Char Kuey Teow @ Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow, USJ 14, Subang Jaya

tiny portion for RM4.50

I'm slowly going through all those places to eat in USJ Subang Jaya, so if any of you have suggestions where to eat, do enlighten me! This particular stall had eluded me for quite some time, as I never could figure out where exactly it was. Luckily a quick google search led me to find a map leading the way here. Once I figured out Restaurant Meisek from the main road, I found this place easily.

Located in a corner coffeeshop, this stall is not in any way related to the famous char kuey teow stall in Penang. Instead the owners of this stall used to live on Lorong Selamat, hence the name. A couple run this stall with the help of their son. While the lady fries the kuey teow, the husband will be seperating each kuey teow strand or sprinkling pieces of fried lard on top of the finished plates of kuey teow.

Each portion is priced at RM4.50 - quite an expensive amount as the portion served is quite tiny but each bite yields a mouthful of ingredients - fat crunchy bean sprouts, tiny lard pieces, tiny lap cheong and egg.

Although I wouldn't rate the kuey teow here as the best in town (as it seems to lack that smoky "wok hei" aroma I love), it is still a pretty decent plate of lardy heaven to indulge in especially when you're down with work. For those with larger space in their tummies, I suggest you load up from the other stalls as you will definitely get hungry by 3pm after a small plate of these noodles. Be prepared to also wait, as the noodles can take up to 15 to 30 minutes depending on the lunch crowd and takeaway orders.

Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow
Restoran Lam Hing Leong
Jalan USJ 14/1L

USJ Subang Jaya

(Non Halal. Open from 7am to 2pm, closed on Sundays. To get here from the Elite Highway, exit the USJ highway exit, take a right at the first traffic light. Keep left and turn the first left. Go straight and at the second traffic light, make a U turn. Make a first left where there is a Petronas station, then another left. Drive straight down and Restoran Lam Hing Leong is at the right hand side, at the corner. A few coffeeshops are available here also.)

*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: Char Kuey Teow + Malaysian Food

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Burgers & Sausages @ German Deli Imbiss, Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya

chopped meat burger with beef bacon and cheese (RM11.80+)

Mention sausages and Splashie Boy's eyes will light up immediately....hence when he saw the reference to this place in a local paper, he jumped up and declared we had to eat this for lunch. Since we rarely venture into Ara Damansara, we got a little lost looking for the deli. Among the car workshops, an NGV installer, coffeeshops, you have this place that looks similar to a fast food joint.

french fries that won't give McD's a run for their money

There was quite a decent crowd of people hanging around tucking into sausages, so I left the ordering to Splashie Boy. We decided to share a sausage set and a burger with beef bacon and cheese. First, we were served french fries. Nothing fantastic, these were slightly soft and not crisp like the ones they serve at McDonalds.


oozing cheese filled Balkan Cheese Krainer with mashed potatoes (RM10.50+)

The sausage didn't impress also - thick rubbery skin slathered in a very dark brown sauce, which I felt was too salty. Personally, we both felt this failed the sausage test as the skin doesn't have the crunch we both like nor did it taste anything similar to a bratwurst. Since the mash potatoes was also drenched in that "oh very salty" sauce, I didn't really enjoy it also.

Instead what impressed us was their gourmet burger - purely for its texture, as this place chops the meat versus grinding it. The coarse texture of the burger makes it a better bite but it does lack the juiciness I like in my burgers probably due to the size of the patty (about 150 grams). It will be interesting to try their Cordon Bleu burger, which is 300 grams instead ( I just saw another blog's picture - looks like they stack two 150 gram patties on top of each other, so I guess size will not matter). One word of warning though - the buns are not toasted enough so the bread tends to be quite soft. Moreover, they slather on the sauce here so expect a very soggy burger and trouble handling it especially if you eat with your hands.

Final verdict for this place - go for the burgers but ask them to go easy on the sauces (unless you like soggy burgers) or ask for the sauce on the side. Do give the sausages a miss, as they aren't worth it since they taste very similar to Ayamas Premium sausages. However, if you do insist on ordering them, I suggest you ask for the sauce on the side so the saltiness does not kill your tastebuds (and appetite).

