The Manhattan Fish Market @ Pavillion, KL

This is one surprise lunch we had totally unplanned for. The best part of it was that everyone was available for it. As usual all of us jumped into one of our colleague's 'bus' that can ferry the 10 of us. What a joy to have such vehicle available for such occasion.

We headed towards Pavillion Kuala Lumpur. Frankly, we headed there without any knowledge of what we will have. We had to go somewhere where majority decisions outgunned minority. And we ended up in 'The Manhattan Fish Market'.

The place was quite crowded as it was lunch time. A lovely waitress showed us to our tables and she waited for awhile before proceeding with taking our orders. This lady is simply marvelous and she is good in what she does. And not forgetting she's got a great ability to remember all the orders she took from all of us without even need to pen it down. True champion indeed.

We ordered quite a number of dishes and the first to appear is the 'Garden Salad'.

Garden Salad

This was specifically ordered by the ladies. A great appetizer, a great way to kick start the feast. It was good, the ladies loved it and we were ready for more.

Mussel in Cream Sauce

Garlic Bread

We were a little disappointed with the mussels. Firstly, the sauce was a tad too watery and it didn't taste oomph enough. Not enough cream and not enough cheese. It was over cooked too. As for the garlic bread, again it was pretty hard and not enough zing in it. It should have had more garlic in it in order to live up to it's name.  :S

Fried Calamari

Fried Mushroom

Time for some light bites or finger food. These two fried stuff are overdone again. What is wrong, mate? Yeah, we know that they were supposed to be fried stuff but by over doing it will just kill the food. Didn't like it at all and for those who have dentures please be careful.

Grill Dory

Fish & Chips Dory

Grill Dory was good. Like the texture and meat was juicy and yummy. Finally something that is edible. Phew.  Fish & Chips was so-so and the fries was the worst I have ever had for years. Even McDonald's fries tasted better. Anyway, all this fry stuff are junkie food and should not be taken too much.

Grill Salmon

I have always loved salmon and there was nothing that I do not like about it. The garlic rice is one of my favourite but it was pretty cold when the dish was served to us. It would be great if the rice was warm and had more garlic-ky taste to it.

Gala Platter

Such a wonderful sight. I get all drooled up by just looking at it but then again sometimes looks can be deceiving. Grilled fish was ok, clams was a little eeww, fries are a little soggy and loses out to McD fries, prawns was small and not that fresh and the garlic rice is not warm enough and still lacks the garlic-ky feel.

Mushroom Spaghetti

Chicken Spaghetti

Time for some spaghetti. These sets of spags tasted ordinary and nothing to shout about. I don't blame them as I do not think their chef can dish out some killer spaghettis as these are not the restaurant's strongest dish. Anyway, for those who would loved to have varieties this is ok.

Conclusion : Compared to the first time I had these food, it was like 2-3 years ago I find that food quality then was much better compared to now. We were very disappointed with the overall food we had and everyone was complaining about it. This could be one of the reasons chain restaurants are finding it hard to maintain it's quality. Total bill came to RM257.60. To be frank again it was too costly to pay for mediocre food. I will only give it a 2/5 and credits to the waitress with the golden memory.

Cheers!

The Manhattan Fish Market Pavillion
Level 1.18.02
Pavillion Kuala Lumpur
55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : 03 2141 4341.

Note : The above review is solely based on my personal opinion.

Restaurant Bukit Tinggi BBQ, Bukit Tinggi, Bentong.

The first time I was introduced to this place was back in 2011. My ex-colleague who is my good buddy now  kept telling us that we should go to this restaurant as he was bragging about how good and fantastic the food was. No one took him seriously in the beginning but my buddy being a top salesperson finally managed to close the deal and convinced us all to make a trip there.

I can clearly remember it was during a weekday and we headed towards Bukit Tinggi straight after work. We all jumped into a Perodua Alza and off we went. That was really a memorable trip with good company and good food and I have never looked back since. Thanks to my buddy I've repeatedly made trips there and it's time to share with you.

This place is called 'Bukit Tinggi BBQ'. I reckon this is a very popular makan place as I've been told by other friends about it and also many other food bloggers has shared their reviews.

