More than 2 years ago, I visited the first Din Tai Fung in KL for the launch of its new menu and to witness the preparation of the 18-fold Xiao Long Bao. Fast forward 2 years plus later, I have lost count on the number of times I visited Din Tai Fung, usually for the cute dumplings and my favourite la mian. Many have said that the original Din Tai Fung in Taiwan is much better than the one we have in KL, but I can’t comment since I have never been to the former. Still, that didn’t and wouldn’t stop me from visiting Din Tai Fung again especially when they have a new outlet at e@Curve! Hooray to those staying in BU/Kota Damansara.

Delicate Xiao Long Bao

The perfect accompaniment for XLB – Ginger and vinegar

The latest Din Tai Fung (DTF)  is located at e@Curve, a prominent shop lot that you won’t miss even from afar. We were there during their soft launch to try out their items and service even before it’s open to the public. Being in a big group of 10, we fired our orders away, thinking that we would be kept waiting for the long list of food. Surprisingly, our order came within 15 minutes, and they came as fast as we could eat, if not faster. Mind you, that night the restaurant was full of invited guests of the owner, so we were not the only occupied table around. One word to describe their service – efficient!

Stewed Beancurd with Honey Sauce (RM7)

House Special Appetizer (RM4.50)

As with my previous visit, we tried some of their appetizer dishes from the menu, ranging from the cold dishes such to hot ones. I’m happy to report that my favourite appetizer dish of Stewed Beancurd with Honey Sauce still tasted as good as it was 2 years ago – juicy and savoury. The Taiwan Century Egg was very well-received too, with its rich and smooth yolk made from duck egg.

Spicy Jelly Fish (RM7.80)

Taiwan Century Egg (RM4.50)

From the hot appetizers, I loved the Spicy Pork Wanton, smothered in fiery hot chilli oil. The wanton skin was absolutely thin and smooth, while the fillings of pork and shrimp were succulent and generous. Top that with spicy chilli oil, you’ll have me smiling (and slurping) away.

Spicy Pork Wanton (RM10)

Spicy Vegetable Pork Wanton (RM9)

Deep Fried Shrimp Pork Wanton (RM10)

There’s a fair share of deep-fried items from the menu, with the prominent one being the Mango Shrimp Roll. This had a nice balance of flavour from the savoury shrimp and the sweet mango, coated with spring roll before being breaded and fried to crispy perfection. It is quite sizable too, definitely a dish meant for sharing.

Mango Shrimp Roll (RM8)

Of course, what would a visit to Din Tai Fung mean without trying their famous Xiao Long Bao? There are several varieties offered now, from Xiao Long Bao with crab meat to Xiao Long Bao with Truffle – there’s bound to be one that tickles your fancy. My favourite of all times is still and has always been the classic Xiao Long Bao – super thin skin wrapping succulent and juicy meat in a dollop of delicious broth. Top that with shreds of ginger and vinegar, and you’ll find yourself slurping and munching away at the same time, marveling the delicate work of art that goes into the preparation of each dumpling. It’s true, this is the reason why Din Tai Fung is popular.

Xiao Long Bao (RM11.80)

Shrimp and Pork Shao-mai (RM13.80/ 6pcs)

For something more exotic, we also tried the Truffle Xiao Long Bao, the addition of truffle evident from the darker bits blended within the meat inside. The flavour of truffle was strong and fragrant, but I’d like to think that it’s an acquired taste because I still found myself liking the original version after trying this.

Truffle Xiao Long Bao (RM36)

Truffle in Xiao Long Bao

Apart from the appetizers and Xiao Long Bao, we shared some of the more substantial dishes, including the wholesome House Steamed Chicken Soup, Shanghai Style Deep Fried Fish and Baby Green Beans with Minced Pork. If grandma was there with us, she would have given her nod of approval for the green beans – they were aromatic and flavourful, but on top of it all, they were young and fresh.

House Special Steamed Chicken Soup (RM13)

Baby Green Beans with Minced Pork (RM16)

Shanghai Style Deep Fried Fish (RM18.80)

At this point, we were already more than half full, but our orders of la mian (noodles) and rice had just arrived! That day, as with my previous visits, I ordered the Fragrant Spring Onion La Mian that had a pleasant aroma from the spring onion oil. Give it a good mix with the superior soya sauce and what you get is a bowl of springy noodles that are QQ and savoury. If I had to comment, I would have preferred the pork slices on top to be roasted (think siew yuk!) instead of boiled. That would be simply marvellous.

Fragrant Spring Onion La Mian (RM12.80)

Springy and aromatic – yum!

Cha Jiang La Mian (RM12.80)

Pork Chop

Shrimp Pork Fried Rice (RM15)

Last but not least, desserts! My 3 top picks from the menu would be the Mini Sesame Bun, Chilled Mango Pudding and Gui Ling Gao, in no particular order. The buns were especially fluffy and nice when eaten hot from the steamer. Each piece was filled generously with delicious black sesame paste that was not too sweet. The mango pudding was nice when it was still chilled, but somewhat lost its appeal when it warmed to room temperature. For Gui Ling Gao, we were given a bottle of honey to flavour it with, and I thought the taste of the sweet honey managed to compliment the slight bitterness of the Gui Ling Gao perfectly. This, I can definitely finish on my own.

