restoran Victory Arab Street, Subang Jaya

Fans of the famous Victory Restaurant in Arab Street, Singapore can rejoice as they don't need to travel down south for their famous murtabak with the recent opening of a branch in Subang Jaya. It must be famous because everytime I do a Google search on Singapore murtabak, two names keep popping up - Zam Zam and Victory who are located side by side each other on Arab Street.

I must admit, I have yet to try the murtabak in Singapore hence I can't vouch for whether it's the same as the one served in Victory but I have been told by the owners that the cooks used to work in Victory Singapore's kitchens. Moreover the Singapore owner's son is also overseeing things here.

They serve four varieties of murtabak here - chicken, beef, mutton and sardine which comes in various sizes i.e small, medium, large and extra large. My version was the extra small beef murtabak for RM3. The prices for the other sizes range from RM5 for the small portion to RM12 for the extra large while the sardine version is cheaper at RM4 for the small portion to RM8 for the large portion.

I managed to catch the cook making the murtabak and in this version, they add two eggs in it. One inside together with the minced beef and onion filling and another one outside of the murtabak when it is placed on the hot plate for it to cook till crispy. Unlike other murtabaks whereby the outside and the filling tends to get soggy, here the filling is drier and more crispy on the outside. It tastes excellent when paired with their curry and the thick vegetarian dhall they make out of African lentils.

Besides murtabak, another specialty is their briyani rice which has chicken, lamb, meat, fish and even prawn versions. I must admit it's rare to find seafood versions. For the fish version, ikan tenggiri is used. The briyani is priced at RM7 per plate while the prawn one is based on the seasonal price. I didn't manage to try their briyani but the rice does smell really good so that will be slated for another visit.

Restoran Victory arab street
No. 21-1, Jalan USJ 9/5Q
Taipan Business Centre
Subang Jaya

Tel No: 03 - 8023 5924

(Halal. Open from 9.30 am to 11.00 pm. This is at the road which has the famous Pizza vs Satay and Soo Kee's Son's Noodles. It is also near the Al Falakh Mosque. Parking can be horrendous here but there's a private parking nearby. Alternatively, you can also call ahead to place an order and pick it up from the restaurant. The GPS coordinates are N 03 02.775', E 101 35. 252')

Updated on 12/2/2007 - check out USJ.com's forum for comments from those who have tried the murtabak.

*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: Murtabak + Victory + Arab Street

Pangkor Laksa @ DK Cafe, Section 17, Petaling Jaya

I often read about so many interesting places on the Net that keeping track of them is virtually impossible. I vaguely remembered a reference made by De Bookworm in her blog almost a year ago about this place hence when I finally found it through pure accident, I knew I had to try it. Believe me, if you don't know Section 17 well, there's no way you'll find this place as it's tucked inside a residential area. Even I who often go to Section 17 was surprised there was shophouses I have not seen before when I went around the area to find the curtain maker a friend recommended.

Back to the cafe, the place is relatively small with an indoor area and an outdoor area that allows people to smoke and enjoy the fresh air. The times when we were there, it seemed pretty quiet but then that was during the weekdays. They do a pretty good value set lunches as I remember Splashie Boy ordering it and he liked the soup which they served him with. It was also fish and chips hence he was a happy camper since he loves that dish. For the fried fish, they use the same type of batter used for Chicken Crispers in Chillies.

I settled for their Pangkor Laksa (RM5.90) which was something unusual. The broth it came in was tangy like assam laksa but spiced up with chilli oil. It was a pretty good combination and I also liked the noodles it came with which had a soft texture versus the bouncy lai fun which laksa is usually served with. The noodles looked very home made as you could see each strand was not the same size.

Another time I went here was for a quick teatime break and sorry, no pictures again as I was with Splashie Boy's parents. Imagine the frowns if I had whipped my camera out to snap pictures. We tried their spring rolls (RM3.90) which was completely different from other places as they use the thin beancurd skin instead of the popiah skin similar to the ones used in Lor Bak. That was a really winner as I loved the minced chicken, fish and prawn filling combined with the crispy beancurd skin.

