Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Old Town Kopitiam @ 1Utama
So, the other day, together with a few colleagues, we decided to have an early dinner there. Being Malaysians, "dinner" can just mean anything, right? So...it was kopitiam food for us this time round.
Coffee is a must when you go to kopitiams, right? Here are our iced kopi's...the extra white glass in the middle had extra milk in it. I would say there's really nothing special about the coffees here...I have tasted better coffees in other kopitiams. In fact, I thought my iced kopi was rather bland.
The Brown Toast with Kaya seems to be their special item as almost every table had this. I was rather disappointed with it as there was not enough kaya in it but it had lots of margerine instead! The thick slabs of margerine were almost overpowering... and for someone who doesn't like too much fat in breads, I don't think I will order this again anytime soon.
Their Curry Laksa was quite good and kinda redeemed them! I ordered hor fun and I must say they were very smooth and soft, almost Ipoh-like! The garnishing for the laksa were slices of chicken meat, fishcake, taupok and long beans. The curry broth was lemak (not too jelak) without being too spicy.
My colleague had this Ipoh Hor Fun which I thought was rather plain with just a few slices of prawns and chicken meat topping the dish. They were quite generous with the chives though.
This very-white version of Assam Laksa was nothing to shout about. Even judging by the plain looking soup, you can guess that it's not as piquant as any good assam laksa should be. As you can see, there were no greens (like lettuce leaves, mint leaves) in the bowl - they only gave onions and cucumber (not even pineapples!).
Hmmm...so the verdict, for me...is: I'd only go to this place IF there's really no other kopitiam joint around!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Roast Chicken Dinner
And this was what we had for dinner last night...
The roast fowl - fresh from the oven and before it was carved...
Yummy chicken thigh, with lots of brocolli & carrots and roast potatoes...
And now with the brown gravy doused on it...
Roast the potatoes together with the chicken - it's more yummy especially as the chicken juices get infused into them...sprinkle a teeny bit of salt & pepper on them before serving.
Bon appetit!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sushi Zanmai @ 1 Utama
2nd Floor (New Wing)
1 Utama Shopping Mall
Bandar Utama
Petaling Jaya
Ever since I first ate at Sushi Zanmai at The Gardens, this place has become a firm favourite with me. So when I heard they have opened another outlet at 1Utama, well of course I was totally delighted! I love this place becoz their sushis and other Jap dishes are really delicious and their prices are reasonable.
With a colleague in tow, we decided to have lunch there last week...
A spanking new premise...it's located on the 2nd Floor of the New Wing, facing Parkson and MPH Bookstore...
I just had to order my favourite Vege Udon (can't recall the Japanese name!)...
...while my colleague had the Unagi Rice...
Pan Mee @ Arena Foodcourt
It's a corner stall in the Arena Foodcourt just below Jusco Supermarket in 1Utama. They serve all kinds of noodles - eg fried kway teow, curry laksa, prawn mee etc... but Pan Mee seems to be one of the favourites. You can have your pan mee "pinched out" in the traditional way or machine-rolled into thin strips.
I always prefer it the traditional way, in clear soup...
It's RM5 per bowl. The dough for the pan mee is smooth and soft and served in a thick chicken broth with lots of sayur manis, minced chicken, black fungus and fried ikan bilis. You can have your choice of sambal belacan, chilli padi or pickled chillies to go with the noodles.
If you happen to be shopping in 1U you may want to check this out!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Dim Sum Buffet @ West Lake Restaurant
Sunway Lagoon Hotel Resort
Bandar Sunway
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7492-8000
This afternoon I had a delightful lunch with 4 robust
During weekends and public holidays, West Lake Restaurant serves a Dim Sum buffet at RM52++ per person. The good thing about this buffet is that only the appetizers and desserts are laid out on the buffet line...the rest of the hot dishes & dim sum are ordered from their menu. This ensures the food comes to your table hot and freshly cooked!
These were some of the Appetizers we had...
Fresh Oysters...eaten with a squeeze of lemon & tabasco sauce...heavenly!
Lidako - baby octopus...we had our fill of this...
Roast chicken, fresh salmon and some dunno-what rolls...