Mini Sesame Bun (RM5.50)

Chilled Mango Pudding (RM7.80)

Gui Ling Gao (RM6.80)

That night, we ate and ate to our heart’s content. Great food, great environment and great service, there’s absolutely no reason we wouldn’t return again.

Din Tai Fung Restaurant

Din Tai Fung e@Curve
G17-G20, Ground Floor e@Curve,
No. 2A, Jln PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel No.: +603 – 7728 3218
Website: www.dintaifungmalaysia.com

Pork burger lovers, rejoice! With the popularity of pork burgers gaining, there are more restaurants now offering pork burgers as their signature items. One of such is The Hungry Hog, aptly named so for offering pork items as their signature dishes. It was technically our second visit to the place, because the first time we were there was a Monday, and it’s closed on Mondays! Never make the same mistake again my friends. We persevered and returned on another day, this time complete with reservations.

Three Little Pigs

The dinner which was supposed to be a replacement from the one on Monday, was skilfully arranged into a surprise celebration for Eric‘s birthday. Yes, he was the one who suggested the place and time, but he wasn’t aware that we had a surprise in store. Since the party had not arrived yet, we ordered some Chunky Fries to munch. They were served fresh off the fryer, still crispy and hot inside. But we ended up regretting ordering this, because our burgers later on were served with so much fries that we couldn’t finish them!

Chunky Fries (RM4.90)

We also ordered the Siew Yuk to share – 2 slabs of BBQ pork served with this spicy and soury sauce that went well with the meat. The pork slices were made up of 3-layered meat, a slice of crispy skin, a slice of fat and a slice of lean meat sandwiched into one. My favourite part was the crispy skin, so I loved eating the edges of the meat!

Siew Yuk / Roasted Pork (RM11.90)

The multi-layered pieces of meat

The Keropork (yes no typo there) was probably coined from ‘Keropok‘, which is a Malay term that meant crackers. These cracker-like snack was made from pork skin and was deep fried to crispy perfection. However, having a piece or two of this would suffice, since it’s loaded with lard. This is definitely meant for sharing!

Keropork (RM5.90)

We have heard so much about the pork burger here, so we couldn’t resist from ordering the 3 Little Pigs, their signature burger. It was cutely named so due to the three forms of pork sandwiched within the buns – pork patty, pork bacon and ham! Let’s not forget the melting cheese on top, giving it a nice savoury and creamy texture in addition to the juicy pork patty. My initial response to the burger was, it’s not that big! But lo and behold, never judge the book by its cover. It could be the thick pork patty, or it could be the creamy cheese, but by the time I finished the burger, I was so full I couldn’t finish my fries. It’s probably one of the best value pork burgers around town.

3 Little Pigs (RM15.90)

Combination of pork patty, pork bacon and ham

Since we went nearing the Chinese New Year season, there was a special Porksperity Burger on offer. Being festive, Saucer ordered this to try out. It’s a glorious combination of runny egg on top of melting cheese, grilled pork patty, yuk kon (dried meat) and plum sauce. What a clever fusion of east and west, don’t you think? I had a few bites of it and thought the addition of ‘yuk kon’ made the burger that much more delicious. I wish they would make this a permanent item on the menu, because I definitely want to go back and try it again.

Porksperity Burger (RM22.80)

Fried egg, cheese, pork patty and dried meat (yuk kon)

The melting egg and cheese

Savoury and juicy

Last but not least, a surprise for the birthday boy! We bought a cake and presented it to him towards the end of the dinner, much to his amusement. Happy 25th Birthday!

Birthday boy

Moist Chocolate sponge cake

Aside from the amazing company that night (we talked and talked until the restaurant’s closing time!), I have to say I really enjoyed the pork burgers at The Hungry Hog. If only they have more branches nearer to my place, I’d definitely visit it more often. Here’s to a Porky Chinese New Year!

The Hungry Hog

The Hungry Hog
71, Jalan SS15/4C,
47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel No: +6012 – 225 0877
E-mail: thehungryhog@gmail.com
Business Hours: 12.00 to 2.30pm, 6.00 to 10.00pm (closed on Mondays)
Website: www.hog.my

Happy Chinese New Year 2012! Can’t believe the CNY holidays are all over! And now we’re back to reality. Can I just say that I’m suffering from CNY hangover? Anyway, for those of you who are still having holidays, let me just say I’m jealous! But for the rest of you, let’s make the rest of the week better by feeding ourselves with CNY cookies, mandarin oranges and yee sang. This is going to be a pictorial post on the highlights of my CNY during the past few days. Perhaps glaring at the pictures longer would make me feel just a tad better?

