malaysia food – w w w . x e .s . c x

Chuka Zanmai @ Hartamas Shopping Centre

This was recommended by Sui Lin after she read a review by masak-masak. Sui Lin organised a so-called ‘singles’ dinner at Chuka Zanmai couple of months back. Unlike Chuka Zanmai’s sister restaurants e.g. Pasta Zanmai, Sushi Zanmai, to me, this place doesn’t live up its standards. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a big fan of “Chuka” (Japanese styled Chinese food).

I ordered a bowl of “hot stone rice” with unagi. I am not sure whether the rice is meant to be burnt and dry. The only thing that intrigued me was their coffee that comes in a special bag.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t very tasty. The milk in the bottle tasted better.
Price is quite reasonable. My hot bowl costs me RM22. Oh, the place is Wi-fi enabled too!
Chuka Zanmai
P-2C, Ground Floor
Hartamas Shopping Centre
Jalan Hartamas
Kuala Lumpur
Tel No: 03 – 6201 1610

Cendol @ Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Petaling Jaya

Cendol is a traditional Asian dessert which basic ingredients consist of shaved ice, coconut milk, starch noodles with green food coloring, and palm sugar. Red beans, glutinous rice, grass jelly, and creamed corn are sometimes added.

In a small park along Jalan Damansara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail lies a small portable stall – on a bike, serving cendol. It’s manned by an elderly Indian man.

The method of churning out the cendol is extremely old school. A block of ice will be grinded against a wooden with a blade in the middle. Shredded ice will then fall into a bowl which later is filled with coconut milk. It does look a bit unhygienic. Nevertheless, it’s tasty, especially with Indian uncle’s sweat.
The park is a great place to enjoy a bowl of cendol on hot day with insects flying around.

Other than cendol, there is a famous stall selling rojak, an Asian fruit and vegetable salad dish.

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Related Link:
Hikayat Ikan Paus Biru: The Best Cendol In the World

Yut Kee Restaurant, Kuala Lumpur

Finally, an entry about this restaurant after being a regular of this restaurant for the past 2 years. This restaurant has a history of more than 70 years. It has been around since the 1920s and currently manned by the second generation. Its owner, Jack Lee inherited this restaurant from his father, Mr Lee Tai Yu.

The interior of this restaurant is something to look forward to. Old memorabilia and antiques are peppered around the restaurant with newspaper write ups about them all over the wall. The most prominent thing on the walls of Yut Kee would be the portrait of Mr. Lee Tai Yu.

The service is extremely good. A number of Myanmarese helps out with the restaurant. Every time I step into the restaurant they would greet me “same??” – confirming whether my order is the same as usual. You can see me strolling into the restaurant almost every weekday morning.

Unfortunately, the restaurant gets extremely busy during lunchtime. Seats are limited hence it is normal to share tables with strangers.
During the recent public holiday on 20 March 2008, the xes.cx makan team drove into the heart of Kuala Lumpur for lunch at Yut Kee. We ordered steamed bread, Hainanese Chicken Chop, Lum Mee and half boiled egg.

Hainanese Chicken Chop

Lum Mee

Steamed bread

My personal favourite would be their half boiled egg and steamed bread served with butter and their home made kaya. I must commend Yut Kee for their perfect half boiled egg – not too cooked or raw and shell served at room temperature. It never fails to amaze me how they manage to maintain such quality. The home made kaya on the other hand comes deliciously in a thick texture. You can even tahpao them back home.

My other recommendations would be:
– roti babi
– toasted bread
– lum mee
– Hokkien fried noodles
– swiss roll (with kaya filling)
– Hainanese chicken chop

Address: 35, Jalan Dang Wangi, 50100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2698 8108
Business hours: 730am to 5pm
Close: Monday and last Sunday of the month

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Kota Kinabalu: Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap @ Taman Hilltop

[Note: Last KK trip post!]
Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap is located at Kolam Centre Phase 2, Taman Hilltop. The first thing that caught my attention was the name, “Ngiu Chap”. In most places, it’s spelled and pronounced as “Ngau Chap” which is in Cantonese.

