Gourmet Garden

At least 2 years, we have not really been to Kuala Lumpur (KL) to explore the food scene. Last month we were there for a working plus leisure visit. The trip brought us to Jalan Peel for Hakka Yong Tao Fu, Cheras for some old school Hakka dishes, Jalan Imbi for fried Hokkien Mee, China Town for some handmade delicacies and also Lot 10 Hutong for their publicize gathering of famous good eats around Kuala Lumpur.

Those unfamiliar with Lot 10 Hutong, it is a food court that gathers the famous and much liked KL delicacies Tan Sri Francis Yeoh of the YTL Group of companies adores and frequents. Therefore, it is a melting port of sort for tourists and people of KL. This Hutong houses not only well known names from and around KL but also the some brands from Singapore and Hong Kong.Lot 10 Hutong in many ways is similar to Gill’s vision, in fact is similar to her food outlet concept that she have conceived back in 2002. Though time has passed, we are still developing the idea and working to achieve it soon. This is also one of the reasons for setting up this blog, to encourage and promote our local food culture and heritage so that it will not become extinct and loss forever.
Both of us only had limited space to fill, thus we only tried things that caught our senses. And from all the brands we tried, our favourite would be Ducking’s (王帝鸭) roast duck and Imbi Road Original Pork Noodles’ (燕美路正庄豬肉粉) mince pork noodles. With a vast variety of selection or combination, we opted for their “Roasted Duck Drum Stick with Noodles” and “BBQ 3 Combo with Rice” sets. The Roasted Duck Drum Stick with Noodles set came with springy crisp wantan noodles dressed with the drippings from the roast duck, juicy tender whole roasted duck leg and some blenched pak choy. The duck was meaty sweet and filled with the flavours of the spice bouquet, that mimic the taste of the roast goose that we had in Hong Kong 2 years back.BBQ 3 Combo with Rice set came with a personal selection of roasted meats that we wanted to try, salted ducked, char siew and roasted duck, pork lard rice to replace the plain white rice and few pieces of cucumbers on the side. Char Siew was average to our preference, the ducks still stole the lime light amongst our selection. The salted duck or 咸水鸭 was firm and tender with rather salty savoury taste which we found to have gone down well with the pork lard rice. The pork lard rice or 猪油捞饭 was fragrant and rich with a nutty fermented sweet and savoury taste. The best thing is that the rice was al dente with firm individual grains coated with flavour, not lumpy or over hydrated.

We were quite skeptical of Imbi Road Original Pork Noodles (燕美路正庄豬肉粉) at first, but at least this time we were not disappointed. We especially like the mince pork that lace their bowl of smooth and springy noodle or “fen” (粉). The mince pork had a smoky caramel flavour to compliment the creamy taste or lard; it also had a meaty taste similar to that of pork floss. They have been in business since 1943.We also had a go at Hon Kee Famous Porridge (汉记靚粥), famous for its Cantonese style porridge since 1949. For a sampler we tried their Raw Fish Porridge set, thin slices of raw fish meat served with a, not so hot, bowl of plain rice porridge, condiments (roughly chopped coriander & shredded ginger) and dipping sauce (soya sauce & sesame oil). Some of the fish slices still had bones in it and the porridge not pipping hot as one would expect.Other than food, we also tested their drinks and desserts. The kopi ‘O” was average in taste with slight sour end, and the chendol did not hit the spot as those found in abundance in Penang.

Our overall experience at Lot 10 Hutong as a whole:

• Add: Lot 10 Hutong, LG Floor, Lot 10 Shopping Centre, 50 Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Tel:  +60 (3) 27823591
• Business Hours: Monday -  Sunday 10.00am – 10:00pm

Popularity: 3% [?]

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It was an invitation that was not to be missed although it meant traveling down to Kuala Lumpur on our own expense, an opportunity to meet an Iron Chef and sample something different from the usual Japanese cuisine was encouragement enough.We were invited to attend a media event hosted by Ten Japanese Fine Dining for their official launch. First launched on the Gold Coast in Australia, then six months later won two Gold Coast Restaurant Awards for Best Fine Dining and Supreme Award. And now, they are officially opened in Solaris Dutamas Kuala Lumpur with a grand event on the 13th of Oct 2011 that saw YABhg Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his wife YABhg Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali being the guests of honour.

Ten means “Heaven” in Japanese, and true to its name the food that we sampled were heavenly, delectable fusion of Japanese and French cuisine. To complement its heavenly delights, Ten has also employed an experience professional waiting crew that is ever ready to satisfy the needs and expectations of its discerning customers.

The secret to Ten’s exceptional-tasting food lies in the meticulous and masterful preparation of every dish by the restaurant’s experienced and highly-acclaimed chefs Mr. Hiroshi Miura, Executive Chef and Mr. Atsushi Nishibuchi, Executive Sushi Chef. Miura-san has had classical Cha-Kaiseki and Ryotei training, and Nishibuchi-san is trained in the unique modern sushi technique known as “Edomae Sushi”.
One aspect of Ten’s menu is that it offers authentic Japanese cuisine according to the seasons of change (spring, summer, autumn and winter) and availability of ingredients. Seasonal cuisines allow individuals to experience the difference of flavours that complements the characteristic of each season.

The “Media Personalities Lunch Menu” consists of entrée, main course, sushi and dessert. A simple meal but yet filled with surprises. We had a glimpse of the care and passion put into every dish that was being prepared in their clean and neat kitchen through the live-casting on the TV screen within the restaurant outlet.Entrée consist of deep fried prawn dumpling encased in burdock sheets, Japanese cherry tomato and egg yolk balsamico, and a shiitake mushroom stuffed with prawn and sprinkled with truffle salt.  There is no specified rule here! The deep fried dumplings were tender in side with a sweet taste and the crisp burdock that had layers of flavours from savoury to slightly bitter.The shiitake mushroom stuffed with prawn and sprinkled with truffle salt. Light, juicy and tender batter coated mushroom and prawns with its flavours enhanced with sprinkles of truffle salt to add a touch of earthy and savoury taste. Truffle salt is salt that has been laced with fragrant pieces of black or white truffle.

The Japanese cherry tomato, egg yolk and balsamico combination lighten the taste buds with its sweet creamy but refreshing profiles.Main course was “Chicken Three Ways”. It sound simple enough, but the flavours and texture were complicated and layered. On the plate was grilled chicken thigh marinated in miso, served wrapped in iceberg lettuce and seaweed.The grilled chicken was firm with a fermented nutty and earthy taste that was mellowed down with the layer of sweetness from the crisp iceberg lettuce and seasoned with the fragrant seaweed.
The foie gras, chicken terrine with Japanese leek and teryaki sauce, had distinctive flavours that were gamey, savoury, rich and creamy but were well harmonised with a balance of each. The slightly torched mango added a touch of sweetness and tangy fragrance that cut through the rich creamy taste. Texture wise, it was smooth and velvety.
The dark miso chicken gratin with button mushroom, tomato and parmigiano cheese sprinkled on top was a very creamy piece and cheesy. The slight torching of the top surface contributed to slightly smoky flavour that reduced the over rich taste sensation. Then there came the fillers, an assortment of freshly hand-made sushi and maki. On the plate were ocean trout, local grouper, tuna and prawn sushi with 3 maki selections that consist of ebi, salmon & avocado and a spicy maki which were quite satisfying. What we noticed and admire about the sushi is not just the fresh seafood and ingredients that were flavourful in their own distinctive ways, but also the al-dente fluffy sushi rice that were finely hand-pressed to produced a solid base that would not fall apart.  Accompanying one of the fine sushis that we have ever had, were the freshly grind wasabi that is not only spicy but also sweet and refreshing.Lastly was their green tea cake for dessert. It was smooth to touch and pleasant to the palate of someone whom doesn’t like over sweet things. The strawberries were firm and with a slight twang that rationalised the flavours.After having a glimpse of their menu, I guess if we are ever in KL again we would definitely give this newly opened restaurant a try to see what else can they dish out to tantalise our taste buds and senses.

