Restaurant Hakka

Mighty Kan is back to Malaysia and we have no choice but to organize gathering to welcome him home (although he back only for 2 days)

So for dinner, we dashed ourselves to Restaurant Hakka just opposite of Pavilion. Next to Restaurant Hakka is Novotel Hotel. So it was easy for everyone to find the restaurant.

As it was a wonderful day, we wanted to sit at open air place but Mighty Kan wanted air-condition area so we please him and settle ourselves at the air-conditioned room. For those who wanted to eat steamboat, it was advisable to sit outside so you can enjoy the city breeze...

Ok....now the introduction of food!!

We settle down and each of us are to order 1 dish. Kee Souh (Soh Kee aka Aunty Kee)in charge of vegetable, zhe quan in charge of tofu, nicholas in charge of sotong (because he look very sotong), fook weng in charge of ordering chicken (not prostitute) and me in charge of pork....Below is the conversation of ordering the food:

~translated from Mandarin~

Waitress: May I take your order?
Zhe Quan: Ok, I want to order claypot tofu...
Kee Souh: Wait, wait....what the different between claypot tofu and braised special claypot?
Waitress: Oh special claypot tofu include vegetable and siew york...
Kee Souh: Eh Zhe Quan, cancel claypot tofu and take this braised special claypot.
Me: Ok, I want Hakka pork rib. Come Hakka restaurant sure need Hakka food ma..
Fook Weng: Lemon Chicken...is that ok Kee Souh...
Kee Souh: Eh, dun ask me la...you all decide ma...I am ok with everything!!
Nicholas: I want erm erm this sotong (pointing at menu)
Kee Souh: No No No...We want 'chiu imm' sotong...
Everyone: Har chiu imm?
Waitress: oh salted fried sotong?
Kee Souh: Ya Ya...
Everyone: Kee Souh, you in charge of vege le....so what vege you want?
Kee Souh: Erm...erm....aiya, chin chai la....give me 'yau choi' enough la...

See....at last, Kee souh order for us!!!

Ok...Basically the food is delicious but a bit pricy.

Yau Choi - taste very different from other restaurant and the vege is fresh. RM 20 for this plate of vege is totally a ripped off

Hakka Pork Rib - RM 4.50 per pieces. It taste normal to me. Taste a bit like marmite pork.

Lemon Chicken - RM 22. Very normal and nothing to proud off...Any restaurant can cook better than this.

Salted sotong - RM 22. The taste is just nice. Very chewy, crispy and springy...But lack of 'wok hei'...

Braised claypot Tofu with siew york - RM 18. For me this is the best dishes for the day. The ingredient is fresh and cook with perfect combination. The roasted pork added special aroma to this dishes and with a little bit of 'hua tiu' liquor, this claypot tofu is one of the best I ever tasted.

White rice - RM 1.50 per bowl. So pricy!!!

Total damage to our wallet: RM 150 (including titbits, tea, towel, government charge and service charge)

Kinnaree Thai Restaurant

Here, the Strawberry Bing exploring one of the Thailand restaurant named Kinnaree Thai Restaurant.. It is located in second floor of the Jaya 1 center (above the BBQ Chicken Restaurant)..

The Interior design of this restaurant brings the relaxing environment and homely feel..

PEPPERMINT INFU - refillable (RM 5.50)
Tea that feels like drinking Colgate toothpaste.. But it's depend on people, some people likes it so much..

KINNAREE INFU - refillable (RM 5.50)
It feels like drinking Chinese's Potato Sweat Drink.. I think children like it..

TOM YAM TALAY - 1 person (RM 14)
It is so sour and you can decide whether you want it normal, spicy or more spicy.. It contains a muscle, a prawn, a slice of fish and 2 cutter fishs..


GREEN CURRY KAI (RM 24)
The paste is green in colour (might contain of pandan leaf and coconut milk) and the taste is better than the Mmarinate amak stall curry.. The chicken slices are soft and marinated that makes you want to keep on eat the second pieces..

YAM PHAK BUNG KR (RM 14)It is Kai Lan vegetable that fried with flour and comes with some walnuts, meat paste and prawns. Feels like eating Tempura..

The only thing that I felt is not reasonable is the rice costs RM 3 per bowl, EXPENSIVE..

I do love the eating environment there and it is suitable for couples to been there..

