Birthday/Anniversary/Mother's Day.

Every year the month of May make me poorer and burn a big hole in my wallet.


So this year I have a dinner plus karaoke for my birthday, my daughter's wedding anniversary and Mother's day all on the same day-killing three birds with one stone !

This dinner was held at one of the VIP room in Pantai Seafood Restoran in Sg Kayu Ara.

Before the dinner -Michelle and Samantha entertained us with their great solo and duet songs.

There were nicely wrapped presents for me and my wife. 

We ordered ala carte dishes from their extensive menu.

Overall it's was a happy, joyous and great dinner. 

Four Combination Platter-a great dish to start the dinner.

Kepah (clams)in a superior soup-sweet and fresh.

Sea prawn with salted egg-crispy and fleshy with a fragrant salted flavor.

Sliced Lotus root stuffed with prawn paste in a white egg gravy-very crunchy served on the side with broccoli.

Steamed Soon Hock (Marble Goby) in a good grade soy sauce and peanut oil-fleshy, sweet, flaky and the star of the night.

Thai styled Pig Trotter-crispy deep down to the bones.

Asparagus with prawn-too old and thick rendering it to a bitter taste was returned to the kitchen.

Salted mud crabs to end the dinner-fine, sweet and succulent flesh with fragrant duck egg yolk flavor on the outside.

Local cut mixed fruits to aid the digestive system.





Total bill:Rm700/
Location: Lot 13575, Jln Cempaka, PJU 6A,
Kg. Sg Kayu Ara, Petaling Jaya.
Tel:03-7727-8090. 

Lunch @ Lurah Bilut.

After a great breakfast we headed to Raub, Pahang a small gold mining town.

We picked up 4th Yee's mother and we went to the weekly Pasar Tani near the Bus Terminal.

 

Bought fresh red Bird's eye chillies at only Rm2/sardine tin, ripe bananas at Rm1-Rm2/comb and fresh fruits that were in season-a real bargain !

 Then we proceeded to Bukit Koman village to catch a glimpse of the former gold mine-......then to Kampung Ulu Dong-famous for it's picturesque waterfalls.


Back to Lurah Bilut aka Ah Sap Kong for lunch at Kedai Kopi Poh Heng, a small wooden split-level coffee shop under a local Cherry tree that also serve tai chow dishes-home made noodle, water terrapin, river fishes and frog bee hoon soup are their signature dishes (we did not get to eat the frog as we were late).

Deep fried home made noodle doused with sliced fish cake, pork strips, choy sam and egg white gravy.

Steamed kampung chicken with blended ginger-very well muscled.

Stir fried oyster mushroom-smooth,sweet and earthy flavor.

Steamed Tapah fish-a fresh,sweet and fleshy chunk around the belly part-5 stars.

Paku choy with sambal belacan-tender and crunchy.

 After lunch, we drove to 4th Yee's friend Durian orchard, along the old Raub road for some durians-dry, bittersweet and fleshy !

Durians for eat in and takeaway-4th Yee packing it into boxes.

Total Bill:Rm115/
Location: after turning in Lurah Bilut-after the arch-first junction-turn right and go about 30 meters-the coffee shop is on your left.

Breakfast @ Bentong.

Bentong located in the state of Pahang a is quiet, nostalgic hilly town famous for it's ginger, tofu puffs, hot springs, waterfalls, ice cream and as a food and fruits heaven.
 
For this Bentong, Pahang's trip, our host was 4th Yee, a small sized gregarious lady.

Our first stop was a walk around the busy open air market and a morning Pasar pagi.


Breakfast was at Kedai Kopi Yuen Kee, a corner lot coffee shop - opposite off an Indian temple on Jalan Chui Yin .

She ordered both the dry/soup wanton noodle for us from the Hooi Kee stall (32 years in business)-the wait was 30 minutes even though the stall owner was her good friend.


