Gerai Minum Weng Kee @ Old Town, PJ.

The past weeks or maybe months has been the most hottest spell ever experienced this year. It it totally unbearable as the sunlight stings the body to the core of the bone....that's how hot it is. It has been like 33-35 degree celsius daily.

In such conditions my mind kept telling me that we had to get some ABC to cool down the body temperature and in the same time to satisfy our indulgence in this cool dessert. But then it is not an easy task nowadays to find good ABC. ABC can be found in many places but most of them are really lousy and not worthwhile to spend the penny on it.

Being a PJ boy spending my entire life in this beautiful city has brought me to many places, places that dishes out good food as well as good desserts. And today I will or rather I dared to say that this drink store in The Medan Selera (adjacent to the wet market) PJ Old Town does the BEST ABC in PJ and KL. This place is called 'Gerai Minum Weng Kee'. They are operated by a husband & wife team with a couple of Indon staff to help around. They have been in business for 'donkey' years and has made a name for themselves in the business.

They have a handful of regulars who specifically goes there for their ABC. Besides ABC they are also famous for their Chendol and Iced Bubur Cha Cha. Of course they also serves the normal drinks from carbonated drinks to ice teh Cina.

ABC

What makes their ABC so special? From what I can taste the secret is in their 'gula Melaka' but not just ordinary gula Melaka but I suspect it could be a mixture of few different types of 'gula' ... a 'secret ingredient' which makes it so special. And of course not forgetting the blended ice was silky smooth and really fine. Whenever I ate this I always say this 'even Starbucks could not blend the ice as fine as this'.

These ABC's are just unbelievably good and most of the time I will have a couple to really have the satisfaction feel. Otherwise it is like I have betrayed myself by not having more than one. This indulgence in a way is not good for the body system because of the high content of sugar in it. I will have 'sugar rush' after gulping it all. Oh well.....

Next in line is the Chendol. They serve their Chendol in a tall glass or a mug different from others whereby most are served in a bowl just like the ABC.

You can have an option for their regular Chendol or Chendol with red beans. As usual I will choose the latter as it is my favourite.

As usual the key secret to the success lies in the 'gula Melaka' and the fine blended ice. The taste is really inviting ..... true enough it was so inviting that I wanted a third serving.

Conclusion : Undisputed the best ABC in PJ and KL. I have tasted some other that was highly rated eg the one in Kepong but those are really out of the league compared to Weng Kee. Sugar content is at it's highest level and not suitable for those who are suffering from diabetes. A total knock out!!!
I would rate a 5/5.

Cheers!

Kedai Minum Weng Kee
Taman Selera Makan Old Town
Jalan Othman
PJ Old Town
46050 Petaling Jaya
Selangor.

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

Restaurant Chan Meng Kee - Famous Wan Ton Mee @ SS2

The legacy of Chan Meng Kee started when Chef Chan started selling the now famous won ton mee in a coffee shop run by his brother in Sec 17, PJ. Without doubt they dish one of the very best won ton mee ever and this was one of our usual makan place for our daily lunch.

They were so famous until their ego got into their head. They were getting very rude and snobbish something that we see very often in Malaysia but still their business was so good. Normally I would have ban such eateries simply because the owner totally forgotten that their regular clients were the main reason for their success. But the.....aiya..... I kept on coming back for the noodle until today.

Since then they have moved to their very own premise with even more foodie to offer. Of course their main dish will be their won ton mee but now they have broaden their menu to curry (dry and soup) noodle, chicken, char siew and siew yok rice, various types of green vegetable, a handful selection of soup (which is good), prawn dumplings, etc....

Existing Premise

 

They have made a name for themselves in SS2 and whenever you mentioned the famous won ton mee most people will mentioned 'Chan Meng Kee'.

This is their existing premise in SS2 and will be moving to their new premise which is just a short walk up the road by July 2014 for good. At the moment this premise will serve the ever busy lunch crowd and the new premise will serve the dinner crowd.

New Premise

The new premise looks 'newer' and 'cleaner' and it is brightly lighted up which is a plus sign. But I was expecting this place to be 'fully air conditioned' .... which I was a little disappointed to find out that it was not. Well anyway as long as the quality of the food stays or maintained.

Lunch Crowd

Please make sure to go early if you are there for lunch otherwise you will have to wait in line for an available table. Layout of the place is simple with tables and chairs covering the whole floor. It was pretty crowded when we arrived around 12:30pm.

