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.]

restoran king crab seafood

king crab is a name familiar to many... i've blogged about their dim sum fare here before. a first timer for their dinner dishes though, i did my research on what to order. it was meant to be a simple dinner-meet up affair for the few of us and i was going to buy everyone dinner as I just got my paycheck cleared.

ms koh brought along a bottle of table wine... sorry, i cant remember the name. it was a sweet one and complemented our dinner well.

these are what i ordered based on other floggers' reviews and recommendations:

guinness pork ribs

yin yong kai lan

salted egg squid- *Highly Recommended*

lala in superior stock

baked salted fish- *Highly Recommended*
('suet san fei wu')

claypot butter crabs- rm40 per kg

fried mantou- rm3 per roll

the dishes were up to our expectations, no complains at all. the salted egg squid was DA BOMB! a really MUST order item as its fried to perfection and with a sinful coating of salted egg on top. looking at the pics now makes me wanna rewind time and have that again!

another MUST order dish is the baked salted fish ('suet san fei wu') which uses the tilapia fish. it is really special as salt are used to cover the whole fish and then baked. the fish was really fresh, its flesh is smooth and has a tangy feeling. the aftertaste was wonderful as well because you can really taste the salt.

the fried mantou really complemented the butter crab gravy... i like how it was fried to perfection, its crisy outside but fluffy inside. the crabs were very fresh as well...

the whole dinner was just so good that im running out of adjectives to describe them.

INTI bunch- jon, eiling, me, ms koh, ziling and greg

the dinner meet up was indeed fantastic for some catching ups, gossip sessions, political enlightenment, etc.

thanks ms koh for the dinner!

(she went and secretly paid the bill... when i was supposed to do it. grrrr...)

restoran king crab
103-107, jalan ss25/2,
taman mewah jaya,
47301 pj.
tel: 03-78082388
(opposite kelana jaya LRT station)

[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.]