Tar Chong Mix Rice 大众什饭 @ Kota Kemuning

What's the most common question asked when you put a bunch of hungry Malaysians together?

"Eh what to eat ah?" or "What to have for breakfast/ brunch/ lunch/ dinner?"

Sometimes, life is a great combination of the finer things and simplest things. I'mma be sharing about Tar Chong Mix Rice @ Kota Kemuning! Simple and in fact, normal.

Outlook of Tar Chong Mix Rice

Crazy load variety of dishes!

Crowd on a weekend evening

RM12 for what we got

What I love most about this Tar Chong mix rice set up is that there's this dessert stall selling traditional dessert drinks ("tong sui") in a variety of peanut paste, red bean, green bean, etc.

It comes in quite a portion at a fairly reasonable price, ranging between RM2.60 to RM3 depending on your choice of dessert.

Also, do note that besides red bean and green bean, other desserts varies according to the day of the week.

Here's a delicious savoury bowl of peanut paste!

Next time if you can't figure out what to eat in Kota Kemuning, instead of hopping into one of the many cafes available, perhaps a tone down to your meal would be good! :)

Address:

15, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla P 31/P

Kota Kemuning

40460 Shah Alam

Selangor Darul Ehsan

Ipoh BEST Curry Mee @ 新泉芳咖哩面 / "Mata Liew"

Yes, you read it right! It's the BEST curry noodles we're talking about! :)

I've always been skeptical about curry noodles that I consume at places out of home because I've had terrible experiences, i.e. diarrhea thereafter. It's not quite of an aftermath that one would fancy, coupled with the worry and fear, hence making curry noodles the least favourable order option when I'm out.

Ipoh is a definite food haven and trust me, dim sum and bean sprouts steamed chicken are NOT what Ipoh is made of. Plainly overrated, if I may add.

I hereby present to you the BEST curry noodles in Ipoh @ Xin Quan Fang.

Don't say good things never share hor!

Tips:

1) Be there by 8am to get yourself seated comfortably. Else, be prepared for a minimum 30 minutes wait in the queue to enter the eatery. This 30 minutes wait does not include waiting for aunty/uncle coming to you to take your order and subsequently having your order served to you.

2) Please queue outside the eatery and wait (in line) to be allocated a seat/ table-sharing with other customers.

3) Wait for aunty/ uncle to come by your table to take your order. Do NOT go up to aunty/ uncle at the preparation front to place your orders. 

4) Be quick in placing your orders. Uncle can get quite impatient. It is BEST for one person fluent in Cantonese to collate everyone's order preference as soon as you get seated so when aunty/ uncle comes by, that one person can inform aunty/ uncle quickly instead of going one by one around your group. This saves up time and patience. (please refer link on how to order)

The outlook of Xin Quan Fang from across the street

Also known as "Mata Liew" because it is located nearby a police station.

Photo above was taken mid-2015 when there was no queue system yet. Back then, we just walk into the eatery and hawk on customers who SEEM like they're about to finish up their food LOL

The cozy (I meant, stuffy lol) coffee shop. Nothing fancy, except butts and armpits dripping with sweat hehe

Basically, the options are -

Noodles:

- Yellow Mee; or

- Bee hoon; or

- Kuey Teow; or

- Combination of yellow mee and bee hoon (common / the ideal way of a good bowl of curry noodles).

Note: They have an option of clear soup noodles for kids or the faint hearted ones ;)

Ingredients:

- Served with noodles; or

- Served separately (MOST PREFERRED option!).

Types of ingredients (if ingredients served separately):

- Steamed chicken

- Roast pork

- BBQ pork (it's a different style of "Char Siew", definitely MUST TRY!)

- Prawns

- Bean sprouts

- Pork everything else ranging from pork ears, pork skin etc. (gross... eww)

Note: The price is fixed where you'll be served all of the above ingredients, even if you opt to exclude any of them.

Not a fan of pork parts (杂的) other than the flesh LOL Big no no for me.

The link enclosed above is "How To Order at Xin Quan Fang For Two Without Fats".

The next photo is an indication of when your order will be served right up REAL SOON.

Presenting to you, the MAGIC SAUCE that spikes up the flavour of the whole BEST-CURRY-NOODLES experience. What's the use of this magic sauce, you may ask?

It is a DIP for you to dip (duhh) the ingredients served later on. It is rich in curry sauce mixed with garlic (oh yeaaa), onions and (I suspect) a magical drug. Hahaha I kidddd. But this sauce is SERIOUSLY THE BOMB.

