Lima Pulo

I recently discovered this place called Lima Pulo located in the Asian Heritage Row. The friendly baba sits in front of his shop, greeting every customer who walks in. A look through the simple menu shows a choice of 10 main dishes.

I chose the Nyonya laksa which is only available on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. I must say the laksa tasted perfect - even my nyonya grandma would give this an A+.

Address : 26 Jalan Doraisamy
53000 KL
Tel: +603 2698 3268

Restoran Bibiwok

At times I walk into restaurants without any expectations and today was another one of those days  - I walked into Bibiwok – the signage says they serve Nyonya and Thai cuisine. The ambience was pleasing –with warm lights and a clean environment, I must say I instantaneously felt at home.

The menu wasn’t that extensive but was sufficient for me to order some decent food. 

This is sambal petai with prawns (RM22) -  the huge prawns , fresh and succulent, was simply marvellous. The spicy sambal brought out the best in the slightly crunchy petai  and prawns.

Chicken pongteh (RM17) – this is my must order dish at any Nyonya eatery and I found the version at Bibiwok pretty alright.

Choy hiong tofu (RM12) – don’t be deceived by the colour of this dish –although we had thought this dish was something spicy, it turned out to be nothing near spicy, but its unique taste was what kept all of us digging into this dish.

For dessert we had cendol gula Melaka (RM4.90) and thai ruby with jackfruit (RM5.90)

Address : 26 Jalan Pekedai U1/36

Hicom Glenmarie

Section U1

40150 Shah Alam

Tel : +603 5567 8229

Credit cards accepted

Malaqa Nyonya House, SS15 Subang

We were craving for good, authentic Nyonya food once again last evening after our nice meal nyonya meal in Melaka. So, we decided to take a slow drive around SS15 in search of one. We saw this place called Malaqa and decided to give it a try.

I love how this place has been done up to give me that real Nyonya feel as I walked in….

We ordered warm water (50 sen each) and a strawberry smoothie (RM9.50) and an apple juice (RM4.50). The apple juice wasn’t freshly squeezed juice and was way too sweet for me.

This is chicken ponteh – 4 pieces of chicken for RM12.50. It was not bad, but definitely did not match the ones my Nyonya grandma used to make.

This is lemak pineapple prawn (RM14.50) – with the right amount of coconut milk and spices, this was indeed awesome.

Steam ladies fingers (RM7.50) – perfectly steamed to maintain the crispiness of the okra yet not over steaming them, this was a great dish..and  I’ll say the sambal was slightly better than grandma’s!!

Golden pillow (RM6) – we did not have any idea what this was…and when it came, I did not touch this at all. This had durian paste fillings and I am NOT a durian fan. I must say that it would be good if the waiter had told us what the ‘pillows’ contained when we placed our order.

Address : 84G, Jalan SS15/4

Subang Jaya

Tel : +603 5612 3618

Opening hours: 10am to 11pm

Website : www.tachihouse.com.my

Mastercard & Visa accepted

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

Simply Nyonya Café, USJ 10

On both sides of the walls are pictures of various places of interest in Malacca such as the A Famosa and  the Stadthuys. As I walked in it gave me the impression that I had travelled all the way to Malacca. Music was playing in the background….and as I listen closely, I couldn’t resist myself from joining in the singing…they were playing lots of songs from yester-years.

We ordered our food and whilst waiting for food to arrive we tried out some nyonya kuih which were on sale. I was told that all kuih are made by the owner and as such are fresh. I tried the kuih talam and sago (RM2) as well as the yam cake (RM3.80). All were so yummy that we ordered some to be brought home for supper.

This is longan drink (RM5) which tasted alright.

The one drink on the menu that caught my attention was this drink called ayer longkang literally translated by yours truly as drain water! It costs RM4.50. It was tangy and had some black jelly in it as well as an asam boi. I don’t know what the main ingredient is but my guess is umbra.

Chicken pongteh (RM15) – this is the nyonya version of chicken and potato stew, a dish which I never fail to order in a Nyonya joint. Chicken is cooked with fermented soy bean sauce and gula Melaka. I love this dish as it always gives me a homey feeling.

Otak-otak (RM13) – this version is not spicy….well, suffice to say that I prefer the extra spicy version!

Sambal petai udang (RM20) – great dish. It was definitely spicy enough for me. The prawns were fresh and this was indeed a dish I enjoyed.

Chicken ball soup (RM13) – nothing spectacular,it was alright.

Kacang botol (RM13) – with sufficient chillies this was another dish that we savoured with great enthusiasm.

This is called Little Japs (RM15) which was a non spicy Japanese tofu dish. The gravy was delicious and the kids loved it.

Taugeh with salted fish (RM15) – I’ve never been a fan of salted fish, so I gave this dish a miss. But the people who tasted this loved it so much that they still talked about it on the drive home.

And if you are wondering whether we'll be back, the answer is a resounding YES. I simply adore the ambience and the food there. What I miss now, as I write is of course the kuih.

Address : 38 Jalan USJ 10/1B

47620 Subang Jaya

GPS Coordinates : N 03° 2.965'  E 101° 35.082

Opening hours : 11am to 10pm

Tel : +603 8011 3509

Mastercard & Visa accepted for a minimum transaction  of RM50

 

Restoran Sri Melaka, Amcorp Mall

It has been a while since I last set foot on Amcorp Mall soil…or should I say tiles ..hahaha. I was there today, got an invite from a 9 year old to makan there.

 

We ordered drinks – orange juice and lychee drink. The orange juice was quite a disappointment as it was rather diluted. The cold lychee drink was a great thirst quencher.

 

This is what I had – Set meal of beef rendang rice which came along with a glass of cincau (black jelly) and some cut fruits. The beef was cut into tiny cubes and was rather tough – over-cooked in fact. The cincau drink was  excellent.

 

This is yee mee noodles with prawns – fresh, succulent prawns paired with crunchy yee mee – truly delicious!

 

 

Nyonya fried rice – if you expect spicy fried rice, then this is not what you should order.

 

 

Cantonese style kuay teow and yee mee  - paled in terms of taste – in comparison with the yee mee prawn noodles.

 

 

 Address: 1^st Floor Amcorp Mall

Petaling Jaya

Tel : 7956 1388

Mastercard & Visa accepted