The black gooey lardy fat Hokkien mee known as tai lok meen in Cantonese (which is still the lingua franca of KL Chinese) is one of Kuala Lumpur's signature dishes. Every neighbourhood in KL and Petaling Jaya has at least one or two famous Hokkien mee stalls.
One of the things that excite me about KL Hokkien mee is the spectacular fireworks leaping from the turbocharged charcoal stoves (yes you read correct, it's charcoal stove with an industrial blower blasting air over the hot embers). Sparks and leaping flames are so routine in KL and PJ that hardly anyone bats an eyelid to the daily artistry (which is uncommon elsewhere).
I also like the heady aroma of caramelised dark soy sauce and the taste of crunchy lard cracklings which are essential elements of any good KL Hokkien mee. The unique thick, fat, spongy tai lok meen noodles infused with savoury sweet flavour by simmering in pork bone stock have a lot to do with its popularity too. A major weapon of the best Hokkien mee shops is grounded dried sole fish (powder) which gives an added layer of robust savouriness to the dish.
We noticed two variations of KL Hokkien mee - at one end is the drier type, heavy on tacky lardy grease complemented by a savoury soy sauce blend. This was the tai lok meen of my memory and seemed harder to find nowadays. The more common variety these days is covered in a drippy wet blanket of dark savoury sweet sauce. Only a sprinkling of lard cracklings here and there reminds us of the presence of lard in the dish.
KL Hokkien mee is a dinner and supper thing - almost all tai lok meen shops open in the evening and close around midnight. I have been eating KL Hokkien mee for decades - these are just the seven I've tasted since I started blogging in 2012.
Please help make me this list better with your recommendations 😋
👍 I start with Tong Lian Kee 东莲记 because this is the KL Hokkien mee that is today the closest to the old tai lok meen of my memory. Just a slight moistness, bold with the lard, dark soy sauce with layers of savouriness seared into the thick fat tai lok meen (which literally means fat noodles). I like the dingy corridor nostalgic dining ambiance at Tong Lian Kee in the gritty old heart of KL. My favourite old school, no holds barred lardy KL Hokkien mee.
Restaurant name: Tong Lian Kee 东莲记福建面 Address: Intersection of Jalan Sarawak and Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia GPS: 3°08'16.3"N 101°42'35.9"E 🌐 3.137858, 101.709980 Waze: Tong Lian Kee Hokkien Mee Hours: 8:00pm - 2:00am (Sunday off)
Kim Lian Kee is the grand daddy of KL Hokkien mee - the dish was created by Ong Kim Lian in 1927. Kim Lian Kee have a large restaurant in KL Chinatown now but I prefer the quaint ambience of their dingy grimy little parent stall where Mr. Ong laboured and gave birth to KL Hokkien mee. It's just a stone's throw from the KLK restaurant, smack in the middle of KL's Chinatown at Petaling Street. I consider Kim Lian Kee the dry lardy type of Hokkien mee but they seemed to have toned down on the grease and increased the dark sauce. The soy sauce blend had layers of savoury flavours. Kim Lian Kee is generous with their pork slices, crunchy baby squid, chicken liver, cabbage and lard cracklings.
We bumped into Ah Lee, one of Ong Kim Lian's third generation. I kept being drawn to this gritty old stall where the dimly lit kitchen sits below street level because it is the historic birthplace of one of KL's heritage food.
Restaurant name: Kim Lian Kee (Original) 金莲记 Address: 42, Jalan Hang Lekir, City Centre, Kuala Lumpur GPS: 3.144305, 101.697717 🌐 3°08'39.5"N 101°41'51.8"E Waze: Restoran Kim Lian Kee Hours: 6:00pm - 12:00 midnight 👍 I feel Mun Wah was the best among the wet ones we tasted during this trip. The mound of noodles were wet but not drippy. The syrupy texture caramelised dark sauce had robust savoury flavours in layers with a mild underlying sweetness. The tender noodles wrapped smothered with dark sauce and grease were slurpy smooth. The mound of noodles was studded with crispy pork lard cracklings. Mun Wah's rendition is my benchmark for contemporary KL Hokkien mee.
Restaurant name: Mun Wah Hokkien Mee 文华福建面家 Address: 155, Jalan Maharajalela, Kampung Attap, Kuala Lumpur GPS: 3°08'11.7"N 101°42'10.6"E 🌐 3.136580, 101.702947 Waze: Kedai Makanan Mun Wah Hokkien Mee Tel: 03 2144 7404 Hours: 5:00pm - 12:00 midnight (Weds off)
Ah Wah Hokkien Mee is in the second generation now (Ah Wah has retired). It's the wet type with more sauce and relatively sparing on lard. The dark soy sauce blend was relatively mild tasting with savoury flavour dominant and underlying sweetness. The pork slices, cabbage and lard cracklings embedded in the mound of wet noodles added flavour and texture to the mild tasting dish.
Restaurant name: Ah Wah Hokkien Mee in Restoran Millennium Eighty Six 亚华福建炒面 千禧百乐茶餐室 Address: Junction of Jalan 20/16a and Jalan 20/22, Taman Paramount, Sea Park, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia GPS: 3.108126, 101.624079 🌐 3°06'29.2"N 101°37'26.7"E Waze: Ah Wah Hokkien Mee Tel: +6016 2512591 Hours: 6:00pm till 12:00 midnight
Peng Yuan's Hokkien mee is also the wet type. The dark soy sauce blend flavour was relatively mild. Peng Yuen serves the best lard cracklings in this list - they toss and crisp them in the hot wok just before laying it on top of the smoking noodles before serving. Restaurant name: Peng Yuan Hokkien Mee 邴元炭炒福建面 Address: 42, Jalan 14/48, Seksyen 14, Petaling Jaya, Selangor GPS: 3°05'51.1"N 101°37'45.4"E 🌐 3.097515, 101.62927 Waze: Peng Yuan Hokkien Mee Tel: +6010 281 3382 Hours: 5:00pm - 12:00 midnight (Monday off)
Ah Wa Hokkien Mee is at the opposite end of the same row of shop lots as Peng Yuan. Going by the crowd size at the large corner coffee shop, Ah Wa is surely one of the most popular Hokkien mee place in KL and PJ we've come across. Overall, the (mostly savoury) flavours were relatively mild (the mildest in this list) and flat. The mound of blackened noodles were studded very sparingly with pork slices, prawn, lard crackling, cabbage etc. Truth be told, we couldn't understand the reason for its huge popularity. I need to come back to appreciate the noodles better (because maybe tasting so many Hokkien mee in one go jaded our taste buds a little). P.S. We were groaning from overeating even before we got here (because tai lok meen wasn't the only thing we ate since day break 😂 ).
Tiong's Hokkien mee is served steaming hot with nice porky aroma rising up to our noses. The tongue scathing, piping hot noodles were enveloped in a black syrupy texture sauce with savoury porky flavours. The dark sauce was all on the surface, greasing the bouncy fat noodles making them slurpy wet. Lard was well represented but not in the death wish amount like at Tong Lian Kee. A handful of crispy lard cracklings were embedded here and there in the noodles. There were also pork slices, small prawns and pieces of cabbage in the noodles. (This was from a separate, earlier trip.)
Restaurant name: Tiong Hokkien Mee 新青山福建面 Address: 101, Jalan 21/37, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia GPS: 3°08'04.8"N 101°37'25.7"E 🌐 3.134654, 101.623794 Tel: 013-334 5550 ☎ +6016-305 0444 Hours: 6:00pm to 12:00 midnight
Finally, l got to taste the famous Cowan Street chicken kway teow and taugeh (beansprouts) after missing it a few times on previous Ipoh trips. If you are from out of town and catch Cowan Street Ayam Tauge and Koitiau open during your stay, it's like you struck lottery 😂
When we arrived, the brightly lit shop was fully packed with some people waiting outside for a table.