Point to note, you will only get this if you order your ingredients to be served separately from your noodles.

As forewarned, one requires a great amount of patience. After all, good things come to those who wait, right? ;)

My usual orders would be a dry bowl of mee+beehoon combo. I love how it is served with a spoon of lime juice. It doesn't make that big of a difference but it definitely adds flavour to the simple bowl of dry curry noodles.

With this bowl served, you are ready to dig in!

They layer the bowl (bottom up) with juicy bean sprouts, steamed chicken, roast pork (left in pic), BBQ pork (right in pic) and prawns.

Uncle will try their level best to cater to your request of lean pork if you request for it. However, do note that when they're really busy, they may not entertain such request. Key message? GO EARLY! :D

The char siew is tender and very different than that of KL's or anywhere else in Malaysia. Outlook and taste wise - it is tender, not much fats and it is flavourful.

The roast pork is one of the best I've had. Crunchy top layer and melt in the mouth fats. However, this can be quite a hit and miss. Nonetheless, dip it into the magic sauce and the world goes round again. No biggie! :)

No trip to Ipoh is complete without a bowl of Xin Quan Fang curry mee. It is a personal must-have like how putu piring is in Malacca :)

That being said, the BEST CURRY MEE comes with quite a price. It is the most expensive curry noodles you'll ever get from a coffee shop.

Priced at RM12 per pax (as at December 2015), it is frickin' expensive for Ipoh standards. Heck! It's even expensive for KL standards. Try it! Who knows, you may even be hooked onto it like I am and there's no turning back henceforth.

*****

Address:

174, Jalan Sultan Iskandar

30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Opening hours: 7:30am until finished (approx about 12:30pm)

Do try it out and share with me your thoughts! Let's get drugged with this curry meeeeee! Haha!

Famous XO Fish Head Noodles @ Restoran Goon Wah, Jalan Kuchai Lama

On one of the recent celebrative days that fell on a weekday, I couldn't resist my cravings calling out for fish head noodles.  Never realised the existence of this chinese cuisine until one fine day when uni friends were comparing about the many different places selling better fish head noodles.

I gave it a try, and this eatery which I am gonna be sharing is by far the BEST I've tasted. Do let me know if you've any other fish head noodles eatery to recommend!

As many would have heard, the BEST fish head noodles eatery is Restoran Goon Wah, located at Jalan Kuchai Lama; "strategically" next to a coffin shop. LOL 

Do note, however, that there is another eatery down the road that imitates the outlook of Goon Wah, so be sure to walk into the RIGHT eatery! Don't say I didn't warn ya! :D

The RIGHT shop that you should walk in to. This is how it looks like on the outside :D

Another shot of the shop. This is how it looks inside lol

*** 

Lets see what's on the "MUST-HAVE" menu for the 3 of us...

Barley "Fu Zhuk" (in canto: Fu Zhuk Yee Mai)

Verdict: The FZYM is a good pair-up with the upcoming dishes as an appetizer as it has a sweet element that boost up your appetite for the food storm that you're about to engulf! But a point to note, if you're not a big fan of sweet stuff, then I suggest you give this a pass. :)

Next, Claypot Lou Shu Fun.

Verdict: Served with crunchy toppings (that I wish I knew what it was), sesame, generous amount of spring onions added with their homemade black sauce paste, this dish is to be mixed by you! To ensure that it doesn't burn at the bottom, you've to stir it immediately upon being served, until the fire beneath it goes off.  Just imagine the soft chewy Lou Shu Fun in your mouth dancing along with the crunchy fried stuff paired with the melodious fragrance emitted from their homemade black sauce paste that's SO tasty it ignites your senses! For 3 pax with notsohungry tummies that day, we ordered a Small portion for this dish.

Look how appetizing this dish is! Oh, you can also choose to add eggs along with this dish (with extra charges I suppose?).

Hold on to your horses as the main dish is coming up!

But before that, this is the kick-ass chilli that doesn't come off as too garlicky or overly spicy. It's just nice and sweet, yet, not overly done. I normally have like, 2 of this. Heh.

Finally, here you go - the main dish for the day.

The famous XO fish head noodles!

Verdict (noodles): They use the laksa kinda noodles for this dish and its just the right way to go about it; giving the right amount of springy texture and is not overly cooked every-single-time I am here.