As we came empty stomach all the way from PJ- we ordered some really good Chee Cheong Fun (round rice noodle rolls) plus Kong Sai Yong lui's (stuffed ingredients) to fill our growling stomach while waiting.

Top: delicious Kong Sai styled home-made Yong Lui with lots of spring onion and coriander leaves in the mixture.

Bottom: smooth Chee cheong fun (round rice roll) with a perfect sweet soy gravy, with a dollop of chillies paste on the side and garnished with chopped spring onion and lots of toasted sesame-3 plates=Rm9.20/.

The noodle stall was manned by about 10 persons-business was brisk with lots of takeaways and eat-in-----------------the long wait was because only one person does the cooking of the noodle.

The long wait was worthwhile with the very first bite of the springy home made Wantan noodle and fragrant fillings of the wantons while the sliced BBQ pork was just average. 


Parking is OK.

Wantan noodle soup with a clear tasty soup-springy home-made noodle, three smooth wanton with a fragrant grounded Flounder fish/good grade minced pork fillings, BBQ pork was just average-Rm3.60/

Dry wanton noodle tossed with pig's lard oil, sesame oil and superior light/dark soy sauce was not too oily or robust-springy home-made noodle was a class above others served with average BBQ pork slices/chopped spring onion with a bowl of three lovely wantons in a bowl of soup-Rm3.60/

Location: 57, Jalan Chui Yin,
Bentong, Pahang.

Restoran Fatty Crab Sdn Bhd.

Restoran Fatty Crab Sdn Bhd was voted KL's best seafood restaurant by Time Out magazine in 2009.

If I have visitors from overseas, this is the first place on my food itinerary to treat them to a delicious hot, spicy and numbing crab dinner and with toasted white bread to soak up all the tasty gravy !

Be there early on weekends as there is no reservations-only first come first serve basis.

Just bring along your appetite and cash.

Parking is OK.

An appetizer of sliced Century eggs with pickled young ginger to tease your tastebuds -Rm4/

Nicely charcoal grilled meaty chicken Satay on skewers served on the side with slice fresh cucumber and big onion-Rm20/

Deep fried fresh and tender chicken wings with crispy skin-can be very salty sometimes-Rn22/

Steamed Red Snapper-TeoChew style-very fresh with tomato, salted vegetable in a sweet and sourish broth-beautifully garnished with coriander leaves, red chillies and spring onion-Rm40/

Yellowish, eggy and fluffy fried rice with chopped long beans and shrimps-excellent and very consistent-Rm15/

Steamed mud crab-fresh, sweet and meaty-Rm48/

Sweet and sour mud crab-TeoChew style with lots of finely chopped red/green Bird's eye chillies-hot and numbing to the tongue (the greatest "kick")-a dozen of toasted white bread to soak up all of those killer gravy-Rm48/

 


Total bill:Rm225/
Location: 2, Jalan SS24/13, Taman Megah,
Petaling Jaya,
Tel:03-7804-5758.

Passion fruit.

On arriving at a relative's house in Raub, Pahang a green vine plant with lots of paper wrapped light to deep purplish colored fruits (about 70 fruits) interspersed on her chain chained fence, got me curious.

    
 On closer inspection, it was Passion fruits (Passiflora Edulis) a native vine plant from South America.

A friend of mine bought 2 plant from a nursery for Rm150/ -planted it in his garden in Petaling Jaya and until today it bears only one fruit (could be the weather)

From Wikipedia- The passion fruit is round to oval, either yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. The fruit can be grown to eat or for its juice, which is often added to other fruit juices to enhance the aroma. The fruit shown are mature for juicing and culinary use. For eating right out of the fruit, the fruit should be allowed to wrinkle for a few days to raise the sugar levels and enhance the flavor.
The skin is tough and to cut it open, you need to poke it with a sharp knife and then cut it gently around the fruit.

 I like to eat it fresh with a spoon-scooping up all the essentials seeds, pulp and sourish juice which are rich in beta carotene, potassium, dietary fiber and Vitamin C-excellent for those with high blood pressure.