Restoran HLK, Taman Danau Desa

This is what my son calls a restaurant without door i.e the main door is always wide opened, welcoming patrons anytime of the day.

We ordered four dishes to go with rice:-

This dish of stir fried broccoli appears innocuously simple and uninteresting , but trust me, it was crunchily yummy.

This is sweet sour pork with cucumber, onion and chillies. The sweet-sour combo never fail to appeal to my taste bud…and had me ordering an extra bowl of rice!

Stir fried fish  with ginger and spring  onion – this was a fantastic dish as the fish fillet were just what I call flavour bombs!

Hot plate tofu – the silky smooth tofu was a stark contrast with the chucky meat and these were topped with a lovely gravy.

Address : 5-0-11 Jalan 3/109F

Danau Business Centre

Taman Danau Desa

58100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +6016 691 8893

Cash only

Restoran Fatty Chong, Taman Sri Sentosa

Occupying  a corner lot, just across the road from Checkers is this air-conditioned restaurant that I’ve driven past numerous times whenever I do my grocery shopping at Checkers. Today, I decided to have dinner there with some friends.

The ten of us arrived at different intervals as some were lucky to find a parking spot at the front of the restaurant while those who arrived slightly later had to walk further.

The meal commences with what we Malaysians call ABC soup – boiled to perfection with onions, potatoes and carrots, this soup was definitely a good start to our dinner. And the best part was that it was complimentary.

This is butter prawns. I’ll say that it is probably the best butter prawn I’ve had in a while. Just look at the fineness of the butter with coconut milk strips – one look and I knew I had fallen in love with this super fragrant dish!

Steam fish –this was a simple dish which was very palatable as the freshness of the fish made it simply awesome.

Another 2 dishes ordered for those who could not take spicy food – stir fried san choy with garlic & stir fried baby French beans. I must say that based on what I tasted thus far, the chef must be superb.

Kam heong lala – lala cooked with dried chillies – again the lalas were fresh and the spiciness of the chillies was just right, not overpowering.

All in all I would say that Fatty Chong is a restaurant that I wouldn’t mind dining at every week…the food here is good, the ingredients are fresh and the prices are reasonable.

Address :41, Jalan Seri Sentosa 11,

Taman Sri Sentosa,

Jalan Klang Lama, 58000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +603 7781 1743

Mastercard & Visa accepted

Tom’s Dim Sum, Taman Desa

This is an air-conditioned eatery with its doors open. I like the articles and pictures that adorn the walls of the restaurant.

Honey lemon (RM3.50) – this drink truly brought out the sweetness of honey and the sourish taste of lemon – a perfect combination.

We ordered steam pork ribs (RM4.90) – with some black beans and some albeit not too much fat, the ribs were tasty and delicious.

Steam fish ball (RM4.90) – served with some dried beancurd, I found the pairing a little off. Well, I’ll say that there’s nothing spectacular about the fishball either.

Prawn rice roll a.k.a chee cheong fun (RM5) – with its smooth and silky texture this was awesome.

We also tried some other dishes – the claypot tofu was fantastic – smooth tofu with prawns which remained warm and satisfying throughout  the entire meal. I didn’t quite like the butter prawns here as they are spicy-somehow I felt that the combination of butter and chillies just wasn’t right!

Address : 11 Jalan 5/109F

Taman Danau Desa

Mastercard and Visa are accepted.

Seoul Korea Restaurant, Old Klang Road

I have always loved Korean food and when I was told about Seoul Korea Restaurant  and just how great their food was I could not contain my excitement. I picked up the phone immediately and made a reservation. I was told that the huge crowd on weekends is testimony of the quality of food served here. In fact I brought along some people who are regulars at this place and told me that they had and are willing to queue for over an hour just to get a table – well, I for one, will never do that!

To find this restaurant simply look out for a mamak restaurant called Jalal Yusof. It’s located right above. Well, if that isn’t a good enough indication, then look out for Shell in Taman Desa. Seoul Korea is located nearby i.e. opposite the Danau Idaman condo…that should do!

I walked in at 12 noon as per my reservation and was ushered into the private room which had 2 tables. As there were 8 of us, we ordered a few dishes to be shared.

