FIRST TASTED: Smokey’s BBQ @ Sunset Lane

Last Thursday was the long-waited belly building event with colleagues, one of my colleagues suggested to go to a simple but great hangout place, called Smokey’s BBQ. It’s located at Sunset Lane, which is only 10-15 minutes drive from our office.

Ambient / Environment:

It’s running as open concept, whereby eaters will get natural air conditioning, which is very good, especially for us who stay long hour in office almost every day. A considerably good place for a small group of people to hangout out, grab a couple of pints, decent grill and some bar snacks.

Food:

There were only 4 of us, as some of the people FFK (meaning didn’t bother to come upon the acceptance of the invitation). We ordered the National day S$49 promotion (which comprised full slab of Baby Pack Pork Ribs and a dozen of Buffalo wings) and a House Salad.

First to be served was the House Salad to cleanse our stomach. A good start to provide an extremely healthy foundation at the bottom of our stomach before a huge amount of Trans-fat goes into it.

 

Next, the dozen of Buffalo wings was served. It’s nicely marinated and fried. The meat was tender, very juicy and flavorful on the inside. On the outside, there’s the sauce coating the chicken wings to bring more layers of flavor to the Buffalo wings. There’s this sour taste of the sauce that made us eating one after another. It’s addictive even without the blue cheese sauce next to it, if I am honest.

Lastly was the full slab of Baby Pack Pork Ribs. The ribs were not too shabby, comparable to the one I had in Jerry’s BBQ & Grill. The meat was not too soft or too hard, pairing with the BBQ sauce, it was rather good. With add-on of S$1.50, we can have the hand cut fries (instead of normal fries), which looked a bit malnutrition, to be frank. Also, the sauce for the coleslaw was diluted, which was a great disappointment, considering it’s one of the things that I like. Both of the side dishes did ruin the Ribs quite a bit.

Service:

The waiters and waitresses were friendly and attentive enough. It might because the crowd on that day which was not too busy. There’s also live band provided at around 7.30pm.

Verdict:

It’s undisputed a good hangout place for a few buddies to have a couple of drinks and some decent food. Sure enough, I will come back to revisit this place for the Buffalo wings and beer! Also, I would love to try out their burger during my next visit.

Do note that the Happy hour is available until 7pm daily, except for all night long Wednesday. To double the joy, Buffalo wings will cost only S$1 (half dozen) on Wednesday as well.

REVISITED: Restoran Xiang Hoe (祥和小食海鲜馆)@ Pekan Nanas

Yesterday, my parents and I went to Pekan Nanas to visit my grand-aunt who cracked her spine getting up from her bed a week back. She can only lie on her bed and not able to get up from her bed at the moment. Not at least until her cracked spine heal up again. I wish her a speedy recovery.

After visiting her, we went to a restaurant that we have visited for a couple of times. The experience was good, but I’m surprised that I didn’t blog about this restaurant. Pekan Nanas is a simple small town which basically has nothing much for me to explore, which is another reason why I came back to this restaurant.

Ambient / Environment:

It’s irrelevant for restaurant like such.

Food:

3 of us ordered 3 dishes, as shown below:

The pork belly with salted fish (咸鱼花腩煲) is one of the famous dishes here. The pork belly is marbled with fat; hence, it’s not hard when it’s cooked. It’s fat, but not greasy, because most of the grease in the fat has been fried out. This latest try was quite a disappointment for me, because the taste of the salted fish was not as strong as compare to my previous tries. Also, the dosage of the dark soy sauce could be stronger. I prefer this dish to be fried a little longer and drier.

The curry fish head is also one of the famous dishes here. Looks good huh? Not just that, it tasted good as well. There’s an old saying: Good foods are mostly unhealthy. This is rather true for this case. The thickness of the curry sauce was caused by the coconut milk and the amount they put in was generous. The fish head was considered fresh and the vegetables they put in was a great balance to the curry fish head. It’s truly calories well spent.

The last one was again a plate of vegetable to balance the entire meal. Portion was small, it has nothing to shout about.

Services:

Something that really stands out was the black faced waitress. I wonder why she still does what she does, still works as a waitress there, which was pretty obvious that she didn’t seem to be enjoying it.

Verdict:

Our previous visits were with my uncle who stays in Pekan Nanas and also a regular customer here. With him, all the foods that we ordered were excellent; without him, the food didn’t taste as excellent as it should be.

My next visit won’t happen without him.

ROADTRIP: Raya’s Sungai Rengit Daytrip

Last weekend was a long weekend, because our Malay compatriots were celebrating the end of a full fasting month- Hari Raya Puasa. Sure enough, I wouldn’t let this holiday empty by doing nothing; in turn, I would try and make it an interesting and substantial one. I had no clue where to have this interesting and substantial daytrip until that Friday. The destination of this daytrip is Sungai Rengit, Pengerang. A small town located at the south-east of Johor. It’s a simple town (some might call it “kampung”) which has many things that one possibly need.

Something to ponder: Is it because of the fact that I will soon be going back to school which makes me getting more and more down-to-earth lately? Or simply I’m getting bored with luxurious things?

First stop: Kedai Kek Lim Choo Seng

It was supposed to be Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh @ Batu 8 ½, off Jalan Mawai, Kota Tinggi, but the queue was too crazy to wait. We continued our journey straight to Sungai Rengit for breakfast then.

Since this daytrip is done by improvisation, I went around to the famous spots that I could find on my GPS. I found this shop that sells handmade traditional Chinese biscuit / cake (whichever you like to call it).

