"Mama's cooking gone native!"
Native cooking is all about fresh ingredients and fuss free cooking. At Cafe Sumai Indai, resident cook and owner Ramina or more lovingly known as Indai, whips up authentic Iban dishes that you usually find in a longhouse.
One of the signature dishes here is the 'Ayam Pansuh'. This is a dish that requires minimal prepping. Chicken pieces, tapioca leaves, ginger and torch ginger flower are mixed together and cooked in a bamboo. The secret is not to add water since bamboo already has a high moisture content. Water would just dilute and mute the flavours. Instead of barbecuing the bamboo, Indai cooks it directly on her stove. She takes it off the fire when the chicken aroma starts to fill up her kitchen. That's when you know it's done!
When you slurp the broth, it slides down your throat like your mum's chicken soup. Bitter tapioca leaves and tender chicken chunks are infused with hints of ginger, warming up your tummy like a cosy blanket. This is great for those cold, rainy monsoon nights. Indai also makes pork, fish and even duck pansuh if chicken's not your thing.
If you are an adventurous epicurean, the shark umai will be right up your alley. Strips of shark fillets are marinated in a combination of chillies, ginger, lime and onions. Once the flesh transforms from translucent to opaque, it's ready to be eaten. This is a Melanau dish that is now a common lunchtime 'lauk' served in most homes across Sarawak. The raw fish will absorb the citrusy juice and the chillies giving you a tangy and spicy hit with each mouthful. Eat it the traditional way- with some sago pearls. This is a great alternative to rice if you want to have a lighter meal. They serve both here.
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"Good food and cosy ambience"
Not much has changed at Quan since the last time I had my lengthy conversation sessions, the walls are still plastered with old movie posters and cigarette ads, coca cola paraphernalia peppers the room, bathed in warm lighting, it has a very mom and pop café feel. Servers pick up dishes through a small sliding door, when it opens, a myriad of aromas waft from the kitchen to the dining area.
As an appetizer, we ordered the cornflakes chicken, chicken tenders coated in cornflakes with a thin layer of glaze on top. It tasted like crispy candied chicken nuggets. Sweet and savoury, it’s a wonderful start to our meal.
I ordered my usual, a plate of Singapore fried glass noodles, it’s listed as Singapore fried beehoon in the menu but I always ask them to use glass noodles instead, the texture of the glass noodles gives it more bite and just elevates the dish to a different level. Tasty with flavours of garlics and onions, the addition of bean sprouts and sawi adds crunch and freshness to the dish.
My dining companions ordered Butter Chicken with Rice (listed as one of the top 3 dishes in the menu), Black Pepper Lo Shu Fan and Fried Mee Sua. The menu is a mind-boggling list of choices ranging from braised rice to western dishes, even the drinks list is extensive, with pages for different types of coffee, tea and juices.
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"Birdwatching while grabbing some grub..."
We have a world class bird park slap bang in the middle of KL. If you don't already know this, The KL Bird Park boasts the biggest Free Flight Walk In Aviary in the World. Wow. Yes! I looked it up. 800 birds of 60 local and foreign species flying around in 20.9 acres. And the best part is that they built a restaurant inside the walk in aviary so that you can eat and enjoy the scenery as well. Situated on a higher ground and with a verandah big enough to hold a couple of tables outside, it is a unique experience indeed. But how's the food then?
The menu is quite extensive with sections that include pasta, egg, international favourites and Asian Delights. The Asian selections are quite interesting with Nasi Lemak, Char Koay Teow, Cantonese Noodles and Chicken Curry on offer. Cantonese Koay Teow is not one of the best I've had but is a good representation for people trying this for the first time. Portions are generous with ample toppings of prawns, squid, slices of chicken and fresh vegetables.
The Malaysian Chicken Curry with Yogurt is very nice but judging from the thin layer of oil on top of the bowl, quite oily. It has a nice Nyonya-like taste instead of the spicy heavy Indian version so it's a bit more sourish with a hint of lemongrass (if I am not mistaken). Comes with white rice. But this curry is also the kind that goes well with roti canai (pity they don't serve this).
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"Hey! Leave some for me..."
“We’ll have one of each,” I told Din, the owner of Shazana Cafe. We vowed not to over order in one place during the Kampung Baru Crawl but the daily specials were too tempting to ignore. Gulai tempoyak ikan patin, rendang itik and asam pedas daging tetel- Malay dishes I love but seldom get to have.
