Weekend Escapade to Lang Tengah Island

Flying Chillies @ The Gardens, Midvalley

I hereby extend thousand apologies to my readers/ followers/ subscribers, if there’s even any at all, that I’ve been missing-in-action for more than a month due to the preparation for the very demanding CFA Level II exam.

Worse, the time devotion proved to be unjustified (read: I’m not going to pass the exam).

Well, to cheer up my broken heart after the marathon-like 6-hour exam, Sharon and I indulged in fine Thai cuisine in Flying Chillies at The Gardens, Midvalley.

The restaurant is tastefully lit and decorated, offers an easy ambience for a family weekend treat or friends’ gathering or couples’ amorous dinner.
The menu is reasonably priced. I would vouch that it’s within affordable range for a good meal of Thai cuisine, albeit smaller portion. Well of course HSBC or CIMB credit card helps (10% discount, good eh).

To my delight, the dishes came within 10 minutes after our order was taken. It reflected the general practice of restaurants in Thailand—customers do not have to wait for more than 10 minutes, no matter how much crowd in the restaurant.

First up was Thai salad. Any of Thai’s appetizing sour salads is definitely a must. I wanted to order Larb Nuer (Minced Beef Salad). However they only have either Larb Gai (Minced Chicken Salad), or Yam Nuer (Grilled Beef Salad). Well I got BOTH, yeah of course, why not that...

Larb is a northern Thai salad dish, where minced meat (either raw or cooked) and minced onions are flavored by lime, fish sauce and a little salt, chili is optional. Very simple yet very delicately appetizing. I normally like it with either beef or lamb. Flying Chillies’s Larb Gai (RM12.50) has coarsely minced chicken and onion, which offers good textures. Sourly salty, and packed with real heat! Gotta love that heat and mouth-watering sourness.
Yam Nuer (RM14.50) turned out to be quite okay. The thin grilled beef slices were tender and not over-grilled. The dressing remains typical—spices, dried chili, lime, onion, spring onion etc, went really well with steamed fragrance rice though.
Fried asparagus with prawn (RM18). Pretty generic, quite expensive for a vege dish, although tasty, it still lacked the “wow” factor that you would find from restaurants in Thailand. However, the hint of belachan was aromatic and accentuated the freshness of the prawns and the asparagus.
Next was the so-called Deep-Fried Prawn Donut (RM10.50). In Thailand it’s called Thod Mun Kung, and in English it’s actually more commonly named Prawn Cake. Well Fried Prawn Donut is fine too, literal from its shape. It’s basically fried spice-infused prawn fillings, served with plum-based dipping. Crunchy crust with springy shrimp stuffing inside, not bad at all…

I’d be very delighted if they actually have Crab Cake (Thod Mun Pu). But since only a few restaurants in Thailand actually serve that, it’s not surprising that Flying Chillies don’t have it.

Not enough stomach capacity for desserts, well, there’s always next visit, no? :)

Location:
T219, Third Floor,
The Gardens,
Mid Valley City,
Kuala Lumpur.
(Tel: 03-2287 7708)

Nearby commuting: KTM Midvalley Station

Yong Tat Seafood Restaurant @ Telok Gong, Port Klang

I was with Sharon’s family, the 9 of us, finding our way to Telok Gong for seafood dinner. Apparently it wasn’t TOO DAMN difficult getting there. Just drive westward along KESAS highway, pass by Klang, drive around for another 12 million light-years, turn left after the signboard leading to Telok Gong.

What’s tough was actually locating the restaurant itself, we were being directed roughly--no restaurant name, no exact location, no GPS coordinates given either. Great... how about hitting each restaurant and ask the owners “hey is yours the nice seafood restaurant?”

We finally stopped at Yong Tat Restaurant (荣达海鲜餐室), judging it could be the one from the number cars parked in front of the restaurant. It was accommodating 25 tables full of customers. Ladies, next time don’t bother with the make-up, leave earlier!

