Introduction of my tastebuds

This is a log about the food around me, tried and tested... mostly Malaysian. Some are regular haunts and some are one-off. I'm a food lover, especially the street or junk kind ie. not the classy ones. Take note though, I'm not the adventurous kind who will drive for hours or into quiet towns/streets for the secret food, although I don't mind being chauffeured there.... which I've had a fair share eg. Kerry Island for seafood, Segambut for cheap dishes, Sri Kembangan for hakka yong tau foo/paper wrap chicken/pan mee, Klang for bak kut teh,etc.. In the end, I go for the easy to find or accessible kind, mostly around Petaling Jaya area. You'd notice that some locations are without names but are only described as to their whereabouts... strange how such names are usually eluded ... that's how it is in Malaysia most of the time, hehehe....most tend to know the locations or how to get there but name-wise unsure of. But then again, names do change thru time ie. different owners or people relocate.

For recommendations, I sometimes visit Friedchillies and its forum... my nickname used is 'pixel8'. Or reviews from local newspaper, The Star and Cyberkuali.

My blogs will be divided up into categories and constantly updated within ie. I will not create new posts unless a new category is required.

My personal favorites or regulars are :-
Wee Sang Kee, SS2/66:
for the best Bak Kut Teh (since my childhood days), despite numerous claims for other places in Klang or Sg Way and negative feedback from friends. I just love the thick soup and special rice to go with the meat. It's a mix of slight herbal and dark sauce, not peppery. I've tried Sg Way's (peppery) and a few in Klang (no special rice except for butter rice and/or fried onions).

From outside.	Closer view of the front.
The tasty thick soup and juicy meat	My favorite 'oily rice', without it, I will not eat.
Must have... chopped fried dough-sticks	Chopped chilli of sorts with soya sauce... condimentary....yes!

Tai Thong restaurant, 1st Floor Jalan SS2/67:
favorite dim sum, selection is normal and quality is average (like the street kind). No expensive stuff like in hotels, just the normal expected quality in aircon chinese restaurant environment with quick service. Find this better than the Summer Palace near to Damansara Kim/Sprint highway.


Hong Seng restaurant, section 17 marketplace area, Corner restaurant, next to Magnum/Sports toto):

Best roast pork (siew yuk), the original skinny, buttery and thin crispy skin kind ie. not the kind sold in markets or the chunky ones from roast pigs of chinese celebrations. The supply is limited, a little later than 1pm and it's almost gone. This is the kind which was available everywhere in the hey days but have gone south without a clue... probably lost the chain of supply. The chicken rice stall also sells very good Sour Vege (SHEUN CHOI), the kind made at home from leftovers and overnight ingredients.... a hit with women.

The sour vege stew... a mix of assam, dried chilli, meat and vege

Seng Kee, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (behind Shakeys Pizza or Secret Recipe, Tun Mohd Fuad 1):
Claypot 'loh shu fun' is their specialty and originated from their KL branch. As well as 'fried crispy pork noodles'. They serve dishes as well for those looking for a normal 'tai chow' chinese meal.


Now for a variety of restaurants relating to my favorite food categories.....

Roast duck

• RESTORAN SUNRISE,31 Jalan 21/1,SEA Park
• HOPPY RESTAURANT, SS2/66 - different kinds of roast duck eg. classic, herbal, etc.
• Name-unknown, section 17 marketplace area - corner shop, specializes in duck

Chee Cheong Fun and Yong Tau Foo

YHK Seafood Yong Tow Foo, 45, Jalan Brunei Barat, 55100 KL (near Wisma Shaw) Tel : 21489220 www.yhk-yongtowfoo.com - nice chee cheong fun ie. with fried shrimps and shallots sprinklings, I can eat at least 2 plates to go with the crunchy yong tau foo and fried sui kow/wantan. Thank god, they had a branch opened in Damansara Uptown (No.31, Jln SS21/56B, Damansara Utama, PJ tel:77108131) and in an aircon environment. It's next to 'The Ship'.

