I'm eternally grateful to my friend S....it's because of her that we discovered this little Moroccan gem of a place hidden in suburbia. NST's Sunday Times had clued her in on this cafe's existence but she had scouted it for us and gave her lip smacking approval before we stepped into this cosy cafe.
The cafe and the Moroccan Hammam bath next to it is owned by a couple (one half is Moroccan while the other is local). The space is given a Moroccan feel with intricate lamps, terracotta engravings and there is even a fountain in the front. As S had thoughtfully booked ahead, we had the private room to ourselves, where we lounged on long couches. Since it was quite a few of us in that space, we knocked elbows a little as we dined. Nevertheless one does enjoy the whole ambience inside the room especially with the beautiful shadows casted from the carved lamps. Completing the whole ambience was the bold patterned plates our food came in.
I've always loved Moroccan food and one of my culinary heroes is Claudia Roden who is famous for her Middle Eastern cookbooks. Their food is fragrant with a lovely subtleness that has a magical appeal which draws me back. At Min Fes, we felt the food exudes a one of a kind home-like feel (from what I read they use the owner's mother's recipes) making it a class above any other restaurant in town.
As usual, we order a feast that the table is literally groaning from the weight of the food. Chief favourites voted by many tummies (7 to be exact) were the lamb aukdah (RM15) and the chicken couscous (RM20). The lamb aukdah is perfect for lazy eaters. No wrangling with bones as the lamb is all shredded up and mixed with diced tomatoes and onions. What makes it perfect are the subtle spices that go into it, as you eat each bite, you can feel each layer on your tongue - a hint of cinnamon, a hint of sweetness and so forth.
Only available for Friday is Morocco's national dish, the couscous. They serve two varieties: lamb (RM25) and chicken. The chicken version is far superior in taste compared to the lamb. The couscous is said to be steamed five times over the chicken broth, which produces these aromatic fluffy grains. It is topped with chunky fork tender portions of carrots, celery and pumpkin.
We had two types of lamb tagine (RM20 each), one with vegetables and the other with prunes. The meat is soft and the juices of the dish is superb as everything cooks down to a light tasty broth. Appetizers came a little late during the meal but the hummus (RM7), chickpea puree and tahini sauce with lemon juice is smooth and moreish with the soft pita breads. We also enjoy the warm falafel (RM7), ground chickpea patties. The Moroccan salad (RM7) is a refreshing combination of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and onions with a special house dressing that hinted of olive oil with a dash of lemon juice. Being a great fan of eggplant, I loved the zaalouk (RM7), grilled eggplant mashed with tomatoes, cilantro and garlic that was so moreish. We also had the chicken kabsa (RM15), boiled chicken with spices served with a fluffy briyani rice and a spicy tangy sauce on the side.
To end, it was creme caramel (RM3) and a refreshing fruit salad (RM7) that is served with a lovely thick yoghurt. We also enjoy thick Moroccan coffee and the traditional Moroccan mint tea. The tea is very sweet but I love the mint aroma that didn't stop me from sipping down one glass. I reckon more visits to this place is warranted since we have yet to try their mixed grill items, the fish chermoula that is by special order. They also so mandy lamb but only for special catering. Hop over here for a slice of Moroccan magic.
Min Fes Hammam and Cafe
19-1, Jalan PJU 7/7A
Mutiara Damansara
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7722 5049
(Halal. Open from 11am to midnight daily. Turn into Mutiara Damansara from the main road opposite the Curve. Go straight, the row of shophouses is on the left hand side before the roundabout. Min Fes is at the corner. More pictures in my Flickr set.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
Nowadays, the pig seems to have found a new home in Taman Tun Dr Ismail...in the numerous pubs sprouting around the Lorong Rahim Kajai area and now, the latest is this no-frills Thai kopitiam.
In Thai cuisine, pork is often used in many dishes. As most of the Thai places opening up in Malaysia are mindful of the religion restrictions, they tend to omit the porcine element. Moreover most of the Thais come from the Southern region that is still very much influenced by our Northern states.
Opened about two weeks ago, this kopitiam is run by Sita, one of the founders of Bangsar's Montien and her two nephews. The name Surisit is an amalgamation of their names. It does service the whole day hence you get breakfast, lunch and dinner with different menus. Breakfast is pork noodles, porridge while there are different lunch and dinner menus. As they are still very new, the menu is still going through changes as the owners are still experimenting with what dishes appeal to the diners.