The shop is called Kedai Kek Lim Choo Seng, it is very famous in Sungei Rengit. It’s one of those shops that have been around for more than a hundred years and known by everyone in Sungai Rengit. The reason to stop by that shop at that very moment was not because of the biscuit they are selling; it’s simply because this shop has been around for more than a hundred years, sure enough the boss has also been around for more than half a century, he could definitely perform better than my GPS, in term of directing me to good M@k@n and shopping places. Without any surprise, I got my full day itinerary in 5 minutes. Easy peasy!

Filling up stomach was more important at about 11am with only a few pieces of lemang in stomach. We moved on to the traditional coffee shop recommended by Kedai Kek Lim Choo Seng’s boss. We promised we will be back in a while to buy his handmade biscuit.

Second stop: Kedai Makan dan Minuman Sin Yuan

This coffee shop is located opposite row of Kedai Kek Lim Choo Seng. It’s traditional coffee shop that sells a wide variety of food. Below is what we have ordered.

Quite heavy a breakfast huh? Sorry about that, we were famished at that hour.

The chicken, char siew and roasted pork rice were great, especially the roasted pork. It’s extremely crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Thumb up for that! char siew and steamed chicken were decent enough, I have no complaint at all.

The dry wanton mee was al dante, nicely managed; the soup one was too soft, a sign of overcooked or being soak in soup for too long, losing all the texture of the noodles. The portion was relatively bigger compare to what we have in Kulai.

The Chee Cheong fun was a disappointment to us. It’s too soft, not texture, per se. The ingredient in it was fresh, but it’s not enough to compensate the soft skin it’s having.

3^rd stop: A traditional shop that sells traditional Hainanese Coffee Powder and Homemade Kaya

Shops like this one are easy to deal with. Straight to the point, just buy the handmade / signature products they offer and go. We bought both of the traditional Hainanese Coffee Powder and Homemade Kaya, but we didn’t leave immediately. Instead, I chatted with the lady boss and asked her to recommend us some places to visit or M@k@n. She recommended the ostrich farm and a seafood restaurant that she normally goes.

4^th stop: Back to Kedai Kek Lim Choo Seng

After filling up our stomachs and done some shopping, it’s time to do a more detail review of this a century old shop.

The current boss is second generation who has been working on it for 40 odd years. His son is helping him and I believe he could manage to make these “dau sah beng” from scratch, which is brilliant at his age. The boss used to have a worker who was good in baking the “dau sah beng”, but she passed on after 30 odd years of service. The boss kept sighing about that. What a waste. If not, he wouldn’t be baking them himself.

Anyway, back to the most important bit of the “dau sah beng”- The taste. This “dau sah beng” is neck and neck with the “Dong Fa dau sah beng” in Kluang, in term of freshness. Both of them are fresh from oven. Taste wise, the Lim Choo Seng “dau sah beng” has drier filling and crispier skin compare to “Dong Fa dau sah beng”. It’s also  smaller in size and cheaper than the Kluang ones. Despite the differences, I adore both of them. We could never get horribly wrong with fresh stuff from an aged shop like this. And, I do appreciate their effort to handmade everything. They always taste better than those machine made ones, could even taste a sense of human kindness in it.

This is a must to visit… 🙂

 

5^th stop: 泗湾岛滑滑豆花

After finished sweeping the “dau sah beng”, we strolled around in the town and saw this “tou fu fah”. Look at the words written on the cart, how could you resist it? We couldn’t help but giving it a shot. Unfortunately, we could get the “tou fu fah” right away, but we were told that the next batch will be delivered in 15 minutes. We decided to wait, since the slogan was so attractive.

While waiting, we ordered soya bean. It’s not bad at all. The soya taste was perceivable, not extremely strong, but it’s very acceptable, considering the freshness of it.

After a rather long wait, our “tou fu fah” was finally arrived! All I can say is that the “tou fu fah” was extremely smooth and extremely hot! It truly is one of the cheap and nice local delicacies you could find around here.

6^th stop: Ostrich Farm

After having the simple tea break, we headed to ostrich farm. It’s quite huge an area which contains 300+ ostriches in it. Over here, we could see and know almost everything about ostrich. Visitors could feed them, take photo with them and listen to the ostrich introduction presented in the farm. It’s a good place for a family to visit, especially when there are young kids around. It’s an interesting yet educative kind of exploration to them. Entrance fee is RM15, one could spend an hour or two here to gain some knowledge about ostrich.

  

We were lucky enough to be able to see newly born ostrich.

 

Final stop: Beautiful Village Seafood

Some says one is considered have never been to Sungai Rengit, if he/she never have the seafood here.  This particular seafood restaurant was recommended by the coffee powder shop’s lady boss. We had it as the closure of the daytrip and I’d say it’s rather good way to round up the trip.

There were 4 of us ordering 4 dishes, as shown below.

First to be served was the spicy crispy baby sotong. It’s not exactly spicy, if I’m honest. It’s relatively crispy though, considering it’s been stirred with the “not too spicy” spicy sauce. Nicely done, could be spicier though.

Next to be served was the Steamed Grouper (Hong Kong style). The fish was fresh enough. The sauce was too salty to my liking. The steam duration could be shorter to its best. Other than that, this fish was not bad at all.

