she, the epicuriousgirl.

acting on tankiasu’s recommendation, my friend and i searched kuchai lama for this eatery on impulse during our weekend breakfast meetup. as it was a last minute decision made in the car, i couldn’t recall the location apart from the fact that’s near the Projet petrol station. but after we passed the petrol station, we spotted it due to the large crowd. Couldn’t find a parking spot first time round and finally spotted one across the road, by the condominiums. Then it was table waiting time…

after a good 15 minutes, finally managed to snag a table at the corner inside the restaurant. i wanted to sit outside initially but it seemed almost impossible to get a table with so many other parties waiting. and all this time, my friend’s hunger pangs intensified as he stood near the open kitchen and had a bird’s eye view of the food being prepared.

as soon as we sat down, waiters holding trays of steaming dim sum in bamboo steamers stopped at our table to let us make our pick. my friend normally gauges the standard of the dim sum by asking for classics such as the siew mai (烧卖, steamed pork dumplings), har kao (蝦餃, steamed prawn dumpling), chicken feet (凤爪) etc. we didn’t manage to get the har kao as it was quickly picked up by the other tables. instead, we got one of the variations which had minced pork with chinese parsley wrapped in the translucent wheat starch skin, topped with some salted egg yolk bits. i didn’t really like it as the taste of the chinese parsley was overpowering. the siew mai was much better, with big chunks of prawns in it.

both the steamed spare ribs (排骨) and chicken feet (deep fried, then boiled and marinated in a blackbean sauce before being steamed to its reddish hue) were mediocre compared to the usual dim sum restaurant we frequent in Puchong.

but both of us agreed the star of the meal was this fried glutinous rice (炒糯米饭) which was a bit on the oily side (to prevent the rice from sticking, i presume) but chockful of ingredients such as char siew, lap cheong (chinese sausages), eggs, scallions etc. i reckon the glutinous rice was lightly stir fried with the ingredients before being steamed and served.my friend wanted a second serving but it was all sold out by then.

the char siew pao filling was sticky and looked promising. but i can’t recall how it tasted, which probably meant it wasn’t that memorable.

i quite like the fried dim sum we had - salad har (沙拉虾, fried prawn fritters served with mayonnaise) and the egg tart (蛋挞). the prawn fritter’s crust was fluffy and light to the bite. as for the egg tart, the outer crust was light and flaky, and the egg custard not too sweet. both winners with me.

my verdict is that this restaurant has its hits and misses but is worth checking out for the abundant choices and generous ingredients. maybe it’s best to visit the place when the morning crowd has dispersed to enjoy the eating experience more.

Restaurant Kam Hin 锦轩港式风味点心
Jalan 1/116B, Kuchai Lama

Was at Trader’s Hotel with some colleagues and we ended up at Gobo Chit Chat for lunch with the boss. she encouraged us to try the buffet lunch which was going for RM38++ per pax. only she went for the kampung fried rice in the a la carte menu.

at first my colleagues were very excited at the prospect of the buffet lunch as they spied a sushi bar. however, the sashimi was a la carte and only the rice rolls were part of the buffet fare. there was quite a variety of cold salads and some hot food. however none of them looked that enticing, but we took some to try anyway. the best we had was perhaps the fish fillets in a cream based sauce. instead of fresh oysters, we saw cold flower crabs and bamboo/razor clams.

soup noodles and chicken/duck rice were available too but the looks of it didn’t tempt any of us. steamed dim sum such as siew mai, har kow and char siew paos were also placed in bamboo steamers but they were barely warm. the dessert options looked interesting from afar. yet none of us went back for seconds. most of the cakes were either too dry or hard.

quite a disappointing buffet lunch in my opinion. none of the food really stood out and service was also inferior. one of the waiters actually threw the straw down when serving the drinks. not what we expected from a 4 star hotel.

Gobo Chit Chat
Trader’s Hotel,
KL City Centre.

other reviews:
- memoirs of a chocoholic

i have heard so much about this place but never seen it until stumbling upon it recently. my dining companion wanted shabu-shabu initially but somehow i managed to convince him to have balinese instead. as the establishment doesn’t serve pork, no babi guling for me then!

the decor of the place brought back fond memories of bali, esp. with the teak furniture and buddha paintings. however a flip through the menu tells me that none of my favourite balinese food such as gado-gado, common nasi campur, itik bertutu are available even if they have variations. but most of the menu had grilled meat, whether served in a western manner, or with rice and other accompaniments. started off with a green apple splash, which was refreshing despite being a little too sweet.

