Famous and Tasty Chicken Rice @ Restoran Yit Hin, Port Dickson

Life has been great and after having spent about 7 weeks in US, I have been busy catching up on Malaysian life.  Monkey Jr had just asked me the other day, to update my blog which prompted me to well, put up a post indeed; a food post.

I had taken a few short trips to Port Dickson with Moo on errand runs, simply to accompany Moo and Moo's promise to bring me around for food! Hahahaha...  Our first stop in Port Dickson town usually is Restoran Yit Hin.  It is a little stall located at a hawker center which used to be the Old Pasar, a wet market. Why is this usually our first stop? That's because demand exceeds supply daily and the chicken rice is usually sold out sometimes at lunch time itself.  I remember there was once the four of us had to share two plates of chicken rice as they were running out and this was around 1 plus pm.  So, what makes it so good?

Is it the way they lovingly and happily prepare the food?

Is it the secret sauce drizzled onto the chicken?
Is is the fragrant rice that is done just right?
Is it the corn fed chicken that makes the meat so tender?

Gao Ren Guan, Jaya One - Simple Pleasures

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Absent from the blogosphere during the whole month of February, the past month had been a fury of Chinese New Year meals, one after another.  At a time when one is constantly barraged with the usual rich good food, it was a pleasant change when we dined at Gao Ren Guan in Jaya One recently.  Not to say that the food was different but it was really food that not only filled the tummy but touched the heart.  If you check out their website...they have a tag line that says "...feels like dining at home".  Yes, though the restaurant was crowded and with the endless loud chattering (that includes even the usual "loud wishes" routine during the lo sang ceremony!), we really felt at "home".  I had the opportunity to dine at Gao Ren Guan twice during this Chinese New Year period and I gotta say, it has now become one of my favourite restaurants to go to.  With great tasting food that speaks for itself, the simplicity won me over ... Needless to say, my friends are of the same opinion too and we look forward to our next meal there again.  Here are some of the dishes we "connected" with ...

Having eaten about 8 times of Yee Sang during this Chinese New Year celebration, the group of us really like Gao Ren Guan's version.  The condiments were refine but what made it good was the sauce.  Subtle yet rich enough, it had a sweetness that was spot on and yet a pleasant sourish taste that gave a balance of all the right flavours.  Looking forward to this in 2014!

Another great yet simple dish was the Hakka Char Yoke (Small RM10, Large RM20) - lean yet tender pieces of sliced pork.  Each slice had a wonderful crunch as we bit into it...breaking the crispy marinated layer of skin. A real delight!

Kek Seng, Remembering Penang - Photo Series Part Eight (Final)

Remembering Penang - Photo Series comes to an end with this final Part 8.  This time round, these set of photos of food and the coffee shop were taken at the well known Kek Seng Kopitiam at Penang Road.  I still remember this place with fond memories; whilst the food is still pretty good but not as good as before, this coffee shop itself hasn't changed much through the years. Time has pretty much stood still in Kek Seng; the wooden benches and tables have withstood the test of time (though one will spot some new chairs in place).  Nostalgia aplenty ...

ASSAM LAKSA

Homemade Siew Mai, Roadside Dim Sum Stall! Remembering Penang - Photo Series Part Six

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Continuing Penang Photo Series...we now head off to Macalister Road.  I know what you're thinking, going there for the Char Kway Teow right?

Well, let's just say, we did eat Macalister Road's Char Kway Teow but it was not the main reason why we headed there.  The Char Kway Teow is not as good as before but still above average, hence not really the reason why we went there.  For what then? For this...

The roadside dim sum stall just outside the char kway teow place ... serving up simple HOME MADE assorted dim sum.  A big thanks to JC for bringing me to one of her fave stalls since childhood days.

Oh, how I miss these ... especially the lovely siew mai!

Off The Beaten Track, Gerai Makan & Minum Kampung - Bukit Tinggi, Bentong

The month of June was a time of mini trips for me; I had the opportunity to go on a day trip to Bentong.  I tagged along with some friends (thanks to RB! xxx) and had a wonderful time albeit it was a short trip.

