SUMO

Right smack in the middle of the USJ 9 commercial centre (across the road from USJ Taipan) you will find many restaurants. But one certainly stands out – because of its unique name, and that was how I ended up here.

As you approach this place, you are welcomed by red lanterns hanging in a neat row. As you open the door and walk in you will notice pictures of geishas adorning one side of the wall and lots of pictures of Sumo wrestlers fill the other wall.

This restaurant is run by a husband and wife team – Paul & Joanne. There aren’t many tables here, but there is a private room –be sure to call up if you want to be guaranteed the private room.

With a name like Sumo, I could only imagined that the servings will be large, if not huge! So let’s find out............

There were only 2 of us and we flipped through the menu a couple of times. I must say they have rather unique food that are often not found elsewhere.

This is what we walloped:-

Fresh orange juice (RM5) – very good. I liked the fact that it wasn’t diluted…truly thirst quenching.

Our initial order was the special sashimi bento which came with miso soup, a tiny bowl of rice which was half filled and chawan mushi (which by the way only arrived much later compared to the other components of the bento). This cost RM33. The sashimi was very fresh and we loved it.

Chawan mushi 'missing'

Finally it's here

We also had the ostrich bento set (RM19). Found the meat to be slightly tough. As both the bentos were absolutely tiny in terms of serving, we decided to order more food. No sumo portions…sigh!

These are California temaki & crispy temaki (RM7.50). I liked the temaki (hand roll) as they were filled with lots of fish roe.

The garlic fried rice (RM7.90) is served with some salad. I’ll go as far to say that I’ve had far better yakimeshi at some other Japanese fast food chain!

For RM4.50 we had 8 tiny pieces of kanikama maki. Nothing special…just ok.

These are ebiko (RM5 for 2 pieces)  and kanikama (crab stick –RM3.50 for 2 pieces) –once again, just ordinary.

Since many Japanese outlets did not serve this we gave it a try – Baigai Ajitsuki – snails… succulent and fresh. Worked out to be RM2 each.

After this we wanted to order dessert to complete the meal but were told they only served ice-cream…since I was having a cold, we made up our minds to just settle the bill.

Frankly I think service could have been better as I needed to keep signalling to the waiter to refill my green tea.

Address : 48 Jalan USJ 9/5P,
47620 Subang Jaya
Tel : +603-8023 1163
Mastercard & Visa accepted

Restoran Kar Heong SS14 Subang

I’ve always been told that to identify a good restaurant all you need to do is to follow the crowd –meaning that you take a look at the number of customers eating in the restaurant, and if there are plenty of customers, that would NORMALLY mean that the food that is alright. And that was how I ended up at Kar Heong in SS14 Subang Jaya.

Without the slightest idea of what I was in for, I parked my car a few lots away and walked in. As I walked in I saw roasted pork, char siew and chicken –oh, a chicken rice shop in a row of shops that has countless number of bak kut teh shops!

One plus point of Kar Heong is that it has air conditioning , and this makes it a pleasant place to dine in as the day was rather hot.

Half a kampong chicken is priced at RM26. The smooth texture of the chicken skin was to die for. I really loved the taste of this chicken when eaten with oil rice (RM1.20 a bowl) . To enhance the taste of the chicken I just had to put lashings after lashings of their specially made chilli sauce.

This is hor fan with prawn wanton (RM6.50)– the broth was delicious and you can easily tell that lots of chicken bones have been put in to make this broth what it was.

Roasted pork and char siew  (RM13) – with a tinge of sweetness and saltiness and a combination of fat and lean meat, this dish was alright.

Pork balls in broth (RM8) – 10 pork balls in a nutritious broth –well, that says it all.

Ipoh bean sprouts (RM4) – short, thick and crunchy.

The one thing that confuses me here at Kar Heong is their staff – at times I was just tongue tied as I did not know what language to use to communicate with them – er….English can? Bahasa? Mandarin? Cantonese? ……..err…let me figure that out!

Address : No 60, Jalan SS14/2, Subang Jaya,

GPS Coordinate : N3 04.365 E101 35.408

Tel No : 012-605 6696  , 012-693 5355, 016-211 4482

Opening hours : 9am to 9pm

Only cash is accepted

Korean Street Food

Here is a compilation of photos of what I called street food taken as I walked along the streets of Korea:-

I never found out what the top left hand food is. I did enquire but the seller and I did not share a common language...so too bad!

The lady in the top right hand corner is selling a fish-shaped delicacy. It is filled with red beans and eaten whilst still hot - very yummy!

The bottom right hand corner shows a very famous fruit shop - when translated it should be 'Fat Aunty Fruit Shop'. It is very rare to find overweight or oversized people in Korea. Hence, many tourist come here to see the owner who is a very fat lady who speaks many languages including Mandarin.

The strawberries were bought from Fat Aunty and they cost the equivalent of RM45- quite expensive but they are really juicy and are not normal strawberries. These are huge ones called ginseng strawberries.

I love the food shown in the top right hand corner (the ones on the chopsticks). It is sausages coated in rice and deep fried. Price : 2,000 won each (about RM6)

I was attracted to the lady and man in the pictures above because of their attire. I did buy some food from them. What the lady sells tasted a bit like our rice biscuit....but I'll choose rice biscuit anytime over what I tried that day ..hahaha!

