Fish Head At Pudu...

I haven't been posting up any food reviews of late, and that's either because the places I've been to recently didn't warrant much mention.

This place, I had to post up a review.

Imagine this, a very very old (possibly pre-war) shop literally a few feet away from the dusty and noisy Jalan Pudu, with no signage of any kind, with 7 or so tables, and where you have to wait for like an hour (usually more) before you get any food. Why then would anyone of a sound mind put themselves through the ordeal?

I have seen the crowd lining up during lunch hour on those rare occasions when I forayed into Pudu, and have always regarded the situation with a mix of curiosity and disdain. Last Saturday I lunched at this place, and came away with the former satisfied and the latter dismissed.

According to my father, this place has always attracted the crowd in droves since 30-40 years ago. I have also apparently eaten there when I was a child, which I suspect could have only been an unpleasant childhood experience. It's apparently acquired a near legendary status as the sam chi mui (3 sisters) fish head stall. True to its name it's run by 3 sisters.

We sat outside along the kaki lima (shaded corridor) on plastic stools waiting to be seated, whilst entertaining ourselves looking at the wares of the next door shop (industrial filters and pumps!) One of the sisters (Crocs-wearing, bob-headed, hair-dyeing) came to take our orders whilst we were seated waiting in a brusque businesslike fashion. Thankfully, we were seated not long after.

Rice arrived in a not-seen-for-very long-time porcelain container, chipped almost all around the lip. And then the piece-de-resistance arrived in a large platter. The Hong Siew Yu Tau or stewed fish head was a whole Soong fish head deep fried and smothered in a luscious gravy. Accompaniments were stir fried sang cheong with kow choi fah, and veges. Excellent!

Went to the back looking for the washroom and surprisingly the whole place was quite clean and organised. No greasy floors, pots and pans and empty bottles strewn about, you get my drift. Saw a single lady (no doubt one of the sisters) furiously cooking on a, get this, wood fired stove! Now, you hardly find these anymore, which undoubtedly added to the flavour. No doubt the single cook also contributed to the legendary waiting times.

Best of all though, lunch sufficiently filling for 5 hungry people cost a mere RM48! Definitely recommended, but you have been warned about the waiting time...

Oh yes, though there was no signboard on the outside, a small one inside the seating area proclaimed it to be Kedai Kopi Hock Seng Hin. Not much help though as you can't see it until you're actually inside.

CNY Lunch at Umai-Ya...

It has become a CNY custom to meet up with our friends for a "Lou Sang" session, but by the 6th day we were all a bit tired of pig's trotters, steamed fish, prawns, roast chicken etc all the traditional CNY goodies... So it was quite welcome when CK suggested Japanese food...

Our plan was to go to Umai-Ya at Uptown, which had been satisfactory on a previous visit, but as it was fully booked that day settled for the original outlet at Damansara Perdana.

First impressions weren't positive, with the whole building all looking a bit run-down. The restaurant itself wasn't bad, and the room we were given was quite nice and cosy.

To cap it all off, the food was okay, nothing spectacular, but certainly streets ahead of the usual Jap buffets and everything was passably fresh. The sole exception being the soft shell crab that our friends describe as "tasting funny", upon which I didn't take any, so thankfully I can't describe what that "funny" was...

Fortunately their impressive service looks to be holding strong still compared to our last visit a few years back.

Aren't we going all Japanese today...

Jun Yen with Mommy...

It was quite a hoot with our friends' babies around too. A lot of time was spent feeding them, and in CK's case, changing his baby (!!!). For us though it was mostly keeping them amused and feeding them tidbits...

Frontera Bar & Grill at Jaya One

It's been quite a while since anything food related came onto this blog. It doesn't mean I haven't been eating out, but definitely less than before the babies came along. Nowadays distance and baby-friendliness become great concerns in dining out.

Yesterday night was an exception as Mom offered to take care of JL & JY while we take a break.