i chose the “Nasi Campur BumbuBali” with the beef rendang while he chose the “Nasi Campur Be Pesan” (Grilled Fish mixed rice). the servings was rather large though i thought the ratio of rice (with two cubes of sweet potatoes) to the rest (beef, grilled fish, grilled prawns, grilled squid, sate lilit, fried kangkung, cucumber & pineapple) was a little skewed as I ran out of rice very quickly. but the beef rendang was very good, aromatic and tender. and the sate lilit (minced seafood paste wrapped around a lemongrass stalk & grilled) was easily the best item i had that night. Fish was very fresh and tasted well marinated with the balinese spices that gave the food a distinctive taste. the prawns & squid were less fresh, judging from the texture as the spices definitely disguised the taste well. the accompanying keropok with ikan bilis and peanuts was a little too hard and tasteless for my liking so i didn’t eat much of that. found my cucumber & pineapple salad thingy serving too chunky as well.

overall, thumbs up for the generous servings and many variations. the sate lilit is a must try! esp. enjoyed having sambal matah (raw shallot & lemongrass sambal) again.

Bumbu Bali
18 & 18-1, Jln Persiaran Puteri 1,
Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong.
Tel: 03-8061 8699

other reviews:
- pasankia
- masak-masak
- neo
- spacerocket
- kyspeaks

just got back from a fun-filled night watching this musical show Broadway Parodies Lah, at Bangsar Actor’s Studio and thought I would do a quick non-food post even though there was no escaping from the mention of food even at the musical show as they started with songs on food! there was a spoof on “food, glorious food” (from Oliver!) and other food songs such as “chicken with the chilli on top” (”Surrey with the Fringe On Top”) were sung. even a makeshift “mamak” stall was one of the props used on the stage.

it didn’t start off too well, mainly because the sound system sounded muffled and i could barely hear the words the cast was trying so hard to sing. but from the 3rd song onwards it picked up and i had quite a good laugh throughout. to think that the producer & writer behind this is a mat salleh ! he sure got malaysian jokes down pat. lol. most of the cast were quite good but Douglas Lim stole the show by dressing up in female clothes for a couple of the songs. and i was very impressed with the vocals of Cheryl Tan esp. when she sang the spoof of “sixteen going on seventeen” from The Sound Of Music on the subject of National Service. Other favourite songs of mine included “Bodoh Lah” (” Do Re Mi”), “The Bomoh of the Bursa” (”The Phantom of the Opera”) etc.

Anyhow, if you’re like me, a fan of musicals, parodies and most things malaysian, then do head out for one of their shows and get a few laughs.

- star write up.

ps: also watched the Pirates of The Carribean 3 this morning and even though it lived up to my expectations, still felt as if i was left hanging at the end. yet the music continues to haunt me and i find myself humming it all the time. go figure.

an ex-colleague who lives in PJ Old Town brought me to this hawker area known as “Under the Big Tree behind Chen Moh“. Lol. Sounds so vague but it’s not for the locals who are familiar with this chinese elementary school. The hawker stalls cover quite a big area so it’s not easy to miss.

There’s quite a variety of hawker fare available here and apparently the economy rice (经济饭) is very good and cheap. Must try that the next time. But this time we opted for something hot and soupy, hence our choice of Prawn Noodles. The uncle manning the stall also sells curry noodles but it was already sold out by the time we arrived. And that was before 1:30p.m too! Brisk business eh?

My verdict on the Prawn Noodles is that it was very flavourful and tasty, with the sweetness of the prawn stock. Finished every drop of the soup. Only complaint was perhaps the accompanying sambal which wasn’t “oomph” enough. still, it was a very satisfying lunch.

Soon Kee 顺记
Under the Big Tree (behind SJK (C) Chen Moh),
Old Town,
Petaling Jaya.

i occasionally have dim sum at the row of dim sum shops in Sri Petaling but recently my colleague introduced me the “Chicken Nest Bun” (literally translated from 鸡窝包). As I didn’t know what it was to begin with, I was quite curious about this creation.

The bun itself is in the shape of a beehive, and already sliced into five pieces when served for easy consumption. The skin is similar to that of a bao (包), white and fluffy and goes very well with the filling. Now, the filing is bite-sized chicken cooked in a starchy gravy of onions and mushrooms. And a salted egg yolk thrown in for good measure.

The difference between this bun and your usual chicken / pork baos is that, the bottom of this bun is not covered with the same white bao skin but instead, a layered of glutinous rice that is flavoured the same way as a loh mai kai.

My colleague also informed me that frozen ones can be bought to be steamed at home for the guaranteed freshness. Priced at RM4.50 each.