We ordered some of their signature dishes. First up was Lala (Clam) Fried Meehoon. If you don’t look close enough, you’d probably missed out the clams! I think they have really good quality control on the consistency of clams’ sizes. I suspect they throw all the BIG ones back to the sea.

Second, Salt Baked Chicken (盐锔鸡), although quite tender and tasty, but I do prefer their distant cousins in Ipoh.

Next was Mushroom with Ginger and Onion.

Just as we were wondering when they were going to send us our SEAFOOD, Steamed Mantis Prawns were served. I must say the mantis prawns were very fresh, steamed with a thin layer of egg white at the base. Sprinkled with Chinese rice wine, guessing either 花雕 or 绍兴, the flavor of the freshwater creatures was accentuated.

Kam Hiong Crab (金香螃蟹). These crawlies weren’t among the bigger picks, however the piquant Kam Hiong spices made them totally appetizing. Finger licking good!

Steamed “Sun Fong” Fish Head (清蒸顺风鱼头), the portion was really big for the nine of us. Not that I was complaining, but I suspect they were trying to make up for the small clams earlier… I was the only one happy feasting on those sticky fish skin on the jaws, bones, fins, and oh fish brain!

Deep Fried Crab Stuffing (炸蟹枣), quite delicious and aromatic actually, went especially well with Kampong Koh chili sauce. However some were drier than the other.

Seafood Tofu Broth (海鲜豆腐羹), that’s some silky smooth tofu cooked in starchy briny broth with shredded crab meat, shrimps, whisk eggs.

Prices:
Lala Fried Meehoon – RM10
Salt Baked Chicken – RM19
Mushroom with Ginger and Onion – RM18
Steamed Mantis Prawn – RM30
Kam Hiong Crab – RM32
Steamed “Sun Fong” Fish Head – RM120
Deep-Fried Crab Stuffing – RM36
Seafood Tofu Broth - RM18

Most dishes were quite fairly charged, but the fish head… out of the sudden I didn’t think that the fish head was any big anymore.

Shortly after our trip, I was told that we should have gone to “Coconut Flower Restaurant” instead. Well, there’s aways room for next trip.

Location:
No. 9185, Kampung Telok Gong,
Pendamaran,
42000 Pelabuhan Klang,
Selangor Darul Ehsan
(Tel: 03-3134 1167)

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Hyundai on Special Promotion!

Hyundai is offering special promotion to staff in our company, with discount on OTR prices ranges from RM5K to RM17K depending on models.

I'm eyeing Hyundai Getz 1.4 Manual, price slashed from RM58.6K to now RM47.6K! A good deal right? 9-year instalment on ZERO-interest would come to a monthly of RM435.19 :D

What else... 300,000km or 5 year WARRANTY!

Hmmm, it would mean I can cari-makan easier.... hmmmmmmm

Low Yau Kee Porridge @ Jalan Tun H S Lee

One of the best perks of working around Masjid Jamek area is that good food is always a stone throw away. I used to be that lucky, and now I’m a good 2 LRT stations away.

Low Yau Kee (老友记) serves one of the best porridge as well as steamed chicken in town, or at least that’s what I think. 

They used to set up their stall in a dingy spot along the beginning part of Jalan Tun H S Lee, and now they’ve moved in to Soong Kee Beef Noodle Shop. Setting their stall right outside the shop, the customers can now choose between the porridge and Soong Kee’s beef noodles, in a clean air-conditioned environment. I usually need both to satisfy my insatiable appetite. :D

Low Yau Kee offers two tough choices of Cantonese-style (some mistaken as Hong Kong style) porridge.

The most popular pick is Pork Innards Porridge a.k.a Chee Chap Chok (猪杂粥), where assortment of pork innards including heart, stomach, tongue and very crunchy fried pork intestines were served in the congee. They were very careful not to over-cook the innards, so that the texture could be well-maintained.

The second offer is Raw Fish Porridge (生鱼粥), a plate of thinly sliced raw fish fillet seasoned with sesame oil, pepper etc was served together with a steamy hot bowl of porridge. 3 seconds into the congee and you will have your fish done yet not over-cooked.