CNY Lantern

Chinese tea perfect for catching-up sessions with relatives or friends

Who could miss out on CNY cookies? My favourite are peanut cookies and pineapple tarts!

Mandarin oranges or ‘kam’ in Cantonese, rhymes with gold (in Cantonese)

First day of CNY at 7am :O

These days, more and more modern families are opting to celebrate the reunion dinner with either Steamboat or BBQ, since they don’t require that much preparation work. With BBQ, we just need to buy and marinate the meat beforehand and the cooking process would be done during dinner itself. That was what we had on CNY eve – BBQ but with an extra dish of Aglio Olio Spaghetti, which was cooked by me!

Saucer was the ‘chef’ that night

Some of the food we had

Aglio Olio Spaghetti with seafood and bacon

Our dining table

“Dik dik kam” – what is this called in English?

On the second day of CNY, it’s a custom for the couple to visit the wife’s family. Back at my hometown, my grandma would never fail to cook up a storm. Most of the time, there would just be so much food that we would have plenty to make ‘Choy Keok‘ (a dish cooked with leftover food mixed with cabbage). During dinner on the second day, we had Yee Sang that we bought from Kam Ling, together with various dishes cooked by grandma.

Plum sauce drizzling on Yee Sang

Yee Sang

Chinese waxed sausage “Lap Cheong”

Steamed chicken

Steamed grouper

The full works

Those were the highlights of my CNY, peppered with visits from relatives, friends, watching CNY movies on TV and munching on cookies. So how did you celebrate your CNY?

Last weekend marked another special occasion in our family. After the wedding of my brother barely half a year back, it was now my cousin sister’s turn. The wedding dinner took place at InterContinental Hotel KL, and the food was prepared by the Chinese restaurant Toh Lee. As family members of the bride, most of us were there as early as 5pm to make sure everything was in order. The tables were all set, flowers all blooming and the AV system all ready to go. I was given the task to tick off guest names at the reception but before that, I couldn’t resist from taking pictures of the gorgeous settings in the ballroom. If you can’t tell already, it was largely decorated with beautiful peonies.

The beautiful peonies decorating each table

To be honest, it was the first time I saw peonies up close. They’re not grown here and had to be imported all the way from Holland! It’s a good thing that they happened to be in season or there wouldn’t be so many of them decorating each table in the ballroom.

The guest list

Even the cocktail tables were decorated with flowers!

Snacks at the cocktail area

Entrance to the Junior Ballroom

Some pictures and wedding invitation of the bride and groom – don’t you love the flowers?

Since we’re early, we had the opportunity to visit the ballroom before the guests arrived. I loved how very warm and pink the whole combination looked. The flowers really did make a big difference!

The main table

Settings on the main table

A closer look at the peonies

Love the colour combination of hydrangeas

Guest tables

The Junior Ballroom

The wedding cake with pink roses

A picture with the flowers

The bride and groom

The couple with their family

During the cocktail hour, we took some pictures using the props given. Here are some taken by my brother that night.

Pretending to be serious

3 generations of ladies in the house

Some of the props at the photo booth

I did not take pictures of food on the actual dinner itself since the environment was too dark and I was too busy eating. But here are some of the pictures of the food we had during a tasting session held a month ago. Most of the menu remained the same, except for the five combinations platter and dessert. I enjoyed majority of the dishes served but special praises must be sung for the Roasted Duck and Steamed Cod fish! It’s not very often that we get to eat duck on wedding dinners and this was roasted to a marvelous crispiness that didn’t remove the moisture from the flesh. On the other hand, the cod was served in a very generous portion, with silky smooth flesh that almost melted in my mouth. Thumbs-up!

Grand Five Combinations Platter

Loved this deep fried ham roll

Double boiled baby abalone with cabbage heart and bamboo pith soup

Roasted Duck Hong Kong Style with Five Spice Powder

Baked prawns with egg dust and oats

Steamed Cod with ginger and topped with superior soy sauce

Extremely flaky and smooth cod

Braised sea cucumber, pacific clams and mushroom with dried scallop sauce

Steamed lotus leaf rice with Eight treasure nuts

Chinese Pancake and “Min fa kou” (Cotton cake)

Lotus seed and lily bulb in sugar cane juice

Champagne for toasting ceremony

Oh I must also mention that dinner started just before 8pm, which is quite a rarity! Everything else followed according to schedule and the night ended with the couple’s first dance. So romantic! Here’s wishing them a wonderful, loving and happily-ever-after marriage, Theng and Jeremy!

The very yummy chocolate cake

Weekend is here! Not only is this weekend particularly long, it’s also very festive due to the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration! Well to start the brilliant season, let’s fill our tummy with a hearty Big Breakfast. This time, we visited Tom, Dick & Harry’s for the second time to try their breakfast and brunch menu. This menu is only offered during weekends from 10am to 2pm, so make sure you don’t wake up too late.

Food that makes you smile

There are 7 choices for adults and best of all, they all come come refillable juice, coffee or tea! It’s true, they have a big jug of juice at the counter and plenty of glasses so you can help yourself with refills. Next to the juice are two huge jars of coffee and tea, all for your drinking pleasure.