Next time when you're in Section 17, look beyond the usual places and give this simple cafe a try. Incidentally, if you know your way to Food Foundry or 6 to 10 Grill at the flats, this place is directly below the flats where the double storey terrace houses are. There are stairs leading down to this area but you'll have to walk a bit to get to the cafe.

DK Cafe

603, Section 17/12

Petaling Jaya

(Halal. Open from 11.00 am to 9.00 pm and closed on Mondays. Very vague and not too perfect directions this time round as I don't remember the road signs. There's a Shell petrol station in Section 17 (near the flats, not the one near the highway). Next to it is a road, take that all the way until you see a field, turn right and drive up. There will be two to three rows of shophouses there and DK Cafe faces the double storey terrace houses.)

Updated on 12/2/2007 - Currently Pangkor Laksa unavailable until after Chinese New Year as the restaurant is unable to get the special noodles.

*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: Pangkor Laksa + Malaysian Food

Fuzhou Bakery and Noodle Maker @ Eng Hin Bakery, Yong Peng, Johor

I didn't really get to do much exploration of Yong Peng when I was there and sadly no Fuzhou/Foochow food which is what Yong Peng is famous for. The town's main centre is Jalan Besar (Main Road) which has various shops flanking it. It's interesting to note how from one end to another, there's signs of development with the older shops in the front and the newer shophouses almost at the end.

If you drive down Jalan Besar, it's very evident that the specialty of Yong Peng is the Saitou Fishball made from saitou fish (Ikan Parang in malay) as there's restaurants dotting the whole area with signboards proclaiming they're the most famous. It's served with Fuzhou/Foochow noodles that look similar to the yellow Hokkien noodles but is springier. (I may be wrong on this as I have yet to try them so do correct me if this is wrong)

Since I could not sample any Fuzhou/Foochow food, I settled for the next best thing i.e visiting a Fuzhou/Foochow bakery. It's the only bakery in town but sadly, modernisation has taken over as they use big metal ovens to bake the traditional delicacies instead of a charcoal fire oven. The attraction here is their kong piah which means hot bun in their dialect, a Fuzhou/Foochow specialty. Made from unleavened dough, it's usually served plain or stuffed with meat. The ones made at this bakery are either plain or stuffed with peanuts and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Traditionally it's cooked like a naan bread, i.e. at the sides of a clay oven (like those that are used to cook tandoori chicken or naan in Indian restaurants) with charcoal at the bottom. Since it was very late when I bought my stash, I couldn't taste it hot as it's said to be flaky when you take it straight from the oven . Tastewise, the bread has a slightly chewy texture while the stuffed peanuts and sesame seeds is not too sweet. I personally liked it and suspect it would have been awesome if it came out piping hot from the oven and dipped in the local coffee.

Besides the kong piah, the bakery also makes Fuzhou/Foochow noodles for sale and various pastries like peanut cookies that crumble in your mouth, lou poh peng (literally translated as wife's biscuits in Chinese which is filled with sweetish wintermelon filling), tim and ham peng (flaky biscuits with sweet or savoury fillings), pineapple tarts, kaya kok (puffs filled with kaya) and etc.

Eng Hin Bakery

14 Jalan Besar

Yong Peng

Johor

Tel No: 07 - 467 12 61

(Pork free. The bakery is open till quite late, about 8 pm and is along the main road just after the bridge. Near it is the famous Foochow restaurant, Hock Swee Hin which serves specialties like Foochow fishball and red wine mee sua.)

*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: Kong Piah + Foochow Food

Waxed Meats for Chinese New Year

Have you had your fix of these traditional waxed meats for this year? Every year, it's a tradition of my family to eat Lap Mei Fan once Dong Zhi is over. Usually we either buy our own supplies to make it at home or indulge in it at a restaurant. It's my mother's favourite hence she makes it a special point to select a few varieties to cook it at home before Chinese New Year.

These meats are directly imported from China where the cold winter winds dry these sausages and duck. Packed in metal tins, you can easily buy them from street vendors in Petaling Street or dry ingredients shops in Chinatown.

