Chicken Rice at Loke Yun, Ampang

May 31st, 2009 • 31 comments General
Tags: food outing, hawker food, KL, makan-makan

I don’t eat chicken rice that much, cos my first preference for a rice based meal has always been economy rice; be it chinese, malay or indian..hell, why settle for just chicken when one gets to plonk a variety of add-ons and eat them ALL at one go?
After all, I’m a gourmand, just as someone who’s been reminding me over and over again, even to the point of shoving a dictionary under my nose to make his point, of the difference between a gourmand and a gourmet.

Gourmet = a person who appreciates good food.
Gourmand = a person who eats all sort of rubbish.

FINE.

Ok ok la..I’m a pig. Yar..why??

My interest in finding excellent Hainanese chicken rice in KL was only recently ignited after I tried this, & comments that poured in seemed to be leading to some really promising ones.
Suddenly I missed eating chicken rice. And with GPS ( a truly god- sent for people like me), nowhere seems too remote.

Ken has always been a reliable source of food hunts, and words like “Guang Ming Winner”, “Chicken Rice of the Year 2007″, “2008″.. really got me curious, “wa lau wehh..Pg also never had winner winner one…” “This must be excellent stuff”, I thought.

So another makan-makan session was organised, and barely 2 hours after breakfast we are on our way here with Horng & Pure Glutton.

As you probably would have read from their posts, I was overly excited..and ran into the wrong shop. The thing that hunger does to the mind, I tell you.

Anyways, at the correct outlet, we wasted no time placing our orders.

Half a corn-fed chicken RM30 – I find the meat a tad “tough”, apparently due to the fact that the chickens are allowed to run free & hence developed muscles??
Jeezz.. why can’t they just massage the chicken instead? Then we can have kobe chicken… or wait..was it wagyu?
A quarter “normal” chicken RM17 – less strain on the mouth muscles, more tender. My kinda of chick.

Seeing that our bill came up to RM60.60, I estimated the prices for the rest..
Rice RM1.50 - fluffy and fragrant with subtle ginger aroma.
Beansprouts RM3.00 – Nothing comment-worthy.
Soup - Complimentary – thin & tasteless.
Chilli sauce – it was a bit watery as well so do as we did, scoop out the chilli and less of the sauce. The blended ginger was fine.
Innards - RM5.00 – shiny, slithering smooth intestines and bouncy gizzards. A must order.
Herbal tea RM1.00 – Not overly diluted, with strong herbal taste. Good.

Very clean and well organised work area.


I wish I could lug a jar home..


We almost cleaned the pot of chilli on our table among the four of us.


So there you go..“The Best Poached Chicken Rice 2008″ recipient – Restoran Loke Yun.

Good? Really really good?
Definitely one of the better ones I have had, I admit.. but I am still not entirely satisfied with the texture of the chicken meat, even for the normal bird.

So what to do..have to eat more CR I guess..maybe Kong Sai in Puchong this weekend?

Frontera, Jaya One

May 30th, 2009 • 29 comments General
Tags: food outing, KL, makan-makan, mexican

The chocolate chilli brownie here was much hailed upon by my reliable foodie friend Kevin & me being me, didn’t need much prodding to round up a group as soon as he said he is up for it again.

We had all together 3 appetizers and 3 mains. ( This place is great if you are going in a group; we wouldn’t have been able to taste so many varieties at one time if otherwise)
Lastly was the long -anticipated choc chilli brownie of course.

When you go Tex- Mex, chilli is a must, so our first order was this.
Chilli Con Corne RM16.95
Beef chilli garnished with homemade tortilla strips, topped with shredded cheese and chopped onions.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not as spicy as I have expected chilli to be, which is great since I find the burning, tongue numbing versions unkind on the stomach. Also, I am of opinion that one can really taste the flavour of the food better if it is not too overly spicy.
Two thumbs up for this, it was really good.