Choices of Breakfast

Free flow of juice, coffee or tea

Saucer ordered The Big Breakfast, which came with 2 sunny-side-ups, 2 grilled pork sausages, bacon, baked beans, mushrooms, hash browns, grilled tomato, bread and butter. Essentially everything that makes a hearty breakfast! Just look at those long pork sausages – they’re so bouncy and savoury, perfect to eat with the bread or on its own. Everything about this breakfast platter was right, the juicy mushrooms, the streaky bacon and the very crispy hash brown.

The Big Breakfast (RM23)

The long and bouncy pork sausages

Eggs on toast

As for me, I had the Savoury Pan Cakes, which came with 3 slices of fluffy pan cakes sandwiching sunny side up, bacon, ham and mozzarella cheese! Gosh I have to say I loved their pancakes! They have slightly charred edges which gave them a somewhat slight crunch, but their insides were still soft and spongy. Couple that with an egg, ham and bacon, pancakes never tasted better. Don’t be fooled by the size of this serving, it was really quite filling! I was already full after 2 pieces, and the meal lasted me until dinner. Very satisfying indeed!

Savoury Pan Cakes (RM18)

The slightly charred edges

Fluffy and savoury!

Again, what I love about TDH is generous portions and their nett prices. I know they might have just added the taxes into the price but the feeling of being charged nett prices is just different. Plus with the free flow of juice and coffee, I’d say this is one of the best breakfast deals around town. I’d love to go back and try the Eggs Benedick’s (yes, spelled with a K), who wants to join me?

Tom, Dick & Harry’s dining environment

Tom, Dick & Harry’s (The Scott Garden @ Tesco Old Klang Road)
Unit S-G-03A, The Scott Garden,
Kompleks Rimbun Scott,
289, Jalan Klang Lama,
58100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: +6019-697 5080 ( Carrie )
Opening Hours: Sun- Thurs (11.00 am – 1.00 am), Fri & Sat (11.00 am – 2.00 am)
Facebook Page: Tom, Dick & Harry’s Pub + Grub

Tired of eating the same old Chinese New Year cookies every year? How about trying something different this year? Think rich, moist chocolate cake, or buttercup cake, or even double chocolate chip cookies for the festive occasion! This year Just Heavenly is proud to bring you their “Fook Toh” or “Fortune” series. The theme is centered around Chinese New Year, with props like mandarin oranges, ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ and the word ‘Fortune’ decorating the delicious cakes and cookies.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Just Heavenly Chinese New Year catalogue

The variety of cakes offered for the year of Dragon (2012):

The Prosperity Dragon & Prosperity Butter Buttercup Cake

Sugar Cookies and Assorted Cupcakes

Heavenly Double Chocolate Chip Cookies and Shortbread

Ordering of cakes and cookies need to be done 4 working days in advance, but there are instore items that you can purchase if you haven’t ordered. Apart from cakes and cookies, there are various hampers for sale too. The 4 types of hampers are listed below, with prices starting from RM88. The hampers need to be ordered 4 working days in advance. There won’t be any at the stores.

Types of Hamper

Gold Heavenly Dragon and Silver Heavenly Dragon hampers

Crimson Heavenly Dragon and Fortune Heavenly Dragon hampers

Ordering information

Valentine’s Day

Closely following Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day is another reason to indulge in something sweet and flowery. The Scarlett (as in Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the wind) is a Valentine’s Day bouquet of Roses for the thinking person to give to his beloved.  In many ways, it appeals to the heart as well as to the practical mind of Asians. Instead of spending RM100 on Red Roses, Just Heavenly made them out of Heavenly Chocolate Cupcakes so you could “have your cake and eat it too“. Literally.

The Scarlett (RM100)

The Scarlett – 8 Roses in their signature moist, chocolatey, Heavenly Chocolate sit atop a glazed ceramic pot, decorated with organza ribbon. Only RM100. Delivery is available for RM30 to points within KL City.

To order:

A Slice of Heaven by Just Heavenly
Tel No: +603-2287 9866/+603-2284 9866
Website: www.asliceofheaven.my
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/asliceofheaven.my

The thing about Chinese New Year dinners in nice restaurants/hotels is that they are mostly priced on the higher side, and not that affordable for young adults. Dining in hotel restaurants would cost easily more than RM1k++ per table, and they usually don’t have the option of doing it for less than 10 persons. Thankfully, we have Ben Tdi Wei to the rescue – the latest sister restaurant to Extra Super Tanker, this place offers affordable dining and delicious dishes without breaking a hole in the pocket!

All natural ingredients

We were there to sample their Chinese New Year menu last week, and to say that we’re impressed would have been an understatement. Any Chinese New Year meal wouldn’t be complete without a serving of the Chinese Salad or Yee Sang. At BTW (Ben Tdi Wei), the ingredients of their Jelly Fish Yee Sang with Snow Pear were 100% natural with no colouring or preservatives, making it one of the healthiest yee sang I’ve eaten. So we tossed and tossed, for the bigger and better dragon year ahead.