Only a few birds hung at the front.
Don't panic - there's plenty of stock 😄 Cowan Street Chicken dunk their poached birds in cold water the Cantonese way to lock in the juices and flavours in the tender flesh. They only hang a few ready to chop and serve ones at the front.
The lady boss looked unfazed like it's another day at the office (which, of course, it is). No matter how big the crowd, she fastidiously inspected each piece of chicken individually. Any pink piece was dipped briefly into hot stock to get it up to the precise desired doneness.
Our whole chicken arrived in about 20 minutes. The kampung chicken was moist, slightly chewy and stringy though still tender (not soft). It is served bathed in a robustly savoury sauce with lots of aromatic oil. This sauce and shallot-sesame oil blend made the somewhat mild tasting chicken meat taste much better.
The boss asked if we would like chicken innards. We said yes reluctantly after moments of hesitation. For me, chicken innards often tasted bland and were a waste of calories and cholesterol - but, not at Cowan Street Ayam. The chicken innards turned out to be the tastiest I've had for a long time. The well cleaned intestines and gizzard had a light springy crunch as well as subtle natural sweet flavour.
Oh my...., I love Cowan Street's kway teow soup. The round bodied, robustly savoury chicken soup was well balanced by the natural rice sweetness from the oh sooo..... smooth and slurpy soft kway teow noodles.
What they say about Ipoh kway teow noodles being the best in Malaysia is true.... 😮 (By the way, Cowan Street Ayam does not serve rice, only kway teow.)
And then, there's the humble blanched beansprouts served in a watery pool of mildly savoury sauce and a light dusting of white pepper which turned out to be the hero dish of the evening.
The fat and stubby beansprouts were blanched to the right doneness. The tender taugeh was full of crunch (which you can hear) and bursted sweet juices when we crushed it between our teeth. The mildly savoury sauce and subtle pepperiness complemented the beansprouts' sweetness well. We love the taugeh so much that we ordered a second helping. Aaron who is allergic to beansprouts because those he ate before had a combination of green and earthly taste, became a convert after eating Cowan Street's version. He was even trying to encourage us to order a third serving 😄 (We would have had another go at Cowan Street tauge had we not planned to taste another rendition of beansprouts from a different famous shop - which shall best remain unnamed 😂 )
👍 We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Cowan Street Tauge and Koitiau. The poached chicken was nice. The Ipoh kway teow soup was even nicer. But, it was the humble beansprouts that left the deepest impression on everyone. To me, the chicken innards were also special. Is Cowan Street chicken shop Ipoh's best? Smart Dory thinks so👈 click
Please recommend me other excellent chicken and taugeh shops in Ipoh 😋
Restaurant name: Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau 高温街芽菜鸡沙河粉 Address: 44, Jalan Raja Ekram, Kampung Jawa, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia GPS: 4°35'51.3"N 101°05'09.1"E 🌐 4.597590, 101.085849 Waze: Restoran Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau Tel: +60 12-520 3322 (boss Ah Meng) Hours: 6:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon, Tues, Weds off) Non Halal Date visited: 30 Nov 2018
Thank you Makan Guru KF Seetoh for the privilege to celebrate the 21st Anniversary of Makansutra at Gluttons Bay with you, Patricia, your team and friends. I bought your food guides and went on your food tours in the 1990s, tasted many good food stalls you recommended, inspired by many astute insights you shared but never expected to be part of Makansutra's 21st birthday bash 😄
I look forward to and wish Makansutra many more deliciously good years, because I love food lah and cannot imagine a Singapore street food scene without the straight talking voice of hawker champion KF Seetoh 😄
I wish all twelve stalls at the newly renovated Gluttons Bay more success and more great food (for us all 😋 ). Huat Ah!
Woh woh woh, this looks yummaey. The person rubbing his hands in glee is Guest of Honour S. Iswaran, Minister for Communications and Information. He was checking out the twelve stalls including six new ones.
We were entertained by Douglas O who performed many classics like "Every breath you take" and lots more.
Many of us in the crowd are Douglas Olivero fans including Peter Yeoh, ardent foodie, Chowhound, Hungry Onion and Malaysian Food Whisperer. He flew in from Penang just to attend the celebrations 👏👏👏
Happy 21st Makansutra! Continue to champion our hawkers and street food tradition. We must never let our unique food heritage go out of style because it is about who we are as Singaporeans.
Formalities over, it's time to party, party, party! (Read eat! eat! eat!) Now, let's go get our food 😋
If you are looking for Halal Hainanese chicken rice, get it at Danny's Matahari stall at Gluttons Bay. The poached chicken was tender and juicy with natural chicky sweetness 👍 Ho chiak! (Delicious.)
One of Gluttons Bay's six new kids on the block. The stall of Chef David Pynt of one Michelin Star Burnt Ends restaurant serves salted egg chicken chop, smoked suckling pig, smoked char siew pork ribs and pulled pork fried wantons.
Chef Bilal serves up freshly chargrilled succulent masala spiced chicken and lamb with toasty naan straight from his tandoor oven.
Singapore Roti John - grilled scrambled eggs, minced meat and chopped onion folded into a hinged baguette.
Ever popular Huat Huat chicken wings marinated with 10 spices and gently grilled over charcoal till golden brown outside. Every bite into the tender wings releases warm juices loaded with savoury marinate complemented with natural chicky sweetness.
Perennial favourite Syifa' satay - chicken, duck and lamb marinated with 12 spices chargrilled on order. The succulent skewered meats are served with a rich toasty nutty sweet spicy peanut sauce.
There's a lot more food stalls like the famous Hong Kong Street Old Chun Kee, Mee Goreng Satay Club, Xing Fu Yum Char (dim sum), BBKia Stingray (and more stalls are in the pipeline 😋 ).
This is how we party 🎉 🎉🎉
This big pau cannot eat but gives us the essential nourishment for balanced thinking minds. Multi talented Colin Goh was the man behind the pioneer Singapore satire site TalkingCock.com - he is now into children's books and theatre.
Columbia Law alumni Colin is now busy with the acclaimed Little Dim Sum Warriors 小小点心侠 bilingual children’s comic and app series featuring characters from the award winning Dim Sum Warriors graphic novel series which he co-authored with wife Dr. Yen Yen Woo.
Putting my best foot forward 😛 I tried to emulate this OOTD pose which I saw a lot on Instagram but I cannot..... I just cannot make it 😂
After the sumptuous celebratory dinner, we took a walk around the Esplanade. Buddy photography guru Wilson Wong gave me a few tips on night shooting with a handphone.
Hearty Congratulations! Makansutra 21! Onward to greater heights for Makansutra and a brighter future for Singapore hawker food!
Ban Leong Wah Hoe and the row of eateries at Casuarina Road was one of our favourite hangouts though I've not been back for over two decades. I was glad that tonight's get together let me get reacquainted with one of my old favourite Singapore zhi char places. I like all the dishes we had tonight, especially their rendition of Singapore chili crab.
Ban Leong Wah Hoe is a large restaurant spanning two shop lots. Singaporeans like to gather at zhi char places which are simply furnished casual eateries that serve the whole range of restaurant style dishes at budget prices (compared to restaurants with elaborate interiors and more classy ambiance).
Ban Leong Wah Hoe has an extension at the side of the restaurant and it is often full.
They even have a small section between the back of the kitchen and Upper Thomson Road (just beside the bus stop). We ate there - it was literally eating street food with a constant stream of rumbling buses and cars whizzing by 😄 Parking is challenging at Casuarina Road, so taking public transport here is a good idea.
