Colourful Bowls of Desserts @ Little Penang Cafe

Red Ruby with Strips of Jackfruit- RM5.90

Desserts are a vital part of a meal, I am sure many out there will agree with me (especially the girls *wink*). A good dessert can end the meal on a high note, whereas a bad one will leave you hanging there, angry and disappointed... and leave you feeling empty even after you have had a full meal.

So here's 2 of my favourite oriental/asian desserts (wanted to say Malaysian but I think red ruby is made famous from Thai, also known as tub tim krob?). The red ruby is made to look like mock promegranate but actually it's made of water chestnut. Top it with ice shavings and coconut milk and strips of jackfruits, this dessert is just yummilicious!


Cendol- RM5.90

Looks like the cendol is not from Malaysia either, haha. Read from Wiki that it originated from Jakarta, Indonesia. I guess cendol is such a common type of dessert that it needs no introduction anymore?

Aaaaahhhhh, would love a bowl of this dessert now.


Little Penang Cafe
G43, Ground Floor,
The Curve.

[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.]

The Final Episode of Malacca

Jonker Walk

Malacca is dubbed the historic state of Malaysia. Well besides being a land rich in historical buildings and nolstagic feel, Malacca is also known as the Land of Good Food (LGF- Other LGFs include Ipoh, Penang and some of the outskirt areas).


Takoyaki stall- I love this snack!

Jonker Walk or Jalan Hang Jebat is inarguably the most famous (and probably overrated) but it is the one place everyone will go to appreciate the historical buildings, antique scouting, food searching and souvenir buying. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, Jonker Walk will transform into a night market, except you won't see any vegetables or poultry being sold. There are traders lining along the pedestrian street selling knick knacks, souvenirs, street snacks, crafts, jewellery etc.


Curry Laksa

Whenever we are in Malacca, Jonker 88 will be a sure drop-by for their curry laksa and durian cendol. I am not a fan of this artery clogging but colour inducing bowl of noodles but my makan partner in crime gives his thumbs up all the time for this! Mmmm mmmmmm.

I am an assam laksa person :)


Durian Cendol

I headed for the durian cendol instead. Durian + cendol, can the equation get better than that? Although this has been weeks ago, can't explain the sudden cravings for cendol these few days though, still hasn't got my fix of it yet. Any good cendols around PJ- preferably near Section 19?


Putu Piring

I'm ashamed to say I have never seen, ate or even know what putu piring was until I was shown the 'light'. Putu pirings are steamed rice flour filled with gula melaka and topped with grated coconut. Hot, fluffy and packed with sweet offerings, these traditional sweet cakes sells at 80¢ per piece and even Jason (aka Ah Xian) from Astro approves of it (click here)!



Jonker 88
88, Jalan Hang Jebat,
75200 Melaka.

Putu Piring
252, Jalan Tengkera,
75200 Melaka.
Tel: 06-282 1505
Business hours: 6.30-10.30pm, closed on Sundays

[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.]

Mille Crepe @ Nadeje

Original Mille Crepe- RM8.50

Still on the Malacca episode, today's post will be on the famous Nadeje Mille Crepe. In KL, the only place you will probably see this (or at least the one I know) is at Food Foundry and I have heard and read too much about the standard and quality of the food not as good as it used to be. True enough, my first encounter with FF left quite a bit of impression on me that I vowed to revisit when I can finally drive and find my way there. Fast forward, think the food now is overrated and pricey... and the supposingly special Mille Crepe cakes are not that good anymore.

Haven't tried Nadeje before but read so much about it being more 'original' than FF's. So here we are at Nadeje!


Calpis Hisbiscus- RM8.50, Cafe Mocha- RM8.50

I have to admit, the cake here is better. Not too sure whether I've been psychologically hypnotized to think Nadeje's version is better from all the reviews, but the cake does taste good, and creamier. A little too pricey for a piece of cake though methinks. The drinks are ok, though really the Calpis Hibiscus is meant for those with an acquired taste :/

Overall a good place to have a teatime/evening tea break :)


Nadeje
G-23 & 25, Jalan PM4,
Plaza Mahkota,
75000 Melaka.
Tel: 06-283 8750

[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.]

