That Famous "Klang Thong Yuen" in Pin Chou

Not too long ago I received an invitation from a blog reader asking me to go check out some food served in Restoran Pin Chou.... somewhere in Klang.

I had no idea where this place could be ... so what did I do? I turned to Google Maps. I absolutely love Google. I think Google is one of da best things to have ever been invented on planet Earth! Dang - I can find out just about anything in Google! Just like the other day when my boss asked me how to curve something in Powerpoint (having just changed over to Vista) and when the "Help" function didn't really help much, all I did was turn to Google and typed "How to curve bla bla bla...." and hey presto! I got everything I needed to know and my boss thought I was such a whiz too...LOL!

Anyway, where was I... I digress too much (it's Google's fault!)... ahh yes, Pin Chou. So this was what Google maps dug out for me:

112 Jalan Pekan Baru, Kawasan 17,
Off Jalan Meru,
41050 Klang, SELANGOR, Malaysia

... together with a map to the place.

But then when DL saw the map, he said "no need for map la, i know where it is!" Oh well...

So that was how we found ourselves in Pin Chou. It's tucked somewhere behind Klang Parade, Off Jalan Meru.



So what's so special about this place? It looks like any other kopitiams, right?

Well, we discovered that here lies that very-famous Thong Yuen (glutinuous rice balls) of Klang! Thong Yuen is traditionally eaten during the Winter Solstice ("koh toong") celebration, after the harvesting time in China, usually on 22 December of each year. The Chinese believe that once you have eaten thong yuen on "koh toong", you are actually one year older! And "koh toong" holds more significance than the Chinese New Year, actually.

"Taste with Jason" (that Astro food program) also recently featured them and that episode was actually shot in this location.



This Thong Yuen business started a long time ago and the original stall was in Port Klang town but I heard that is no longer in operation. The stall here is run by the daughter while the mother has another outlet somewhere in Bukit Tinggi, Klang.



So what's so special about the Thong Yuen? Well, for one, the dough was smooth but pliable so you get the right amount of "chewiness" and "bounciness" there without being too tough or stringy. You can choose to have the smaller ones, without filling... or the bigger ones with sesame paste filling. Now what I like best about this dessert is the gingery gula melaka-flavoured soup. With just the right amount of sweetness, drinking this soup will give you that nice warm tingling sensation in your tummy!

Now besides Thong Yuen, the only other item they serve here is Mua Chee. This is made from glutinuous rice dough, sweetened, steamed and then rolled in crushed peanuts and sesame seeds. Well, that's how most Mua Chee are served. But ... the "value-add" factor from this stall here is they also serve it with Coconut shavings which had been cooked with gula melaka! This is what differentiates it from others and I must say it works - it works so well that LL has been pestering me to go back there again just for this!



Make sure you press the Mua Chee hard on the coconut-peanuts-sesame mound to get as much yumminess as possible, haha!

OK, so I started with the dessert. That's because I think that's the attraction in Pin Chou.

But if you need more substantial stuff to fill your tummies, Pin Chou does serve up some good eats. There are about 12 stalls in that kopitiam in the evening. In the morning/afternoon, they have a different group. Well, if you find yourself there in the evening, these are the recommended good eats...

Fish Head Noodles (RM3.50-5.00) ... you can opt to have milk added to the soup, like this...



... or without milk... Clear Soup, like this...



I like the pieces of bittergourd added in - gives a refreshing (and not really bitter) bite to the whole experience. Fish fillet/fish head pieces were fresh and portions were generous. Fried pork lard - "chee yau char" - were liberally sprinkled on top of the noodles too! Good value, I would say.

The "Kon Lou Loe See Fun" (rat tails noodles, dry-style) (RM3.50) was another recommended item.



Initially the bowl of plainwhite noodles and minced pork didn't really look appealing. "Mix it up and you will see!" - that was what Simon (my blog reader) advised. "The secret is in the minced pork", he added. OK... I followed his instruction and boy, he was right! Subtle flavours of garlic, pork, lard and maybe some secret ingredient, rendered the plain loe see fun into delightful mouthfuls - good old comfort food. Oh, the noodles come with a bowl of assorted yong taufu too.

Simon further recommended the Loh Bak ...



... and Chicken Rice....



... both of which I found to be just OK bordering on mediocre. Order these only if you are still hungry, after gorging on the first few items mentioned above!

