Shang Palace, Shangrila Hotel Kuala Lumpur

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

For a peaceful and quiet ambience whilst savouring good Chinese cuisine we discovered the ultimate place - Shang Palace on the first floor of Shangrila Hotel Kuala Lumpur. We called early to make a reservation for 10pax and requested for a private room. The entire hotel was in CNY mood. From the minute we arrived, we could feel that Chinese New Year was in the air. Pots of mandarin oranges greeted us at the hotel lobby.

View from the room

 

We ascedended the stairs to get to Shang Palace. At 1pm, business was brisk. I especially love the teacup sets which I believe are only used for this festive season. (I've been here many times, but have never been served tea in these tea cups!)

We ordered the Soft Shell Crab and Jelly fish Yee Sang which is a must have for CNY..sorry no pictures as we were too busy 'loh hei-ing' away with the super long chopsticks given  and forgot to snap any photos.For those of you who are not too familiar with this dish let me say that this is a very Malaysian dish which symbolises prosperity and abundance. What you get is a variety of shredded vegetables with some condiments and some sauce. You then toss everything there is on the plate with your  chopsticks while uttering 'good' words for prosperity for the year to come.

This is stir fried scallop and prawns with crsipy fritter (yau char kwai 油条) along with peas and waterchestnut.

Next we had the poached chicken with dried scallop and superior stock. I wonder what superior stock was when we ordered this dish. Anyway, it had some Chinese wine in it. As you can see from the photo, the chicken served was slightly fat but that did not stop me from enjoying this dish.

 

Next we had the suckling pig with some char siew…what a porky dish! I must tell you that the sauce for this dish (not in photo) was superb!

The subsequent dish (stewed sub-dried oyster with sea moss, mushroom and garden green in oyster sauce) is another popular CNY dish, served for what it symbolises.... Oyster known as ho xi (牡蠣) in Cantonese means all good things or good luck, By eating oysters it means you will have all good things coming your way for the year. Sea moss (in this photo you can easily identify it – it is black and looks like human hair) is called fatt choy (髮菜)in Cantonese. It means prosperity.

Next we had steamed cod fish with cordyceps flowers and fungus. I felt that this dish lacked the ‘green’ garnishing of  spring onion and  coriander that I love to see in steamed fish.

As usual, all Chinese meals must come with rice,so we were served steamed glutinous rice with waxed sausage and dried shrimp. I found this dish slightly bland and had to eat it with lots of chilli sauce.

Dessert time! It’s sweetened red bean puree with black sesame dunplings (the white ball in the photo below) and steamed 2 layers ninko and almond. Ninko (年糕)as the Cantonese calls it is simply a Chinese New Year pudding made up of glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, salt, water, and sugar. It’s very sweet and eating it has the symbolism of raising oneself higher in each coming year (年年高升).

If you want to go to Shang Palace, now is the time. They have special CNY sets

Opening Hours:-

Lunch : 12noon - 2.30pm (Monday – Saturday) / 10.30am - 2.30pm (Sunday and Public Holidays)
Dinner : 6.30pm - 10.30pm (daily)

Address:-

Level 1, Shangrila Hotel

11 Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250 Kuala Lumpur

Tel :+603- 2074 3904

Dress Code:-Smart Casual

Cards Accepted :Mastercard, Visa, Amex

Garden View, Bukit Tinggi

Approximately 45 kilometres from the heart of the city of Kuala Lumpur lies a quaint little village known as Kampung Bukit Tinggi. Don’t be fooled by its peace and tranquillity for in this village is a a food haven! There are lots of restaurants here and most of them serve Chinese cuisine. We begin our journey from Kuala Lumpur and arrive at Garden View Restaurant after a 45-minute drive as traffic on the Karak Highway was rather slow.

How to get here from KL:-

After the Genting tunnel (Genting Sempah), you will have to go downhill for about 1 kilometre. When you see Selesa Hillhomes on your left, turn in & immediately turn right (follow the signboard that says “BHPetrol”). You will go through a small ‘tunnel’. Turn right at the end of the road & voila! You’ve arrived.