Ten Japanese Fine Dining
D5-G3-05, Solaris Dutamas
No. 1 Jalan Dutamas 1
50480 KL.

Business Hours:

• Tuesday to Friday: lunch is served from 11.30am – 2.30pm and dinner starts from 6.30pm till midnight (10.00pm being the last order).
• Saturday & Sunday: dinner is served from 6.30pm till midnight (10.00pm being the last order).

For reservations, kindly contact us at info@tenrestaurant.com.my or +603-6211 9910.

Popularity: 4% [?]

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近日遇上了新相识的”同行”,大谈食经,兴喜非常. 论到10多20年的那个找不回的味道,难免大感遗憾.

从劳动时期, 越过脚踏实地的年代, 到了经济起飞的今天. 经得起”风浪”的食档已是寥寥无几.  劳苦小贩,为求两餐,踏实地烹调出他们对自己谋生的执挫. 以材料足够为根基, 精神和心机, 配上炉火纯青的经验, 就是那区区的一碟的炒粿条,加哩面都让您难以忘怀好几十个年头.

无论你是富裕或是贫穷, 简单而踏实的味道是最令你感觉满足和亲切不过。

你是否回想过, 那一家老食店或小贩曾经是你的最爱? 他们还存在吗?

为了推荐买少见少的家常老广东菜, 特地与这个老号做个简单的专访, 希望能与大家分享.

亚世饭店坐落在Hotel China Town Inn 后面

后巷里的家常老广东菜 – 亚世饭店  (世记)

这个位于吉隆坡闹市, 塘人街某个后巷里的老号. 自祖父至今已是第三代入橱作息.

从小跟爸爸(亚世) 学橱艺的现任老板兼主橱的黎雄威 (哥哥), 曾经在加拿大港式快餐店当过4年橱师. 回大马后再次与黎父并肩作战, 直到黎父享年62岁.  由黎雄威接班至今仍然保存着老广府抄的特色, 不跟随朝流, 什么奶油虾,非洲鱼…在这里绝对找不到!  世记是个家庭式生意,  一家大小在这个后巷埋头苦干了30多年.

老板兼主橱的黎雄威 (哥哥)

黎祖父是土生土长的中国人. 飘扬过海到南洋, 在吉隆坡落地生根. 龙蛇混杂的塘人街挑起担子买白切鸡饭, 抄粉面饭. 生活极度贫困.  黎爸爸年轻时也身无半文, 时常没钱交房租,被人赶出街.  后来“世记”于1962年正式在这条鸦片巷落脚.

大家是否回有些疑问, 为什么世记呆在后巷呢? 他有什么特别之处? 漆黑狭窄后巷谁会来呢?

以”老就是宝”的道理, 保留着上一代的传统风味, 绑着老顾客的心, 以人传人的方式能留传到今日, 全以”口碑”两字建立.  黎雄威细说, 跟爸爸十多年, 客户还是要爸爸亲下手. 一边炒菜一边喝黑狗啤, 还能和顾客一边聊天呢. 有时还 “串人”…”要快呀, 吃生的囖”…个性率直另他结交了不少朋友.

黎妈妈未去世前是个蒸食妙手, 现在由做楼面的弟弟黎成威替上打河.

哥哥黎雄威与弟弟黎成威

又漆黑又肮脏的后巷, 初期在这里用餐还蛮不习惯.  来多几次才发觉现并不然. 后巷路灯光亮了, 也干净许多.

除了火后十足的老滋味, 食物份量够大, 价钱的确实惠. 我们4 人吃进大大碟的4菜1汤, 有鱼,大虾,肉, 都不到RM100. 若比起吉隆坡闹市一般的价格, 他们实属超值.

亚世饭店的拿手小菜全都印在名片后面:

矮瓜虾球, 豆腐焖鱼, 鱼滑靚汤, 冬菜蒸猪肉, 三黄蒸蛋, 烧肉抄凉瓜, ……..全是家常菜色.

看那粗糙的鱼滑就知道有多”家常”啦. 平时少吃蚕菜的我, 一但配上他们的靚汤…却令我爱不释口! 可选择不同蔬菜配搭那清甜的鱼滑汤

矮瓜虾球 – 矮瓜=茄子, 大虾捞上香浓的balacan酱, 流口水了没?

豆腐焖鱼 – 香煎马友鱼, 豆腐和豆酱一起焖煮, 相当惹味!

冬菜蒸猪肉 - 别看平庸的卖像, 要新鲜的肉和油份量配搭恰当, 蒸的火后一点儿也不能忽视.他们的冬菜最赞.

现年45岁的老板黎雄威叹息, 因孩子刚满5岁, 年龄相差太远, 恐怕没人接班, 是末代了.

这条毫不起眼的后巷, 还有很多和亚世走过黄金岁月的同行, 如隔壁卖饮料档和街头的 煮抄都是第两三代的传人.

既然是末代, 要吃就趁早囖!

请游览较早前的英文版

http://www.gourmetgarden.com.my/?p=470

亚世饭店  (世记)

哥哥 黎雄威: 012-3231499

弟弟 黎成威: 012-2906751

电话: 03-20782762

72号, 吉隆坡蘇丹街, 广汇丰茶行(后巷)

(后巷中段, 最大档, 最光亮的就是了)

营业时间:  下午4点至晚上11点

每逢星期五休息

Popularity: 8% [?]

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Somewhere during January, we were in Kuala Lumpur to follow-up on some un-finish business and we chance upon this unique tea house Off Jalan Genting Klang. This eatery is located on the second floor of a shop lot unit, but that did not stop the steady stream of customers patronising their place. It has Taiwanese charm with soft playing music, similar to that of our clients in Penang.

Hakka Yam Abacus 客 家 手 工 算 盘 子 RM 6.90(S)  RM 12(M), this is actually the reason we came to this place. The abacus yam balls are supplied by our new found friend Sze Yin which I have blog about on her effort to create a business out supplying this delicacy. A simple and inexpensive abacus yam balls in the hands of a passionate and perfectionist artist has made this delicacy shine with the assistance of some common ingredients that we see daily like dried shrimps, black fungus, chili, spring onions and fried shallots. Honestly, we have tried to duplicate the flavours during Gill’s Family Chinese New Year Reunion dinner, but failed to achieve perfection. I guess I would need to make my down to KL again to savor this delicacy again. The texture of the abacus yam balls were firm and springy and taste was light and savory without overwhelming the the distinctive sweet yam taste.

Shifting through the stir fried abacus yam balls, we came up with a suggestion to try deep frying with batter. They did, and some more details still have to be worked out before it can be reach perfection in terms of texture and taste. It needed some more saltiness and spice to bring out the original flavours of the yam.

After we were introduced, to the husband and wife team entrepreneurs of this homey eating outlet, as food bloggers from Penang, we were introduced to more of their specialties that they have in their menu. This was all thanks to Sze Yin! Another trip is needed to sample all that can be dished out by this hospitable couple.

We were ill prepared for what that were served consecutively! But it was an opportunity that I would not missed out if given a second chance. We could taste the heart and soul place in preparing each and every dish served. We are admire and respect people who take pride in their profession and strive to create perfection in what they cook.

Cheese Baked Chicken Spaghetti 芝士鸡肉意粉 RM 8.90, this is fairly an Asian style pasta which consist of just chicken slices, spaghetti, home made tomato base pasta sauce and cheese.  The pasta was al dente and the tomato sauce tasted very localised or Asian, which would be acceptable by many especially for those who do not like the taste of Western herbs like Bay Leaves, Oregano, and so on. The torched cheese gave it an extra richness in flavour.

Tom Yam Fried Rice 东 炎 炒 饭 Rm 6.50, consist of fragrantly fried rice pearls coated in the flavour of light Tom Yam and accompanied with egg, chicken slices, fresh juicy prawns and garnish with sprinkles of spring onion. the fried rice was not a bit too oily or over spiced, just nice for light eaters.