We sampled the dinner menu and of course, it was zoom into the pork dishes since these are so rare. There were three choices of tom yam soups (seafood, chicken and pork), of course we chose the Tom Yam Ka Moo (clear tom yam soup with braised pork hocks, RM25.90) - light, well balanced with the salty, sweet and sour taste, and of course the fork tender pork.
The big winner of our meal was the Mun Thod Gapi (crispy fried pork with shrimp paste with deep fried lime leaves and chilli sauce, RM16.90 for small and RM24.90 for large). At first we joked that we're eating Hakka char yoke but a taste of it revealed its differences - the subtle taste of shrimp paste, its crusty top and of course the burst of flavour from the deep fried kaffir lime leaves and the chilli sauce. Incredibly addictive that we even ordered a second dish. Instead, the classic Phat Krapao Moo Sap (mince pork with Thai basil, RM12.90 for small, RM17.90 for large) seemed bland and uninteresting. Somehow the aromatic Thai basil leaves just didn't manage to carry the flavours through.
While we would have loved to gone completely pork crazy, we did also balance out the meal with the Pla Thod Nam Pla (Crispy Thai Style Garlic Fried Fish, RM32.90). Essentially this was deep-fried siakap fish served with a sauce on the side. The sauce was a bit of a let-down. A little too watery and we detected soybean paste within, spring onions and etc that reminded us a little of a similar Chinese dish. Instead we went for their amazing chilli sauce - it looks fiery but it was sweetish and addictive. That sauce when paired with the fish, saved that dish. Also on the table was the Khai Luk Koei (Son in law eggs, RM9.90). These hard boiled eggs are deep-fried, doused in a thickish slightly sweet sauce and garnished with lots of shallot crisps - a combination that worked well but wasn't very exciting to the palate. One must not forget the greens that came in the form of Pucuk Paku Yam Pla (kerabu pucuk paku RM12.90 for small, RM16.90 for large). A friend had earlier eaten here and raved about this dish but this time round, it wasn't so good she admitted. The elements of the ferntops, prawns and coconut milk - seemed to lack that sourish tangy taste needed to balance it.
No desserts for us as they ran out but we did end it with some fresh mango. Usually they do serve Thab Tim Krob and mango glutinous rice. It's still very much early days for the kopitiam but I reckon they're going to be a big winner once all the wheels are greased properly. Am curious to return for breakfast as I heard the pork noodles are wonderful. I would love to compare that to the Section 17 market's version. For me, I reckon they have me literally hooked on that crispy pork dish. Just give me a bowl of plain rice and I'll be a happy camper with that meal.
Surisit Thai Kopitiam
No. 17, Grd Floor
Lorong Rahim Kajai 13
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-7710 0173
(Non Halal. Place is further down from Penang Village. Open from 8am-10.30pm daily. More pictures in the Flickr set.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
We have been haunting this little bistro tucked away in Petaling Jaya ever since it opened last week. Run by private chef Isadora Chai, food here is wholesome and cooked with a lot of heart. Occupying Patrick Teoh's former Music Machine's premises, the place has been done up in a simple yet effective manner - suspended lightbulbs on closer look resemble flowers from below with their draping wires, hanging glass vases, French themed prints, black mosaic tiles and a quirky door frame with their name. Don't also forget the Francophile theme as the inside doors and the front step get a slick of the red, blue and white colours from the French flag.
Back to food. It's simple with a one page menu for appetisers, mains and desserts that does change accordingly to what's fresh in the market. While it does not rapidly change daily, if you dine here regularly enough you may find some favourites making way for other dishes that Isadora wants to introduce to you. In a way, it's a good thing as she's got quite a wide repertoire of yummy dishes. Do leave room for desserts as they're all divine. Being a good girl, I won't dive into desserts yet but start in a proper manner with appetisers.
Zoom in on the one-of-the-kind Caesar Salad Soup (RM18), Isadora's quirky creation. It's essentially a deconstructed dish - cos salad soup, soft egg hidden behind a wall of sliced toast, duck prosciutto slices, parmesan crisp with a dollop of cream. Simply divine and makes you feel happier to have eaten your greens with a spoon! We also loved the creamy duck liver parfait (RM19) that we hoovered quickly through with our soft and crusty topped baguettes. Equally good is the coddled egg with maple syrup served with an asparagus spear and crouton dust (RM16). For heartier appetites, there's also the seafood (mantis prawn and lobster) bisque topped with a gruyere souffle (RM35).