Packed into a van, we started our journey towards a place that I have long not visited.  Having absolutely no sense of direction, I asked no questions as to where our first stop would be but to let our distinguish host take us to where ever he wanted as he has been travelling through this route countless times.... I was relieved to know that we would be stopping for lunch first as I was famished at that time as we had started our journey pass noon and only arrived for late lunch.

Let me digress a bit here ... Take a walk around the vicinity and you'll find a fenced up area with a guard dog on duty.  Guarding what? Organic avocados! I've not seen one as green and big as the ones here.  Okay...back to the food...

I had done a quick search on the internet and the other flogger who has been to this place is PerutBesi.  Click HERE to read her post which also has directions to this simple and delightful Gerai Makan & Minum Kampung in Bukit Tinggi, Bentong.  As it was already quite late, we practically had the whole place to ourselves ... I just loved the place, it's full of character; the small town simplicity, the aged decoration/memorabilia adorning the walls and the feel of warm hospitality from the family who runs the restaurant.

Nostalgia at Yiu Wah Restaurant, Toronto

It's the last post on my Canada trip.  This time round, we're back in Toronto before we take the flight back to San Francisco after having spent 2 weeks on a Canadian road trip.  It's on a dim sum place we stopped at while scouting for food in Dundas Street West.  We saw an easel and the price was reasonable and decided to venture into Yiu Wah Restaurant which is located on the 3rd floor.  The restaurant has since been taken over and is now known as Dim Sum King Seafood Restaurant.  However, I would still like to blog about it as the place gave me a warm feeling when I ate there.

The moment we stepped in, I felt like I had taken a step back in time.  It is a very "old school" looking Chinese restaurant, (almost Hong Kong like) and evoked a nostalgic feeling.  I recalled when I was a kid and dining in the famous "Ming Court" dim sum restaurant back then in small hotel next to where I used to live; it was the Town House Hotel in Jalan Tong Shin.  Ming Court used to be crowded most of the time as they served rather good dim sum at reasonable prices.  Sadly, it's no longer around; long gone after Town House Hotel was taken over - the same hotel is now known at Corona Inn.

The all Chinese staff went around pushing a dim sum cart, offering some familiar and some less familiar dim sum to patrons.

The Mysterious Avengers @ De' Champion Duck, Bandar Menjalara

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Long before "The Avengers" came to town, there was another superhero team; helping to save the world from cholesterol by eating up as much fatty food as possible.  We called ourselves "The Mysterious Avengers" (TMA)... We have since gone under the radar as the authorities were on to us and tried to curb our activities. I now blog on one of TMA's cholesterol conquest with fondness ... Yes, TMA were last seen at De' Champion Duck in Bandar Menjalara ... and this is our story.

Claypot "Shuin Choy" - it was spicy enough but was not as sour as I would like it to be.  I enjoyed the bits and pieces of meat; especially roast duck skin together with the pickled vegetables.

The Drunken Roast Duck was great - the meat was tender and juicy and the herbal gravy with a tad of Chinese wine added lovely flavours to it.  It's a different kind of roast duck...this is good but my fave is still the two stalls in Klang, HERE and a similar herbal style roast duck HERE. Of course, De' Champion Duck is a much nearer alternative :o)

That Familiar Feeling @ Restaurant Busy Corner, Damansara Jaya

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Restoran Busy Corner has been around for some time; I remember my first visit to this place was when I was still living and working in Kuala Lumpur. That was back in the 90s!  Fast forward a couple of decades later, it's still one of the restaurants I head to now and then again, so much so you can say that I'm a regular ... just one of those places where I can eat comfortably as I'm familiar with the place and the lady boss herself :o)

I just love the raw onions, giving Busy Corner's claypot chicken rice (RM6.50 for a small serving, RM12 for large) an added oomph!  My fave order is the original (with or without the salted fish, depending on my mood); there're lots more variety to choose from - black pepper, red bean sauce and Thai. One can also choose to have black pepper steak rice or prawn instead of chicken.