Jaya One being a hitherto relatively unexplored place (I'd only been there once for a quick lunch at Wendy's) and being relatively nearby, it wasn't difficult to decide to check out what else they had to offer.

Brussels Beer Cafe was packed solid last night with some event going on. Looking around the rest of the outlets were fairly empty. But then it was a Thursday night, so maybe these places do most of their business during lunch and weekends.

To cut a long story short, settled on Frontera Bar & Grill as somehow Tex Mex food sounded very appetising yesterday, and also I was eager to try Tex Mex stuff outside of the ubiquitous Chili's/Fridays/Las Carretas types.

The place was quite sparsely decorated, but good enough, with small cacti on the tables and lots of red, green and white! They also had a pinata hanging around, very Mexican methinks...

Ordered the taquitos de pollo, beef enchilada, beef chimichanga, and the Horny (???) Margarita and a beer to wash it down.

Wifey's impression at the end of the dinner sort of captured the overall feel of the food. She mentioned that it all looked rather homemade, both in terms of presentation and taste. In this case I'd say it's more complimentary than otherwise.

Won't go into details (and no pics to boot) but suffice to say that it all tasted good, and portions were adequate. The meat in both the chimichanga and enchilada deserves special mention in that it was tender, flavorful and plentiful. The chimichanga was thankfully not swimming in some sauce, which makes the skin go soggy and unappetising.

The bill came to RM115, which is not exactly cheap, but right in line with other Tex Mex joints. Part of the blame has to go to the margarita which costs RM23, but you do get what you paid for as it's really strong! Don't let the size of the glass fool you...

Kura Japanese Restaurant at One World...

We went to Kura at One World Hotel for wifey's birthday as we had heard good things about it. Also, the choice of ala-carte Japanese was deliberate as this week was sheer gluttony. (Wed - King Crab, Thu - Kura, Fri - Serena Brasserie, Sat - Hooi Loong) So something light yet sufficiently refined to slot in between those feasts.

We were seated at what I can only describe as cubicle. On the plus side it gave us a lot of privacy, but felt rather claustrophobic initially. The menu was rather intimidating with a huge selection. For simplicity's sake, I ended up ordering the Rokkaku Bento (RM65) for wifey and the Sakura Chirashidon Zen (RM35) for myself. Here are the pics of both, the larger set is the Rokkaku Bento. Taken with incredibly crappy Nokia 2mp phone.

Rokkaku Bento

Sakura Chirashidon Zen

To sum it up, it was very satisfactory. Portions were large, so much so by the end we felt a bit like we had just hit a buffet. Quality was more than decent, with the sashimi on wifey's bento deserving mention. Wifey usually likes her sashimi with lots of wasabi and shoyu, but this time she didn't touch either. According to her, the fish was great enough on its own. And lastly, price? Very fair for the portions, quality and environment. Service was also very prompt, though the staff looked a bit confused at times.

King Crab Restaurant...

Went out for dinner today at King Crab for wifey's birthday. Mom and Dad's treat. Brought babies along, and for some reason today parking was packed along the road, so getting babies off proved a bit of a chore.

Ordered the Crab with Creamy Sauce (Lai Yau Hai), Fried 4 veges in shrimp paste (Sei Tai Tin Wong), Pork Belly with Yam (Wu Tao Kau Yuk), Clams in Superior Soup (Siong Tong Lala) and Steamed Silver Snapper.

Overall quite disappointing, bar the crab's still-excellent sauce and the lala. The Pork Belly and veges were so-so, and the fish quite abysmal, and not cheap at that. Crabs were rather small, and flesh not firm. And true to form, the last order (a fried bread roll) was forgotten. Service was as usual chaotic.

Price for 1.5kg of crabs about RM60, the lacklustre fish was a whopping RM70, the rest of the prices were quite fair, and hence not memorable. I don't know why we put up with this in light of the deteriorating food quality. I think we'll be giving this place a miss in the future.

Weekly Outing...