Before it was 'mixed'

After it was 'mixed'

This is the dol-sot bibimbab (RM17)…that’s almost like our version of mixed rice. Not too bad, I would say. I love the gochujang sauce – i.e the hot pepper paste. This made the rice far more delicious!

The photo above shows kimchi ji qae (RM16). I was made to understand that this is a sort of stew…tasted and looked more like soup to me. For a first timer I would say it tasted a bit like assam soup….haha!  It is mildly spicy and will really make you eat lots of rice. Speaking of rice…I must warn you that rice here costs a whopping RM5 per bowl. I personally think that it is over-priced!

The banchan here looks and taste really good. Banchan refers to the side dishes and like most Korean restaurant, most of the side dishes here are refillable at no additional charges.

We also had kori gom tang (RM25) –ox tail soup. I found this very mild compared to our Malaysian soup ekor. It had huge chunks of ox tail in it.

The dae ji gal bi  (spicy Korean pork ribs) RM 25 and dae ji bulgogi (Korean pork) and also the  beef bul ga bi (RM59) are all cooked barbequed-style. Frankly I prefer it the authentic Korean style where the meat is brought to you in a big basin and you cook it yourself. Here, the waiter does all the cooking and he then serves it. I would say that I have very high standards as far as Korean BBQ is concerned and the ones I had at Seoul Korea that day did not impress me. The meat was tough and the sauce was not up to mark…well, perhaps the meat was not well marinated.

I may be back again someday, but in the meantime I will continue looking for authentic Korean food served the authentic Koren style, just like the ones I had in Korea.

Address : No. 1-1 (1st), Plaza Danau 2,
Jalan 4/109F, Taman Danau Desa,
58100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel : 03 7982 4607

Opening hours :	Mondays –closed, but when a public holiday falls on Monday, then they are open
Tues- Sun:	12:00 pm - 2:00 pm, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Master and Visa accepted

Restoran 7 Padi Emas

Grocery shopping is often tiring and the best way to end such an ‘outing’ would be none other than to do what most people say is Malaysians favourite past time – makan (eat)!

I found this place called Restoran 7 Padi Emas in NSK. It was about noon and there were still packets of pre-packed nasi lemak available. I tried one – they charge RM2 per packet, although the price on the nasi lemak packaging clearly says RM1.60. Anyway, the nasi lemak was alright. The sambal was packed in a tiny plastic bag – I guess this is a good way to sell nasi lemak as you get to decide how spicy you would like your nasi lemak to be. I, of course, emptied the entire plastic bag of sambal onto the rice.

On to my ‘main’ dish as the nasi lemak was only the appetiser – rice with some okra and a piece of chicken thigh. Sadly, the chicken wasn’t cooked and I had to ask the waiter to bring it back to the kitchen. For the record, my original intention was to order ala carte food from their menu, but was told that the cook/chef had not reported for work for the day yet. Sigh!

These sausages were acceptable and so was my drink.

Address :  Basement 2 Pusat Perdagangan Kuchai

No 2 Jalan 1/127

Off Jalan Kuchai Lama

58200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +6012 6706315 (Siti) /+6 016 610 3052 (Kamal)

East Court Restaurant, OUG -revisited

I came here some time back and have been longing to come back ever since. This time around, I ordered chicken with Chinese dodder (yes, again) as I just couldn’t have enough of it. The price remains the same (RM40) as per my last visit.

This is stir kai lan  -which to me was a let down as the kai lan was old and tough. It is very rare for us not to finish up vegetable ordered, but we could not even chew the vegetables, so we decided to let them go to waste!

Eggs with cekur manis. I found this vegetable too dry for my liking.

Braised fish tail  -taiwanese style, in a claypot with yam and mushrooms. This is normally cooked with fish head but we opted for fish tail as some of us do not like fish head. On hind sight I would say that it was a big mistake as the fish tail was huge and tough. Perhaps the head would have been more palatable.

Well, perhaps my expectation this time was too high and that was probably why I left this place feeling slightly disappointed.

Address : 26 Jalan Hujan Rahmat 3

Taman OUG

58200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +6 017 376 4988, +6016 2485433

Opening hours: 11am to 3pm, 6pm to 9pm

Only cash is accepted.

Rue Ee Restaurant, OUG

Every Thursday evening there is a pasar malam (night market) in this area of OUG which makes parking and of course driving a hassle too. I’ve always avoided this area on Thursdays evening at all costs…… until I discovered Ru Ee Restaurant, which is located just opposite a huge parking area (free too!).