Oh, I must also mention that Pin Chou is one of the few kopitiams around which has actually installed a good cooling system in their premises so you will have a pleasant cooling experience there, unlike the hot & humid environment found in most kopitiams.



Well, I would go back to Pin Chou for the Thong Yuen, for sure! I'm sure LL is just waiting to go as well.

Thank you, Simon, for the kind invitation and recommendations - we had an enjoyable evening there :-)

Nasi Lemak @ Village Park

Village Park Restaurant
5 Jalan SS21/37
Damansara Utama
47400 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 77107860

Ever since the Fried Chillies' award given to Village Park for being the "Best Nasi Lemak in Klang Valley", there had been lots of reviews about this place. With so many raving write-ups about them, I knew it would be a matter of time before I make my way there.

So this morning was the "right" time. "Right" because I had a chauffeur in LL to drive me to work and this place is actually quite close to where I work. It's a good thing we went there early (about 7.30am) because this place is just about the most-jammed-up location in Damansara Uptown - you can never find a decent parking space if you come any later. It's crowded at any time of the day, don't even talk about peak hours, ok!

Even at that early hour, the place was already bustling busy - customers had already taken up all the tables placed outside at the 5-foot-way and there were even 3 tables there with "Reserved" signs placed on them! Talk about being popular, man!

Their signature dish - Nasi Lemak with Fried Chicken (RM6.80). As you can see, the piece of whole chicken thigh (and they don't come in any other chicken parts) clearly outsized the rice portion. If you're a rice lover, you better order "nasi tambah" ok! The rice was suitably fluffy and santanny-fragrant ... and that's important for good nasi lemak, as we all know. Peanuts and ikan bilis were fresh & crispy - another plus point. Slices of cucumber were also freshly cut and crunchy (i hate those dried & stale almost-rubbery ones that some cheap joints pass off on their nasi lemak!). OK, so far so good. Now about the fried chicken... I found it a tad too dry (overfried perhaps?) and it could do with a bit more of kunyit for that "ooomph" I associate with "ayam goreng berempah".

Oh...what about the sambal? Well, it looked red & fiery but actually taste-wise, it was quite bland - I prefer my sambal to have a bit of kick!

On the way in I saw some yummy-looking Rendang so we ordered a plate of Fried Meehoon to go with it. That was a good decision because the Beef Rendang turned out to be absolutely delicious! The meat was melt-in-the-mouth tender and every fibre was infused with the lovely spices and must have been simmered slowly in coconut milk - a winner in my book! This totally made up for the somewhat-disappointing fried chicken, I must say.

Just look at the huge pile of gargantuan fried chicken thighs!
Even at that early hour in the morning, there were already lots of dishes, including various malay kuehs, all ready for serving...
I can imagine the long queues at this place come lunch time...!
My rating: 7/10 - go for the Beef Rendang!

Read what others say about this place: NomadGourmand, Jules

Charms - revisited

It was LL's idea to go to Charms for lunch today. Yes, it's that gaily-decorated cafe you see as you walk (from the New Wing) towards the Old Wing's TGV cinema on the 2nd Floor. I've been there many times and have done an earlier review of this place.

LL declared that he was famished, having skipped breakfast ... so he decided to order all the items listed here!

Lamb Charmer (RM19.50) came sizzling on a hotpot stove with flames and all! 4 juicy pieces of lamb shoulders emanating a buttery-garlicky fragrance as this pot was placed on our table...

It was served with a plate of buttered rice, sambal and some fresh lettuce. Sorry I didn't take a pic of those as LL had dug into them immediately! Well, the lamb was really good value for money, I would say and they have been well marinated with garlic which reduced the gamey taste.

If you order the Lamb Charmer, they give you a complimentary plate of fried rice or noodles. But do note that this FOC item is somewhat shrunken... that means it came in a small portion, like this...
I chose their Ikan Bilis Fried Rice - it came with 2 small pieces of fried chicken. Surprisingly the bland-looking rice was really tasty - with bits of ikan bilis, eggs, kangkung and chopped chilli padi - nice! The fried chicken pieces were so-so only.

A must-order item for us at Charms is their Spicy Gizzies (RM8.50) - fried battered chicken gizzards - yummy! Especially when dipped in their sambal belacan!

