"Eyes and cheeks are the best bit..."
Artfully tucked into an alley, Big Tree Lin Kee is not the easiest place to find. Right after you drive past the turn-off into Jalan Waras 3, you’ll see a big yellow sign written in Chinese with a big arrow pointing right into the alley. Follow it up the road and pray hard for an empty parking spot. Then grab a seat and get ready for one of the best steamed fish you’ll ever have in the Klang Valley. Big Tree Lin Kee have been around for about 7 years. Named after the matriarch of the family, Lin, their steamed haruan fish heads are the major star attraction here. Haruan has wonderfully smooth and soft flesh characteristic of river fish. It’s also relatively cheap and good for you, as it’s a popular pantang and post-op meal option.
The most popular ways to have it here are either with the brown fermented bean sauce (cheong cheng) or with minced ginger. We ordered both, along with a whole host of other dishes.
The soup arrived first, a deliciously herby watercress soup. Red dates or jujube fruit gave it textural interest, while the chunks of pork give the soup its body. The stir-fried kangkung belacan here is one of the best we’ve had – fresh, crunchy, with just the right amount of kick from the belacan and the chillies. The stir-fried sweet potato leaves were also fresh, if not a touch bland. The tofu was a quick favourite as its crunchy-on-the-outside-smooth-on-the-inside texture won us over with subtle hints of seafood and vegetables studded into the tofu.
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"Banana leaf wrapped goodies..."
Nasi Lemak Marvellous in Bukit Indah is known for their teensy packages of this Malaysian favourite. Tiny in stature but huge in popularity this family-run business is helmed by Pakcik Abu and his wife Makcik Yasimah. His wife does most of the cooking while Pak Abu and his son manage the restaurant. They started with a small stall in 1997 and relocated to their current location in 2003. Most people opt to tapau their Nasi Lemak for small gatherings or to eat at home. One guy even ordered 200 packs for an event. I prefer to dine in. Their packs are so cute that I finish my first one in a couple of minutes. Rule of thumb is 2 packs per person and you eat them on their own or with the lauk. I definitely recommend the latter. In my opinion, it’s the lauk at Marvellous that sets them apart from other nasi lemak joints that I frequent.
The taste of the nasi lemak here is similar to what you probably ate in your school canteen. Sambal is mild and rice is infused with a hint of coconut. This is fine by me because the accompanying dishes are the ones that seal the deal. The best lauks here are the Ayam Masak Merah and an unnamed beef dish which is like a hybrid of dendeng and rendang. (When I asked Makcik Yasimah for the name of the beef dish, she just said,”Takde nama. Ni resipi bantai jer.”- “I don’t have a name for this dish, it’s a recipe I got when I just mixed random stuff together.”) So the beef dish for the purpose of this review should be dubbed Daging Bantai Jer. Other lauks sold here are paru, sambal sotong and fried chicken.
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"A beautifully cooked piece of meat!"
Good news! I can now tick ‘eat steak in a swamp’ off my to-do list. It was a rather pleasant experience, and one I wouldn’t mind going through again. Good food in a good place; that’s hard to beat. So, steak in a swamp: done! But let’s back up. No, I wasn’t actually in a swamp. That’d be weird. It just so happens ‘Toowoomba’ means swamp in native Australian Aborigine, as the poster on the wall says. And instead of a wet bog with mosquitoes flying around, Toowoomba Meats and Deli is perhaps one of the nicest looking places you can go today to enjoy a steak.
Toowoomba Meats and Delis is a steak-house owned by Perfect Fresh and Frozen, a local purveyor of meats, mostly imported from Australia. Their schtick is that all of their products are guaranteed Halal from reliable sources. Toowoomba is apparently their latest restaurant, situated in the brand new Platinum Mondrian commercial building along Jalan Genting Klang. It’s easy to spot from the main road; a few steps away from Overtime Sports Bar. If you’re wondering what kind of place it is, think Las Vacas or Ayers Rock; it’s essentially a meat shop that cooks for you.
The first thing that struck me as I stepped in with my colleague was just how clean and bright everything is. This led to a very cheerful, friendly atmosphere. There weren’t that many people around the day I visited, maybe it’s because of how new the place is. The restaurant is furnished with wooden furniture and decorated with high-contrast posters that mostly talk about meat. As with a lot of modern restaurants, the kitchen is visible to see behind glass panels. You can actually watch the chefs cook your food there and then. Of course, there’s the ice-box and meat-case where a selection of high-quality beef and lamb, all Australian and Halal, is ready for you to buy. The ice-box also contains seafood products such as salmon.