The following dish was the Indonesian Prawn, practically a kind of curry cuisine, by having prawns in it. It’s a watery kind of curry. It’s heavenly to pair the curry soup with either rice or the “man tou” that was served together with it. I’m glad that the prawns were not over cooked. Nicely done!

Last one is normally the one that balances the considerably sinful meal. It was a plate “mini kai lan”. Nothing much to comment about, it’s light, it’s big in portion, it really helped in reducing the sinfulness level by much.

Overall, I won’t say this is the best I’ve ever tried, but this is very acceptable. It is more of home-style rather than those fancy restaurant-style; portion was generous enough with a reasonable price tag to pay, more down-to-earth in the sense.

After this simple yet satisfying late lunch, we headed back by taking the shamefully low quality “highway”. Only available in our Bolehland! 😦

FIRST TASTED: Nylon Coffee @ Everton Park

Due to some errands to be accomplished in school (yes, I am going back to school and live back the thrifty school boy life), I cut my self some slack and took a day off from work. At last, I have a chance to visit this coffee shop which only operates during standard working hour (8++am till 5++pm).

Ambient:

Nylon coffee is located in one of the lots of Everton Park. It’s about 1km away from Outram Park MRT station. There are a few coffee shops, pastries shops and shops that sell some street food around that area. Nylon is not as easily found as any other shops, as it’s located in the middle of the Everton Park. We could almost call it a “Hidden gem” and it’s a tiny little ones. Inside the shop have only one long table and a couple of small sitting areas. Most of the people were standing around the long table to enjoy the coffee. Albeit it’s a little cramp, it’s a very comfortable place to be, especially when this small little confined area is filled with coffee smell. It’s addictively excellent!

One thing to point out is that they even roast their coffee bean in such a small confined area.

Food:

In fact, they don’t sell any. They only sell coffee.

This was the 5oz that I ordered. I’d say this is the Best Coffee I have ever tasted. The foam was being made at its absolute best, as smooth as it could be. I would like to try out an extra shot of espresso in my coffee on my next visit.

Service:

It’s pretty much self-service.

Verdict:

This is one of those shops that I admire. They focus on doing what they do & know best, without any other hassles messing around.

I will definitely revisit to this coffee shop. Coffee Lovers, this is a must to visit in Singapore.

 

REVISITED: Gianni’s Trattoria @ Taman Pelangi

A week after my friend’s visit, my family and I came to this rather delicate Italian restaurant. This was my second visit. My previous visit was rather brief. Due to the limited companion I had (only one) during the last visit, I only managed to try out a couple of their dishes. This time round, I brought more people to try out more!

Food:

There were 5 of us. The plan was to use a pair of 4-course meal Groupon with some add-ons. The groupon that I bought comprised of 2 starters/ appetizers, a main course and a desert. We added on 2 pastas and a pizza.

Dessert was my preference to be served first. It’s called Chocolate Lovers. As what it’s being called, it’s a dessert that was full of chocolate- a slice of chocolate mousse paired with chocolate mud. I was deeply allured by this dessert. The chocolate taste of these desserts was so addictive. I could never have enough of them.

Next to be served was one of the starters. It’s the Sashimi-grade Japanese scallops marinated in calamansi and lime juice. Basically, all the ingredients were being chopped into cubic form, marinated in lime juice. It’s a simple appetizer that whetted our appetites.

Instead of having served another starter, the Salmon Pizza was served. Maybe we were too hungry, the pizza was gone in minutes. This pizza was the skinny type rather than those filling type (like that of Pizzahut). It just melted in my mouth. I like it. I like pizza a lot, if I am honest. I have no complaint to this one.

Next up was the Potato wrapped salmon filet on a coulis of red and yellow bell peppers, one of the main chosen for the groupon that I bought. The portion was not big, just enough for one person, if I am honest. But the salmon was properly baked. The meat was just about right. It doesn’t have the odd smell/ taste that we found in normal fried / baked salmon. That simply means that the chef does have some skills to handle it. I have to admit the crispy salmon skin attached to the meat was excellent! The sauce and salad that came with it was refreshing. This dish is in great balance.

The next main chosen for the groupon was the Roasted rack of lamb with mushrooms, pine nuts, and sundried tomatoes. Similar to the salmon fillet, the portion was not generous. But then again, the lamb rack was roasted as well as it should be, pretty excellent. From the photo, it may seem to be a bit charred (sorry for my low lighting shooting skill). In fact, it’s not like what you see here, it’s slightly charred on the outside, which is good; on the inside, it was still red, exactly how it should be like at its absolute best. Don’t get me wrong, it’s only red, not bloody (forgot to shoot a photo on the inside though). It’s simply sweet and juicy. Great job! Same story to the sides, the salad and cherry tomato were to reduce the sinfulness of us.

The long waited started had finally come, it’s the Sea prawn in lime juice and cilantro. It’s yet another simply appetizer or we could call it a green salad with a few prawns stirred with in lime juice. It’s interesting, but not mind-boggling to me, especially when the prawn tasted a bit charred.

Lastly, it’s the pastas that we ordered. They were the Turkey Ham Carbonara and Chicken Aglio Olio. The Turkey Ham Carbonara was extremely creamy. First bite was great, after a few bites, it was too greasy for me to continue. I believe that I couldn’t finish the whole plate myself. The Chicken Aglio Olio, however, looks like the chicken is the main character instead of the pasta. Reason being, the chicken is add on, which means we need to pay extra for the chicken. According to the waiter, the Aglio Olio is supposed to be served empty, just the garlic stirred pasta without anything else. Taste wise, it was not too shabby, not mind-blowing either. I could cook it myself with the taste that’s close to this one.