Malay Style Seafood @ Crystal Bay, Malacca

Pick me! Pick me!

Seafood is always synonymous to Chinese/Western style of cooking- the lavish kind you can find at big but sometimes overpriced seafood restaurants? When in Malacca few weeks back, a kind local friend of ours took us for seafood- Malay kampung style seafood.


Cook me! Cook me!

This seafood place is located quite far from the Malacca city centre (by small town standards, I think it is far) and the place is called Crystal Bay. Quite a nice name but the actual on site location begs to differ, ha ha. Anyway, that's besides the point. There are a few stalls, all in the seafood business so naturally we picked the stall with the most people. There are a variety of catches for you to pick your dinner from. We picked our fish, prawns, squid and kupang.


Warm Nasi Lemak- RM0.50 per pack

The style of eating here is with nasi lemak, small but warm and fluffy. An average person can probably gobble 3 or 4 of this at one sitting. But of course, we're not here for nasi lemak, so we shall leave space for the main dishes!


Udang Bakar (Grilled Prawns?)- RM4.50 each


Butter Prawns- RM4.50 (each)

We picked 6 prawns, 3 done in butter style and the rest purely grilled to taste the freshness. The prawns are big and fresh, I think they are fresh water prawns. Bakar style of butter style, both were fresh and tangy.


Ikan Jenak Bakar (Grilled Jernak Fish)- RM19.50

For our grilled fish, we chose the Jenak type. This was fresh too and the grilled aroma was too good to be resisted!


Sotong Bakar (Grilled Squid)- RM10

While the sotong bakar was nothing fantastic to shout about, it was fat and tangy which will surely send the cholestrol level rocket high! Oh and grilled crispy tentacles are yums!


Kupang (Local Mussels)- RM8

Surely, there's got to be something soupy among all the grilled dishes right? We ordered the kupang which are also known as local mussels (not as big, fat, and orangy as the western ones) done in sweet & sour style. For RM8, I think the dish was quite a steal!

The total bill came up to RM66.45 for 3 persons inclusive of nasi lemak and coconut water.


Warisan Aroma Kita Stall No.2
@ Crystal Bay, Melaka.

[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.]

'Best Pork Satay in Melaka'

Besides being quite annoying when they can't locate the satellite, GPS is actually quite a useful tool especially for those on a makan trip! We located this pork satay shop (captioned as the best pork satay in Melaka) through the GPS point of interest function.

Let me bring you the 'Best Pork Satay in Melaka'!



Now, to be honest, I love pork and all things porky (except char siew pao's fatty lard, as publicly announced in my FB few days ago, with much objection from certain csp lovers and a few support from anti-csp fatty lard members), so naturally I should LOVE pork satay right? Wrong! I like chicken satay more... hehe.

Anyway, I can't deny that this 'Best Pork Satay in Melaka' is tasty, with the grilled fatty bits in between and grilled flavours, it is quite addictive. We went in with the objective of trying "2 sticks" and ended up having 20 over sticks! There were also grilled intestines (yums!) and grilled coagulated pork blood (yuck!).



The satay is at 55¢ a stick.


Kedai Satay Xiang Ji
50, Jalan Portugis,
Off Jonker Street (Jln Hang Jebat),
Melaka.

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.]

Restoran Manis Sayang, Malacca Nyonya Food

Good food and big cities usually don't come hand in hand. It is in the small outskirts, kampung terpencil that you find cheap tasty food. Malacca, Ipoh and Penang would be the usual suspects when it comes to small town, good food but of recent years, these places have gone on a rocket high inflation- all the supposedly famous eatery outlets have compromised the taste for higher prices. Le sigh.


Sweet potato crackers?

Therefore, on my most recent visit to the historical town, makan partner-in-crime and I decided to skip the famous commercialized overrated places in search of other Malaccan food.

We heed a fellow Malaccan's recommendation of Nyonya food- Restoran Manis Sayang, which is actually quite famous as Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan and even the Thai Deputy PM or something/someone have been there!


Cendol biasa- RM2

Can't seem to run away from having a good bowl of cendol when you're in Malacca... I like mine rich in santan and gula melaka.