The gulai tempoyak had the most amazing scent but it was more Pahang style hence a little spicier and richer. However, if you are hankering for this, it does hit the spot. The tempoyak is also a little on the sour side which is how I like it. The daging tetel (known as daging cincang in KL) is basically the bits of meat and fat people cut off their meat. Cooked in an asam pedas, the fattiness of the meat chunks lends itself superbly to the sour-spicy gravy. This was the first dish to finish.
Mmm… the best of the trio though was the rendang itik. The spices or bumbu are cooked until almost crispy so it has a little bit of smokiness to it. Coupled with duck, the heady spices masks the gaminess while giving it tons of flavour. A plate of fried eggplant is served with this. I suggest you get the rendang spices and slather it on the eggplant- delicious!
Shazana seems one of those Kg. Baru hang outs that mushroomed out of simpler eating shops. The newer generation of cafe taikos make it a little trendier, serve a mixed menu of local grub and Western-ish dishes and provide wifi. There are many such eateries in the labyrinth of Kg. Baru- cheeky, a little schitzo and relentlessly cheerful. This hodge podge of everything that strikes one's fancy makes interesting dining out but it's something that's uniquely ours and makes no apologies for it.
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"Detour, relax and refuel"
Awhile back, I was stuck in a traffic jam along the Federal Highway and for the umpteenth time when I looked left at the Naza showroom compound, there it is. Right between the Harley Davidson and the Ferrari showroom- Milwaukee Steak Corner. It was half full of people laughing away, sipping coffee and having what looked like steaks and nasi lemak from a far distance. Today is the day… I am going there! Somehow, 20 minutes later I managed to weasel my way into the friggin’ slip road that takes me to the showroom and food...
I must say, this is a cosy place to have a nice meal and at the same time sit out the traffic. The place serves both local and western food from mushroom cream soup to chicken chops and nasi lemak. Prices are reasonable with the most expensive being the Grilled Spare Beef Ribs at RM45. But on average, food is about RM15 per dish.
Surprisingly, my favourite here is the Nasi Lemak with Chicken Curry. Here's a couple of things I like in their version. Firstly, the chicken curry is not too spicy and balances well with the coconut rice. Secondly, the rice itself is perhaps a mix of broken basmathi and normal rice (maybe) but this gives the rice a flavour that is not too overpoweringly ‘coconuty’ and at the rice itself has less starch and not ‘glutinious-like’. I like. Thirdly, the nuts drove me nuts. It’s the kind that you eat a whole tubful while watching a movie. A good choice to serve them on this plate. A nice symphony of flavours for RM8.90
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"Meaty cockles, smooth noodles, and a hint of chili!"
So you’re in the Klang Valley. Where do you go for the best char kuey teow? It’s not an easy question; everyone has his or her own opinion. And it was with this question in mind that I came to Panmour Villa in Section 20, Shah Alam, where rumors of an excellent char kuey teow were being told. A friend of my father first told me about this place.
Panmour Villa is actually a small hotel with… uhm, no stars I think, but that’s beside the point. It’s situated just opposite Selangor Medical Center in Shah Alam, nested in a row of shophouses. It’s a small, double-story unit, where the upper level is where the rooms are, and the ground level is their own food-court. We (my friends and I) arrived on a damp-ish Monday night, armed with nothing but an empty stomach, craving for char kuey teow.
The restaurant features open kitchens, with sections denoting Western, Noodles, Thai, Nasi Campur and such. What décor they had was minimal; you wouldn’t want to come here for Valentine’s Day, if you know what I mean. Plastic chairs and hard tables abound. We were handed simple laminated menus. A quick glance showed they had basic western, and a lot of Thai stuff. The food was fairly cheap, with only the western fare going above the RM20 mark. But we skipped those and went for the dish people talk most about when they come here: Char Kuey Teow (RM4/-).
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"Slick and tasty with kick-ass sambal belacan"
Right... over 95 dishes? Okay as a rule when a place has too many dishes on the menu chances are some will fall short. Although having something for everyone makes up for this. Most places I know that gets too ambitious with menu offerings (except perhaps overseas Chinese restaurants that chuck everything including chips on their menus) usually do not survive long and yet here's SouLed Out- 13 years and still going strong. The secret? "Separate kitchens with their own head chefs", smiles Fanny Foo, the Propaganda Pixie.
Today SouLed Out has yet another fresh look, lime green and deep turquoise awnings which I like better than their previous orange incarnation. It's still a great place to have a drink (mojitos yeah!) and service is attentive and professional. But to the food we must. Noodle dishes here pretty much rock. Other than the prawn noodles, I recommend the Hokkien Mee, nice and black with a suitably pungent sambal belacan. Also their beef kuey teow is always a good prelude to a night of chilling out.
