Char Koay Teow at Pulau Tikus !

I could still remember my first time having the Char Koay Teow at Kedai Kopi Sin Hwa opposite the Pulau Tikus police station. It was particularly memorable due to the non-existant parking space (near to market) and the coffee shop was unusually stuffy with little ventilation. And of course, the Char Koay Teow is kind of special too, as it comes with squids and you have the option of ‘upgrading’ it to a duck egg version for extra 50 cents.

Instead of relying on the seafood sweetness achieved by using huge prawns, Sin Hwa’s Char Koay Teow is red hot, which focuses more on wok hei and spiciness – the oomph factor. And not to mention cheaper too compared to those selling at a crazy price of RM7-RM10 per plate.

Well that was about 4-5 years ago when the old lady was still in charge of cooking. Now, a young man has taken over the wok and he is the grandson of the old lady who had decided to retire for good. You will still see her around though, taking orders and delivering the noodles at the coffee shop, or maybe even giving some pointers to her protege in training.

I would be naive to expect the Char Koay Teow to taste the same when it is fried by a different person who has less experience. Although it isn’t as delicious as I remembered, the overall flavor is still there. All he needs is more experience and I am sure he would be better in no time. Anyway, being a young man I am sure he has ideas of his own and hopefully he would improvise on the frying techniques and all, instead of just following his grandmother’s footsteps. Also, it is quite rare for someone so young to step up and continue the family business, moreover a hawker stall that is quite labor intensive.

If you are not local, Siam Road Char Koay Teow is THE one to try. But if timing and directions are not in your favor then this is not too shabby lah, plus the waiting time is short when compared to the popular ones. The coffee shop is just next to Swee Kong Cafe, where you would find a rather busy Hokkien Mee (means Prawn noodles to Penangites) and Apom Manis in the morning.

Kedai Kopi Sin Hwa
Jalan Burma (Opposite Pulau Tikus Police Station)
GPS Coordinates: N5 25.834 E100 18.752

Mom's Cashew Nut Cookies !

Just sent my brother to the Bayan Lepas airport, hope he enjoys his working trip to US. And I am in the office so early.. so I will bore you further with more CNY [tag]cookies[/tag] we made last weekend 

[tag]Cashew nut cookies[/tag] was what we baked. After laying the dough, we used a fork to press for the desired pattern. Then brush the dough’s surface with egg white using a brush (mopi). This is to make the cookies look nicer when they are done.

We put half a cashew nut on each dough and applied some pressure so that it will stick. The cashew nuts can also be brushed with egg white. That way, they will appear golden brown and taste better too! Too bad we only realised it until the last batch of cookies.

Fresh from the microwave!

One of my job was to move them into a bigger tray and so they can cool down.

A recipe can fit into 2 big containers like this. It takes skill and time to arrange them nicely leh! My mom’s cashew nut cookies and pineapple tarts taste so good that people wanted to order them! But considering the time and cost needed, it’s not feasible to receive orders. Let me break down the costs:

• 1/2 kg cashew nut = RM12
• butter = RM2.35
• sugar = RM1
• container (L) = RM1.20, (S) = RM1
• electricity cost (microwave) = RM5?

So per container of cookies’ raw cost is around RM10 already. And I doubt the electricity cost is that little because we used the microwave for the whole morning. Hard to make profit la like this, somemore there were 4 of us working.. if we wanted to bake extra, better keep for ourselves and serve our guests during

Beef and Prawn Noodles at Medan Imbi !

Pan Heong’s Sang Har Hor Fun was good but the not-so-fresh prawns triggered me to look for a better one. Since there is no way I will ever step foot into Soo Kee, I walked into their son’s shop instead which is situated just across the road at Medan Imbi. You will definitely be able to recognize the restaurant just by looking at the signboard that says “Soo Kee’s Son (Meng Chuan)” Prawn & Beef Noodles.
In fact, this was Soo Kee’s original location before they moved to the current one (under big tree), then Meng Chuan took over. There is certainly some family dispute among them but let’s not go into that and just enjoy the food.

Besides Sang Har Noodle, I am also here is to try Meng Chuan’s famous beef noodles that always comes with plenty of recommendations.

This is the main reason the beef noodles here is famous – soft and tender beef slices that make all the difference. The noodle itself is not bad too, skillfully cooked with lots of ‘wok hei’, delicious even without the beef. Even though the beef slices are really out of the world and melts in the mouth, there is a weird metallic aftertaste after consuming too much of them, which I suspect is due to the huge amount of baking soda used to tenderize the beef. A normal serving costs RM9 but ours cost RM15 because we requested additional meat.

The Sang Har Meen can be ordered with two different noodles, either Sang Meen which is thinner and crunchy when deep fried, or Yee Mee. I will take Sang Meen anyday because I find Yee Mee tend to introduce unpleasant taste into anything they are cooked with. When the Sang Har noodle arrived it was a sight to behold and we were quite impressed. The prawns could very well be the biggest we have encountered so far. Taste wise it was no doubt brilliant and the eggy gravy is full of the prawn’s sweetness, definitely a notch better than Pan Heong’s as far as I am concerned.

