Archive for June, 2009
Nasi Lemak – Warung SinarNor, Chan Sow Lin
June 25th, 2009 • 39 comments General
Tags: breakfast, hawker food, malay, nasi ayam
On days when I’m early to work, with time to spare, (which is very rare).. I would drive around my office area.. and hunt for food.
One morning I felt like roti canai, and parked myself in one of these make-shift stalls at the side of Jalan Dua, Chan Sow Lin & ordered myself a roti telur.
It was one of the best I have tasted, with thick dhall & rich fragrant chicken curry! Impressed, I started taking a bit more interest in my surroundings, and spied a nasi lemak “warung” just opposite.
I strolled over, checked out the dishes, which looked really promising, & vowed to return one day.
Then onwards, I was never early to work, let alone with time to spare to eat. Hence the stall remained a distant memory.
Many weeks later, bangsar-babe, rif, Unka & I chatted over breakfast, and naturally the topic of food came up, and she shared of good eats in the Cheras area, and upon knowing the area I worked, immediately gushed about this “wonderful” nasi lemak, & with her description, I realized it is the very same stall that I wanted to try “one day..” but hadn’t.
Opportunity presents itself soon enough, and we found ourselves standing in queue for our dose of this “wonderful” NL one fine morning.
The rice was definitely fluffy, with each grain perfectly round & firm.
Nasi lemak with its repertoire of dishes..
Begedil (potato cakes), sambal, paru (liver), fried spiced chicken, curry chicken, fish..etc.
No prize for guessing my order, eggs, eggs and more eggs. RM2.50.
Unka who can’t do without his sambal sotong (squid sambal). Rm3.70.
The eggs were perfectly hard boiled, with soft yielding whites and smooth yolks. The fried one though runny, was very oily & was unceremoniously dumped onto Unka’s plate after a few attempts to stomach it.
The sambal is goooooood..finally a version that is with a bit of a spicy kick as opposed to the sweet-ish ones that are doled out everywhere else.
Very fragrant, thanks to the slivers of fried anchovies, its mild sweet undertones came from slowly stewed onions & it made the nasi lemak good enough on its own without any embellishments.
Unka passed the sambal squids too, saying that it was pleasantly tender with the right level of chewy-ness.
There is another stall beside it that dishes out a mean bowl of soup, with your choice of vermicelli, yellow noodles or kuay teow. Just the smell alone was enough to assure me that it is worth ordering a bowl.
However, I ended up with the Malay Rice Roll – Lontong, on my subsequent visit.
Cut into bite sized pieces & rained with coconut milk vegetables stew, (also known as Sayur Lodeh), it was thick, creamy, fragrant & piping hot, swarming with abundant amount of cabbage, bean curd cubes & long beans. Add a dollop of sambal and you’re off to a fiery start to your day! Not bad for RM3.00
.
Another visit and this time round I added the lodeh to my nasi lemak…
They are open 7 days a week, 630am to 1130am.
A bit out of the way for some, but if you are looking for some good hearty nasi lemak, it is worthy of an effort..& me thinks Nasi Lemak Tanglin, Raja Abdullah and CT Roses has found a rival here, but sadly it has not been given its due recognition and fame..YET.
My Pan Heong, Batu Caves Pig Out for RM17
June 21st, 2009 • 41 comments General
Tags: batu caves, chinese, food outing, hawker food, makan-makan, noodles, tai chow
Yeah yeah.. this place is probably blogged to death, but hey.. this post is for my Penang/Sg etc friends..do remind me to put this on the itinerary if you guys visit ok!
While Batu Caves may sound to some like the other side of the world..good food has never deterred us foodies. So we gung-ho bunch braved the traffic & distance on a Sunday to this in-famous outlet.
Approaching the shop, we were greeted by this. *gasp*
Hell..it was only slightly later than 12pm! And the outlet is completely FULL & there were at least 30 tables inside!
Thank god for the Queue Control Station..
Tell ‘em the number of pax, get a number & wait.
Meanwhile, a walk-about tour is a must.
An absolutely riveting operation is in hand, from the order takers to the table-clearers to the cooks, “synchronised team work” comes to mind, minus the typical chinese shop style bickering and hollering.
