Kelantan Delights @ Wisma Consplant, Subang Jaya

I always remember my trip to Kota Bahru back in 2007 with a dear old friend of mine with great fondness.  I miss the wonderful East Coast hospitality from the folks there and of course - the food!  You can check out my older Kota Bahru posts HERE.  Ever since then, I've been on the search for great tasting food from the East Coast right here in the Klang Valley; while it's good, they just can't measure up to the real experience of dining in East Coast itself.  So, when I got an invite from Pure Glutton for dinner at Kelantan Delights, I just had to go.

While of course, eating in Kota Bahru has been more of street/hawker fare, dining at Kelantan Delights was a different experience altogether.  I could see how the fine dining concept would work well for this restaurant; there is only a handful of such fine dining Malay restaurants in Klang Valley.

Enak KL - Starhill

More food shots from participating restaurants for the great Midsummer Nights Feast (on from July 1-8), Starhill.  Have a great weekend!

Roti Jala Udang Gulung Sayur

Lacy pancake wrapped with prawn & vegetables and lightly sauteed with spices, served with curry gravy

Clear soup with dory

Pasar Ramadan @ Section 14, Petaling Jaya

I had followed Wan to Section 14's Pasar Ramadan the other day as I wanted to sink my teeth into some of the delicious goodies there and also wanted to drop by Soraya & Ariff's Kokopelli stall.  I was hoping that the rain would stay away that day and I got more than what I had hoped for ... it was scorching hot and I was glad when the clouds would occasionally get into the way of the sun.  The vendors, shielded by the canopy tops had their space intruded when customers themselves hid under the tops for some temporary relief.  It was hard to take photos as the lighting was harsh, so when I adjusted the controls, the photos turned out darker than I expected.  Sigh...anyway, check out Sec 14 Pasar Ramadan's scene ...

Kokopelli Stall ... Fried Kway Teow and Hokkien Mee at RM4! Also selling Pasta Marinara and Seafood Aglio Olio

Tepung Pelita - I bought two for RM1.  Unfortunately, they spilt over in the plastic bag and I manage to eat a bite of it.  I love the creamy santan (coconut milk), sweet and salty.  Lovely!

What a big dish of chicken!

How To Eat Nasi Lemak @ Nasi Lemak Famous, Bangsar Kuala Lumpur

This was a while back when I followed Jason to Bangsar where we ate at Nasi Lemak Famous.  I was amused when he went through the process of getting ourselves a plate of this yummy delight as we joined the queue in the open air area...so while he was talking, I was taking photographs! :o)

Join the line and pick your side dishes...

Oh! You must have the fried chicken...it's good stuff!

Wau Penyu @ Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur

(HALAL)

It's quite a task finding a place to eat each time my work team gathers for a lunch meeting.  After our usual two hour formal meeting in the office, where we head to for our lunch discussion is always the highlight of the day! Hahaha....When restaurants started operating in Solaris Dutamas, we were glad that we now have a wider selection of venues apart from the ones in Solaris Mont Kiara itself.

I had read about Wau Penyu from Cumi & Ciki's blog and the nasi tumpang there (one of my faves since I first tried it during my memorable trip to Kota Bahru back in 2007 - read about it HERE and HERE) and told the team about it and we decided to try out the food.  The team loved the setup of Wau Penyu, a restaurant (or as they label themselves "a funky kopitiam") that serves delights from the East Coast of Malaysia.  We found the place conducive for a casual meeting over food.  It delivers a rather perfect ambiance and has a lovely red corner (with all sorts of framed keris adorning the wall!) where we would "nestle" together as we went through our weekly agenda..

Pick n' Brew @ 1 Utama, Ramadhan Buffet

Last Friday, a bunch of us met up at Pick n' Brew at 1 Utama for Ramadhan Buffet dinner. Present were of course Jackson himself (see his photos HERE), Precious Pea, FBB, Jason (who arrived an hour later!) and we had fun eating and catching up with each other. We heard a bit of food tales from Jackson, travel tales from Precious Pea who had just return from a short holiday in Australia. We also heard some flowery tales from FBB (hahahaha....), whilst we just heard a few words from Jason as he was the usual quiet self :p.

