restoran makan makan

another food tryout around the kota kemuning neighborhood. located just opposite restoran mee papan, this shop is one of the surviving ones opened for about a year or so. this is actually my second visit as the first one i did not take any pictures.

gingko barley- rm2.50

leng chi kang- rm2.50

the gingko barley was so much better than the one i had in restoran mee papan. at least this time the color looks right. it is still not the best but acceptable given that i can hardly find this tong shui anywhere.

wu tau gow (yam cake)- rm3.50

this wu tau gow was horrible. it has anything but wu tau inside! the taste is floury without any yam taste or bits... absolutely not recommended!

gung fu cantonese yee mee- rm5.60

siam laksa- rm5.80

while the yee mee looks like an interesting dish, it doesnt taste as good as it looks. to be frank i like the squids because they were tangy but the gravy is just... not right and not good. it looks and taste gluey too... urgh.

the siam laksa received a bad review by my sister. it lacked taste. the broth may look appealing and all but we've been deceived...

:(


restoran makan makan
gf5, jalan anggerik vanilla m31/m,
kota kemuning,
40460 shah alam.
tel: 012-2727862


[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

life and its fragility

life is fragile. we all know it, but it doesnt strike deep unless it happens to you or someone you know or even someone close.

this morning, i was walking to class with a friend whom ive known since my foundation days in inti. she started by asking me this question, "do you remember tian leng?"

i said, "yeah i remember him. one of the guys back in our semester one foundation year... the guy always with the cap and he left after a semester."

she proceeded to break the news. "he died", she said. i was as shocked as she was when she heard this news from another mutual friend who also left after a semester but somehow managed to keep in touch with one or two of us.

i dont really know tian leng personally. but i know him well enough to associate him as a classmate and a new friend then. my friend said she couldnt believe it herself, so she went and checked out his friendster profile and read what others wrote for him. there were messages asking how was he enjoying christmas up there, angels with him, rest in peace and all that.

i didnt want to believe either. i too decided to see for myself. and then it struck real hard that it is true, he is gone. after he left inti subang, he went to inti genting to pursue hospitality and from what i read through his gf's blog, he fell from the 3rd floor of his apartment. went into coma, needed dialysis, body was too acidic and all that and in the end the doctor pronounced him dead.

i cried reading the word by word account of the whole incident.

i know this may be late, not knowing when exactly all these happened... probably few months back. i know nothing will bring him back, he will just be a part of memories for everyone who knew him. but i suppose it is through personal experiences like this seeing someone you know going off at a time when he was supposed to be like one of us, enjoying life and all that... life is indeed fragile.

rest in peace.

#

i went for a visit to the orphanage for spastic and handicapped children + adults this morning. it was my first of such visits. it is heartbreaking to see the people there. some are able-bodied but they're orphans or abused kids. but most have not a slightest idea of the world out there. they can't move, they can't walk, they can't sit upright. they dont recognize words and they cant speak properly. some are even strapped to seats.

ive always know how lucky i was. to be born able-bodied, perfectly healthy, having family and friends, being educated etc. but i felt even luckier and blessed after witnessing how life can be so harsh and cruel to others.

we played with the kids there and fed them lunch. i fed this girl, meimei. i dont know how old she is but she must be at least 13 or so. she couldnt sit upright, her hands had to be covered with cloths because she bites her own hands, she only has 2 front teeth and so when i fed her she ate lying down by swallowing her food without chewing. she cant respond and dont know what we are talking but once in a while she claps her hands and smiles. that was very heartwarming.

when we were leaving, there was this boy... i supposed he has down syndrome. he just gave a hug to everyone leaving and i heard him say "take care" to ms koh, to which she replied, "you take care ok? be a good boy."

i nearly wanted to cry.

such is life. learn to be thankful, grateful and kind.

restoran mee papan

i'm not kidding! the shop name is called 'mee papan'. been wanting to try this shop out eversince it opened, but never had the determination. HAHA.

ok, so one fine afternoon i went with my sister and boy were we so disappointed after that. to sum the whole visit out, which will probably be our FIRST and the LAST...