The restaurant is tucked away from the main road. So, it is rather difficult to find it if you are making your first visit there. But then again no worries I will help you in getting there. There is only one petrol station (BHP) in Bukit Tinggi. You will never miss it. This restaurant is located just behind the BHP petrol station and there are ample space for you to park your vehicle.

It is a building by itself and it's surrounding is filled with lot's of plants. One could just ignore it as there is no signage visible unless you step into the compound of the restaurant. Just remember it is behind the one and only BHP petrol station in Bukit Tinggi town.

The interior of this restaurant is pretty unique. A look up into the ceiling you will find the decor to be umbrellas of all colours and sizes hanging upside down. I reckon all this was given or sponsored by thier regulars. It is also a good way paved for cheap publicity. LOL.

Various Umbrella Decor Hung Upside Down

Besides this part of the wooden wall was decorated with plenty of empty wine bottles of all sizes too. It is really different and one will be taken aback by all this. And not forgetting lot's of greenery too.

Specially designed wall racks to display bottles.

Trees & Plants beside the restaurant. GO GREEN.

This place is always crowded and since this is not my frist visit there I made sure that we arrived early to avoid any disappointment. I have had experienced before that they have sold out all thier food and we had to look elsewhere for a meal. I reckon they only prepare a certain amount of food to be sold in a day. So, once everything is being sold out .... they close shop. Yup.

The Crowd.

We got the waiter over and put in our orders ASAP. Yeah, it's rather funny eh cause we do not want to be disappointed. LOL. This is a pure case of 'kiasu'. Ahahahaha...... just kidding.

Wu Li Tan Tou Farn

Have anyone of you ever heard of 'Wu Li Tan Tou Farn'? Yeah, that's in Cantonese. It means (it's difficult to translate) 'anything can be put in and cooked with rice' dish. Frankly, I do not know what they put in but from the look of it there is vegetables, peppers, some meat..... yup that's 'wu li tan tou'.

All the ingredients are being mixed and cook together with plain white rice. Rice was soft because of the amount of gravy that came with it. This meal is perfect for those who have 'gum' issues. LOL...because it was easy to eat, easy to chew and easy to swallow.

I didn't like the taste of it. It tasted funny and a little sourish. It wasn't appetizing at all. This wet wu lin tan tou rice didn't go well with the other dishes we had ordered as we preferred to have white rice instead. We got conned in putting in an order for this as the lady was bragging about how good it was. LOL.

Steamed Chicken

We didn't order steam chicken instead we order 'grilled spring chicken'. This was a pure case of taking and delivering the wrong order. We did voiced out but we decided to accept the wrongly delivered chicken dish as we do not want to wait any longer. We have already waited long enough to reach this level. Oh well.... it turned out the chiceng was overdone and the meat was rather hard, tough and rough. It was badly done. I would have loved the grilled spring chicken. :D

Fried Eggs with White Tofu.

This is a wonderful dish. It's simple and nice and goes so well with rice. How it's being done is that firstly they steamed some white tofu and put in on the plate with some soya sause and fried shallots sprinkled on top. Then they would fried a few eggs, york still half cooked and lay it on top of the white tofu. Viola.... isn't it simple? But it sure does tastes good.

Fried Green Chilli

Don't you think this is weird? I found it really weird but still went ahead with the order. This was supposed to be one of their famous dish. Anyway, whatever they dished out are all famous. This is because their menu is very limited and don't expect to order anything other than what's being offered here.

This fried green chilli are oily, still very green, not spicy and I don't know what's the great deal is all about. Whoever who has been there will tell you that 'hey, have you tried fried green chilli? no! you should try it at Bukit Tinggi BBQ'. Hmmm..... what's the hype all about? Nothing really... it's just something different I reckon that's why it gets people to talk about.

BBQ Lamb

One thing that surprised me was thier bbq lamb. I have never imagined a local Chinese chef can dish out something so wonderful. Frankly, I am not a lamb person but when it comes to this I am totally transformed. I do not fancy the fatty side of the lamb. I would normally disposed them and only eat the lean meat. This is the only thing that I could complain, really. Otherwise, these lambs arekillers. They are so yummy and juicy and I bet it was marinated for hours before they are being cooked. The mint dipping sauce was a winner too and it goes really well with the lamb.