Restoran Clan (大家城点心茶楼)
140, Jalan Radin Anum 1,
Sri Petaling,
57000 Kuala Lumpur.

other reviews :
- may (chinese post)

one of the things my uni mate and i enjoy is trying new food places. it’s something we used to do since our days in UK, with us traipsing around Bayswater for authetic Indian, Thai, Chinese fare etc. Since she’s in town during her birthday, decided to celebrate it by having dinner at Café Café.

Have heard quite a lot about this place and couldn’t wait to experience it for myself. a little piece of paris amongst the hustle & bustle of jalan maharajalela. from the road, we could only see that it was hidden behind a huge billboard and even as we got near, we weren’t sure if that was the right place as there was no visible sign. the wooden exterior, painted a dark shade of colour seemed unassuming, yet once you enter, quite a different atmosphere greets you. one of romance, splendour and opulence.

Various types of chandeliers grace the ceiling, and crystals drops are suspended using clear fishing lines, giving meaning to the term of dining under the “stars”. Lush, thick curtains provide some privacy from curious passerbys yet enriches the posh factor of the restaurant. the floor is decked with black & white square patterns, and the dim romantic lighting mode is accentuated by carefully placed table lamps, or unique one pieces, which most probably are antiques.

as we reserved a table in advance, we got a table by the windows where we could revel in the stark difference between the confines of the restaurant and the busy KL traffic outside. what a hideaway! but gorgeous ambience aside, the food… to start, we had the complimentary bread rolls, which was served with a cream cheese & butter spread.

we decided to take the set with the choice of two starters out of four - foie gras, frog legs with saffron, baked escargots with parsley butter sauce, and wild rocket salad with pear and parmigiano. we went for the frog legs & escargots. but since my friend can’t take the frog legs for religious reasons, i urged her to choose something else from the ala carte menu and she picked the “honey truffles king prawns & scallop”.

the prawns were oh-so-good. love the chopped nuts and the truffles sauce. i think we enjoyed every bite of it. as for the frogs, it was more moroccan with the saffron flavoured rice. and the frogs had a kung pao like sauce to rid it of the “fishy” taste i think. but it was not well-cooked enough for my liking as some of the meat was still raw near the bones. but still, i thought it was a rather interesting starter. the escargots were just non descript which is quite a pity as it’s next in line to the famed foie gras for french starters. i prefer the normal method of baking it in its shell,with some herbed butter. these escargots were practically drowning in the melted parsley butter and were just too oily and bland for my liking. and my friend thinks it’s most probably the canned ones, judging from the taste and texture.

While I only had 3 options under the set, from which I picked “Baked Lamb Racks with Wild Rocket”, my friend chosed the “Beef Tenderloin with Foie Gras Reduction, Potato Salad & Boiled Vegetables”. The beef came first, served with boiled broccoli and a potato & cauliflower salad. then my lamb racks came, served with wild rocket and the same potato & caulifower salad with a drizzle of mint sauce. i really enjoyed the lamb, which was juicy and flavourful. the potato salad was very good too, creamy and satisfying.

after we’re done with our main courses, i was already feeling quite full but how can there not be cake for the birthday girl? looking at the desserts menu, we opted for the “hot chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream” despite there being a 20 minute wait. we thought what better time for us to sit back and relax and drink in the ambience? but the cake was worth the wait coz we were already blown away by the appearance first. the plate is dusted all over with cocoa powder, with the petite cake in the middle, next to a dollop of vanilla ice cream, accompanied by a single physallis (cape gooseberry) and strawberry. birthday greetings were scribbled onto the cocoa powder, and one single candle stuck in the ice-cream.

Only upon breaking the cake and seeing the warm, chocolatey goodness ooze out did we realise it was “Moelleux au Chocolat” that we were having. It was rich and indulgently good. between the both of us, the plate was almost wiped clean. this is one dessert i’m definitely ordering again should I return to Café Café. i didn’t realise just how popular this dessert is until i saw it in almost every review as belows. And tonnes of praises sung for the tiramisu too. Another dessert to keep in mind to try.

this place is where the ambience is more talked about than the food, but desserts are quite worth trying too. it’s a nice place to escape from the hustle & bustle of the city and to imagine oneself in some European cafe.

Café Café
175, Jln Maharajalela
50150 Kuala Lumpur
(location map)

other reviews:
- memoirs of a chocoholic
- timothy low
- pinkpau
- mei yen
- honey star

Street food is aplenty in the streets of Bangkok and we were spoilt for choice. however i am inclined to believe that we didn’t eat as much this trip as we did last year, but still, here’s roughly what we had during the few days there.