Although I have been exposed to this type of dish almost all my life, I recently realised not everyone know of or has tasted this before. (My mother recently ate this in Singapore and one of the relative's sons had never seen waxed meats before and didn't dare touch a single piece)

To prepare these at home, it's relatively simple. Although you get the full flavour of the waxed meat if you steam it on top of the rice, it's not very healthy as all the oil seeps into the rice. Instead, we cook the rice and meats seperately. As an additional measure, we blanch the meats in hot water to remove the oil. Once steamed, add the remaining liquid to the cooked rice. You should also serve it with the traditional nga-ku or arrowhead that is flaky and tender after steaming. The selection in the picture features lap cheong (chinese sausages), waxed duck, liver sausages and various other waxed meats.

Tagged with: Waxed Meats + Chinese New Year

Prawn Mee @ Jalan San Peng, Kuala Lumpur

Last week, I finally managed to make a trip this place after reading about it from the two blogs who had earlier featured this stall. It took me a while as I got distracted with the wholesale clothes shops just off Jalan San Peng and for some funny reason, I thought the prawn mee place was there. Once I got back to Jalan San Peng, it was pretty easy to spot the place which faces the road and is next to an Indian temple called Kuil Devi.



When I first got there, I was surprised to see them cooking a big wok filled to the brim with chilli sauce. Subsequently I got talking to the proprietors of the stall namely Mr. Tan and his mother who explained to me what it was for. In fact, I managed to have a long chat with Mr. Tan as he must have been the first internet savvy hawker I have met. Usually when I ask five million questions, they'll always shoot me the question back: "are you from the press? and I'll say no, this is for own personal use and my website." Imagine my surprise when this time, I was asked for the link to this site.



Mr. Tan's family has been running this prawn mee stall for 36 years and thia version of prawn mee was concocted by his father.



Totally unlike the other places, they put the chilli sauce and broth seperately for each bowl allowing you to control the heat you can take. If you want it with more kick, help yourself to more chilli sauce from the table which is made on a daily basis. According to Mrs. Tan, they make two to three big woks of the sauce every day.



Everything is freshly made right down to the fried lard pieces which adds the sinful topping to the noodles. Prawn heads are used to boil the broth that is constantly kept boiling. It also acts as the boiling water for them to cook the noodles.



Unlike other places, they serve their prawn mee (RM3.80 for small, RM4.50 for large) with poached chicken slices, medium size prawns and kangkung (water spinach). The soup is delicious and makes a pretty substantial meal with the chicken. You can also opt to add more ingredients (Kah liu in Chinese) whether it's small prawns (RM9) or large prawns (RM10).



If you're sharing with a few people, order their poached chicken (RM4.50). Laid on a bed of crunchy bean sprouts, it's drizzled with sauce made from sesame oil. The texture is not as smooth as the Ipoh Kuey Teow places but it's definitely value for money as their portions are pretty substantial.

Besides their signature prawn mee and poached chicken, they also serve lam meen with the thick yellow noodles.

San Peng
Jalan San Peng
Off Jalan Loke Yew
Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 012 - 290 7050/ 012 - 311 8292

(Non halal. Note the stall is also called San Peng hence you can't miss it with it's yellow and red signage. The stall closes every Tuesday and is open from 7.30 am to 3.30 pm. To get here from Jalan Loke Yew, turn left after the chinese school and when you see a Shell petrol station. Go straight, you will pass a traffic light. Continue going straight and you will see a TM Berhad orange and white building on your left hand side. Make a U turn on the right hand side of the road and the stalls will be on your left hand side as they're in front of a row of shophouses and next to the road. The GPS coordinates are N 03 08.024', E 101 42.700')

*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:

• A whiff of lemongrass
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Tagged with: Prawn Mee + Malaysian Food

Buaya 4x4 Johor Flood Relief Trip @ 3 February, 2007

This time round, we made a trip down to Yong Peng and distributed items around the relief centres at Parit Yaani and the houses affected in Yong Peng. Originally, we were earmarked to head towards Bukit Ibam in Pahang which has a few villages affected but we also understand a large convoy of vehicles under the amateur radio group made their way there earlier on. To read more about their trip, check Marts News for updates. One thing you'll notice when you travel down south are various relief groups making the journey down on the highway to deliver aid to the victims whether it's opposition policital parties or car enthusiasts.