Ambient/ Environment:

Not a single thing has been changed since my last visit. It’s a quiet and lazy place to have dinner. It’s neither a particularly comfy, nor unease place to be to us.

Services:

Not friendly, even when there’s only us to serve. I wonder how they could manage when it’s full house.

Verdict:

Gianni’s does serve good foods at a rather steep price to pay. There are still rooms for improvement for food and many other aspects. I would come back if I am in the mood, which is not going to happen in the near future though.

REVISITED: 蔡记 Chua Kee @ Gelang Patah

2 weeks back, a friend of mine from Puchong came visiting me in Kulai. As most of us know, there’s nothing much in Johor, let alone a small town like Kulai. Since there’s nothing he’s fancy of doing, I brought him to do what I love to do- C@li M@k@n.

To narrow down the scope, I requested him to select the type of cuisines that he prefers. He chose seafood for dinner. That’s easy, as there isn’t much good seafood left in southern part of Johor. I then decided to bring him to the one that I have only been to once- Chua Kee in Gelang Patah. My previous visit to this place was pleasant. This time round, I decided to do a full on review of this famous seafood restaurant.

Food:

There were 6 of us. We ordered the famous black pepper crabs, roasted honey chicken wings, deep fried calamari with salted eggs, curry fish head and choi dam.

The curry fish head was huge; it looked more like a curry vegetable to me though. The portion was generous, especially on the vegetable given; not so, on the fish bit. Taste wise, the curry gravy taste was strong and rather spicy. Hence, it’s not for children. It reminded me of the taste of Botak curry mee in Kluang very much though. The price was a bit steep for this pot of curry fish head, considering the amount of fish in it.

Next, the choi dam was served. It’s just a plate of vegetable to balance the entire meal, letting us feeling less sinful while eating them.

Almost immediately, one of the signature dishes was served- the roasted honey chicken wings. The wings were nicely roasted with a little char on the skin. The honey sauce has just lightened up this dish further. It’s not mind-bogglingly good, but at the price they charge on the wings, I’d say it’s really good value for money.

Deep fried calamari with salted eggs was the next one to be served. It’s the dry type without the thick and creamy salted eggs sauce. It’s not excellent, but good enough if one craves for one. Also, this is yet another good value for money dish that we ordered.

Lastly, the extremely famous black pepper crabs. I believe this is what attracts most of the eaters paying a visit to this restaurant. After eating it, I think I could understand why. The crabs were nicely chosen; they are not too big, not too old, and not too small either. Good raw material is simply not enough to produce a good dish; a skillful chef who can control the level of attainment is very important too. It’s vital to use minimal time to infuse the taste of the black pepper sauce into the crab meat, so that the crab meat is tender and flavorful at the same time. I have to admit that the black pepper sauce was a big thumb up! It’s full of pepper taste, but the spiciness was not over-killed, which is very good, as we could still savor the original taste of the seafood.

Ambient & service:

It’s not one of those fancy and specious kinds of restaurants. On the contrary, it’s a simple, more practical and down-to-earth ones located in a kampung. I actually enjoy very much. It’s crowded and noisy on the Saturday evening that we went. Bring some luck here, you could get a seat without waiting for long.

Verdict:

This is unquestionably, one of the best seafood restaurants around in southern part of Johor. I will definitely come by for seafood whenever I crave for it.

Right after this satisfying meal, my friend and I went to Brew Orchestra for a cup of coffee and dessert. As usual, the coffee quality is still having some inconsistencies; the flat white that I ordered was not as good as the one I had during my previous visit. The new cakes surprised me a little though.

 

ROADTRIP: Wedding Dinner and M@k@n in Selangor

It was a special weekend that brought us mixed feeling. There were laughter, happiness, entertainment and touching moments for the road trip itself and of course, our friend’s wedding; there were also pity-ness and sadness for losing Thomas cup; and many more that couldn’t be described by words. But those are not most important things; what’s more important is C@li M@k@n!

First stop: Restoran Meng Kee Char Siew @ Glenmarie

Right after we exited the toll gate, we headed to this restaurant for lunch. As the name stated, it’s a shop selling Char Siew. Other than that, it also sells steam and roasted chicken, innards sausages and some random vegetables.

Below is what we ordered,

The main focus here is the Char Siew. It’s nicely charred; the color of Meng Kee Char Siew was unlike any other Char Siew selling elsewhere which has artificial coloring. The one in Meng Kee was absolutely natural! It tasted pretty good as well.

The rest of the dishes, i.e. chicken and vegetables, were decent, but had nothing to shout about. Overall, it’s pretty decent a meal, despite the small portion and the price we paid for.

Second stop: Cosans Coffee @ SS15 Subang

Due to the unavailability of our hotel, we immediately headed for a coffee in Cosans Coffee, recommended by our Lady Boss.

It’s a quiet place until we arrived.

As usual, I ordered myself a cup of Cappuccino. I have to say, they do serve big cup of coffee. I believe that’s the reason why the coffee they sell there is generally higher (20%-30%) than other coffee shops.

It’s a creamy cup of Cappuccino. The foam was fine and smooth; the dosage of the coffee was just about nice.

 

They do serve some good cakes too. I couldn’t comment much, because we only ordered 4 pieces of cakes for 12 of us to share. I believe you could foresee some warfare going there.