As Precious Pea and I were the first two to arrive, we went around taking photos of the food. Seeing that there were too many food items to cover, she and I agreed to cover different items and link our post to each other. Well, her post is already up and I realise that she took photos of most of the items and I covered a lot lesser! Oops! Anyway, check out her post HERE with a whole lot more photos! I have linked FBB's and Jason's post here since they got their post out by now.

Part of the buffet spread; the area for salads, soup and desserts (local kuih, cakes and cookies)


There were several varieties of salad but the one that caught my eye was the Apple & Barley salad. Nice and different, found it rather refreshing.


Hot Dishes (clockwise from 12 o'clock) : Lamb Rendang, Seafood Rice, Beef Cutlets, Chicken Rotisserie, Sotong with Spicy Peanut Sauce, Roast Vegetables

To accompany the feast, they also have side dishes like salted eggs, salted fish, tempeh and more...


Beef Kerabu

Nasi Lemak, SS2 - Makcik Yan & Pakcik Wahab

ORIGINALLY POSTED 2 SEPTEMBER 2006

I am away from April 11-22. Jason has kindly offered to assist me in republishing some old posts (back at a time when only a handful of people read my blog. Hee hee hee...) for this period. Comments are still and always welcomed but I will only be able to reply when I get back after the 22. Thank you all!


While I was waiting in UMMC recently for my monthly eye check up, I sat next to a makcik and we both started chatting. Turns out that she, Makcik Yan, sells nasi lemak in my area, SS2 and she has been doing it for the past 30 years! She and her husband, Pakcik Wahab drops by the stall over the weekends which is usually operated daily by their 3 boys. She told me that her stall has quite a lot of customers and the best time to drop by was about 9am (opens from 7am till 10 plus am, close on Sundays). I was surprised as I didn't know of the stall and promised to try out her nasi lemak.

Arriving there on a Saturday, I was greeted with a long queue at her stall. It's located at the lane between BHP petrol station and the police station, at the end of the row of stalls (there are several nasi lemak stalls there. If in doubt, just look for the one with the long queue! Ha ha ha...)
This is not your restaurant type of eatery but one with zinc roof, cement rendered floor with plastic tables and chairs. Eating here reminded me of my childhood days when I used to follow mom and my dear ol' dad and eat at the old Bukit Bintang market which has made way for KL Plaza/Lot 10 donkey years ago. To further remind me of that, there is also a drink stall here operated by a Chinese auntie and an elderly man (he's around 80 years old, I think). He will take and deliver drink orders in his slow but orderly manner. Not that many drink stalls such as this type are operated by Chinese nowadays. Maybe they have been around for 30 years too. So, yeah, I felt like a kid again!
Makcik Yan was not around but Pakcik Wahab and his boys were expecting me to my surprise. Wonder what Makcik Yan told them! Well, the rice is scooped from the wooden container (a plus point for me - Makcik Yan had earlier told me that it costs about RM300) and the customers tell the boys what they would like from the array of deep tray dishes.
Well, apart from the fried chicken, almost everything else was spicy! I asked for sambal petai ("smelly" green beans with chilli) and sotong (cuttlefish). Lyn, who went with me, had beef rendang. Even if one is eating there, the food is served on the brown paper. Makcik Yan had told me that she had once tried changing to plates after starting out that way earlier. However, customers complained that it wasn't as nice and chicken pieces flew out easily from the small plate. Ha ha ha....So, they will hand you the rice in a cone shaped brown wrapper with a fork and spoon "planted" into it!
I tried to unwrap it gently to take a nice photo but messed up the presentation when I failed! Ha ha ha...But nevertheless, it tasted good.
I must say I do like the nasi lemak here. The sambal and rice is nice (not soft, but separate grains) and the beef rendang was tender (thanks Lyn for letting me steal some beef!). The sotong was good and easy to bite (not the rubbery type if you know what I mean). Our two packs came to RM8.80; didn't get a breakdown. Well, I now know where to look for good nasi lemak in PJ (I eat at Tang Lin's when I'm in KL). As a matter of fact, I had already gone back to eat again with my other friends.