This time round, we had six cars in the convoy which transported a hefty amount of rice (approximately 227 bags, each weighting 5 kgs), gas stoves, food items, toiletries, diapers, clothes, kids toys and etc. We met up the Rotary group whom we had earlier delivered items to in Batu Pahat last week and the St John's Ambulance at Parit Yaani. Incidentally when you travel through the town, you'll see various groups of people and kids at the riverside fishing as the floods had displaced some fish from fish farms or even the river making them an easy catch for your dinner.

We visited two relief centres in Parit Yaani - one located within a school which had approximately 30 to 40 families staying there. The kids here were super enthusiatic especially when they saw my camera as they couldn't stop posing. The relief centre was a hive of activity with the National Service trainees gathering there and another family who also distributed aid to the victims. The trainees have been asked to help the villagers clean their houses affected by the flood. I chatted with some of the ladies who observed the activities from a distance and they told me their stay at the centre is coming up to a month but they will be returning home on Sunday. One lady almost broke down when she spoke about her home as she was not sure what she will find when she returns home.

Just down from the school, is a Chinese temple which is now a temporary relief centre for a group of Chinese families. The atmosphere here is relatively quieter with the families gathering in an open area of long tables and chairs.

It was slightly difficult to communicate with them as they only spoke Mandarin but they were definitely happy to receive the items ranging from essentials like rice bags, gas stoves and colouring pencils for the kids.

Subsequently we visited a housing area within the Yong Peng town which was affected by the floods. These people had registered for flood relief with the government agencies hence it was easy to identify them based on their addresses. If you peek into their houses, you'll see how bare it is as all they can afford are basic items. Families with babies or young kids also received milk powder and disposable diapers. Even though we went from house to house to deliver the items, we still had bags of rice undelivered at the end which we passed to the Rotaract Club/St John's Ambulance to distribute to other areas.

No more trips down south are planned at the moment but there is talk of another trip after Chinese New Year to see how the situation is. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed time, effort and items for the trip. Everything was very much appreciated by the flood victims whether it was a bag of rice or a toy. Many thanks also to the Buaya 4x4 group who organised things especially Silver Surfer and Kokonut Soldier and the Rotary Club plus the St John's Ambulance for taking us around to these places to distribute items.

Weekend Cat Blogging (WCB) 87

This weekend, I thought I'll snap pictures of the ginger cat who comes over to the house for food. When it comes to food, kitties have a way of sniffing things out hence this fella turned up at our doorstep. Initially it was all for Fluff Puff but now he's found better things at the house aka free food. We actually haven't seen him for quite some time as he got chased away by another stray who was pretty aggresive hence I'm surprised he is back. However, occasionally like last night there will be tiffs between the two of them that involves a lot of screaming and running.

He loves to chill out at the garden while the other cats ignore him. As usual, he wasn't too amused when I wanted to snap pictures of him hence he totally ignored me. I love his fluffy coat and slightly marbled markings. We've even submitted pictures of him to a talent agency as they're looking for ginger kitties so who knows, he may be the next kitty star of Malaysia.

Rosa's Yummy Yums is hosting this weekend so do check out her adorable kitties, Maruschka and Fridolin plus all those worldwide kitties at her blog.

Banana Leaf Rice @ Mathai's, New Lay Sin Restaurant, Brickfields

I took a little break from posting yesterday as we celebrated Federal Territory Day. I guess Blogger knew I was feeling lazy as it refused to work the night before and early yesterday.

Today, I thought I'll blog on one of favourite weekend foods aka the banana leaf rice. I was first introduced to this small stall in Brickfields long ago by an Indian friend, Mohan. Little did I know it was famous until I stumbled on many references below in other people's blogs. Unlike other places which open their own shop, this Indian stall shares the space in this crowded coffeeshop with other stalls. Among these stalls, the pork noodles is also pretty famous and has it's own faithful following as seen by the New Straits Times referencing them as the best place in Kuala Lumpur for this type of noodles.