Their Steamed Chicken (滑白切鸡) is simply TO DIE FOR!!! The meat was cooked to a perfect level of done (my term: medium-rare), resulting in a juicy meat so tender that would create a big-bang in your mouth. Finishing touch of soy-sauce bathe brought out the natural chicken flavor, which goes well with their garlic-fused chili-sauce, or their porridge, better yet eaten on its own (my favorite).

Good dinner that comes to about RM8.00 per person (RM4.00 for porridge and RM4.00 for chicken), a real bargain.

Location:

Nearby commuting: Star/Putra LRT Masjid Jamek Station

Landmark: RHB Bank Credit Card Center, Restoran Soong Kee

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Teochew Cuisine @ City Chiuchow Restaurant, Kowloon

Cantonese cuisine is commonly available around Hong Kong, no doubt. However apart from that, one can definitely discover some rare gems of Chinese cuisine from other clans, the key is to know where to look out for.

City Chiuchow Restaurant (潮州城酒楼) is the local favorite for Teochew/Chiuchow food (潮州菜). Tucked away in a less commercial area of Tsim Sha Tsui East (尖东), this spacious restaurant located in East Ocean Center could accommodate around 500 customers.

One must not miss their special Iron Buddha Tea (铁观音茶), which is much stronger than the usual ones, and darker, too.

If you're new to Teochew food, a good introduction to this cuisine would be Sliced Braised Duck/Goose (卤水鸭/鹅). The poultries were braised in a thick soy-sauce based broth spiced with 5 condiments (五香) [prickly ash, star aniseed, cinnamon, clove and fennel], which gave wonderful lingering aftertaste. It’s served with tofu, and you can also request for duck glizzards. No, really.

Do note that Teochew folks are particularly good in making tofu dishes. I can assure you that you won’t get enough of the tofu that came with the braised duck much as you don’t the meat itself.

We ordered another variety of it—Deep Fried Tofu (炸豆腐). It’s somewhat crunchy on the outer layer, and a melt-in-your-mouth softness within. Their brackish diced-chives sauce dip enlivened the taste-buds from any slight residual oiliness. You won’t feel too greasy having too much of the fried cubes.

Fried Oyster Omelet a.k.a. O-Chien (蚝煎), it was very much unlike the comparable omelet in Malaysia, which basically consist of only oysters and whisked eggs. City Chiuchow’s version was thicker, courser, drier, and the oysters were more cooked. Besides, diced cilantro leaves were added to jazz up the purportedly “over-powering” oysters taste. Personally I wished the oysters were a little less cooked, and a little less cilantro were used, as I love the oyster taste as it is.

Fried Chives Dumpling (煎韭菜饺子) wasn't something new. It's very similar to Malaysian Ku-Cai Kuey (韭菜糕), but they fried it lightly on the top and bottom part of the dumpling. It somewhat made the chives more aromatic, and the dumplings went really well with their special chili sauce.
Okay I've forgotten what dish is this called. Yeah bite me. It's bascially very soft chicken feet, very springy chinese mushrooms and dried beancurd sheets (腐竹) stewed in some thick broth.

Great gastronomical experience, can hardly find good teochew restaurant in Malaysia.

Location:
East Ocean Center
98 Granville Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui East,
Hong Kong
(Tel: 852 2723 6226)

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Nasi Lemak @ IMU, Bukit Jalil

I am a person who doesn’t subscribe to healthy breakfast, at all.

A good way to start my day is a healthy (read not-) portion of blood-test-unfriendly food.

And Nasi Lemak is just the right food category to do the work. This pakcik comes every morning around 7.30 a.m. in his green Proton Saga, setting up his little stall opposite Vista Komanwel Parcel B, and in front of IMU (International Medical University) in Bukit Jalil. Usual customers are mostly IMU students, not very health conscious medical institution community.
As soon as the pakcik is ready, an enthusiastic crowd would throng his small stall and start grabbing their food. 