German Deli Imbiss
DG31, Jln PJU 1A/20B
Dataran Ara Damansara
Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03- 7842 3477

(Halal. Open from 9am to 9pm. Closed on Sundays.)

*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: Burger + German Food

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Pork Noodles & Porridge @ Restoran Ten-Tien Fatt, Subang Jaya

incredibly comforting - loh shue fan or mouse tail noodles pork soup

I tend to get quickly bored with Shah Alam's food selection, hence one of the ways to perk up my lunch is to search a little further. To get beyond Shah Alam, I rely on the highly efficient (but pricey) highway system to get to the Subang Jaya/USJ area. Thanks to SC from Food4Thot for writing about this place - ever since she wrote about this place, it has been my all time favourite must-have almost every week.


if you can't do without rice, ask for their porridge version

The super busy coffeeshop located within the Goodyear Court flats is always perpetually packed with people. Usually they order the economy rice, but I head towards the Penang Pork Noodles stall for my comforting bowl of pork noodles or "porridge". There's no queue here and the bowl of noodles will arrive pretty quick. That works for me, as I tend to take my time to savour the hot sweet soup laden with minced pork, pork balls, pork slices and liver. Here, "porridge" is done differently - cooked rice grains is mixed into the soup, similar to the Kelantan nasi air. Both selections are equally comforting especially when mixed with the deep fried chopped garlic. Drop by for a comforting meal but be prepared to sweat it out, since the soup can be quite hot especially during our crazy tropical weather.

Penang Pork Noodles Stall
Restaurant Ten-Tien Fatt
Goodyear Court 3
USJ
Subang Jaya

(Non Halal. Open daily from breakfast to lunchtime.)

*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: Pork Noodles + Malaysian Food

Autumn Hokkaido Fair @ Isetan Suria KLCC

huge scallops with teriyaki sauce

The fair is back! This time, it is the Autumn fair with items like pumpkins, Royce chocolates, perilla drink, cheesecakes, burdock, salmon, various types of candy and etc. There is also fresh scallops (large ones that the grill and slather on this sweet teriyaki sauce - 3 pieces for RM8) and dried scallops. For those sashimi and sushi fans, the counter is open with a wide selection. Today's special is ikura salmon roe going for RM30.80 per 100grams.

The fair is on until 12 November, 2008. For more details on the fair's offerings, click on Isetan's current newsletter.

Dry chili pan mee @ Golden Egg Noodles, Puchong, Selangor

the unusual dry chilli pan mee (RM5.30)

Feeling adventurous yesterday, I wandered into Puchong for a meal. I have been reading quite a lot about the various pan mee cafes in Puchong. There's one cafe serving pan mee with unsweetened soy bean milk, another one serving it with a thick broth like loh mein and this particular place that serves various flavours of pan mee.

dumplings served with laksa broth (6 pieces for RM4.80)

Located in between Old Town Kopitiam and Grill King, Golden Egg Noodles serves 12 varieties of pan mee. The golden term for the egg noodles seems to refer to the pumpkin flavoured pan mee. Other pan mee flavours are also available: seaweed, chili and coriander. Most of the dishes use the pumpkin flavoured pan mee, but you can ask for the different flavours at an extra cost of 50 cents.

Aside from the usual dry and soup version, they have pan mee served with Singapore laksa broth, seafood clear soup, pork slices and curry chicken. There is also pan mee fried Hokkien or Kam Heong style. I decided to try their dry chili pan mee version - chili flavoured pan mee topped with minced meat, sliced Chinese mushrooms, wood ear fungus and blanched sayur manis leaves. Deep-fried ikan bilis top the noodles, which is served with a generous dollop of dried chilli sambal.

While the flavour of chilli in the pan mee is not distinct, the noodles was quite tasty with the generous amount of minced meat topping. Unlike Kin Kin's dried chilli sambal, this version was grinded finely and not as spicy even though it had a lot of chilli seeds. I suspect they added sugar as it was sweet. Aside from the dried chillies, I reckon a little dry prawns was added to give aroma to the sambal. Even though the noodles was quite tasty, it can be quite oily. I guess the oil is what they toss the noodles in, to prevent it from sticking together. The dried chilli sambal also emits oil, hence you will find a pool of oil at the bottom of your plate after you finish your noodles.