Char Siew Wan Ton Mee

I usually order wan ton mee with 'pun fei sau' roast pork with wanton. 'Pun fei sau' means half lean half fat meat which is the best one ever could ask for. Quality of the noodle is very consistent, not over cooked as over cooked noodles can be very soggy. Theirs have the springy effect to it which provides a sensation feeling when one takes a big bite onto the noodles.

However, I was rather upset with the roast pork. The 'fat' part was superb but the 'lean' part was a tad too tough. Otherwise it would have been perfect as the taste of the pork was superbly done.

Overall the wan ton noodle scores a high! It has it's own special taste which I have never eaten before and of course it was made better with 'pork fatty' mixed with it

A must order is their 'sui kow' dumplings (sorry folks no pics on this). Their sui kow was so fresh and so delicious that it was all finished before I could take a photo of it. LOL. Remember MUST ORDER!

Soup

To compliment the noodle we had a good bowl of soup to help us to neutralise or drain all the oily and fatty stuff deeper into our belly and out of the system. I always love a place that serves soup simply because I am a soup lover. Nothing much to shout about on this but it does provide the satisfaction feel and refreshing.

Roast Duck with Wonton Noodle

The roast duck was tender, juicy and delicious. Even though I am not a duck person but I must admit that this good.

Shredded Chicken Wonton Soup Noodle

Wonton Soup Noodle with Wanton

For those who would like something 'mild' this is it. The soup based noodle was just OK lah nothing to shout about. I find that the 'kan sui mei' of the noodle was too heavy and for those (like me) who is fussy about this will not enjoy the soup based noodle.

Curry Wan Ton Noodle

This bowl of curry noodle really surprised us. Never did we know that they can dish Rout something so good. Who would have thought of going to Chan Meng Kee for a bowl of curry noodles. I never did and after trying it out I strongly recommend it to curry noodle lovers.

It was rich in santan and the soup was simply marvelous and delicious. The taste brought back some childhood memory when I had my very first bowl of curry noodles...the very same type of taste I had back then. How to describe it.......yeah 'Chinese' type of mild santan curry taste.

Frankly, I believe this will give 'Lorong Seratus Tahun' a run for the money.

Conclusion : Strongly recommended. Good food and reasonably good price. Restaurant is well lighted and clean (new premise). The tauke is still a snobbish man but really hope their staff will not follow suit. Would be great if they have better personality and attitude. But again food is good. And also, it is difficult to find a place that serve good wanton noodle especially in the evening, dinner time in Petaling Jaya area.
A 3.5 out of 5.
Non Halal.

Restaurant Chan meng Kee
32, Jalan SS2/66
47300 Petaling Jaya 
Selangor.
Tel : 012 688 1972


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

Char Kuey Teow & Sarawak Mee at Happy Wonderful Land Restaurant @ Glenmarie

Nobody ever thought that Glenmarie being a famous landmark for light industrial, warehouse, car showrooms and factory area could be made famous for it's restaurants and eateries. Who could have imagined this years ago but now this place has made itself a name for it's restaurants and eateries.

This place was made famous for it's chicken rice or siew yoke rice and more and more restaurants dishing the same type of food are mushrooming here. If I am not mistaken there are a total of 5-8 chicken rice restaurants here along two stretches of shops sharing the same street or so.... Well, if you are a chicken or siew yoke lover you will not be disappointed, really. But anyway I will not touch of this subject but rather the subject for today is 'the best char kuey teow and Sarawak mee' in this area.

This store is located in 'Happy Wonderful Land Restaurant', a corner restaurant that houses all types of hawker food : curry mee, economy rice, wan ton mee, chicken rice... but it is the 'char kuey teow and Sarawak mee' that I am talking about. Really not to be missed if you are in the area.

Felix is the tauke of both the store and his right hand man is well trained to dish out both the char kuey teow and Sarawak mee. Frankly, I have tried both Felix and his staff cooking skill and I must say 'quality is assured'.

They have been operating there for few years now and from what I can see there are indeed lot's of 'regular' clients. Some are like friends and calls the tauke 'Felix, char kuey teow 2 plates! Biasa'. It is also important for Felix to know his clients too as when one were to order 'biasa' means Felix already knew what his regular client wanted. This is so cool and something that you hardly see in a hawker. Personalised service!