Jelly Fish Yee Sang with Snow Pear

Tossing of yee sang – ‘lou sang’

The aftermath

The yee sang was crunchy and refreshing, thanks to the generous amount of jelly fish and pear that made the combination palatable. Now that we’re done with the appetizer, the 8-course menu starts!

#1: BTW Two Combination

The BTW Two Combination that we had that day was a mixture of crispy bean curd with water chestnut and fish paste wrapped in pork bacon blanket. I thought the deep-fried bean curd was quite a brilliant combination of textures – crispy on the outside, soft and wobbly inside with bits of chunky water chestnut. The fish paste wrapped in pork bacon looked like sausages, and were pretty bouncy and succulent. On its own, it’s savoury, but glazed with sweet and sour sauce, it’s a complete dish set to tease your taste buds.

BTW Two Combination – crispy bean curd with water chestnut

BTW Two Combination – Fish paste wrapped in pork bacon

#2: Double Boiled Chicken Soup with Wild Ginseng and Dry Scallop

The second dish was chicken soup with wild ginseng and dry scallop, an utterly comforting bowl of soup which was full of flavours! I loved that the chicken was soft and tender (and the fact that I had chicken thigh meat helped! ), and the scallop plump and flavourful. Every slurp tasted like soup from home, and might I say the portion was pretty hefty too. I was half-full by the time I was done with it.

Double Boiled Chicken Soup with Wild Ginseng and Dry Scallop

#3: Fried Red Snapper Roll with Spicy Salad Sauce

The next dish was not only a treat to the palate, but an eye candy too. The deep fried red snapper was served in rolls like sausages instead of the conventional way of serving it as a whole fish. These ‘sausages’ were made from mackerel fish paste and wrapped with snapper before being deep-fried. Hence, each bite into the fish roll revealed bouncy meat buried within flaky crispy snapper. Finish it off with little balls of watermelon or honey dew which were all sweet!

Fried Red Snapper Roll with Spicy Salad Sauce

The fish rolls

#4: Braised (10 head) Abalone with Mushroom and Beancurd

The next dish was an impressive serving of 10-head abalone with mushroom and beancurd. Just look at the huge size of abalone! ’10-head abalone’ actually refers to the weight of the abalone, whereby 10 pieces of it make up 600 grams. In other words, the small the number is, the bigger the size of the abalone would be. Needless to say, we all enjoyed the bouncy and juicy abalones very much, but not to forget the other star of the dish – the beancurd! This was not just any other beancurd, this was freshly homemade and was superbly smooth and soft, I could go on and on gulping them down.

Braised (10 head) Abalone with Mushroom and Beancurd

#5: Double Boiled Kampung Chicken with Lotus Seed & Chinese Wine

Saucer rarely raves about dishes so whenever he does so, I would take special note because it really doesn’t happen often! That day, the one dish that he showered with compliments was the double boiled kampung chicken. Served in a huge bamboo basket, the chicken was simmered and boiled until fall-off-the-bone tender, yet managed to maintain its flavours. The combination of lotus seed, wolfberries and red dates made the thick broth sweet, hearty and good. I guess it was in Saucer’s good books because it’s healthy too.

Double Boiled Kampung Chicken with Lotus Seed & Chinese Wine

#6: Stir Fried “Kai Lan” with Choy Po

After so many dishes of meat, we had a dish of greens – the stir fried kailan on its own was nothing special, but top it with ‘choy po’ or preserved mustard and it made all the difference. The ‘choy po’ was crunchy and savoury, lending a nice twist to the otherwise plain vegetables.

Stir Fried “Kai La” with Choy Po

#7: Fried Glutinous Rice with Waxed Meat

By course #7, if you are still not full, then it’s time to stuff yourself with this delicious fried glutinous rice with waxed meat. Even though glutinous rice was used, it was nothing like those sticky, clumpy rice that we were expecting. Instead, this was perfectly fried with each morsel evenly coated, fluffy and brilliantly tasty. Even though I was already full to the brim, I couldn’t stop myself from finishing one bowl of it.

Fried Glutinous Rice with Waxed Meat

#8: Sweet Red Bean Paste with Lily Bulb

Last but not least, to end the satisfying meal on a sweet note, we had red bean paste with lily bulb. Nothing too fancy here, just pure, smooth red bean without being excessively sweet that had us rubbing our tummy by the end of it. We were satiated to say the least.

Sweet Red Bean Paste with Lily Bulb

We were given a special treat that day too – a dessert that’s not on the menu yet – Chrysanthemum and wolfberry jelly on one plate, and Tofu jelly on another. Both were served chilled, making them ideal if you are having the meal during lunch.

Chrysanthemum and wolfberry jelly

Tofu jelly in gula melaka – refreshing!

