Banya Restaurant, Melaka

 We chanced upon Banya as we wanted an early dinner before heading back to KL for the night. It was just after 5.30pm and many shops were either not opened yet for dinner or simply empty. However, looking for a place to park seemed like a challenge. As we found a parking spot close to Banya, we decided to look no further.

The plain yet traditional signboard and red lanterns hanging outside were pull factors as well.  We could see that the staff were quite free as they were playing games on their mobile phones.

We chose our table and made up our minds to eat nyonya specialties.:-

This is omelette fried with cincalok  which is fermented shrimp (RM10.50)  -  one look and you may be deceived into believing that the simple looking dish would be quite plain and unitneresting…..but..the truth is just the opposite.  Cincalok gives the omelette a pungent taste and it is indeed a dish that’s will sweep you off your feet.

This is my must have dish whenever I dine in a nyonya restaurant – steamed okra with sambal (RM12.60) . Well, there’s really no ‘art’ or special skill required to steam the okra…..the success to this dish merely lies in the sambal. For the record, the sambal at Banya was heavenly.

Next up was chicken pongteh (RM16.80) – we ordered a small portion as there was only 2 of us. Well,  this is best described as a nyonya  style stewed chicken.  Pongteh  never fails to give me a sense of warmth and comfort and that was how I felt at Banya.

This was the last dish we ordered (RM9.50) – a simple tofu dish that honestly did fade in my memory.

Address : 154 Jalan Merdeka,

Taman Melaka Raya

Melaka

Tel : +606 282 8297

Mastercard & Visa accepted

Famosa Chicken Rice Ball, Melaka

I’ve made a promise to my son to take him to savour what we call the ORIGINAL chicken rice ball in Melaka as he did not want to have them in KL. He claims that the KL ones are not authentic. Hence, our journey to Melaka begin early this morning. All along the highway I was thinking that we’ll take a walk along the river and then have chicken rice ball for lunch.

 We arrived in Melaka just in time for breakfast. It was 9am….and the boy wanted CHICKEN RICE BALL for breakfast! Hmmm…I thought about it and gave in. After all I didn’t want a boy bugging me for what seemed like eternity before lunch time.

We found a parking spot right in front of the Tan Kim Hock shop and from there went to Famosa on foot. For the record, parking in Melaka is using the coupon system (yes, even on weekends) , so be sure to stock up on this as summons as efficiently slapped for non compliance.

The waitress gave us the menu…but the boy said “Chicken rice ball” to her without even bothering to look at the menu. He asked for 10 balls which worked out to be 30sen each. He also ordered roast chicken (RM10 for a quarter chicken) and roast pork (RM9) to accompany the rice balls…… all of which, he said was excellent. What a satisfied look there was on his face at the end of the meal!

These aren't fish balls, they are chicken rice balls!

I ordered a tofu soup (RM8) and a braised egg (RM1.50) for myself and a luo han guo drink (RM2.50). Well, the tofu soup was filled with lots of tofu, vegetables, tomatoes and it was filling.

As we were leaving a big group of tourist walked in. From the way they talked, I would safely say they were Singaporeans.

After our satiating meal, we paid and  headed for Jonker Street.

 Address :  124 Jalan Munshi Abdullah

75100 Melaka

Yik Kee, Karak

With the East Coast Highway, we no longer need to drive through Karak town in order to get to the East Coast. Today, I made a special trip there just for old times sake. My destination was none other than the famous Yik Kee restaurant. Although they have several outlets in the Klang Valley and Gohtong Jaya, nothing beats the original Karak Yik Kee.

I was happy to see that nothing much has changed in Yik Kee physically. I can find the toilets easily and th layout of the restaurant  was just as I remember it. There are 2 sections – air conditioned and non air conditioned. We chose to dine at the former as it was a rather hot afternoon.

Garlic in a covered stainless steel container

A trip to Yik Kee is never complete without their signature sang har meen – and this was the first thing we ordered. Priced at RM46, this plate of noodles was …in one word, AWESOME!!

Fish paste soup (RM12) - this soup may not look appetisingm but trust me, the freshness of the fish can be tasted in every single fish ball.

This is oiled lettuce (RM8) – slightly oily though!