An average of 5 dishes per minute went past me from this kitchen…
and..our Lyrical Lemongrass has her piece on the wall of fame!!
…with FBB’s 2 cents worth. How apt.
Our first dish arrived after another 20mins wait with all of us literally having our eyes glued to the kitchen’s entrance. I dare say probably each & everyone of us was willing the waiters to walk our way each time a dish was sent out from the kitchen!
Sweet Potato Leaves. RM10.
Sweet, though suspected due to addition of sugar rather than natural sweetness, it was devoured within 3mins.
Nam Yue Pork. RM22.00.
Look at that moist alternating layers of fats & meat. Succulent, tender, with just the ideal level of marinate. Fried to perfection with enough lean meat to fatty parts ratio, this got everyone’s nod of approval.
Then all the carb-rich dishes started being served…
Their standard Wan Tan Hor. RM10.50.
Now… do I dare say this??
It is better than the ones I had in Penang!!
The very reason I am here. THE PORK BEE HOON. RM15.
Superb stuff. I was worried as usual that this might be salty, considering that it’s fried with soya sauce and has stewed pork. But any doubt went pooff! from the first mouthful.
AWESOME melt in the mouth pork & fat with flavourful fried vermicelli, I thought the pork tasted very much like the canned stewed pork sold in supermarkets & perhaps… should the craving strikes again, this might be attempt-able at home?
Unka thinks its good too..and polished off the remainder straight from the plate it was served in!
The smooth thick congee, RM19.90 with sweet soft slivers of fish & thick wedges of century eggs is a steal considering the portion as well as the bountiful amount of fish thrown in.
The piece de resistance of the lunch.
So fresh, it tasted of the sea with all its sweet and bursting with the briny flavor of the shellfish.
This extravagant/lavish plate of briny goodness only set us back RM90!!
Look at that huge prawns!
5 of those, plus the creamy decadent, absolutely roe-rich gravy.. Cholesterol is a bad word…DIVINE is the word. ..
Unka said it’s better than Green View Restaurant’s version. PureGlutton nodded approvingly & the rest gushed non-stop of its extraordinary taste.
Big prawns, with the flesh parting cleanly from its shell.
So, this was all that’s left after we were through with it..waste not even the gravy!
Frog Leg Loh Mee. RM21.00.
This somewhat paled in comparison after the Sang Har Meen, but the pieces of frogs was sweet & darn tender.
We think it would have been paired better if cooked in congee instead of the noodles.
Here the damage. For 12 hungry mouths.
Told ya its RM17 per pax!!
Satiated & gratified..it’s another great food fest!!
ALL of the noodle dishes are thoroughly imbued with the delectable flavour of smoky char (wok-hei-ness) prerequisite of such dishes & Pan Heong team of chefs definitely has got this down to pat.
Indeed a place worthy of subsequent visits, paying toll and the distance travelled.
Pan Heong Restoran
No. 2, Jalan Medan Batu Caves 2,
68100 Bt Caves.
Tel: 03-6187 7430 (Do call before making your trip, for they close on random days in a month)
Business hours: 8.30am to 3.30pm.
Santini, Tropicana Mall
June 18th, 2009 • 25 comments General
Tags: food outing, italian, makan-makan, pasta, pizza, PJ
which then reminded me of this long forgotten post..
In my humble opinion, there are only a few places worthy of me paying for pizza.. and Santini got my vote for being one of them. Especially if you dig wood fire ones..and since moi here haven’t tried the ‘higher- end‘ ones in Chiaroscuro at 38, Bedara or NeroTeca/vivo/or fico and so forth..and a while back we did try The Coconut House in 3 2 Square, Sect 14 of which the owner boasted of being the only restaurant that uses 100% woodfire without any gas-assisted device, & then proceeded to serve us a limp pizza, I’ll stick to Santini for now.
We were there on 2 different occasions, and both times the quality and taste was consistent, and hence I wouldn’t mind going back to staple their other varieties.
Not in the mood for pizza? You can order from San Francisco’s menu and still dine in Santini.
Pollo E Pancetta.
Tomato, mozzarella cheese, roasted chicken, beef bacon, fresh tomato and oregano.
RM14.90.
The cubes of chicken must have been marinated with some seasoning before tossed onto to the pizza for though it looked plain and white, it was very tasty.
