Food Finds
Nasi Kandar is one of those dishes that is perhaps taking a back seat when it comes to our national identity, everyone associates nasi lemak with Malaysia, bak kut teh with Klang, but most may not know that nasi kandar originates from Penang, with vendors on foot balancing a post “kandar” on their shoulder carrying rice & various other (usually) dishes such as mutton curry, fried chicken and so forth.
Kok Siong nasi kandar, Puchong
It is also one of the many must-have dishes when one visits Penang, the state where I grew up. For those who are in KL though, there are always Kayu & Pelita that littered pretty much the entire Klang Valley. These places offer decent enough nasi kandar, but the usual complains would be price, and sometimes the lack of confidence in hygiene standards.
For those looking for something different than those chains, there’s Kok Siong Nasi Kandar in Puchong.
Situated in Puchong right next to Tesco Extra hypermarket, this is perhaps one of the only nasi kandar places that is run by Chinese instead of traditional mamak vendors. Apart from that, the dishes offered are actually very similar, and pork free. If you’re looking for chasiu nasi kandar, well, you’d still have to assemble it yourself, probably at home.
squid with extra petai, fried chicken nasi kandar
We tried their squid with petai, and a piece of 1/4 fried chicken in two plates, with plenty of curry over rice. The dish is also served with papadem (as usual), and plenty of crispy bits on top, which I really like.
The squid is your typical mamak style that’s slightly on the harder/more cooked side, and does taste proper. Chicken was well cooked with crispy skin and juicy meat, but what I really love was those petai with ikan bilis, absolutely pungent and super delightful.
mixing up the different curry is the way to go
Fans of nasi kandar should find this place quite satisfying. As the “kitchen” is pretty much an open concept, cleanliness isn’t a dodgy affair. Price wise I thought they were neither cheap nor expensive, while a “standard” plate of nasi kandar with fried chicken should be RM 8, the bigger piece of chicken we ordered actually carried a higher price, so if you’re on a budget, do ask ahead.
Address:
Restoran Kok Siong Nasi Kandar
45, Jalan Bandar 16, Pusat Bandar Puchong,
47100 Puchong, Selangor
GPS: 3.036115, 101.616258
Hours: lunch
Klang will always be associated with bak kut teh for most people, and while that is certainly true since the region has something like 300-500 bak kut teh restaurants, there’s another hidden gem that most may not know about – them fried chicken!
Klang Jaya fried chicken
After I posted about Yummy fried chicken located at Bandar Puteri Klang on social media, I was made aware of this Klang Jaya Fried Chicken by quite a few people who are from Klang and are familiar with this whole fried chicken scene, without hesitation, I knew we were going to have to check it out.
As it turned out, Klang Jaya fried chicken used to be a stall by the roadside, but has since moved to occupy a shop lot by itself several months back. Google map may still have the old address in the database but the one below on Jalan Selampit 21 would be the right one.
While most yoyo ice and fried chicken places like Nijia opens operates mainly on day time, Klang Jaya fried chicken caters for dinner and supper crowds. We got there by 6:30 or so and started picking our poisons right after checking in our location thanks to Covid measures.
fried meehun, fried chicken, nasi lemak, and fishball on skewer
Fried chicken is priced at RM 3.60 per piece, additionally, they also offer fried meehun and nasi lemak (RM 1.60), as well as fried fish ball, red bean soup, and a limited choice of drinks (see menu below).
piping hot fried chicken!
I had thigh and drumsticks here, and these fried chicken were served piping hot, with crispy skin and rather juicy meat. They were super delicious, and though I thought the extra cut on the chicken thigh sorta made the meat slightly less juicy, it wasn’t a deal breaker at all. Meehun goreng here was pretty good especially with the curry sauce, with nasi lemak presented as a decent alternative too.
As for those fried fish ball and other items on skewers.. I’ll give them a miss next time.
Overall, it was a very satisfying meal indeed, and definitely somewhere I’d be looking forward to returning.
Address:
Klang Jaya Fried Chicken
Jalan Selampit 21, 41200
Taman Klang Jaya, 41200 Selangor
GPS: 3.007844, 101.444584
Tel:+6012 250 0766
Hours: 6-11pm
Always on the lookout for a good bowl of ramen, I was recently intrigued by taufulou’s rave reviews about Ichikakuya Ramen, probed into it a little bit and realized that it is located at UOA Business Park, that big office building across from SS15 over Federal Highway, which is quite a convenient place for me to get to, so I thought we’d give it a try.
Ichikakuya Ramen at the Podium, UOA Business Park
The brand Ichikakuya is from Yokohama and is a relatively new establishment from only about 5 years ago, the branch at UOA Business Park is the first in Malaysia.
The menu is pretty straightforward, choose between normal or red iekei (spicy) soup that’s either soy or salt based, and you can also opt for more chasiu (pork), soft boiled eggs, spinach, bamboo shoots, green onions and such. Additionally, they also have a few types of rice bowls if ramen isn’t your thing.