We had 8 dishes and I enjoyed all of them, especially their Singapore chili crab. Now, I have one more place I can recommend with confidence when people ask me where to get good Singapore chili crab at a competitive price.
Ban Leong Wah Hoe uses air flown wild caught live crabs from East Java in Indonesia. The meaty crabs were stewed in a thick smooth savoury sweet spicy sauce held together with eggs. Cooking the live crabs directly in the sauce infuses it with subtle briny crustacean savouriness. The lightly springy stewed crab meat was juicy with an ocean briny sweet taste.The sauce had a pleasant gentle spicy aftertaste. (I prefer chili crabs cooked by stewing in sauce, rather than steamed, boiled or deep fried crabs bathed in sauce which is cooked separately. Steaming, boiling or deep frying is more "efficient" as it allows pre-cooking en masse but much of the natural juices and texture are sacrificed in the process. I appreciate it that Ban Leong Wah Hoe goes the extra mile to give customers the full flavours of the crab even though stewing is "inefficient" taking at least 10 minutes to cook each serving.)
I enjoyed the chili crab sauce so much that I was drinking many spoonfuls of it neat (like stealing jam from the fridge when I was a boy 😋 ). Ban Leong Wah Hoe's chili crab sauce is well balanced but relatively mild tasting. Folks who prefer the robustly savoury spicy type of chili crab sauce might find this lacks kick. But, I like it lah - I think it's a waste to overwhelm the live crab's subtle natural flavours with overpowering sauce 😛
Normal people enjoy the chili crab sauce with fried mantou which is excellent too.
I like Ban Leong Wah Hoe's rendition of har cheong kai (fried chicken marinated with savoury fermented prawn paste) as the marinate was mildly savoury which was just right for me. The mild savouriness on the lightly crisped outside complemented the tender juicy sweetness of the warm chicken flesh.
Spongy fresh pork liver slices enveloped with a robust savoury spicy sauce mostly masking the subtle taste of liver. I enjoyed this dish too.
Petai (crunchy stinky beans) stir fried with savoury spicy sauce and dried white bait fish. Nice.
Signature fried "birthday noodle". Tender mee sua with just the right moistness and savoury sweet flavour. Didn't enjoy the fish, quail eggs, squid, prawn toppings as much though.
Nice savoury sweet spicy Chinese style mee goreng with a subtle bit of underlying toasty "wok hei" taste.
Simple and nice stir fried crunchy juicy 油麦菜 you mai cai greens.
Rounding up our dinner with orh nee, a traditional Teochew sweet dessert with layers of sweetness from sweetened yam paste with lard, coconut milk and ginkgo nuts. Ban Leong Wah Hoe's version is not overly sweet.
We were totally filled by the end of dinner. Lady boss Lily said we should try her Teochew steamed pomfret or pomfret porridge next time. I think pomfret porridge is a good idea 😋
👍 A good zhi char place with many well executed dishes and an excellent rendition of Singapore chili crab. Pricing is competitive too.
I had the privilege to experience the inaugural Gourmet Series at The Els Club and also stayed at Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast as a guest of Tourism Malaysia.
Desaru Coast proudly launched their 6-series Gourmet Series themed A Malaysian Journey showcasing unique flavours of Malaysian cuisine through new interpretations by award-winning chefs from around the world.
The Desaru Coast Gourmet Series First Edition featured Singapore based Relais & Chateaux award-winning Michelin Grand Chef, Emmanuel Stroobant from Belgium.
The Desaru Coast Gourmet Series First Edition was held at the well appointed 261 Bar and Restaurant of The Els Club's Ocean Course club house.
The Gourmet Series 3-course lunch costs RM260 per person and 6-course dinner costs RM390 per person.
Chef Emmanuel Stroobant brought his crew from his one Michelin star restaurant Saint Pierre at The Fullerton Singapore.
Chef Stroobant started us off with an appetiser plate consisting of his interpretations of Malaysian classics nasi kerabu, salted popiah, brinjal buah keluak, and okra sambal.
Strips of mildly savoury abalone set on sweet mang kuang (jicama) puree dressed with olive oil and marigold petals.
Pan seared scallop set in a shallow pool of laksa with crunchy clippings of nutty coconut flesh. It's "laksa mai hiam" or laksa sans hot spice 😄
Main course of 24-hour braised short rib with galangal, garlic, lemon grass, jackfruit and keropok.
Oh... I enjoyed this braised short rib so.... much. So... tender and beefy juicy sweet, I couldn't get enough of it.
My new friend Don from Thailand had the cod fish with white miso, turmeric and cauliflower. Don enjoyed his tender juicy sweet fish.
All too soon, it was time for dessert of cream, coconut and petite four by pastry chef Michael Liu.
The dinner ended with a spontaneous standing ovation from the appreciative guests for Chef Emmanuel Stroobant, pastry Chef Michael Liu and everyone who made the wonderful evening possible. Encore was at the tip of my tongue as I was still craving for more of Chef Emmanuel's braised short rib 😛
We also enjoyed the night at the newly opened Hard Rock Hotel at Desaru Coast.
Hard Rock Hotel, The Els Club, Adventure Waterpark, The Westin Resort, Anantara Resort & Villas, Riverside Retail & Lifestyle Hub, ultra luxury One and Only, and the Conference Centre together make up the Desaru Coast Integrated Resort. Johor's newest destination spans 1,580 hectares along a pristine white 17 km beachfront. (The Westin and Anantara will be ready in 2019.)
Hard Rock Hotel is of course the world renowned rock and roll music themed home away from home. Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast has a resort feel as it is nestled in greenery and boasts a commanding view of the Adventure Waterpark's Tidal Wave Pool.
Live band and dancing every night at the lobby because this is Hard Rock Hotel 🎸🎸🎸
My well appointed room at the Hard Rock Hotel. The room was spacious, fresh smelling, amenities were comprehensive, the linen were fresh and clean, and most importantly the bed was suitably firm and comfortable. I slept like a log and was well rested for the next day.
From my room, I had a splendid view of the Tidal Wave Beach at the Adventure Waterpark which is directly accessible from the Hard Rock Hotel.
The 21 acre Desaru Coast Adventure Waterpark is one of the world's largest water playground featuring over 20 rides and one of the world's biggest tidal wave pools.
👉 An exciting day at the Adventure Waterpark, a memorable yummilicious Gourmet Series dinner followed by a good night's rest at the Hard Rock Hotel. Looks like a great day trip to Desaru Coast when the next edition Gourmet Series comes around in Feb 2019. An inviting getaway just slightly over an hour's drive from Johor Bahru.
Desaru Coast is like a beautiful butterfly just emerging from it's cocoon and the best is still to come 👏👏👏 Day visited: 7 Dec 2018
Our Batam friends brought us to Sup Ikan Pha Khong. The locals call it Asam Pedas Windsor. The humble little corner shop is off the main road Jalan Pembangunan - we would never have found this place so soon, if we explored Batam on our own.
The little shop, a typical kopitiam (coffee shop), is located in the Windsor area a couple of streets behind and a stone's throw from the Morning Bakery outlet along Jalan Pembangunan. It is very busy from 11am to 1pm, packed with locals. The shop closes at around 2pm when all the fish are sold out. Pro Tip: Pha Khong opens at 7am, so we can go there before 11am to avoid the lunch time crush.
Sup Ikan Pha Khong serves various kinds of fish soups but most people are here for their unique asam pedas. Located in the Windsor area the shop is often referred to as Asam Pedas Windsor or Sup Ikan Windsor.
It is good size silver pomfret halved into head or tail, boiled and then served with Pha Khong's style of asam pedas. The fish is blanketed with cut pineapple and tomatoes stewed in a watery sauce.