We move on the mains (and one step closer to desserts). Splashie Boy loved the gnocchi with burnt butter, tomatoes and zucchini (RM28). The gnocchi has a pillow soft texture that paired well with the fragrant brown butter, while the vegetables helped cut through the richness. A specialty here is the traditional duck cassoulet (RM48) - slow cooked duck for 8 hours with beans. It's a very hearty dish that you will keep spooning down your throat. It can be a teeny weeny bit salty though but I reckon it'll be perfect with a glass of white wine. For decadent palates, go for the slipper lobster and sea urchin tagliatelle (RM119) - a super rich concoction laced with a decadent lobster oil. The second time we dined here, the steak had been changed to a herbed crust lamb rack (RM96) that was cooked perfectly with a red wine sauce on the side and creamy mash potatoes. We had also ordered side dishes: truffled mash (RM12) and steamed French beans with hazelnuts in vinaigrette (RM10).
Finally we reach desserts, always a high point for me. We love the warm chocolate fondant with its oozing chocolate centre that melds with the vanilla creme anglaise (RM18) that hugs it. My other favourite was the dragonfruit coconut pavlova topped with candied ginger (RM14). The combination of the lightly coconut scented cream with the ginger is perfect with the crunch from the meringue. For a very rich end to your meal, you have two choices of tiramisu - an alcohol drenched one (RM29) or the deconstructed version (RM18) that is extremely chocolate-ly. Oh and don't forget one of my personal favourites, the kaffir lime and lemon tart (RM15), one of the best citrus themed tarts in town with a slightly soft centre.
The place is still very very new and feeling their way around. There's also plans to introduce a degustation menu. Do pop by and get a feel of the place and try the food. You'll find a friendly cosy place that reminds one of dining overseas. For the adventurous, try the long communal table in the middle. Who knows, you may end up chatting with your fellow diners and discover you know each other.
Bistro à Table
6, Jalan 17/54
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7931 2831
(Pork Free. Place is behind Decanter at Section 17. Closed on Mondays. Open for dinnertime at the moment. Call for bookings. More pictures are in the Flickr set.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
One late morning, I found myself at uncharted territory i.e. Kepong. With a grumbling tummy, I knew I had to seek for some sustenance hence I vaguely remembered reading about De Champion Duck before. I did make it to the place but it was just way to early for lunch that the place was quiet like a church mouse. Instead what grabbed my attention was the crowd surrounding the corner pork noodle stall just a few doors away from it. I decided instead to throw caution to the wind and give the place a try.
It was a lucky strike as this place specialises in pork noodles that came with everything in it...i.e. those spare parts including rare objects such as kidney and cubes of pig's blood. Since I was eating with an empty tummy, I did get a little greedy and ordered everything on the table for RM11. Just a little bit of something to give it a try. Hence I ended up with a huge bowl of minced pork, pork slices, liver, kidney, pig's blood and etc. The soup wasn't too sweet with not much MSG. Really wholesome food and I really enjoyed the mince pork they shaped into flat patties - very juicy and slightly sweet. I reckon the next time I'm here, it is the normal bowl of pork noodles for RM4.50 instead since it already contains my favourite minced pork patty. The stall also does pork balls served with bittergourd slices that sounds super yummy. I guess if you want to sniff out good food, just trust the locals to pick a winner.
Pork Noodle Stall
16, Jalan 3/62
Medan Putra 3
Bandar Sri Menjalara
Kepong
Tel: 016-204 1276/012-671 2797
(Non Halal. Open from 7am to 3.45pm daily. The flickr set is here.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
Colour my world. Isn't that a lovely statement if we lived in dreary super gloomy British weather? In my case, I wasn't too pleased last week when someone decided to "colour my world" yellow at dinner, which resulted in these less than stellar pictures. Don't get me wrong...the food was great and so was the wonderful company I was keeping but my pictures looked horribly jaundiced from the sunshine yellow tablecloth.
Back to food as that's why you all read this blog. I was introduced to this place by a newly found friend J. Like good children, we flocked to this place just off the busy MRR2 from different directions...some from KL city centre, Cheras and me from far flung (and maybe another country where passport is required) Shah Alam. Being super efficient, J had got us all kitted up with maps hence we had no excuse to be lost. Incidentally, J also paid for dinner (thanks again) so this meant that I don't have any prices to quote.
