Adventure #213: Pitt Street Koay Teow Th'ng (Penang)

When in Penang, we revisited some of the usual joints we ate at last time.  A number of them REALLY let us down.  As the Malaysians would say - jatuh standard lah (standard has fallen).  So we searched and searched on the net for new recommendations.  

One place that kept popping up was Pitt Street Koay Teow Th'ng or Pitt Street ho fun soup. This shop is actually on Carnavan Street but it was originally located at Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling (formerly known as Pitt Street), hence the owner decided to retain its name and I guess along with it, its old customer base!

Boss man hard at work making ho fun soup when we arrived.

The soup version.  The fish balls were made of eel and unlike the normal fish balls, these don't bounce so much but rather melts in your mouth.  Really interesting! And the pork slices had been tenderized by beating it senseless! LOL! As such the pork pieces were smooth and tender.

The dried version for the kids.

And as always, extra ingredients for G!

Looks like the locals really love this joint too!

We were very pleased with this find.  Not only was the ho fun soup tasty, it was different, rather unique.  Good job!

183 Lebuh Carvarvon

0100 George Town

Pulau Pinang

Adventure #212: Lam Kee Ipoh Kuehtiau (Ipoh)

This Easter we were back in KL. We had such a great time on our Malaysia road (food) trip back in 2012, we decided to do it again, although this time we would be taking a more direct route, stopping only in Ipoh for lunch and then straight to Penang.

Last time, we stopped at Thean Chun Coffee Shop for the famous Ipoh ho fun and we loved it.  This time, some friends from Ipoh recommended this Ipoh ho fun joint saying this is where local goes.  We arrived just before lunch time, so were able to eat before the lunch time crowded. 

We were early, so the boss personally cooked for us.

Noodle in soup.

Noodle in sauce, kids usually prefer this.

Extra chicken for G!

The ho fun was good and chicken soft but it lack the "omph".  Regardless of the locals think, personally I still prefer the one at Thean Chun Coffee Shop.


Lam Kee Ipoh Kuehtiau
Restaurant Jen Jen
22, Jalan Tokong
Pasir Puteh
Ipoh Town

Adventure #204: Restoran Long Grilled Fish Seafood (Jin Jang)

This December when we were home in KL, my brother Alex took us to his new found food joint in Jin Jang.  Don't think I have ever been to Jin Jang before!  Anyway, over the course of 2 weeks, we were there 3 times and here are some of the dishes we tried.

濕奶油日本螺 Clams in cream sauce, so sweet and delicious.  A must have!

鴛鴦腸 Intestines cooked 2 ways.  I preferred the deep fried ones.

有機豆付 Organic tofu, again cooked 2 ways.  Not much difference from a fried tofu, the colour though is rather unusual.  Again, preferred the dry one with dipping sauce which tasted rather like the cream sauce above.

We tried crabs cooked 3 different ways:

奶油蟹 Crab in cream sauce.  Yum!

燒蟹 BBQ crab. This is their signature dish.  Excellent! Another must have.

咸蛋黄炒蟹 Crab with salty egg.  This should have been a great dish but the egg yolk were stuck to the shell making it less tasty.

燒浦魚 BBQ stingray. Another good dish.

They have 2 fried rice. This is 海鮮炒飯 seafood fried rice.  This one had chopped salted fish on top, so can be a bit too salty.  The 啦啦炒飯 fried rice with clams was way better. Dry and full of flavour!

We also tried other non-seafood dishes but they were not good at all, especially the fried vegetables.  Suggest you only eat seafood dishes here.

Adventure #199: Pik Wah Lau 碧华楼 (KL)

We have three November birthdays in the family, my dad, myself and the little one.  This year we celebrated it in KL with an unusual Sturgeon Feast 鱘龍宴.  An 8-course meal made entirely from a sturgeon. And each course has such wonderful Chinese name. Let's see if the food lives up to the name.

天馬行空 -天麻茯苓黨參清湯燉魚頭
First course is fish soup made from the fish head and Chinese herbs.

Very delicious!

朝夕相對– 新會陳皮薑絲蒸雙飛魚柳
Next came steam fish with ginger and dried orange peel. Sturgeon is a large fish and I expected the meat to be a bit tough but was surprised to find that it was juicy and tender.

草船借箭– 香草汁煎透魚皮配薄荷葉
Deep fried fish skin.  Crunchy and went well with the lemon and mint sauce. Tasted a bit like a Thai dish.