Let us start off with the 'char kuey teow'. It's aroma aroused me even before the plate was brought to me (because I was just seated next to the store). I could feel that I was swallowing my own saliva either I was hungry or I was 'wai sik' or maybe both la. The presentation of the fried kuey teow was good which is important. I realised this kuey teow was fried with lot's of taugeh and lap cheong but no prawns which was perfectly OK with me. I always fancy a plate especially fried with lap cheong cause it will certainly taste better.

And indeed it really tasted good. I like the way they did it cause I like it dry with enough 'wok hei' to make the entire fried kuey teow perfect. I commented to Felix that I preferred it to have more 'wok hei' as it is my personal likings. But it was good. Tasted really delicious and yeah.... it was finished in record time. I was contemplating of ordering another plate but decided against it and ordered a plate of Sarawak mee.

The Sarawak mee is similar to 'kolo mee' but it has it's own Felix's style to it. Instead of char siew the noodle came with some really mouth watering minced meat and a bowl of soup with some foo chook and stuff in it and not forgetting the dipping chilli sauce which was a real gem.

Noodle was perfectly cooked as it still has it's springiness feel to it which was good. I never like overcooked noodle which tastes soggy. But not in this case. Credits to Felix for paying extra attention to noodle preparation.

It was like 'love at first sight' when I took the first bite. It was amazing lah! Tasted really good with some special sauce that was prepared together with the minced meat. That's the real thing here. Wow! This is my true expression of the food.

Next on my list will be Felix's other noodle ie 'Spinach Noodle'.

Conclusion : I have made another couple of trips there specifically for Felix's foodie. It is always a pain going there as the lunch crowd can really get out of control especially finding a parking space for your car. But never in my entire life anything like this has deterred me from making a trip for good foodie.
A 4/5 for me. I am hoping that Felix will strut his magic wand to make it 5/5 and that is what I hope for.
Breakfast & Lunch only. Mon-Sat only.

Cheers!

Happy Wonderful Land Restaurant
No.2, Jalan Pekedai
Glenmarie
Shah Alam.

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

Garden Recipe Cafe @ Paradigm Mall, Kelana Jaya.

Being a food blogger has brought me to many places. Places with great food, places famous for great food and places with great chef who dishes out great food. Hah.... I reckon this is the best way to describe it with words.

Most food that tastes good are normally enhanced with MSG. This is something very common nowadays especially when food business are getting more competitive. One would have to resort to MSG to stay in business. There's no denying about this. But there is this particular restaurtnat I have heard so much of with so much words spreading and so much hoo-hah going around about how great the food is and the best part was the food is cooked without MSG.

Garden Recipe Cafe which originated from Melaka is the place..... boasting that thier food has NO MSG, NO Colouring, NO Preservative, Everything Natural and Organic. Well, I have seen so many restaurant boasting about the same thing but everytime I was short-changed and hopefully this time is otherwise. Let us embark in this journey to find out how it'll turn out.

The set up of the restaurant is simple and nice. Wooden tables and chairs dominated the entire floor. Whereby on one side wooden benches was the favoured choice instead of chairs which I reckon was the favourite seating space amongst the patrons. The walls was neatly decorated which has the 80's feel to it.

Service was good. Waiters was well manered and carries a smile. But when the crowd stated to build up their service turned topsy-turvy. I reckon it was because they were short staff and it would have made a difference if they had more floor staff especially during peak hours.

One thing that caught my attention was their daily set meals which strecthes all the way to dinner. There were a few choices to chose from and the price starts at RM12.90+ which comes with a cup of tea and some fruits.

A look at the meny suggests there were plenty of choices to chose from. From local cusine to Western cuisine, from rice meals to noodles and from soupy meals to sandwiches. I was pretty impressed with what they have. It would take a couple or more visits to really cover the entire choice of food served here.

Xiang CHun Sauce with Brown Rice Soya Noodle (Dry) @ RM12.90+

This healthy plate of noodles when served was at tall at the 'Empire State Building'. It contains lot's of vegetables from carrots to cabbage with some tofu surrounding the outer part of the plate. What you need to do was to mix it all up and viola your plate of dry noodle. :-)

It tasted good considering there was no MSG used. Of course you cannot compare the food here with others which uses MSG to enhance the taste but what they have done here was marvelous. I am pretty sure they could have used lot's of natural ingredients to bring the taste up. Well, it was good from my point of view as I am not a sucker for salty food.