What makes Ichikakuya stands apart from other ramen places is the ability to customize the taste and noodle doneness in the following way:
Noodle – hard, normal, soft
Taste – strong, normal, light
Chicken oil – extra, normal, less
soy sauce soup, red iekei ramen, gyoza
We went for soy sauce soup and red iekei ramen, with normal noodle, strong taste, and extra chicken oil. I guess the “purists” will want to go for hard noodle, but to be frank I’ve never really enjoyed al dante noodle in pretty much any noodle dish.
The chicken oil and soy base soup reminds me of those equally good soup base from marutama, the wheat flour noodle carries a unique texture that went very well with the soup as well. The spicy version does come with a bit of a kick, not something that I’d call “hot” but should satisfy those who enjoys spicier food.
Overall, with the vege, seaweed, egg, and everything else, the ramen was as good as any I’ve tasted, well balanced and certainly delicious.
chasiu, egg, and soup all comes together
As for the gyoza, they were perfectly ordinary and would be something that I probably won’t order again. Price of ramen starts from RM 18.00 to RM 32.50 depending on how crazy you want to go.
Address:
Ichikakuya Ramen
Unit 1-3A, Level 1, Tower 3,
The Podium, Uoa Business park,
No. 1, Jalan Pengaturcara U1/51a,
Kawasan Perindustrian Temasya,
40150 Shah Alam, Selangor
GPS: 3.086171, 101.586808
Tel: 014-958 3884
When it comes to food, the action in Ipoh pretty much centers around the new town area regardless of time of day it is, and if you’ve already gotten enough of the various rendition of chicken rice and are longing for some good old fashion fried noodle, then Tuck Kee is certainly a place to check out.
Ipoh Tuck Kee, Ipoh New Town
Located at Ipoh New Town along Jalan Yau Tet Shin, the middle lot occupied by Tuck Kee sprawls over the parking area outside the old shop houses at night. If the weather cooperates, alfresco is a great choice, otherwise the place may get a little bit packed and you may even have to queue up for a table during busy weekends.
Menu is a simple two page affair – one with the various types of noodle, the other with a selection of 5 different side dishes (menu photos below).
braised yee mee, wat tan hor, hokkien mee, yu kong hor
For the five of us, we ordered just about a little bit of everything from the menu.
Of the four types of noodle we ordered, the moonlight hor (yut kong hor) was the best, followed by a pretty good braised yee mee and wat tan hor. The Hokkien mee though, was a bit of a let down with the texture of noodle being too easily torn. If you only have to order one dish here, get the moonlight hor.
The accompanying sambal is on self-served, take all you can basis, which was awesome cos the sambal was legit.
baby octopus, chicken feet, bean sprout
The three side dishes we ordered were all quite spot on. You can always count on bean sprouts in Ipoh and this one did not disappoint. The baby octopus reminds me of the version they served at Teow Chew Meng, which was good, and those chicken feet is almost as satisfying as the version in Kimberley Street in Penang.
Best of all, at Tuck Kee, service is super fast, and prices are super reasonable. A portion of noodle in the photo above was at RM 7 or RM 8, with the only dish over RM 10 being the octopus, no wonder the locals flocks to this place.
Address:
Restoran Ipoh Tuck Kee
61, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Taman Jubilee,
30300 Ipoh, Negeri Perak
GPS: 4.593996, 101.084530
Tel: +6016 220 9361
When it comes to Ipoh, none is more famous than their chicken rice and those sweet, crunchy bean sprouts. While many places offers the same dish all over town, tourists and locals alike will often congregate around middle of new town for this dish over lunch.
ipoh pak kong chicken rice
One of such place that is favored by the locals is none other than Restoran Nasi Ayam Pak Kong, a stone’s throw away from the more famous Ong Kee (often packed with tourists).
The shop offers quite a good selection of dishes you’d often associate with chicken rice – roast chicken, steamed chicken, roast pork, bbq pork, bean sprouts, and some of the other dishes you don’t usually find at these sort of establishments, such as sambal petai, acar, spicy sour vege, and more.
chicken, pork, and most importantly, petai side dish
Prices at Pak Kong is more “local friendly” compared to the more touristy shops at the intersections, dishes here are very good as well, I particularly love their chicken (either version), and really lovely charsiu (bbq pork), the wild card here is their sambal petai, if you like them pungent and full of aroma, this is is not one you’d want to miss.
Roast pork and spicy sour vege would be something I skip the next time around and perhaps order a big plate of bean sprout instead. (and more of those petai!)
Address:
Restoran Nasi Ayam Pak Kong
27, Jalan Theatre, Taman Jubilee,
31400 Ipoh, Negeri Perak
GPS: 4.594754, 101.083627
Tel: +6012 588 6618