I also ordered the laksa dumplings, which is essentially dumplings stuffed with minced pork and vegetable and served with the Singapore laksa broth. The taste was not bad, but I felt it was a little pricey at 80 sens a piece.

Overall, I thought the food was pretty good and wouldn't mind returning to try the other varieties. The place was packed during lunchtime, so business was very good. If you don't fancy noodles, they also serve rice dishes including fried rice and etc. For those snap happy people, be warned though this outlet does not encourage photo taking at all - there's a no camera sign on their front door.

Golden Egg Noodle
23-01, Jln Kenari 19A
Bandar Puchong Jaya
Puchong

Tel: 03 -8076 9749

(Non Halal. Open from 8am to 11.30pm daily.)

*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: Pan Mee + Malaysian Food

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Lemon Tart from The French Laundry Cookbook

so amazingly good....

Dinner parties always stresses me out - especially those where I have to contribute a dessert. With various tastebuds in mind (some of my friends have a sweet tooth, while others like a tangy dessert and there were also kids involved), I was in a bind on what to make. Eventually I settled on a mix of bittersweet chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse and a tangy lemon tart recipe, which I wanted to try.

Due to a few mishaps (including a roving cat who ran away for a few hours), I wasn't in a mood to make desserts hence I started only around 3pm. Dinner was just a few hours away and I had to quickly make the mousse or else it won't set. Luckily my mood picked up, as that roving cat came home after she heard me in the kitchen. Once she was sorted out, I felt much better and could concentrate on dessert.

The bittersweet chocolate mousse was based on a simple recipe I learnt from the Just Heavenly duo. I know my friend and her kids hate anything bitter (I only had Valrhona 66% in my fridge), so I made a simple white chocolate mousse from Alice Medrich's Bittersweet. Luckily I did, as that became a runaway success for dinnertime. She loved it and luckily so did her kids! Very simple to make - just melt white chocolate with a little water and mix with whipped heavy cream. Incredibly divine stuff, which they all lapped up. I reckon the next time, I will pair it with some raspberries.

I have been eyeing the famous Lemon Tart recipe from the French Laundry cookbook, for a while. Took an article in the recent Vogue and Entertaining Travel to get me started on making it. Very simple to make and I like how everything worked together even though I only started assembling the stuff around 6pm! I'm glad I made the effort, as everyone who tried it loved it. My friends were fighting for the leftovers - Jess wanted to take some home for her parents to try. Will definitely make this again and again. The crust is a little fragile though, so be careful if transporting it to another place. The lightness of the lemon sabayon and the flaky biscuit crust makes it a perfect ending to a heavy meal.

Lemon Tart (adapted from the French Laundry Cookbook)

honeyed mascarpone cream
125ml (1/2 cup) pouring/UHT cream
60g (1/4 cup) mascarpone
1 tablespoon honey

pine nut crust
80g (1/2 cup) pine nuts
2 tablespoons caster sugar
150g (1 cup) plain flour
80g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon beaten egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

lemon sabayon
2 eggs, cold
2 egg yolks, cold
165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
125ml (1/2 cup) lemon juice
90g cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

icing sugar to dust

To make honeyed mascarpone cream: Whisk UHT cream until frothy, add mascarpone and honey. Whisk until thick. Refrigerate until ready to serve with lemon tart.

To make pine nut crust: Pulse pine nuts in food processor a few times. Add sugar and flour, pulse till finely ground. Add butter and process till it resembles fine crumbs. Add egg and vanilla, process till mixture comes together. Form pastry into a flat disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

To bake pine nut crust: Preheat oven to 180C. Generously butter and flour a 24cm loose bottomed tart tin. Refrigerate for 5 minutes. Remove pastry from the refridgerator, press pastry evenly into tart tin with fingertips. Bake for 7-10 minutes, rotate tin and bake another 7-10 minutes or until pastry is golden. Cool and don't worry if it cracks.