Nasi lemak

• Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa, 4 Jln. Raja Muda Musa, Kampung Baru, KL (03-2931358)- must try the fried chicken- opened at nights till early wee mornings.
• Dharoos, Damansara Uptown - good tastes of mixed offerings eg. roti, simple nasi lemak (sambal, peanuts and rice) and maggi goreng
• Deli terra, 3rd floor, Jaya jusco mid valley - quite generous portions of sambal and curry chicken.
• Laksa Shack, LG flr, 1-utama
• Madam Kwan's, KLCC or Bangsar

'Tai chow' restaurants

• OK restaurant, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (next to Penang Village) - decent dishes in nice corner outdoor area, frequented by japanese and expats staying nearby
• Restaurant Keen, SS20/11 & SS20/3, Damansara Kim, opposite end of Euro Deli - nice dishes with new variety (ask for recommendations), but may be hot due to indoor setting. This place also has claypot chicken rice stall and dim sum stall which I frequent quite often. The former serves quite tasty claypot rice (pic) and popular 'Sour vege stew'.

• Restauran Yau Tak Teng, Jln Tun Mohd Fuad 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, opposite Secret Recipe/next to Guardian - this place is not spacious though and can be quiet smoky. Still, the crowd packs it in.
• Pangkor Curry Fish Head Restoran, 59, Jln SS24/8, 47300 Taman Megah, PJ (opposite Fatty Crab).... popular for the curry fish head, this is an alternative to Fatty Crab customers who couldn't get seats. This place has more variations and options for crabs than Fatty Crab ie. marmite, sour spicy, kam heong, etc. Other offerings are nice too eg. pork ribs and prawns. However, the service here is slow though at peak hours ie. an hour of waiting.

• Ah Sau, Jalan 223, PJ (I think... it's originally from KL).... popular for the hokkien fried noodles. Also try the the Fish glue soup too, it's soft and tasty
• Golden Bowl seafood restaurant, SS2/61, 03-7876 7228 - opened in February 2004, this corner lot caught on fast, queues were showing every night. So, one early night, I decided to try it out hoping to beat the queues (which I did). Airconditioned but not enclosed, the environment is clean and cool. Not reading the newspaper clippings of reviews and praises, on the walls, I decided to ask the waiter dreading to hear the same old offerings of chinese dishes. I was surprised when every recommendation sounded unique and tempting. I was ordering whatever the waiter mentioned eg. prawns deepfried with salted egg in spicy sauce (RM40), beancurd(tofu pre-minced with vege RM12), pigeon (RM6) and kailan with toppings (RM15)... sorry about the inaccurate names but these are my own unprofessional descriptions. The service was fast considering a packed crowd... my wife and I couldn't stop to speak a word, the second we started digging it except for nodding and opening eyes wide with glee. Thumbs up from me.... caught glimpse from neighbouring table giving thumbs up to each other too. Bill was RM91, on the high side but it's about quality and satisfaction. Will come back again to try their signature dishes (from the newspaper reviews) ie. lamb, pork knuckle, yin yang prawns, tofu with gingko, etc..

Some of the common and popular noodles easily available at the above 'tai chow' places are :-

	Hokkien fried meehoon mee
	Cantonese fried yee mee
	Singapore fried meehoon

Hawker stalls/coffeshop/restaurant

• Seng Lee restaurant, Jalan Batai, Damansara Heights - famous for the char kway teoy and pork noodles. The former has generous portions and contributes greatly to the smoky atmosphere in the restaurant, but nobody seems to mind including expats who stand there patiently for their takeaways. The latter stall gives generous unhealthy portions of lard, but then again, unhealthy food always tastes better, right? The rojak stall at the entrance/road side is also very popular, their portions are humongous for RM3. Lots of peanut sprinklings and crunchy biscuits & yu tiao.
• Yong Len restaurant, Jln Tun Mohd Fuad 1, TTDI - not too busy and hot corner restaurant offering nice choices of prawn mee, laksa and wantan mee. Nearby roadside rojak stall is very popular also, with small queues now and then.

• Jaipur curry house, Jln Tun Mohd Fuad 1, TTDI - my favorite roti canai place on a Sunday afternoon. Airconditioned recently. Serves nice aromatic floury roti kosong (my favorite, amongst other fancy roti variations. Nothing can beat the simple aroma of a perfect roti canai.... it's so good on its own, I don't need curry actually... (sounds like gardenia?!) Sometimes has nasi lemak panas, the simple kind ie. roasted peanuts, ikan bilis, egg and sambal with coconut rice. I love to mix the sambal with my roti's dhall and fish curry... yum. The curry puff is super too. The fried chicken and fried batter bittergourd are great with the roti. All in all, RM15 could stuff 2 persons till the night. A worthy alternative place is Dharoos at Uptown Damansara.