Another favourite of LL's - Fried Tau Foo Pok (RM8.00). He declared that the ones from Soul'ed Out are better. I agree... these were smaller and didn't pack quite a punch although they had salted eggyolks in the stuffing.
After all those fried stuff, it was great to sink my teeth into some crunchy fruits... the Charm Rojak (RM8.90) provided the welcome respite. However, I found the sauce a tad too sweet - just a bit less sugar would have been better!

My rating: 7/10

Curry Laksa @ USJ14

Last Saturday after sending the car to the workshop in USJ, we were looking for some breakfast when I remembered a Curry Laksa review done by masak-masak a while ago. It was the curry laksa stall at a coffee-shop called Mei Sek, which faces the main (Summit-to-Puchong) road. It's certainly not hard to locate and parking was rather easy.

What I remembered from masak-masak's post was that this Curry Laksa had pig's skin and that indeed was the main attraction! However, you need to pay more for the extra portion of pig's skin - this bowl here cost RM5.

Besides the pig's skin, the bowl of laksa had cockles, taufu puffs, poached chicken and long beans. While the curry was not very thick, it was pungent and spicy - reminiscent of Ipoh-style of curry laksa but it didn't have the obligatory sprig of mint leaves!
There's also a Porridge Stall there serving all kinds of porridge but what attracted me was the Pig's Innards porridge! Hehe... it's rather hard to find this kind of porridge around here so when I do come across this, I would definitely try it! Well, for RM4, the bowl of porridge came with very generous portions of innards - particularly the fried intestines. However, I find the porridge a little bit on the thick side... but if you leave it a while and stir it, it will turn more watery.
We also tried the Pan Mee. It was mediocre... it didn't have any mushrooms or black fungus, which I think are important ingredients for good pan mee!
Well, if you are in the vicinity and looking for a quick breakfast, perhaps you'd like to try this place.

My rating: Curry Laksa 7/10; Porridge 6/10; Pan Mee 5/10

Pappa Rich

Pappa Rich
No.1 Jalan USJ 10/1D
Taipan
UEP Subang Jaya
Tel: 03-56367318


The mushrooming of kopitiams in the Klang Valley continues... like mushrooms popping up after the rain. Recently, there's the Old Town White Coffee in Kota Kemuning and then there's this Pappa Rich. What a name! Is it owned by a rich pappa? Judging by the crowd there, it's not surprising if that pappa got rich. Or maybe USJ folks just like to throng new joints just like what they say "new toilets laku for 3 days!" (if you dunno cantonese, please ignore that, haha!)

This joint is located at the corner shop lot behind Ampang Yong Taufu. It used to be the coffeeshop housing my favourite Pan Mee and Curry Chee Cheong Fun - now no more already! Haiyaa... where have they gone to?? Anyone knows? I miss them terribly!

Anyway, it was LL's idea to bring me there the other day. He has been there a few times and he told me the food there is "not bad" and also because a couple of his mates are working there.

So, LL had his usual Nasi Lemak with chicken rendang (RM8.90)... I had a biteful of it and I found it to be very mediocre only... and the ikan bilis wasn't very fresh, rather chewy in fact...
I had their Curry Laksa Special (RM9.90) which turned out to be not very special. Capitalising on LL's friend working there, I asked for extra cockles... which was obliged immediately...
As you can see, presentation needs to be improved. What appeared before me was a bowl filled with very lemak curdled orangey curry topped with a sprig of mint leaves! You can't see what the condiments are, can you?

Well, there were a few pieces Fu Chook (fried beancurd rolls), Taupok (beancurd puffs), 2 chunks of chicken breast meat and cockles. All these plus the meehoon soaked in a tasteless lemak santany curry. Even with the addition of this sambal below, I still couldn't finish the bowl of tasteless laksa.
The only saving grace items we had were these...

Their Iced Coffee (RM3.80) was frothy, creamy and not too sweet. It could have been a little bit more "kau" for one who prefers stronger coffee.

The must-try item in any self-respecting kopitiam - Kaya Toast (RM3.80). I like the fact that their bread came in thick slices and toasted perfectly. Kaya & butter (or was that margerine?) were put on the side for you to sapu-sendiri. I like that because you can choose to go light/heavy on the kaya or butter, whatever your fancy!

I would return there for the coffee and toast lah... the rest - no need lah!

My rating: 6/10