Spicy Noodle With Chicken Chop 麻辣鸡扒面 RM 7.50, as the name has it, this noodle dish had quite an amount of heat, but that did not deter us from savouring every single stand of noodles. The heat and sweetness was well balanced and had a hint nutty flavour. Another surprise was the tender and succulent breast of chicken which was deep fried till golden brown. I am a breast person, and it is one of the observation points when I judge the skill of the chef or cook. Not many can keep breast meat juicy tender through deep frying.

Sweet Chicken Wings 瑞 士 鸡 翼 RM 4.50, it tasted like Taiwanese style stewing. If I am not wrong it had rock sugar, garlic, spring onion and shallots. The wings were tender enough to fall of the bones but still able to retain its shape and consistency. This would be great for kids and adults a like, and best enjoyed with bowl of steaming white rice.

Prawn Toast 芝 麻 虾 多 士 RM 5.50, is one of the finger food that we tried but in a mix platter that contains a variety of snacks that they have on their menu. The bread topped with a succulent prawn and coated with fragrant sesame seeds and deep fried to golden brown. I would personally like to have a taste of this toast without the mayo to experience the original flavours, but mayo is more of a mass market taste that many would not mind having to give it a richer taste and some moisture.

Otak Cheese Sandwich 乌 达 芝 士 三 文 治 RM4.50, was not my cup of tea. There were mixture of east and west in this sandwich which had the locally produced otak-otak and complimented by either cheese. I guess my acquired taste for original flavours or well matched and compose fusion tastes had influenced my judgement on this sandwich. May be there are people who may well like this version of otak sandwich.

Italy Omellete 意 大 利 蛋 卷 RM7.90, was one of my favourites there. In the omellete, it had tomato chunks, shredded onion, mushroom chunks and cheese. A simple dish yet it left quite and impression in my taste buds, the white sauce did not overwhelm the eggy flavour and did not over enrich the taste of this egg dish. The cream sauce would be a great pairing with seafood base pasta due to its balanced flavours and sweet ending.

Apart from using their homemade white sauce on their omellete, we also suggested that they try using it and thicken with cheese to produce the cheese baked French fries which we have been searching all this while. They took our suggestions seriously and tried a hand in satisfying out desire, but some fine tuning would be needed before it could place in their menu. Their version was 60% near to what we were searching for, it is now the matter of the process of which goes in first to create the perfect cheese baked fries.

The bottom photos depicts the conversation and mingling that we had with Susan, while her husband toils in the kitchen.

After a wholesome meal at Cannes Tea House, we had the a groupy photo taken to remind us the time that we had in their tea house and the passion we found in their food.

To sum up our experience at Cannes Tea House:

Taste & Texture: 3.9/5 (passion was put into their dishes)
Money Value : 3.5/5 (KL pricing)
Service: 3.0/5
Cleanliness: 3.2/5 (the landlord has to do its part)
Atmosphere: 3.5/5 (homey with soft music)

Address: No. 16-1, Jalan 2/50C, Off Jalan Genting Klang, 53300 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 40226578
Business Hours: 11:00am to 11:00pm.
GPS Coordinate: N03◦11’43.4″ E101◦42’40.0″

Popularity: 8% [?]

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Hakka cuisine concentrates on the texture of food, simplicity and the umami (旨味) or savoury flavour of the dish. As like other dishes or cuisines, Hakka cuisine is influence by the attributes of the environment were they settled down or has it roots from, which is one of the reasons behind the variety of dishes and flavours that are synonymous to Hakka cuisine. The Hakka’s has provided to the public at large some their more famous dishes that are dished our in restaurants across Malaysia, China and whole wide world, some of these dishes are your common ‘Yong Taufu’(釀豆腐)or stuffed bean curd, ‘Yim Guk Gai’ (鹽焗雞) or Salt Baked Chicken, Poon Choy (盆菜), ‘Suin Poon Tzi’ (算盘子) or Abacus beads and lots more.

A few weeks ago on the 10th of December we had an opportunity to document the making of ‘Hakka Abacus Beads’ by a new entrepreneur, Ms. Lai Sze Ying, in Kuala Lumpur. It is one of the ways that we try to do our part to keep the diverse heritage and culture of food that we have a live for our future generation.  By doing so, we also hope to help budding food providers that are making delicacies the way it should to grow and spread the wonders of old school food.

This post I will introduce the making of ‘Suin Poon Tzi’ (算盘子) or Abacus Beads. Abacus Beads are made from freshly mashed Yam which is then combined with tapioca flour to form the dough that is cut and rolled into the shape of an abacus bead. The difference between the traditional and current abacus bead is the content of Yam and the final abacus bead shape. The算盘子/ abacus when cooked has a soft on the outside and chewy on the inside texture, which could be served stir fry or in soup. The common popular version would be stir frying with either of the following ingredients; minced pork or chicken, dried shrimps, mushrooms, ‘choy poh’, black wood ear, etc.

Before the dough is form to make the ‘Suin Poon Tzi’ (算盘子), Yam is cooked to a consistency that allows it to be mash up like when one make mash potato.

After the Yam is cooked to the required consistency, it is roughly mashed and then combined with tapioca flour to form the dough base which will be knead, cut and rolled to shape.

Before the Yam cools down, the Yam and Tapioca flour mixture is traditionally hand kneaded until it forms the firm dough.

After the Yam dough is finally formed, it is then divided into smaller section to work with. The smaller section are rolled into a strand which then cut to size and form into the shape of a abacus bead, which round in shape.

Next, a small puncture or stamp is made with chopstick in the middle of each formed abacus bead. This the part which differentiates the product produced by this new comer to the F&B industry from the common abacus beads suppliers in the market. And it is because of the near authenticity that we were greatly interested to document and introduce this budding entrepreneur that met through our acquaintance in KL.

After the abacus beads were ready formed and mark with the distinctive nod in the centre, it is then moved to the cooking pot or wok in this case to be thoroughly cooked with just simple clean boiling water, and then blenched in cold or running water to give it that springy and chewy texture.

The end product is the drained and is ready to be stir fry with you choice ingredients.

Popularity: 19% [?]

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This the last post for our Raya week trip to KL, and we will be down there again next week. Noon was nearing and we planned to leave KL before it gets too late, thus we went to Mid-Valley for quick bite and to get something done on the way.

We have heard a lot of Din Tai Fung 鼎太丰, and this trip we had the opportunity to get a taste of what they have to offer. We were sceptical at first, as we have had some not so satisfying experience with chain restaurants that offers the famous ‘Siao Long Bao’.

While waiting for our orders to come, we tried their century egg appetiser which tasted like it should be creamy yoke and firm jelly like whites. The usual century eggs or ‘pei dan’ that we having nowadays has loss the seductive fragrance, taste and texture.

The ‘Siao Long Bao’ or broth dumplings we had at Din Tai Fung was juicy, consistent in texture and taste verses the previous not so happy experience in other chain restaurants that also serves this classic Chinese dish as one of their specialties.

The dough casing was pretty standard, not easily torn. There was sufficient amount of superior broth in each individual ‘pao’ and the mince meat was evenly cooked.

The ‘wantan dumpling’ was nothing to shout about, but then nothing much can be complain about too.

The next dish we had was their ‘Shanghainese Smoked Fish Fillet’. The fillets were smoky, sweet and not too dry. Its a good mate to go with rice.

For vegetables, we had their ‘Green Beans with Mince Pork. The beans were still green and crunchy and for taste it was salty and porky. pretty good.

And for soup, we had their spicy beef soup. This is something that I won’t mind missing on my next visit. The soup was not bad, but not my bowl of soup. It came with a big bowl of soup but just had a few medium chuck of beef.

The lunch visit at Din Tai Fung was not a disappointment at all, food was standard and the service was efficient, friendly and neat.