Braised chicken feet ... these had been braised till very soft in a sauce fragrant with chinese herbs and spices...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Mr Ho's Fine Foods
Lot LG-060A, Lower Ground Floor
Mid Valley Megamall
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 2284-1330
While shopping in MegaMall last weekend, we decided to have a late lunch. Late...becoz the movie Ironman ended at past 2pm. At that hour, we wanted to have something meaty...porky would be good, hehe! While coming down the escalator, we spotted this joint and quickly hopped in.
The Mixed Grill (RM27.90) was a natural choice as I wanted to try out the different kinds of meat offered. There was 1 piece of BBQ pork rib, 1 piece grilled lambchop, 1 pork sausage and 3-4 small pieces of grilled pork. The pork rib was fantastic - very well-marinated and extremely tender. Unfortunately there was only ONE small piece! The lambchop and sausage were OK but the pork pieces were a bit tough & a tad overcooked. All these were served with some brown sauce, 3 pieces of carrot and 1 floret each of broccoli and cauliflower.
LL had the Crispy Roast Pork Knuckle set (28.90) - came with a drink and tomato soup. When the dish was served, we were disappointed with the meagre portion. For a pork knuckle dish, we had expected the usual generous portion but this was not the case. The skin was certainly very crispy and taste-wise, no complaint. This was served with the brown sauce, 2 pieces carrots, 1 floret each of broccoli & cauliflower each and about 2 tablespoons of mashed potatoes.This was the Tomato Soup served with the set - rather bland...
Two walls of the restaurant were lined with shelves and shelves of imported Lemonade - in all kinds of flavours!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Hometown Steamboat
19G Jalan Anggerik Vanilla AE 31/AE
Seksyen 31, Kota Kemuning
Shah Alam
Tel: 012-6859672
(Directly opposite Sri Melur Restaurant)
If you're ever in the Kota Kemuning neighbourhood and have a hankering for steamboat, do drop by and try out this joint. Since the change in management earlier this year, the place has been doing very well - it's crowded during weekends!
One of the essentials of good steamboat is the soup. Here the soup is very tasty (no ajinomoto as I didn't feel thirsty after the meal at all) - the chicken stock has been boiled for hours. They do have a Tomyam soup option but I have always opted for the clear chicken soup.
For the steamboat, they charge RM13.80 per person and the platter they serve is generous. What I particularly like about it is that there's plenty of vegetables - generous portions of chinese cabbage, spinach & kangkung.
The fresh ingredients are mainly fishballs/fishpaste (various types) from Pulau Ketam. I always order extra portions of the foochuk as they are so yummy after being boiled in the soup - soft & tasty!
The big portion of yee mee, meehoon and eggs will definitely fill up your stomachs!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Charms
S206, 2nd Floor, 1Utama
Bandar Utama
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-77222206
This cafe certainly has some charming elements in its set-up. They have now put tables and chairs on an elevated platform in front of the outlet with some charming exotic colorful lanterns hanging from bars across the ceiling.
Their new menu is charmingly bound in a wooden cover with 3 cute buttons...
Their Claypot Loh Shee Fun was quite different...in the sense that it was done a'la claypot chicken rice style. I had expected it to be soupy, like most other claypot LSF...but this one was dry, just like the claypot rice. This being a pork-free joint, they used minced chicken meat as the topping. Taste-wise, I'd say it's excellent...only complaint was it's a tad dry.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Roast Chicken
The marinade for the chicken is kept simple. I merely use salt, pepper, Coleman's mustard powder and McCormick's garlic powder. Rub all these seasonings over the chicken, inside and out - and leave it to marinade for at least 8 hours - preferably overnight.
Roast the chicken at 180 deg. C for 1 hour, turning it over once or twice, to get an even roast.
After roasting, let the chicken cool down before slicing the meat thinly and they're ready for your sandwiches! That's what I'm gonna have for lunch the next few days!
Of coz you can eat the roast chicken as it is, with some salad and/or mashed potatoes... it's totally up to you! Just make some gravy and pour over it before serving!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Mother's Day Dinner
LL requested for this Curry Stingray. The spotted stingray bought at the market this morning was really fresh. So were the baby aubergine, okra and tomatoes - they all went into this curry pot!
From my favourite yong taufu stall, I bought these Stuffed Taufu Puffs...these were cooked in a light beanpaste sauce...