Feasting With Friends @ The Han Room, The Gardens Mid Valley

(Non-Halal)

JK, an old childhood friend of mine since primary school days has always enjoyed good food and we have enjoyed sharing many food experiences through the years we have known each other.  We would be the ones walking over to Sakura in Jalan Imbi (back in the late 70s and early 80s) and ordering the Nasi Lemak for take away where the two of us would be tucking away in our school canteen.  I remember, back then the famous Nasi Lemak (now being served in Madam Kwan's - Sakura's still around but their nasi lemak has never been the same since Madam started dishing out on her own, haha...) was just about RM4.50 or so, it was a luxury at that time and one that we would indulge in ever so often.  Yes, those were the days where we would sign autograph books with each school year ending. Remember, those silly things we use to write ? Silly, but since we were so young, we probably thought they were quite poignant! LOL ...

"Drink hot coffee, drink hot tea
Burn your lips and remember me"

"Me no study, me no care
Me go marry a millionaire
If he dies, me no cry
Me go marry another guy"

Our friendship has withstood the test of time; the ups and downs but here we are, still enjoying ourselves when it comes to food.  Nothing much has changed with JK and her love for good food. 30 odd years down the line, we are still sharing that love for good food. This post of the wonderful feast we had at The Han Room is dedicated to you JK, my old friend ...

Thank you!

The lovely three layer siew yoke (Roast Pork)

The addictive Paku Vegetable in Spicy Sauce

Three Treasures :-

Desserts @ Tong Pak Fu, Sunway Giza

Wandered into Sunway Giza after dinner the other night and ended up at Tong Pak Fu. The bright colours of the interior caught my eye and since the place had a decent crowd, we went in to try out Tong Pak Fu's desserts.

Lim Kee Tang Hun off Jalan Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur

My first visit to Lim Kee (yes, just Lim Kee sans Tang Hun) was a few years back with Jason. Soon, after a few more visits to this place, the shack was torn down and I wondered where it had gone! Two years later while chatting with a new found friend of mine, I was elated to find out the new location of Lim Kee.  I was told it's now located in a proper corner shoplot and wondered whether food still tasted as good as before.

I was indeed excited at the thought of finally revisiting my long lost Lim Kee, now known to me as Lim Kee Tang Hun.  So, has any of my old fave dishes stood the test of time (and relocation)?

The Fried Abacus Seeds still tasted good to me.  The abacus seeds seem a bit softer as compared to back then.  I just love biting into the bits of dried prawns and coriander!

Reminder : Oldie Golden Goodie Woo Lan, Brickfields

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The family use to patronise Woo Lan quite frequently till it shifted from it's zinc roof shack (I remember, they use to have the water sprinklers on to cool the roof in the daytime!) to a proper shoplot.  I wonder why we stopped going? Lost its charm due to the move? Not sure why actually.  But finally, we did get round to having dinner in Woo Lan; dining on some old favourites.  Some things never change...yes, it may be an oldie but it's still a golden goodie!  Yup, the family needs to be reminded about this place now and then ;o), we all need a such a reminder (such as this post).  It's easy to forget with all the new restaurants that keeps appearing as time goes by (while some fade away in our memories as their doors close for business due to such changes or economic reasons).  Are there any restaurants that you have loved in the past and miss; now that it's no longer here?

So, let's us remember ...

Woo Lan looking foreign to us ... but the food remains the same

Salad Prawn

*nom

1) The act of eating

2) An act of affection

3) A sound to express satisfaction through eating

So, yes...all of the above; eating the dishes affectionately (but not loudly! HAhaha....).

Tea Time @ Tang Shifu, 1 Utama

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Sometime back when Precious Pea was back here for a short holiday - she and I got hungry after singing our hearts out in Neway and decided to look for some tea time food.  Now, I've been curious to try out Tang Shifu's food; two items in particular and suggested to Precious Pea to try out it with me.  So, as soon as we sat down, I already knew what to order.  Yes, the two items from their menu that caught my eye the most ....