To make lemon sabayon: Bring 5cm to boil in a pot, slightly smaller than your mixing bowl. Whisk eggs, egg yolks and sugar in mixing bowl for 1 minute until smooth. Place bowl over pot, and beat mixture with a whisk continously, for 2 minutes until eggs are foamy & thick. Add one third of lemon juice, whisk again till mixture thickens. Repear twice more with remaining juice. Continue whisking until mixture thickens and leaves a trail. This should take 8-10 minutes. Turn off heat, leave bowl over water. Whisk in butter pieces one at a time. Remove and pour warm sabayon in cooled pine nut tart shell.

To brown lemon tart: Preheat oven grill and place tart under grill, leaving oven door oven. Brown for a few seconds (be careful to not burn it, so watch it carefully). Remove from oven.

To serve: Leave the browned lemon tart to stand for 1 hour at room temperature. Dust with icing sugar and serve with honeyed mascarpone cream on the side.

Restoran Tangkak Beef Noodles @ Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur

mixed beef noodles with stomach and tendon (RM8.90)

I spotted this place one night, after dining at Overseas Restaurant on Jalan Imbi. Hard to miss this newly opened restaurant (started business on 18 September, 2008) since it is almost directly opposite the infamous Chinese restaurant. To be honest, I had no idea about this famous beef noodles from Tangkak. A quick search at the church of Google revealed the popularity of this place that has spanned branches in Kluang and Melaka.

beef balls (RM5 for 8 pieces)

A nice clean place, dining here was pretty pleasant except most of the wait staff seem to speak Mandarin versus the requisite Kuala Lumpur Cantonese accent. I ordered the mix beef selection (with stomach and tendons) to try. Full of beefy goodness (only local beef is used), my noodles came laden with thick slices of beef, a little bit of stomach parts and tendons. While the beef slices was tender, I thought they were pretty stingy on the stomach parts and tendons. A sprinkling of salted vegetable (ham choy) is added on top. My hor fun noodles were large flat strands and I think they cut them because all of them were quite short. Even though the portions are quite generous, the beef broth didn't impress me - I felt it had more of a soy sauce taste versus beefy. Prices are also quite steep - about RM7.90 to RM9.90 (normal size). For the tendons, a normal bowl is RM15.90 (for tendons).

A side order of beef balls was also ordered to try out. Served in a soup that tasted strongly of herbs, I didn't quite like the oily layer surrounding my beef balls. Beef balls didn't impress, as they lacked the elasticity I usually look for. Instead, this felt very home made and the texture was soft.

Personally, I was not impressed with the beef noodles especially the oily layer of my soup served with the beef balls. Bit weird, as I have been reading such good things about their other outlets. Maybe this place is below sub-standard????

Restoran Tangkak Beef Noodles

No. 133, Ground Floor

Jalan Imbi
55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 017-336 8805

(Non halal. Open from 9am to 8pm daily. Shophouse is opposite Overseas Restaurant. Branches are also found in Tangkak, Melaka and Kluang.)

*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: Beef Noodles + Malaysian Food

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Malaysia International Gourmet Festival (MIGF)

those gorgeous candles all over the place, to set the mood

November is the time to dig deep into your pockets, as it is MIGF time! Starting on 1 November, 28 restaurants are participating this year with special festival menus and offers. Kicking off the celebrations, was the Gala launch last Thursday. Here all the restaurants will particpate by setting up booths with sampler portions of their festival menus. It is a good way of figuring out, which place you want to dine at.


Zuan Yuan, One World Hotel's Two Flavoured Oyster with Oriental Garlic Spicy Sauce & Saffron Chilli Oil

The gala can get quite chaotic, as everyone has to move from booth to booth to try the food. After a while, all those small portions start to build up and you can feel your stamina going.


Zuan Yuan's Steamed Winter Truffle with Chrysanthemum Prawn Paupiette in Pumpkin Paste

Everyone loved Zuan Yuan's fresh oysters laced with a very subtle chili oil. The other item on the menu - the prawn dumpling was average tasting with the pumpkin paste dominating the prawn taste more.

Senses doing their "smoked ocean trout" thing

My vote for one of the best tasting, was Senses. I really loved their table smoked ocean trout. Here you see a larger version they were doing for the gala. In the restaurant, they use a wine glass to cover the ocean trout and smoke it.