Dinner started off with a home cooked chicken soup. Boiled for 4 hours, the soup was sweet from the use of white cabbage, chicken feet (including one whole chicken) and Chinese ham. We slurped the boiling hot soup together with silky smooth homemade wantans. The whole dinner was served like a Western meal, course by course with individual servings. Once the tummy was well lined with the heartwarming soup, we moved on to the aromatic garlic pork rib. The meat had a lovely brown crusty exterior that hid succulent layers of meat and fat. I enjoyed this tremendously with the spicy and slighty tangy green chilli dip on the side.
Next course was pomfret cooked two ways - the slices fried with vegetables, while the bones (nothing is ever wasted) were deep fried and coated in a sweet tasting soy sauce. I enjoyed the bones best as they were cut in small pieces and well fried to be so crunchy that I didn't get any large pieces. Really enjoyable with the not overpowering sweet but aromatic sauce. We moved on to the crustaceans, the classic soy sauce pan fried prawns. While the prawns were fresh, I felt the sauce was a little lacking of its sweet caramelised taste I usually associate this dish with. As the tummies were quickly filling up, we finished off with a fried yee mee with crab meat. Luckily they had shelled them, as I can imagine I'll be darn lazy to spend the later part of the evening doing the hard work. The noodles are paired with a deep fried kailan leaves, shredded to resemble seaweed.
We end the meal with dessert in the form of a tong sui (sweet broth) and some complimentary gui ling gao. It was a pretty satisfying meal that had me thinking I should return to do justice to their crabs. I wonder if they do a mean salted egg yolk crab version or a luscious butter coated one. Oops, my mouth is now watering and my tummy starts to rumble for some crab action.
SKH Riverview Seafood Village
No. 6 & 8, Lorong Embun 2
Kuala Ampang
Hulu Klang
Ampang
Tel: 03-4252 3166
(Non Halal. Open from 11.30am to 3pm, 5.30 to 11pm. Place is just off the MRR2, the turning is on the left after the Flamingo Hotel and the road to Mei Keng Fatt. Follow the signboards to get here. More pictures are in my Flickr set.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
The heat has been stifling especially the afternoons before the rain clouds break into a request for Rihanna's Umbrella song. It has been so hot that I've been craving for some cold relief in the form of The Last Polka's ice cream. The dynamic gal power of May Yee and Ee Vee are my go-to gals for innovative flavours that remind me of my good ole school days...Horlicks, Nutella, Teh Tarik and the best ever lusciousness, their new flavour Salted Gula Melaka.
While I've been indulging in their cool rescue packs available at Jaya One's The Bee, Marmalade's outlets (Mont Kiara and Bangsar) and now Whisk Expresso Bar at Empire Subang, I've never been to their scoop shop. Thus, one weekend we made our pilgrimage there to discover cool epiphany.
Their scoop shop is located within the trendy and minimalist confines of The V Cafe. Here you get to satisfy all your greedy cravings since they offer you double scoops (RM10.80 for the regular flavours, RM12.80 for premium flavours). Twice the fun I reckon as we both debate on what to pick. He ends up with his new cool love, the Salted Gula Melaka and a newbie to us , the Coconut Kaffir Lime. I reach for old favourites like Nutella and Horlicks. The whole set up at the cafe is kinda quirky with all those whimsy college touches like a love messageboard and even a shoutout Post-It board. Even though it had a new school feel, there was old school touches with Bon Jovi blaring away on the speakers.
For those who love the gals' ice-cream, rumour has it (just like how Adele sings it), they're also venturing into the tea business as they'll be supplying tea flavoured ice creams (satu Teh Tarik and one green tea please) to The Tea Republic at Bangsar Shopping Centre. Another great reason to hangout at that cool quiet cafe tucked in one corner at the mall to indulge in some tea madness. I reckon this calls for a revisit to indulge some more...so stay tuned for more cool delights.
In the meantime, if one can't break into The Last Polka ice cream for emergency cold relief, I guess we should all become vampires...sleep during the hot days and emerge refreshed at night to party away. Not sure about that blood sucking part though but I'm sure you'll figure it out. Catch more pictures in my Flickr set.
The Last Polka Ice Cream @The V Cafe
Syopz @ Boardwalk
Lower Ground Flr (below Starbucks)
Taylor's Lakeside Campus
Subang Jaya
For order enquiries, check their website and their facebook page. Flavours include Salted Gula Melaka, Coconut Kaffir Lime, Mango, Strawberry Cheesecake, Guinness, Nutella, Horlicks, Malt and Peanut Butter, Teh Tarik, White Coffee, Green Tea and Black Sesame.
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