variety- oklah a few variations on pan mee. dry, soup, with eggs, curry, fried. also got porridge and rice dishes.

taste- BAD.

price- cheap, if it was nice. pricey in this case cos it was bad.

service- poor. one gelabah and one blur waiter. it was just pan mee, not fine dining and it took about more than half an hour for food to arrive.

ambience- oklah, not too bad. open kitchen concept, comfy chairs...

gingko barley- rm2.50
they ruined my fav tong sui :(
the broth is supposed to be barley white, not brownish!!
and only 2 miserable half pieces of gingko. grrr...

loh hon go- rm2.50

big wood's dumpling (3 pcs)- rm4
this was ok-lah.

chief's pan mee (dried)- rm4.80
i believe they meant 'chef' not 'chief'. anyway, the noodles were so thick!

chief's pan mee (soup)- rm4.80
again, noodles were so think! and the broth was so peppery and msg'ed. somemore the fried anchovies softened so fast...

smooth egg pan mee- rm5.80
thick noodles again... broth not much taste.

what more can i say? disappointing... total bill was rm25.10 with a 5% service charge. truly a eat to live place.

my (so far) fav pan mee is success team coffee shop near inti college manned by this uncle who's alil' sombong but nevertheless his pan mee is quite nice.

where's yours?

restoran mee papan
56-g, jalan anggerik vanilla m31/m,
kota kemuning, shah alam.
tel: 03-51213625

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

sushi zanmai #3

this marks my 3rd visit to sushi zanmai. last sunday, just 3 days ago to be precise, my sister was craving for japanese food and suggested we go sushi zanmai since hearing me singing praises of this joint for its delectable and extensive range of japanese food yet at an affordable price with nice ambience and good service.

and so we went for dinner at sushi zanmai @ sunway pyramid with jon, aunty mary and uncle david.

we decided to order a few different items and share...

agedashi tofu- rm6.80
fried beancurd

inari ebikko- rm3.80
shrimp roe

asama (3 kinds, 4 pieces each)- rm25
tuna, yellow-tail and salmon sashimi

chicken katsudon (L) -rm15.80
chicken cutlet and egg on rice

aso (12pcs + 1roll)- rm23.80
tuna, yellow-tail, salmon, eel, prawn, broiled scallop, crabmeat, octopus, omellete, cuttlefish, shrimp roll, cucumber roll

soft shell crab maki- rm6
(we had 4 servings)

aunty mary especially loved the soft shell crab maki. initially we had doubles and later ordered another doubles again, making it 4 servings of it! at rm6 per serving, its really cheap compared to the more exquisite zen (owned by same management) just opposite at rm18 per serving!!

everything tasted superb. no complains at all... even jon commented that the food were great. it has become our favourite japanese food joint for a quick fix of japanese food or a place to have dinners with family and friends.

i have yet to try other sushi joints like sushigroove, yo! sushi, zen and all that new and upcoming sushi places as sushi zanmai is still by far the best and tops my list in terms of quality food, comfortable and cosy setting, excellent services, and all these at a reasonable price.

three thumbs and toes up for sushi zanmai! i'll definitely make my 4th visit soon...

[read my 1st and 2nd review]

sushi zanmai
lot ob2-f1, sunway pyramid (old wing),
no.3, jalan pjs 11/15,
46150 bandar sunway,
petaling jaya, selangor.
03-74923080

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

hong kee tim sum #2

having tasted hong kee of the damansara jaya branch (here to read my review), i thought things might be better in the usj branch. after being reminded of a branch in usj, i jumped at the idea of having dim sum that weekend. so i dragged my sisters along with me after our music class on a sunday morning (3 weeks ago)...

its bright orange signboard is not to be missed and its very distinctive "tim sum" as opposed to normal spelling of "dim sum". maybe thats what is bringing this shop luck (not so nice food but with people flocking there, what is the world of food coming to)

:-/

chao loh mei fan- rm4

chee cheong fun (prawns)- rm4

siew mai- rm3

scallops siew mai- rm3

fish paste stuffed okras- rm3

fried prawn roll with mayo- rm3

siew long bao- rm4

beancurd skin stuffed with fish paste- rm3
(fishpaste tasted limp)

char siew bao- rm1.20 each

my main purpose was to try the 'chao loh mei fan' which has garnered various thumbs up and five stars rating from other floggers. but it turned out to be disappointing for me. the rice came only slightly warm and the rice were oily. absolutely nothing fantastic, i felt cheated :( and i lost faith in reading food reviews oledi....