Nyonya Chap Chai- RM10 (small)

Colorful nyonya plate of cabbage, carrot, tomato and black fungus with fried beancurd skin provide a balanced meal.


Cincaluk omelette- RM7 (small)

Overheard from a dear colleague and supplier singing praises of the Malacca cincaluk omelette and was thus thrilled to find this on the menu! Slightly salty but makes a good accompaniment to white rice!


Udang Lemak Masak Nanas- RM18

This was recommended by our Malaccan friend. The prawns were fresh and no, those are not potatoes but pineapples, hence the name of the dish ;-) Contrary to what you see, it's not spicy at all! The pineapples do give a different flavour to the dish.


Ayam Pongteh- RM10

Ayam pongteh is also known as miso soy chicken. It is braised and and usually comes accompanied with potatoes and mushrooms. The gravy is excellent on white rice and the chicken is tender and flavourful. If there's any word to describe the potatoes, it would be 'bonus' to a homely dish.

See, this time we didn't kickstart our Malacca food ventures with chicken rice balls!


Restoran Manis Sayang
618, Taman Melaka Raya,
75000 Melaka.
Tel: 06-281 3393

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.]

Dubrovnik, Pearl of The Mediterranean

Dubrovnik
Pearl of The Meditteranean

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city and is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of the benefits of globalization is the array of international cuisines you can find on our local shore. Put your passports and boarding pass aside, let me take you to Croatia!

p/s: I had initially thought Dubrovnik is a Russian restaurant.


Bread with Ajvar

I guess it's becoming a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for all these international cuisines restaurants ie. French and Italian to serve bread and most commonly balsamic vinegar, but in this case, Dubrovnik offers it with ajvar (a type of Croation vegetable salsa-like dip). The bread is served warm and the ajvar dipping is different from the usual balsamic vinegar.


Due Colori Soup- RM16
Perfectly divided plate of creamy leek-spinach with asparagus and cauliflower soup

I am not a big fan of vege blended things, I like my veg to be whole and cooked. So I was a bit skeptical on a vege soup... until it arrived and I had a spoonful of it, oh how wrong I was! The soup was great, especially the green part. The cauliflower part tasted a tad bland but when paired with the leek-spinach and asparagus portion, my skepticism towards vege soups was temporarily removed. This is a Must Order from the appetizer section.


Strukli- RM15
Fresh cheese dumplings, pan fried with bread crumbs, served with sour cream

The waiter attended to us recommended Strukli as an appetizer. Cheese has never been on top of my appetizer list but we decided to give it a shot since it was a Chef's Recommendation. When the dish arrived, it looked nothing like dumplings, or at least the Chinese type (in my mind, dumplings = wanton/sui gao/woh tip). Now I know what Croation 'dumplings' look like! Not a recommended dish for those watching their weight or lactose intolerant. After a piece of Strukli, I felt like my dinner was done.


Flambeed Steak Korcula- RM58
Prime beef loin marinated with spices and Dijon then pan-fried on butter with special mushroom sauce and cognac

I usually have my steak in a piece, not in pieces, so this was quite a change from the usual steak dish. The main is accompanied with some fried onion rings, some blanched vege, and some fried potato-like balls . The steak is nice and tender and has quite a distinct taste but in my humble opinion, a little too oily.


Lamb Peka- RM50
Traditional Croatian way of preparing meat or seafood, under and iron bell for 3 hours in the wood burning oven

The Lamb Peka was another recommended dish. It was stated that the dish needs booking in advance but on that day it was readily available. Hmmm, not too sure on the contradiction but I guess it's a lucky night for us. I'm not usually a fan of ordering lambs but my makan partner in crime was craving for some lamb... the comment on this dish is that it wasn't flavourful enough, at least for the price to pay. We found out that they stuffed some garlic in the lamb, so that was a bit of consolation as the garlicky part has a bit more substantial taste. The dish is served with saffron rice and some vege.



In my humble opinion, I like the service, ambience and the decorations- perfect for a good dine out with your loved one and/or friends/family. However, for the price to pay, the food were not as good as I hoped to be. Then again, this is the Malaysian tastebud talking, perhaps the dishes were meant to taste like that- the Croatian way. The soup was a clear winner that night and we'd love to return again to try out some other dishes to prove ourselves wrong.