Verdict (soup): With the generous amount of all the right kinda things in the soup, tell me how wrong can this go? To name a few, they've tomatoes, pickled vegetables, spring onions, coriander and interestingly (and oneofakind) YAM! The soup is always sweet to taste and is even more soothing to the tastebuds. With such goodness, you CAN definitely ask for a refill for the soup! No kidding! :)

Verdict (fish): The eatery serves the dish with fried fish.  I wouldn't comment on the freshness of the fish, but so long as it doesn't emits the kinda fishy smell when I dig into it, I'm all good. It'd be better, if there was more meat to the fish though.

 With already so much on the plate, the lack of meaty fish is overlooked la. Heh!

Look at how clear the soup is! I can down bowls and bowls of this! :)

Well, I hope this post made you as hungry as it did to me. LOL
Go try it out and let me know if its as good! Or, if you've already tried this, do share with me on any feedback! :)

Once again, I shall not mention anything about directions. The only thing I know is when you see a Shell station on your right, across the road, turn right at the traffic light. Goon Wah would be hidden behind the bushes of shophouses on your right as you drive along inside.


 Tips!

1. Their order sizes varies between Small, Medium and Large. Just tell them how many pax are there, and confirm with them your order size then it should be fine.

2. The eatery is open on Weekdays ONLY! :3 They're normally open on any other public holidays that fall on a weekday (except if its CNY, I think?) hehe


OK, that's all for now! :)

Famous Seremban Favourites Restaurant, Aman Suria

Disclaimer: This is a non-halal post and is pork filled.

I realise I've been writing a lot about chinese food and nothing else; to the extent that even I, label myself as a "Cina Foodie". So cina! Beh tahan! hehe

And, today I'm indulging in even more chinese food - Famous Seremban Favourites Restaurant located at Aman Suria.

As many would know, Aman Suria offers PJ-ians a wide variety of good food, yet, I seldom come to this part of PJ. So, today, lets feast our eyes with food porn! lol

Here's a shot of their simplistic menu...

Another one of their simplistic menu...

Here comes the food porn!
Siu Yok aka Roast Pork.

Verdict: The siu yok is nicely done with minimal fats between both the crispy skin and meat. The meat is tender and tasty with the bonus of its well-crisp skin which gives a beautiful texture when chewed together. However, it lacks the fragrance produced (assumingly) from pork oil. ;)

Next up, their signature famous Char Siew aka BBQ-glazed pork.

Verdict: This is the fattiest (its unbelievable this word even exist lol) char siew I've ever eaten in my life! BUT, it is the TASTIEST ever... I loved how well the fatty char siew is glazed with honey bbq. Also, the fact that although this char siew may be the fattiest (from the outer appearance), but when it is placed in your mouth, the fats melt instantly (ok, am exaggerating haha)! Such heavenly pork! :D

However, I'd have preferred it to have more meat instead as I wouldn't want to be caught in a dilemma as to how many pieces of melt-in-the-mouth fats I've consumed hahaha. Overall, thumbs up!

Also, we had a taste of their roast chicken.

Verdict: This is just like any other roasted chicken you can find at any random chicken rice stall. Nothing stands out. Mehh.. Plus, I'm sure you'll be able to taste better ones elsewhere. ;)

Our pork & chicken platters LOL

We also ordered their Fried Dumplings. There is also nothing spectacularly good about this. So yea...

The eatery has various noodle types that you can pair with your pork platters.
We chose the Hakka Mee. Quite simple to taste and the minced meat topping is generous!

***

I would prefer not to state any directions on how to get there so as not to mislead anyone in any case, just to be safe haha. I'm pretty sure with the many various apps that will get you anywhere in no time, this place wouldn't be that hard to locate.

Just a shot of the exterior of the shop.

TIP: The eatery is packed to the brim during lunch hours, even on weekdays. So be sure to be there early (prolly about 12pm) to get seats! Too famous. What to do...

Ohh! How my tummy grumbles as I was preparing the post! Dinner time~

Sungei Lima Restaurant, Taman Berkeley

Tonight I'mma write about yet another food review post.

This time, its at another of our favourite chinese restaurants in the Klang Valley - Sungei Lima Restaurant, located at Taman Berkeley in Klang.

We don't come to Klang that often, even if we do, its only for dinner at this eatery. Somehow or rather, good food is always not within the vicinity of our neighbourhood. Yet, we never minded the distance.

To cut the long story short, let me introduce you to the few dishes that we normally order.

As always, first dish up being Homemade Signature Beancurd/ Tofu.
Cooked ala minced meat, this dish is not your average minced meat tofu dish. It is served dry with beancurds topped with minced meat and little slices of mushrooms.

Verdict: The beancurd is soft and tasty. There was a hint of rice wine in the beancurds which emits a slight fragrant soothing to our tastebuds. The minced meat topping was also very well-tasting.