Curry Chicken cw Brown Rice @ RM12.90+

Heathy indeed .... their chicken curry was cooked without the use of MSG and coconut milk. Served with it was a 'miserable bite sized water melon' and some salad. The portion was just ok-la which comes with some brinjals, some sliced cabbage and some long beans. Of course it comes with chicken and some potatoes.

It was a little 'bland' but I liked it. Again, as a reminder their food was cooked without MSG and I would give credits to the chef for a job well done.

Lui Cha'

'Lui Cha' is a traditional Hakka tea based beverage which was made into a meal. Tea leaf was used and pounded which was mixed with some other herbs to create the finishing 'tea' product. Other condiment includes peanuts,  corns, long beans, beancurd and leeks.

All you need to do is to put all the 'ingredients' into the plate containing the brown rice and pour the green lui cha into it and .... there you have it. Frankly, I am not a Lui Cha person and I find the tea a little too 'green'. But then again for someone who fancies this meal they will find it tasty and delicious. Truly a healthy meal indeed.

Chicken Ponteh

We also ordered a Set A meal from their set meal - Nyonya Ponteh Chicken with brown rice. This meal is a famous and traditional Nyonya dish and the best to come is from Melaka. Since this restaurant originated from Melaka this is one dish you will have to try. Chicken Ponteh can also be called Nyonya Chicken and Potato Stew.

This meal was a killer! It was so good, so delicious and so 'I want more' feeling. Unbelievable. I did asked myself.... sure ar boh MSG ar? Well, again hats off to the chef and to the one who came up with the recipe without using MSG.

Conclusion : Surprisingly I find this place to be really good. Serves really good healthy food. The environment was simple yet confortable. Service could be better especially during peak hours. A tad pricey but it's worth it! Highly recommended. A 4/5.

Cheers!

Garden Recipe Cafe
LG-29
Paradigm Mall
No.1, Jalan SS7/26A
Kelana Jaya
47301 Petaling Jaya
Selangor.
Tel : 03 7887 3318

G55
AEON Bandaraya Melaka Shopping Mall
No.2, Jalan Lagenda
75400 Melaka.
Tel : 06 283 9168.
www.gardenrecipe.com.my

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

Note : The above picture of the 'Chicken Ponteh' is not the original picture taken at site. Will upload the original later as the picture taken was accidently deleted. Sorry guys!

Xiau Fei Yang Steamboat Restaurant @ Pudu, KL.

The 'makan' scene in Kuala Lumpur has changed tremendously for the past couple of years. It has been encouraging with so many restaurants mushrooming where we 'gila makan orang' were spoilt for choice when it comes to dining out. This is very encouraging as there are many restaurants opened by foreigners which dishes out what's great coming from different countries. And this makes this country a more cosmopolitan country which indeed will do great for the scene.

One particular restaurant I would like to share has been running their business along Lorong Thambi 2, Pudu succesfully. This restaurant is called 'Xiau Fei Yang Restaurant' which serves great China style steamboat and it is owned and run by Chinese (from China). LOL :D

This place has been attracting crowds from both local and tourists from China. Bus loads of tourists from China are being brought to this place for some great 'makan' which is part of the itinerary of major tour company specialising with Chinese tourists.

What is so attractive about their steamboat from my personal point of view comes from their 'broth'. There are 2 different types of broths available and both are equally good and well favoured by the regular patrons. We did opt for both that is 'Herbal Soup' and 'Mah Lat Hot & Spicy Soup'.

Herbal Soup and Hot & Spicy Soup

We were pretty lucky to have found ourselves a table as the place was super packed when we got there and the table which we got was the last available one. And it was only around 7:30pm. We were considered late as most of the patrons has been there much earlier, some half way through their meals and some are actually towards the end of their meals.

The restaurant was super noisy considering how loud Chinese from mainland China speaks. It was like they were screaming through their lungs for the others to be heard. Unbelievable. My apologies if I were being rude with my comments.

The decor of the place is very simple. A combination of big round tables and smaller square tables covers the entire floor. Nothing fanciful about the decors too. It's all about 'go for the kill' and 'leave'. LOL.