After lunch, we went on to check something and before we left Mid-Valley we went to the much talk about ‘Krispy Kreme’ to try some of their doughnut. We lucky that we only decided to get 4 for our first try. They krispy alright, but were too sweet for our liking. I guess, I am still a ‘J Co’ person.

After we left Mid Valley and left for my sister’s house to pick-up our car, we left for Penang and reach at around 9:00pm.

Popularity: 8% [?]

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After reaching KL from Penang, we headed to Rocket United for a very late dinner and call it a day, last night. Today, we had skip breakfast to get some work done. For lunch we had quick and easy one somewhere around Desa Petaling, chicken rice was what we had. I don’t know the road name but here’s the coordinates to the place.

The chicken rice shop/stall that we had our lunch was call ‘Sang Kee’. They serve poached and roasted chicken, ‘suen choi’ or sour vegetables soup and ‘char siew’. The chickens that they have are quite big in size and very meaty, plus customers can choose from either farmed chicken or free range chicken depending on your preference.

On that hot Friday afternoon, we only had desire for poach free range chicken and ‘char siew’ with a side order of ‘suen choi’. The poached chicken skin was yellowish in color similar to those seen on Hong Kong serials, ‘wong yau kai’ or direct translation yellow oil chicken. The last time I had chicken that looked like this was last year in Setiawan and Pangkor Island while attending wedding dinners of relatives. The poach chicken at ‘Sang Kee’ was quite meaty but a bit bland for my taste buds. The skin was firm and rich though.

As for the ‘char siew’, it had quite a good ration of lean meat and fats, and the taste was above average with a sweeter after taste. A must have for me, if we do go back again.

I can’t speculate about the ‘suen choi’ for I was afraid that my stomach acid was acting up again, but from Gill’s feedback was that it also have an above average taste.

The chicken rice was normal, it had a very light seasoning with chicken essence which some may not have even tasted its presence if he she is accustom to out side food.  And the accompanying broth was very light, clear and sweet, with a hint of cabbage flavor in it…very comfortable soup. And that was all we had for lunch.

To sum up our experience at Sang Kee Chicken Rice:

Taste & Texture: 3.0/5 (Chicken was slightly bland and the rice was just mediocre)
Money Value : 3.0/5
Service: 3.0/5
Cleanliness: 3.0/5
Atmosphere: 3.0/5

In the early evening we had attended the AFC preview party at NEO, after which we headed Jalan Kasah for ribs at Ribs by Vintry. We have been to that area for Italian food, but not to either Ribs or their sister restaurant Vintry.

We were told ribs, be it beef or pork, were their specialty at  Ribs by Vintry, so for our mains we ordered 2 variations of pork ribs. One was their ‘Saute Butter Cream Sauce Ribs’ and the other was their BBQ pork ribs. And for desserts we shared their, also specialty, ‘Tiramisu’.

Gill was praise for the ‘Saute Butter Cream Sauce’ which was different, or fusion in taste. This variation of cream sauce was surprisingly fresh with the usage of some Asian herbs (lemon grass and some hint of orange peel) and not too overwhelming in terms of the after taste. The accompanying sautéed potato was equally tasty and creamy with a fluffy texture, but not much could be said about the side vegetable salad. Ribs wise, my only complains are that there were not enough meat on them and there was a hint of that ‘frozen’ meat taste left in the ribs. I was told that the ‘frozen’ meat taste was the effect of importing the ribs from Europe to acquire the the cut and taste that the chef wanted to present to their customers. Local pork ribs could have been sufficient, but then it is hard to get consistent supply of the cut and texture that the chef want. We too also have found that same cut of pork from different pork sellers in different areas have varied taste and texture. This may be due to the feed, age and condition of the pigs reared in.

The BBQ pork ribs also shares the same ‘frozen’ taste problem and insufficient meat on the bones. Taste wise, it tasted similar to the common BBQ ribs offered else where except the extremely smooth potato mash that was hidden at the bottom of the ribs.

The ‘Tiramisu’ was at first the most criticised item we had for the night at Ribs by Vintry. The ‘Tiramisu’ was bland(no cheesy richness or taste), no liquor taste and the biscuit was already soggy. This biscuit actually reminded me of water soaked dry corn cereal(Nestum). And it was one of the reasons or products that gave us a better insight of the confidence and responsibility of the staffs of the restaurant. After we made our complaints known on paying, we were assured that our grievances will be looked into. And immediately the cashier, Edmund, went into the kitchen to look into our feedback and brought another glass of their signature ‘Tiramisu’ for us to reevaluate. We tried it and it was a lot better than the glass that we paid for. The cheese taste was richer, there was a stronger hint of ‘Kahlua’ flavor and the biscuit was still firm.

To sum up our experience at Ribs by Vintry:

Taste & Texture: 3.3/5 (The pork ribs were slightly hard in texture and lack meat, but the fusion type sauce was something refreshing to our taste buds)
Money Value : 3.0/5 (not a whole lot, but sufficient to last out the whole bowl )
Service: 3.9/5 (not much attention during our dining due to under staffing, but the effort to answer our complains were main decision maker in our grading here)
Cleanliness: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 3.5/5

Popularity: 7% [?]

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This is an article excerpt from the The Star website. The article talks about a “koperasi” that sells it food at a very reasonable price. I wonder why this business can sell things at such a low price and can still make a profit, whereas others like their competitors cannot and are ‘warning’ them for practicing such business concept? Wonder how far can we tolerate the high price of the basic nessecity of living, food? I guess it is due time for ‘hero’ to appear in the Food & Bevarage industry to open our eyes.

“Fancy a roti canai and a teh tarik for RM1 – right in the heart of the city and in these tough economic times?

That is what you will get over at the Ukhwah Restoran Rakyat 1Malaysia in busy Lorong Medan Tuanku Satu (located next to Prescott Inn).

A piece of roti canai at the outlet costs 40 sen and a glass of teh tarik is priced at 60 sen.

On the teh tarik, he makes a profit of 18 sen by selling it at 60 sen a glass.

To break even, the restaurant needs RM2,000-a-day or RM45,000-a-month in sales to cover the fixed costs of the RM7,000 rental per month for the premises and the salary of the 16 staff members, who are all locals.

“Food is a basic need. I don’t believe one should pay a lot for food. Most restaurants make 200% to 300% profit from selling food,’’ he said.”

Popularity: 3% [?]

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When ever we go to KL, my sister & brother in-law which was the permanent KL citizen will surely bring us to makan. I actual fact they need us to help ‘hantam’ the left-overs and to have more people to sit in so that they can try more food!  They can’t handle the big feast by themselves…lol

Sai Kee, was one of the pioneer in KL Chinatown as they had occupied here more then 50 years, as my title says, 3 generations, from grand pa, father and follow by son. But i wonder how and why they choose to operate the stall at the back lane for half a century?!  Guess a name BACKLANE is not a ideal dining area right? Especially the old town house, you really can imagine how dirty, smelly, rats & roaches crawling here and there along the lane, and don’t mention about dining there!

Alright, i couldn’t believe my eyes when i heading to the stall. Guess what? 80% tables were patronized by the supporter! I was asking myself, are they really serving good food here, in  a DIRTY BACKLANE? Well, lets fine out!

Here is the Sai Kei stall along the back lane with shelter (owning), and they are the only stall in the quite lane.

They serve Old School Cantonese “Dai Chao”, and their dishes which is very homey, not commercialize at all. And i guess this is the most attraction from here.

Traditional Hand Made Fish Paste Soup with Vegetable Thong Ow

This is really homey! why do i say so? look at the photo. They serve the food without much caring on the presentation, and kinda like ah ma’s (grandma’s) cooking. See how rough the fish paste in chunk was.  The paste quit meaty, rough and firm, but kinda salty. Other then Thong Ow, the stall give you a choice for  daily fresh vegetable for your soup.