The Abalone Sauce Rice Dumplings (RM9.90) was very flavourful ...The dumpling seems to have a mixture of glutinous rice with some brown rice.  The wolfberries added a sweetness to the dumplings, adding more plus points to it.  The cool cucumber was refreshing with some walnut and sesame mix topping though I would say that it looked like some type of meat floss was also added to it.

Purple Cane Tea Restaurant @ KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Kuala Lumpur

I found this post from my long lost archive, all drafted...and now, here it is 4 years later!  I have also lost the original photos :o(.  Well, I've always enjoyed the food from Purple Cane Tea Restaurant and somehow enjoy dining at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall outlet (is that the HQ?) more than Midvalley.  Maybe it's about having these Chinese dishes in such a place that adds "character" to it? Hahaha...anyway, it's about time I post this. Enjoy!

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Crouching Audience & Hidden Tea Leaves!

Fighting the downtown traffic and finally arriving at this restaurant located in Jalan Maharajalela, calmness swept over me when I stepped into Purple Cane Tea Restaurant. I had no idea why but I guess it might be due to the fact that I was greeted warmly by one of the staff with a very sweet smile who proceeded to usher me towards the table where my friends were already seated.

The retail counter

Looking ahead, I could see that the restaurant was almost at full capacity and just before the seating area, there was a retail counter selling all sorts of tea leaves, tea pots & cups and other accessories. Instead of taking my seat, I delayed myself along the way (much to the amusement of the staff who was there and probably annoyance to my friends as they waited!), I whipped out my camera and started taking photos. What truly caught my attention though was this particular staff who was seated close to the ground and she was brewing tea for customers to sample – with all the pots and cups displayed on a big rustic wood log table just at the side. I joined some of the others who surrounded the table and crouched down to have a better look and was mesmerized by the whole process. The staff began to explain about the different type of tea leaves and even how important it is to follow a certain process, from having the right ambiance, the proper way of brewing tea right down to type of water used for getting a perfect brew.

Watching the tea brewing process

When I finally joined my friends at the table, I noticed that there were different teapots. There were two of each, one for storing the hot water and the other with the tea leaves which we poured the hot water into. The small metal container that you see in the photo belongs to my friend who had brought along his own tea leaves in it.

J Tean Kitchen Fusion Bak Kut Teh @ SStwo Mall, Petaling Jaya

(NON-HALAL) - Warning : Lots of delicious photos ahead

It's been a while since I got around to accepting a food review invitation since I've been busy running around and when J Tean Kitchen extended one, I did - mainly because it's a stone's throw (well, make it 10 or so but who's counting? hahaha..) away from my home.  Not only did the group of us had the opportunity to taste some delicious food but it was also that day that I was introduced to James Tean, the owner of J Tean Kitchen.  I was glad as I finally met the man behind the wonderful Tean's Gourmet Malaysian Traditional Curry Laksa paste.  I normally buy packets & packets of them for Mrs Pitt and friends who are residing overseas.  It's always a hit with the food crowd.  Well, Tean's other paste are all pretty good too as Mrs Pitt has tried several of the varieties and told me they are all GOOD! Malaysians overseas must have these in their pantry!

Anyway, back to meeting Master Tean himself (as he's popularly known by that name), we sat down with him and had lunch together.  As we took photographs of the dishes, he brought us through the story of how J Tean Kitchen came about. It has much to do with the support and encouragement of his friends who mooted the idea of him doing a restaurant business using his over 30 years of expertise in the food manufacturing industry with his line of Tean's Gourmet products (e.g. like his famous Bak Kut Teh herbs & spices pack for instance).   Hence, J Tean Kitchen was born ... and now begins our feast with some East meets West fusion dishes.

Ahhh...lovely.  Braised Pork Bun - Tender braised pork slices sandwiched between a nice soft and fluffy steamed mantou (Chinese bun/bread). Well marinated and goes well with the mantou and julienned vegetable. One of my regular orders during my repeat visits here...