Senses signature dessert

Dessert was one of their signature items - this chocolate terrine with a delicious chocolate crumbs. I really liked this, but sadly they are not serving this for the festival menu.


Si Chuan Dou Hua's suspended spoons in the air - boiled sliced venison in sichuan pepper sauce

I liked Si Chuan Dou Hua's chilled noodles with shredded abalone - very refreshing. Also good was Kabab & Qaurma's selections. The kebabs were tender and the rice, nice and fluffy. A little cold since they had to prepare it ahead but pretty good stuff, enough to put this place on my list of "to-try-later-on" restaurants.


Tamarind Springs living goddess

Some of the restaurants outdid themselves with the decor of their booths - the one that takes the cake is Tamarind Springs. This lady was suspended high and above, looking down at us.


Putrajaya Marriott's violin duo

The host, Putrajaya Marriott outdid themselves with a huge display for their two restaurants - Tuscany and Summer Palace. They even had two girls perched on a ledge, playing the violins. Scary to be looking down from all that way up.


tartlets from Putrajaya Marriott

Lighting was quite bad within the ballroom, so I snapped quite a lot of pictures at the Putrajaya Marriott booth. Didn't manage to try everything though..

mascarpone cream infused with cherries

I had the mascarpone cream - not too bad and I loved the cherries hidden within the cream. Not too sweet when paired with the cream.

teeny weeny cakes

Since there were so many booths and places we visited, after a while it got to be quite a blur, what we tried.

tiramisu - Putrajaya Marriott

There were these cutesy chocolate cups filled with tiramisu cream - not fantastic and kinda didn't taste like tiramisu since it had no alcohol soaked sponge within it.


Red's cocktails made with 42 below vodka

Red from PJ Hilton, were serving wickedly delicious cocktails in these attractive test tubes.

eggshells filled with crab bisque

I liked the crab bisque - served in eggshells. Very unique and delicious tasting.


Pacifica grill's langoustine tortelloni

I wasn't too impressed with the tortelloni from Pacifica Grill, but then a bit difficult for them as it was slightly cold already.

truffles from Villa Danieli

We stopped by Villa Danieli, and indulged a bit on chocolate truffles - simply divine stuff. The band was very loud though - you couldn't really chit chat with people you meet moving from booth to booth.

For me, the only place that stood out was Senses. Wouldn't mind going there to try the festival menu. Doubt I can afford the full dinner menu but maybe I can dig deep in my wallet for the light lunch option. For more details on the restaurants and their menus, see the MIGF official website.

Yes! DBKL has seen the light - Jalan Alor name stays

Good news - the KL Mayor announced the Jalan Alor name remains for that iconic street. Finally they have come to their senses. Maybe they can give pointers to the National Fatwa Council, which claims they will be announcing a ruling on yoga soon. Sounds very ominous...but let us wait and see, when the official annoucement is made.

Japanese Food @ Xenri D'Garden Terrace, Menara Hap Seng, Kuala Lumpur

the amazing terrace garden with a view

Recently, I stumbled on this great place right smack in the city - Menara Hap Seng. Refreshed from the old look MUI Plaza, it has an airy podium filled with restaurants and cafes. On top of the podium, there is a terrace garden with lovely trees and a great view of the buildings around it including KL Tower. On the lower levels, there is The Olive & Tree (a North Indian place), Sister's Kitchen (opened by the Sisters Popiah people and the most packed during lunchtime), Cafe 9 (a casual Malay place), San Terri, Oldtown White Coffee, Starbucks, Nagomi Shabu- Shabu, Desserts Bar and etc. On the top level, you have the restaurants - Elegant Inn (a branch from their Taman Connaught outlet), a yet to open wine bar and this place, we checked out - Xenri D'Garden Terrace.

cold small dish to start - shredded daikon radish with beef strips

A branch of the ever-famous Xenri at Old Klang Road, this place was nice and quiet especially during the weekend. (note, Menara Hap Seng seems to cater for the crowd around the area, hence lunchtime is the most packed) Not having tried the original place, we were a little lost on what to order.

sweet mango laden Hawaiian Roll (RM28++)