The pizza base was soft in the middle and crisp and thin at the sides with some parts nicely singed.
Giardiniera.
Pesto, mozzarella cheese, grilled zucchini, grilled eggplant, grilled capsicum, button mushroom
and articoke.
RM14.90.
Better still, make ‘em toppings on my pizza.
And it did not disappoint. Ssssmoky and sweet, who said vegetarian pizzas are boring?
Diavola.
Tomato, mozzarella cheese, chilli, beef pepperoni and black olives. RM12.90.
Toscana.
Mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, spinach, egg and capsicum. RM12.90.
Nasi Lemak, runny egg please.
Fav breakfast? Runny eggs please.
Very un-refined, or as one may say, a pleb..I was taking bites of the pizza, then mopping the remainder of my slice with the egg on the plate and shoving it into my mouth.
Good thing my dining companion is an old time friend & is used to my eating behaviour ;)
The shaved parmesan, cubed ricotta cheese and melted mozzarella at the base all adds the heights of rapture one experience when eating this. Sublime…
No meal is complete without desserts.
And what could make Kev so happy??
The best chocolate cake he has tasted, he proclaims. And he is a very fussy foodie, mind you.
Death By Chocolate by Just Heavenly Pleasures.
I was busy attacking this. And good thing Santini did not have much customers on a weekday night. The durian eau parfum was strong, to say the least.
Damn heavenly desserts. Enough said.
A Slice of Heaven
Jaya One (next to Cold Storage)
No. 72A Jalan Universiti
46200, Petaling Jaya.
Open daily from 10am to 10pm. For more details, check out Just Heavenly’s blog.
Panna Cotta.
RM9.90
Traditional Italian cream pudding served with berry sauce.
Something “light” to cleanse the palate. Or rather, to cleanse the durian breath.
Smooth, rich and creamy. Not bad.
Of course, we were served with the customary bread basket with olive oil and vinegar at the start of the meal. Naturally, I had to refrain from asking for extras, knowing well that my mains are also dough-based.
Though stuffed, we couldn’t resist adding an order of ravioli when we spied the chef rolling out dough and stuffing raviolis at the open kitchen.
So the Mushroom Ravioli with Tomato Cream Sauce, RM22.90 was duly ordered.
Stunned at the portion, I started counting the “pockets” of dough…and since the count stopped at around 8-9 raviolis, I was mumbling to myself..”this better be darn good raviolis..”
Verdict? Nope.. it was very ordinary tasting, with cheap mushrooms to boot. The pasta sheets were too thick for my liking and I was suddenly reminded of my hatred for Pan Mee. Flour-ish.
My conclusion would be to stick to the pizzas, for I was not too impressed with the ravioli. But then I haven’t tried any other dishes so that might not be a fair gauge.
Generally, the pizzas here are not coated very thickly with the tomato base sauce and the cheese layer was just nice for me. For those who prefers their pizzas very heavy on the sauce and cheese may need to give a word to the waiter upon order.
My Daily Obsession – BREAD!!!!
June 16th, 2009 • 29 comments General
Tags: bread, desserts
I’m soooo loving it!!!
Banana Walnut – SGD2.95.
Thick with generous bits of bananas and chunks of walnuts.
Even the dough itself has strong taste of banana! Great toasted with cheese OR… it’s so good, you can even eat it on its own!! ;p
Very very fragrant..just with salted butter will do it justice!
Rich..thick..chocolate-y… daub thickly with hazelnut spread and savour it slowly..hhmmm…
Healthy, filling and all fibrous goodness..
Other than wholemeal flour, bran and wheat germ, it also contains…
Flax seeds, purple wheat flakes, corn grits, rye flakes, triticale flakes, barley flakes, millets, sunflower seeds, rolled oats, whole spelt flakes and quinoa.
Amazing, isn’t it? Who says bread/carbs are bad???
Though one would expect this to be rough with scratching- the -throat kinda of texture, it is instead soft and light, with a pleasant nutty flavour.
Gimme half boiled eggs, butter & kaya please!!
Home baked goodness by a friend, who also kindly “smuggled” in 6 loaves of bread for me..Sunflower and Walnut Organic Whole meal - the most delicious one of them all!! SGD – priceless.