Seafood Pot

The queens of kings or kings of queens is this lovely pot of seafood. This is what poeple come for. This is one pot that you will see on most of the customers' tables. This is the winner, folks!

As you can see the pot has got 2 levels. The top level is where all the yummy seafood are being placed. The bottom part is the broth which was used to steam or heat up the seafood. The broth was made even more yummy and delicious from all the juices that came from the seafood.

This is what you can find in the pot : pretty large prawns, good sized clams or lala and crabs. There are abundance of it as the portion is pretty good. Everything is fresh which was a pleasure to eat.

The bottom pot where the delicious broth are will be taken away for s short moment in order for them to complete the cooking procedure. Broth cooked with mushrooms and vegetables is my favourite. Without fail I will gulp up most of the soup as it is really yummy. What a way to finish off this feast.

The last thing I would like to share with you is the following :

The Bill

Very creative way of taking orders. Can you make up what icon is for which dish? The only thing I know very well is the total bill came to RM267.00.

Conclusion : Cool environment, cool decor and equally cool food. Service can be poor when the crowd builds up. Another thing I am not happy with is there are dogs and cats roaming freely in the dining vicinity.This is so not hygiene. I would rate it a 3/5. And this is a non-halal restaurant.

Cheers!

Restaurant Bukit Tinggi BBQ
P.T.15792 & 15793
Jalan Bukit Tinggi
28750 Bentong
Pahang Darul Makmur.
Tel : 09 233 0330
H/P : 012 357 7111.

Note : The above review is solely based on my personal opinion.

Restaurant Tak Kee @ Gohtong Jaya, Genting.



A short drive up to Gohtong Jaya is so welcome. Since it is not very far from where we are staying at Janda Baik. It will be great to drive up to Gohtong Jaya as we had waited to makan at Restaurant Tak Kee for awhile. This place has been a favourite of ours and this is a trip not to be missed.

Customers who frequent this place are mostly regulars. It is easy to tell from the way they order as they know what is good here. You can chose to order separate individual dishes to go with white rice or simply order some noodles.

Dining here day or night can be a wonderful experience as the weather there is cooler (920 meters above sea levels). There are many restaurants to chose from once you made your way there but we always ended up in this particular restaurant.

What kept us coming back is this :

Prawn Noodles @ RM50.00

I am not too sure whether this is what it's supposed to be called but it sure does taste good. It comes with rice vermicelli, 2 halve good sized prawns, some vegetables and some really 'knock out' broth or soup. This was the best part of the whole pot as there was a fair amount of cooking wine being used. And all the time we managed to finished up the soup.

I would love to elaborate more about this dish but I just find it difficult to explain it with words. Just make sure that when you planned to make a trip to Genting to take a pit stop at this restaurant. I really bet you will lovet this pot of prawn noodles.

Another favourite of ours is a very simple plate of noodles which can be found in most restaurants in KL is the Cantonese Fried Noodle.

Cantonese Fried Noodles @ RM16.00

Frankly, this restaurant does the best Cantonese fried noodles I have ever had. It was really yummy as if the chef cooked it with his heart and soul. This is the best words I can use to describe how good this simply plate of noodles is. Not to be missed too.

Conclusion : Not to be missed 'Prawn Noodle'. This is one unique noodle where you cannot find elsewhere. Got to come back for more once you have tried it. Cantonese fried noodle was superb too. Portion was huge and I find it reasonably priced too. Service is fast depending on the crowd. Highly recommended. A 4/5.

Cheers.

Restaurant Tak Kee
No.52, Jalan Jati 1
Gohtong Jaya
69000 Genting Highland
Bentong
Pahang Darul Makmur.
Tel : 03 6100 1218.

Note : The above review is purely based on my personal opinion.

Restaurant Foon Lock @ Bukit Tinggi, Bentong.

I have been sitting here staring at the blank screen of my laptop trying to figure out how to start this blog. I have been typing and deleting, typing and deleting repeatedly and still wondering how to kick start this blog. Somehow I have difficulties finding the rhythm when I most needed it.