(Photos galore ahead, apologies for slow loading time. )

Our first dinner at one of the smaller shops nearby our hotel. The meatballs were very nice, and had quite a firm texture to it.

As we spent an entire day at the exhibitions in Impact Convention Centre, we had lunch at their Food Court, the Sky Kitchen. These are the Vietnamese Dumplings from Viet Cuisine, which was basically minced pork and some other vege strips wrapped in the thin, white skin. Served with fresh mint leaves and chilli sauce.

Saw many stalls of women selling these mini meatballs at Chatuchak Market. At only 10 Baht per stick, these were firm, flavourful meatballs were dunked in a sticky chilli-like sauce. After we bought 5 sticks, we went back for more.

Lunch at Chatuchak Market was at a corner lot restaurant selling various types of noodles and rice. We decided to try the “Noodles in brown soup with Steamed Pork” which was priced at 30 Baht per bowl.

Thin vermicelli (米粉) was used and apart from the tender steamed pork, two fishballs were also given, along with blanched kangkung (water spinach/convolvulus/蕹菜).

After a long day at Chatuchak Market, we stopped in front of this stall which sold a grass jelly dessert and couldn’t resist getting a bowl to share. the jelly, or as locals call it - chao koay is topped with crushed ice and demerara sugar. A very refreshing dessert.

We actually had this for supper one day during our last trip to Bangkok as we were staying only across the road. We remembered it as being very tender and flavourful, hence the search for it again. The stall is along Phetchaburi Road, not too far from a corner lot 7-11. A sweet, young lady tends the stall, handling the cleaver with ease and expertise, as she goes about chopping up the braised meat.

Another day at Chatuchak Market and we stumbled upon a food court like space somewhere in the midst of the hustle and bustle. On most tables, bowls of raw salad awaits you. Yet our eyes catches sight of the roast pork first and soon we were munching on crunchy, juicy, roasted pork bits.

At the same food court in Chatuchak Market, we ordered lunch in the best way we could as few of the hawkers spoke any english, it seems. a lot of pointing and gesturing later, we ended up with thai style belachan (shrimp paste) rice and more braised pork. the latter was rather bland in taste actually but the rice, or khao kluk kapi as the thais call it, is fragrant and mouthwatering.

The rice is fried with shrimp paste (kapi in thai) and served with sweet pork (stir-fried with shallots, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar), grated raw mango, egg omelette strips, onion slices, chopped long bean, chilli, dried prawns and lime wedges. Smells and tastes heavenly even if some people may find the smell of the shrimp paste off putting. But as an anak Malaysia, the smellier, the better!

Now the thing about Chatuchak Market is that little surprises are constantly at some corner, waiting to be discovered. And after a great foot massage, we saw this dessert stall outside with quite a long queue. Eager to see what the fuss is about, we also waited in line and chose from a myriad of colourful ingredients to concoct our own thai mixed dessert. the cold, sweet liquid instantly refreshes and the various ingredients provided an explosion of taste.

Just outside Chatuchak Market were more food stalls but we weren’t very hungry anymore after having the thai mixed dessert earlier. yet i couldn’t resist the inviting looks of these fried insects and ended up asking for 20 baht worth of fried grasshoppers and worms. the lady scooped the bugs into a small bag and sprayed them with a soy sauce mixture. i loved how crispy and crunchy it was despite it being a tad too salty.

Found these oval, bite-sized hotcakes when I was walking down Soi 21. Made of a rice flour batter, corn is added into the mixture when it’s being cooked, and topped with coconut cream before being served. This lot cost me 10 Baht.Khanom Krog is quite a popular street snack in Thailand.

This is another place we remembered from last year. Situated along Phetchaburi Road in Pratunam, at a corner lot somewhat diagonal to the Platinum shopping mall, this restaurant whips up one of the best dry tossed wantan noodles ever. the portion is rather small though, but for what it lacks in quantity, it makes up in quality. garnished with blanched leafy vege, pork wantans, char siew, spring onions and crispy lard, it is almost similar to sarawak’s kolok noodles. the amount of noodles stacked up in its glass display shows that this place is very popular. my only complaint is that the noodles are a little too oily. as for the braised pork, it is definitely one of the best we have had in bangkok so far. and i thought i’d be tired of braised pork by now…

Our last meal in bangkok was at Yum Saap in Central World Plaza. Not exactly street food but we were rather pressed for time and entered the first restaurant we saw. The rolls you see in the first photo is not from Yum Saap though, but from a roadside stall opposite the mall. The chilli dip is excellent, hitting the right spicy & sour notes. Also had a minced pork omelette, a pad thai (fried flat noodles) and a minced pork noodle soup. The noodles used were akin to those instant ones from Maggi, which was a disappointment. The other dishes were somewhat mediocre.

we chose two salads - my favourite yum woon sen (glass noodle salad) and a crabstick & longan salad. the latter was much better than my usual choice. and i had better glass noodle salads in back home. but both were very spicy and i found myself reaching for my glass of tea. and i normally can take rather spicy food without breaking into a sweat.