From what I gather, Mathai's originally started out in the 1960s and the current proprietor is R. Moorthy after the original owner, Mathai retired. Sometimes, it's referred to either Moorthy's or Mathai's depending on how long you have been eating at this place. The must-have when you dine here is their fried tenggiri which I have featured above. Spiced just right and juicy to the bone, it's my favourite. Most places always slice their tenggiri fish too thin hence when it's fried, it shrivels up and is dry on the inside. Here, the fish is sliced thickly to avoid it from drying out before the outside crisps to the beautiful golden brown you see above.

The curries here are pretty good too and we usually order their chicken curry varuval. They also serve fish head curry if you like. Prices here are also extremely reasonable compared to those cut throat Indian restaurants so expect to spend about RM6 to RM10 per person depending on what you order. Incidentally if you can't take spicy food, try the cucumbers they serve as vegetables to cool down your tongue.

Mathai's Banana Leaf Rice
New Lay Sin Restaurant
250 Jalan Tun Sambanthan
Brickfields
Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 016-371 9894

(Halal. Opened from 10 am to 3 pm and is closed on alternate Mondays.)

Updated on 16 May, 2008 - The stalls at New Lay Sin including Mathai's has moved down to Mayflower Seafood Restaurant, 144A, Jalan Vivekananda, KL.Tel: 03-22603698/6698. Operating hours are from 10.30am-2.30pm (lunch) and 5.00pm-10.30pm (dinner)

*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.

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Tagged with: Banana Leaf Rice + Malaysian Food

Hakka Yong Tau Foo @ Wah Kiow, Lorong Peel, Kuala Lumpur

Traffic around town was chaotic yesterday with the FT parade rehearsals that we kept changing our minds on where to go. Eventually we ended up at Jalan Peel hence it was yong tau foo this time round. Just off the main road, Jalan Peel almost at the end before the turn off to Jusco Maluri, you will see this road, Lorong Peel with signboards to a government school called Yaacob Latif. You can't miss this wooden shack on the left hand side of the road which has been in business for almost ten years plus.



Sandwiched between a hardware shop (whereby the owner couldn't stop staring at me when I snapped pictures) and a beauty salon, this place came highly recommended from my friends. Everything is made on the spot and you'll see various people doing their part by stuffing the prepared fish paste into the vegetables. In fact, everyone is so super busy that they didn't bother when I continued snapping pictures.



The fish paste is mixed with minced pork to give it a sweet flavour. Usually the Hakka variety has salted fish added also but the taste of it is not so distinct here. Some Hakkas get really fussy even about what type of pork you must add as it has to be the soft minced pork belly to get the right texture.



A quick call to a friend of mine indicated what were the must haves from the menu. Here they'll give you a piece of paper with all their items which you tick and indicate the quantity you wish to order. It's a good system as I've seen some stalls adopting the pick what you want at the counter system which just clogs up the counter. We liked the smooth tofu here and the crispy bean curd. Another plus point about this place is everything is freshly fried.



We also liked the braised oyster special which looks pretty ordinary from the outside but hides crunchy yam bean and delicious dried oyster within it's interior.



You can order rice with your yong tau foo as they also serve a variety of dishes such as black vinegar pork leg, assam fish, chicken curry and etc. My friend recommended the Hakka Char Yoke. The pork belly slices are marinated with fermented bean curd (nam yue) and then deep fried till crispy. Sometimes if you frequent the economy rice stalls, you can see these fried bits which they also sell. The meat is then braised with the nam yue and wood ear fungus till it's tender. The taste of nam yue is not very strong with this dish but we liked the thick gravy it came with.

Besides these items we ordered, you can also get fried wantan, spring roll, fried bean curd stuffed with fish paste and braised mushroom special, stuffed chili and etc.

Wah Kiow Hakka Yong Tau Foo
Lorong Peel
Off Jalan Peel
Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 - 9283 7576

(Non Halal. The shack is just opposite the police quarters and right before school. Park at the side of the road. Opened from 10 am to 3 pm. The GPS coordinates for this place - N03 07.616', E 101 43.572')

*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.