This well known restaurant serves beef brisket noodles. When we arrived, the place was sardine packed. We were fortunate to find a seat inside the shop. Newspaper cutting and a picture of a local celebrity endorsing the Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap lies all over the walls.

I ordered a dried version of their beef brisket noodles. Those who doesn’t know what beef brisket noodles is, beef brisket noodles comes with beef internal organs such as stomach, intestines and not forgetting ligaments. YUMMY!

It took a while for our food to arrive – something you’ll expect from a popular restaurant.

As expected, a bowl of home made chilli lies on the table for patrons. The owners have claimed that their chilli is super spicy and even have a special counter with the words “SUPER HOT!” to sell their super hot chilli.

nomnomnomnomnom

After taking my first bite, I notice that their meat and internal organs were a little bit tough but their beef balls were quite tasty.

However, I find that there’s too much artificial flavouring in the soup. I know because I’m quite sensitive to artificial flavouring. My throat gets tighten up and my heart beat increases dramatically. Note to everyone, cut down on the soup.

Kota Kinabalu: Salut Seafood Restaurant @ Salut

Despite having a bad experience at Port View Seafood Village, we decided to give seafood another try. This time round, we had lunch at Salut Seafood Restaurant @ Salut – a place 18km away from Kota Kinabalu City. The drive to Salut is pretty scenic – one can see the kampong houses and squatters by the side of the road.

We were greeted with a narrow untarred road with ponds on each side. Each lane could probably fit 1 car. I was told that the ponds were used to rear prawns.

I think if a drunken fellow drives through the road in the middle of the night, he’ll probably end up in the pond and gets eaten by prawns. pw4an!!

Salut Seafood Restaurant faces Salut Bay and the surroundings are almost untouched.

The restaurant is actually a ‘floating’ restaurant – one can see the sea if one peeks through the holes on the floor. There are couple of huge shells placed on the front entrance. I wonder if they are real.

To choose our meals, we had to choose our victims from the aquarium.

Choose from here.. seafoood…

Vegetables…

Ewwww Eel…

No…not edible.

We ordered prawns, clams, crabs and vegetable.

The seats

Our first dish was the prawns – cooked plainly. I’ve never liked cooked seafood fresh from the aquarium. The minute I tore off the prawn’s head, blood started oozing out. I euwed in silence..

But after taking the first bite, I went…wooww.. it tasted sweeet!! And soon, one lead to another.

The clams, buttered crab and Sabah vegetable followed. The buttered crab was extremely delicious. The shell was soft and easily removed.
After chomping down the prawns, crabs, clams and vegetables, I felt so full until my stomach felt like exploding.

We were provided with lime to wash our hands. There are some used limes on the sink as well. Euw.

And the total damage is….RM150!! Prawns, crabs, clams and vegetables for 4 persons! Value like hai!! In Port View Seafood Village, it was RM70 for fish and vegetable only!!

We left the place with a satisfied tummy!

Kota Kinabalu: Tuaran Mee @ Kedai Kopi Tai Meng, Damai

Kedai Kopi Tai Meng

Before my trip to Kota Kinabalu, my friend recommended me one dish by the name Tuaran Mee.

Tuaran is a town in Sabah and this dish originates from this town. Due to its popularity, the sale of such dish has expanded to Kota Kinabalu. Kedai Kopi Tai Meng is actually our second choice as our first choice is not open due to the Chinese New Year break.

Tuaran mee consist of, among others, noodles, roasted pork and vegetables. It’s fried and tastes quite egg-ish. – quite tasty too! To complement this dish, one should add the stall’s self-made condiment i.e. their spicy sauce. If it’s too spicy, you may add some soy sauce to dilute the spicy taste.

While eating, we saw this cat with multi coloured eyes.

This cat kept clinging on my friend’s jeans. After my friend kicked the cat away, the cat went to another table and started clinging on a lady’s jeans. LOL

Kota Kinabalu: Dott’s Egg Tarts

One of the things I don’t see in Kuala Lumpur is small retails selling egg tarts solely. I’ve almost been a big fan of egg tarts and I would order egg tarts whenever I go for dimsum.