Taquitos de Pollo RM19.95
I have read so much about this dish (almost on every blog post that has been written about Frontera) that not ordering it would be taboo!
Basically shredded chicken, mixed with chilli, onions, with sprinkling of black pepper (I kid you not, I opened the roll and poked at the filling to check what’s inside), the tender meat paired with the crispy tortilla roll plus the green salsa verde and sour cream certainly whetted our appetite for the night.

Of course, other than chilli con carne, nachos are a must.
So the Frontera Nachos was duly ordered. RM28.95
It came pizza -like, with the base of crisp tortilla chips, covered with refried beans, cheese and sliced jalapeno.

The jalapeno is sweetish and vinegar-ish, a nice spice- it- up to the otherwise common pizza-like flavour.
Choices available are chicken or beef, and the waitress seeing our dilemma in deciding, gave us a combo. :)
The sour cream here is really nice and the pico de gallo (which is salsa to me) but to quote wikipedia;
pico de gallo = Spanish for “rooster’s beak”) is a fresh condiment made from chopped tomato, onion, and chilies (typically jalapenos) .
The version they served here was confirmed to have the above ingredients by the waitress.

Half stuffed, we shared the mains as well.

The Beef Enchiladas RM28.95 came highly recommended by Gissel ( I think she is the restaurant manager?) as well as the Chicken Tex Mex Burrito RM19.95.
Both came with sides of Mexican rice; which was nicely flavourful and the refried beans was delicious as well; all soft and mushy.

The burritto came in one big roll & I did find the skin a wee thick, though it complements the thick layer of monterey cheese melted on top. The minced chicken filling was a bit sparse though.
The Beef enchiladas, on the hand, with its really thin skin was a better choice.
Generous filling of slow roasted shredded beef, moist and plump makes this a winner.

Note: I was a bit worried about the “refried beans” phrase hence I did a little check on wikipedia.
It would be interesting to share with you guys on this little bit of info:

The name is based on a mistranslation. In Mexican Spanish, the prefix re- is an informal form of emphasis meaning “very” or “well,” not to be confused with the English re- and formal use of the Spanish prefix re-, which indicates repetition. Thus, frijoles refritos, the Spanish name of this dish, would translate to English as “well-fried beans,” not “twice-fried beans.”

Being a chinese, re-fried immediately gave an impression of leftovers being re-cooked ;p
Well, its good to know that wasn’t the case!

Frontera’s famous BBQ Beef Ribs RM49.95
Slow roasted mesquite, smoked beef ribs, basted with Frontera’s homemade Habanero BBQ sauce, served with mash potato and sauteed vegetable of onions and corn.

Don’t let the BLACK glob that you see in the picture put you off. The sauce that covers the rib was sweet smokey-goodness! Meat that gave way to the knife with no resistance what-soever..with melt in the mouth fat.
And of course the mash was good as well, earthy, spud-dy, creamy, buttery. Good to lick off with your spoon.

And for dessert, what else but the Choc Chili Brownie. RM12.95.

The brownie texture was alright, it wasn’t too dense neither too rich. There are outlets with better versions of course.
But what makes this a must -try was the experience of dull burn or the swirling effect of subtle chilli heat that only comes to surface after the rich smooth chocolate taste has melted away in your mouth.
Imagine, sweet, lightly spicy..then the cooling sensation of creamy vanila ice-cream. Undeniably something unique.

note: While it was good on that particular night, it was disappointing during my next visit a week after with a different group of friends. We found it a bit dry with a very miserable portion of vanilla ice-cream.

One dessert is never enough for me, and my friend bought Pavlova from Alexis.

Very nice & not overly sweet. Sure beats the ones served at The Apartment, KLCC.

Bangsar Seafood, a welcome back & a birthday..

May 27th, 2009 • 2 comments General
Tags: floggers gathering, KL, makan-makan

FBB who has just returned from Ozzy…& Boo’s birthday..

So we meet ..

We bitch.. ;p

We eat & we drink..

All in all, WE CELEBRATE LIFE & FRIENDS..

So you think you can party like us?

Then 4^th July 2009 is the day.

The Place: The Daily Grind, Bangsar Village I.

The Time: 3pm.

Why: FBB Fan Club meet.