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Tagged with:

Yong Tau Foo + Malaysian Food

No Choice Given - I Have Gone Over to the other side

I guess Blogger wasn't going to take any hemming and hawing from me anymore as I had no choice when I tried to log in just now. Kinda good too as most of the feedbacks I got from all of you have been positive. Hopefully nothing goes wrong with the blog as this week hasn't been too perfect either.

Marmalade Cafe @ Bangsar Village II, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

Since I had to wait for someone in Bangsar yesterday, I decided to check out the new shopping centre there i.e Bangsar Village II which just opened their doors last week. Although most of the shops have yet to open, the ones which have started business look really good and perfect for any retail therapy I need.

Rather than rant and rave about shopping which I'm sure all of you will roll your eyes upwards, I decided to check out the food scene there. Most of the places are repeats of whatever you get in the original Bangsar Village i.e. Bakerzin, delicious by Ms. Read (yet to open) and Starbucks. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has closed their outlet near Hong Leong Bank Berhad and moved in here instead.

There was one surprise addition - Marmalade Cafe upstairs. They just opened for business on Monday and it was pretty packed with people. I liked the decor of the sunny cafe: with bright colours and glass windows that look down to Devi's Corner. It's also nice and spacey which I prefer versus to the Mont Kiara outlet that was slightly too claustrophobic for me. For those who prefer the Mont Kiara place, don't worry as this is a branch. Menuwise, the old favourites are all there including the Carrot Cake I had but with additional items on their breakfast menu. They also have a cute boutique they own next door called Kitsch.

Marmalade Cafe

Lot 1F-18

First Floor
Bangsar Village II
2, Jalan Telawi 2

Bangsar Baru

Kuala Lumpur

Tagged with: Marmalade Cafe + Bangsar

Should I switch to the New Blogger template?

I think my blog is acting up because I have yet to switch over to the new template. Now Blogger has taken one step to just ask me to convert when I log in. In fact, if I didn't look carefully I would have been automatically converted.

Since I'm old school when it comes to IT related issues (something which baffles a lot of friends since I have a technically inclined other half), I have been resisting the conversion so far. Anyway, I'll put it up to all of you whether I should convert or not as I think quite a number of you have experienced the conversion? Should I go over to the dark side as that will give me the ultimate power and faster access speed? Do tell and I'll work on the conversion ASAP.

Sorry for the Star Wars references as I have been watching the repeats during the festive season.

Nasi Briyani @ Super Bariani Gam, Batu Pahat, Johor

Since we were in Batu Pahat on Saturday, Nasi Briyani or Nasi Bariani as how the locals spell it was the obvious choice. It's been ages since I visited Batu Pahat hence I was totally lost. Only vague memories I had was my dad taking us to eat at a place near the hospital. Luckily, the Rotarian whom we earlier met lead us to this particular place near their office. His first suggestion was Power Bariani which is further away but he took us to this one since it would have been a long journey with traffic.

This place has been featured by the local cuisine show, Jalan Jalan Cari Makan as they received a plaque from them which is proudly displayed in the restaurant. After chatting with them, I found out they're somewhat related to the Bariani Power House located in Section 13, Shah Alam which we had at Subang Jaya's Ramadan Bazaar. No wonder the food looked similar as they use large steamers on slow fire to keep the rice warm, coloured rice for decoration and a topping of raisins.

I must admit my tastebuds this time was biased as I was super hungry and this was my first proper meal of the day. Meals during the whole day was just half boiled eggs, coffee and kaya toast which we had at Lenga town. However it tasted really good to our hungry tummies. The lamb which I had was tender and fragrant with spices. The rice I felt was not as fluffy and fragrant compared to the nasi briyani sold at the Taman Tun Dr Ismail Ramadan Bazaar. Maybe it could be because it was cooked much earlier during the day since they have been opened for the whole day.

Since there was such a big group of us eating there, we helped the restaurant finish up their food for the day. Thanks to the Buaya group as they picked up the tab for the meal. If you wish to try their food, there are plans to open up another outlet in Johor Bahru. Alternatively head to their friend's place in Section 13, Shah Alam which serves the same type of Nasi Beriani using a similar recipe.