Next, 四大天王 (aka Heavenly Kings of Four) stir-fried belacan style.

Verdict: As compared to this dish served at Sing LeongHuat, this wins hands down. Although they do not have the common combination of long beans, lady's finger, smelly beans and eggplant (they replaced the smelly beans with kacang botol instead), the sambal belacan filled our tastebuds with satisfaction. I would say, this dish was well done :)

Lastly, this is their signature dish - Signature Fry Fish (note: it's FRY fish, not fried fish), aka "Cha Hu" in Hokkien (I think?).

This is more like a wet dish served with stir fry fish, famous amongst Hokkien langs. When I'm back up north in my hometown, we would always head out for a good dish of Cha Hu. At Sungei Lima, you may have a choice of fish that you want to serve ala signature style. This visit, we ordered Grouper Fish (aka Sek Pan Fish or Ikan Kerapu as some calls it). It was okay, but my personal preference would always be Ikan Pari (served in a mini Ikan Pari style) which has lesser fish bones. haha

Verdict: This dish is on the salty end of the spectrum, considering that we do not normally consume salt in our daily food intake. However, if you're used to dining out, I wouldn't think the saltyness would be an issue. It is tasty and does not taste spicy (in case you're worried seeing the dried chillis in the photo below). However, I would have preferred the onions to be crunchy and not limp looking.

Just a bird eye's view of the simple dishes we ordered during this visit.

***

As we were introduced to this place by Papa, I only know how to go there as per memory calls. I can't really describe the directions as we normally take the inner roads of Klang; which is troublesome but doesn't matter to us as the long distance saves us on toll charges and the drive is quite an enjoyable one. :)

The bill came up to RM56.80 for the four of us. Considerably, this is quite pricey for Klang standards, but justifiable as the Grouper fish dish is the reason for such a price. Normally, when we order Ikan Pari, the cost will be slightly cheaper, in the range of RM25 as compared to today's price for the Grouper fish dish costing about RM30.

Also, they do charge RM2 for usage of water, if you do bring along your own tea leaves.

We've been coming back to this place, again and again; hence the question of whether we would be back for more is definitely not applicable. ;) Once again, with its reasonable pricing and portion, this place is definitely worth a try!

p.s I'm gonna start a post Label with "Chinese Food". LOL

Shiang Hee Seafood Restaurant, Bandar Manjalara

The past few weeks at work have been crazily taxing. Having to head back to the office, even when the whole of Malaysia was rejoicing being stuck in the terrible balik-kampung jam amidst the Raya holidays... That's how sad my life was. Raya this year was indeed untimely; think about it from my Malay colleagues' perspective. That being said, they had their fair share of fun though. So it was just us slogging away at work. LOL

This weekend, we decided to feast! And as much as I mentioned "feast", it means non other than taking a drive to the end of LDP, headed to Kepong; or specifically, Bandar Manjalara.

Believe it or not, the eatery and ourselves, we grew up together. It was somewhat my childhood restaurant lol. Even the kids helping out at the eatery, we watched their mum getting preggers with them, and then now, them all grown up being able to help around the eatery, taking customers' order and serving us all the same.

We stopped going to the place for a while. But eventually, we found our way back there albeit the ridiculous distance.

They say, good things come to those who wait. And the distance, is definitely worth it. ;)

After such a lengthy introduction/ background, the restaurant that I'm talking about is none other than Shiang Hee Seafood Restaurant.

The name itself suggests for patrons to order a feast of seafood eh? But surprisingly, our visits have never focused solely on seafood. Instead, we prefer rather normal dishes, I'd say. The main reason being, I've always been a firm believer that seafood restaurants that serve the best seafood, should be the ones located nearby main water sources. :)

I better get going with the dishes we ordered during our last visit there... :D


First dish! Homemade tofu with minced meat sauce.
(Erm, I think its such coincidence that tofu always seems to be the first dish served LOL)

Verdict: The tofu was soft yet sweet in a natural way. However, comparatively to the tofu dish we had at Sing LeongHuat, this dish at Shiang Hee is on the loosing end.

BUT, this eatery's Homemade Signature tofu is the bomb! Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures on that. That tofu dish is served with crispy fried beancurd topped with mushroom sauce. Trust me, the beancurd has the crisp albeit being served wet style. Ahhhhh~

Next up, my all-time favourite Stir Fry "Choi Dam" (清炒菜膽).
This is quite a common dish to many. There isn't anything special worth noting but it definitely adds color to my meal!

