2004 - Local malaysian/chinese/fusion food

Restoran Chuai Heng, LG floor, 1 Utama - difficult to find anywhere in KL/PJ, my favorite .... 'char leong' ... a hongkong delicacy dim sum. It's basically fried dough fritter wrapped in chee cheong fun and sprinkled with floss and shallots. Yummy.


KLCC foodcourt, 2nd floor, centre court - newly refurbished, some new vendors have been added and increasing the variety. Laksa shack and Yoshinoya (which sucks big time) are amongst them. The nasi kandar is not too bad too.


Vegetarian stall in Wisma Central - cheap. Costs me RM4.50 with soyabean drink.


Restoran Sun Hin Loong, SS2 - Avoid the lobak (tasteless). Below are some varieties that are my favorite orders, as well as satay and hokkien fried mee....


Pudu Yongtaufoo - an old favorite and tucked in a corner of a narrow street, many people make a beeline towards this place, at lunchtime. Airconditioned inside as well as alfresco at road side. My favorite is the chee cheong fun with crispy shallots/shrimps toppings. Aside from that, noodles (dry/soup) can be accompaniment to the yongtaufoo where variety is not too bad (could do with more fried stuff though.. my favorite kind). Claypot variety comes with bakuteh kind of density and herbal taste.


Shangri-la wedding hotel banquet, KL - my first wedding dinner in this hotel, I must say the food was refreshingly nice for a wedding occasion. The four combination was the usual but tasting nice/fresh (not dull), shark's fin was nice as usual (they poured in a bowl of shark's fin in front of us, to prove it was the real deal), the chicken was a nice surprise as the tomyam-like sauce was unique and went well with the crisply cutlets and the rest of dishes were just right (not dull or bland, but fresh and nice). Overall atmosphere and candlelit romantic decor, in the grand ballroom was superbly well-managed and swooning material. Kudos.


Restoran Sri Nirwana Maju, No.43, Jln Telawi 3, Bangsar, KL - a popular banana leaf place. It was raining cats and dogs, and people were still running into the place from their double-parked cars, even a pregnant lady at one point (scary..... what was she or her husband thinking)!! Anyway, had my fill of the rice and fried dishes (the complimentary fried cabbage/onions are my favorite, the chicken is not as good as other places I know, the tengirri cutlet is average) and the maggi mee goreng which was nice for once (hardly any decent maggi mee goreng around these days). Overall, bill with 3 drinks are RM20.20.

Restoran New LimHo, SS2 (aka Chow Yang) - a popular area for food, this area has grown to a concentrated circle of shops with a high density of food outlets. There is a restaurant within 3 shop lots of each other. My favorite stalls in this restoran are the hokkien noodles, penang lobak (the sauce has a fresh tang to it, but the uncle here is very stingy in giving more sauce), the popiah, the satay (always have to wait) and prawn mee.

Boon Tong Kee, 35 Jalan SS2/67, PJ - a trademark name in Singapore for chicken rice, it has reached the shores of Malaysia, strangely enough considering the obvious competition from existing chicken rice operators. Decided to give it a try one night, and was shocked that it did not have aircon.... are the singaporeans holding on to their deep pockets? Nevertheless, gave it a try. Had the white chop chicken for one (RM5), thai fried chicken legs (RM5), pork ribs (RM10) and chee cheong fun (RM2). Overall, very tasty but kinda small in portion. Yet, in the long run it is going to lose out to aircon restaurants offering the same. It remains in the same niche as the non-aircon hawker restaurants.

Tai Thong mooncakes - it's mooncake season and mooncakes can be seen everywhere from restaurants to shopping centers. On an average price of RM10, seems like a buyer's market considering the many competition and varieties from all kinds of suppliers, from restaurants to bakeries to hotels... you name it, they have it..... even Svensens! So, while having lunch at a Tai Thong group restaurant, decided to pick up a few new varieties especially the snow skin type ie. Snow skin yam paste single yolk, Snow skin cheese with green lotus and Snow skin golden lotus with honey dates (RM9 each). Picked up the standard kind as well ie. Golden custard with pure red bean (RM9).