*******

Well, hope you enjoyed this post.

I have been to this Korean BBQ place for quite a few times now and have always associated it with delicious food and impeccable service. the owner sends you to the lift, and bows while thanking you! talk about being made to feel like royalty. i have been there with politikus too about a year ago and we had quite a spread. but what I didn’t know was that this is only a branch, and the HQ is in Desa Sri Hartamas. And apparently, the popular Korean singer, Rain and his dancers dined only at this Korean eatery when touring in Malaysia, which explains the signed banner I saw gracing the main entrance.

was surprised to see the crowd when we arrived. Guess we forgot about the Mother’s day crowd. Had to wait for about 20 minutes before we got a table, and even then, the free table was quite a large one at the elevated platform area so we shared with another party of three (who were koreans, good sign on food’s authenticity, heh). due to the packed turnout, the help were a little on the kelam-kabut side and not that attentive but I didn’t mind. as usual we started off with the variety of banchan, the side dishes where the regulars such as kimchi (pickled cabbage), Kkakdugi (diced daikon in red chilli seasoning), Kongnamul (bean sprouts in sesame oil), sigeumchi-namul (slightly boiled spinach dressed with sesame oil, garlic, and soy sauce), anchovies, peanuts etc were available.

We decided not to order the BBQ meats, and ordered ala carte items off their menu instead. My friend haven’t had korean fare in a while and was definitely longing for Pa Jeon (파전 - seafood pancake topped with spring onions). She wanted the beef bulgogi as well and I wanted the spicy squid, O Jing Er So Myn after trying the delicious version from Korean House.

I knew we wouldn’t go wrong with the beef, which was simmered with onions, enoki mushrooms, korean translucent vermicelli, julienned vege etc as it was very juicy and flavourful. Despite the thin cuts of the beef, there was also a layer of fat on it, not unlike the thin slivers used in Yoshinoya’s beef bowl rice which I thought added to the flavour. the pancake was quite good too, with a crispy edge. as for the spicy squid, I must admit it fell short of the standards of the previous one I had. It was still sufficiently spicy and tasty but somehow tasted different from the one I first tried and longed for.

towards the end of the meal, the owner of the restaurant was going around offering tables soju and stalks of carnations for mothers. i thought that was a rather sweet gesture.

Daorae Korean BBQ Restaurant
8c, Top Speed Business Centre,
Jalan USJ 10/1J,
47620 UEP Subang Jaya.
Tel:03- 8024 2616

other reviews:
- yvonne foong
- enoch ho

My Bruneian uni mate is in town and on her first day, I brought her to Dave’s for lunch. Also my first time there, I didn’t know that they had pork (in bacon form, mostly) in almost every of their dishes. Lucky my friend is very liberal about such things as long as the food we had didn’t have pork in its ingredients. We were tucked away in a corner bench seat where we got a good view of the open kitchen and all the hanging skillets.

For drinks, I asked for the Pineapple Lassi and she, the Vanilla milkshake, at RM12 and RM10 respectively. She loved the milkshake, saying that it was one of the best she’s ever had. We wanted to start with Stuffed Mushrooms initially but since they couldn’t omit the bacon from the stuffing, we decided to have the sautee mussels in chilli & basil instead. Quite enjoyed this starter, though thought it was a little on the salty side. There were 10 mussels altogether, if i am not mistaken. At RM18.

My friend chose the chicken pesto sandwich in foccacia bread. Cut into quarters, it was served with a side of fresh salad. I think it was quite a good deal at only RM16. I chose to have the Cream Salmon & Spinach Pasta, with capellini (angel hair). It was a very good choice as the pasta was flavourful and big enough to share between the both of us. Quite a generous portion of salmon was used too. Priced at RM35.

It was a very satisfying meal and service was very good. With the dim lights and cosy seats, it’s a great place to relax and catch up.

Dave’s Pizza Pasta Vino
Lot G209, Promenade One Utama Shopping Centre,
1 Lebuh Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya Selangor

other reviews:
- mei yen
- joan