We have a choice of head or tail. For asam pedas, I choose the tail out of habit, though the head is more photogenic. The silver pomfret was quite fresh, tender and I was able to taste its natural sweetness.
The asam pedas tasted mildly tangy savoury sweet spicy with very gentle heat. This unique asam pedas is likable and I think l will have this regularly, if I live in Batam.
We also had stir fried bean sprouts with salted fish. The bean sprouts were done just right, just cooked enough to rid the green or raw taste but retaining the crunch, juices and sweetness. The bits of stiff salted fish added mild savouriness to the dish. We liked it so much that we wanted to add a second helping but they were already sold out 😂 Pro Tip: Order two plates of taugeh 😁
👉 We enjoyed Pha Khong's asam pedas fish. It's a nice accompaniment to simple white rice. It's an authentic foodie experience and a comforting staple dish l can eat everyday (if l live in Batam).
Restaurant name: Sup Ikan Pha Khong (Cabang Windsor) Address: Lubuk Baja Kota, Lubuk Baja, Batam City, Riau Islands 29444, Indonesia GPS: 1°08'29.2"N 104°00'44.0"E 🌐 1.141430, 104.01222 Waze: Sop Ikan Pha Khong Tel: +62 813-7234-8444 Hours: 8:00am - 2:00pm
Buddy Yvonne who always gives me great foodie tips on the best eats in JB, alerted me to a newly opened restaurant which she said serves the "best laksa Johor now". I quickly went for breakfast at 7 Kauthar Cafe in Setia Tropika as l am always on the look out for good laksa Johor. It is the representative dish of Johor but good ones are very hard to find commercially even in JB.
7 Kauthar Cafe is not yet a month old. The spanking new restaurant is run by sisters Suzie and Nadia.
The corner eatery in Taman Setia Tropika was simply furnished but comfortable, clean and bright. There was no air conditioning but it was cool and breezy inside.
Nadia said the laksa Johor is made with her mum's recipe whom she had been helping in the kitchen since she was a child. Suzie and Nadia are passionate about cooking and sharing it through 7 Kauthar Cafe which tag line is "Cook with Love. Feel at Home".
The RM8 serving of laksa Johor was a bowl of boiled spaghetti in a pool of fiery looking sauce dressed with raw onion, bean sprouts, lime and a dollop of sambal chili.
The spaghetti was cooked till soft tender which is the way I like it for laksa Johor. The rich creamy sauce with lots of herbs and spices clanged to the strands, giving them a spicy flavour. The laksa sauce tasted sweet spicy hot savoury. It felt soft grainy as there were lots herbs, grounded Tenggiri fish (Spanish Mackerel) and prawns etc. Clean tasting bean sprouts added sweet juicy crunch to the dish.
Do l like this laksa Johor? Enough to order a second helping 😋
Nadia suggested that l try their other dishes too next time especially the Nasi Kambing Berdulang. I am sure to be back with more people.
👍 Thank you Yvonne, you are right that 7 Kauthar Cafe has the best laksa Johor money can buy now. The laksa Johor certainly has a cook with love, feels like home taste.
Restaurant name: 7 Kauthar Cafe Address: 44, Jalan Setia Tropika 1/1, Johor Bahru, Malaysia GPS: 1°32'38.6"N 103°42'35.0"E 🌐 1.544053, 103.709719 Tel: 013 777 7743 Hours: 8:00am - 9:00pm Halal Date visited: 18 Dec 2018
Truth be told, the only MLTR song I thought I knew before attending the concert was "25 Minutes" because some people still sing it in karaokes. I like "25 Minutes", so I accepted the invitation to attend the MLTR concert in Batam on a media ticket.
It turned out, I was blown away - I know that sounds horribly cliché but the experience was really beyond my expectations. During the concert, I realised that I actually knew many more MLTR songs - they were just in the deep recesses of my mind (I am that old 😱 ). The concert brought back so many memories of people, events and places from the 1990s. It was a really sentimental, slightly emotional journey for me.
All roads in Batam lead to the MLTR concert which was held at Radisson Golf and Convention Centre Batam.
A mandatory photo with our idols before the concert. Many fans were like me, here to relive memories with MLTR songs. There were also many new MLTR fans.
We were all so excited, waiting to go inside the grand ballroom for the concert. Tickets (from S$50 - S$250) were sold out 3 weeks before the concert. About 40% of the audience came from outside of Batam - from Sumatra, Java, and also Singapore and Malaysia. Everyone was happy and cheerful.
MLTR was brought to Indonesia and Batam by Tommy Pratama, owner of Original Production. Original Production was established in 1991, the same year MLTR released their first album Michael Learns to Rock. Tommy had been in the show promotion business since he was studying in Trisakti University in Jakarta. Tommy said that he will be bringing in more international acts to Batam. The coming Batam Music Festival in March 2019 will feature 3 world class artistes - so watch out for it.
(Trivia - the name Micheal Learns to Rock was inspired by Michael Jackson - there is no Michael in the band 😂 There's Jascha Richter (lead singer), guitarist Mikkel Lentz and drummer Kare Wanscher. The name was coined in haste but success came so fast to MLTR, it was too late to change and the band got stuck with it since.)
We all went wild with excitement when our idols come on stage in Radisson convention centre's grand ballroom. The show started right on time but anticipation made 25 minutes seemed like 24 hours.
Here we go! The opening song "Complicated Heart (1993)" took our hearts away, right away. 🎸 Even if you want to go alone I will be waiting when you're coming home If you need someone to ease the pain You can lean on me My love will still remain 🎙
"Breaking my Heart (1996)". 🎸 There is no excuse my friend For breaking my heart Breaking my heart again This is where our journey ends You're breaking my heart again 🎙
MLTR sings one of my favourite Mandarin songs 吻别 from one of my Cantopop idols Jackie Cheung 张学友. MLTR specially wrote and sang "Take Me to Your Heart" during their Guangzhou tour in 2005. 🎸 Take me to your heart take me to your soul Give me your hand before I'm old Show me what love is - haven't got a clue Show me that wonders can be true 🎙 (Trivia - MLTR was so popular in Hong Kong that they were the headliner performance at the concert in conjunction with the transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997.)
"You Took my Heart Away (2000)". 🎸 You took my heart away When my whole world was grey You gave me everything and a little bit more And when it's cold at night And you sleep by my side You become the meaning of my life 🎙 "I'm Gonna be Around (1997)". 🎸 I'm gonna love you till the end I'm gonna be Your very true friend I want to share your ups and downs I'm gonna be around 🎙
"Nothing to Lose (1997)". 🎸 Nothing to lose Your love to win Hoping so bad That you'll let me in I'm at your feet Waiting for you I've got time And nothing to lose 🎙
If you know the name of this beautiful song, please share with me (in the comments).
"25 Minutes (1993)". 🎸 Boy I missed your kisses all the time But this is twenty five minutes too late Though you travelled so far Boy I'm sorry you are Twenty five minutes too late 🎙
"Love will Never Lie (1995)" 🎸 We will keep the faith between us If we only try We will keep the truth inside us Love will never lie 🎙 Do you know the name of this song? Please share with us in the comments, if you know. Appreciate it.
We know it is time - they have to go but our hearts just don't want to say good bye to them. We asked for more and they graciously obliged with encores of "Paint My Love (1996)", "That's Why (1995)". 🎸 Paint my love You should paint my love It's the picture of a thousand sunsets It's the freedom of a thousand doves Baby, you should paint my love 🎙 🎸 I won't forget the way you're kissing The feeling's so strong were lasting for so long But I'm not the man your heart is missing That's why you go away I know 🎙
We feel sad but have to say good bye 😢 Thanks MLTR for the memories. It was a wonderful evening we won't forget.
At least here in this blog, I can come back when I wish to relive those beautiful moments.