	Snow skin cheese with green lotus - cheese?!! Yes, i know... of all the funny variations selling these days, this is the wildest ingredient possible. Upon trying it as dessert one night, I found this to be quite nice. Don't notice the cheese taste though, but the filling was like a cross between those tau sar piah tambun cookies and the 'lai yau' milky butteriness. The snow skin was a little dissapointing ie. bland and not the chewing gum kind of taste that I like best. More coming up......
	Snow skin yam paste single yolk - not as interesting as the first one, the texture was not as soft, the yam was similar to the ones in bubur chacha dessert, not as sweet. Overall, fun.
	This one was not from Tai Thong. This one was pricey RM23.... as it's from Hong Kong's Kee Wah. Recommended from foreign friend to try this, I had high hopes and was dissapointed. The taste was alright and texture was average... maybe I couldn't tell between textures in the first place but a mooncake is a mooncake... how different can it be right? Well, the price couldn't justify the slight differences anyway.
	Snow skin golden lotus with honey dates - this is another delightful creation and great for sweet tooths. This is my second favorite (after the cheese version). Yummy as dessert.
	Golden custard with pure red bean The least interesting of the lot. Bland taste, considering the fun mixtures prior to this.

Chopstik Noodle House, Mid Valley - a lunch occasion, I've been here a couple of times before. The food is overall average for a upmarket price chinese restaurant, typical of Tai Thong's group of restaurants. Still prefer SS2 Tai Thong for taste.

	One of my favorite dimsum orders ie. salted fritter dumpling. (RM3.50)
	Porkball porridge (RM9.50). Porkballs are quite tasty but should have been more tender. Overall, nice.
	Tofu dimsum (RM6)
	A new dimsum, salad fritter with mayo.(RM3.50)
	Wantan noodles (RM9.50). Still prefer the cheaper offerings from hawker stalls, simple and tasty.
	Chinese sugar cane (RM4) to wash it all down and to balance the fiery food

Update April 2005
Despite their pricey menu and attempt to hide their 'messy noodle house' appearance, they have certain nice offerings which I tend to repeat orders eg. congee, BBQ meat (especially the siew yuk). Still, I would advise to avoid the Plaza Mont Kiara branch as it's more shoddy in appearance and waiters. I very much prefer the Mid Valley branch.

Mmm Yum Yum Bak Kut Teh, Gnd Floor, 1-utama, old wing (near to jusco side exit) - was reviewed in the newspaper and thought I try BKT in an aircon environment for a change. It was half full on a sunday noon, i wonder why. Service was attentive. Prices were higher than the non-aircon regular places elsewhere ie. almost double. I had the small claypot BKT (RM18), 2 servings of You Cakoi (RM6) and dimsum (lomakai RM4 and crispy beancurd roll RM4). Overall, I must say the BKT was nice except for the price (I could have plentiful from my usual place with that kind of price and feed 4 people). The aircon wasn't as cold as I was sweating throughout. Still, a good choice to add to 1 utama's variety. Read Star's review.

	The deco is nice and cozy ie. period drama kind of restaurant.
	The BKT soup was tasty with slight herbal taste.
	The so-called oily rice was basically white rice with fried shallots topping, like some being offered in Klang. The RM3 you cakoi was a dissapointment ie. tasted like bland dough.
	The lomakai was not as tasty as I was accustomed to and was soggy, the fried beancurd wasn't crispy as per its name and tasted like stale prawns.

Unique Seafood 23 Restaurant Dim sum, Lot 9B-3, Jln Kemajuan, Section 13, behind Bkt Bintang Primary school, PJ (79602088/79602066) - Went for 10-course dinner in this big restaurant (stacked with aquariums on one side), on a weekday. It was half packed despite a cut in the electricity supply at that time (unlucky us have to endure no aircon for half hour). The dishes were quite unique and nice. The only qualm we had was that the dishes came too quick, it was meant to be eaten one by one and not rushed. Overall experience was alright considering the attentive service given. Corkage was free so wine drinkers will have a ball.

	A sight to behold, rows and rows of aquariums filled with all kinds of seafood, to be picked fresh. Great for children's distraction.
	Seafood seems to be fresh and replenished daily, as we got a chance to see new stock of lobsters unloaded from cartons to the aquariums. Interesting to see that lobsters are shipped that way.... the cartons are only filled with paper fillers, no water or ice !! All they had to do was dip the lobsters in and out a couple of times from the water, and they are soon moving inside the aquarium. It's a wonder the number of lobsters been replenished or ordered by patrons daily for such an exercise.

Kean Fatt Restaurant - at ss3 near the Taman Bahagia LRT station(near taman megah junction and coffeeshop and post office is on the left hand side after the LRT station) - pork noodles and crispy roast pork is not bad. The pork noodles is a little slow in service due to the cook preparing bowls in batches, I guess he's trying to preserve the freshness and textures of his meat. The tastes is comparable to places I know of eg. Taman Megah foodcourt, restaurant in Jln. Batai, Damansara Heights, etc.