Rating:
Foods 4/5
Environment 4/5
Services 4/5
Price 3/5
Hygiene 4/5

3 Colour Tea & 3 Colour Coffee

If my memory serve me right, 3 Colour Tea is Sabah specialty and 3 Colour Coffee is Sarawak specialty. I got opportunity to drink them during my audit assignment to Sabah and Sarawak. The taste is so different from normal tea and coffee, not only tasty, but rich in aroma.

Recently, I discover a shop in Cahaya that sell these two refreshing drinks, i.e. Medan Selera Cahaya 218. This "shop" is a chinese food court not far from Cahaya LRT station. They actually get this product from a distributor A One. So I think there are many other shops start selling these drinks too.

Let's not waste time, here is the legendary 3 colour tea:


As you can see from the picture, the top layer is tea, which is the main part of the drink, then the middle yellowish colour is condensate milk, and finally the bottom part is the key to the whole thing - coconut sugar. So, instead of normal sugar or milk, this drink use coconut sugar. However, the authentic 3 colour tea added wheat grass juice as well. The taste is normal tea, but it come with strong aroma of wheat grass and coconut. It's hard to describe or imagine the taste, so why not take it a try???

The next one would be 3 colour coffee:


What's the different? Of cause, the differences other than the name, the taste is different too. For me, 3 colour coffee taste is not as good as 3 colour tea. The authentic 3 colour coffee at Sarawak is very nice, I can still remember the aroma very well. Oh ya, at Sarawak, they not call it 3 colour coffee, they call it Coffee Special. You can almost drink it in any shops there.

This is a truth fusion of local and western, doesn't it? Both tea and coffee are brought to Malaysia under British command. Now this recipe is mix with our very own local coconut sugar. I call this an international sign of drink. hahaha...

If you wanna try it at Medan Selera Cahaya 218, one glass of 3 colour coffee or 3 colour tea is only RM2.20. Besides a nice drink, there are many delicious delicacy here as well, which I will post them soon.

Here my verdict:
3 colour tea
(colour = 9, taste = 9, aroma = 8, texture = 9, environment = 7)
TOTAL = 8.4 / 10.0

3 colour coffee
(colour = 8.5, taste = 8.5, aroma = 8, texture = 8.5, environment = 7)
TOTAL = 8.1 / 10.0

Resort Cafe (Resort Hotel@Genting Highland)

This buffet breakfast was included in the package for hotel room in Resort Hotel. It surpassed my expectation to the point of no return. My 3 hours spent there as a very happy man has resulted in me gobbling almost all of the dishes offered, which is catastrophic to my diet. However, i have no regrets due to all the fresh and many varieties of dishes offered by Resort Cafe.


The entrance to a world of wonders


The ambiance is quite classy with some touch of elegance to it. Lucky me, i found a table next to the window which oversees the nice morning dew of Genting Highland


Freshly baked breads, looks hard outside, but soft and fluffy in the inside

The Varieties of Cereals and Cakes offered


This is my first time savouring bread pudding. It tastes suprisingly nice, with a touch of sweetness to the pudding which hides beneath every slice of bread.


Just look at the varieties of dishes offered. Picture tells a million/gaziliion words







Banjo eggs cooked in front of your eyes and served immediately


Scrambled eggs are nicely cooked, the texture of the scrambled eggs are just nice.


Indian Cuisine - Roti prata (with very concentrated dhal), scrambled eggs and Masala vegetables


Asian Cuisine - Fried Rice, Fried "lo shee fun", Nasi Lemak, Chicken Rendang, Banjo egg and Spring Rolls.

Asian Cuisine - Chicken Congee with a couple of mini paos

Western Cuisine - French Fries, Baked beans, Garden Salad, Hotdog and Ham


Fresh fruits for dessert - The Red watermelon tastes soo sweet


The best way to end this food trip would be a nice cuppa of teh tarik and some slices of cakes, while looking out to the vast forest of the highland.


Pros: Food served very fresh, Empty plates are cleared almost immediately, many varieties of fresh dishes, nice ambiance in the cafe, and a nice view

Cons: Can't think of any....

Result: 9.5/10 (really must give it a try if you happen to stay in resorts hotel)

All you can eat....except this!!!

Everywhere we go, there will be weird delicacy served by the native or local citizen.

However, we as human should always be alert on what we put into our mouth to ensure our stomach is not harm or in another way round, we do not harm anyone.

Here, Harkausiewmai.blogspot would strongly disagree with turtle egg as delicacy!

When buying stop, killing will stop too!!!