My friends and I call nasi lemak "fatty rice" but that has never stopped me from eating it!
- wmw

Sate Kajang Hj Samuri, Damansara Uptown, Petaling Jaya

Long ago, a trip to Kajang to savour the satay was a journey I always looked forward to and get real excited and happy about. Afterall, I was a kid then and it doesn't take much to make a kid happy :o). I remember then that the workers will just keep serving as many of those meat skewers as one can possibly eat and paying only for what you eat. That also meant what was left untouched would be served again to the next customer who walks in! I have not been back to Kajang for decades now, I wonder if they are still practising this.

What came next after Kajang? I remember traveling to the rest areas at the Kesas Highway and subsequently Sg Buloh for my Kajang satay without going to Kajang itself. Now, Sate Kajang Hj Samuri is only a stone's throw away (make that about a dozen or so...hahaha!) from my neighbourhood. I've been patronizing this outlet every now and then for about a year now. This is a very famous satay restaurant with several outlets now (of course, its headquarters is in Kajang, where else?).

Over here, you order how many sticks you want from the many varieties available; chicken, beef, tripe, liver, fish and few others. Unlike the yesteryears, they do not serve the satay continuously everytime one empties the plate.

The essentials when eating satay - Peanut gravy, cucumber, onions and nasi himpit/ketupat (compressed rice cubes) together with absolutely wonderful spicy sambal served separately!

Mix as much sambal into the peanut gravy. You'll survive the deed as long as you can take the heat!

Chunky Chicken Satay minus the fats. Grilled over charcoal, this marinated skewered meat is a true delight.

Beef Satay - as chunky as the Chicken Satay. I usually order beef with caution as some stalls tend to overcook them and I'll end up with sore gums trying to chew on them. However, Hj Samuri's beef satay has always been tender.

Beef Tripe Satay - for those who fancy "other" types of meat :o). One of my faves!

By the way, they also dish up a rather yummy plate of Nasi Goreng Kampung (Spicy Fried Rice with anchovies, eggs, onions). This is something you should order if you want some rice apart from all that meat.

Couldn't resist taking a shot of the old typewriter sitting on the counter. The workers also use it to hang drinks on the carriage return lever! Gosh! That's no way to treat an antique!

No wonder satay is well known all over the world, it has truly made an impression not only in the hearts of the locals but of tourists and foreigners alike. At RM0.60/USD0.20 a stick, is it any wonder why this is a favourite of many? But of course, there's still bad satay out there if one is not careful. Rest assured though, you'll find good ones here at Sate Kajang Hj Samuri.


Others who got their Kajang satay fix here in Damansara Uptown :-

Masak-Masak
A Whiff Of Lemongrass

Sate Kajang Hj Samuri
79 Jalan 21/37
Damansara Uptown
Petaling Jaya

Tel : 03-7710 5318

(Opens daily 11 am till 12 midnight except Fridays 3pm onwards)

"What's this meat on a stick? Ask no question, just eat it quick!" - wmw

Kafe Bawang Merah, Subang

(Halal)

Having to go for an evening meeting at Sheraton Subang one day, Glorious Jade and I decided to go a bit earlier to beat the traffic jam. With an extra two hours to spare we decided to look for a place nearby for tea and headed to Kafe Bawang Merah (Red Onion Cafe) as we had heard of them serving up some tasty Indo/Malay cuisine.

Entering the place, it was already pretty filled up (saw a number of familiar faces; all with the same idea of having tea here before the meeting!) and it's quite a small setup. It's a dimly lit cosy albeit a busy place. Kafe Bawang Merah doesn't have any ala carte dishes but actually serves food ala canteen style. It's self-service, queue and point at the pre-cooked dishes on display.

I forgot what Laksa this was that Glorious Jade ordered but I had a taste of the gravy and it was lovely. It came served with boiled egg and beef slices. The beef slices seemed a bit overcooked to me. Mmm....anyone knows what sort of Laksa this is??? Well, forget about proper food presentation here but it's the taste that matters here. Fuss free and tasty food at reasonable prices is what this place is all about and the crowd here is the testimony to that.