Rating: 3.5/5

Steam Pork with Salted Fish

Oh boy, another yummy and rice taker dishes. Rough julienne ginger and salted fish drenched on the dieing pork belly, tender and flavourful. It was very salty coz the salted fish was put in too much, but anyway it’s still passable.

Rating: 3.5/5

Roast Pork Stir Fry with Tofu

Next was the filling dish. Roast pork sautee with fermented bean paste and cook with big chunk of Chinese Tofu. This dish was full with “Wok Hei”! Delicious though.

Rating: 3.7/5

Black Bean Fish

After all, we only realized we over ordered too much of salty dishes for the night. Again, another salty dish full with black and yellow fermented beans. A Fresh fish doesn’t need to cook in heavy tasting sauce, a little wasted. The Fish was over fried and became dry, the sauce was overwhelm the fish. hence, salt ratio should be reduce!!!.

Rating: 3/5

Balacan (Shrimp paste) Brinjals

Another heavy tasting dish, long purple brinjals cut into thin slices and lightly deep fried, then stir fried with shrimp paste and big prawns. The brinjals fully absolved the balacan flavour and yet still maintaining the sweetness of itself. Creamy & smooth texture was nearly melted into my mouth. This was the highest vote among the dishes tonight. Yummy!

Lazy to copy the GPS cordinate…its actually noted on the name card above XD

Popularity: 4% [?]

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This was our first KL Food Hunt with Ken from foodPOI.com during October last year. Since we have a bunch of back lock, so let us clear off some year 2008 article!

We started our first meal – breakfast with extremely spicy chili pan mee. Yes, you are right, is Chili Pan Mee! Our advice is DONT take the risk if you have gastric. Don’t consume extremely spicy food in the early morning, your stomach could burn your day ~

At first, Ken wish to bring us to Nippy Noodle at Kuchai Lama, but unfortunately we’ve make our way too early, as the restaurant operating hour is start from 11am onwards!

At the end, Ken brought us to this Restoran Super Kitchen “Chili Pan Mee”. We have posted this chili pan mee since last year November, to read more about this pan mee, you may click here.

First Stop

Super Kitchen Chili Pan Mee at Kuala Lumpur

It is a dry version of Pan Mee without the soup. The condiments are semi poach egg, minced pork meat, fried shallots and anchovies. The anchovies was toast rather than deep fried, as it doesnt have the oily feeling. The egg was poached to just the right consistency and firmness. As mentioned, it is chili pan mee, thus Chili is a “must add” condiment. but be caution! should taste the chili’s spicy level before you put another spoon into your noodle!

We find that the chili flake with chili oil in the bottle give a better taste and aroma to the noodle. After put the suitable chili amount into your pan mee, then mix everything together and start your adventure…

The crunchy anchovies and shallots gave the fragrant aroma, the mince meat has moist & meaty taste, and the creamy poach egg yoke moist up the noodles. The semi poach egg plays important rules for the chili pan mee, it is the catalyst to bind the chili on to the noodle strands. So, i would advice you don’t go for cooked egg.

First experience for this hot and spicy chili pan mee, very intersting. Both of us like it so much!

4.0/5 for taste & texture

Second Stop

Peter’s Pork Noodle @ Brickfield

This Peter’s Pork Noodle is our all time favorite when we were in KL!

Pork Noodle similiar to Koay Teow Th’ng, but the different is the soup is made to order, depends on what condiment has added in your soup. You can go for pork mince meat, innards, intestine. They have varies of noodle to cater, such as koay teow, yellow noodle, vemicilli, bee thai bak and flour vemicili (mee suah). You can opt for an raw egg to enhance the level of the soup. What makes them so special is their soup base and crispy pork lard!

I like mine with bee thai bak, simply mince meats, pork liver and egg. Mee suah will be my second choice.

That was really wonderful combination. and dont stir the raw egg with the soup while you consuming, it would spoil the wonder. Leave it a side in your steaming hot soup while you enjoy the others. As the hot soup still poching the raw egg to semi cooked. That will be the good timing to enjoy it at last.

4.4/5 for taste & texture

Second Stop

Moorthy’s Indian Rice @ Brickfield

This is another good indian stall to recommend under the same roof of the peter’s pork noodle. 

They are selling indian’s dishes and called Banana leaf.

Lamb rendang was so good, tender and flavourful.

Juicy and moist fried fish, you just cant resist it…

Due to we have to keep our stomach in high capacity for our next stop, so we just ordered the above 2. Actually should try their banana leaf, it worth the trip. oh ya, do order their papadam, its good!

4.2/5 for taste & texture

The Peter’s Pork Noodle & Indian Rice Stall is all located in Money’s Corner:

Third Stop

Stew Rice @ Brickfield

Third stop would be the stew rice, it was few doors away from the money’s corner. i couldn’t remember the restaurant name, but actually we had enter this place before ken bring us there. My sister in-law is their regular during dinner, and we had tried their dishes twist. The Stew rice is just only available for the lunch. So, we give it a try since the name is something special.

Actually so called stew rice was made by stir fry meat and seafood with sauce and put in the bowl and top with rice, steam and serve.

To be frank, we was socked when we saw they using faded plastic bowl to served us. And no doubt that plastic bowl was came out straight from the hot steaming stove. WTF, which means this bowl of rice contains plastic and it would cause cancer! Ban those restauraner who didnt cares about human’s health!!!!

Our appetite was totally lost, and we just simply finished without enjoy it much! anyway, this stew rice was taste very normal & bland to me.

3.0/5 for taste & texture

Adhoc Stop

Indian’s Snacks @ Brickfield

After the stew rice, while we walking back to catch our monorail, we smells the wonderful aroma from this indian’s snacks stall besides the pathway. 

So we stopped by and take a look. The friendly stall’s owner ask to sampling their food. Look, they have lots of varieties of deep frying snacks.

After sampling, we love this soft and moist vadei, taste mild and milky, end up we bought 4 pcs and its filled up to our brims, we almost wanna vomit….lol

4.0/5 for taste & texture

Forth Stop

K.T.Z @ Low Yat Plaza

After that Vadei, we stop to consume anything from our mouth and start looking for washroom…haha. We got the train to low yat plaza for some IT shoppings.

Few hours gone and we make our last stop with ken at KTZ Dessert House just opposite the Low Yat Plaza.

Basically they serve chinese desserts. Here is the hot light ginger syrup Tang Yuan.  The Tang Yuan is quite springy and the filling is just nice, not too sweet, its really match the ginger syrup well. the hot syrup do warms up our stomach, it is a good winter dessert.

Ice Shaving with Mango & Sago. Sago coated with mango’s pureer and drench on top of the white shaving ice and decorate with big mango cube. Looks worth for the value isnt it?

4.0/5 for taste & texture

Fifth Stop

Chinese Fine Dinning – Elegant Inn @ Kuala Lumpur

After ken’s drop us back to my sister in-law’s house, and we make our way to KL city. Thank you to my sister’s in-law to treat us such a good and expensive meal!

We had the opportunity to dine at this particular Cantonese Restaurant in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Elegant Inn. This restaurant is owned by E I Foods Sdn. Bhd. They have another unit, which is the main or original, at Taman Connaught in Cheras.

The one in Cheras , is just your typical restaurant, but don’t be fool by its appearance, it will cost an arm and a leg to eat there. It is no difference either here in KL, but the ambiance is a lot more classier and presentable. I remember one saying from a neighbour in KL, “Ngm Siek Tuck Dou Tai Tuck lah”. Easily translated to “although the food is not good, at least it is presentable”.

The KL restaurant is located in Menara Hap Seng on Jalan P.Ramlee. Quite near to Bukit Bintang. It’s location and view, gives it the only or at least one of the Chinese Restaurants with the best views in KL centre. And the ambiance in the restaurant is something to look forward for. It has a warm setting with some framed wood carvings on the wall, plush and soft carpet, well equipped function rooms (Big LCD Screen, DVD) with balcony and special place for the romantic couple.

wish to read more from the rest of Elegant inn? Click here

At the end of this post, shows you 3 fatso travelling’s photos…..heee, enjoy!