Please please..anyone going Singapore soon?? ;p
Under which tree???
June 12th, 2009 • 30 comments General
Tags: food outing, hawker food, makan-makan, tai chow
Week 1: “Beckiieee…I found this great place!!! UNDER A TREE one..the assam fish head here is soo sooo good.. the sui tan is damn nice..all the dishes very niceee...”
Week 2: “So becky.. you had the fish yet? No?? WHY?? I send you the address NOW ok..you must try.. you wont get bored eating it everyday! ”
ME (thinking to myself) : Everyday??? Sure boh??
Week 3: “Eh becky..have you gone to try it yet?? You know, the place I told you about..the assam fish..
You managed to find it? It’s UNDER A TREE. ”
THAT …for 3 weeks in a row.
THAT….is alike hanging a wriggling fat fish in front of a hungry shark.
THAT…. got images of a huge fishy head, with bulging eyes and full cheeks (I loveee that part I tell you..) swimming in crimson, piping hot broth, with whiff of sharp piquant gravy assailing to my piggy snort…
But still I was hesitant..cos you see.. unless it is a food blogger or someone I know, who I had dined with before & had pronounced his/her standard in food worthy of opinion, I hardly trust their recommendations.
Blame it on past experiences.
Anyhow, I took the bait. Rounded up a gang. And this time thelaziestchefever aka The Gourmand Extraordinaire joined us. Do read about his excited experience here. ;p
As usual, desserts took the most attention & we started on the cakes, again… even before the order for the food was placed!
Jaya One (next to Cold Storage)
No. 72A Jalan Universiti
46200, Petaling Jaya.
Open daily from 10am to 10pm. For more details, check out Just Heavenly’s blog.
And all those pics of cakes by Ciki and AWOL got me rushing down to Bangsar for my fix…
This one was eerr…butter cream?
The Hummingbird was lovely though, the sponge base is banana-ish with generous amount of pecans. Moist, interesting & delicious!
Ok, now on the REAL food.
THE BEST DISH of the night = Salted Egg Squids. RM19.
This is THE “ham tan sotong“. One of their signatures. And superbly tasty.
It came to our table piping crispy hot and remained excellent throughout the meal. Even when it got cold, it didn’t collapse into a pile of soggy batter and rubber rings. Nope, it stayed crispy and tenderly chewable throughout.
For such a huge portion, RM19 is well justified.
Their Salted Egg Pork was another recommended dish. However, we tried not to go overboard with the salted egg flavour so then the lady boss recommended their Marmite Pork.
Alas, Emeryn doesn’t take marmite so we skipped that too.
PS: I saw that it was a popular order that night, and the pork pieces absolutely glisten, all sweet and sticky..darn…
We ended up with the Sweet and Sour Pork, RM17, which is basically a version that’s really substandard with floury coating & barely bearable- tasting pork meat and unimaginative gravy. Flat and bland. Urgh.
Guess that wasn’t their forte, for the other dishes did shine.
Our simple vege dish of quick fry french beans with chai poh. RM12. Sweet, crunchy and easy on the palate. Nice.
The steamed egg RM10 won us over with its slippery smooth and custard-like texture.
So simple, yet satisfying.
And here is the steamed assam fish. Tilapia, with moist sweet flesh, & no funny undiscerning taste whatsoever. Lap it up with the gravy, enjoy it with rice, eat it on its own. It’s just good.
The portions frighten us at first, for the lady who took the orders went ahead and set portions for 8, which is something one should be aware of when dining here.
So please inform her in advance, else she places kitchen orders for the number of pax at the table for EACH dish.
All in all, RM100 for all the dishes above, for 8 pax and with chinese tea included wasn’t a bad deal right??
The place may sound really remote, but it is actually about 15mins drive from SS2.
Mr Gourmand Extraordinaire mentioned the Setia Way KTM station is actually very nearby.
28, Jalan SS 9A/16
Sungai Way New Village,
47300 Petaling Jaya.
contact: 012 – 217 7260/012 380 3918
NO TREE IN SIGHT.
We sat at Tin Sing, which was air-conditioned but these two restaurants you see above actually shares the same kitchen. In short, BOTH restaurants are the same.
And yet the name on their receipt is Mei Sin or something..hhmm..
All hail the gluttons!!
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