Everything is self-service here, from sometimes folding your own paper cone, to scooping your rice, and your choice of dishes.

Apart from the normal nasi lemak, the extras include curry chicken, beef rendang, baby cockles, squids, paru-paru (beef lungs), and some malay kuih-muih.

Then I could sense everyone wasn’t too happy with me getting in their way, taking pictures. What a weird crowd….

Slow down tigers, go easy on the cholesterol, and leave some for me after my photography session! The nasi lemak does run out fast. So be sure you’re there before 9.30 a.m.

The price is affordable, nasi lemak with any 2 dishes would come to around RM4.00.

Ooooooohh....

The aromatic steamed rice rich in santan (coconut milk) with a whiff of pandan…
The oh-so-divine sambal bawang packed with spices….
Very crunchy ikan bilis (anchovies)…
Tender beef rendang and curry chicken ..... those baby cockles....
Plus a hearty amount of uric acid and cholesterol, just how I like my breakfast.

Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!

Location:

Nearby commuting: Star LRT Sri Petaling Station

Landmark: IMU & Vista Komanwel Parcel B

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小笼包 Xiao Long Bao @ 德笼馆 De Long Guan, Shanghai

I don't wanna sound too cliché, but the saying is that you’ve never really been to Shanghai if you haven’t eaten Xiao Long Bao (小笼包).

There’s this De Long Guan Restaurant (德笼馆) around the place that I was staying, which according to my friend in Shanghai, serves one of the better xiao long bao.
As if branded Tourist on my forehead, everyone in the restaurant looked at me funny. Of course my non-local Chinese accent and my ever-clicking camera didn’t help much. A tourist is hard to come by in that area.
I ordered a basket of xiao long bao, a bowl of prawn wanton (虾肉馄饨) and a glass of iced soy milk (冰豆浆), can’t go wrong with those for my breakfast.

The xiao long bao tasted better than the ones from Dragon-i in Malaysia, and the price is only at a fraction of what cost me in Dragon-i (RMB 4.50, a bargain!). The tasty soup within the skin was well-fused with the pork’s flavor, and the pork meatball was simply delightful, unmistaken fragrance of lard…
The prawn wanton （RMB 7.50) was nothing unfamiliar. It’s quite similar to the ones in Malaysia, only more succulent. As food critic Cai Lan (蔡澜) once said, “you’ll need less of prawn and more lard to make best prawn wanton”. Well said. I could really vouch for that.
How can one not use lard in these things? Non-Halal rocks! And honestly “cholesterol” is totally overrated, just work it off later!

Shanghai’s soy milk has sort-of a roasted taste, which personally I don’t find it appealing. No offence.

Xiao Long Bao 101:
I’d assume by now most of you know the correct method to savor xiao long bao. For those who don’t (no, you don’t just put it in your month and start chewing), that what’s you do:

1. Use your chop-sticks and pick up a xiao long bao dumpling into your spoon.
2. Cover a small part of the dumpling with your lips (be careful of the heat).
3. Take a small bite and suck the soup out of the dumpling (again, be careful, it can be quite hot), savour the soup.
4. After that, you can finish the whole dumpling.

Location:
杨浦区四平路2140号（近国定路）
Tel: 021-5512 7858

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Nasi Briyani @ Restoran Insaf, Jln Tuanku Abd Rahman

We were at Sogo to buy MacBook’s power adapter. RM299 for a total unnecessary mistake on my own. Yeah I fried the power adapter by leaving it running for a few days, a rather smart kid wasn’t I?

Let’s try out the Nasi Briyani (Briyani Rice) from Insaf (just around the corner) that Erik’s has been talking about. It’s an old shop situated at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman alongside KFC and A&W outlets. The restaurant is rather clean, the waiting staff however were really curious with me taking pictures of every damn dish. :)

Insaf’s best-sellers includes Nasi Briyani with Ayam Madu (Honeyed Chicken), Ayam Goreng (Fried Chicken), Kambing (Mutton), Daging (Beef) and etc. Must-try side dishes includes Telur Ikan (Fish Roe), and Otak Lembu (Cow’s Brain). The rest are different type of curries, which includes kurma, rendang etc.