Took this when it was closed 😛

While walking around Warisan Square, I bought a piece of egg tart from a small shop by the name Dotts Egg Tarts. Each egg tart costs RM1.10 – quite expensive for KK standard. However, it’s well worth it. Although it’s not freshly out from the oven, the egg custard was still warm and soft. The egg custard was sweet and extremely delicious. I wanted another one when I finished the first one!!!

Soon I realised that Dotts Egg Tart is a chain selling egg tarts. In fact, there are many other shops that sell only egg tarts! This is something that I would recommend Klang Valley entrepreneurs to venture in.

Kota Kinabalu: Port View Seafood Village

Our first dinner was at Port View Seafood Village, a well known restaurant for tourists. It’s located along the beach in Kota Kinabalu City. We were told that the food there is good but a little bit pricey.
After sitting down, a lady came to serve us. We wanted to eat fish..
Me: What fish do you have?

Lady: “Lou pan” and “Chat sing Pan”..

I know that “chat sing pan” (literally means “seven stars fish”) is quite expensive. However, at that time, I forgot the Chinese names of the cheaper fishes. Hence…

Me: How much is “lou pan”? For 2 person..

Lady: oh, around RM200
Me: O_O ok..how about “chat sing pan”??
Lady: About RM15 per 100 gram.
Me: Aahh..ok.. 1 steamed “chat sing pan” please.

We ordered a dish of vegetables to complement our fish. It took a long time for the fish to come.

The fish came and we ate. The fish was fresh from the aquarium. I didn’t know until I was told later but nevertheless it was good. It’s best to eat fresh fish steamed as from there, one can taste the freshness of it.

But when the bill came…RM90 for “chat sing pan”!!! What the fish!!?!? RM90 FOR FRESHNESS??? I GIVE FRESH FART RM90 CAN??? THIS IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE FISH I’VE EVAAAA EATTEEEENNNN$@$!!1111

Kota Kinabalu: Siang Siang Pan Mian

My friend brought the www.xes.cx makan team to one restaurant by the name Siang Siang Pan Mian @ Lintas. The interior is quite similar to our Ipoh Oldtown Coffee. However, the place seems a little bit dirty – rubbish was scattered over the floor.

The menu comes in a mixture of English, Malay and Mandarin language – with pinyin for bananas like me. One part you have soup, another part you got mee kuning.

See bottom line…Feet / “Lutut” LOL! Shouldn’t it be feet / “kaki”??

I ordered a soup based pan mee aka kan lau pan mian.

After ordering our food, I spotted a small bowl filled with fresh lime. I was told that the lime juice extracted from the fresh lime is to be mixed with the soup.

Other than the soup based pan mee, we also ordered “teik pan” (hot plate) pan mee. The teik pan pan mee is quite good but their soup based pan mee is so-so. However, after adding some lime juice into my soup based pan mee, the taste of the noodles became quite interesting.

Sin Seng Nam Restaurant @ Lebuh Pasar Besar, Kuala Lumpur

[As of 28 February 2013, Sin Seng Nam is closed indefinitely]

Recently I’ve been eating at this coffee shop before going to court. It serves really great toasted bread with kaya (pandan paste) and butter and also yummy breakfast set!!

It’s also very popular among lawyers as it is located opposite the Malaysian Bar Council.

Other than their toast bread, their Hainanese chicken rice and pork chop are excellent.

The block of shophouses in which Sin Seng Nam Restaurant is located was built around 1906. In Sin Seng Nam Restaurant, pictures of the old Kuala Lumpur hang along the walls of Sing Seng Nam Restaurant. It’s an interesting sight.

Unfortunately…

Their service is sometimes quite terrible. I have, on couple of occasions, got screwed by the Indonesian waiters.

Me: Eh, Ada butter tak? (Do you have butter?)
Woman: Mengapa tadi tak cakap??? (Why didnt you ask for it just now?)
(walks off)

I thought she would come back with butter, but 10 mins later…no sign of my butter..fugger..

However, complaining to the boss would be of no use at all because the boss is worst than them…

Chuo Ming overheard a conversation between the boss and a Caucasian tourist.

Tourist: Hi..what does this say in the menu?
Boss: Read it yourself. I got no time to explain to you. If you dont like it, go to another restaurant.

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