... just kidding! ;-)

the dim sum fares were rather poor. at first i thought it'll be the same concept as the outlet in damansara jaya where waiters will bring raw dim sum items, steam it up for you. maybe they found that to be time consuming. at the usj outlet, items were steamed up beforehand. well, nothing wrong with that as thats what is being practiced in most dim sum places BUT here they dont have pushcarts to keep things warm.

so i had to ask for a resteam which generally hampered the taste. not to say it tastes fantastic before resteam but basically it just potong'ed our stim.

total bill amounted to rm44.40 for just the 3 of us. our verdict? not going to come back anytime soon.

hong kee tim sum (usj branch)
jalan usj 9/5p,
47620 selangor.
(same row as sumo japanese restaurant)

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

of cereal prawns and kangkung belacan

ive got a very easy recipe to share... the process can be a lil tedious especially if you hate frying! cos i really hate it... the oil pops everywhere!! massive tidy up after that...

anyway, i found a packet of instant cereals especially for cereal prawns. read the instructions and ingredients printed behind the packet and found it to be pretty easy peasy.

#

#STEP 1: ingredients! a pack of instant cereal mix, prawns, curry leaves, red chillies.

#STEP 2: ensure prawns are dried up using kitchen towel, massage some corn flour onto them, heat oil and throw them all in to fry! prawns cook very fast, so just toss them around for about 3 mins and dish up. line the bowl with kitchen towel to absorb the oil.

(p/s: oil pops when there's moisture!)


#STEP 3: Clean wok and toss curry leaves and red chillies in till fragrant.


#STEP 4: Pour prawns and toss them with the curry leaves and chillies.

#STEP 5: pour the whole packet of instant cereal mix. toss and mix with prawns on low heat. dish up after well mixed.

p/s: dont mix too long else cereal burns due to heat.

#

kangkung belacan:
#1- saute chopped onions with red chillies till fragrant.
#2- mix spoonful of belacan with water till there's no residue. pour in the wok.
#3- put kangkung leaves in and stir fry till fragrant and cooked.
#4- dish up and serve!

yummz :)

uncle lim's cafe

every monday i have 8-10am followed by 2-3pm class. FOUR HOURS BREAK!! grrrr...

last monday, the 8-10am class was really cold, boring and i was as usual hungry. all i could think of during the 2 hours lecture was, "gosh... wouldnt it be GREAT to have a bowl of piping hot curry laksa infront of me now..."

right after class was dismissed, i told my friends that im skipping the 1 hr class later. i need to go grocery shopping as i had planned to cook dinner that night (which was true! i cooked cereal prawns, kangkung belacan and herbal soup :D).

okok back to my food review. now, im really no big fan of uncle lim's. in fact, i think all these modern "kopitiams" are such rip offs... they just sell on the concept of "old school, nostalgic dining" but the food sucks and they're expensive! sorry, but i decided to be hypocritical for once. i went to uncle lim's and ordered the uncle lim's laksa.

uncle lim's laksa- rm7.90

at rm7.90 a bowl, its not cheap but worth the bowl size. sighs, whattodoo, rm7.90 for a bowl of piping hot curry laksa in front of me... nvm, worth it if it satisfies my sudden cravings. the laksa came in a very attractive, appealing color and handful of onions and cucumber shreds.

p/s: they didnt gimme discount although i am a LIM as well :(

there were generous portions of sardine fish and the onion, cucumber, pineapple shreds was a delight to munch on. the broth was okay, not fantastic but okay in my book of standards. to be frank, im not much of a fan of curry laksa either. i always fear the broth might spill on my shirt (which it did!!) and there's just too much curry oil and it freaks me out (/pretends to be health conscious).