More Korean food - ginseng chicken & mushroom hot pot

A trip to Korea without savouring this unique dish of ginseng chicken is definitely a no-no. A beautiful restaurant located not too far away from Paju Premium Outlet was our choice.

I am given an entire spring chicken and some mee suah with a tiny cup of wine. I was 'taught' how to enjoy this dish. First of all pour the wine into the chicken soup. Then cook some mee suah.... my question was "where's the rice?".

Tiny cup of wine

Mee suah

Here it was  - inside the chicken. As you tear the tender chicken with your chopsticks, you will find rice and ginseng hidden inside the chicken! What a unique and appetising meal.

Orientin Thai & Chinese Breakfast buffet, Korea

Orientin Thai and Chinese Restaurant was introduced to me by my Korean friend. I went there one fine morning for breakfast - buffet breakfast to be precise. The spread was absolutely impressive. I didn't take many pictures there but all I can say is that from the minute you step in, you will be surprised.

Well, what I saw that day was eggs, fried noodles, fried vegetables, rice, porridge, sea weed, peanuts, baked beans, fried fish (yeah, fish for breakfast - how healthy!) and the ever famous man tou. All tasted great - my only complaint was the fish - it had many...and I mean MANY tiny bones. Oh yeah, and did I say that they served bread too - lots of bread - take your pick and have it toasted.

One distinct feature about buffets in Korea is that you will have to send your plates and cutlery to a designated place for them to wash....not like our Malaysian style where you eat and the staff will come and put away your used plates & cutlery. Be mindful that is is totally unacceptable in Korea to leave your table without putting away the plates.

Kamsahamnida!

Jen Beijing Chinese Restaurant, Seoul

After a few consecutive Korean meals I decided it was time to try out their chinese food. I went to Jen Beijing...and what I discovered was the obvious differences between Korean Chinese food & Korean Korean food were:-

(1) Korean Chinese restaurants have round tables which sit 8 to a table whereas Korean restaurants only have square tables which sit 4 to a table

(2) the cooking style does not differ much, in fact they taste alsmot the same. What tells you that you are indeed having a Chinese meal is the absence of kim chi and side dishes.

Extra spicy tofu

Seaweed soup

Steamed fish

Fried cabbage

Looks and tastes exactly the same as Korean style pork

Seafood Shabu-Shabu @ Jeju Island & Jeju BBQ

When in Jeju eat like the Jeju-ans do! This time around I had Jeju Seafood Shabu Shabu - well, we had to sit on the floor to eat this...and I made the mistake of saying 'Oh, Japanese style'.....and from then onwards I discovered how utterly unpopular the Japanese are among Koreans. History has it that the Japanese occupied Korea for over 30 years...and until today the Koreans have not forgotten this! Enough said!

Seafood Shabu Shabu can be said to be steamboat with lots of mussels, crabs and prawns -all this eaten with rice and also ramen along with side dishes - kimchi, pickled shallots, seaweed and bean sprouts.

Simply called Jeju BBQ this is a very mouth watering dish. Pork is cooked on a hot plate and eaten with rice and side dishes. A bowl of seaweed soup is also served along with some greens.

Abalone Porridge for Breakfast – Jeju Island

Jeju is famous for its lady divers who seek a living for themselves by diving for octopus, abalone and sea cucumbers. I was told that most of them are over 70 years old and may therefore be extinct someday. They lead  very ‘risky’ lives as they dive without the aid of  any breathing apparatus.   You may wonder why they do it, especially in such a male-dominated economy such as Korea. Well, the answer is because of circumstances i.e out of necessity. Most of them are the sole bread winner as their husbands died at sea whilst they were still young. So, in order to bring up their children, this was what they did….and they continue to do so until a very old age.

Hence, my meal of abalone porridge -  eaten with side dishes at this restaurant.

 Well, if you expect to see an entire abalone in your bowl of porridge (just like what I initially did) then sorry…..the abalone has been chopped into tiny pieces..so tiny and fine that it is no longer visible to the naked eye…anyway, I was told that all parts of the abalone is used in making this porridge i.e even all the internal organs are used and not thrown. After such a nutritious meal for breakfast I feel totally energetic.

Side dishes - this time with a fried egg!

A 'Fishy'Dinner in Jeju

I arrived on Jeju Island late in the evening as my flight was delayed. ...it was freezing cold (below zero degrees celcius) and the wind was indeed howling.....at that moment  all I could think of was piping hot food. Thus I ended up having this:-

It may look spicy at first glance, but rest assured, it isn't. In fact I saw lots of children enjoying this fish meal too. And..like all many other Korean meals this is eaten with rice and side dishes.

Bimbimbap & Pork Hot Pot - Seoul

You can buy souvenirs from this stall in front of the restaurant - very reasonably priced

It’s 12 noon and I am extremely hungry. After nearly seven hours in the plane from KL and a good walk around Seoul I deciced to eat. I arrived at this restaurant and ordered bimbimbap. Well, it’s just a simple meal of mixed rice. This is what the rice looked like before I mixed them together. (the so called ‘BEFORE’ picture.

And here’s the ‘AFTER’ picture.

I also had the pork in  hot pot. Korean style food are more towards ‘cook it yourself’ and so they just gave us raw pork and we had to cook it ourselves…nothing to complain about as it actually helped to warm us up in this cold weather.

Side dishes - seaweed, kimchi and bean sprouts