And thanks to Ken for being our food guide for one whole day.

Popularity: 15% [?]

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Colesium Cafe was established since 1921

The moment we enter into the reception area, we were like entering into another time in space. The furniture and fittings seem to be as old as my beloved parents, well aged! The place don’t only look and feel antique, it also smell old. Not only the furniture looked like collectibles, even some of the ‘kaptens’ (waiters) seem to be antiques themselves.

Reception or lounge area.

An aged bar counter top.

Dining area with realy old tables and chairs, even some of the waiters are walking antiques.

As we were quite starved, we ordered quite a line of dishes to sample. The first thing that was served was the Ox Tail soup which had quite a lot of meat in it, but no tail! In the menu it was labelled as freshly brewed. The taste was very rich and heavy, and quite salty too for me and Gill.

The Ox Tail Soup was too thick and salty.

Then came their butter and cheese toast. The toast was crisp but not dry, just nice. The butter and cheese spread was  sufficient to entice our taste buds. It was actually nicer than the toast we had at Edelwise for our 2nd Penang Food Blogger gathering.

In House Special Toast with Butter & Cheese.

The next order to come was the Hainanese Chicken chop. It looks and taste like the type that my parents used to served at their cafeteria and at home. It brought back many memories of them. The deboned whole leg of chicken was tenderised and lightly seasoned. The batter used was not too thick or heavy, just coated to the right thickness  and deep fried to crispy golden brown. The sauce was not the usual Hainanese potato and mix vege sauce that we found at Yut Kee, it was in fact made of tomato sauce with peas, onion and mushroom. The tomato sauce was not too sour nor sweet, it went well with the chicken.

The Chicken Chop reminds me how my mom used to make them. It brings back memories!

The sauce is different from the usual Hainanese clear sauce found at Yut Kee in KL.

The rib-eye steak I ordered was medium-well, and came just as what I wanted although it was served on sizzling hot plate. The steak was plated and served like they used to during the 70′s to 80′s, simple and old school. The steak surface was caramelised and yet maintained the tender texture inside. But the browns sauce was a bit overwhelming. If I am not wrong the sauce was something straight from the can or a instant premix. Anyway, this steak was at least better that the one I had days ealier in Memphis Bistro at Subang Jaya.

The plating and cooking method was something that I experience many many years ago during my childhood and Teenage years at The Ship and Eden.

Then came the Inchi Kabin or deep fried chicken Nyonya style. Initially we thought, OMG it is overcooked. But one bite into the piece I took, it was crispy at the outer layer and amazingly still juicy and tender. It may not look appertising but the texture and taste was enough to change our minds.

The Inchi Kabin looks can be deceiving.

After all that food we still have some space to spare, thus we made two extra orders as my sis wanted to try them. We asked for their Hokkien Char and Cream Caramel. The Hokkien Char had lots of ingredients as will see in the photo below. The prawns were fresh and fragrant, but the noodles did not have that distinct taste of seafood or prawns. Usually Hokkien Char is fried and then stewed in a special broth made from prwans shells and bones, and that is why it has that distinct prawny sweetness in each every strand of noodle.

The prawns were firm and fresh, but the noodles did not have the prawn aroma.

Lastly, we had our dessrt which is cream caramel, which is also one of my moms specialty which my sister’s all time favourite. It looks good enough, but the custard was too stiff and firm. And the carmel sauce did not have that rich and smokey taste to it, just plain old sweet. It was bit of dissappointment there.

The Cream Caremel was a bit too firm and it did not have the smokey taste of caremel.

The business hours are from 10am to 10pm dailly except for Weekends and Public Holidays, where it open from 9am.

The address: 98-100, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, 50100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Phone No. : 03 2692 6270.

GPS Cordinates: N03*09’208″ E101*41’795″

On average, I would give this place:

• 3/5 for value (slightly expensive to Gill’s point of view)
  
• 3.8/5 for taste & texture (not all dishes hit the note)
  
• 3/5 for service (because of one specky guy I reduced the rating due to his unresponsiveness, the rest was polite and freindly)
  
• 2.5/5 for cleanliness (Gill complain about the table cloth which was also a piece antique – pretty dusty)
  
• 3.5/5 for atmosphere (brought back some old memories)

Popularity: 45% [?]

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Mixed pan fried sausages.

Oven Baked Pork Chop simple yet tasty.

Accompanying or in other words balancing out the meaty selections, fresh green salads, blanch green peas and baked potatoes were also served to give all those present a balanced and healthy meal.

Lite & healthy greens, cucumber,rocket leaves, baby tomatoes, lots of olives & feta cheese.

Yummy baked potato, pumpkin, celery, etc.

Any English dinner must end with dessert. The desert we had were fruits and cakes, and more wine.

Dessert time was filled with fruits, crepe cake and brownies.

The Crepe cake was bought from PJ section 17. Got to bitch for the shop name and address. Very nice!

The crepe cake was was built from many layers of crepe skin and vanilla cream. It was smooth and creamy. Thumbs Up!

The chocolate brownie also came from the same shop. The only thing missing here would be vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream.

The brownie was rich but not overwhelming. The chocolate was exquisite.

After dinner and desert, we all sat down to enjoy more wine and liquer, and also the specially prepared fish keropok. We were drinking and chit chatting the whole night through until the clock stroke twelve. It was one of the New Year Celebration that I would not forget for along time. We did not have to endure the traffic jams, the crowds, the noise & pricey meals, but most of all we were given the opportunity to share it with people who are friendly and loving and shares the same passion on food.

Fish Keropok & fruits for the wine session after dinner.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL READERS, FELLOW BLOGGERS, FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

I WISH YOU ALL A FRUITFUL, ABUNDENCE AND MERRY YEAR 2009.

AND GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU.

Popularity: 7% [?]

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The food hunt started around 10:00am on 27th December and ended at about 11:00pm at night. With our guide, Ken, we manage to to go to KL, Ampang and Damansara areas for this trip. I won’t be able to write a detail review on the the cuisines and dishes that we had on that day. Too many tastes to describe and share, therefore let the photos do the talking.

First Stop, Restoran Santa Chapati House, our Malaysia Prime Minister Mr. Abdullah Badawi favorites place.

We have 3 chapati and 2 roti canai, 1 plate of dhal, 1 pcs of fish with curry, 1 plate of chicken curry with few small chunks of meat. Total damage is RM20 per 4 pax.

Curry Chicken would be the most recommanded among the above.

Hand made roti canai or prata and chapati.

Roti Canai at Sata

Capathi at Sata

Fish Curry

Chicken meat was tender.

After the light breakfast, we headed towards the famous Meng Kee, which somewhere in the most busy district in KL near Jalan Alor. They are famous for Char Siew or BBQ Pork strips that are made fresh.

Meng Kee Char Siew

Men Kee's Char Siew was truly good, but slightly over sweeten.

Meng Kee's owner preparing the Char Siew

Meng Kee's owner preparing hanging the Char Siew on hooks.

Meng Kee's Char Siew going into the burner.

Meng Kee's Char Siew being BBQ on choal flames in a metal drum.

Meng Kee's poach chicken. The accompanying sauce was a bit too salty and the meat was abit tough.

Our following destination was the Ampang Yong Taufu. There are 3 Shops selling the same food at the same roll, and Ken prefer this Homeland Ampang Yong Taufu. One of the Famous Yong Taufu in town.

The soup base was light and sweet.

They have varios offerings for the Yong Taufu. My favourite was the freshly deep fried aubergines, the thickness and level of carmelising was just right.

Stuffed aubergines, my favourite when cooked right.

The panadan chicken wings were freshly fried. They were tender and juicy with a hint of pandan fragrance.

