Thursday, October 11, 2007

Jarrod & Rawlins, Damansara Heights

Just to kick things off, a review of Jarrod & Rawlins at Damansara Heights. They've got another place in Hartamas which I went to a while ago and that experience almost deterred me from going to this one.

Service at the Hartamas outlet was achingly slow, the "gourmet" burger I ordered was so-so with a lacklustre pork patty and a bun with the admirable combination of being squishy and crumbly. The sausages were good though, and Hoegaarden at RM19.50 was reasonable.

The DH outlet then. I actually came across this place a few months back when I was in the vicinity for a meeting. Its located in a converted bungalow lot, somewhat sloping down from the road, which does not make it that visible unless you are near it. Plus the usual monochromatic unassuming J&R signage didn't help.

Last week I finally got around to trying out the place with a business acquaintance. Having been through the Hartamas one, I steeled myself for a similarly lacklustre night food-wise. Got there around 7.30pm, and it was still quite empty then. An hour later the place filled with people, most of them taking a bite and drinks after work, and quite a few expats.

As you go in the small front entrance, you're greeted by the deli counter on the left with its mouthwatering array of meats, cheeses, pickles and sauces. Head on up to the more formal restaurant area, or head down and out to the garden seating area. We opted for the latter. The atmosphere is really nice, a covered seating area amidst the garden. You'll have to see it for yourself.

I ordered chorizo, pork bangers, streaky bacon, a pork chop, goat's cheese, olives and some crackers to go with it. And Hoegaardens to down it with. The meats came on a single large plate, and was served with apple sauce, mustard and some kind of pickle. I'll save you time by saying that everything was good.

Especially the chorizos. Bacon was a tad salty, but its bacon, and you kind of expect that. Pork chop was great, in contrast to the uninspired piece of meat at the Hartamas place. It was well and lightly seasoned, juicy and done just right. Goat's cheese was delectably smooth and tasty. Olives were a tad spicy, which I didn't expect. Perhaps a different pickle recipe then.

One thing though, we asked for bread, and they brought us slices of white bread. Should have asked for rolls as they're likely to go down better with the butter and cheese.

Very satisfactory, and all for a grand sum of just under RM90. Considering the beers alone cost close to RM40, its a pretty decent deal.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Liew Kee Chee Cheong Fun, Teluk Intan

After having read through quite a few reviews of "Teluk Intan Chee Cheong Fun", I was positively aghast at some that tries to pass off as the real thing. Those quote marks you see above are no accident...

The thing is, I have yet to come across any decent Teluk Intan Chee Cheong Fun (for the rest of the article referred to as TICCF) in Klang Valley. For some odd reason this is one of those things that rarely tastes right outside of its place of origin. For the very same reason, Penangites whine about the state of the laksas and char koay teow here compared to Penang.

Most people think of TICCF as simply your usual CCF with fillings in it. Be it dried prawns, pickled turnip (choi boh), spring onions. I have had some with one of the above, some with all of the above, some even with sweet CCF sauce (horrors)... And quite frankly, before I met my wife (whose hometown is Teluk Intan) I thought all those pretenders tasted okay, but really nothing extraordinary. Couldn't for the life of me understand what the fuss was about.

Then one night in 2002 enlightenment set in... From the CCF point of view anyway...

Arguably the most famous of the establishments that produces TICCF in Teluk Intan, Liew Kee is located in a wooden house somewhere near the town centre. Dont have the exact address, but any true blue TI-an would be able to tell you where it is. This place also goes by the name of Ah Lek, so if one name draws you blanks, use the other. Same thing.

Watching the workers is a treat itself. Here they make the TICCF from scratch, grinding grains of rice to make the rice paste. They take up a large rectangular aluminium tray, slop the rice paste over it, roll it around to spread the mixture, toss in some dried prawns, some choi boh, and feed it through the conveyor.

This conveyor thing moves the tray through a steamer. When it emerges from the other end another worker uses a spatula-like thing to scrape the solidified TICCF and roll it up, cut it into smaller sections, pack it in plastic sheets, toss in some pickled green chillies, and wrap it up with newspaper. Finally, it makes its way into your hands in exchange for RM2.50 a pack.

The taste? When you unwrap the newspaper and plastic packaging, the aroma of rice, and the fillings waft out in a combination of what I can only describe as heavenly. Open up a pack in front of me, and even if I have had a 8 course dinner beforehand, I'll still find room.

Use your chopstick (or fork, or hands if you're desperate) pick up a piece of the TICCF and the pickled chilli, pop it into your mouth. The texture of the thin rice paste is smooth and firm, the dried prawns add a bit of crunch, the choiboh adds a savoury element, and lastly the chili throws in a bit of fire and tanginess to the whole mouthful.