Pro Tip - the front row tickets for tonight's MLTR concert cost S$250 while the back row went for S$50. Batam is a good place to catch your Superstar idols and still have change enough for a weekend getaway with hotel, food, massage and shopping thrown in. Watch out for the Batam Music Festival in Mar 2019 🎸
If you have been following Johor Kaki for a while, you may notice that I rarely post about siew yok or sio bak (Cantonese roast meat). It's because most of the sio bak I tried tend to be too salty for my liking. Ah Hou's roast meat 阿豪烧肉档 in Ipoh, however, was just nice for me - I love it.
We weren't actually looking for Ah Hou Roast Meat. We were just parking here at the famous 大树脚 Big Tree Foot yong tau foo stall to wait for the rest of our party to arrive.
Fortunately, eagle eyed Aaron spotted the queue forming up the very moment Ah Hou opened for business (at noon). He wasted no time to join the queue. If not for Aaron, I am sure I will miss out on Ah Hou Roast Meat (which strangely for it's popularity with locals is under the social media radar).
The action at the front was frenetic - Ah Hou was doing his best to clear the queue which was constantly at least 20 persons deep.
Ah Hou roasts an entire pig everyday. He sells just one pig a day and calls it a day once it is sold out, which usually takes slightly more than an hour. Pro Tip - Be here before 12 noon to avoid disappointment.
Ah Hou's roast meat is for take away only but I am quite sure we can eat it at the Big Tree Foot yong tau fu place and no one will bother us (though I haven't done that before).
Instead, we took our packet of roast pork to eat with chee cheong fun at the famous Pasir Pinji CCF stall (which will be the story for another post).
The roast pork belly meat was tender, fat was crunchy juicy and the skin was crispy crackly. I love the texture, especially the juicy fat and the quite thick crispy skin.
👉 I can taste moderately salty-savoury flavour on the meat, skin and fat but it was not so intense, so I was also able to taste a bit of natural sweetness. I prefer siew yok this way rather than the more common robustly salty-savoury versions. You will enjoy it too, if you also like your sio bak milder and more natural tasting. Check out Ah Hou Roast Meat 阿豪烧肉档 when you are in Ipoh.
Restaurant name: Ah Hou Roast Meat 阿豪烧肉档 Address: Jalan King, Off Jalan Pasir Pinji, Taman Hoover, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (co-located with 大树脚 Dai Shu Keok Big Tree Foot yong tau foo) GPS: 4°34'56.1"N 101°05'09.0"E 🌐 4.582258, 101.085843 Hours: 12:00 noon till sold out (Tues & Weds off) Non Halal Date visited: 30 Nov 2018
When I was living in KL in the early 2000s, one of my favourite places to bring guests was Green View Restaurant near SS2 on Petaling Jaya for their signature sang har meen 生虾面.
Stopping over at KL on the way to Ipoh, we decided to have dinner at Green View. This was my first revisit after more than 10 years. I was curious if their famous sang har meen was still as good.
Externally, Green View hasn't changed much at all - it's still the same old school Chinese restaurant / banquet hall. Some of the middle aged wait staff in old style black vests and white shirts have been with Green View for decades, providing old fashioned personable service. Inside Green View's kitchen too, it had been the same crew for the last two decades.
Two of us, we had a large river prawn each. The prawns halved came on a flat wiry bed of fried wanton mee and smothered with a thick yellow-brown sauce.
The meaty large river prawns were fresh (though not live).
The large river prawns had a nice light springy crunch to the bite like less dense lobster meat. The prawn meat had a subtle clean tasting sweetness. It was lovely, I liked this even better than the famous live large river prawns at Tanjung Tualang (near Ipoh).
The fried wanton noodles had a mild savoury sweet taste, layered with a crustacean savoury sweetness from prawn head juices dissolved into the egg thicken brown sauce. The fried noodles were soften by the sauce but still had a bit of residual crispness. I like this uniquely tasty combination of textures and flavours.
👍 At nearly RM200 for two prawns, 长青海鲜饭店 Green View's large prawn sang har meen 生虾面 is admittedly rather expensive. But, it is special and worth digging deeper into the pocket for an occasional fix. I felt a craving for it even as I wrote this post 😋
Please recommend me other excellent sang har meen places 🦐
Restaurant name: Restoran Green View 长青海鲜饭店 Address: 8, Jalan 19/3, Seksyen 19, Petaling Jaya, Selangor GPS: 3°07'05.0"N 101°37'44.4"E 🌐 3.118064, 101.628991 Tel: 03-7958 1076 Hours: 11:00am - 11:00pm Non Halal Date visited: 29 Nov 2018
Photo credit: Wikipedia Fun fact: The organs inside the prawn's head is often referred as "prawn roe". Actually, the female prawn carries her roe outside her body between her legs. What we often call "prawn roe" in the prawn head is in fact its internal organs like stomach, pancreas, etc. Johor Kaki Kuala Lumpur food list👈 click
I love soups with rice and so when Sean shared about Simmer Soup 时尚老火汤 at Wan Chang coffee shop in Setia Indah, I quickly went to try it.
Simmer Soup 时尚老火汤 is cooked in a central kitchen and distributed at over a dozen stalls throughout Johor Bahru (Wan Chang coffee shop in Setia Indah is one of them). I am not a fan of central kitchen food but simmer soups 老火汤 is a dish that can benefit from bulk cooking. The bulk ingredients give 时尚老火汤's soups more body and depth of flavours. Over two nights, I tried 4 of 8 types of 时尚老火汤 soups.
I like 时尚老火汤's pig tail and black bean soup 黑豆猪肚汤. The soup was mildly savoury sweet. There were generous pieces of pig tail boiled till soft tender. The pig tails still have natural sweetness which I like.
The black chicken herbal soup 黨參烏雞湯 tasted sweet herbal - too sweet. The sweetness came from too much red dates and wolfberries. I like the pronounced herbal taste but the soup was too sweet for my liking. You may like this, if you have a sweet tooth. There wasn't much herb aroma. (The black chicken was tasteless as it had given up all its flavours to the soup, as it should be.)
Herbal chicken soup 药膳菜园鸡汤. The soup had a full smooth body with dissolved gelatine (probably from chicken feet). It tasted quite robustly savoury herbal. This is for you if you like your soup robust and have depth of flavours. I can't smell much herb aroma. (The chicken was coarse and all its flavours were surrendered to the soup.)
The peppery pork tripe soup 胡椒猪肚汤 had a gelatinous full body. It had robust savoury peppery flavour with a mild lingering sting.
The tender spongy pig stomach and chicken feet which were deep fried before simmering in the soup, giving it body and flavour.
There was a generous serving of steamed minced pork with salted egg 咸蛋肉饼 for RM8. But, there wasn't much flavour from the dish and the minced pork was rather stiff (perhaps from overcooking).
If you are looking for a comforting soup, look out for the yellow signboard of Simmer Soup 时尚老火汤 stall. All soups sell for RM11 per serving with rice.
Of the 4 soup that I've tried so far, I like 时尚老火汤's pig tail soup.
Restaurant name: Simmer Soup 时尚老火汤 stall in Wan Chang coffee shop 万昌美食阁 Address: 2-02 Jalan Setia 3/6, Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru GPS: 1°34'18.4"N 103°45'31.1"E 🌐 1.571781, 103.758637 Hours: Soup stall opens at 6pm Non Halal
I have seen friends sharing about Say Yes Hong Kong Dim Sum 思源香港点心 for quite a while but haven't been there till today as I don't go to the Sutera side of JB much, nowadays. Say Yes is a good dim sum place as their food is better, ambiance is nicer and more comfortable than coffee shops. But, prices are about the same as kopitiam dim sum i.e. good value for money.
