FRESH OYSTERS

The live fresh sea food in Pantai Seafood Restaurant always beckon me back. Tonight besides the usual steamed Crabs and boiled Prawns, I tried Fresh Oyster for the first time in my life- I always avoided it as I am not a Ostreaphile. French poet Leon-Paul Fargue's quote about oyster, "Eating one was like kissing the sea on the lips"
It was a sort of encouragement for me. After eating one, it did gave me a sense of satisfaction and made me realized, oh! what a fool I was ? Missing on such a great delicacy.

Fresh oyster-Rm7/each served on plate of shaved ice with slices of Yellow lemon, garlic and Tobasco sauce

As a first timer i did not follow any ritual-just hold it with one hand, a squeeze of lime juice- add some garlic- popped it in my mouth-felt a firm and slippery texture-some salinity, took a bite and chewed on it-some sweetness - gulped it down-a lovely sensation!.

Location:13575, Jalan Cempaka PJU 6A, Kg Sg Kayu Ara, Petaling Jaya. Tel:03-7727-8090.

WAN TAN MEE

Wan Tan Mee is everybody's favorite noodle, you can have it at anytime of the day. The art of cooking the noodle is the most crucial part of preparing this simple and tasty dish. I have found one stall at Restoran Simon's Delight in Petaling Jaya, that does just that. Ah Lek, the stall owner was formerly from Restoran Intan in Section 17, this guy is quite a show off especially when he cooks the noodle-flipping and tossing it (watch the video clip). He even told me that his customers called him "Char Siew King". We ordered two plates of dry noodle with wan ton, two pieces of pork dumplings and his trademark Char Siew.

Char siew straight from the oven.

The Char Siew was what i expected-not too lean with the right amount of fats-tender, well marinated and caramelized with honey and malt sugar.

The Siew Kow was big with a generous amount of fillings like water chestnut, carrot, black fungus, prawn and minced pork.

The Wan Ton Mee was springy and tossed with a light soy sauce and lard and served with some blanched Choy Sam.

Watch how he flips the noodle from the hot pot to the cold pot and tossing it upwards to rid the noodles of water.

Total bill:Rm10/
Location:63, Jalan 20/20,
Paramount Garden,
Petaling Jaya.

NEW PARIS RESTAURANT SDN BHD

Saturday lunch with my buddies, we went to New Paris Restaurant in SS2, Petaling Jaya as we wanted to have a quick lunch. "QUICK" it was ! from the time we did the ordering to finish eating-only 30 minutes. The restaurant ground floor area is open dining while upstairs is air conditioned. Their daily turnover of diners is fast that's why, a need for Red colored plastics sheet cover for each table. When you have finished your meal, they just wrapped up everything with it and send it to the washing section-and the table is set-Great ideas. We did not order their signature dishes like Sambal Petai Prawn, Steamed Tilapia Fish or Pineapple Pork Ribs as TaTa was in a "carnivorous" mood, and looked what he ordered.

Braised Chicken in Homemade Glutinous Rice Wine with finely shredded Ginger- the tender Chicken meat fully absorbed the sweet and aromatic wine- rm29/

Pork Belly with Salted Fish in a pot-it was bland could be the inferior Salted fish used and was mixed with pieces of lean pork-rm10/

Double boiled Watercress Soup-was tasty and the only green to go with our meal-rm6/.

Steamed Grouper fish-was fresh and fleshy-bathed in good grade Soy sauce and garnished with Ginger, Coriander leaves and Spring Onion.-rm32/.

Their signature sauce-Chillies, Shallots with Lime juice-really prep up our appetite.

Total bill:Rm78/

Location:62-64-66, Jalan SS2/72,

Petaling Jaya.
Tel:03-7955-9180/0186.

CURRY CHICKEN RICE

The last three weeks of unpredictable weather and fluctuating temperature really played havoc on our human body. In the morning and afternoon it is hot and humid while in the night, it is cold and wet. Our Yin (cold) and Yang (hot) becomes disoriented, I was caught in the rain a few times, need some "Yang" to balance it. Hence, this Curry Chicken Rice dinner to prep it up!

Home made Chicken Curry with no Evaporated Milk or Santan (Coconut Milk).

Blend Shallots, Lemongrass, Buah Keras (Candle nuts), dried Red Chillies with some water.

Heat up cooking oil in a wok, Add blended ingredients and fry until oil surfaces and aromatic.
Add in the Rempah, Curry powder, Curry leaves, a piece of Belacan (dried Shrimp paste), a sprinkle of sugar and salt to taste. stir it until fragrant.

Lastly, add the chopped Chicken, Potatoes and a little water every now and then.
Let it simmer until the chicken meat is tender and gravy is reduced and it is ready to serve.

Served it with a plate of piping hot White rice, some stir fried Siew Bok Choy and a piece of Prawn cracker-a real comfort dish-Hot! Hot! Hot!.

FONG LYE RESTAURANT

Everyone seems to wax lyrical about Fong Lye a Taiwanese restaurant located at The Garden in The Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur. Last Sunday was our wedding anniversary and the children insisted on taking us to dinner at Fong Lye. When we arrived there, the place was packed to the brim, we took a Queue Number 8 (lucky number) and waited outside. We were then given the Menu to scour through the food lists. A moment later, we were surprised to be served a peg of Lemon juice, maybe out of courtesy or a ploy, to whet up our appetite before the meal proper!. After a 15 minutes long wait, we were ushered to Table 22, situated just beside the counter. The restaurant looks spanking new, clean, bright and cheery with White color as their main theme. The food served was more like the street food in Taiwan albeit more refined with nice looking porcelain crockery and rectangular wooden tray with a mini stove fuel by a wax flame. We ordered the highlighted Chef's recommendations with the pencil and order form provided.