Delicious, Ms Read, F315, 1 Utama, New wing, Bandar Utama - based on feedback from FriedChillies forumers, decided to try this place. The deco is very artsy and modern, the balcony at the back was a delightful escape from the hustle bustle and with a view of a park with comfortable loungers/seats/cushions. Ordered the Classic cheesecake and the Classic chocolate cake (RM8.90 each).

I was hoping I find a good cheesecake but was disappointed. It was similar to those I find from Secret Recipe, LaManila, Coffee Bean, etc. ie. tasting artificial and sweet/tangy... I can't quite put a finger on the taste I dislike... is it Crisco or gelatin? Orange? I find the most natural tasting cheesecake easily available are the ones from LaBoheme (RM8 for a whole round portion).

The recommended chocolate cake was the opposite... it was very sinful, moist and rich (similar to Secret Recipe's Moist Chocolate). It came with vanilla ice cream topping. I wondered if the rest of the offerings were as good as recommended eg. Flourless Orange cake, Banana Pudding, Tartlets, etc.. The pies and quiches on display, were so irresistable and puffy... perhaps another time. There were others on the menu eg. Curry Laksa, Nasi Lemak, Nasi Kerabu, Sandwiches, etc.. Quite impressive, considering the small setup at the back of a women's boutique shop.

Update (1st August): Had the 'sticky date pudding', comes with coconut ice cream and butterscotch sauce.... oooh.... so delicious and flavor-ful. When I said I needed to diet in front of lady boss, she told me something that could help food-lovers out there with a conscience ..... "Diet is die with a T"... hehehehe.

Update (7th August) : Had the real meals for once (with recommendations from staff) and with desserts (ahem) later. Overall, nice and generous... hope they don't reduce the portions or increase price in the future. In the future, will try their other recommendation ie. Nasi pilaf with marsala lamb shank (RM19.90) - basmati rice seasoned with spices served with braised lamb shank, cucumber raita and papadam.

	Nasi Kerabu with Ayam Percik (RM13.90)-an interesting mix of flavors (Kelantan ayam percik, raw ulam, salted egg, sambal budu and keropok ikan with steam rice).... much better than the one served at Laksa Shack.
	Nasi Lemak with Ayam Minang (RM13.90)-nice with generous portion of coconut rice with Chef Sabri's Ayam Minang and fresh condiments (egg, sambal, ikan bilis, peanuts, keropok ikan).
	Tarte Normandie (RM8.90) - crispy base, filled with almond cream, topped with sliced green apples and glazed with apricot jam. Served with vanilla ice cream. This reminds me of a more flavorful version of the bread pudding... yummy.

Restoran Law Ong, 26, Jln Datoh Sulaiman, TTDI - opened not too long ago (May 2004), this place is a breath of fresh air to my food option. This place serves good variety of chicken (oyster, chinese herbal salted, fah dew or emperor... RM9.50 for quarter portion upwards) with noodles in dark sauce (similar to wantan mee.. RM2 each for kosong), sui kow, wantan (RM3 for small), fish ball, kampar balls, curry soup, vege, etc. Very tasty, fast service and aircon. Reminds me of the good old days of Ipoh Chicken Rice restaurant in SS2 (or Jln Gasing) which IMO has dropped standard.

Cravings, GF, new wing, Rainforest, 1 utama shopping center - again in the same shopping center, I'm still at ends trying to choose from the many offerings in this part of the wing. During a Friday lunch time, this place was packed relative to others, so I decided to give it a try seeing the setting was the old nyonya/chinese look which was quite cozy. Tried the recommended 'Curry laksa with roast pork' (RM12.90), 'Stuffed chicken wings' (RM5.40 each!!) and 'claypot loh shee fun' (RM10.90) respectively. Not much single lunch dish was available though. There were more dishes for proper meals which the crowd were lapping up around us.

The laksa was nice as expected, lots of ingredients and soup was full and rich. Chicken wings was nice, the drumlets were cooked similar to 'imperial spare ribs' and the wings filled with fish & chicken meat. The loh shee fun was mediocre though.... still preferred the popular offering from my usual haunt in TTDI.
To end it all, the 'Hainanese iced tea' (RM4.50) was nice.... a mix of tea and milo....but small though. Overall, a little pricey and may lose out to cheaper places with similar concept.