We also had Thai Style Fried Fish.
This dish was fairly well done. There was sweetness to its meat, surprisingly the freshness was contained although it was deep fried. We felt that the sauce topping was a lil lacking, but taste wise, it was good enough to our liking.

Lastly, our FAVOURITEST dish of all time..

Trust me when I said that this eatery is the place who "introduced" Deer Meat to us.

It is a MUST-ORDER for us every single time we patron the eatery. The dish to be exact, is called Black Pepper Deer Meat.

The deer meat isn't at all tough, but rather, tender and juicy. A point to note also is that the black pepper sauce is rightly pepper-ish to perfection.

***

All in all, we always leave the eatery with a happy belly.
The bill for the 4 of us came up to RM49. As a habit, we brought our own tea and the eatery charges RM1.20 for water.

If you were to patron this eatery, its advisable to be there for an early dinner, prolly about 6pm would be best. Being early guarantees you satisfactory service and also reasonably big portions.

There were occasions that we patroned the eatery at about 7pm, it was packed and the servings were rather small for some dishes. So, to avoid disappointment, there's no harm in having an early dinner ;)

I can't really describe the directions on how to get to the eatery because I grew up patroning the eatery w/o knowing the exact address of eatery, so you can prolly google up the directions with the address as follows:
46, Jalan 8/62A
Bandar Manjalara, Kepong

Or you can always call to reserve a table or two if you'll be heading there in big groups;
Tel: 019 326 8782 / 019 216 3684



p.s.: the eatery is not air-conditioned.

Restoran Sing LeongHuat, USJ 8

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well; if one has not dined well." - Virginia Woolf

Food makes me Malaysian-ly happy. Even a simple meal as such.
Today I'm gonna be doing my first food review on this tiny lil space of mine on cyberspace. Hah!

On a random Friday evening, we decided to dine out. A random decision made to dine at a new restaurant which we spotted a crowd few nights ago - Restoran Sing LeongHuat located at the industrial area in USJ 8.

We ordered 4 dishes for the 4 of us.
First up, homemade signature tofu.

Verdict: The beancurds are very smooth in texture and the sauce was tasty enough to our liking. Overall, thumbs up on this dish! (:

(Unfortunately, our delicious meal ended here. Read on to find out.)

Next up, 四大天王 (aka Heavenly Kings of Four) mainly consisting a combination of long beans, lady's finger, smelly beans (aka petai!), and eggplant.

However, this dish had the combination of the above with the exclusion of petai. Mehh, being a petai-lover, this dish was a big turn off as they substituted the petai with bitter gourd.

Well, I do not have anything against bitter gourd, but this combination was totally off. When we checked with the lady who took our order on the weird combination, she just shrugged and said, that's how the combination is.

Verdict: The supposedly fragrant sambal belacan to stirfry the dish was missing. Not to mention, it was oily and tasted bland. Thumbs down. Nuff said.

Finally, a must-order! Fish, for us.

We have a strong liking for steamed fish coated with ginger paste, and yes, we do have our favourite eatery for that. But being at a new place, we found it hard to kick the habit of wanting to try their version of this dish.

Verdict: The ginger paste topping was not-at-all gingerly spicy; mainly because I think they're trying to cater to most people's taste of (perhaps) not wanting it to be overly gingerly spicy. Or... maybe this dish just isn't their forte. Heh. Yes, we prefer it to be gingerly enough to sweat the fats out of us. LOL Otherwise, what kick would it give??

Also, the fish itself was a major disappointment. The fish was tender YET has no sweetness to it. We think it could be due to the fact that it was overcooked. Couldn't taste or decide on the freshness of the fish. Meh.

The evening crowd.

We also did order a dish of Fu Yong Omelette. It was pretty standard. Overlooked that photo but doesn't matter because it was edible and nothing worth noting.

Directions to get to the place:

Its not that difficult to find the place if you know where is Margaret Yong Tau Foo at USJ 8. As you see MYTF on your right, keep driving straight after the traffic light. You will see Sensata Technologies on your left immediately after that traffic light. Keep driving on, then you'll see a row of shophouses on your left. The eatery is located at the far end of the row. This is the only place litted up in the evening/ at night so its pretty noticeable.


Would I make a second visit? No.
Eateries in this industrial area are mainly catered for factory workers. The bill came up to RM59.20 for the 4 of us (note: we brought our own tea and they do charge RM2 for water). Reasonable for Subang's standard, I'd say.

That's all for tonight. Stay tuned for more upcoming yummy posts! ;)
Definitely in the mood to do food reviews. YUMMS!