Well, what can I say? It was one of the most satisfying meals that I’ve had in a while, no-frills dishes that were good and generously portioned, served in a comfortable environment without burning a hole in the pocket. So how much does a meal like this cost for the upcoming Chinese New Year? The good news is, there’s a menu for 6 pax that starts from RM338+ to RM478+ and a menu for 10 pax that starts from RM598+ to RM788+. This means about RM60+ per pax for a sumptuous 8-course menu with yee sang in a pleasant environment. But bear in mind though, this restaurant is relatively small so reservations would be highly recommended.

Comfortable dining environment

Ben Tdi Wei at Centre Point, BU

Ben Tdi Wei / Local Delights Restaurant (next to KFC)
Lot G1 & G2, Ground Floor Centre Point,
3 Lebuh Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel. No.: +603-7727 7733 / 7727 1811
Fax No.: +603-7725 3200

I’m finally BACK! It’s amazing how time really flies when you’re having holidays, or fun! More posts on Bangkok coming up soon, but first, what’s the food that you miss the most whenever you travel abroad for a long period of time? For me, it’s without a doubt, Nasi Lemak! There’s just something about the coconut rice, the hot and spicy sambal and the fried anchovies that hold a special place dear to my heart. Recently, we tried out one of the latest nasi lemak place in town, aptly called Sambal. Located on the first floor of The Scott Garden, this place was relatively quiet when we went there on a Saturday morning.

I miss Nasi Lemak

Sambal – the place to be for Nasi Lemak

Located near the entrance of the shop was a counter filled with various curries and nasi lemak condiments. This was where the nasi lemak preparation took place. The restaurant was spacious and airy, with plenty of natural sunlight coming in from all corners. Once we got our table, we were handed a one-page menu and service was prompt.

Various curries

Kopi O (RM2)

Nescafe Ice (RM3.50)

Pretty soon, our order of Nasi Lemak Ayam (Nasi Lemak with fried chicken) arrived with piping hot coconut milk rice. It was served with a whole chicken thigh that was deep fried to a crispy finish and had that glorious glaze that would make anyone salivate. The chicken was well-marinated and had tender juicy meat, while the skin was delightfully crunchy and savoury. Thankfully, the chicken was not overly oily too, so I had quite a fair bit of the skin.

Nasi Lemak Ayam (RM12)

We also ordered another serving of Nasi Lemak Egg, which came with the basic condiments except for the fried chicken. Served with a huge portion of coconut milk rice, the sambal packed a punch! Looks can be deceiving and in this case, the sambal was much spicier than it looked. I was quite impressed with the level of spiciness of it and couldn’t help but downing spoon after spoon of the fragrant rice. Speaking of the rice, did I mention how fluffy and fragrant it was? Every morsel was light, warm and filled with the pleasant aroma of coconut milk, but not too much that it became sticky. No, this was just right by my books.

Nasi Lemak Egg (RM6)

The very spicy sambal

Absolutely fluffy and fragrant coconut milk rice

With a comfortable air-conditioned environment and a bright and spacious restaurant, I definitely enjoyed my brunch on that Saturday morning. Might I also add that the portion of the rice was quite generous, such that I did not feel hungry until past dinner time. Feels so good to finally have your cravings satisfied, don’t you agree?

Comfortable dining environment at Sambal

Sambal Restaurant

Sambal
1-12 & 1-13, The Scott Garden,
Kompleks Rimbun Scott,
289, Jalan Klang Lama,
58100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel No.: +603-7987 7101

Can you believe it? In just 10 days, it will mark the beginning of the new year, the year of the Dragon. It feels just like yesterday when I was tossing yee sang in the shape of a Rabbit! To welcome the new year of the Dragon, also the most popular year in the Chinese zodiac, Toh Yuen Restaurant has brilliantly come up with an amazing yee sang presentation in the shape of a Dragon, no less! The dragon head and legs were painstakingly carved from pumpkin, while its body was carefully arranged using pieces of vegetables and fruits, making it almost to pretty to be eaten. What’s more, just like the legend, the ensemble was completed with a dragon ball too! Impressive was an understatement.

The brilliant Dragon Yee Sang

The Dragon and its ball

If you look closely, the dragon ball was in fact made from slices of abalone, salmon, cucumber and pear, topped with bits of pomelo. It’s not just pleasing to the eye, it’s pretty refreshing to the palate too! Soon, all the rest of the yee sang ingredients including the crackers and plum sauce were poured onto the platter, and we began to toss our way to happiness and to a new and better year.

Topped with crackers and plum sauce

Tossing for a bigger and better year

The messier it is, the better

The Dragon yee sang is a special pre-order dish that needs 3 days to prepare. Costing a whopping RM888, the yee sang with the dragon head definitely doesn’t come cheap. But judging from the amount of work and creativity poured into this beautiful ensemble, together with the high quality ingredients, I’d say it’s probably worth it. After all, the year of the Dragon comes but once every 12 years, and most Chinese believe in the symbolic meaning of it more than anything else. So I can foresee this yee sang to be a popular hit! Best of all, it’s delicious! The combination of the fresh salmon and abalone together with the sweet and sour plum sauce and the various fruits made this one of the juiciest yee sang tasted.