Overall, the ambient of this coffee shop was pleasant; cakes were great; coffees were pretty good as well.

Note: I personally adore the short film they have there.

 3^rd stop: Charlie Chaplin @ One City

After the coffee break, we had a hard time to find a place to stay. Thanks to the recommendation from a friend of our Kulai Boss, we found an unexpectedly good place to stay- Ecity Hotel, albeit there were some small hiccups in our rooms.

After we settled down and took our bath, we moved our lazy bodies to the mall next to the hotel for dinner. After a while, we arrived at a restaurant that has a rather appealing, but eerie decoration, called Charlie Chaplin.

Below is the food that we ordered,

Having dinner at 9pm, I must say we were extremely easy to be satisfied. Overall, the foods were decent enough, not mind-blowing though.

After the dinner, we headed up to the Skypark @ One city for a drink up session. That’s where the laughter and entertainment happened on that night.

 4^th stop: Chu Yuk Fun @ SS15

The next day, after a drunken night and a proper buffet breakfast in hotel, we went back to SS15 for lunch. We came to this restaurant that sells so-called The Best Chu Yuk Fun in Subang.

It indeed had many things in the bowl of Chu Yuk Fun. The portion was generous at the price we were paying. Taste wise was on the sweet side, artificial kind of sweetness, a sign of heavy seasoning in the soup, which is not to my liking.

Last stop: Garage 51 by Coffee Sociate @ Bandar Sunway (Revisiting)

Last time I came here was when the entire Selangor was having water shortage. This time round, I finally had a chance to taste their coffee for real, in proper cups. To be honest, I got attracted by the layout and decoration that they have in this coffee shop, hence, I might have a bit bias myself, but I swear I will be fair.

I’ve gotten myself a cup of Flat White. To be honest, the strength of the coffee should be close to that of the Cappuccino, but it wasn’t. It was too weak to my liking. I have no complaint on the foam and smoothness of the coffee though.

Overall, it’s still a pleasant place to be, some of the coffees need some fine-tuning though.

After this, we headed back to our hotel for Thomas Cup and our friend’s wedding dinner at Kajang. And those two things summed up our short yet substantial Roadtrip.

ROADTRIP: Mother’s Day Pontian Daytrip 2014

It’s considered as one of the most meaningful Sundays to many mothers, not to my family though. It however, was a lovely Sunday which my family and I went for a simple & down-to-earth roadtrip- visiting one of the fish villages/ kampung which I believe would soon be extinct. It was the idea of my mother to come to this Pontian Wholesale Fish Market for viewing the magnificent sea food bidding. This of course, was not my point of going for a roadtrip, my priority is always C@li M@k@n.

First stop: Kheng Guan Hiong Traditional Kopitiam

This Kopitiam is very famous in Pontian. It is located just direct opposite to the fish market. The recipe of this Kopitiam being so famous and successful is simple- good coffee, real charcoal toast, simplicity plus excellent geographical advantage.

The real deal…

It’s crowded throughout the entire morning, we were lucky enough to get a table without waiting for long. We couldn’t wait to eat! Below is what we ordered.

 

The coffee was good, there’s no sign of sourness in it. The soft boiled eggs were just nice. The bread was nicely toasted. The inner part of the toast was on the soft side though. It may because of the freshness of the bread. No matter how hard one tries to toast it, the inner part of it will still be soft when the bread is fresh.

Simple breakfast could really brighten up my day, but it’s getting harder and harder to have something that’s so simple yet so satisfying at our place.

Even kids enjoy it!

Second stop: Heng Heng Wanton Mee

This is one of the famous wanton mee in Pontian. To be honest, this was the first time I tried out the original Pontian wanton mee. I have never tasted the original before this.

We had a dry one with original sauce and a soup one.

To sum up, the mee was Al dente; the filling in wanton was fresh and taste; the fish ball was a surprise; the soup was clear and refreshing; but the sauce was not to my liking though, it’s sweet and spicy at the same time, taste a lot like maggi chili sauce to me.

It was really my bad for noticing that there are 4 sauces available to choose after taking the order. It’s okay. I will give it another chance to try out other sauces next time.

The homemade Otah-otah sold there was a surprise too. It’s equally good as the Otah-otah from Muar, juicy, but less spicy compare to that of Muar.

 

3^rd stop: Pontian Wholesale Fish Market

As I mentioned earlier, it’s located direct opposite of the Kheng Guan Hiong Traditional Kopitiam.

Look at the crowd!

A series of sea foods…

There’s a market next to this wholesale fish market, which feels exactly like ordinary market, except for the big fish they sell there.

It really was an eye opener. We enjoyed it, even though we didn’t bring back any sea food.

Final stop: Ah Hong Bah Kut Teh

After visiting  the wholesale fish market, we headed to Ah Hong Bah Kut Teh for lunch.

I like the menu that they have…

Other than that, nothing really mesmerized me in any way, especially the food.

The fish ball soup- the fish ball couldn’t even compete to the one we ate in wantan mee shop, even though it was just a complementary ingredient to the wanton mee.

There’s a sign of heavy seasoning in the fish ball soup.

The assam fish, recommended by the lady boss. According to her, it’s one of the signature dishes. Gosh, how could it be the signature? It’s sardine cooked with assam sauce. The assam sauce was nothing special; the fish was bland on the inside which reminds me of sardine fish can.

The Bah Kut Teh- the soup was artificially sweet and yet another sign of heavy seasoning in the soup.