Save the turtle....They need their eggs more than us!!!

Ampang vs Puchong Yong Tau Fu

I still remember when I was young my friend use to tease me as Yong Tau Fu because my name have the word ‘yong’. I love Yong tau fu and I eat it almost once in every week.

I come to know 2 places famous for Yong Tau Fu which is Ampang and Puchong…Which one is your favorites?

~~~Ampang Yong Tau Fu~~~

Say Ampang, one will remember of its Yong Tau Fu…

In Ampang there is 4 shops all together selling Yong Tau Fu. Each calls themselves the best. For me, I always go to the last shop near the community hall. The seller communicates with the kitchen staff using microphone and sometime you can even hearing them quarrel over the microphone.


Ampang Yong Tau Fu is fresh and less soupy. Just order according to the portion you want and they will arrange everything for you. They also have fried dumpling and soup dumpling. For me, I just love both!

~~~Puchong Yong Tau Fu~~~

Puchong Yong Tau Fu is hidden in a small kampong area nearby a school. Frankly I don’t remember much about this area as I was actually on business travel during that time.

One has to pick their own Yong Tau Fu at a corner and they will freshly cook the entire ingredient picked by the customer immediately. The Yong Tau Fu come with a bowl of clear soup. The soup is sweet with all the freshness of fish and vegetable. However the fried stuff are heaty and one can easily get sore throat if eat it immediately after it serve. The taufupok is also been fried as compare to Ampang Yong Tau Fu whereby the taufupok will normally end up in the soup. I frankly feel that the fried Taufupok have loss it sweetness and taste. I get myself sore throat for eating too much fried stuff.





Anyway, both Yong Tau Fu have it own pro and cons. Those who like soupy type can always go to Puchong Yong Tau Fu but always aware to balance fried stuff with the soupy Yong Tau Fu. The Ampang Yong Tau Fu is more fresh, sweet and healthy.

SO what say you? My vote, I still prefer Ampang Yong Tau Fu

MD Selera Nasi Kukus (Kuala Terengganu)

Since Kuala Terengganu is popular with its specialty "Nasi Dagang", we decided to try it on a sunny afternoon during our visit to Kuala Terengganu. However, we were later informed that Nasi Dagang is usually served as breakfast or dinner. Hence, we settled down randomly on a stall selling Nasi Kukus (Steamed Rice) which is the evil twin of Nasi Dagang.

The Banner which is also the signboard of the stall



Plentiful of choices ranging from deep fried/curry chicken, fish, whole cuttlefish, beef, fresh vegetables and salted eggs.


Don't the steamed rice look like white "loh mai kai"?? The consistency of the rice is al dente, not too mushy, not too hard...(see how it looks like when its served with the dishes below)


Nasi Kukus with catfish deep fried with sambal (RM 4.50)
This dish is suprisingly yummy although it looks not so appetising. The fish has a layer of caramelised sugar on its super crispy skin which made it sweet and crispy, with a blend of sambal as a finishing touch which adds some spiciness to it.


Nasi Kukus with Fried Chicken (RM 4.50)
This freid chicken is one of the best that i've consumed from any nasi lemak'nasi kukus stall. Although it looks charred outside, but it is actually tenderlicious in the inside. The chicken meat will kinda melt in your mouth without much chewing needed.
Pros: Very fresh ingredients used. Rice is uniquely served. Friendly seller.

Cons: Those who stay in KL need to travel for hours in bus to taste it in Kuala Terengganu

Result: 8.5/10 (it is shy of 9 coz its located soooo far, need to travel very far to have this good stuff again)

Pasta Zanmai@Midvalley

I, Yong Joo (Eddie Lim) and Kean Yap as usual went out to search for nice food in March 2009. After a while of searching and we have eventually chosen Pasta Zanmai to try out nice Japanese food. 3 of us were very satisfied with the food there and will definitely go back for another try of other nice food.



Here are some of food/menu we ordered:

This Unagi set with Tempura Pasta (RM22) ordered by Kean Yap


Mini Yasai no Wafu Soup Pasta to Mini Chicken Katsu Curry Rice ordered by me (RM22)


Mini Hotale Pizza ordered by Yong Joo. This set come with Mini Teriyaki Chicken Pasta (RM22)


Lot F-051, First Floor,
Mid Valley Megamall,
Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 KL.

Result: 8/10 (It is definitely worth a good try for nice Japanese food!!!)