We settled for old favourites and also tried out some of their specialties. Since we didn't eat any rice, ordered the recommended makis to share between the two of us. We both loved the Hawaiian Roll - laden with slices of sweet and ripe mango. Inside the maki, is a fried prawn. I thought it was a nice tropical touch to the Japanese item, which I vaguely remember reading before, they also do a similar thing in Brazil.

pretty ordinary Spider Roll (RM30++)

The other recommended maki, was the pretty ordinary tasting Spider Roll filled with soft shell crab. We thought the portions were nice and generous, but somewhat lacking in the taste department. I kinda suspect it is due to the ingredients, as the fried items could have been prepared ahead, hence they are not very crispy. Usually this roll tends to be quite dry, but this version wasn't and didn't disintegrate after one bite.


a staple favourite of ours - Agedashi Tofu (RM16++)

We usually either eat a salad or a beancurd dish, whenever we do Japanese. This time round, it was beancurd, which Splashie Boy requested for the fried version. The beancurd was nice and smooth, with generous toppings of bonito shavings, spring onions and grated daikon radish.


from the special menu - Kaki Cheese Yaki (RM42++)

The menu here is divided into the usual dishes, set meals and the special dishes. I couldn't resist the baked oysters. Consisting of a generous platter of 5 oysters, the oysters were topped with sliced shitake mushrooms and onions, a cheesy sauce and gratinated under the grill till brown. A little too creamy and rich for me, I thought the taste was quite average.

Splashie Boy's favourite - seafood and beef on a hot stone (RM32++)

Beef is always a must, with my other half. We asked the waitress for a recommendation - she mumbled something super expensive that I could see someone shoot me a "no way! I'll pay for that" look. Instead, we went for the mixed seafood and beef on hot stone, which was served with a prawn, two pieces of salmon, beef and a Japanese green pepper. We were also served a sauce made from soy sauce and filled with daikon radish gratings on the side. Drizzle a bit on the food and the food tasted so delicious. Definitely the best item for the night.


the lights and fountain in the restaurant

Overall, we thought the food was just average, nothing much to shout about. To be honest, I was more excited with the view and the whole area, rather than the taste of the food even though they scored high for me with their Hawaiian Roll and the mixed seafood and beef on hot stone. Seems the restaurant at Old Klang Road, does buffets during the weekends but this place serves ala carte all the time. Good place to drop by, when you feel claustrophobic from all the traffic on Jalan Sultan Ismail. For bigger pictures, see my flickr set.

Xenri D'Garden Terrace
Lot 2.04, Second Floor
The Podium
Menara Hap Seng
Jalan P Ramlee
Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2078 6688

(Pork free)

*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: Xenri + Japanese Food

Happy Deepavali

they make it on the spot, so get it fresh from the steamer

Happy Deepavali to all! Am sure you will either be celebrating with your friends or just enjoying the holidays. Sadly, I have to work today, sniff! We stumbled on this discovery last night - putu mayam at SS3. This particular stall usually opens for the Tuesday night market (pasar malam) but last night, they opened to do business for the Deepavali celebrations, until 5am this morning.

fluffy putu mayam on steamer baskets

To celebrate the festival of lights, we bought a batch for dinner. Since they didn't have any curry, we just ate it with freshly grated coconut and brown sugar. Really soft and delicious, as the people will make it on the spot (just press the rice flour mixture into the mould to create the vermicelli thin strands, steam it and serve). According to the stall owner, this is an essential food item for the celebrations. If you want to catch them, they will open on Tuesday night at the pasar malam again. I also took a few more pictures of the stall - them preparing the steamer and etc, so check out my flickr account.

Putu mayam stall

Along Jalan SS3/29
Next to the traffic lights, between 7/11 and Shell Station

Petaling Jaya

Mee Hoon Kuih @ Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih House, Klang

ultra smooth pinched dough pieces to perk up the mid-week

I vaguely remember eating here, once long long ago with my family, when I was younger. Somehow, in those days, Klang seemed so far away for me, but I just realised today, that this is so easy to get to especially with the highways. This place which can be kinda misleading - the faded signboard on top says Sin Hooi Hua but if you drive past, you see Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih written below the larger signboard.


an interesting combo - barley mixed with cincau

Even though, it was a weekday, the intermediate coffeeshop was quite packed. Luckily my order took about 15 minutes. You place your order at the stall, with the option to add a poached egg, additional meat, vegetables, fried ikan bilis and etc.