'Ah Lian Ah Beng' will bring you to Bukit Tinggi in Bentong for a rendezvous .... a trip which was long overdue, a trip to Janda Baik, Bentong in search for some peace and quiet relaxation away from busy Kuala Lumpur, in search of nature and of course not forgetting fishing trip.

This is going to be a short trip consisting of 2 days 1 night stay. And I reckon it is going to be really exciting ... exciting because I foresee there is going to be lot's of makan-makan session. So, I will cut the story short and not bored you readers with what happened at Janda Baik. But I must share that our fishing trip was very promising and we caught many red talapia and black talapia of really good size. With such prized catch we decided to head towards Bukit Tinggi in search of a restaurant to cook a red talapia.

My wife specifically chose this restaurant because she simply loved the food there. Her parents frequent this place whenever they made a trip to Bukit Tinggi. This should be good and I don't think anything will go wrong.

This restaurant by the name of 'Restaurant Foon Lock' is situated along the only street leading down from the  police station. Beside the restaurant there are numerous stalls selling fruits and vegetables. Quality of vegetables and fruits are super fresh and it is worth every penny. And it is reasonably priced. It can be very crowded especially on a weekend so if you happened to be there please make sure to go early.

Variety of vege and fruits sold at the stalls

The red talapia which we caught was more than 1kg in weight. Even the lady boss who took our orders was surprised to see how huge the fish was. One thing for sure the fish is fresh and free of mud taste. We decided to have it cooked the 'assam' style.

Guang Xi Stuffed Taufu Ball @ RM12.00

But first let me introduce their house speciality 'Guang Xi Stuffed Taufu Ball'. It was served with soupa and to be frank it didn't look impressive. What did impressed me was it's taste. Well .... how to put it ..... do not expect it to taste great ..... it was different since the stuffing was home made. It was the freshess that we liked most. : D

Chinese Spinach @ RM10.00

Without doubt it is a 'must' to have a plate of vegetable to have a balance diet in a meal. We chose the Chinese spinach which was good. Dishing this dish can hardly go wrong as it is easy to cook ... simply clear stir fry it with garlic ... and viola.

Lala in Clear Soup @ RM25.00

This was in everyone's wish list. We were contemplating whether to have it in 'Kam Heong' style or in 'Clear Soup' style and we chose the latter. This dish did not fail us in terms of tastes and size and portion. Wonderfully cooked with larger than normal hard shell clams. Simply marvelous and yummy. We 'wallop' up all the Lala and soup.... and was left with nothing in the bowl. : D

Stir Fried Crispy Pork @ RM18.00

Please do not attempt to order this dish. If you want to make an appointment to see a dentist then I reckon it is ok to order it. It was totally rubbish, sorry for my language. It's too salty, the meat was well overcooked resulting to tough meat to chew on and simply too much dark soya sauce being used. What a big letdown.. Furthermore it was recommended by the restaurant. Hmm..... I was wondering why the lady chose to intro this to us..... LOL.

Drums rolling ................

Ta-daa...... the dish of the day....the assam fish.

I liked the way how the chef positioned the fish. Yes no doubt the fish was big but it was cleverly done in a way where the fish meat was split into the sides which makes it easy to eat em. This assam fish dish came with some mixed vegetables and frankly it was good. Yeah GOOD! But a tad too sweet for my taste bud.

The fish was ours. We caught it during our fishing dayout. The restaurant only charged us RM15.00 to cook the fish for us. I reckon it was well priced if compared to KL price.

Whether it's your own fish or supplied by the restaurant this assam dish is a must. They are various types of fish being sold here so you will not be disappointed. Forget about going on a diet. Forget about watching your weight. Over here it's all about makan, makan and only makan.

Conclusion : This place is not pretty nor is it fanciful but the food is good, pretty well priced and you will surely leave this place with a fat belly. LOL. With coconut drinks thrown into it the bill came to RM110.50 only. It will be cool to organise a family makan trip to Bukit Tinggi as there are so many restaurants to choose from and it'll be fun. A 3.5/5.

BTW, when the bill came it was neatly printed and it was printed 'Canton Kitchen'. A look behind the bill suggests that this restaurant is part of the 'Canton Kitchen' group consisting of Garden View Restaurant (Bkt Tinggi), Canton Kitchen Restaurant (Setapak) and this Restaurant Foon Lock.