The vegetable- I guess it was the best (least terrible) of all the things we ordered? It may simply because it’s ordinary enough?

Most of us agree that Kulai doesn’t serve good Bah Kut Teh, but even the worst one in Kulai is way better than this.

I couldn’t fathom why there’s even a crowd for a shop which serves food at such quality.

 

Let’s indulge in the crown of the Wholesale Fish Market…

 

ROADTRIP: Labour Day’s 24 Hours Malacca C@li M@k@n Trip

Last weekend was a long weekend. I was planning to bring my parents to somewhere that we have never been, but due to some circumstances, we dropped the plan. Hence, I decided to bring them to a place which is not particularly far from our place, to do something that we love to do- C@li M@k@n in Malacca.

Malacca has become one of the world heritages a few years back. Due to its unique geographical advantage, traffic has become an extremely common thing, especially at the town area on most of the weekends. We didn’t bother much, as we know that’s the thing we can’t change. What we can do is to find a good reason to make the traffic jam worthwhile and hoping that it can compensate the agony that we will be suffering from the traffic jam.

This was not the first time I came to Malacca. To be honest, I have tasted almost all the typical local delicacy that’s not unusual to all tourists. This time round, I aimed for something special, something that we have never tried; or rather my parents have never tried before. Below is a brief review on what we have eaten and where we have been to over the short and precious 24 hours in Malacca.

First stop: Donald & Lily

This is one of my favorite places in Malacca, due to 3 main reasons- authenticity, taste and price. The food they serve here is proper, no nonsense nyonya food. I could vouch for the quality of the food. It may not be the best for some, but it won’t disappoint you in any possible way. 3 of us ordered cendol, nasi minyak ayam rendang and nyonya laksa.

Cendol used to be the best, but it’s just dropped to second at the end of this trip. Reason being, you will know later.

Nasi minyak ayam rendang was pretty good. I personally like the ayam rendang very much. The combination of rempah that they put into this dish made this ayam rendang taste superb, it was strong but not overwhelming. I believe this is why so many people ordered it. I could have 2 servings of it, if I have no intention for other food.

The nyonya laksa was great too. They have never been stingy when it comes to putting the coconut milk (santan) into the laksa. The thickness of the soup is like none we have seen before, other than here. Even when we finished everything inside, they soup was still not watery.

Overall, there food is very high quality and cheap, but I personally prefer the old shop which gave us more of nyonya and baba feel.

Second stop: Soon Hin Mee Goreng Tanjung

We were supposed to try out the char siew and roasted port at Chuen How Restaurant near Jalan Merak, but it was close till 9 may. We had no choice, but to head to other options that we have- Mee Goreng Tanjung.

I have long heard about this Mee Goreng Tanjung from my Malacca friend. I have even been to this place, but unfortunately, it was close. Now, it’s finally open for me to try out!

Here we are the famous Mee Goreng Tanjung.

It looks like a simple spicy fried noodle with some chicken meat, fish cakes and some raw cucumber and onion. When something served looks so ordinary, it’d also bring our expectation down a little, if I am honest. The lower the expectation, the greater the surprise it could bring you. This was what exactly happened with this Mee Goreng Tanjung. It didn’t taste spicy at first, but the kick came later. It’s indeed spicy, but the spiciness didn’t overkill the whole thing. The Mee was well cooked and at Rm 5 a plate, I really have no complaint.

3^rd stop: Khaki Coffee Bar

After that, we went for a gourmet coffee- Khaki Coffee Bar, recommended by my Malacca friend.  We ordered a cup of Cappuccino and a glass of fancy Shakerato.

I made a mistake by drinking the stronger Shakerato first, which is double shot espresso with some sugar bubble foam on top. It’s a glass of cold coffee with plenty of creativity on it.

Why I said mistake is because when I drank the lighter Cappuccino right after the strong Shakerato, it was tasteless. I’ve wasted my cup of Cappuccino.

Khaki Coffee Bar is a café that sells coffee for fun, because this is not where they gain their profit. They make roast their own coffee bean and sell those coffee beans to other café, that’s where they earn big.

Overall, it’s a pleasant place to be, a decent place for coffee lovers to taste different type of coffee. Do note that they will be changing coffee beans once a week; hence it depends on your luck to have a cup of coffee that suits your taste over here. My first experience wasn’t so lucky, as the bean that they used that week was the half-roasted, sour tasting ones.

4^th stop: Lung Ann Refreshment

After checking in the Layang-Layang Homestay, we went straight to a coffee shop to have the famous pork satay for our tea break. This coffee shop is located just 5 minutes walk from our homestay. We ordered coffee, toast and some pork satay to fill our stomach.

The coffee and toast had nothing to shout about, just ordinary coffee and toast.

The pork satay, however, was my first time trying. I’d say it’s very different from those halal satays we have tasted since the day we were born. The pork satay has less rempah taste and taste sweeter as compare to those ordinary satays, be it the meat itself or the sauce (kua) that goes with the satay.

Overall, the first experience of the pork satay was good; the coffee shop’s lady boss could have less “charred” face and better attitude though.

Right after that, we headed to Jonker for a walk. We visited some special handcraft / specialized shops, such as the silver making shop and pottery shop.

 

We also tried out the famous durian puff and wanton mee when we walked along the Jonker Street.

 

5^th stop: Pak Putra Tandoori and Naan

Time flew, the sun soon got dawned. We headed to Pak Putra for the best Tandoori and Naan in Malacca. I’ve been to this place before with my friends, but this was the first try for my parents.