Say Yes Hong Kong Dim Sum 思源香港点心 is a small shop lot restaurant. Space is a bit tight, especially on busy weekends.
A large, nice mural on one of the walls inside Say Yes Hong Kong Dim Sum. These were the dim sum we tasted during our first visit.
We liked all the dim sum we tried especially their chee cheong fun (rice rolls). We will certainly be back to try more Say Yes dim sum such as their baked char siew buns which are available only on weekends.
Nice garlicky chili sauce that makes all savoury dim sum taste better.
👉 Say Yes Hong Kong Dim Sum 思源香港点心 serves tasty food in a nice and comfortable environment at reasonable prices. Good deal.
Please recommend me other good dim sum places in JB 😋
Restaurant name: Say Yes Hong Kong Dim Sum 思源香港点心 Address: 64, Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/3, Taman Sutera Utama, Skudai, Johor GPS: 1°30'55.1"N 103°40'06.3"E 🌐 1.515308, 103.668402 Waze: Say Yes Hong Kong Dim Sum Tel: 07-562 2572 Hours: 8:00am - 4:00pm Non Halal
Date visited: 21 Dec 2018 Boey Chai, co-owner of Say Yes Hong Kong Dim Sum is a multitalented lady. Passionate about cooking and baking, Boey Chai is also an accomplished car racer winning the Malaysia Speed Festival Round 1 challenge in 2017.
I had long wanted to try Low Yau Kee Porridge 老友记粥 stall which operates at night outside Soong Kee Beef Ball Mee at Jalan Tun H S Lee near KL Chinatown. Many KLites say this is the best porridge in the world. (This porridge stall is referred to by various names such asLao You Ji etc but the sign at the stall says Loa Yau Kee.)
Loa Yau Kee Porridge and Soong Kee Beef Ball Mee have a good arrangement - Loa Yau Kee customers can eat their porridge inside the aircon comfort of Soong Kee.
Actually, I wouldn't mind would love eating street side in the cool rustic charm of night time old KL but we ate inside this time as I needed bright lights to take photos for this post 😂
Lao You Ji Porridge stall have been here for five decades. Ah Lee has taken over from his sifu (master) for over 10 years. He has to constantly stir the large pots of porridge to rid the rice gruel of any lumpiness and from getting burnt.
Two of us, we had porridge with fried large intestines (pork) and poached chicken. Since we were at Soong Kee Beef Ball Mee, we had that as well. (We were pacing ourselves as we already had a whole day of eating, and then going on to another two more KL Hokkien mee places right after this 😱 Please don't be like us 😂 ).
The rice grains in the porridge were boiled till all were dissolved. But, the rice was not 棉棉 "cottony" like a thick paste in the Hong Kong congee way. I can still feel some soft grainy bits of rice. The fried pig intestines added deeper savouriness to the gently savoury sweet porridge. The chewy crunch of the fried intestines contrasted interestingly with the grainy softness of the watery (not soupy) porridge.
The poached chicken was nice - on par with good chicken rice stalls. The meat was tenderly smooth and moist with natural chicken sweetness in its juices and skin. It went very well with the porridge.
👉 If you are a porridge lover, Loa Yau Kee Porridge 老友记粥 is one to check off your bucket list when you are in KL. My earlier post on Soong Kee Beef Ball Mee👈 click. I was there previously during the day and found the night shift slightly different. The night time noodles were done softer and the beef slices were cooked stiffer.
Restaurant name: Loa Yau Kee Porridge 老友记粥 Address: 86, Jalan Tun H S Lee, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia GPS: 3°08'50.4"N 101°41'48.2"E 🌐 3.147334, 101.696709 Waze: Low Yau Kee Porridge Nearest MRT station: 10 minutes walk from Pasar Seni station (I highly recommend using public transport when visiting the old heart of KL as car parking is a huge challenge.) Hours: 5:00pm till sold out (around 8pm) Non Halal Date visited: 3 Dec 2018 Johor Kaki list of KL food👈 click
We went exploring Johor Bahru's hawker centres and stumbled upon this popular nasi campur stall at Selera Cempaka (a public hawker centre run by JB city council). Nasi campur is the Malay version of "mixed vegetable rice 杂菜饭" or "economic rice 经济饭" with Malay homestyle dishes.
This stall is known as Sudut Selera Sri Cempaka.
Encik Ahmad Harail and his family have been running Sudut Selera Sri Cempaka for about 18 years. He is with his wife and daughter in law in this picture.
Sudut Selera Sri Cempaka is Gerai #1 at the far left side corner of Selera Cempaka. It was fully packed during lunch time.
I guess there must be over three dozen different dishes at Sudut Selera Sri Cempaka. I just took photos of a few for you to see.
Customers help themselves to five different types of sambal chili with different taste profiles for different dishes.
My lunch - a fried sea bass done tiga rasa style (three tastes), curry squid and curry tapioca leaves. Cost RM21 (RM12 for the fish).
Tempeh, fried chicken, potato cutlet and curry tapioca with rice. Price RM7.
Flavours at Sudut Selera Sri Cempaka are relatively robust and leaning slightly on the salty side. I enjoyed all the dishes we had today.
We love their fried chicken. Nice savoury flavours on the crispy outside and natural chicky sweetness on the tender juicy inside.
Information for you👉 If you need a nice local lunch with lots of traditional dishes and flavours to choose from, at reasonable prices and experience a Malaysian hawker centre - check out the nasi campur at Sudut Selera Sri Cempaka.
Restaurant name: Sudut Selera Sri Cempaka Address: Gerai No. 1, Medan Selera Taman Cempaka, Taman Cempaka, Johor Bahru GPS: 1°30'54.1"N 103°41'50.9"E 🌐 1.515033, 103.697476 Tel: 011 1779 6696 ☎ 017 702 4544 Hours: 7:00am - 5:00pm Halal
As a nasi kukus lover, I was thrilled to stumble upon Nasi Kukus D'Cempaka during food hunting in Johor Bahru's public hawker centres. (The signboard at the stall says Nasi Kukus Gulai Kawah.)
When I see a lunch time queue like this, I can't help but stop to check it out. As we already had a heavy lunch, we made a note to come back the next day.
Owner Cik Yasmin hails from Kota Bahru, Kelantan the home of nasi kukus. She uses her mum's recipes at Nasi Kukus D'Cempaka. It was in Kota Bahru during a road trip in 2002 that I had my first taste of nasi kukus and fell in love with it. Since then, I will order nasi kukus whenever it is available.
At Nasi Kukus D'Cempaka, fresh chicken is marinaded with spices at the shop.
The chicken are freshly deep fried at the shop in small quantities at a time.
The fried chicken are brought out and served piping hot in small freshly fried batches.
Rice is cooked from grains by steaming which is the way of authentic nasi kukus.
The breakfast session starts around 10am and nasi kukus kak wok is on the menu 😋 For RM5, we get a mound of steamed rice splashed with chicken curry with claws thrown in, about 5 or 6 pieces of fried chicken, chopped cucumber and a dollop of sambal chili.
The small pieces of chicken were fried a little dry and stiff but they were well infused with savoury spices which made them very delicious. The plain steamed rice was in a tightly moulded mound. It went very well with the mild savoury sweet spicy chicken curry. The savoury spicy sambal chili had a rather sharp lingering hot sting and tangy zing.
We love the soft springy crunch of the naturally sweet subtly spicy chicken feet.
At around 11am, they start to serve "nasi bajet" which is rice with chicken curry, chopped cucumber and a large piece of chicken either breast or drum stick. (Price RM6.50.)
We had a nasi bajet each (after finishing the nasi kak wok).
The chicken breast meat was slightly crisp outside, savoury with spicy hints while the inside was tender, moist and naturally sweet. So good!
