Petaling Street Hokkien Mee

People always say that a particular dish from their own place of origin is the 'proper and correct version' while the same dish prepared anywhere else in any other way is always wrong, or 'not authentic'. But who has the right to say which was the original version? I suppose its natural to say that, but has the right to say which was the true original? Or maybe both are variations of the true original.

Nevertheless, I'm going to claim, right here and now, that the Hokkien Mee in Malaysia is much better than the one in Australia. And maybe anywhere else in the world. And I'm going even further by saying that every different Hokkien Mee place in Malaysia, regardless of whether they are different from one another, is still better than Hokken Mee in other parts of the world.

So there.

I say this because I was at this Hokkien Mee place in Petaling Street yesterday. The last time I went, it was your basic coffee shop, run down and all. But I was surprised that they actually renovated the place, so that when you head upstairs, it looked like any of your nice cafes in shopping malls (think Old Town Kopitiam style of restaurants).

And you had a nice view overlooking the hustle and bustle of Petaling Street as well.


The drinks came while we were waiting for the food, and surprisingly (which shouldn't be the case, since the place already looks so nice) the cup looked very nice as well.


Its like a cup you would buy for your own apartment, were you to move into one.

And then I fooled around with the sambal container.


It even has the Beijing 2008 mascots on it. ;)

The main event came after a not-so-long wait.


And it was so good. So so so good. Just too good.

We also ordered a bowl of Pan Mee.


For those not in the know, Pan Mee isn't noodles in a pan. Nor were they cooked in a pan either, though I suppose if you had to, you could cook Pan Mee in a pan. However, I don't really know what Pan Mee is made from. I just know that it isn't noodles cooked in a pan. But this is really good as well. Better than others I've eaten.

Although, I suppose being really hungry at that time may have influenced my decision slightly.

But it was still very good.

Merry Christmas

Had an excellent meal cooked by my aunty yesterday with spaghetti bolognese, salad, a turkey-like chicken, ayamas nuggets and drummets, nachos, mushroom soup, pumpkin soup.


Happy Days.

I'm a bit concerned about the lack of updates on my own blog. I guess I only have myself to blame for that. Have been back in KL for about a week already but have been busy configuring this new laptop with Vista that I bought. Its been giving me so many problems, but I'm not sure how many of the problems were Vista related though. Since its been bought, its already been reformatted twice. Lets hope it runs well from now on.

So, what food-related things have I got myself into in the past week?

Well, I finally got to eat nasi lemak after an extended period. Too bad they ran out of curry chicken.



Also, I tried copying Jamie Oliver in his 'Potatoes' episode of his latest series Jamie at Home. Some kind of oven baked frittata. Pity I lacked the right sausages and the right oven, and the herbs that he used.


Doesn't look too bad though I must say.

And this is some salad from Tony Roma's. A massive pile of veges indeed.


Also, I finally got to try out the burgers from Carl's Junior. When I read about RM20 burgers a couple of months ago I was in a state of disbelief that people would actually pay that amount for a set of fries, soft drink, and a burger. I thought Carl's Jr was just taking the opportunity to rip people off, considering that Malaysians nowadays are so taken in by the new restaurants that are popping up in nearly every new wing of every shopping complex. The other thing I can think of is J Co Donuts. I didn't try that but the queue was as long as the line for the MAS check-in at the airport. I mean, are doughnuts really that good?

Anyway, back to Carl's Jr, I must say that you are getting what you pay for though. The burgers are absolutely humongous.


This burger with fries and a soft drink would cost you RM18, if I'm not mistaken. I guess its up to people how much they want to pay for a burger. Its not bad though.

Okay, I'm off for now.

Until next time, may old and new friends get to meet up more often during the holidays.

Villa Romana

When I actually think of it, I've only ever been to one non-Asian place on Lygon Street, Corretto's. And that's a shame. Why? Because, I've never sampled any of the good restaurants on Lygon. Everytime I walk down that street, I look at the ample fare that people are eating, and think how good it would be to actually try some of it, without it ever occurring to me that i actually could very well just eat there myself.


And so, taking steps to remedy the situation (staying so near Lygon Street helps as well), I asked Sherreen to recommend a place, and off we went to Villa Romana.



It was unfortunate that in the combined excitement of the food arriving and not wanting to appear so Asian in taking pictures of food in an Italian restaurant that I forgot to note down the names of the dishes that we ordered, which looked so good, and tasted so 'D'lish', to quote Jamie Oliver, and whomever else who coined the term.

This was their seafood pizza. It's their last item on their pizza menu. And the most expensive as well. But it was the first time I'm able to appreciate a good pizza, and something not from college or Pizza Hut or Dominoes.

But all that was blown away when I took a taste of the pasta.


This is apparently their house specialty. Its the first time I've seen that type of pasta, and it was tossed with chicken and apple slices and cream, giving it a creamy, sweet, light flavour. When the only pasta in Australia I've ever eaten being Ormond College pasta, this was a real eye-opener. It was just so good.

Oh well, now that I'm staying near Lygon, I'm definitely going to take advantage of the fact that there are just so many more Italian restaurants to sample next year.

Tee hee.

So.

A week and a half into staying at an apartment, and I must say that I'm actually enjoying it.

Well, apart from the fact that I have no internet and have absolutely nothing to do at night. And any other time that I'm at home.

But cooking's alright. Some attempts turned out well, one was a disaster, others were so-so. Managed to take a few pictures of what I've attempted so far, but I just can't access internet on my own laptop, thus, there won't be any pictures here.

And the location of the place is just awesome. A walk to Lygon Street only takes 10 seconds. Well, maybe more. But extremely good for times when I'm feeling lonely and just want to be around people. Even though its people I don't know.

Oh well, its less than a week before I get back.