Taman Midah Curry Mee

In Cheras there is a place called Taman Midah, and in one of the lanes in Taman Midah, is a stall selling curry noodles (and also Lum Mee and other things).

Nowadays, to really get any drink to be less sweet, you'll have to actually hammer it into them. I want 'Extra Kurang Kurang Kurang Manis', or better yet, just say 'Teh Tarik Kosong'.

Due to miscommunication problems, I ended up with Curry Wantan Mee instead of Curry Beehoon Mee, but which actually tasted way better than what I expected.

Like I said, they have other things like Prawn Mee, Lum Mee, and any combination of noodles in any of the soup they have.

An excellent place for breakfast.

Marsala Lamb Shank at Delicious, Bangsar ViIIage

Lamb Shank at Delicious. Expensive, but very filling and quite good.

Hoong Tho, Ipoh

Let me tell you a story. A story that I've told to anybody who would listen.

About 6 years ago, give or take a couple of years, I found myself in Penang with my family. On the day that we were to leave back to KL, I woke up at about 5 am with severe pain in my tummy (the umbilical region, for those who want to know more). It was as if I needed to go to the toilet, but that did not relieve it at all.

That morning, the plan was for my dad to take my brother and me out to the beach, while waiting for my mum to attend the final conference event for the day, then leave in the afternoon. I was nearly doubled up in pain by then (no, I don't remember the pain going to my RIF, if that's of any interest at all), but the decision was to get back to KL first before going to the hospital, rather than go to the hospital in Penang. So my dad brought my brother to the beach, my mum attended her event, and my grandma stayed with me in the hotel room. I remember being on the floor, curled up into a ball, and trying to drink 100 plus.

We left Penang sometime before noon, about 10 plus am. I was sitting in the back seat, trying to lie down, but with my brother and grandma there as well, it was difficult.

All I was trying to do was to tahan and wait it out till we get to KL.

At noon, my dad declared that he was hungry. And we turned off into Ipoh, and drove to this place called Hoong Tho, where I struggled to sit on the chair, watching my family feast on Wat Dan Hor and Fried Wantan.

That was 6 years ago.

Ever since then, I've decided that I'll go back to this Hoong Tho to eat the War Dan Hor and Fried Wantan. Drive all the way there if I have to. By myself, if I have to! The years flew by, and nothing ever did happen.

Even the times that I did have the opportunity to go there, I was dissuaded one way or the other. "The place not so nice already." "Now very dirty." "Got other nicer place, we go those la!" Bla bla bla.

So this last week, I decided that I'd drive there by myself for a daytrip, and maybe meet 2 of my friends there, and drag them to Hoong Tho. Eat then come back. A bit of a waste of a long drive, I know.

The daytrip happened yesterday. Got one other friend who happened to be in KL to go along as well. Upon reaching the 2nd friend's place to pick her up, her mum said "Hoong Tho?! Why want to go there?! So dirty."

Bleh.

I insisted we go anyway.

After 6 years, finally. And the verdict? Not so nice. KL can get better. Fried wantan was better than the Wat Dan Hor, but also, nothing spectacular.

Proceeded to another shop a few doors away and had 2 bowls of noodles shared between the 4 of us, and even then, we did not finish the noodles.

And that was all we did with respects to food, this Ipoh trip.

Since they wanted to play mahjong before we left, that was what we did. I had to be taught how to play it though. I now realise its just like any other boardgame.

That's me. Apparently, my friends had some issues with regards to how I arranged my tiles.

I thought it wasn't too bad. And no, I did not actually win this hand. I did however, win the next one. Yes, I really did!

We left after that and I had to drive home in the heavy, pouring rain.

Oh, and the conclusion of my tummy pain story? We eventually reached KL, and I was feeling slightly better by then already. Went to Hospital Selayang, got some bloods taken, decided it wasn't worth doing whatever it was they wanted to originally do to me (I wasn't told), and went off to have some dinner somewhere in Selayang. I think it was some Double Boiled Special Chicken Soup. I was feeling well enough to eat already, and recovered thereafter. No similar pain has recurred again since.