After a heavy breakfast and lunch, we went to KLCC for a movie to take a break from the extreme chowing. We watched IP Man at TGV, that movie did not let us down. The cinematography was excellent, the panning of the camera captured the Weng Chun movements and actions with such realism. Two thumbs up for the movie. After the movie we headed toward the next cuisine on the list, pork knuckles. The photos taken at Deutsches Gasthaus damansara was without any flash, therefore do excuse me if the images are abit blur or shaky.

Deutsches Gasthaus's menu

Deep fried Pork Knuckle, we have been bitching Ken after he posted this place.

The meat was tasty and the skin was crsipy, but was slightly dry.

The tendons from the Pork Knuckle.

The Goulash Soup was something different from the one we had at Edelwise.

After Deutsches Gasthaus, we went to Kota Damansara Giant Nachos house for snack and dessert. This shop is just opposite the Wendy’s burger.

Dessert first before dinner.Crazy combination but can't help it as time was running out.

Great Vanilla Ice Cream filled with chocolate chip cookies and laced with lots of chocolate syrup.

Nachos, something light and sour to cleanse our palates.

After all that, we felt that we still have space in our tummy, thus we decided to go opposite Nacho’s to Wendy’s to try their 3/4 pounder. It was better than McD’s Big Mac, but doesn’t beat the blue cheese burger that I had at Tony Romas. But again, they are totally diiferent level of eateries and not a fair comparison, Wendy’d and Tony Roma. Anyway, I was a bit tired from the days activities, and that is why I did not even bother to take any photographs. Then to call it a day, we went to try the chilli pan mee near by, which in fact was the branch of the Super Kitchen Chillie Pan Mee that we had back in October.

Total damage of the day is nearly RM300 for 4 pax.

Anyone interested to join us in the next session neither in KL or Penang? haha, do drop me an email

Popularity: 13% [?]

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KL Chinatown or better known as ‘Chi Chong Kai’ to many locals, has many things to offer other than cheap bargains for watches, luggage’s, etc. One could find many hawker food and traditional dishes or eateries that have been there for generations.

After the rice and chicken are cooked, the cook would drench the pot of rice with their dark sauce and let it sit for a while to let the rice absorb it. Then he would sprinkle the salted fish meat and spring onions, and its ready to be served.

The pot of rice hit me at just the right spot. All the ingredients harmonised into one piece of art ready for my digestive track. The taste was better than average, but it lack the Chinese liqueur(Siu Heng in Cantonese) taste that is always synonymous to claypot rice.

The price or cost of the meal is already out of my mind. It add up to something near RM 100 for four pax. I think it is a common for KLite.

On average, I would give this place:

• 2.8/5 for value
• 3.3/5 for taste & texture
• 2.5/5 for service
• 2/5 for cleanliness
• 3/5 for atmosphere(eating amongst the buzzling night activities like a tourist)

Popularity: 4% [?]

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A few weeks ago, we had made arrangements with Ken to go in and around KL for a one day food trip. First on the itinerary should have been Nippi Noodle at Kuchai Lama, but it was too early for them, I guess.

Therefore, we went to next item on the list, Chili Pan Mee. It is your usual Pan Mee with just a twist or in other words, spice! Ken took us to Super Kitchen instead of the original Chili Pan Mee founder in KL. He was worried that we might not be able to tolerate the hygiene at Kin Kin, which is just opposite the Super Kitchen base camp.

The Pan Mee are made to order. Stacks of dough are ready for the press whenever there is an order. The dough is put through and noodle press to get the thickness, length and diameter /width of the noodle strands. The size and shape will have considerable effect on the texture and taste of the Chili Pan Mee. Ken mentioned that he had tried a few shape and sizes and it does determine the amount of and how the chili clings to the noodles. Too much or too less would, as I put it, potong steam(roughly translated, kill the climax).

The cooking time of the noodles are also an important factor in Pan Mee. Overcooked noodles would feel like soggy bread.

It is a normal Pan Me minus the soup or gravy. The condiments are poach egg, minced meat, fried shallots and anchovies. The anchovies taste like baked rather than deep fried, as it did not have that oily feeling. The egg is poach to just the right consistency and firmness. As mentioned, it is chili pan mee, thus it is a must add condiment. Be warn, try with one spoonful first. Choose the bottle of chili that is moisten with the chili oil. Ken, like is dry though.

I guess my first try was only one scoop, but I escalated to three because its was simply not enough. Remember to get the chili oil! Mix everything together and enjoy. The crunchy anchovies and shallots gave it the fragrant aroma, the mince meat gave it the meaty taste and moisture, the poach egg yoke gave the bowl of noodle the rich creamy taste. The half cooked poach egg is a very important part of the chili pan mee, it is the catalyst to bind the chili on to the noodle strands. So, don’t ask for cooked egg with the noodle.

The special chili is made of dried chili sauteed in oil to get the fragrant and spicy hot taste out of them. There is something else in the chili that we will get to the bottom of in our next trip there in December. The after effect of three spoonful of chili can be seen here with the presence of spicy hot ‘ma yuen cheong’(double layer sausages) on my face. To counter the after effect of the chili, Ken’s advice was to hose it down with warm Chinese tea. And for the daily waste control the next day, be prepared for a ‘fire in the hole’ feeling. WARNING! Do not try the chili pan mee with an empty stomach if you are a person with gastric problems past or present.

On average, I would give this place:

• 4/5 for value (with added entertainment when you see the antics from people burnt)
• 3.8/5 for taste & texture
• 3/5 for service
• 3.5/5 for cleanliness
• 3/5 for atmosphere

Popularity: 7% [?]

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The last trip to KL, we had the opportunity to dine at this particular Cantonese Restaurant in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Elegant Inn. This restaurant is owned by E I Foods Sdn. Bhd. They have another unit, which is the main or original, at Taman Connaught in Cheras.The one in Cheras , is just your typical restaurant, but don’t be fool by its appearance, it will cost an arm and a leg to eat there. It is no difference either here in KL, but the ambiance is a lot more classier and presentable. I remember one saying from a neighbour in KL, “Ngm Siek Tuck Dou Tai Tuck lah”. Easily translated to “although the food is not good, at least it is presentable”.

The KL restaurant is located in Menara Hap Seng on Jalan P.Ramlee. Quite near to Bukit Bintang. It’s location and view, gives it the only or at least one of the Chinese Restaurants with the best views in KL centre. And the ambiance in the restaurant is something to look forward for. It has a warm setting with some framed wood carvings on the wall, plush and soft carpet, well equipped function rooms (Big LCD Screen, DVD) with balcony and special place for the romantic couple.

Ambiance in the restaurant.

View from their function balcony.

That day we had 5 dishes and some desserts. The first course was “Chu Thou Thong” or pig stomach soup. The soup was sweet and light with a hint of the fragrant of Chinese Ham (For Thui). The soup contain lots of ingredients; Chicken & Feet, Pork Ribs, Dried Scallop, Chinese Ham, Pig Stomach & “Gai Choy”, which were tender and light taste. But the pig stomach that they used were not fresh or came frozen as the pieces were a bit chewy and lacks the firmness. Anyway it is a good soup dish!

Rating: 4/5 for taste

The dish that came was the starter platter. In it it had deep fried battered Silverfish, Fresh Scallop and Bacon Roll, and Stir Fried Softshell Crab with Cuttlefish. It is mixture of experience in one plate, crispy, fragrant, freshness, smokey, sweet and saltiness (ham heong).

Lightly battered silverfish deep fried to perfection and sprinkled with salt. Something light to get the pallets going.

Rating: 4/5 for taste

The scallop and bacon roll is to die for! Fresh and juicy scallop wrap/rolled in smokey and salty bacon cooked in its own fats and juices. Imagine those taste combine, it is making my mouth water writing this piece.