Before noon, they were ready to serve their "nasi special" which comes with a choice of upper or lower quarter chicken (price RM8.50). But, we were already full and had to take a rain check for this. Cik Yasmin also suggested that we should try her nasi gulai kawah kambing (curry lamb). That just means that we have to come back again soon 😄
Recommended for you👍 Nasi kukus lovers, I found a nice Kelantanese run nasi kukus stall in JB which I think you will love too 😋 Restaurant name: Nasi Kukus D'Cempaka (Nasi Kukus Gulai Kawah) Address: Gerai No. 11, Medan Selera Taman Cempaka, Taman Cempaka, Johor Bahru GPS: 1°30'54.1"N 103°41'50.9"E 🌐 1.515033, 103.697476 Waze: Medan Selera Taman Cempaka Tel: 013 734 8178 Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm (Monday off) Halal Date visited: 27 Dec 2018
Ajung Selera Cempaka is one of many public hawker centres run by the Johor Bahru City Council. The idea is to provide affordable and accessible cooked food for residents, hence public hawker centres are located in residential districts. Stall rental is nominal ranging from RM50 to RM350 per month. This helps create entrepreneurship opportunities and allow heritage hawker food to stay authentic. The nominal rentals help hawkers stay commercially viable using traditional recipes, preparing and cooking relatively small quantities on site as authentic heritage food is hard to mass produce.
Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun (Cantonese steamed rice rolls) was the first stop of our 2-day Ipoh food trail.
It's like a chee cheong fun tricycle stall moved indoors - that's exactly what it was.
This place reminded me of those private museums in rural USA where the owners showcase their family and small town memorabilia. Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun is like a museum of heirloom Ipoh CCF.
The stall was founded by 俞绍德 Yu Shao De's father a long time ago. Yu Shao De, over 80 years old today, took over his dad's business nearly 70 years ago. Yu Shao De used to sell his hand made chee cheong fun from baskets and pots slung across his shoulders. He made enough money to buy a tricycle about 50 years ago. Townsfolk call this "德哥 Tuck Gor chee cheong fun" after Yu Shao De. Four years ago, Tuck Gor handed over his tricycle and business to his daughter and son-in-law. Today, this stall is better known as Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun.
The menu and price list today. I saw only kosong or plain chee cheong fun (none of the Teluk Anson or Hong Kong type of CCF with fillings).
The rice rolls are served with a splash of sweet sauce, spicy sauce, soy sauce, aromatic (fried shallot) oil, pickled green chili, fried shallot crisps, toasted sesame seed, and your choice of simple sides like fish balls or fried fish cake. (I didn't see any curry sauce at Pasir Pinji CCF.)
I like it that the chee cheong fun was served in old style enamel plates, the environment friendly kind which was ubiquitous before the advent of plastics (or worse, single use Styrofoam). The simple plain steamed rice rolls come sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, dressed with fried shallot crisps, splashed with soy, sweet and spicy sauce, and a handful of pickled green chili pepper at the side.
Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun is a legend in Ipoh CCF. Many folks visiting from out of town packet some home for family and friends.
Information for you👉 Truth be told, there was nothing exquisite or mind blowing about the taste or texture of this chee cheong fun today. But, it's the nostalgic charm of old school chee cheong fun of our leaner old days when our food was simple and basic. We treasure this because it is our gastronomic link to our past and reminder to be grateful and to stay rooted. Eating at a tricycle stall parked at the front porch of a family home is a memorable, quaint, authentic foodie experience.
Pro tip 1 - Get some crispy tender juicy savoury Ah Hou roast pork belly to eat with your Pasir Pinji chee cheong fun. Ah Hou's stall is less than 3 minutes drive from the CCF stall👈 click Pro tip 2 - Get a queue number first before you find a seat - it will save you waiting time 😜
Please recommend me other good chee cheong fun places in Ipoh 😋
Restaurant name: Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun 兵如港豬腸粉 Address: 1456, Jalan Pasir Pinji 5, Taman Hoover, Ipoh, Negeri Perak GPS: 4°34'43.2"N 101°05'03.2"E 🌐 4.578677, 101.084232 Waze: Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun Tel: 05-255 6951 Parking: Very limited street side parking along narrow residential street Hours: 12:30pm - 4:00pm (Weds, Sat & Sun off) Non Halal Date visited: 30 Nov 2018 Rambling, draggy video by Gerry Ko but it is 100% authentic (which is really important to me lah.... .).
Muar Glutton Street is a short 100 metre long strip of food stalls along Jalan Haji Abu. I like the Ah Choy Wan Tan Mee 亚才云吞面 here - I think it is one of the best in Johor and Singapore. (Disclaimer: This is a "red" wanton mee. Hardcore "black" WTM people can skip to the next post 😝 )
Ah Choy Wan Tan Mee is one of about two dozen food stalls at Muar Glutton Street. Ah Choy operates from the mobile stall but customers can eat their WTM inside Yong Kee kopitiam behind the stall.
Ah Choy Wan Tan Mee is always busy but service is pretty quick.
The wanton mee set comes with the customary wanton (pork dumpling) and soup but I think buddy Aaron upsized it to sui kaw 水饺 (prawn dumpling) soup.
I love this kind of egg noodles - relatively thick gauge and heavy. The strands were tender outside with a subtly firm core inside. Biting into the strands yields a nice QQ sensation (al dente in pasta speak). The sauce is the savoury sweet spicy type common in Johor and Singapore. I liked it as it was quite robust yet well balanced. Despite the rather robust tasting sauce I was still able to taste a bit of egginess - the taste of eggs is something I very rarely find in egg noodles nowadays.
The bright red slightly fibrous char siew wasn't much to shout about (especially when compared to those in KL but over there the noodles weren't as good).
The thin and slippery wanton skin wraps generous fillings of minced pork and prawn (this was the sui kaw 水饺).
Gently savoury sweet watery bodied soup.
Recommended for you👍 If you are at Muar Glutton Street, Ah Choy Wan Tan Mee is a Must, if you love "red" wanton mee of the Singapore / Johor kind. (I know "black" wanton mee people won't like this 😜 )
Please recommend me other good food to eat at Muar Glutton Street or around Muar 😋
Restaurant name: Ah Choy Wan Tan Mee 亚才云吞面 Address: Muar Glutton Street 贪吃街. Along Jalan Haji Abu (between junction with Jalan Meriam and Jalan Ali) GPS: 2°02'48.8"N 102°34'07.1"E 🌐 2.046882, 102.568639 Waze: Food Street Jalan Haji Abu Hours: 10:00pm to 5:00pm Non Halal
Feeling famish after crossing back to Singapore from JB, I went to the nearest hawker centre, Marsiling Lane Market & Food Centre for a quick bite. I zeroed in on Selera Menanti Traditional Malay Cuisine stall as it had the longest queue. Tried their soto ayam and loved it. I shall be tasting their menu one by one whenever I come by this way again.
Besides the usual essentials like mee rebus, mee siam, mee soto etc., they also have Indonesian staples like nasi rawan, nasi ambeng, nasi jengagan, nasi sambal goreng (all under SGD5). I would love to try their nasi (rice dishes) but this time I just wanted something light to tide me over till lunch, hence I only ordered a soto ayam.
The SGD3 serving of soto ayam comes with rice cubes, shredded chicken, and bean sprouts in cloudy spicy chicken soup. I added fried beef lungs (paru goreng) for extra SGD1.
The chicken and spice soup was mildly savoury with spice (rempah) flavour. There was a little spicy heat which came from the spoonful of dark sambal chili sauce. The sambal was already spooned into the soup - the customer cannot adjust the taste on her/his own. The taste profile turned out OK for me.