As expected, the prawns here are superbly fresh with firm, bouncy flesh. If you dig the flesh carefully you might be able to rip the whole body off its shell too! To show you its relative size I have singled out half a portion of the prawn on a small plate which is able to hold it just nice. Just look at the amount of roe, no wonder the gravy tastes so good. So even though Pan Heong’s Sang Har noodle is cheaper than Soo Kee/Meng Chuan’s you do get what you paid for.

Although Meng Chuan is not as popular compared to the original Soo Kee, the restaurant is visibly cleaner (notice how the floor is spotless?) and service is a lot better too. Well I wouldn’t say they are extra-friendly but at least they don’t scold the customers and I could eat at ease here.

With an open kitchen you are able to see the action when the chefs are cooking. And we purposely chose the table nearest to the kitchen for this. There were two chefs cooking when I was there but I was particularly intrigued by the old uncle who constantly caught our attention with the huge flames bursting out of his stove. Seeing that probably added some ‘wow’ moments into our already memorable meal.

Meng Chuan’s menu with price and opening hours clearly displayed.

Soo Kee’s Son (Meng Chuan) Prawn & Beef Noodles
Restoran New Imbi Garden,
Medan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur
GPS Coordinates: N3 08.665 E101 42.853
Opening hours: 12pm to 12am, closed on Wednesdays

Fish Head at Subang Jaya !

Now, before you get the idea that this fish head curry restaurant belongs to the now-defunct Taiwanese boy band F4, let me just tell you they are not the owners. In fact, this popular restaurant used to operate at Chan Sao Lin before moving toSubang Jaya – not sure how long ago though. Like many of you I am also baffled at the name choice of “F4″ but I think we could all agree it is rather catchy and easy to remember lol. Like Brother Yat, F4 Fish Head Restaurant is pretty hidden within the Subang Jaya Industries Park, one of the least places you would expect to find good food.

Also, this is the place you would want to come as early as possible especially during weekends, as you can see the crowd could get really crazy even they are almost as big as a multipurpose hall.. Service during peak hour is not an issue because they are quite efficient, but finding any free tables could be a problem.

F4 has other styles of preparing the fish head like cook with asam or steaming but lets just focus on their signature style – curry. A recommended portion for three is RM24, which I believe is the smallest possible order and comes with a whole fish head of the day. For that kind of pricing I wouldn’t call it cheap but at least you get what you paid for, just the smooth and tender meat from the fish head part only.

Compared to my other favorite – Delicious Fish Head Curry at Kepong, F4′s curry gravy is not as thick and the spiciness is much milder. Don’t get me wrong I am not complaining about F4 because they are actually very good, just that I prefer my curry to be really spicy with that extra kick.

They are generous with the okra, long beans and tofu pok too – a great accompaniment to rice together with the appetizing curry.

Many other dishes are available here but we didn’t really bother because our main purpose is to try the Fish Head Curry only.

If you are keen on trying F4 (if you haven’t yet) it is advisable to come at night when the more experienced chefs are cooking. As much as I like to eat here more often, the location is a huge drawback for me. It just feels very far no matter where you come from and the roads’ condition is damn poor. Driving here is never an enjoyable thing to do.

F4 Fish Head Restaurant (next to USJ Badminton Hall)
Lot 776, Sub lot 3,
Jalan Subang 4,
Subang Jaya Industries Park,
47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS Coordinates: N3 02.795 E101 35.845
Tel: 012-325 9111

Jalil Special Ice Kacang , next to Fort Cornwallis !

I have found a new favorite stall for ice kacang in Penang and it is Jalil Special Ice Kacang. Being halal is another good thing because everyone can enjoy it. The stall is just next to Mee Sotong Hameed Pata in the food court between the huge field and Fort Cornwalis at Esplanade.

I ordered an ice kacang from the waiters but it didn’t arrive even after 15 minutes. I thought they had forgotten since there were a lot of customers during lunch hour. Even though I reminded the guy he didn’t seem to take notice and appeared to ignore me. There was not even a slight affirmation shown.
Seeing this I was about to give up and walk away after having my mee goreng there. And then the ice kacang came lol. So I think they were just too occupied remembering all the orders that they behave like this. Anyway my point is, don’t mind the service – your order will come eventually.

Jalil Special Ice Kacang is priced at an affordable RM2.50 a bowl. Despite the cheap price the toppings are aplenty (sweet corn, red bean, atapchi) with a scoop of Nestle vanilla ice cream included. The shaved ice was surprisingly melt in your mouth smooth and soft, given that a traditional ice shaver was used. Not a single piece of coarse ice piece was detected.
Besides the ABC, the coconut vanilla shake here is equally popular for its refreshing taste.