Om Burger

Recently this short film made by FriedChillies Media won the Best Super Short Film at the NYC Food Film Festival. Titled 'The Sloppiest Burger in Malaysia', it was just a 2 minute thing, showing a Ramli Burger stall, somewhere in Ampang. Go and watch the video; if it can win, it must be good, right?

So, I also went and tried the thing lor. In Ampang Jaya.

 

It does look sloppy, doesn't it? While there have been claims by some people that this Ramli Burger is the best in the Klang Valley, to be honest, I think it tasted just like any Ramli Burger anywhere. Someone will have to convince me otherwise.

Fogal Meat Market

There is this place, called Fogal Meat Market, in Plaza Damas, which is somewhere in Hartamas, where I got lost at sometime at the beginning of the year when I was trying to get to Bukit Tunku (but that's another story altogether).

So, the place is actually a meat butchery in front, with seats at the back (and some outside the shop at the back and front) which allows the place to double as a restaurant.

There's plenty of blogs reviewing this place, and the impression was that the Lamb Burger was the 'thing-to-have'.

I do hope the Aussie owner of the shop isn't reading this (he seemed like a very nice guy), but unfortunately, this burger was very plain, and, um, forgettable. The meat patty lacked seasoning, and so it was quite plain. The wedges and salad were so-so only. I suppose being slightly sick that day played a part in influencing my taste buds though.

If you cast your eyes to the back of that picture, you see a plate of toast and some scrambled eggs.

This is what it looks like.

And although it looked plain and simple, this was gobbled down by my friend who claimed that it was "sooo goood".

Oh wells. Looks can be deceiving, after all.

To wash it all down, sticky date pudding.

The pudding/cake was too 'room temperature though'. Would be much better had they been warmer.

Yum yum.

Sang Har Meen

So I've been a bit lazy lately. But that doesn't mean I haven't been eating! I had (until this morning) two weeks worth of pictures sitting around in my camera, waiting to be uploaded.

But since I'm still feeling lazy right now, this will be a one picture post.

Last Sunday, Dad brought us to eat Sang Har Meen at this restaurant on Jalan Imbi. Restaurant Weng Choon (Soo Kee's Son), I think it was called. At first, I was a bit hesitant, as I remember having the same thing at this Restaurant Green View somewhere in PJ (Look here for a review of the Sang Har Meen at Green View; no idea who that is, and did not ask for permission to link, so, sorry), and I wasn't too happy with it, and it also cost quite a lot.

That's why I was a bit hesitant.

But this one, was sooo good. So good that its now on my list of 'must eat once everytime I'm back for holiday' foods.

I personally prefer this sauce to the one from Green View. This is not as dark, and perhaps more orangy (in colour, not taste) compared to the other one. And it was huge!

Simply splendid.

p.s. You can compare this with the other 2 seafood noodles I had in Melbourne a couple of months ago.

Jogoya, again

What kind of buffet doesn't serve you white rice? Why, Jogoya of course. Although, the last time I was there, I managed to get white rice from somewhere, but this time, even that avenue was blocked off. So, no white rice.

"But who wants to go to an expensive buffet and eat white rice?!"

"Me la, of course! Can do so many things with white rice you know? From the dishes I'm going to show you here, so many of them could be vastly improved if only there was white rice."

To start off, I got distracted by the tempura counter while getting the coconut drinks (refer previous post).

And prawn tempura, is basically, prawn tempura lah. Deep fried prawn with batter, dipped into the radish sauce. Crispy and light. Yum yum.

Next up, raw oysters. Or as some of you would call it, 'Icky Raw Stuff'.

There we go. Two oysters with some lemon. There are people who like it, and there are people who don't. There are also people who don't like it but eat it for the novelty. I'm not too sure which group I fall into.

And then, more 'Icky Raw Stuff'!

