Food Finds
As a travel destination, this region in the world is definitely one that offers one of the widest variety of awesome food to be found anywhere. Hence it is no coincident that you can find many blogs and websites that talk about food and little else, such as this one you’re reading right now.
However, for someone who is planning to hop on a plane and head to Asia, the vast amount of information available online can sometimes be a little overwhelming – enter Expedia’s Food Guide
The website curates a small but very useful list of eateries that covers classic street eats as well as Michelin star restaurants that serves a good guide for anyone new to the countries.
As of writing, there are ten different Asian destinations in the list:
Being someone from Penang, I naturally clicked on Penang to check out what’s in their recommended list and indeed places such as Feringgi Grill at Rasa Sayang as well as the Ayer Itam Laksa are listed.
Click on the listing and you’ll get further information, including price, hours, address, phone number, a short description, and even direction with an embedded Google Map.
If you’re visiting any of these destinations for a few days, this is definitely a decent list to start.
useful info of the location
Of course, being an Expedia site, there’re also useful links to check out, including a tourism guide, hotels at the area, and flights.
When you plan for the next trip, do check out Expedia’s Food Guide
On one of the earlier visits back to my beloved hometown, Penang, we chanced upon Ping Hooi kopitiam while in search for a meal between lunch and dinner, this was actually due to the fact that both the Pitt Street kuih teow soup I was trying to have and my favorite oyster omelet were not available.
Tiger Char Kuih Teow at Ping Hooi Kopitiam
Since the busiest corner at the kopitiam seems to be this char kuih teow stall by the name of Tiger CKT, I ordered myself a plate of this favorite Penang hawker dish of mine.
There’s three versions to choose from – without egg (RM 6), with chicken egg (RM 6.50), and with duck egg (RM 7).
Tiger Char Kuih Teow with duck egg
Whenever there’s duck egg available for char kuih teow, I never fail choose it. Duck egg always offer that extra richness & creaminess that chicken egg simply won’t match, and the version at Tiger char kuih teow did not disappoint, it was rich, creamy, spicy, and with cockles that were done just so, and prawns that were fresh. This is one of the best CKT you can get below RM 10.
operator even has a company t-shirt
Next time when you head to Penang, remember that awesome char kuih teow aren’t confined to only Lorong Selamat or Siam Road where you have to wait for over half an hour to get a plate of Penang’s best. I for sure won’t mind heading back to this one again.
Address:
Tiger Char Kuih Teow
Ping Hooi Kopitiam
Lebuh Carnavon, Georgetown
10100 Penang
GPS: 5.414572, 100.334128
Tel: 016-458 0926
Ever since Haze started her gallery shop GoJyu5 at Publika (you should check it out), we’ve been sampling the restaurants there quite a bit, and since the Entertainment App has buy 1 free 1 deal for ANTE, we decided it was time to check it out a couple weeks ago.
ANTE, Publika Solaris Dutamas
ANTE is located on the ground floor (G1) of the Publika, one of the easiest location to find if you’re not familiar with the ever so confusing layout of Publika (as it’s built on a slope). If you’re going on busy weekends, it’ll be wise to make a reservation as the place can get really busy in a jiffy.
The interior is modern, comfortable, and has a dark-ish ambiance that’s probably very suitable for those who wants to bring your date for a nice dinner.
The claim of fame here are the pork steak, so that’s what we set out to try.
pork striploin black pepper sauce
One bite into those pork steaks, be it the ribeye (RM 52) I ordered or the striploin with black pepper sauce (RM 38) that Haze had, it became evident why the place was so packed. They were absolutely delicious.
They’ve managed to grill pork steak properly – juicy, well marinated, and done at what I can only describe as a perfect medium rare that is cook well enough to be safe for consumer and yet managed to not have it dry and stale. If you’ve tried cooking white meat on grill before, you know this really requires proper skills.
pork ribeye
Then there’s the sauce, my ribeye came with truffle butter sauce that worked supremely well with the meat, and just perfect with a small cut of those charred pork fat in every bite. The caramelized onion and black pepper sauce was on point for the striploin too.
whole smoked duck breast as appetizer
Oh, by the way we also had a smoked duck breast (RM 25) as starter. It was basically a huge chunk of whole breast properly grilled and served with balsamic vinegar, simple yet delicious. I think you can have this and perhaps a dessert to make up an entire meal.
Well, looks like I’m going to revisit this place again soon. I’m already thinking of those pork!
By the way, if you
Furthermore, if you purchase it Entertainer App with Promo Code KYSPEAKS2017, you pay only RM 65 off instead of paying the full price of RM 145 (usual price)
Address:
ANTE
A2-G1-09, Publika
Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.170961, 101.665721
Tel: 03-6206 3364
Kame Sushi is one of the first Japanese restaurants in KL to offer omakase style dining. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, omakase simply means “a meal consisting of dishes selected by the chef”, so basically you tell the chef what you don’t eat, or allergic to, and the restaurant decides the rest.