There were several pieces of boiled chicken. The meat was tender but there weren't any chicken flavours - only flavours from the savoury spicy rempah soup.
SGD1 got me several pieces of this spongy savoury fried beef lung (paru goreng). I love this. (I wanted to say Must Try but do recognise that it is an acquired taste.)
This rice cake was beyond my expectation as it was hand made. I expected only generic factory made rice cake (as this is the norm in Singapore hawker centres). I love it that Selera Menanti's rice cake was soft tender and moist with subtle rice taste. (Factory made rice cakes tend to be firm, flavourless, and often felt cold inside as it is tightly compacted.) The blanched bean sprouts were done just nice - crunchy and juicy sweet without any grassy or earthly taste.
Information for you👉 Boiled chicken, fried beef lung, soft rice cakes, crunchy bean sprouts, spicy chicken soup and hot sambal chili, all came together very well in this bowl of sota ayam. It's a very tasty light meal for SGD4. I shall be back to taste other items on the menu as they look so delicious 😋
Please recommend me other good food to eat in Woodlands and Marsiling 😋
Restaurant name: Selera Menanti Traditional Malay Cuisine Address: Stall #01-120, Blk 20/21 Marsiling Lane Market & Food Centre, Singapore GPS: 1°26'37.5"N 103°46'37.3"E 🌐 1.443753, 103.777037 Hours: 6:00am to 12:00 noon (Monday off) Halal
Thanks Gilbert and Cassandra for taking us to 瓊南茶餐室 Kedai Kopi Keng Nam (coffee shop) to experience an authentic Ipoh breakfast. If you have time for just breakfast in Ipoh, I would suggest Keng Nam coffee shop because of the variety and tastiness of the food here, not to mention the good Ipoh coffee.
Keng Nam coffee shop was packed just as Gilbert had primed us. Stay calm. Just be patient and tables will be available as customers come, eat and go briskly in this no frills 1980s vintage coffee shop 😄 Nevertheless, be early if you can, to avoid the top sellers being sold out before you arrive.
My first time tasting boiled firm-tender-sticky glutinous rice with kaya (coconut and egg jam) known as pulut kaya. Sweeter on sweet with subtle hints of pandan (screw pine) and ginger - great if you have a sweet tooth. (The constant brainwashing by anti diabetes propaganda have spoilt my appetite for anything more than mildly sweet 😓 )
If sweet on sweet doesn't suit your taste buds or view of life, there's the curry chicken version - mild sweet spicy on sweet. Personally, I like this better.
Every Ipoh kopitiam have chee cheong fun (well, almost all lah). This version with traditional savoury sweet mushroom sauce and mildly spicy sauce.
I like to eat my soft smooth chee cheong fun (rice roll) topped with a blend of mushroom with curry sauce and spongy curry fried pork skin. I like this chee cheong fun at Kang Nam.
Curry mee with chicken, char siew and mint leaves. The medium body (not too rich) curry had moderate level of well balanced savoury, sweet, spicy flavours.
Dry curry mee and bee hoon - an Ipoh signature along with the likes of gai si hor fun (chicken noodle), nga choy gai (poached chicken with bean sprouts), chee cheong fun (rice roll), tau fu fah (bean curd) etc. Mildly savoury spicy sweet - do try it for the experience. Some people say Keng Nam has Ipoh's best dry curry mee.
Toast with jiggly soft boiled eggs. The eggs had an eggy taste (something which cannot be taken for granted nowadays).
Good ol' kaya and butter toast.
Ipoh white coffee, of course - smooth round body, aromatic, savoury sweet flavour. On par with the best that I've tasted in Ipoh. The beans are from Chang Jiang, if I heard correctly - the sibling resemblance is certainly there.
The iced version. (We spilt a bit of kopi 😂 )
Recommended for you👍 A great place to hit good renditions of a few Ipoh signature dishes in one go. Enjoy the lively atmosphere and energy of Ipoh folks along with good food. An authentic local foodie experience that beats generic hotel breakfast hands down 😄
Please recommend me other good old school coffee shops in Ipoh 😋
Restaurant name: Kedai Kopi Keng Nam 瓊南茶餐室 Address: 127, Jalan Raja Ekram, Kampung Jawa, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia GPS: 4°35'59.2"N 101°05'11.8"E 🌐 4.599783, 101.086608 Waze: Kedai Kopi Keng Nam Tel: +60 5-255 7328 Hours: 6:00am - 11:00am Non Halal Date visited: 2 Dec 2018
Looking for things to eat in the sprawling Northpoint City mall in Yishun Singapore, I stumbled upon this Indian rojak stall at the old wing (north wing) beside the Subway and Kopitiam foodcourt. Northpoint City is a labyrinth with hundreds of food outlets but not many offer traditional street food fare, so I was pretty excited by this find.
Truth be told, the name Ministry of Rojak sounded a bit pompous and cliché (there are already various ministry of this or that food stalls / restaurants) but it was also what caught my attention first (so fancy names work lah). On the traditional open display shelves, there were slightly over a dozen types of rojak pieces with the usual suspects of fried doughy items, tofu, fish balls, fish cake, prawn fritters etc.
But, there were also hardcore items like this boiled beef lung that convinced me that this is a serious Indian rojak stall. I like it that they were sliced thick and I can feel the lung's sponginess just by looking at them 😅
Large squids. I like squid tentacles more than the body.
Fried prawn fritters.
Fried prawn fritter on fried tofu (tau kwa).
More fried prawn fritters. You know by now that I love fried prawn fritters. This variety of small soft shell prawns is my favourite as I like the crisp - soft texture and it has the most natural prawny savoury sweet flavour.
Fried chickpea balls (falafel).
Pick your choice of items, hand over your plate to the staff and he will give you a paper slip with your queue number. Return to your seat, come back to pay and collect your food when your queue number is flashed. Simple and efficient system.
The seating area is small and it is quite warm (even though it is an air conditioned mall). The mall is crowded and there is a lot of cooking going on (nowadays malls have more F & B outlets and less retail shops).
Every item was deep fried and chopped up to bite size, and served in a heap on a large plastic plate. It was not very photogenic 😂 The spicy dip was served in disposable plastic cups. This plate of Indian rojak plus 4 teh (milk tea) costs around SGD35.
All the fried items tasted pretty good or normal (which is great as there is nothing bad 😛 ). Slightly crisp outside, natural flavours still retained. We felt a slight thirst after all the fried food. There is no MSG used but thirst is natural with so much fried stuff.
Besides the fried items, the spicy dip is decisive in the popularity of Indian rojak stalls. I like Ministry of Rojak's spicy dip - the sauce has just the right texture with soft nuttiness from almost dissolved peas. It has a nice balanced sweet spicy taste with pleasant fleeting spicy heat. (The sweetness and pastey texture came from mashed sweet potatoes.) I also like it that the staff will gladly refill our empty dip cups with hot sauce, no questions asked. I like to smother every rojak piece with lots of sauce.
Information for you👉 If you are in the north of Singapore, this is probably one of the best Indian rojak you can find. Ministry of Rojak has a few outlets in Singapore malls and the parent Abdhus Salam Rojak stall is still in Ayer Rajah hawker centre (the Indian rojak hub of Singapore).
Singapore Indian rojak is a uniquely Singapore heritage hawker dish not found anywhere else in the world. Please recommend me other good Indian rojak stalls in Singapore.
Restaurant name: Ministry of Rojak by Abdhus Salam Rojak Address: Northpoint City, 930 Yishun Ave 2, #B2-02, Singapore 769098 GPS: 1°25'45.9"N 103°50'07.5"E 🌐 1.429428, 103.835425 Nearest MRT: Yishun Tel: 8374 6145 Hours: 11:00am - 9:30pm Halal Date visited: 1 Jan 2019