I had my Meehoon Mee Soto Ayam, a usual Malay favourite dish of mine. Beansprouts, little begedil (fried potato cutlets) and shredded chicken meat added delight to it. The soup was very flavourful and eaten with the wonderful dark sauce with minced chilli padi (bird's eye chilli), it was one tasty bowl of noodles I truly enjoyed tucking into.

The dark sauce minced chilli mix that provided the "icing to the cake"!


I know this looks really oily but to be fair...this was actually the last bit left at the counter and since I love beef, I decided to take a chance and took the last order off them which was displayed in this plate itself (since there's so little left of it, it must be good, right?). I think this dish was Daging Masak Kunyit - beef that was cooked with onions and turmeric powder. Well, my verdict of this? It was really good stuff! The meat was tender and was marinated so well that the flavour was sealed in throughout each chunk of meat. Now, I only have to make sure that I drop by this place earlier if I don't want the pick up the last plate of meat that's soaking in oil!

Just when we thought we were done with our meal, something caught my eye. During tea time, Kafe Bawang Merah also serves an assortment of kuih. We wanted something savoury and ended up getting some of these...

These Yam Cake were topped with generous bits of fried shallots, spring onions, cut chillies and minced dried prawns. They were so tasty, we actually ate them without adding any sauce at all.

Nowadays, I look forward to meetings held in Sheraton Subang as it gives me a chance to drop by Kafe Bawang Merah again for their no frills self-service food. However, when the crowd builds up, things can get a bit chaotic at the counter as the line gets "lost in transaction" and instead of "first come, first served", it becomes "whoever come, first served". However, one is well rewarded for their patience once you take a bite of their food :o).

Check out Epicurious Girl's love for this place HERE.


Kafe Bawang Merah
12A Jalan SS12/1B (opposite Sheraton Subang)
47500 Subang Jaya
Opens Daily (except Sundays) 9am-10pm
Tel : 03-5621 6100

Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead.
~Mac McCleary

Merdeka Open House 2007 : Muhibbah

Babe_KL had asked a group of us to take part in this year's Merdeka Open House 2007 : Muhibbah, a virtual celebration of Malaysia's Independence Day which she will be hosting. What we have to do is to either cook or post on a favourite dish of ours from a different ethnic. Since this is my first time taking part in such an event, I had to check with Babe_KL whether I could just repost an old food entry of mine; one that is truly my favourite. Ayam Percik from Kota Bahru!

The Ayam Percik here in Kota Bahru has a very distinctive flavour and there isn't one that comes close to it here in Klang Valley. I was presently surprised when I received an email from Michael, an American residing in South Georgia.

"Hi, What a great post you did about food in Khota Bharu and ayam percik. I've been trying to make that ever since I was there ten years ago. Twice a year I google it for recipes and your post was the best thing I've seen yet. That tangy sauce is hard to get right.

I posted a link to your blog on mine because I've been telling stories about how good the food is in Khota Bharu for a long time and your pictures really brought it to life for me. Thank you!"

And when I replied a short note to him saying that food in Kota Bahru is great....food in Malaysia is great, this was his reply :-

"You are so right, I ate my way across Malaysia and loved every minute of it. I thought Penang was great for eating, there's such variety; its still the best south Indian vegetarian I've had anywhere. For Malaysian food KB was fantastic and I had a great time on those islands east of there."

Well, you can imagine how great the Ayam Percik here is since Michael still remembers it ten years later! Well, what can I say...except this

Malaysia - love the country, love the food!
Selamat Hari Merdeka!

(Originally posted on May 02, 2007 - Kota Bahru Food Trip Pt. 8 Final)

The is the last installment in the Kota Bahru Food Trip series! The night before we left, we headed to Yati Ayam Percik (Spicy BBQ Chicken) for dinner. I had eaten at this place before many years ago and looked forward to it again as the chicken was delicious. Before I totally forget how it was, it was timely indeed that I manage to pay another visit to this place yet again, refreshing my memory and reminding my taste buds.

Located at 847, Jalan Long Yunus - you can smell the lovely aroma of food all around!

They sell plenty of local kuihs too....apart from the lovely Nasi Pulut Panggang

Food galore! Look at all these really big woks of dishes and different types of curry gravy!

There's a large grilling pit at one corner where all the cooking action is happening; staff basting the meat with the delicious gravy once in awhile.