Join the FBB Fan Club here.

And to order his cakes; hop over here.

Foodies day out – OuG market & Loke Yuen Chic Rice

May 24th, 2009 • 36 comments General
Tags: desserts, hawker food, KL, morning market, noodles

The OUG hunt continues…

This time, we got bangsar-babe and rif joining us..

at 830am..

on a Sunday..haha..

Sadly, the donut and potato ball Aunty was only selling dumplings this weekend, but fret not, we appease ourselves with these…

Alley next to TMC Kopitiam on Jalan Emas 3. Mornings only.
GPS: N 3 04′ 28 3″
E 101 40′ 21.7″

We see RED. Literally. And I meant the colour of course ;)
While it was good, it failed to beat the one in O&S Paramount, PJ.
7/10 from UnkaLeong (who sampled it last week) and 4/10 from bangsar-babe. Myself felt that the soup was anemic in both flavour and richness a good bowl of curry mee demands.

Unka noticed that the aunty from this pork noodle stall (in Restaurant Lucky; which is right beside the “alfresco” dining alley) while we were chowing our curry mee last week, takes a sip from EVERY bowl that she dished out, giving it a seal of approval before it leaves her “kitchen”.

Fascinated, we ignored the much famous version at the Sun Sea Restaurant which is a road turn away, & headed here specifically for this bowl of porcine specialty.

Generous, definitely, for RM4.30.
An egg, loads of veg, minced pork balls, pork slices and liver in cloudy broth that looks extremely promising but somewhat still fails to topple the standards of the Subang SS15 one or even PJ SS3 Kean Fatt’s.
Maybe the Sun Sea one would have fared better? Well..there’s only one way to find out ;)

My choice of brekkie?
This superbly fragrant nasi pandan of which I spied last week during the queue for the cake. Full infusion of aromatic pandan and lightly coconut milk coated rice with fried dried shrimps and anchovies. A BIG wow in a small package. RM1.20.

Manned by an assiduous young couple, they were really friendly and quick to pack for the growing crowd. I rate this a MUST-TRY, as not only it is uncommon, it is darn tasty.

The really fragrant and crisp dried shrimps and anchovies in separate containers.
The rice is tinged light green, which hints at pureed pandan leaves boiled with the grains.

Where?
Corner of Jalan Hujan Rahmat and Hujan Emas 5, across the road from the butter cake van.
GPS: N 3 04′ 26.1″
E 101 40′ 23.8″

As I walked pass this stall, a whiff of warm comforting ginger scent assailed to my nose, stopping me in my tracks.
Could it be??
For I dare not hope…does this stall has the ginger sugar syrup that I longed for??

And the answer is YES.
Hmmm..The hint of spicy-sweet coupled with the freshly squeezed soya bean.
Perfect start of the day for the tummy. I so dig this market!!
Price?
RM1.80 for a 500ml bottle normal soya bean milk & RM2.50 for the Black soya bean version.

It was one happy Sunday morning ;)

And the adventure continues.. Next – Lunch!!

SS2 Super Kitchen Pan Mee

May 23rd, 2009 • 23 comments General
Tags: hawker food, KL, noodles

The only pan mee that I will eat in KL. So far. Willingly that is.

I had it once in the Kota Damansara outlet, thanks to Ken, and was hooked ever since.
So when he twitter-ed that they have opened a branch in PJ, whoaa…I just got to go to get my fix!

Address: Jln SS2/10, same row as Kayu Nasi Kandar in Chow Yang.
GPS: N 3 06′ 58.4″
E101 37′ 2.4″

My bowl – with 2 eggs. Beauutifoolll runny eggs..

The soup that comes with each bowl, loads of sayur manis and one lone meatball.

Top up with a spoonful of their famous fiery glob..

Mix it mix it mix it baby!!
Fragrant shallots, tender braised minced pork and crispy fried ikan bilis (fried anchovies) & of course, the eggs…

Perfectly coated strands of al dente noodles; esp with the creamy eggs..

Lovely…

Their very “zen” menu..read: simple.

Sometimes, simple is best ;)