Kame Sushi, Sri Hartamas
So in essence, you never really know what you’re going to get. In a good omakase restaurant, the chef usually decides on the menu based on what’s in season, and what he or she deemed the best they can offer based on the price, availability, and the skill set of those in the kitchen.
We first go to know about Kame from Cheesie, but it wasn’t until earlier this year that Haze and I decide to head there for her birthday dinner.
fresh imported sashimi
Since we had the meal was some half a year ago, name and exact ingredients in the dishes have became a bit fuzzy. In this post I could only describe what I remember from looking at these pictures, but better late than never, right?
Our course was priced at RM 350 per person, it was the 2nd most expensive from the menu at the time.
second course
The dinner consists of mainly top grade seafood selections, starting with some of the best sashimi cuts. The oyster was fresh, sweet, and alluring. There were also tuna otoro (fatty tuna), yellow tail, snow crab, amaebi (sweet shrimp), hotate (scallop), and uni (sea urchin).
Then came the grilled items with more seafood and mushroom wrapped with wagyu beef, simple yet exquisite.
warm dish, light battered fried fish
Stewed dish and a lightly battered deep fried fish dish came next, and frankly the exact name of the seafood content escaped my mind. They were done just right and quite delightful even if not entirely special.
tuna belly , uni, ikura on sushi rice
Our main dish came in the form of minced tuna belly, ikura (salmon roe), uni (sea urchin), and hand grated wasabi on sushi rice. As a chirashi sushi lover, this was rather delightful. This rice dish was very rich and did its job as a highlight to the evening.
natto beans, Japanese pear
Dessert came in a couple slices of Japanese pear. They were as good as any Japanese fruits – soft, sweet, and fresh.
Ultimately though, at RM 350++, this omakase dinner was good, but in today’s level of competition with the likes of Oribe, SOU Omakase, and Sushi Azabu, you may find similar or even better value hunting around.
Address:
Kame Sushi
20, Jalan 31/70A,
Desa Sri Hartamas,
50480 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.162555, 101.648655
Tel: 03-2858 7739tel:03-2858 7739
The inner part of Ara Damansara away from the slightly more glamorous Oasis Square area used to be quite a bit of hidden area of PJ that’s not exactly a gem. There were a few less than interesting kopitiam, and an ill fated then-new commercial area by the name of New Ze Xui that eventually died a natural death. It was quite sad, and I know that full well as I used to stay at the nearby Crimson Apartment when I first moved to KL for work.
Well, that all matters little when the owner of Jatujak Bangkok Street Food decided to set up shop and provided a little spark to the area, I suppose you could call it a hidden gem.
Jatujak Bangkok Street Food at Ara Damansara
Being located at this part of PJ with little else going has its benefits, especially when it comes to parking. The shop itself too get to occupy quite a decent alfresco area since there isn’t any other competition nearby, which all translate to a good start to any dining experience.
Haze and I paid our first visit there a couple weeks ago when we met up with Lance for our first, and his second dinner in the same day at the same place. It’s always a good sign when someone is game to visit the same place more than once on the same week, much less the same day.
salt grilled tilapia, petai prawn, clear soup tomyam
The menu at Jatujak is quite extensive, they have a good selection of seafood, tomyam, otak otak, and other typical Thai “tai chao” style food, as well as grilled items, and even pork dishes.
For dinner, we ordered four dishes to go with rice, and a few desserts to boot. All our main dishes came within 5-10 minutes despite the crowd, something that few restaurants manage to deliver, I was very impressed to say the least.
The salt grilled tilapia (RM 39) was our main dish, the fish properly prepared just the way you’d find by the streets of Bangkok, and we didn’t need to wait for 20+ minutes like we did at Tigerlily, and I thought it was actually a more than decent dish.
grilled cockles, this was really awesome
Clear tomyam soup (RM 22) was proper hot and did not disappoint, while the petai prawn (RM 30) could perhaps use more petai than prawns, but my favorite dish turned out to be the grilled cockles (RM 10), which reminds me of the good times back in the days at Nong & Jimmy, the cockles would go really really well with a cold beer or three.
iced coconut original, with red ruby, and with mango
We completed our dinner with a dessert each – coconut shake with ice cream (RM 8), coconut ruby (RM 12), and ice coconut mango (RM 12). Each came in their proper coconut shell as container and were proper rich, sweet, and have their shaved iced so fine they were silky smooth.
I guess it’s no wonder this is one of Lance’s favorite place to dine, and I believe it is also a place I’d revisit pretty soon.
Address:
Jatujak @ Siam Bangkok Street Food
B-G-31 Blk B, Jalan PJU 1a/3j,
Taipan Damansara 1 Ara Damansara,
47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.119825, 101.590183
Tel: 03-7859 6359