 

Overall, the Naan was still very soft; the Tandoori was still very juicy. Thumbs up for maintaining the food quality!

We went to Jonker again for a walk after the dinner and my mum bumped into her old neighbor. What a coincidence! He recommended us to go for dim sum near Ole Sayang restaurant the next morning, as he’s quite satisfied with it after trying it.

6^th stop: 中华楼点心

And here we are!

Since there’re only 3 of us, we could only order so much.

I wasn’t sure it’s us coming to early or the business here was simply not good. I couldn’t be bothered, because we’re here for food! I personally quite like all the dim sum that we ordered, except for the “wu kok”. The filling of the “wu kok” was too bland to my liking.

Hence, I can conclude that the dim sum they serve here was pretty good, if not the best. The portion was generous; the price is on the high side, similar to that of KL though. However, I would recommend this dim sum shop, if one has no place to go for a proper breakfast.

After this decent breakfast, we headed back to homestay to pack up our luggage, check out and head to the Best Cendol in Malacca.

7^th stop: Aunty Koh Cendol

Aunty Koh Cendol is located near SK Bukit Berambai. She opens the stall only on weekends, around 11.30am till finish. Normally, all the cendol would vanish in 2 hours time, but judging from the queue, I was pretty sure that it’d be finished within 2 hours. This Aunty Koh solo the entire process, from putting the ingredients into the bowl, milling the ice, serving, and washing. Many people appreciated her effort and offered their helping hands by washing their own bowl after finishing the cendol. That’s touching!

 

How about the taste? I’d say it’s just seconded the cendol served in Donald & Lily, due to one very reason- the freshness of the santan. The fragrance of santan could be easily felt from every single sip we were taking; the gula Malacca was in great balance and not overwhelming. I love it!

On the way back to town for lunch, we stopped by Klebang Coconut Shake to satisfy the craving of my mum.

8^th stop: Ole Sayang Nyonya Food

This was the last meal of this C@li M@k@n trip. We have been to here before and we believed this would be a proper full stop for this trip. Since, there were only 3 of us, we ordered the famous Ikan Asam Pedas, Ayam Rendang and Kangkung Belacan.

Overall, the food was as usual, pretty decent. We all adore food with spices, preferably with high spiciness rating. Hence, nyonya food would never fail us.

 

ROADTRIP: Good Friday Road Trip 2014 (Sekinchan, Kuala Selangor, KL, PJ)

Last weekend was a long one, my family and I went north to my beloved state- Selangor. Sekinchan and Kuala Selangor are the places I’ve been longed for years, but never really have the chance to visit this paddy and fireflies farms. I guess the timing was just about right?

Goon Wah fish XO head noodle restaurant （冠华XO鱼头米）@ Kuchai Lama

The first station to stop by was the famous Goon Wah fish XO head noodle restaurant in Kuchai Lama. This was my second time coming here, because the claypot lou xu fun was so mesmerizing, that’s the kind of taste which I couldn’t get out of my mind. It’s weird that their signature XO fish head noodle didn’t really attract me in any ways. Don’t get me wrong, the fish head noodle tasted not bad at all, it’s completely fine to be eaten alone without the distraction of the claypot lou xu fun. However, when the claypot lou xu fun comes into play, it can only be the complement, it didn’t quite stand out as compare to the claypot lou xu fun.

   

Verdict: Although the claypot lou xu fun wasn’t as amazing as the first try, it’s still one of best around. I will definitely come back again for that. Good news that they are now opening on Saturday!

Sekinchan

After the great lunch, we continued our journey to Sekinchan. Sekinchan is a small town famous with the paddy farms. To me, it’s a very relaxing place to be, as there’s no multi-storey skyscraper around, couldn’t really see any building that’s higher than 2 storeys. That’s very good to me, as there’s no such oppression (from multi-storey buildings) which I’ve been facing every day. Along the road, there’s paddy farms, it gave me a feeling that how free, how broad, and how subtle life could be. I quite like places as such.

Kilang Beras Rakyat Sekinchan SDN. BHD.

After checking the homestay, we headed to the one of the site with rice factory located at the middle of it. We paid RM4 per pax for a visit. That includes a brief introduction of the process of how the rice turn out to be rice and the tools that they used to plant and harvest the rice. Also, they showed us the evolution of the tools being used. After the briefing, there’s a museum like area along the walk way that gave me quite a lot of thought when I passed by them.

The Rice Seed

The Process…

 First generation separation tool

 Second generation

 The third

 And finally automated…

 Meaningful quote…

At the end of the session, each of the visitors will be given a pack of rice that weighs around 300g as a token of appreciation. How sweet! I seriously doubt they earn any cents from that RM4 entrance ticket.

There’s a shopping area and a canteen at the ground floor of the factory for us to buy rice and try out the dessert made out of rice. The rice red bean dessert was surprisingly good!

Pandai Redang

Once we were done with the rice factory visit, we headed to Pantai Redang. Don’t get confused with the famous Redang Island. To me, all beaches are about the same, they are all windy, sandy with salty sea water and the sunshine that produces oven-like temperature. There’s a wishing tree for us to spend some time on in this place though. Other than that, it’s just another typical but less crowded beach.

Restoran Bagan Sekinchan

Next, we headed to a restaurant recommended by the boss of the homestay, it’s called Restoran Bagan Sekinchan, located in the middle of the town. Below was what we had ordered:

The Sharp meat soup

Deep fried butter squid

Spicy steam pomfret with lotus leaf

Steam prawns with eggs

Deep fried baby squid with salted eggs yolks

Green dragon vegetable?