As I walked towards Ru Ee after obtaining a parking spot without any hassle, the door opened and I was greeted by an elderly lady with a huge smile. ‘Welcome’ she said. Wow! I really felt welcome. She then led us to a table which had a great view of a mini aquarium with 4 tiny fishes swimming around.

The tiny aquarium

I asked the lady to recommend some dishes. She said “Try our vegetables, they are all organically grown”. Good, we’ll take that –and our choice was stir fried watercress (RM12). Young and tender water cress fried with sufficient wok hei always makes me give the thumbs up.

 Initially we wanted to order an entire fish, but the lady told us that an entire fish feeds 10 pax. They do have a huge selection of fish ranging from garoupa to the more expensive soon hock .We finally settled for this -fish slices stir fried with pumpkin (RM28). The sweetness of the pumpkin is absorbed by the fish, thus making this dish very unique and tasty. The pumpkin, however, does not lack in taste and retains its sweetness and softness. What surprised me was that the pumpkin was not soggy or mussy even after they have been stir fried.

This is tong poh yok (pork) with mini buns (RM23). The combination of fat and lean pork makes this dish so yummy as the fat just melts in the mouth like butter, without any effort at chewing. This proves that the pork has been pain-stakingly braised for long.  I must say this is indeed the BEST version of tong poh yoke (東坡肉)  I’ve ever eaten.

I shall certainly be back again. But next time, I'll get more friends to come along.

Address : 43-45, Jalan Hujan

Taman Overseas Union

58200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +60 3-7770 3770

Mastercard & Visa accepted

Opens for lunch & dinner

Dragon Hut, Taman Desa

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Wow! I’m FINALLY back at Dragon Hut. Yes, I did say FINALLY because the last time I came here was 10 years ago. I remember that it was then my aunt’s big birthday bash! Frankly, the roads leading to Dragon Hut have not been properly maintained and I initially had the funny feeling that the place might already been closed after a decade. But, no, tour buses line the road from the Desa Waterpark all the way leading to Dragon Hut, and that was a good indication that the place was very much alive!

The view from Dragon Hut, overlooking a pond was stunning and refreshing.  I felt a sense of calm and serenity as I looked at the view before me.

Cod fish (RM68) – steamed with ginger and garlic, this dish can never go wrong. Love it!

 

This is a special seafood dish requested by yours truly –I like the way the dish was presented and the neat arrangement of the different types of ingredients used to make up this delectable dish – sea cucumber, mushrooms , broccoli and tofu….which did, by the way come at a premium – RM140!

 

This is simply stir fried kai lan with garlic (RM18)

 

 

Our last dish was a surprise, at least to me, in terms of pricing. The marmite ribs were rich and delicious…and they only cost RM18.

 

Address: Lot 9291, 4107, 16010 & 5735
Taman Danau Desa
Jalan Klang Lama
Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +603 71182626

Mastercard & Visa accepted

 

 

 

Restoran LFF Seafood, OUG

Looking for LFF Seafood is a breeze as it is located exactly opposite the Shell station in OUG.The signboard outside says LFF Seafood, but the one inside says LFF Bak Kut Teh. I heard the guy at the next table asking for bak kut the, but was told that they do not serve any.

 

We ordered 3 simple dishes as our feasting had so far been overdone!

This is half a chicken  (RM26) -  steamed and served with a ring of leafy green vegetables around it. Had we known that this would have been the presentation we would not have ordered the second dish. The kampong chicken was well cooked and surprisingly tender. When dipped into the sauce given, the taste was simply marvellous.

 

 

This is our second dish – choy sum (RM10) – I didn’t like this dish as the vegetables were ‘old’ by  my standards.

 

Steamed crab (RM60)  – a very simple dish of extremely fleshy crabs steamed to perfection with ginger.

 

Well,  if good food and not ambience  is what you are after, then I would highly recommend LFF.  But for those who want the upmarket dining experience, then this place is definitely a no-no as it is located within a hawker centre.

 

Address : 8 Pusat Penjaja

Jalan Awan Hijau

Taman OUG

58200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : +6013 3885213 / +6012 266 8191

Opens for dinner.

Cash terms only