Customers browsing through the menu while enjoying a peg of Lemon juice.

This is what you get for a normal set meal.

Close up of the platter of appetizers-Sea Urchin, Strips of Squid, Seaweed Egg Roll, Julienned Celery, Carrot and deep fried mini Fish paste.

A bowl of clear Double boiled Watercress Soup with Wolfberries.

A Set of fried sliced Beef with julienned Red, Green and Yellow Capsicum-Sam's comment: Beef was fresh and tender, gravy was perfect with the rice-Rm26.80/.

A Set of Fried Fish with Tomato Fried Eggs-My comment: Fish meat was lightly battered, crispy outside- White and moist inside- bathed in a sweet and tasty Tomato broth-Rm19.80/.

A Set of Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs-tangy flavored with Tomato, Capsicum and big Onion-May's comment: the lightly battered Pork Ribs was meaty and boneless-easy to eat!-Rm19.80/

A Set of Stir fried Sliced Beef with Spring Onion and, slices of young Ginger and fresh Red Chillies- Mindy's comment: Beef was fresh and tender-Rm19.80/.

A Set of Pig Big Intestines-filled with coagulated cubed Pig's blood, preserved Chinese Mustard and Chinese Leeks-Mike's comment: the broth was "Ma lat" spicy, a little salty with a slight Mint flavor-Rm17.80/.

Iced Cool Drinks to refresh the palate-Watermelon with Milk and Ooloong Tea with Milk-rm7.30/each.

Snow Mountain-very finely shaved Ice topped with Mung beans, Red beans and Ice Cream-sinfully sweet-Rm9.30/.

A dainty pot of refillable Rose Oolong Tea to wash away all the fats!-Rm6/pax

Overall the food was good and caters to people of all ages!

Total bill:Rm160/
Location: Lot 208, 3 rd Floor, The Garden,
Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel:03-2282-8699.

DELICIOUS DINNER 13

A series of home cooked dinner by my wife.

Fried Wan Ton- the Pork and Prawn fillings was meaty with a crispy outer crust-good as a snack food too.

Deep fried White Promfret Fish-was fresh with a glistening skin and served with a sprinkling of light Soy sauce.

Angled Loofah cooked with Black Fungus, diced Onion and Pawns-sweet and nutritious.

DAMANSARA VILLAGE STEAMBOAT RESTAURANT

Tonight, the heavy rain and cold weather was a good excuse for me to indulge in a steamboat dinner at Damansara Village Steamboat Restaurant in the Sg Kayu Ara area (A stone throwaway from the famous Pantai Seafood Restaurant). This restaurant is like a mini nature resort with open dining area, some thatched roofed gazebo, glass aquarium filled with live fishes and crustaceans, a small fish pond, tortoise, bird and chicken too. Their tag line proudly stated that they are "The first of it's kind steamboat restaurant" and all the food served are healthylicious-there was no doubt about it. We ordered the Rm119/set and selected a clear chicken soup for our steamboat plus 10 sticks of chicken satay for appetizer. The service was good with attentive waiters and waitresses. Our pot of Chinese Tea was well refilled and the empty dishes were cleared every now and then. Parking is ample along the road.

Part of the dining area.

Satay for appetizer-chicken meat was well marinated and tender-rm8/

We started of the meal with a step by step savoring of the live seafood -Step 1. Live Prawns and Giant Clams 2. Fresh Red Snapper Fish 3. Flower Crabs 4. Mussels and Sliced Abalone-ate the cooked seafood on it's own to savor the natural sweetness- the clear chicken soup cooked with all the fresh seafood became a sweet, natural nourishing tasty "rainbow" flavored broth-so lush!

We climaxed with the prepared ingredients like Fish ball. Tow Pok, Vegetable ball, Fuzhou fish ball, Fish noodle, Meat dumpling, Fried Bean curd Sheets, Chinese Long cabbage, Crab stick, Quail egg, Chicken egg and Egg noodle......etc-dipped the cooked food with the fiery hot Sambal chillies and sweet bean sauce-tantalizing! danced on our palate oh! a really satisfying meal.

It is really worth the money when the seafood is so prime and fresh!

Total bill:Rm145/
Location:1067, Jalan Jenjarum,
Kampung Sg Kayu Ara,
off Jalan SS23/10, Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 7803-1832.

RESTORAN YOKE YAT BAK KUT TEH

Saturday lunch date with my buddies, we went to Restoran Yoke Yat for our Bak Kut Teh's fix. This restaurant is located just next door to the famous "Soo Kee" Fried River Prawns and Beef noodles shop in the Medan Imbi area. As the restaurant cooking area fronted the shop, we opt to eat in the air conditioned room to avoid all the grime and smoke. Judging by the number of Tour buses parked by the road side, I think most of their customers are either regulars or tourist, The orders were swiftly taken and within ten minutes all the dishes were served on the table. The price was a tad bit expensive and finding a parking space was quite a challenge, worth the while! The only complain is that the "Fei Kut" was 3 layered instead of 7 layered!

The front of the shop.

Claypot Bak Kut Teh-we ordered "Fei Kut" (thick fat layered ribs) but came filled with more artery clogging fats than lean meat-soup was robust, clear and herbal favored and the chopped Coriander leaves lends a distinct flavor to the soup -Rm14/pax x 4=Rm56/

Stir fried Choy Sam- portion was big, leafy and looks hastily cooked -came in a lump-rm10/

Chinese Crullers was crusty and fresh -Tau Pok was soft and spongy-good accompaniment to the soup-RM4/.

Total bill:Rm83/.
Location:23 B-25 B, Jln Medan Imbi,
off Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel:03-1248-9334.