We had to wait awhile for the waiter to serve us since the place was packed and .... their service was just ok. You have to be fluent in Mandarin to communicate with the waiters as they do not speak any other language known to Malaysians.

Sure enough the broth was superb. It taste very different from the other steamboat restaurants and it has plenty of spices and aroma in it. Most of the ingredients were imported from China which make sense why they are able to pull in ther crowd and have quite a huge number of followers.

I personally preferred the 'Herbal Soup' over the 'Hot & Spicy Soup'. Not that the latter is horrible but the former was just 'amazing'. It tasted 'weired' at first but then when my 'tongue' got a hang of the taste there was no holding back. It was amazing, really. I wished I could pen it down how 'amazing' it was but I just couldn't find the words to describe it. You will have to try it to believe it.

As for the 'Hot & Spicy Soup' it was Sezhuan style which can be very spicy indeed. Lot's of spices were being used too and that what makes them so good and of course taste different from the 'everyday' steamboat you get from other restaurants.

They have a wide variety of food that you can chose to endulged in. What I know of is that they have some really cool 'beef ball' with fillings which is a must to order. I cannot remember the name of it but the waiters will be able to assist you.

From the crowd favourit 'beef slices' to chicken to fish to anything you can think of that is edible ... and yeah they have 'pork slices' too. Now, that's my favourite. I am going to show you what we ordered and it sure does makes a wholesome meal. Enjoy!

Pork Slices

Beef Slices

Yam

Conclusion : I wasn't sure about whether I liked it or not but the longer I am involved the more I liked it. I drank a few barrels of the herbal soup which made me super full. Yeah, I liked it. I wished the waiters there could speak a word or two of English or Cantonese or Malay. That would be really helpful. I find dining at steamboat restaurant to be pricey. Considering what we are eating or what we ate. I would prefered to spend the money on a proper meal with meat and fish and vegetables and tofu and whatever on the table. But then again it's different and incomparable. I would recommend this place to steamboat lovers and for those who doesn't it's worth an experience. And this is NOT a halal restaurant. A 3.8/5.

Cheers!

Xiao Fei Yang Restaurant
No.18, Lorong Thambi 2
55100 Pudu
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : 03 2142 6789

No.40G & 42G
Jalan SS21/62
Damansara Utama
47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor.
Tel : 03 7728 7633.

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

Peppercorn Cafe @ SS15, Subang Jaya.

It was indeed a pure luxury to be able to have many varieties or types of English breakfast to chose from while residing in New Zealand. I always look forward for the weekends to come by so that I can have my daily breakfast at my favourite joint along Queens Street. They served the best breakfast I ever had in my life and will always cherished those moments.

Well, I find it rather difficult finding a restaurant in KL that makes good English or American breakfast. I have tried so many places big or small, famous or infamous, near and far but I always left with disappointment. Until now I am still searching for the ideal place .... but then again the search will go on .... this time to Subang Jaya.

This restaurant is situated in SS15 in Subang Jaya. It is a well known restaurant to the locals and many flock there for their breakfast set meals and also their lunch set meals. The restaurant wasn't difficult to find but finding a parking space for your car is. And this place is called 'Peppercorn Cafe'.

English Breakfast

As you can see from the picture their English breakfast set consists of 2 sunny side up egg, 1 halved sausage, 2 tiny slice of bacon, some baked beans and a couple of toasted bread. Your have a choice of either coffee or tea and a tiny glass of orange juice.

The other breakfast set comes with 2 sunny side up egg, 2 tiny slice of bacon, some baked beans, a couple of toasted bread and a piece of hash brown.

Well, what can I say about it. Nothing fantastic nor nothing great about it. But for something below RM10.00 this was really a good bargain. The only thing great is that we do not need to cook it and do the washing. Frankly, I could do a better version of this English breakfast.

Waffle

The waffle was good. Spread some butter or fruit jam on it to give it a better taste. Would have been great if there were ice-creams made available.

Conclusion : This restaurant is famous for it's value for money deals. It attracts many young patrons mainly uni-students. Breakfast and lunch crowd can be overwhelming. Restaurant set up is simple and nice, it's clean and service is ok lah. A look at their menu suggests they can dish something more complicated and more interesting compared to what we had. Value for money but portion could be better. A 3/5.

Cheers!

Peppercorn Cafe
No.21, Jalan SS15/4
47500 Subang Jaya
Selangor.
Tel : 03 5631 1808.

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