Juicy and crunchy yee sang

Once the yee sang was out of the way, we began our dinner from the Longevity Menu. The 8-course menu comes with a bottle of wine.

#1: Braised “Hu Die” Shark’s Fin with Crab Meat Soup

The first course was the shark’s fin and crab meat soup, an extremely flavourful and thick broth that was generously filled with crab meat. If there’s one thing about crab that I don’t like, it’s the amount of effort required to extract the meat out! Thankfully, the skilful chef made it all easier for us with the meat extracted, plus the delicate shark’s fin on top.

Braised “Hu Die” Shark’s Fin with Crab Meat Soup

Whole shark’s fin

If you don’t feel comfortable eating shark’s fin (just like me), you can opt for the Braised Chicken Soup with Chinese Herb “Chong Chao Hua” and Sea Cucumber, a lighter version of soup but far from being light in taste. In fact, the chicken soup was rich with chicken herbs and refreshing from the wolfberries, that I wished there was more of it to sip.

Braised Chicken Soup with Chinese Herb “Chong Chao Hua” and Sea Cucumber

#2: Braised Chinese Herb Chicken with Black Fungus

The second dish of braised chicken with black fungus was prepared with a 6-hour marination before being cooked for 3 whole hours! It was a glorious pot of treasure filled with pacific clams, sea cucumber and wolf berries, making the gravy very sweet and tasty. My only minor gripe was that I was given the chicken breast meat, which was generally drier and blander in comparison to the other parts of chicken. Otherwise, I loved this dish, gravy and all.

Braised Chinese Herb Chicken with Black Fungus

#3: Steamed Fish Sea Garoupa with Spicy Garlic Sauce

As with typical Chinese dinners, there is most certainly a dish of fish in the menu. That night, we had the steamed garoupa with spicy garlic sauce, presented on a bed of glass noodles or ‘tong fun’. The fish was flaky, smooth and firm, while the flavour of garlic and ginger did well in bringing out the freshness of the fish. But what I enjoyed most really, was the glass noodles. Buried under the steamed fish, they seem to have absorbed the essence of the fish on top, and the savoury soy sauce at the bottom, making them simply the best of both worlds. I had double helpings of these noodles, so good!

Steamed Fish Sea Garoupa with Spicy Garlic Sauce

#4: Braised Sea Cucumber with Mixed Mushrooms

Moving on, we were served braised sea cucumber with mixed mushrooms and broccoli. The sea cucumber was bouncy and spongy, absorbing the gravy beautifully. I also loved the juicy mushrooms that were bursting with flavour. Lovely dish to fill the gap before the next seafood was presented.

Braised Sea Cucumber with Mixed Mushrooms

#5: Sautéed Fresh Prawns with Black Pepper Sauce

In Chinese customs, the presence of prawns or ‘har’ in Cantonese, denotes the meaning of laughter or ‘haha’, a must for the new year. We all want to be happy and filled with laughter all the time, so this dish of prawns is usually well-received among the Chinese. The relatively large prawns were nicely sauteed with black pepper gravy and were absolutely succulent. My favourite part of eating prawns was sucking the delicious gravy from the shells, it’s the most tasty part of eating prawns, really.

Sautéed Fresh Prawns with Black Pepper Sauce

#6: Sautéed Toh Yuen Fried Rice with Seafood

While most restaurants are serving waxed meat rice (lap mei fan) for the new year, Toh Yuen is sticking to the safe choice of seafood fried rice, fried impeccably with fresh squid, prawns and fish fillet to a redolent finish. Each grain of rice was perfectly coated with the golden egg, and each mouthful was flavourful and fluffy. Lovely!

Sautéed Toh Yuen Fried Rice with Seafood

#7: Deep Fried Crispy Chinese New Year Cake

For dessert, we had deep fried ‘nian gao’, a sticky and sweet cake that is usually served during the Chinese New Year. Fried correctly, the ‘nian gao’ became crispy on the outside but gooey and soft on the inside. Simply gorgeous.

Deep Fried Crispy Chinese New Year Cake

#8: Double Boiled Red Dates with Papaya and White Fungus

Last but not least, the double boiled red dates with papaya and white fungus was not only sweet but a healthy dessert to end the very satisfying meal. The sweetness of red dates was apparent in the soup, blending very well with the papaya cubes. Honestly, I enjoyed this dessert more than I expected myself to.

Double Boiled Red Dates with Papaya and White Fungus

Without a doubt, this was one of the most creative Chinese New Year menu that I’ve ever tasted, especially with the unique dragon yee sang. If you would like to experience the tossing of the dragon too, remember to make your reservation 3 days in advance!

Welcoming the year of the Dragon with style

The Chinese New Year menus by Toh Yuen Chinese Restaurant are available only from 9th January to 6th February 2012, and range from RM988++ onwards for a table of 10. The Longevity Menu above costs RM1,388++ per table of 10. For more details on other menus, click here.