• Penang village, 1 Lrg Rahim Kajai 13, TTDI - a recent hit chain of restaurants with nyonya & penang offerings in an oriental/nyonya/chinese fusion environment ie. high class hawker restaurant (that's how I describe to my foreign friends). My usual orders are prawn mee, char kway teow (RM7.90), ice kacang (RM5.5)/ chendol and assam laksa. Ordering the nyonya dishes for a proper meal is also nice. Choosing the 'recommended' choices will be a sure hit eg. Chicken kapitan (RM13.90), samosa, brocolli and prawn (RM14.90), Cincalok omelette (RM8.90), Yin yang Garoupa (RM48). Lunch crowd is to the brim compared to dinner.

Updates (11 November 2004)


	Penang curry mee (RM7.90) - not too bad, but still prefer the stronger and more fragrant version from Laksa Shack.
	Village pie tee (RM8.90) - had a little too much shrimp for my liking ie. overshadowed the turnip tastes.
	Penang nasi tomato (RM11.90) - the tomato rice is not as fragrant and sweet as I hoped it would be, but overall, the samosas, papadams and chicken rendang was a nice mixture of tastes.
	Mango ice (RM5.90) - Looked nicer than it tasted, probably lacked syrup, condensed milk or something. The taste was light, probably too much ice. Mango and ice cream was alright. Jelly and sago was for color, as they contributed no additional taste.

• Champs, 1st floor, Centrepoint, Bandar Utama - a pub cum mixed-local-food restaurant, which gained popularity because of the big bowl prawn mee with ribs and big prawns. Another high-class hawker food restaurant in my vicinity.
  
• Restoran Sun Hin Loong, SS2/67 - Good corner of SS2, where shops and food are aplenty. Good varieties include the prawn mee, nasi lemak, kampar ball noodle, dim sum, mixed rice. Situated next to another coffeshop behind it, Hock Seng Two (which has good wantan mee, curry puff, siew pau and curry laksa), this has a better advantage by having few tables in the open air.
• Restoran Lim Ho, SS2/67 - Another good corner of SS2, where shops and food are aplenty. Good varieties include the prawn mee, Ipoh chee cheong fun, popiah, vegetarian mixed rice, fried noodles and Tong Kee egg tarts. Situated next to Gluttons corner, it has some tables in the open at night.

Pan mee

• Restaurant Mao Tuck Teng, Jln Tun Mohd Fuad 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, KL (corner of shop block next/opposite to KFC)
• Restaurant Megah Good Luck, SS24/11, Behind Fatty Crab, Taman Megah, PJ - tasty noodles with that flour fragrance and anchovy aroma, prefer the dry version.

Satay

Restoran 'Satay Kajang' in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, same row as Honda (used to be Naza Motor)

Wantan mee

Ho Weng Kee, SS2/66, PJ - specializes in wantan mee, with different meat choices eg. chicken feet, char siew, pork ribs, chicken shreds, etc.

Char Siew

• Meng Kee, Tengkat Tong Shin, the road behind Jln Alor (not Jln Bkt Bintang side), KL - the burnt and sticky type but leaner. Very popular and crowded during lunch and weekends. No dinner served.
• Soo Kee, Jln Ampang, row of shops near to the Ampang Point interchange - the burnt and sticky kind of char siew

Hokkien fried noodles

• Ah wa, 66, jalan 14/48, pj (the corner coffee shop behind the shell station on jalan 222) - the burnt taste and dark kind, on the dry side.
• Restoran Lim (aka Chow Yang), SS2 - lots of people order aside from the hawker varieties

Malaysian delicacies/street food
The following are the rare delicacies being found around PJ except for morning markets and pasar malams (SS2). Gone are the days where these were delicious and easy to find, but now, very selective.

The 'Ham Cheen Peng' or chinese fried donut/pastry is best eaten fresh. That's why some popular stalls have queues waiting for the freshly fried ones eg. stall in front of Chow Yang (SS2) and front of Restoran Keen (SS20/11, Damansara Kim).

Seremban siew pau - a franchise business, the stalls are everywhere eg. SS2, Taman Megah selling the sweet and savoury delight. Over the years though, the pau's size is shrinking while costing RM1 each.

A rare sight these days, a multipurpose goodies van carrying all sorts of buns, tidbits, sweets and stuff.