This BBQ duck (RM15)  served with a tangy sauce which certainly was a good complement. It was interesting to note that despite the way the duck was served, the skin was still crisp and the meat pleasingly firm. Love it!

Address : 29 Jalan Besar

28600 Karak

Tel : +609 2311240

Italiannies

This is what I would label as an Italian restaurant, albeit one that has been very much ‘localised’. I like the concept where a long table is placed at the front of the restaurant. This is where pizza is made. In fact, I must admit that I did stand there watching the guy make pizza for at least 10 minutes before we finally decided to dine there.

Kids eat for free with every paying adult – meaning that you get a free meal for one child with every main course (adult portion, that is) ordered – definitely a good deal, I must say.

We ordered warm water –which by the way is complimentary. Bread is also served after you have placed your orders. I like the soft and fluffy white bread here.

Mushroom soup (RM9.90) –chunks of mushroom in creamy goodness – this did not disappoint!

Ham and mushroom pizza (Rm37.90) – baked til crisp and golden, even the base of the pizza was delicious. I would say this pizza is best suited for the ultimate cheese lover.

Spaghetti Bolognese – free of charge! The spaghetti was cooked to the tooth and was exceptionally good.

Angel hair pomodoro (RM24.90) – a tad too sour for my liking as the chef has been a little too generous, in my opinion that is, with the tomatoes.

Pizza Margherita – free of charge once again as this is a kiddy portion. My son said it was superb – it was warm, crispy and had lots of tomatoes & cheese – that’s his definition of a good pizza!

Address : Lot G16 Ground Floor

Paradigm Mall

Petaling Jaya

Credit cards accepted.

Silom Village Don Muang Airport

Finding good food at the airport has always been a challenge for me personally but Bangkok never fails to surprise me with good food. Silom Village located on the upper level of Don Muang is one such example.

We had ample time before our flight home as we arrived early so as to have more time to walk leisurely around the airport.

Getting a table at Silom Village in the evening wasn’t easy as the number of people at the airport was simply overwhelming. We finally got a table but whilst some of us were browsing through the menu, the others were busy looking at what other people were having so as to gauge what was good there.

From our observations these were what we ordered:-

Once again all the dishes were superb but the seafood kerabu was especially delectable. I love the taste freshly squeezed lime on fresh seafood . And if you notice the yellow flower at the side of the plate…well, that’s carved from mango…how creative!

Chocolote Ville, Bangkok

I really don’t know what to start babbling about when it comes to Chocolate Ville. I am still very excited about the place…Well, perhaps I should tell you about my journey there. From my hotel in On Nut to Chocolate Ville, it took over an hour….we went through small roads and massively jammed roads to arrive at Chocolate Ville at opening time which was 4pm. The journey back to the hotel took a mere 15 minutes because the cabbie refused to use the meter and told us that he would use the highway. Frankly, even as I am writing here, I have no complaints as I would rather pay a premium to use the highway and save an hour! Sigh….if only the first taxi driver had told me about the highway, I would have gladly used it.

The first impression I got when we arrived at Choc Ville was it was very westernised. The ambience was simply perfect and everything was certainly above par. I would advise anyone coming here to make a reservation first as the place gets pretty packed as the evening progresses. It is best to arrive at around 4pm as this place is simply picturesque and the photos taken here would simply turn out perfect. There is even a tower which you can climb to have an aerial view of the place.

After walking around for about 2 hours we headed to our pre-booked table to savour the food. Despite its very westernised ambience, English is not commonly used here and only a handful of the servers here speak English. In fact, many of the waiters and waitresses here do not even understand English, but that would not pose a problem as the menu has lots of pictures.

These are the food & drinks we ordered to share:-

I would say that all the dishes ordered were perfect but if I had to choose one dish, I would highly recommend the ribs – succulent, juicy, yummy..well, I just cant get the correct word to describe these ribs which fall right out of the bone…simply marvellous!

The damage for the meal …I would say it was reasonably priced as the quality of the food is simply outstanding.

Address: 351, Khan Na Yao, Bangkok 10230, Thailand

Tel : +66 83 077 3738

Opens at 4pm

Mastercard & Visa accepted