Dubrovnik
J-OG-14, Solaris Mont Kiara,
No. 2, Jalan Solaris, Mont Kiara,
Kuala Lumpur.

[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.]

Father's Day BBQ

I think I'm earning a little reputation on being a blogger who's 1) too busy (not lazy ok!) to update her blog and 2) a blogger who has quite a bit of backlogs to clear. So, that explains why I'm only posting on Father's Day when it was errr... 2 months back??



Mom bought a new cooking gadget from her last trip to Dubai- an Open BBQ Grill, very convenient as it's small and portable but runs on electricity, so no it cannot replace the good ol' charcoal pits!

We had pork chops...





Grilled prawns...





... and grilled squid.



*Tadah!* A wholesome homemade BBQ dinner. The grill is easy to use and best bit is you can see the oil dripping away... and it's fun to act like a hotel grill chef sometimes!

Headin' to Malacca tomorrow! And on a mission to NOT eat the usual Malaccan food (ie. chicken rice balls), gonna hunt for new food :-)

Will be back with pictures, cheers!

Viet Passion @ Chulan Square

A little touch of Vietnamese for today's reading/salivating pleasure :-)


Fresh Prawn Rolls- RM8
Translucent rice paper wrapping shrimps and assorted vege


Grilled Rice Ake- RM17


Beef Noodle Soup- RM18

For the love of beef and rice paper wrapped things...


Sliced Raw Beef


Beef Dip in Vinegar- RM32


Wrap it up with the rice paper!

While the Grilled Rice Ake is unmistakably a miss, the prawn roll and beef noodles were worth a try. The highlight was the Beef Dip in Vinegar, something out of the ordinary- shabu shabu with a Vietnamese touch. The raw slices of beef were dipped in the boiling soup (they call it vinegar, but it's soup with loadsa spices) and dry rice papers are also served which you'll have to brush water to make it moist and wrap it with other assorted veges to form a roll.



But errr... obviously we didn't do too well with the wrapping but it was fun preparing it hehe.


Four Treasures Drink- RM10
Water chestnut, gingko, red ruby, green cendol thingy....



Viet Passion
Lot B6, Chulan Square,
92, Jalan Raja Chulan,
50200 KL.
Tel: 03-2141 3838

[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.]

Fish Farm Thai Restaurant

Fish Farm Thai Restaurant

Fish Farm Thai Restaurant is probably one of the most secluded places I have been to for good food. It is not situated along roadside, neither is it in a shopping complex or at busy foodcourts. As the name may suggest, it is located in a fish farm, off the busy roads and into the land of unknown.

Bumpy untar roads, jungle-looking trees, pitch black........... and to good food!


Seafood Tom Yum- RM15


Salted Egg Prawns- RM15


Baked Salted Fish (Tilapia)- RM27 (Must Order)


Grilled Squid- RM12 (per serving)


Grilled Lamb- RM10


BBQ Crabs- RM5.50 (per 100gm)


Kang Kung w Fried Shallots- RM8


Deep fried Spinach- RM8 (Must Order!)

The amount of food ordered for 5 persons were crazy! But food was good that we managed to swipe everything clean. As the restaurant also has farm business, do expect their seafood fare to be fresh, sweet and juicy. I love the deep fried spinach dish as it reminds me of the similar deep fried kangkung dish I had in Kota Kinabalu. For those who love grilled meat, do give the grilled lamb a try but this dish may take quite some time to arrive! Other than that, overall, this restaurant deserves a revisit... but do take note that it is always packed on weekends, so if you intend to visit, go on a weekday instead.

Am not too sure on the directions but if you have a GPS or knows how to get to KL Lookout Point, then Fish Farm Thai Restaurant is just in the vicinity. A word of caution though- do try to get a 4WD vehicle as the bumpy untar roads may spoil your poor little cars :-)


Coconut- RM5

To quench thirst and refresh!


Goodies being BBQ'ed


Fish Farm Thai Restaurant
Km 4, Jalan Ampang,
Hulu Langat,
68000 Ampang,
Selangor.
Tel: 017-2515235/019-2606493

[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.]