I make it a point to try to bring the babies out once a week, even if it's just a short hop over to my parents' place, just to get them used to the outside world, unfamiliar faces, and riding in a car.

Mommy, this is how we rolled around in your tummy!

In some way this was prompted last week when both twins became quite good at recognising people (and consequently crying at the sight of strangers...). When our part time maids came, Jun Lee cried when she saw them, and did the same with our friends who came by this morning.

Tonight we brought them out to TGI Fridays at 1-Utama for dinner. There simply aren't that many baby-friendly places around, and while TGIF wasn't ideal, it was reasonable provided you got a corner waaaaayyy off the smoking section. Music was quite loud, but that didn't seem to bother babies at all. The only thing that did bother Jun Lee was being put facing the wall. She got bored and started fidgeting (together with accompanying noises...). Everything was well as soon as we put her facing the rest of the restaurant. It was mighty lucky we managed to snag a parking spot right in front of TGIF too.

Hostess got us a decent table by the corner with reasonable space to park the strollers, and was very friendly with the babies. Dinner went well, food was usual TGIF standards; that is to say, nothing outstanding, but you know what to expect. Kinda sounds a bit like McDonalds doesn't it...

I ordered the ever-reliable cheeseburger, and also the 39.90 set menu. The 39.90 menu seems to have gone a bit downmarket, I can't recall what exactly they took off, but I do know they removed the ribs from the entree choices. Ended up with boneless chicken wings (chunks of chicken coated in batter and fried, heavy-handed with the batter, but genorous portions nevertheless...), sizzling chicken and cheese (two large piece of chicken breast grilled and swimming in a sizzling bath of cheese, very satisfying for cheese fans...) and chocolate malt cake (very ordinary and not recommended...).

After dinner it was only 8.30, so went to the new wing to buy plastic bowls for babies' cereal, and back to old wing where wifey bought clothes. Babies very well behaved, but then this is their first time in 1-Utama (I have subsequently been informed by wife that they HAVE been to 1-U, though I can't remember when), so they were boggled eyed throughout, and didn't sleep a wink.

Just how tired they were was evident when they fell asleep pretty much as soon as we got out of the carpark. Took the long way home to let them nap a little more, and tired out from their trip, slept very well throughout the night.

Out For Dinner...

Babies were very good girls today, sleeping and playing by themselves for most of the day. Jun Yen since a week ago has learnt to flip onto her belly unassisted (previously she would flip over but then have one arm pinned under herself) and doing so more regularly. She still doesn't look very comfy though, as Jun Lee does. Jun Lee really likes to lie belly down and lift her head, while at the same time crossing and uncrossing her legs, all the while looking supremely relaxed like someone at the beach.

Had a hankering for Japanese food (after the unfulfilling Jap meal yesterday...) so decided to go to either Fu Rin or Seki Tei as Momo was out due to the rather smokey environment and increased prices. After all UOB has a 20% discount which makes these two look like pretty good value.

Dressed babies up , packed up and off we went at 6.45pm. Arrived at Fu Rin, and after getting a parking spot and bundling babies into their strollers, went into Fu Rin and found that they don't offer a buffet! Only Sunday lunch apparently.

Bundled babies back into the car and off we went to Seki Tei. And to cut a long story short the same thing occurred. Should have checked that they served buffet before going of course, but it was a spur of the moment thing. Will definitely not take for granted next time!

Ended up at Eden in Subang Parade at 2015, and what-ho, found a parking right smack in front of the door! Not many customers though... Didn't really care by then and just looked for the first restaurant in sight. Decided on the executive set meal which looked like okay value at RM34.90. Settled on Caesar salad, Seafood Platter and Bread Pudding for me, and Cream of Pumpkin, Mixed Grill and Apple & Peach Crumble for wifey. All washed down with water, coffee and tea. As expected everything was unremarkable, but passable. Special mention to the soup though, that was really good. Portions were acceptably good too.