Verdict: Overall, the dishes were tasty. The soup was just normal, albeit it’s the signature dish. I was quite amazed by the Steam prawns with eggs though, as I’ve never tasted any prawn with such freshness. Without much seasoning, the original taste of the prawn was already mind-bogglingly good! It’s definitely a good place for seafood; I’d be a happy man if I were staying somewhere near KL/ PJ area. I’ll definitely travel here every once in a short while for seafood!

Fireflies @ Pasir Penambang, Kuala Selangor

The last event of the night was to see fireflies at Kuala Selangor. It’s about half an hour drive from Sekinchan.

I thought no one is allowed to shoot photos there, apparently, no one seemed to bother about it, they just took out their camera and shot. However, no matter how hard one tried, it’s very unlikely that they could capture anything. So, I just stayed back and enjoyed the phenomenal view that the Mother Nature bestows us.

Nice view huh?

Here we were the end of first day.

He Qun coffee shop （合群咖啡店）

The next day morning, we headed to a seemingly historic coffee shop that sells traditional breakfast- coffee, soft boiled eggs, kaya butter bread, nasi lemak and some kuih-muih. It’s just a typical traditional kopitiam for stomach filling purposes. It really had nothing to shout about.

After our stomach was filled, we headed back to homestay to pack and get ready to go KL&PJ for food hunting trip.

Coffea Coffee @ Bangsar

The first station was Coffea Coffee. We intended to go Antipodean, but it was crowded in Saturday morning and the crowd didn’t give me a good feeling as I had enough in Johor and Singapore. I prefer a quieter place and since we were only opted for coffee, we walked to this café which was only a few shop lots away. We ordered a Meastro Cappuccino, a Madonna Latte, a Peanut Butter Chocolate cake and a scone.

Verdict: The coffees and cakes tasted pretty okay, but the service was terrible. I probably wouldn’t step into this shop ever again, particularly this Bangsar outlet. I was disgusted by the snobby feel given by the waiter and barista working there.

I like this “JUST ENJOY” cup…

Restoran Bah Kut Teh Yap Chuan （叶全）@ Puchong

We were supposed to have Bah Kut Teh in Klang, but my ex-roommate mistook our appointment and thought it was for dinner. Hence, we headed to Puchong for this famous dry Bah Kut Teh. I’ve been to this place once, during my brother’s convocation. He took us here for lunch and that was close to 10 years back.

Verdict: The Bah Kut Teh was still pretty decent, be it in soup or dry form. It may not be comparable to some of the Bah Kut Teh in Klang, but this is one memorable place, to me. I will definitely pay a visit if I ever pass by here.

Garage 51 @ Bandar Sunway

After having lunch and checking in the hotel, we went for a tea time in the late afternoon. This shop is rather special, like no others. It’s located in an area that’s full of garages and workshops around, literally.

As a petrolhead, I quite like the concept. The ambient was comfortable enough in spite of the crowd; the furniture that they used was creative, some of them were even made out of oil barrels.

We ordered a Mochatella, a Cappuccino, a Hazelnut Cappuccino, an Easter Special: Panini with Grilled Chicken Sandwich, a Carrot Walnut Cake and a New York Cheesecake.

Verdict: Due to the water restriction going on in this area, all the drinks were being served using disposable cups, which I don’t like. To me, an improper cup will definitely affect the quality of a cup of coffee, scientifically and psychologically. I wouldn’t mind to give it another shot when there’s no more water restriction in Selangor though.

 

Gathering with coursemates @ Artisan Roast Coffee, TTDI

   

This was the third round of coffee for the day. It’s a small coffee shop that I’d love to squeeze in. The decoration in the shop was pleasant and it was all about coffee, which was good. I felt comfortable even though it’s a bit cramp. The Cappuccino that I ordered, I have no complaint about it; while for the cake, there’s nothing to shout about though.

Verdict: Overall, the feeling was good, good coffee they serve there. The lady barista could put more smile on her face though. I believe the coffee would taste nicer if she put on some smile on her face while making the coffee.

一点心意 @ Bandar Manjalara, Kepong

The final day morning, we came to this Dim Sum shop recommended by a friend of mine. It’s located in Manjalara, Kepong. Be reminded, this location couldn’t be found on Google, but I was lucky enough to get there without making much turns. Part of the reason is that this Dim Sum shop is located next to the main road. Here’s some of the Dim Sum we ordered (because they served too slowly).

Verdict: I have to say, the Dim Sums were pretty decent, especially the steam ones. The filling in those steam Dim Sums were fresh and very different from those that I’ve eaten so far. Each type of them can be easily distinguished from another. The Siew Mai was huge!

Little disappointment on the skin of the steam Dim Sums though, they were too sticky to my liking. Also, the Char Siew filling in the Char Siew Bao was not dry enough. It’s a place that I’d go if I happen to be here, I wouldn’t specially come down here for it though.

After this scrumptious breakfast, we headed to IKEA for a shopping and lunch. Sad to say, the quality of IKEA food has dropped significantly! That sucks!

Afterthought: It’s a pleasant trip. It had everything we need for a trip, i.e. sight seeing, visiting, good food and meet-up! The satisfaction of achieving it can’t possibly be described by words. That’s why I like roadtrip so much!

P.S.: The big one is now under planning! 🙂