Unlike pan mee, this is the Hokkien version, where the dough is pinched into rough pieces and dropped straight in the soup broth to cook. What this results in, are irregular pieces of ultra smooth dough pieces that make this simply pleasurable. While the pan mee texture is harder, this type is way silkier and delish.

Each bowl of mee hoon kuih is prepared on the spot, so you can observe the workers flattening pieces of the dough with the palm of their hands and pinching it with their fingers straight into the soup broth. Pork slices, liver, choy sum and fried ikan bilis top the noodles. I loved the fried ikan bilis, which I could see people ordering extra to add on top. Those who love the sourish chili sauce that goes with pan mee, will be slightly dissapointed as here they only serve these noodles with chopped bird eye's chillies. Here the soup is not overly sweet (a good indication of it being natural and not super enhanced), hence no worries about killing yourself with MSG.

Aside from the noodles, this shop also serves an unusual drink - a combo of barley with sliced cincau. Very refreshing even though the cincau's taste tends to overpower the barley. For me, I will definitely revisit as I thoroughly enjoyed my bowl of silky smooth pinched dough pieces.

Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih House
19 Lebuh Bangau
Taman Berkeley
Klang

Open from 10am-11pm daily. Only closed during Chinese festivals.

(Non halal. To get here, use the Federal Highway. After the turn off to Jusco Klang, keep left, if coming from KL, take the first left and you will reach a roundabout. In front of you will be Centro. Take a 3-o clock turn, go straight and continue until you see a shophouse with a restaurant on the left. Take a left and go straight, Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih is on the second row.)

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: Mee Hoon Kuih + Malaysian Food

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This is ridiculous - Jalan Alor is renamed as Jalan Kejora

Am not sure if you all caught this, but per a report in the Star on Saturday, it seems DBKL has re-named Jalan Alor to Jalan Kejora!! From the article, it is quoted,

"...Jalan Alor’s name was changed at the request of the National Economic Action Council following decisions made in its exco meeting. With regard to that, DBKL’s Road Naming Committee concluded in its meeting that the name of Jalan Alor be changed to Jalan Kejora to go with other roads in the vicinity named after the stars...."

Er, first of all, are the roads nearby named after the stars??? I don't think Tung Shin means star unless they think, Jalan Bukit Bintang which is literally translated to Star Hill is the link to stars? Moreover Kejora, which is the Malay name for the planet Venus (also known as Zuhrah), isn't a star!?

Already there has been consternation among the hawkers who ply their trade on this infamous road. For decades, they have been referred to as THE place for food, especially for the tourists. Imagine, how difficult it will be for the tourists to look for a new place now even though they put Jalan Alor in brackets under Jalan Kejora. Moreover, Kejora ain't that easy to pronounce or spell either, especially for those who don't speak Malay. Just can't imagine us telling people, that it is Kejora Kai Yik (Kejora Chicken Wings) or Kejora Frog Legs Porridge they must try when they visit KL.

What do all of you think about this renaming exercise????

Kelantanese fare @ Restoran Hatinie, Section 10, Shah Alam

nasi kerabu with pale blue coloured rice

Ever since I read about this place's existence from A Whiff of Lemongrass and recently, on Fried Chillies, I have been slowly exploring it. Sadly I seem to have a chunk of missing photos I took of a previous visit, just before Ramadan started hence the pictures only cover a recent visit.

nasi dagang, my other must-have when dining at any Kelantanese place

Popular in Shah Alam for its spread of Kelantan dishes, everything is laid out buffet style (or hidang style in Malay), so help yourself to what you wish to tuck in. Breakfast is the best time to drop by, with all their famous dishes: nasi dagang, nasi kerabu, nasi impit and unusual sweets like pulut pagi and apong.

presenting the divine Ms. Pulut Pagi, all dressed up in snow white grated fresh coconut

I'm not much of a fan for their version of nasi dagang as it has a softer texture, kinda akin to normal rice. For my palate, I kinda prefer the chewy type. The nasi kerabu is not bad - I like the natural pale blue colour of my rice, which I can add as much ulam as I like with grinded fish flakes and a sweetish sambal like sauce. While the ulam, was not super fresh, the tasty fish flakes made up for the dish.