i didnt order their coffee as ive tried it once and it was terrible! nothing like the AUTHENTIC ipoh coffee i had for 14 years...

uncle lim's cafe
lot g27g 1&2, ground floor,
subang parade.
(near entrance, opposite giordano)

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

ktz food

i cant remember when was my last visit to ktz, actually i cant really remember if im been there or not despite ravings from everyone about it. so the other night, after the king crab dinner i went there with my sisters and a friend of ours.

it was nothing as i expected... i have had high expectations for ktz since its so famous and packed with people. oftentimes, mention "tong sui" and ktz pops into many's minds. items in the menu were limited. i expected alot different varieties of tong sui and desserts... but it was disappointing.

black glutinous rice (hak lo mei)- rm2.20

tong yuen- rm1 per ball
(what a rip off!)

double boiled longan tea- rm4.50

mango sai mai lo- rm5

comments were that the tong sui are too sweet for our liking. the tong yuen was the biggest rip off! rm1 per ball... omg. our friend mentioned that the fillings were too sweet. sugar very cheap meh now?

ive heard so much bout ktz's mango sai mai lo, hence i decided to try it. after a spoonful, i dont see why it deserves that much of praise. in my humble opinion, its like another rip off. some mango puree with sago and a bowlful of ice shavings for rm5. c'mon im sure you and i can do better than that!

overall, it was a disappointing visit. not to mention, why are people flocking to this place when they offered to seat you beside a stinking drain?? dont shortchange yourself people!! you're paying, so make sure you get your money's worth.

read my sister's review here.


ktz food
no. 66 & 68
jalan ss2/67,
47300 pj.
tel: 03-78778499

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]

daorae korean bbq restaurant

last sunday, i (as usual) went parasiting for dinner with my sister and her bf and his parents. i know, *slaps self* what has my sister's dinner with her future-in-laws gotta do with me right... *sighs* but hey, i need to eat too! and especially if they're having good food, i have to tag along!!

*/ends shameless parasiting mode*

so we went to daorae, one of their fav korean bbq joints. honestly speaking, i am shameful to say being a self-proclaimed and aspiring flogger, ive never had korean bbq before! *gasps* but... at least ive seen pictures and read about it from others which makes me *a little* less jakun. hehe.

special 3 sauces

the range of items in the menu were extensive and prices were i presume within the standard range for korean bbq restaurants. i had no idea what to ordered, so all i did was flip thru the pages and wait for them to decide.

plates and plates of side dishes then came... ranging from bean sprouts, kimchi, green vege, anchovies and peanuts, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, korean pancake etc. the bestest thing is they come refillable...

:) no wonder korean bbq joints are a hit among us msians!

the soup served was awesome! with bits of seaweed and a couple of lala, the broth was flavourful and 맛있은 (delicious). my sister had a second serving of it.

janchi-gook-su -rm16
fresh vegetables and seafood served with korean noodles in hot soup

dolsot-bibim-bab -rm18
a rich layering of fresh and seasoned vegetables, slices of beef, served in steaming hot stone

both items on top, one noodles the other rice were something out of the ordinary for me. both tasted good, wished i had the whole bowl to myself. heheheh...

next, came the food we had all been waiting for...

(foreground) daeji gal-bi -rm27
choice pork ribs specially hand filleted, marinated in our special sweet soy sauce

(background) pork special -rm35
selected cuts of pork that is soft and tender, served with seasoned sesame oil sauce

i was taught how to eat the bbq meat. take a piece of the lettuce, place a few pieces of bbq meat, some bbq garlic and onions and some spicy vege. wrapped it up and dip into sweet sauce, pop it into your mouth!

the bbq meat were indeed tender, juicy and flavorful. we especially like the marinated pork as it was so sweet and juicy... the aftertaste lingers on.

it was indeed a wonderful meal and i was more than glad that this wholesome dinner popped my korean bbq cherry! now i can proudly say, "i've had korean bbq before!! heee!!"

the weekend is here!! :D

daorae korean bbq restaurant

taipan, usj.

(2nd floor on top of affin bank, opposite mcdonalds)

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]