Cheers!

Restaurant Foon Lock
No.84, Kampung Bukit Tinggi
28750 Bentong
Pahang Darul Makmur.
Tel : 09 233 0170
URL : www.bukit.com.my

Note : The above review is purely based on my personal opinion.

U-Village Restaurant @ Sg Wang Plaza.

What are we having for lunch? Where are we going for lunch? These are some of the normal questions asked daily from all of us in the office. This is a norm as lunching in downtown KL can be a very costly affair. We have been to so many place and tried so many different types of food and I reckon what we wanted is good food at an affordable price and of course the restaurant must be air conditioned.

When a new colleague suggested that we should dine at U-Village at Sg Wang Plaza, we have no rejection to it. So, off we went. It has been a really long time since I stepped into Sg Wang Plaza the once most popular shopping mall in KL. Looking for a parking bay was easy as there were abundance of it. Parking rates can be very expensive as we often pay RM4:40 for it.

We made our way they around 12pm since we were told that lunch crowd can be very busy and may not be able to get any seats or tables. It sure was an adventure for us all since this is our first visit to U-Village and were really eager to try out the food.

Lunch crowd was already starting to build up when we arrived the restaurant. It was packed and we were lucky to find ourselves a table. I like the layout and environment of this place as it was brightly lit and tables were arranged neatly. What was most important was it's cleanliness and it's fully air conditioned. Yay!

This place have a special section for it's preparation and serving of their famous BBQ pork. It really does looks yummy and we certainly will order a plate. All of us are already drooling..... and by looking at their ala carte menu and set menu made things worse.

Set Menu @ 12.90++

No joke! There are about 36 different choices of set lunches served here. Set lunches comes with a drink and a bowl of soup. And all this for just RM12.90++ per set.

I will not touch so much on the menu as it will take a whole week for me to finish the story. You will have to come by and experience it yourself. Really....

The FOC soup...

The bowl of soup that came with the set lunch was no ordinary soup. The 'captain' told us that they would boil the soup for few hours with pork or chicken bones and with the right ingredients. True enough it was remarkably good. It came with some corns and some chicken meat along with the soup. Unlike others where you will only be served with plain soup full of MSG.

Roasted Honey BBQ Pork (M) @ RM29.00++

Loved it. The BBQ pork was truly amazing. It was so near perfect. Meat was still juicy and it melts in your mouth. Some may not like it as there needs to have lot's of 'fatty' part to make it melt. Not for those who are on a healthy diet. Must try! But a little expensive considering the price vs the portion.

Salted Fish with Pork (Ham Yu Fa Lam Po) Set @ RM12.90++

This dish which came with a plate of white rice was simply mouth watering. Frankly, this was the best 'ham yu fa lam po' I have had and I truly recommend it. Must give credits to the chef as the meat was not over-cook which was important otherwise the meat will be too hard to bite and harsh to swallow. It was a little salty (due to the salted fish) but it was perfectly neutralized by the mild spiciness of the dry chilly. Two thumbs up!! And it is one of their hot seller!

Chic Drumstick Rice Superior Sauce Set @ RM12.90++

Next came another hot seller. Size of the drumstick was huge and the set came with a sunny side up egg and white rice. Taste was good as I reckon the chic was well marinated before it hit the wok. But then again I find it hard to swallow as there was apparently no or too little sauce (came with the chicken) as it can be a tad dry. Oh well now we know why it came with a bowl of soup.

Seafood Noodle in Claypot Set @ RM12.90++

This was a big disappointment for us all. From the looks of it it was delicious but in actual fact it was just so-so. Of course I have had better 'lou shee fun' but it never occurred to me that a simple dish can be made to tastes so 'normal' or 'plain Jane'.

Conclusion : A great place to dine especially for the lunch crowd. Plenty of varieties and majority of the dish tastes good. A pat on the back the the chef. Service is fast and good. Be sure to go early otherwise be prepared to wait for a seat. BTW, this is a NON-Halal restaurant. I would give it a 4/5.

Cheers!

U-Village Restaurant Sdn Bhd
LB-R1
Sungei Wang Plaza
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : 03 2148 9686.

Note : The above review is purely based on my personal opinion.