This is the branch of the popular Foon Lock Restaurant which is located just a stone’s throw away. They also have another outlet in KL known as ‘ Canton Kitchen’ in Setapak. Parking is easy as there is a huge plot of land in front of the restaurant. There is also a small shop next to this restaurant where you can buy fresh vegetables. RM 2 for a bundle or RM5 for 3 bundles.

Garden View has a mini farm attached to it. You can take a tour of the farm for free. The scenery here is a feast for the eyes and ears. You can see (and hear) a river flowing and the place is just ….errr..full of greenery. They even rear poultry here.

The first thing I asked for was coconut. I was told that this was not the fragrant Thai coconut but was locally produced ones. At RM4 each it not only managed to quench my thirst but also left a lasting impression on me – local coconuts are better than their Thai counterparts – TRUST ME!

Since there was only 4 of us we ordered 3 dishes:-

This is the two-flavour vegetable (RM6) which is a ‘new’ vegetable – it is a combination of kai lan and choy sum. Very fresh, tasty and there was no trace or smell of chemicals in it. I love every bite of it.

This is the steam fresh river prawn (sang ha). The prawns were steamed in eggs. Although this dish tasted good and the prawns were juicy and tender to the bite, I must remind you that this dish costs RM60 (2/3 of the cost of our entire meal).

We also ordered a dish ofsweet sour chicken (RM10). This was kampong chicken which was reared in by the mini farm here and as such the meat was a little tough (as one would expect of kampong chicken). The gravy was not too sour and was indeed to my liking.

After the meal, we were each given a complimentary slice of papaya….sweet& juicy ones, mind you…what a way to end an already sumptuous meal!

Garden View Restaurant
Lot 19326 & 19327 Pesona Heights,
Kampung Bukit Tinggi, 28750 Bentong
Tel: +609 233 0282 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting Fax: +609 233 0370

 By the way Mastercard & Visa are accepted.

Igentis Restaurant, Klang Parade

I need to do some CNY shopping –clothes and shoes, please. I noticed that there is a ‘Jualan Extreme Parkson’ going on at Klang Parade so why not head there? And…what about filling our tummies before shopping as I was told that when you shop on an empty stomach you end up spending more…..hence our pit-stop at Igentis for brunch before our shopping spree. This time around, we ordered food to be shared between the 4 of us.

On every table you wll find the order form and a pen. You will need to tick what you want and the waiter will then take your order form to the kitchen..not bad...definitely no mess up in terms of order.

The first thing that caught my attention was ‘today’s special’ which was braised chicken rice. At RM 8.90 this dish was real value for money. You get a drum stick, 2 slices of pineapple, an egg cut into 2. The chicken was tender but slightly cold inside. The gravy was thick and delicious!

We also had the fried spaghetti and fish & chips – both of these are priced at RM6.90 each, being food we selected from the kid’s menu. The serving was more than generous and can actually fill an adult’s stomach! The fish was crispy and I must say did not have that unwanted ‘fishy’ smell – very good indeed! The fried spaghetti  had lots of ingredients including shrimps and fish paste.

The fish spring roll (RM6.90)  was slightly oily,otherwise I would have no complaints!

This is a special dish which I have yet to see in any other restaurants – otak-otak chicken rice (RM7.90)! It is served in a bowl and it would have been helpful it they had brought me a plate in the first place. The rice was hot and when you mix the rice+ chicken + otak-otak gravy, the result is simply out of this world...superb!

This is the homemade taufu (RM7.50), which I truly enjoyed and would highly recommend. Fresh and tasty!

Since it is near CNY, we were given a pack of 5 'ang pows' for the Dragon Year.

Igentis Restaurant

Add ress : G42 Ground Floor

Klang Parade

41050 Klang

Please note that only CASH is accepted.

Organic Vegetarian Fresh Mart and Restaurant, SS18 Subang

I’ve always lamented about the shortage of  healthy food whenever we dine out and was introduced to this place called Organic Vegetarian FreshMart and Restaurant in SS18 Subang. A quick look at the menu shows that they have another outlet in SS2.