見龍在田– 炸脆脊棰軟骨拋秘制椒鹽
Deep fried fish soft bone with salt and pepper. Nice and crunchy.  Beer food!

冰珀玉液– 冰鎮皮下魚腩用花雕刺身
Sturgeon sashimi. Luckily, this dish also came with a hot pot.  I was not too sure about sturgeon sashimi but had to try at lest a piece.  As expected, the texture of the meat is a bit tough.  However, once dipped in the hotpot, it became a whole new experience.  Much better cooked.

幹腸寸斷– 古方蔥段泡制魚幹和魚腸(didn’t have this, in steam egg instead)
They changed the menu on this dish. Instead of stir fried fish liver and intestine with ginger and spring onion, they cooked it in steamed egg.  This dish tasted fishy and was left mainly untouched.  The old menu would have removed the fishy smell of this dish.

張燈結綵– 四川豆豉燈籠椒炒魚尾球
Stir fried fish with bean sauce and pepper. An OK dish.

火舞黃沙– 魚油膽鮮帶子黃金炒冷飯
Fried rice with fish oil and scallop.  This is my favourite dish as the rice is dry and fragrant, very well made.  Unfortunately, we were all rather full by now.

This was a birthday dinner so dad had to order a birthday noodle. I still prefer the rice.

All in all, a very interesting meal.  Most of the dishes were good and definitely worth a try.

MABA House Basement Level
Stadium Block
6 Jalan Hang Jebat
50100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2072 3668

Adventure #159: Village Park Restaurant (Petaling Jaya)

I have heard a lot about the Nasi Lemak at Village Park but never made it there because it is always crowded.  Crowded during meal times and crowded during weekends.  So, today before we leave to take our flight to Koh Samui for some R&R, we decided to give it a try.  We arrived mid morning on a Monday (cannot get more of- peak than this) for brunch.  Lots of seats and we were able to eat leisurely.

This is how busy it can get!

All the food Village Park had to offer.

And its famous crispy fried chicken.

I had to try its most famous dish - Nasi Lemak with Goreng Ayam (crispy fried chicken).  The fried chicken was delicious.  Sambal was also good. No sure I would come in peak time for this though.

G preferred to have his standard Malaysian breakfast - 2 half boiled eggs with coffee (at the back) and......

.......his kaya toast.

The older one has been dreaming of Ipoh Ho fan ever since our Malaysian road trip last year. So, this is what she had.  For a restaurant specializing in Malay food, its Ipoh Ho Fan was surprisingly good. 

And the older one also had a Milo Dinosaur! What a fun drink. Only in Malaysia!

Village Park Restaurant
5, Jalan SS21/37 Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya
Malaysia
Tel: +603-7710-7860

Business hours:
0700 – 1930 (Monday – Saturday)
0700 – 1830 (Sunday and Public Holiday)

Adventure #158: Cendol at Damansara Uptown (Petaling Jaya)

There is a cendol stall just outside the mosque at a roundabout in Damansara Uptown.  G said he has been going there since he was a boy.  And whenever we are in the neighbourhood, we would buy a pack or two home.

When we got there today, only the old man was there on his own.  His son had gone to get more ice.  I gave my orders and he worked slowly but steadily assembling them.

Still using the old manual crush ice maker.

Cendol with pulut (sticky rice) and only crush ice.

This is by far the best cendol in this part of town. In KL, it has to be the one at the small parking lot beside lake Titiwangsa. 

Adventure #157: Durians at SS2

I am a HUGE durian fan.  I can eat durian everyday.  So, every time I come back to KL, whether durian is in season or not, I seek it out.  Lucky for me, the durian stalls at SS2 are always open. 

There are 2 stalls at SS2, Uncle Donald and Durianss2.  Both are equally good.  Prices relatively similar, service too.

As this was not durian season (season in July and August), the stands were not fully populated, same for the tables.  

The type we were familiar with such as D24 were not on offer, although Mao Sang Wong was on offer - I passed coz of the high insecticide content associated with it.

Red Prawn was in season and so was only RM18 per kilo.  The flesh was attractively reddish and very sweet. 

We also tried Jantung (the Heart) - which was appropriately shaped. This was more creamy, not as sweet as Red Prawn with a hint of bitterness.

Can't wait to come back again!