There are a few things you need to be aware of Liew Kee though. Firstly the best time to buy is at night, all the way till midnight (and later). Secondly, the lines get impossibly long during weekends and public holidays.

If all else fails, you can still get a pack in the morning from many coffee shops and stalls throughout Teluk Intan. Liew Kee's main business is after all, making and distributing the TICCF. Be warned though, once you've tasted the stuff you got from Liew Kee on a cool breezy night, these too will seem like shadows of the original...

Ka Wha Korean Restaurant, Bangsar

Very active today aren't I? Catching up on 2 years' worth of backlog kinda forces that on you...

I actually read about this place on some blog, though I can't remember which one exactly now, otherwise I'd credit the blogger.

Wife and I tried to have dinner at this place a few months back (vague time and dates, a result of not posting earlier...) and found the place full. Think it was a Saturday. We both thought it was certainly worth another attempt, judging from the crowd, and we eventually got round to it on the 30th Sep, a Sunday. This time we made reservations.

When we got there at 6.30pm, it was quite empty, and at its peak around 8pm the place was about 3/4 full. Saw the All-you-can-eat deal at RM38+ (no tax) and went for that. Banchans (side dishes) started coming and we ordered refillable iced Korean tea and green tea. The banchans numbered around 10 (again the effects of memory or lack of) and were nothing particularly special. Few types of kimchis, beansprouts, fried anchovies and peanuts, potato, radish, etc.

For the price you get a long list of food you can order. We started off with pig intestines, samgyeopsal (pork belly) and the "beef with egg yolk and pear" whilst waiting for our 3 friends. Barbecued the intestines and samgyeopsal. Former was tasty though chewy, and latter was like unsalted bacon. Great stuff! Samgyeopsal was however one of those few items on the list you could only order once. Pity...

Our friends then arrived as we were downing the pork belly, and the gluttony then truly began! Suffice to say the list of things we ordered were too numerous to recount one by one.

Notable ones include the beef with pear and egg yolk mentioned earlier. I had no idea I actually ordered the (in)famous Yook Hwae! And in doing so I conveniently forgot that it was to be eaten raw! Now, I'm not the squeamish type, but the raw beef and raw egg yolk did have me fazed for a while. Sounded like a salmonella nightmare... All was well though, as it tasted very good with the crispy Korean pear. And with the benefit of posting this weeks later, I can safely report that it was not diarrhoea inducing.

The soups which my friends ordered were also very nice. Both the seaweed soup and the beef soup was flavorful yet light. The pancakes were also good, though I preferred the kimchi pancake to the seafood one.

Our friend who had been to Korea ordered a can of some sort of rice wine that was milky in appearance, and tasted slightly sourish. Not really my tipple of choice, but hey, here's to variety.

Good points were the fast and friendly service, and they were very diligent in changing the grills after every round of barbecuing. Price-wise no complaints at all. All in a good experience although food wise I'd say that Dae Sa Kwan is slightly better, though that's ala-carte only.

Only complaint from wife at the end of the meal was that we reeked of barbecued meats, but then that's not something that's specific to this place.

Food blogging?

Well, not to make this a dedicated food blog, but rather jottings about the places I've been to. May not have many photos, if at all, since the only serviceable camera I have at the moment is an SLR, and whipping it out at restaurants is probably not a convenient (or endearing) thing to do. And being used to the kind of pics from a DSLR, camera phones make me weep, and loathe to post up the grainy, noisy blurry results here.

The Debut...

It's finally online! And finally an outlet for my scribblings!

Been thinking of doing it since a few years back, but never got around to doing it because...

I couldn't think of a decent name nor title for the blog!!! (I still can't...)

Imagine, going to blogspot's setup page, and a few clicks away from starting my own blog, and being held up by the page asking you for a title, and name! Though the blog is finally up, I'm still not happy with the title, and the one you see here is simply waiting for a decent one to come along...

Thought is the sail, knowledge the wind, and mankind the vessel...
Its an old quote by a certain Augustus Hare. Don't ask me for any insights into it, ask the great man yourself, if that is indeed possible... It's just something derivative of Scirocco, which was a nick I picked up at random many years ago when registering for some motoring forum.

If you have to know, a scirocco (alternatively sirocco or qibli) is rather furious wind that blows primarily in the Mediterranean (of which I am a few thou miles away from...) or worryingly, to quite a large amount of people, a Volkswagen coupe, thanks to VW's tendency to name a few of its models after types of wind.

So without further ado, unleash the wind!