This is the reason I came here for lunch – Hameed ‘Pata’ Special Mee Goreng Sotong @ RM4. Still as tasty as ever, fiery hot with loads of cuttlefish strips. Still served on a steel plate, staying true to the Indian tradition.

Flurry of action during the frying ‘performance’, it doesn’t stop until they close for the day.

Overall, my take on Jalil Special Ice Kacang is that it is better than the one at New World Park, very recommended. Only if the service could be better but that can be avoided if you come during non-peak hours.

Jalil Special Ice Kacang
Food Court next to Fort Cornwallis
**Open for lunch only. Closed on Sunday
Wikimapia location

Champ's Bistro King Kong at Bandar Utama !

It’s pretty unusual to find lard in Prawn Mee but if you fancy heapful of these sinful stuff you could find it at Champ’s Bistro,Centrepoint Bandar Utama. The Prawn Mee here is also reputed to be one of the most expensive due to its huge serving of pork ribs and ‘King Kong‘ sized prawns.

They call it the ‘Damn Shiok Hokkien Prawn Mee‘, priced at RM20.90 a bowl. And despite being shown in the menu as having three prawns, it only came with only two – huge and fresh nonetheless. Soup is ‘shiok’ alright, much credit to MSG. The chili paste adds a much welcomed kick to the noodles so I suggest you to double the dose.
Well, I don’t know whether I should be surprised, the addition of lard did make the noodles more delicious by enhancing the taste and aroma of the soup. Pork ribs were meaty but some parts felt a bit tough.

A fork and spoon will be needed to eat this big fella properly, using chopsticks would just make your life harder.

You can probably share a bowl with your partner if you want, as I feel finishing the entire bowl of noodles by yourself is quite ‘jelak’. If you are willing to spend it’s worth trying at least once just for the experience sake. Compared to those you find at hawker stalls, no doubt the taste is better and more authentic but be prepared for a major thirstiness later lol.

Wasabi Bacon – for me I feel it’s meant to be shared, not something you would want to eat all by yourself. There’s only so much saltiness you could tolerate at one go you know. If you don’t like wasabi at all my advice is to skip it.

I would rate the Ais Kacang (RM8.50) much better if not for the shaved ice’s coarse texture. Someone seriously need to give the blade a good sharpening.

Champ’s Bistro
Lot F10, 1st Floor,
Centrepoint Bandar Utama,
Petaling Jaya.
GPS Coordinates: N3 08.307 E101 36.622

Durian Bomb and Durian ABC at Petaling Jaya too !

Restoran Sri Karak is one of the few halal Chinese restaurants in PJ that for me, is worth visiting not for their famed Steamed Patin or any ‘Tai Chow’ dishes but for their durian desserts and pastries.

Anyway, the reason this restaurant bears the name “Sri Karak” is because it is the sister restaurant of Yik Kee in Karak, Pahang. Both of them have similar a menu but Durian ABC is only available here. I know Sri Karak should be quite famous for most PJ-ians but I actually walked in thinking it was just another restaurant, unknowing of its reputation among the locals. Being the signature pastry, the Durian Bomb (RM1.80 each) is a must try here and I suggest you to have it as fast as you can while the puff pastry is still flaky.

Creamy durian is encased in each puff and they were pretty damn good, smelled and tasted very durian-ish. The only turn off for me would be the rather expensive pricing, else I would have easily whallop a few without second thoughts. It is also worth mentioning that Sri Karak sources the durians from their own durian farm in Karak. So, a year-round supply of durian is not a problem here.

I actually wanted to try the Durian Cendol but was told it was sold out for the day. So I had to settle for the next best thing,Durian ABC @ RM6.80. Initially I did not have too much of an expectation for a restaurant to serve a decent ABC but Sri Karak’s managed to surprise me. It was quite satisfying.
The shaved ice was smooth, toppings were aplenty and drizzled with generous Gula Melaka. You might think that a scoop of durian ice cream is given but in fact it was frozen durian flesh so the durian taste is so much stronger. The slight small trade-off is that the texture is not as smooth as ice cream.

The signature noodle dish – Cantonese Fried Mee‘s overall taste was OK, could be better if the noodles were not stuck together so badly.

Some other pastries and durian desserts like egg tarts, durian egg tarts, durian pancake and swiss rolls are also available at Sri Karak. I think you would agree with me that among all, the most tempting one should be the durian egg tarts. But honestly I could tell you don’t bother with them because they were so soggy. If you insist on trying, make sure the ones you buy are fresh out of the oven and still feel warm. Else, heh and good luck.

Restoran Sri Karak
No. 17 Jalan 52/8,
Section 52,
Petaling Jaya.
GPS Coordinates: N3 05.979 E101 38.723

Tel: 03 7958 3280
Business Hours: Mon-Sat (10am-10pm) Sunday, Lunch (11am-3pm), Dinner (6pm-10pm)