The fish looks quite pink. I'm sure there's some hamachi in there somewhere. But realistically, I only liked the sashimi. Now if only I had some white rice, I'd be able to make some Salmon Don, a la Sushi Ten!

My meal then progressed from the raw food, to the cooked food. So.

Some unagi, which I was raving about the last time I was there. Only had 2 sticks this time though. Again, if only I had white rice.

I did find some fried rice though, and I also got distracted by some fried fish. So I put those two things together and came up with this.

The rice was pretty good, with plenty of prawn. But the fish was not good at all. Thumbs down for this.

After that, I remembered that I could request for handrolls. So back I went to the counter.

Unagi roll, and Crab Roe roll. Orange and green. Both were made fresh on the spot and put on the plate for me. And I think not many people knew about it, so I was the only one there requesting.

And thennnnn, because I so wanted to recreate the Salmon Don, I tried it with the fried rice.

Which turned out to be a spectacular failure, and should not be talked about anymore.

The next two dishes were ordered by my friend.

Looks like a dead fish, and probably is a dead fish. As much as I like steamed pomfret, I had to ask my friend, "Why come to Jogoya to eat this? Cannot get at home ah?" Oh yes, this would benefit greatly from white rice as well.

And a plate of garlic black pepper beef.

I tried a few pieces of this, and it was quite good. Like mini pieces of steak. If only it could be done medium rare, I think this could be one of the hidden gems on the menu.

It is a well known fact that no meal is complete without vegetables.

Upon the arrival of this dish on the table, I got hit by my own question from my friend, "Why come to Jogoya and eat this? Cannot get at home ah?"

Touche.

My other friend ordered some Soft Shell Crab, which, looking at the picture now, I probably should have ordered, but that thought did not occur to me at that time.

I'm quite sure it tastes as good as it looks.

And finally, dessert was some Haagen Dazs ice cream (they had Baskin Robbins and some other brand as well).

That egg tart was a separate thing that I just dropped into the ice cream cup.

Overall, I remember it to be a very enjoyable and satisfying meal. I did not overeat.

And I would have been happier had I found some white rice.

On Top of Spaghetti ...

On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball,
When somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table,
And on to the floor,
And then my poor meatball,
Rolled out the front door.

--

Today, we shall talk about contrasts. Two dishes were made for dinner today, both taken from Jamie Oliver's 'Jamie at Home' book. A soup dish and a spaghetti dish. What resulted is an excellent study in contrasts.

 

This soup, which does not look so good on camera, was awesome. It was excellently seasoned, and the egg was ingenious. Jamie Oliver used poached eggs, which till now, I cannot replicate, so, I made replaced them with half boiled eggs instead.

Unfortunately, the spaghetti went horribly wrong. The only thing going for it is that it looks good. After that, everything fell apart. Firstly, I couldn't find the correct type of pork sausages to make the meatballs. So, we substituted it with minced beef instead, which, unlike the half boiled eggs, was not a good idea. The taste of the beef was too strong, and the flour used to hold the meat together made the meatballs too powdery.

Couldn't get fresh peas as well, in Malaysia. And the sauce wasn't enough, was also too tomato-ish, and got comments of 'bland' and 'sour' from two different family members.

Tsk tsk.

Italian(n)ese

I've been to Italian(n)ese twice in the last 2 weeks, this Italian franchise that's available in most shopping complexes around KL. Personally, I enjoyed the food there, most especially the free flow of bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dip. But on both occasions, I overdid it with the bread, and was too full when the meals actually arrived. Bad move. Twice.

Anyway.

Here's the food.

Fried calamari. Can't go wrong, but somehow did. Very average. Bleh. Maybe I was too full from bread. But. Bleh.

This was very very very good. The mangoes and grapes were very sweet, which was a nice contrast to the saltiness of the dressing for the vegetables. I ordered this salad on both the occasions that I was at Italiannese.

This was quite well seasoned, but not very spetacular. Tasted good, but that's about it.