Update April 2005

This place seems to be packing it in during peak hours. Looks like many people have warm up to their taichow menu after many trials and errors elsewhere. After all, their quality seems good and service is prompt. I have yet to order dishes here. So far, it's just noodles. The latest was the Meatball noodles (min sin) which was a good change from the heavy stock/spicy ones offered everywhere else. The meatballs are superb, I just love the meaty and tender tastes. I'd say it's much better than any meatballs I've tried in Chopstik, hawker stalls, etc.

Laksa Shack, LG floor, old wing, 1-utama - all the varieties of Laksa in one place and are tasty overall.

	Nasi lemak instimewa (RM9.90)- generous portion of chicken and condiments to go along with the aromatic rice. Nice.
	One of the best curry laksa (RM7.90) tasted. A mix of aromas and spices with every spoonful and slurping of noodles. Enjoyable to the last drop and morsel.
	Cendol mamak (RM5.50) - generous amounts of cendol and beans. But not as sweet and milky as those from the street stalls.

Uncle Lim's Cafe, Ikano Power Center, Mutiara Damansara - typical malaysian cafe that serves hawker food eg. laksa (RM7.90), nasi lemak (RM7.90), roti bakar (RM1.80), tea/coffee (RM2 above).... similar to Killiney's in Damansara Uptown or Secret Recipe or Penang Village, but only less variety though.

Ikea Cafeteria, Exit/checkout area, Mutiara Damansara - the least likely place to grab a bite, but based on forum feedback, decided to try out the curry puff (RM1). It was nice, comes with an egg and was tasty. Reminds me of 'Old Chang Kee' in Singapore and SS2 (long time back). Right now, the only commercialised puff is from Noni stall (Restoran Hock Seng 2) in SS2/67. Packaged together with a unlimited-refill soft drink (RM2.50), this is good for a good quick lunch/snack.

Jusco 3rd floor, MidValley - my favorite assam laksa and nasi lemak place, cheap and powerful. Portions are generous. My only gripe is the strong smell which tends to stick to your clothes, but then again, that seems to be the case for any place which serves assam laksa.

Lee Nasi Lemak, Bangsar Mamak, outside Hakka Seafood, Opposite, Pizza Piccolo Bangsar
There guys are going to be millionaires one day. Forget the dotCom con, they will probably be richer than most of the dotCom, IPO wannabes and probably sleep better too. With the kind off margins and turnover which they have, the owners of this nasi lemak stall are giving everyone else a lesson in "B2C" !
That's my assessment of this place which proudly sits just off the famous Jalan Telawi Tiga in Bangsar. Low overheads, excellent location, good margins, high turnover, reliable staff - that basically describes this nasi lemak stall just across the road from Pizza Piccolo, outside the main food court.
I was recommended to try this place by my friend after a wild night partying in Bangsar and we were looking for a light meal before calling it a night. He suggested this place and guaranteed satisfaction.
With a small, yellow light bulb for lighting and a few plastic chairs and tables around, these guys were doing roaring business ! Hot plates of nasi lemak were flying off the counter as fast as they could make them. By the side, a giant wok was deep frying chicken and pigeon to be then served along with the nasi lemak.
The process was simple. First, use a small bowl to scoop up the rice onto a banana leaf covered plate. Then, add in the mandatory ingredients such as fried egg, anchovies, cucumber and ground nuts. The spicy sambal is poured over in generous doses before the crispy fried chicken is chopped up and served with bits of the fried batter. Be forewarned - this dish will send your weight and cholesterol level soaring but it is sinfully delicious !
The chicken is fried to perfection, the rice is rich with santan and the sambal sets your taste buds on fire ! Patrons here will normally order an extra portion of chicken and I discovered their secret in making it a success ! The chicken by itself is tasty enough as it has been properly marinated for hours before being fried. The extra "kick" comes when they add on the crunchy bits of fried batter which goes remarkably well with the nasi lemak !
Between the two of us, we finished two helpings of the nasi lemak with fried chicken - not too difficult as the portions are not very huge. The bill came and I was a little taken aback - RM 22.00 for two of us, inclusive of drinks. It's correct, my friend reassured - it's RM 5.00 per nasi lemak ! Even though we enjoyed the meal thoroughly, I guess I forgot that I was eating in Bangsar ! That's the reason why I said that these guys will be millionaires soon - the math is not that hard.....RM 5.00 per person, 250 servings a night, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.....
Was the meal worth it ? Despite the surprising price, I'm still giving it a thumbs up and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a supper place in Bangsar. Forget the expensive coffee joints - try some really good nasi lemak instead !