A snapshot of a portion of the menu

How to get here:-

If you are coming from PJ, take the NPE, pay the RM1 toll and keep left, heading towards Bandar Sunway. Go past Sunway Pyramid and go straight on. You will find this restaurant on your left (right opposite the Tai Thong-owned  Imperial Garden and the Balai Bomba of SS17).

Organic Vegetarian FreshMart and Restaurant believes in what it calls the 5N healthy values:-

·       No artificial meat

·       No Trans Fat

·       No MSG

·       No Oyster sauce

·       No santan (coconut milk)

This is what the restaurant looks like from the outside.

Front view

There is ample parking, but do remember to pay at the machines if you come during the official MPSJ working hours. If you are here after 6, though, parking is free!

This  makan outing team is made up of 3 people. So we decided to order 3 types of main dishes. This is the yee mee seaweed soup. Of course it had shredded sea weed on top with some sesame. The seaweed were very crunchy and delicious. J

This dish also had lots of vegetables – carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, choy sum and some cloud ears. For RM10.90 (price as per receipt, even though the menu shows RM10) for a large bowl of noodles, I would say it was not too bad in terms of pricing. In fact the soup was so yummy, we drank it all up!

This is basil fried rice (RM8.90). You can see that it is served with 2 slices of cucumber, some baby tomatoes, long beans with asam sauce, a lime and lots of shredded vegetables – cabbage, carrots as well as some seaweed on top –very healthy indeed! If you are not a big fan of basil then you may find the aroma of the fried rice a little too strong.

This is the side view of the basil fried rice (note the 'mountain' of vegetables!)

You won’t find this item listed on the menu but it is listed on a board in the restaurant…another very healthy dish-vegetables packed in a bun – to make what they call a Jumbo burger (RM9.90). You also get some mashed potatoes and a few pieces of fried malinja chips with this dish. I love this dish, especially for the malinja chips which were bitter sweet.

Every great meal is not complete if not accompanied with great drinks. These are the grape vinegar and peach vinegar which we ordered (RM2.50 each) and true to its name ‘VINEGAR’ the drinks had a sourish taste.

After a nice and healthy meal, you don’t just leave this place empty-handed. You can then proceed to buy and bring back organically grown fresh vegetables and fruits. On sale are also noodles, cereals, CNY cookies, buns…you name it, as long as they are health food, you’ll find them all here!

Address : No 17 & 19 Jalan SS18/1B

47500 Subang Jaya

Tel : +603 56362468

Opens from 10am to 9pm daily

Cards accepted :Mastercard & Visa

Grand Imperial Kitchen, Capital Square

It’s Monday and it’s almost time for lunch. As I need to get some blank CDs and an external hard disk, I decided to go to the newly opened (not so new actually) ICT Mall at Jalan Munshi Abdullah. I arrived at close to 12 noon and decided that what I need was a quick bite – must take care of my tummy before I shop as I once read that a survey showed that if you shop on an empty stomach you will end up spending more.

I decided on the Grand Imperial Kitchen as I have the Grand Imperial member card. It is located on the Ground Floor…has a significant presence that you cant miss if you are in the ICT Mall building. They’ve got lots of set meal. I browse through the extensive list and settle for Individual Super Value Set 3 which was dry curry chicken with egg noodles + ‘drink of the day’ which was lo han kuo and a bowl of soup.

My lo han kuo arrived 2 minutes later, pretty impressive, I would say. It tasted good –it was not too sweet, yet not too dilulted- just nice!

3 minutes later the noodles were served.  I believe they must have used some dark soya sauce in this dish. Appearance wise – ok, but don’t look like the usual dry curry as it seemed a little too dark. In terms of taste, it was ok – not too salty yet spicy enough for me. I was happy to see that they put in some vegetables (siew pak choy) with this set. For RM11.90 + 10% service tax, my tummy was filled and I am now ready for some IT shopping!