As a starter, we were given some pickled cucumber, which I think is very nicely done, and would bring out the appetite.

I ordered their mango juice, which is one of their hit. It’s freshly squeezed (kinda thick, though) without adding sugar, the aroma and taste of the juice tells me that those are not local mangoes. Well I didn’t ask them where their mangoes were from.
We got ourselves Nasi Briyani Kambing and Nasi Briyani Ayam Goreng. The briyani rice down to each grain is fragrant from the roasted spices that the briyani is cooked with. The lamb was very tender, sent highly-spiced curry flavor through each mouthful of briyani. The fried chicken on the other hand, is crunchy and tasty outside, and tender inside. Normally I would appreciate a juicier meat for fried chicken, but I think Insaf’s is quite alright.
The briyani rice could be a little dry, so alternatively you could eat it with some dhal.

Although their fish roe didn't look tempting, I've asked them to bring us some as well. I don't usually let me eyes do the tasting. Well the verdict is I didn't quite like the telur ikan, I think it's over-fried, and it's a little too dry for my liking.
Due to capacity barrier, we didn't order cow's brain, probably next time.

The bill, however, didn’t come cheap at all that we initially expected. The total was RM41 (RM11 for each Nasi Briyani, RM9 for the drinks, and RM7 for the telur ikan etc)

Location:
Nearby Commuting: Star LRT Bandaraya Station
Landmark: Sogo

Address:
116 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman
Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur 50100, Malaysia
(Tel: 03-2693-9737)

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La Vista @ Taman Esplanade, Bukit Jalil

For those who stay in Bukit Jalil (especial those in Vista Komanwel) , you’d often find yourself rather isolated from food, let alone good food. Your usual eat-out target would be a random café or hawker shop in Sri Petaling, or sometimes simply a fast-food delivery.Now that’s where I come in, paying tribute to the community of Bukit Jalil. My role is to uncover some hidden gems in the area so that your food-hunt routine may become a little less…dreadful…

Anyway ladies and gentlemen, there’s a new Iranian restaurant among the shop-lots in Taman Esplanade (adjacent to Bukit Jalil) named La Vista. It’s not tricky to find the shop once you reached Esplanade, particularly at night. Big bright sign-board of “La Vista”, neon lightings and an Iranian flag would gesture your way in from afar.

They didn’t have many customers, probably because they are still new and not much heard of. Hopefully my blog helps *roll eyes*

The set-up of the restaurant is very simple but neat and bright. The elderly Iranian owner was very patient going through with us the items in their menu with detailed explanations of the ingredients used. Their forte is in Kebabs and Rice.

My friends and I ordered a round of their Iranian red tea, very very aromatic. It’s best to drink it without sugar, and please not with milk, please…

Their cucumber yogurt is a must-try. This smooth sour-ish sweet cream is very refreshing and it totally brought out our appetite. We figured it could well be a good dessert, too.
Kobeede Kebab (or Minced Beef Kebab) was very tantalizing from the scent of the beef, even better with a few drops of lime juice. The chunks of well-minced meat that’s marinated with the spices would bring lingering flavor in your mouth.
We also tried Mahi Kebab (or Fish Kebab). They really know which fish to choose from that goes really well with coriander leaves’ seasoning. It would be rather dry if some lime juice wasn’t sprinkled. Well, their portion of fish could be a little more generous (probably it’s that I can’t get enough of their fish).

Apart from the two kebabs, we ordered Lobiya Polo (or Bean Rice). It’s basically fried diced lamb with black-eyed beans with lots of spices. We couldn’t figure out what spices were being used, but the aroma and flavor of each mouthful of rice were quite an experience.
The pricing wasn’t really cheap comparing with their portion. But it’s definitely quite some authentic Iranian experience should you be looking one. Expect to pay about RM20 - 25 per pax.

Location:

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