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"Morsels of fat flanked by meaty chunks"
The aroma of beef and chicken being cooked over charcoal fire greets you every time you make your way to one of their restaurants. Long rows of satay grace the grill. Juicy morsels of fat are sandwiched between scrumptious chunks of meat skewered together and then grilled to perfection. The fat melts on the grill infusing its rich flavour into the skewered cuts of meat. Spices like turmeric, garlic and onions intermingle in the marinade resulting in a wonderful coating of goodness to the chicken and beef satay. A stick of lemongrass is used to rub oil on the satay during the cooking process. This helps to achieve that smokey charred quality that we all love.
Whether you prefer beef or chicken, Satay Station serves one of the best satay in town. They're chunky and can be quite a mouthful. The beef satay is sweeter and tenderer than the chicken, which has a more prominent turmeric taste and a chewier texture.
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"Just like how my grandpa ate back in the day..."
I can count with one hand nasi kandar sellers that still practices the old art form. Most of them are in Penang and one of the them is this nameless stall in Kedai Kopi Tai Min along Jelutong Road (just opposite the Jelutong Balai Polis). You can't miss this place. They have queues that start as early as 6.30am. Just look out for that and you're there. Nasi kandar that is made the old school way has a smooth taste, although (mind you) we are talking about curries here. And the mixing process of different curries personalises the plate to you. So, no two nasi kandar plates are ever the same. Also, due to the double boiling process perfected over the generations, the rice is not starchy so that you can eat more.
The nasi kandar stall at Tai Min is now run by Mohamad Ali bin Amier. A 3rd generation nasi kandar 'currista'. According to Ali, his grandad started selling from the Merdeka days and from the same spot. He was not a cook or chef. His recipes were a trial and error based from his memories eating back home at the Ramnad district, India. A successful obfustication of recipes resulted in a small stall way back when Malaysia just got its feet and starting to stand up tall.
Since day one, they have always served their nasi kandar wet. The currys are light, flavourful and forms a small pool on your plate. It is friggin drenched. Thin but not quite watery. The rice is what the malays call 'ceroi' (the rice does not stick) which for some reason carries the curry gravy quite well when mixed together. You must try their famous beef curry with the black gravy. Slow cooked over fire for hours, the beef is tender. The black gravy is a closely guarded secret but in general made from curry mixed with soya sauce. A good nasi kandar seller must have good black gravy and theirs are wonderfully delicious. The right amount of curry spice with the right balance of soya sweetness.
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"Slick and yummy noodles..."
The best Mee Goreng Mamak is more commonly found in Penang. Their Klang Valley counterparts don't seem to make the cut. That's why when someone told me about a place in Kota Damansara that has the unassuming Mee Goreng as a signature dish I was game to give it a go. I mean it saves me a long trip to Penang for a plate of fried noodles, right?
So I headed to Gulam Mee with great expectations. It's not often that Mee Goreng is given centre stage so I hope that my traffic-ridden trip to Kota Damansara was not in vain.
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"Not for tiny tummies...gargantuan portions..delish.."
There’s a reason why Makcik Yati and Pakcik Syafiq have successfully attracted customers to their little stall in Subang for the past 30 years. It’s because they treat their customers like family. If you’re a regular, they keep track, remembering your favourite lauk and sambal preferences. Sometimes preparing your Nasi Lemak just by a simple request of “Macam biasa ye, Pakcik?” (The regular order, Uncle.)
Some people call the Nasi Lemak here the working man’s Nasi Lemak. This is due to the generous heap of rice Makcik and Pakcik pile up in the individual packs. First time I ate here I just couldn’t believe how much rice they pack in a packet. It is literally a mountain. A full portion is made out of 2 huge scoops. Though the amount is quite intimidating but this is a lighter version of Nasi Lemak that has just subtle hints of coconut. Not too rich so that’s why I could pack quite a lot of it away.
Makcik Yati and Pakcik Syafiq have a heavy hand when they’re scooping up the rice for their loyal patrons. I keep this indulgence for the weekends because after finishing a packet, I’ll retreat into a carbo-induced slumber. Which probably won’t be advisable on a working day.
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"That smell of fresh chapati just hits you..."
With Christmas round the corner, I thought it apt to check out Santa Chapati House. So on a sunny Saturday, we venture to Lebuh Ampang for the best chapati in KL. This better be worth the train trip and 10min trek! It’s usually packed with office workers during the weekdays but on this Saturday, there is hardly a crowd and the workers are gathered at the back chattering among themselves before they spot our entrance. In an instant, a server comes to take our order as we peer at the food counter to check what’s on offer.