Toh Yuen Chinese Restaurant @ Hilton Petaling Jaya
No. 2, Jalan Barat,
46200 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel no.: +603-7955 9122 (ext 4073/4)
Fax no.: +603-7955 3909
Website: www.zestpj.com

This post is long due, since we went to Bangkok a couple of months back! Seeing that we’re in Bangkok again right now, I thought it would be the perfect timing to continue with the adventure. Chatuchak Weekend Market is synonymous with shopping in Bangkok. It’s almost unacceptable if one visits Bangkok without dropping by the largest market in the whole of Thailand. Spanning over 35 acres with more than 5,000 stalls, it almost proved to be a colossal task just to finish walking even half of it! Not to forget the hot and humid tropical weather there, we were sweating buckets before we even started walking. Here are just some of the things that one could expect while roaming the streets of Chatuchak / Jatujak / JJ Market.

Streets of Chatuchak

1. Puppy-Shopping

There’s a whole section in the Chatuchak Market that sells pets, pets and more pets! Although I’m not a pet person, I found the area with puppies almost too adorable to ignore. Most of them had fur so soft and fine just like a soft toy! It was quite fascinating watching the would-be buyers observing the pups and determining which one they would take home.

So many cute puppies for sale

Some of the bigger ones

Look at their glorious soft fur

Would you take me home?

2. Fashion and Accessories for the Ladies, Men and Kids

Ask any girls going to Chatuchak and the first thing that would come to find is fashion! True enough, there are plenty of sections in Chatuchak dedicated to women’s clothes, lingerie, bags, accessories, shoes, you name it! Many of the stalls even sell rather similar items, so you might end up getting confused if you were thinking about walking around first before going back to buy your desired items. For me, I would ask for the price from the first stall and move on to the nearby stalls to compare, but never far away from the same street so that I wouldn’t be confused. Then, I would go back to the stall with the best bargain.

Accessories for the ladies

Women’s fashion

More accessories

There were also sections dedicated to men’s and children’s fashion, albeit smaller compared to the ladies. Still, the choices were much more than you would find from a normal market. It’s massive! Just remember your baggage limit while shopping.

Children’s fashion

3. Home & Living Items

Keep on walking and you would end up in a section selling mostly home and living items, from bed sheets and comforters, to aromatic incense, to aromatherapy oils, kitchen utensils and pots and pans. I have a feeling my grandma would feel so at home here!   I loved the aromatherapy section for the smell was sometimes quite invigorating. Just what I need after hours of walking under the hot sun.

Aromatherapy oil and incense

Kitchen utensils

4. Street Food

After walking for hours, the stomach would surely start to growl. This is where the food section would come in handy. Taking over several sections of the market, there were plenty of food stalls selling various street food and cold drinks. It was almost too difficult to decide on where to eat since each stall was selling different items and most of them were filled with customers. Since we’re first-timers, we randomly picked a beef noodle stall and asked a stranger who was eating there whether it’s nice. When she nodded her head, we sat down and placed our order.

Street food

There was one stall though, that we noticed an exceptionally long queue. It turned out to be a stall selling Coconut Ice-Cream. It’s no wonder that this stall is so popular because the weather was simply burning hot so anything cold and yummy would definitely be a hit!

Long queue!

Coconut Ice-Cream

Stall selling coconut ice-cream

Without further ado, Saucer went in line and queued up as well. Fortunately, the workers were fast with their orders, every move was machine-like and we got our ice-cream in no time. The ice-cream was served in a cute coconut husk, with a side of nata de coco (jelly), atapchi (pine-seed?), peanuts, coconut flesh and a scoop of ice-cream.

Cost 30Baht if I’m not mistaken

How was it? I thought it was a little too sweet and the ice-cream was not cold enough. Perhaps the weather was simply too hot that even the ice-cream didn’t manage to quench me. Anyway, I guess Saucer enjoyed it so it was all good.

Coconut ice-cream

5. More Walking!

Now that the tummy’s all filled up, it was time for more walking. We were there from 11am until past lunch, and yet we didn’t even cover a quarter of the massive market. The sun was starting to get to us, with the heat and the sweat, so we didn’t feel like doing anything except for walking and window-shopping. By about 3pm, we declared that we did enough walking of the day, and headed back to the hotel.

Walk, walk and walk

Under the hot sun

My honest opinion? Unless you have something in particular to look for from Chatuchak, it might not be the perfect place for a leisure walk due to the scorching hot weather in this open air market. If you ask me, I would much prefer to shop at Platinum Mall that is more organized and has air-conditioning. But that’s just me.

Getting to Chatuchak:
By MRT: Chatuchak market is adjacent to the Kamphaengphet station of the MRT Bangkok Metro Blue Line or 5-minute walk from Suan Chatuchak (Chatuchak Park)
By BTS: 5-minute walk from the Mo Chit station of the BTS Skytrain Sukhumvit Line