Again, same comment as above. Tasted good. But did it wow me, well, no, it did not.

But you see that drink behind it. The purple colour drink? That was some form of grape drink. Which did wow me. And it went very well with the chicken salad as well. Love it.

Bye!

Ayam Goreng Mc D

AAAAAAA!

Mc Donald's Fried Chicken?

Yes yes yes!

Sushi Zanmai

I finally had the opportunity to eat at Sushi Zanmai in Gardens. Ever since eating the platter of sushi rolls at Koko in Crown in Melbourne sometime last year, I've wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant and just order rolls again, but never had the opportunity. And Koko was too expensive to go again without a special occasion.

So, Sushi Zanmai in Gardens it was for me. Its not an expensive restaurant, certainly, they can't achieve what Koko achieved, but then again, you can't compare apples with oranges. A more accurate comparison would probably be with Sushi King, or maybe Genki Sushi, as they all have a sushi train.

My grandma wanted to try the green seasoned seaweed thingy, so we ordered that.

And then I went to town with the rolls.

Why this is called Stamina Roll, I do not know, but my grandma and I both agreed that this was the best of the lot, so we actually ordered two plates of this. As you can see, unagi on the top, egg in the middle.

Coming in a close second, and maybe my personal favourite, this Caterpillar Roll. This time, unagi in the middle, avocado on top, and some egg somewhere in between.

Although this Coral Roll looked good, it didn't taste as good. Smoked salmon with salmon roe on top. So-so only.

Dragon Roll. Fairly straightforward. Avocado and prawn roe on top, deep fried prawn in the middle. Comparatively, although all the rolls cost me RM 12.80, this one only had four pieces, as opposed to six on all the other dishes.

At the end of the day, we were quite pleased with the meal. Unfortunately, they can't put all the rolls in one huge platter, like they did in Koko.

;p

Poached Eggs

Tried making poached eggs a few days ago, and this is what I came up with.

 

Although it doesn't look too bad, the whites tasted absolutely horrible as the vinegar water got mixed into it somehow.

Will need to try it again sometime.

More food from KL. This time its Bak Kut Teh from one of the many BKT shops in SS14 Subang Jaya.






In all honesty, it isn't one of the better ones out there.

Twiddle dee twiddle dum.

Finally, finally, my apartment in Melbourne is connected to the internet :) Although, I must say, the internet is overrated; sometimes I just stare at the screen and wonder what site to surf next.

Don't have time to post much today, but I do have 2 pictures from when I was back in KL.

I finally got to meet up with Jason aka Smashpop in Midvalley during my last week in KL. Went to this Penang something something restaurant in Midvalley, and frankly, the food there wasn't too good.


This was the Nasi Lemak Penang, if I remember correctly, and smashpop wasn't too happy with it. Looking at the thing, I'd think I wouldn't have been too happy with it either. Too plain for nasi lemak in that type of restaurant.


This was better than the nasi lemak, although not spectacular.

Haih, what to do. Sometimes in life, you get disappointed by the meals you order.

USJ 20 Dim Sum

Last Sunday, a couple of us got together and had dim sum in USJ 20.

We had basic stuff.


Some scallop dim sum.


Fu Zhuk Prawn Rolls.


Char Siew Pao.


Siew Mai.


Egg Tarts.


Pork Ribs.


Fried Prawn Dim Sum.


Yet more deep fried prawn in something.


No idea what this is. Not prawn again, I hope.


And finally, Har Kau, more prawn lah.

Just a comment about Dim Sum. In Australia, the act of going out to eat Dim Sum is called Yum Cha (which literally translates to 'drink tea'). I suppose its called that way because people sit there and drink chinese tea and chat, while eating bits of Dim Sum. In Malaysia, we don't call it 'Yum Cha', as I think our main purpose is to go and eat, not to drink tea. The moniker 'Yum Cha' is reserved for the act of going out to any restaurant or stalls just to have a chat and drink (non-alcoholic drinks).

Ok that's it.

Bye bye.