Address : Lot G16-17, Ground Floor

No 7 Persiaran Capital Square

50100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : + 603 26976366

Cards accepted :Master & Visa

Opens for lunch and dinner

Mr Specky Seafood Restaurant, Kuantan

Our food trail this time brings us to the capital of Pahang, one of the 3 states in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Kuantan is approximately 250 kilometres from KL and you can get there in 3 hours via the East Coast Highway. As we approached the Kuantan town at 5pm it was raining heavily and traffic  was going at a snail pace.

We headed right away to Jalan Beserah to look for a restaurant by the name of Mr Specky Seafood Restaurant. We noticed that there was another Mr Specky a few doors away and upon enquiring was told that the other one specialises in steamboats, tomyam to be precise. Please note that this restaurant is only open for dinner.

The first thing you will notice when you walk into this restaurant is the fishes and seafood on ‘display’. You choose the type of fish and seafood you want. You can even pinpoint the exact fish you want. It will then be weighed and cooked in the manner you choose.

We chose a- 400 gram pak zhou yi (word for word translation of this would be white dates fish). We asked for it to be steamed with ginger and soya sauce. When the dish arrived, I tasted it and would say I could taste the ‘mud’ smell – meaning that the ginger and soya sauce were not sufficient to ‘drown’ the over-powering mud smell. Next dish please!

Next up was the seong tong lala (lala in soup) which had a very nice taste. There was some wine in it, and as requested by us did not have any chillies in it. Thumbs up for this dish…drank up every drop of this RM18 dish!

This is venison stir fried with ginger and onion (RM20). The meat was tender and I think this dish deserves a 9/10. Very good!

Today we tried stir fried tian qi with garlic (RM10). Frankly I have never seen this vegetable in any of our hypermarkets or even markets in KL. Tian qi is believed to promote healing and it certainly tasted very good. The leaves are smooth and easy on the palate.

The bill came ion close to RM90 – not too bad for a meal for 7 people.

Address: B1161 Jalan Beserah

25300 Kuantan

Tel : +609 – 5667181 , +6019 -9867181 (Alan)

Opening hours : 5.30pm – 2.30am

Cards accepted : Master & Visa

KimchiHaru SS15 Subang Jaya

It’s a rainy evening and what we need is some piping hot food –i.e. food which will be served hot to us. “Why not give Korean food a shot”, I said. Thus begins our search for Kimchi Haru, a Korean food outlet which has opened its latest outlet in SS15 Subang Jaya. For the record, they have 2 other outlets in Jaya One & also IOI Boulevard.

As we browsed through the menu we couldn’t resist the fresh strawberry juice (RM7.50)- sorry no photo of this as I finished it all up in a few gulps. The drink was absolutely out of this world! It tasted sweet, sour yet very refreshing. You could taste the tiny bits of strawberry – got lots of dietary fiber from this drink J

For my main dish I ordered the dwenjang jjigae set (RM15). Hmmm…it’s actually bean paste, tofu and vegetable stewin a bowl along with 3 prawns. You eat this with rice. The taste certainly reminded me of Japanese miso soup, but I know for sure that there was no MSG in it as KimchiHaru’s tagline is “Eat healthy at KimchiHaru”.

Along with this set came a green salad and kimchi (of course!). Both of these came with unlimited free refills…oh, how I love the kimchi. I asked for several rounds of refills and the Korean lady boss obliged. I must say the kimchi I had that day left me yearning for more – definitely a class above all kimchis I have had so far. It must have been left to marinate for some time as the taste was really good.

My dinner partner for the day ordered bulgoki bimbimbap(RM17) which is beef mixed rice. This dish is eaten with gochujang sauce . (The sauce was savory and pungent. I was told that it is typically made from red chili, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans and salt.) . The set came with free soup and some side dishes. The broccoli tasted a little pungent whilst the anchovies with peanuts was a tad too sweet for me. The 2 pieces of tofu had a unique flavor but was tasty.

I must say the service at this outlet was efficient and the lady boss who spoke limited English was very friendly. She even made us a Korean pancake – on the house!

I will come back to KimchiHaru again someday, that’s for sure.


Address: 10, 1st Floor,
Jalan SS15/4
Subang Jaya


Tel : + 603 - 56120020


Master card & Visa accepted