I've also tried the laksam, which is pretty good with a satisfying coconut milk creamy sauce. However, one of my absolute favourites here is the little seen dessert known as pulut pagi. Usually glutinous rice is cooked with coconut milk and kept white, this version uses gula melaka syrup to cook the rice. Each grain is enriched with the taste of gula melaka, making every morsel, a delight to savour. You top it with loads of freshly grated coconut to get a satisfying kick start to the morning.

Another unusual dish here is apong that resembles American pancakes, but studded with slightly coarse black pepper granules. You either eat it with grated coconut or curry. No pictures of this, but it is light and delicious.

While the impression I had it is better to eat here early to catch the best, there does not seem to be that many customers here. Weird, as it seems business is quite slow compared to the Johor Briyani restaurant at the back of it. For me at least, this is the nearest place to get my Kelantanese fix especially that wonderful pulut pagi.

Restoran Hatinie

No. 18 & 20

Jalan Selendang 10/10

40000 Shah Alam.

Tel: 017-256 2825

(Halal. Open 7.30am to 11pm.)

Tony Roma's @ The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur

potato skins - yum yum

I reckon, everyone's heard a comment or two about this place, since they have opened so many outlets in every major mall in town, so there should be no surprises here. I'm currently clearing my backlog of pictures - things I ate long long ago with friends, that I never got around to blogging about. I reckon, I better clear these before I entirely forget about the taste of the stuff.

buffalo chicken wings - had better before

For those die-hard babyback ribs fans, Tony Roma's here is a major dissapointment, as they have decided to not serve any pork. While their major best-selling item is off limits here, the restaurant is doing quite well, and I have read some believe it is better than Chillis. Personally, I don't think so as most dishes I have tried in Chillis have been good while Tony Roma's seem to score lower in the taste category with their items.


onion loaf - my fav stuff with ribs

One weekend, we had decided to dine with friends - it was a good choice especially since portions were so huge, that we could share among the 5 of us. An appetizer platter was ordered - fried onion loaf, buffalo wings and potato skins. While the potato skins is quite sparse in terms of toppings, it was pretty good stuff. I didn't quite like the buffalo wings though, hence I drenched them with blue cheese sauce to get rid of that icky taste it had. Fried onion loaf was not bad, nice and crispy.


chicken caesar salad - a little too creamy for me

Since Jess was on a diet, we added greens to our order - a Caesar salad laden with grilled chicken pieces. I thought the salad dressing was a bit too much - very creamy and overpowering. We also had one gripe about the salad - they mixed romaine lettuce with other types of lettuce!!! Aiks, everyone knows Caesar salad is all about romaine lettuce and no other imposter lettuce will do!


scampi pasta - really nothing fantastic

The pasta with its huge bowtie pasta, mixed with chopped tomatoes and shrimp, was frankly quite mediocre tasting, definitely not something I would re-order, if I dined here again.


sublime bountiful beef ribs - the only reason why one should visit Tony Roma's

While all our other orders were mediocre or nothing fantastic, Tony Roma's redeemed itself with their a platter of bountiful beef ribs, which we shared - each one had a rib! Simply sublime - smoky with fork-tender meat, that I could eat these all day!!! Definitely made my meal here, or else I'll write off this place (I was kinda dissapointed the first time I ate here also but the beef ribs saved their rep too).


we made it to dessert...but it was dissapointingly not chocolately enough

Since there was so many stomachs helping out to finish the food, we managed to squeeze in some dessert - a chocolate Avalanche. While the dessert looked rich and inviting, it was sadly lacking any chocolate taste. Give me chocolate brownie with ice cream at Chillis, anytime instead.

While there were quite a number of misses here, one hit that I won't mind returning for again and again, are those melt in the mouth beef ribs!

Tony Roma's
The Gardens
Lot LG 217
Mid Valley City
Kuala Lumpur

(Pork free. Restaurant is located at the area that connects Mid Valley Megamall to the Gardens.)

*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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