And the babies? Both were very well behaved through most of the getting off and on, and only got restless and twitchy towards end of the meal at Eden. I fed JL at around 2030 as it was time for her feed. JY was squirming and kicking a lot in her stroller after that and though we thought she was hungry, she only drank 3.5oz of the milk that we fed her. Wifey guessed correctly that she was sleepy, and very soon after we put them back in the car they were both asleep.

Decided to let them sleep more and went to the bank to drop off a cheque, that we were planning to do tomorrow. Babies very well behaved when we arrived home, as we changed them and put them to bed, though both were very very talkative and excitedly chattering very loudly. It was like they were talking to each other about their night out... Hehe...

Wifey tucked them in and told them to save their stories for tomorrow morning to tell Grandpa and Grandma... What a night...

Le Francais, One Bangsar...

Got back from Shanghai late yesterday night, in time for our anniversary! Took Friday off as I wanted a bit of rest after the trip. But somehow, felt like I might as well have gone to work as the day just flew by, and visions of a long restful day went poof...

Spent a good part of the day thinking where to go for our anniversary dinner. Wife as usual heaped this burden on me... After much deliberation settled on Mexican food at Sandias in Plaza Damansara. And whaddaya know, when we got there it looked like it was closed. For good! Chap-lap already! If anyone knows otherwise lemme know...

Okay, no problem, just hop to Mango Tree in nearby Bangsar... I've been there quite a few years back and remembered the food as being quite good. Also remembered the location, or so I thought... When we arrived the sign said Cafe Citron?! What the...!!! Yes, it definitely was the Mango Tree place. Why, the bloody tree was still there! So I'd assume chap-lap also... Until someone tells me otherwise...

In a state of near panic now (and near-rumbling tummy) I suggested to wifey to go get something at the nearby One Bangsar restaurant strip.

To cut a long story short, we ended up at Le Francais. Place looked a tad dim (aren't all fine dining places...) and attractive. We particularly liked the velvet drapes separating the tables which afforded diners some privacy (aesthetically if not sonically...).

We ordered duck salad and cream of garlic soup (yes, you read right, garlic) to start with, mains of swordfish and chicken, and no dessert. I suggested dessert at Delicious at Bangsar Village as I was craving bread & butter pudding. In case I haven't mentioned it, I love that stuff!

Things got off to a good start with the bread basket. Bread was warm, crisp outside and moist and soft inside. Butter was smooth and fragrant. In case you think I am being particularly obsessive, I'll say that the number of times I've been served bad bread is more than I care to recall. It was so good (and I was so hungry) that we finished the basket. (4 rolls only la...)

The duck salad was quite good, with a decent amount of iceberg, butterhead, romaines and rocket. The duck slices were very good, not too chewy yet flavorful and a tad gamey. Soup was quite a surprise, and did not really reek of garlic as expected. It was creamy and smooth with the occasional small bits of garlic. All in not too bad although a bit on the salty side.

The chicken my wife ordered was quite outstanding. Wasn't overcooked to the point of toughness (very easy to fall prey to with chicken breasts) and tasty with a hint of the marinade. The sundried tomato sauce was really nice and went well with the pan-fried chicken.

The swordfish was another story due to the chef's over-enthusiastic use of salt! I cannot remember what exactly it was called, though I can tell you that it was basically a rather large piece of swordfish that was poached in a broth with vegetables. Sadly the broth masked most of the flavour, and it certainly did look like the chef had served me the court-bouillon with the fish! Not good!

I did complain about the fish, and was actually told that was how it was supposed to be. Sorry mates, but you guys don't really seem to know a lot about cooking as i am certain no school of cooking would demand covering everything with the taste of salt! It was a good thing the rest of the food was alright, otherwise I would have made a bigger fuss.

Stick with the less exotic dishes and you should be alright.

The service was rather good, with little of the pretentiousness or haughtiness that seems to plague French restaurants. It was very attentive but unobstrutive. Paid something like a little less than 200 for the whole night, so other than the swordfish, not too bad.

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.

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.