We opted for plain rice with a bit of fried desiccated coconut, beansprouts, some leaves and gravy. Good enough to eat on its own!

Finally, the most delicious Ayam Percik I have ever eaten! The secret is in the gravy that makes it so good. Somehow, I have been unable to find the same tasty gravy served with Ayam Percik here in the Klang Valley. It's creamy with a hint of coconut and unknown wonderful spices (unknown to me, that is)...eating there, I was happy that we could ask for extra gravy. Now, this is what I call "Finger licking good!"

For those who might want to try their hand at cooking Ayam Percik themselves, I found some recipes online; here, here and here (might not be as good as Yati's though). Try your hand at them and let me know if any of them are good. If yes, do invite me for a meal! Ha ha ha...

If you are ever in Kota Bahru, this is one of the places that you must eat at! Opening Hours: Saturday-Thursday (noon-11.30pm); Friday (3pm-11.30pm) Phone: 09-7479867.

Posts on Merdeka Open House 2007 : Muhibbah

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, Jalan Ceylon KL

(Halal)

It was with a sad heart but the gathering also brought happy moments when the group of us met up for Norz's farewell dinner. On July 29, Norz and her family have gone off to Vancouver, Canada...when will we see her next, we don't really know.

We decided to do the dinner at Bijan (meaning "sesame") as I had just gone recently prior to this gathering of ours and thought that it'll be a good place for us to gather. Bijan has been serving good Malay cuisine since September 2003 and was awarded Best Malay Restaurant 2004 by the Tourism Board of Malaysia.

The close up of the KL Tower behind Bijan, lovely night shot!

The facade of Bijan and the back view of the skyline

A shot of the bar area, nice soft lights and good ambiance.

It's a nice place to gather and chat too but somehow, it was a busy night and the place was filled. Luckily I had manage to reserved a table and ordered dishes in advance with the help of the co-owner of Bijan who was most helpful ;o)

Masak Ayam Lemak Dengan Nangka - Chicken pieces simmered in spicy turmeric curry and young jackfruit. We found this curry gravy a bit diluted, hence it wasn't rich enough and wondered if it was because of the jackfruit.

Kerutup Daging - Beef stewed in spiced coconut gravy. This dish was very nice. The beef was tender and the rich gravy was flavourful, making this the crowd favourite.

Sotong Cili Gajus -Baby squids cooked with cashew nuts, onions and curry leaves in a fragrant spicy sauce! This was another dish which we like, the baby squids was not hard to chew on and we love the spiciness of it.

Ikan Siakap Masak Asam Pedas - Sea bass simmered in a tangy chili and tamarind gravy with okras and aubergines. Couldn't comment much as I'm not a fan of fish but I did take lots of the gravy, which I like and loaded it onto my white rice!

Terung Goreng Bercili - Fried eggplant topped with spicy chili paste and shallots. The taste of this was spicy enough but we found the eggplant a bit on the hard side. A couple more minutes would have made this simple dish good.

Pucuk Paku Goreng Tahi Minyak -Wild fern stirred fried with chili, caramelized coconut and shrimps. I have always like Pucuk Paku, and this dish was no exception. It wasn't that oily, which is nice and the bits of coconut make this dish interesting. However for those who like their vegetables savoury, this dish is on the sweet side.

For desserts, Pandan Cendol Ice-Cream - Pandan Ice Cream topped with cendol pieces and palm sugar syrup. Ahhhh....this was lovely, I ate it sparingly and when it melted completely, I drank it all up, pouring the last few drops onto my teaspoon!

We sat around chatting and not really wanting to go off but it was a weekday and eventually we said our goodbyes and look forward to our next hello ;o). Norz, we wish you all the best and may our paths cross again in the near future. Take care of yourself, my dear friend....

"Friends are the most important ingredient in the recipe of life." - Anonymous

Bijan Bar & Restaurant (click HERE for map)
3, Jalan Ceylon
50200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel :603-2031 3575
Mon-Sat 12pm - 2.30 pm & 6.30 pm - 10.30pm
Sunday - 4.30pm - 10.30pm

Check out Lots of Cravings' review on Bijan too...