If you are going the Western way, the pan fried garoupa on top of a spaghetti olio is quite tasty and like I said the nachos here are always good. They can even do smaller portions if you ask them nicely in case you just want a snack before the main meal. Indian dishes like the butter chicken is still good hours later if you take away and their reinsertion of spicy lamb cutlets slathered with spices and yogurt then barbecued is finger-licking delish.
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"The rib really rocks!"
So what makes lip-smacking good ribs? Actually I think it’s a personal thing but I believe the general criteria are as follows - tender meat that falls off the bone, juicy meat surrounding the rib to ensure we can suck and chew the rib to our hearts content, a decent size to ensure there’s enough to go around (ribs are best shared right?!) and killer marinade or sauce that enhances the flavour of the ribs. Whatever it is, ribs are a carnivore’s delight and brings out the caveman in us. Think of ripping meat off the bone with our bare teeth and sucking out the meat/juices til it’s bone dry! And forget cutleries, ribs are best enjoyed with your fingers so leave your table manners at home. Bring on the ribs!
Talking about ribs, there’s this super packed to the brim shop in a residential flat area that serves pretty good Western food and nasi lemak. Weird combo but it works for the die-hard fans who cannot get enough of the non-halal grub that it churns out on a daily basis. It’s located smack in old PJ - the humble flats of Happy Mansion. There are other cafes, kopitiams and restaurants in the vicinity but this shop remains the most popular and well known by far. The overcrowded carpark lays testimony to the shop’s fame and remains a source of displeasure for the residents who prefer some peace and quiet. Their consolation is that good food is merely a lift ride to the ground floor!
Come around 7.30pm and expect to wait for a table due to limited space, with makeshift tables spilling out onto the corridor and tarmac. Our group of 4 came after 8 and we managed to grab one right in the heat of the action – fronting the cash register! We could see the busy kitchen at work, the buzzing nasi lemak counter and the listed specials on board.
Only one bowl of homemade wild mushroom soup was left so we snapped it up. It tastes great with the fresh fungi combining well with the creaminess of milk. It’s definitely homemade with shrooms aplenty and the consistency is just right, not too starchy or runny. The garlic bread was mediocre, I could do better at home.
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"The cencaru is perfectly fried and really crispy outside"
Furniture shop? Restaurant? Furniture for sale? Cafe? These are the usual questions first timers have when they enter this place. But unmistakeably during dinner time, it is a restaurant and a busy buzzing one at that. The crowds that flock in are usually in search of good food, similar to what Mum used to make.
With a mixed fare of Malaysian, Nyonya and Portuguese dishes, the mere flicker of images in the menu can easily trigger your drool reflex. A well known favourite that everyone must have a go at is their Black Pepper Terung (Aubergines). These morsels are meticulously seared with black pepper, yet it is still very moist and succulent with every bite. The sweetness of the well cooked flesh of the terung is enhanced by the subtle deep spiciness of the grounded black pepper. Absolutely fabulous! Or it can just be the fact that aubergines are a favourite of mine. What comes next can definitely settle your sniffles in a licking. At first, the Deep Fried Cencaru (Torpedo Scad) with Chilli Padi (birds-eye chilli) Paste & Petai doesn't really look like it offers much. And here we are reminded of the phrase 'don't judge a book by it's cover' for it certainly blew our minds!
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"There's always something new at Williams"
I was eating excellent seafood pasta. In fact, I was totally ignoring the pasta and instead am stuck in the fish. The large chunk in the middle of the plate is so good I am moving the plate away from my fellow diners afraid that they might want more of it. Some nights it’s just lightly cooked in the thick sauce and incredibly fresh. On this night there is a light crust on top of the fish which adds ridiculous, delicious dimensions to this dish.
Oh… there’s more my friends, the mussels with it are huge and fresh and then there’s the squid, called sotong bang bang stuffed with delicious things. It’s soft when you cut it and as you chew the stuffing will ooze into your mouth creating quite a tongue thrill. All this tossed with fettucini cooked in a thick mama mia tomato sauce and cilli padi. I’m moving the plate further away. Someone tries to take a piece of the squid. I smack them back.
We were not in some five-star restaurant. We were in true Malaysian fashion by the side of the road, in a make-shift stall seated on all manner of stools and benches. Williams, as the nameless place is called after its cheerful, rosy cheeked owner does Italian and Western and Malaysian food- boldly, fast and scrumptious in a mad fusion way.
Try the spaghetti meatballs with the biggest meatballs I’ve ever seen stuffed with cheese in the middle. Try too the garlic-butter-cheese naan made with mozzarella.
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