There is a huge pot of dhall curry bubbling away while another staff manned the counter. Our plates of chapati comes loaded with 2 sides of vegetables and a plate of curry. The dhall is thick and chunky, perfect to go with the light bread. The vegetables are wholesome and fresh. For that day, we enjoy the chickpea masala and spiced potato. Both are redolent with spices and a perfect accompaniment to the chapati. As for the signature chapati, I must admit it’s the best I’ve tasted and I’m an instant convert. Made from a balanced mix of atta flour and ghee, it’s crispy on the outside yet fluffy on the inside. Though it seemed huge, the delicious combo of vege, chicken and curry made eating it a breeze and it was gone in an instant. Patrons have been known to vacuum 3 pieces in one sitting!
Unfortunately, the famed mutton keema is unavailable today. With my appetite yet to be satiated, I wanted more. This time, it’s chicken varuval and protha. The bread chef proceeded to heat the griddle and we witnessed the action with bated breath. For protha, a ball of dough is kneaded then flattened and dipped into flour. It’s folded again and dipped another time in the flour then left on the hot griddle.
Once it is crisp, the chef adds a dash of ghee to the protha just before serving and it arrives piping hot and fragrant.
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"Can you tell me how to get... how to get to Sesame Chook..."
Steamed or roasted are usually the two options you get when you order chicken rice. Game for something different? Get out of your comfort zone and try the fried sesame chicken sold at Gerai Ah Kow. Hailing from Perak, Uncle Ah Kow ventured into the food business by selling noodles from his bicycle around the streets of KL in 1971. It was only in 1983 that he came up with the ingenious sesame chicken recipe and decided to open up a stall at Medan Selera Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz. And the rest suffice to say is history. Now, he runs the stall with the help of his son, Eric and son in law, Kenny. Tables fill fast as soon as he starts selling his scrumptious sesame chicken at 11.45 am. He goes through 20 to 30 chickens per day so if you want a chance to sample them do come here by noon.
Sesame seeds add a wonderful nutty taste to the chicken and goes incredibly well with the kick-ass garlic chilli combo (spicier than most of the other chicken rice places I've tried). They also add more crunchiness to the golden fried skin. The rice and soup are quite decent but they act more like a supporting backdrop to the chicken that is obviously the star of the dish. The chicken slices are served on a bed of sliced cucumbers bathed in light soya sauce. I wonder how he gets the sesame seeds to stick to the skin? I suspect that he uses a thick liquid batter similar to the ones used for goreng pisang. Probably deep-fries in hot oil and drains it quickly so the skin stays grease free. It's all guess work because try as I might to pry it from him, Uncle Ah Kow will not divulged his recipe nor his cooking technique to me.
He also serves the regular roasted and steamed variety here, but it's the sesame chicken that draws the crowd.
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by
Farah, on Fri, November 11, 2011
"Slurrrpp... prawn head's good..."
As I dip a fried mantou bun into the luscious Hainanese sauce, my eyes lit up. The yummy sauce sticks to the bun like a second skin. I take a bite and flavours of chillies, garlic, sesame seeds and vinegar fills my mouth. The sauce is absolutely delicious but when you pair it with big fat prawns, it's even more amazing. Tender prawns are coated in this sticky sauce producing a combination of sweet and sour notes. Eat them with or without their crispy skin but please do not forgo the sucking action. The best part of the prawn is the head, and I sucked the creamy goodness out of it clean. It was simply heavenly.
I'm at Rock Road Seafood Restaurant in Kuching. Families have been going here for years. Though pricier than most of the other places in the city, Rock Road has remained a popular dinner and lunch venue in Kuching. Using the freshest produce and ingredients that they can find, Rock Road has continued serving great tasting dishes to their loyal patrons.
Aquariums flank the walls while vegetables and fruits are displayed in the front area of the restaurant. If you're lucky, you'll probably get to see Empurau, which is the most sought after fish in Sarawak. It's only available in the rapids of Kapit and retails at about RM 700/kg. If you have bottomless pockets, go on and choose this fish. Once you've picked what you want here, the staff will cook it based on your requirements.
Rock Road's friendly owner, James Lee told me that his family started venturing into the food business with a small kopitiam. When they decided to expand their business in the 1950s, his grandfather became the first person to open a seafood restaurant in Kuching.
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