Super Bariani Gam
14 & 14A, Jalan Kundang 3
Taman Bukit Pasir
83000 Batu Pahat

Tel No: 07 - 4388288

(Halal)

*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: Nasi Briyani + Malaysian Food

Buaya 4x4 Johor Flood Relief Trip @ 27 January, 2007

Yesterday, after a rendezvous at Seremban's R&R Stop, we headed down south for the first of our trips to carry supplies to the flood victims. A total of eight 4WDs went down whereby most of them were either from the Lanun Darat or Buaya groups. Earl Ku from Kukujiao who heard about the trip through Babe in the City-KL also joined us. Each vehicle was carrying various items collected from kind people such as rice, cooking oil, canned food, clothing, milk powder, school bags, children's toys and etc.

We chose to head out to Lenga town, just off from the Pagoh exit after discussions with the local contacts and the district welfare officer instead of the earlier mentioned Sri Medan town. On the way there, you can see marks of the flood based on the muddy tracks left. Some parts of the town was luckily not affected like the shops as it was located on higher ground. After a briefing from the local contact, Choy who advised us two areas to concentrate on i.e the Malay village of Kampung Sungai Berani and the Chinese village at the other side of the town centre.

While we were waiting around the shops for the briefing, I couldn't resist snapping pictures of these cute kids at the local sundry shop. They were very enthusiastic when I started taking their pictures especially the jovial little boy. The town is the typical one row of shophouses type located just opposite the local police station with a mix of: sundry shops, a motorbike repair shop, a furniture shop, a rubber sap collecting centre and a hardware shop. Surprisingly there's no proper restaurant here as the only place opened was just serving snacks and refreshments to the locals.

The policemen were kind enough to let us park at the back of their police station to repack and sort out items among each of the cars. This was to ensure an equal distribution of the items needed by the victims.

We headed towards Kampung Sungai Berani which faces the river banks of Sungai Muar ( I think it's Sungai Muar but I could be very wrong, so this may be amended). Along the road leading into the village, you see houses affected by the flood. Although most of them are back in the homes from the relief centres, they're still clearing out items and drying them out. You'll see them hanging out clothes to dry, ruined items discarded on the side, mattresses hung out to air and sofas completly ruined from the flood.

The floodwaters reached up to almost the top of their roof which made it virtually impossible for them to stay in their houses so they were relocated to the local mosque.

Whenever we saw kids, we gave them toys, schoolbags and clothes to help them out. Initially, they were stunned to receive the items but later on when you pass by their houses, you can hear them playing with the toys. One little girl, opened the plastic bag of toys and her small little face lit up when she saw what was inside.

At the Chinese village just before the town centre, you get a mix of wooden houses and brick houses within an area which were affected by the flood also as they're located in the low area (Lenga town is in a valley). Although we delivered staple food items to their parents, the kids were the happiest with their toys and schoolbags. One of these kids was really taken by the white teddy bear she received as we saw her later running to another house to show her friend what she got.

Here, most of the houses have cleared up the debris and the inside of their houses. Some are still drying out their sofas and cleaning the inside from mud. See the slightly faint mark on the wooden house's front wall, that was how high the water level got.

Some of them like this lady was repainting everything in their house in preparation for Chinese New Year which is to be celebrated in February.

After Lenga town, we headed towards Batu Pahat whereby we met the Rotarians whom we passed the remainder of the items to deliver to other affected areas. Getting all those items up the stairs to their first floor office was a herculean effort but made easier with lots of teamwork. A quick chat with them indicates that there some areas still under flood waters around the town but coordination for the relief effort is poorly organised resulting in delays or wasted efforts. I guess next week, we'll have more stories on what's happening down south since another trip is planned for the weekend.

Thanks to everyone who helped out with their donations of items and monies plus all of you guys and gals who came today. Special mention must be given to our convoy leader, the Silver Surfer who coordinated the whole exercise. Thanks also to the locals who gave us tips on where to go and what's happening in the affected areas. (At this moment, I haven't got everyone's names but they will be amended and included when I get them)