Rating: 4.5/5 for taste

The sweetness of this dish is from the caramelised stir fried softshell crab and cuttlefish. Deep fried softshell crab and cuttlefish coated by stir frying them in a sugary syrup to caramelised the outer surface.

Rating: 4.5/5 for taste

After the starter, came the fresh mud crab cook in claypot with vermicelli. I can’t remember how it was cooked. But what I remember is the sweet and firm crab meat accompanied with mouthful of fragrant, rich and crabby vermicelli. The vermicelli had already soaked up the crab juices and the richness of the crab roe. But I can’t help to think to myself, why so little vermicelli!

Rating: 3.8/5 for taste

Before we could have enough of the crabs, they were already serving the Honey Baked Pork Spare Ribs. The ribs were not extraordinary or may be it was already for some us who are still struggling with the crabs. The ribs were a bit hard though. It taste sweet ( a bit too sweet for me) and charred.

Rating: 3.5/5 for taste

Any meal must be complete with a dish of vegetable. As my brother-in-law is crazy about bitter gourd, thus we had light stir fry bitter gourd with salted vegetable. From his comment, the slices are a bit thick, or else it would be good.

Rating: 2.5/5 for taste

After the scrumptious dinner. We ordered some dessert to cleanse or pallets. I had glutenous balls with red bean soup and Gill had ‘Fu Chuk Yee Mai’ (Barley with Yee Mai Thong Sui). The desserts were our of expectation from a fine cuisine restaurant. The glutenous balls were soggy/soft and the fillings were not sufficient, and the red bean soup was slightly near to tasteless. That goes the same for Gill’s ‘Fu Chuk Yee Mai’. Those sold at normal road side stall would even taste better theirs.

Rating: 2/5 for taste

Overall it was quite a nice experience, there were just a few short coming on certain dishes. The service provided by the restaurant manager and the waitress was efficient and friendly. The manager was helpful in the dish recommendation and the waitress, although a Burmese Chinese, knows the dishes well and well verse in Madarin too. If you are thinking of a classy and cosy place to entertain clients, Elegant Inn would be a nice place to go. But be prepare to lighten your wallet! The meal that we had for six adults, cost us RM 604.65. It would be money well spent on ambiance and service, food wise near average.

We have a great food hunt experience with Ken Chan from foodpoi.com on that whole day started from the morning till late noon, and each meal put us up to brims! If we were not back from the hunt, the elegant’s potion will never fulfill out stomach!

We purposely show the bill, and have you see the bill seperates the food items like below before? let say, the Crab vemicilli dish, and the dish have seperated out each of them in the bill. Live Mud Crab RM176 & Vemicili cost us RM10 per pcs!!! that would be the most costly bihun we ever had…haaaaa

On average, I would give this place:

• 3/5 for value
•  3.8/5 for taste & texture
• 4.5/5 for service
• 5/5 for cleanliness
• 5/5 for atmosphere

Popularity: 2% [?]

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Located in the buy township in Taman Desa, is the Fish Head Noodle shop called Woon Pin. I am from Penang, thus this kind of fish head noodle with milk is hard to come by. I have actually had this fish head noodle numerous of time, but have not really get into blogging about it partly because I am busy and lazy too.

This Woon Pin Fish Head Noodle (WPFHN) shop serves either clear soup base or the ‘lemak‘ type with milk. So far all the times my sister only bought the lemak type with fried fish meat and head for me for breakfast. The next time if I am in KL again, I would definitely try the clear soup type.

The soup base is quite sweet and creamy(lemak) with the added evaporated milk. The fish were just nice, not too hard or dry from the frying process. The soup and fish goes really well with the rice vermicelli.

I can’t remember the price, may be RM 4.50 or RM 5.50, for a bowl of the noodle, but it is definitely cheaper than that sold in Penang. By looking at my photos, one could see that fish meat is quite a serving. There were rough 4 to 5 chunks of meat in the bowl, and the chunks ain’t small. To my standards it is quite value for money!

Back in Penang, I remember when I was not feeling well at one time, my wife bought for me a packed of fish head noodle from a famous stall in Pulau Tikus. I remember clearly that it cost RM 9.50 for an order with extra noodles only, and the serving portion was still smaller than that what I got at WPFHN’s normal serving portion. I was really dumb founded at that time and felt cheated.

On average. I would give Woon Pin Fish Head Noodle in Taman Desa:

• 5/5 for value
• 4/5 for taste
• 3/5 for service
• 3/5 for cleanliness (what can we ask from a coffee shop)
• 3/5 for atmosphere

Popularity: 2% [?]

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The last trip we went to KL, and that was quite a few months ago, we had the opportunity try out one of the eateries in Mid Valley KL, Finnegan’s Irish Pub. When we got there it as almost closing for the lunch, but we were lucky that they were still able to dish out their Irish Beef Stew and Pork Knuckles.

The first order to come first was the Irish Beef Stew. Actually, a few weeks ago I managed to dished out a pot of Irish Beef Stew of my own, and that was why I wanted to try theirs so that I can comapare on the taste. The stew served by Fennegan’s was light on taste and texture as compare to mine. May be because of the different ingredients that we used. In my recipe, I used babby carrots and babby potatos instead of the usual carrots and potatos, and thus the sweeter and richer taste. In addition, the Finnegan’s stew did not produce the pungent and stong aroma and taste of stout that is used to cooked it. But on the down side of my recipe, it was a bit too oily which may be due to the cut of beef that I used. Basically, the Irish Beef Stew at Fennigan’s was acceptable, but I am not in the place to comment much as this was the first time I had tried it.

The dish that we tried and have long for is the Pork Knuckle, although it is not the famous German Pork Knuckle. At first, the knuckle did not look as appertising as we expected, but with the first bite, I started to enjoy it with every additional mouth full. The knuckle was fried to perfection, crispy on the out side and juicy in side, and served with mix vege and mash potatoes, gravy. The accompanying gravy was a must. It gave the knuckle the extra kick. To really enjoy the Pork Knuckle, one must take the knuckle, mash and gravy to gather. And that was how I savoured the knuckle till the bone!

The meals was really value for money, it was quite a serving. Both Of us were carrying our bellies out their door. As for their atmosphere, it feels like the average Irish Pub. Thus, do not expect much on service because it is a Pub. I would definitely return for the a second round of Pork Knuckles at Finnegan’s.

Popularity: 12% [?]

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Malaysia currently has few of Donut’s Corporation coming up, like Jco, Big Apple, Missy Donut…etc. Who’s donut better? which brand VS which brand? well, they all have their own supporters. Just see the long que lined up in front of every donuts counters in KL, you guess how much they love the sweet dough.

I’ve tried the Jco once but didn’t take the photo…sure will get it next time.

Now this post is talks about Big Apple Donuts. This is the mid valley outlet and located at the lower ground corridor toward to The Garden.

i cant remember which one is the correct name, but roughly i can tell it has durian cream, cheesy, peanut butter, hazels nut, chocolate…

really cant tell how good it was, coz tasted few month ago…haaaa, but the conclusion is Big Apple wins if compare to Jco – Jason said.

Popularity: 6% [?]

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This is the REAL BURGER that we are looking for. We found the Carls Junior Burger in the Sunway Pyramid new wing. This shop is located in a quite deep in, and you would easily miss out this place.

Carls Junior is a fast food franchise, originate from USA (i think they were new in M’sia, if I’m not mistaken). All their Burgers are in XXL sizes. McD, Burger King? NO WAY, this is triple the size!!! My little small mouth was hardly gave it a full munch for the first bite. Its too huge…

How every, although their size is big, but their price are a bit over for a chain store concept. It is almost the same price of a plate of restaurant food.

Chicken Burger
Food Taste: 4

Potabalo Burger
Food Taste: 8

Curry Cheese Burger
Food Taste: 4

Rating 0-10
Food Taste: 5
Environment: 7
Service: 7
Price: 3 (a bit pricey)

Recommend: Potabalo Burger

Popularity: 5% [?]

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