RM7.90 for three of these fluffy yummy babies!

Kenny's Seafood Porridge @ SS2/4A, Petaling Jaya

I've been patronizing this area of late for several reasons :-

1) Uncle Cheng Special Beef Noodles - read post HERE
2) Mee Diau, Mee Jawa & Dumplings - read post HERE

and for something else that I've eaten now and then but have yet to post till now,

3) Kenny's Seafood Porridge

I didn't recall the stall having the "Kenny" sign on it during earlier times but now this stall has a name...

Kenny's Seafood Bubur (Porridge).  You can see Uncle Cheng's Special Beef Noodles shop on the left in the background.

Most of you would know that I'm not a fan of seafood, so I usually order the Special Porridge (RM5.50) each time I drop by Kenny's stall.  What's in the "special" porridge?

Century Egg, Spring Onions, Crispy Fried Anchovies (Ikan Bilis), Crispy Vermicelli, Peanuts, Squid, Fish (but I opted for Chicken instead of fish).

Fish Ball Noodles @ Penggaram Mee, Batu Pahat

I remember the time I had my first taste of Penggaram Mee, it was about 18 years ago.  I recall loving it and during my short stay of 3 nights in Batu Pahat that time, I ate a bowl of Penggaram Mee every night! Thanks to my bro-in-law and family, they took us for the noodles every night and even packed a few packets for us to take back to Kuala Lumpur.  They called it Penggaram Mee because the stall was located in Jalan Penggaram - also known as Hakka Street (for the Hakka folks were aplenty in that area).  From that time till now, there were only two other occasions that I got to eat the noodles again - once more a decade ago and the latest, in  2011! Yay! Bro had to travel to Batu Pahat for work and he got his local friends/colleagues to track down the stall (he had tasted it too in the past and was looking forward to eating the fish ball noodles again).

Apparently, the stall is no longer located there and had shifted.  Now, my bro followed his friends around and they told him there were two stalls selling Penggaram Mee; operated by different vendors who were related to each other.  Are there Batu Pahat folks out there who can fill me in as to where these two stalls are located currently?  Well, while this still remains a "mystery" to me ... what's more important is that bro accomplished his mission and came back with a few packets of Penggaram Mee for me!

Of course, it would have tasted so much better if I had the chance to eat the noodles at the stall itself but this was the next best thing! The handmade noodles had a light airy texture to it and was still as delicious as I recalled.  One can opt for normal or for a spicy version where some grainy chilli sauce is added - I love the spiciness of it. 

 

Now, aren't those the tiniest fish balls you've ever seen?  These home made fish balls were springy despite its tiny size and were nice.  I found their home made fish cakes a tad salty though (don't seem to recall them being that way back then) - maybe it's because it's Penggaram (Salt?) Mee? Hahaha....

Well, despite that ... I absolutely enjoyed my Penggaram Mee.  I hope I don't have to wait another decade to eat this fish ball noodles again.  Batu Pahat anyone? :o)

Yummy Bao @ Restoran Saviour, PJ Old Town

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Would have posted sooner but Blogger had some problems ....well, better late than never!

Have A Great Weekend Everyone.....

An Annual Do? Oriental Pavilion, Jaya 33 Petaling Jaya

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Memories...& Pun Chun Restaurant, Bidor

I had the opportunity to drop by Pun Chun in Bidor while on the way back from one my my quick out of town trips...I was swept away with nostalgic memories of the previous time I was in Pun Chun, Bidor.  It was one of the stops we made during our Drive For Food.  Our group, Fantastic Four/ACT (Apple Crumble Team) were one of the finalists.  It's been a while and posted in the past, but let's just take a trip back in time.  We had the most fun coming up with our team submission video to The Star which was the one that got us picked to be in the finals.  It always bring a smile to my face whenever I think about that time and see the videos we did.  You'll see some familiar faces there .....enjoy!  

So, stepping into Pun Chun, Bidor after all that time brought a warm feeling and yes, it was also a hot sunny day :o).  But I knew what to order, it's ingrained into me.