One of the local delights that I enjoy eating over and over again is Yong Tau Foo, especially when looking for a fast and no frill meal with very little waiting time. I have traveled to quite a few places to sample the few famous outlets around Ampang and Segambut for this dish, but they remain a bit too far to go on a regular basis. I was delighted that the Ipoh Road Yong Tau Foo opened a branch at Kelana Jaya, very close to where I stay.

note: this place is, unfortunately, closed. The original Ipoh Road Yong Tau Foo is still operating though. (see link above)

clean and comfortable environment

Unlike the main branch at Jalan Ipoh, this place does not stress you so much on the parking situation. The restaurant, while not air conditioned, is pretty clean and comfortable. Crowd level was still quite small when I went on a weekday evening as I guess it has not been discovered by many casual diners yet.

yong tow foo, paper wrapped chicken, and fried sui kao (dumpling)

I ordered my usual favorites, including chili, bitter gourd, okra, tofu, fried dumpling, and one of their unique offerings, the paper wrapped chicken.

Unsurprisingly, this branch lives up to the reputation of the original Jalan Ipoh main branch when it comes to taste. The ingredients are fresh and the fish paste stuffings firm and flavorful. Looking at their smallish kitchen, I am guessing that all the yong tau foo is probably prepared at the main branch and transported here daily.

operating time and prices are all here!

Similar with many dim sum places, ordering is a simple affair of jotting down the number of pieces you want for each item and pass it to the waiter. Prices and opening hours are conveniently displayed on the wall, and of course, conveniently displayed here for you!

I think I’m going there again soon.

Ipoh road yong tow foo is located opposite St. Ignatius Church

Address:
No. 1, Jalan SS 4D/2,
People’s Park
47301, Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.113145, 101.600533
Tel: 03-7805 3308

Tags:  chinese-food,  traditional,  yong-tau-foo,  ytf

Posted by KY | 24 Comments »

Being a Penangite living in KL, one of the many hawker foods that we always miss is the famous Char Kueh Teow. When I first came down to this part of the country many years ago, this is the dish that I always avoid when fixing my stomach at various kopitiams. On the rare occasions that I gave it a try, the experience was usually quite horrid.

note: this place is no longer in operation, most probably moved elsewhere, anyone who knows, please leave a comment!

yeh, that’s the size of prawn i love

However, recently I have started to experiment with the various “Penang” char kueh teow places in KL again, thinking that there must be a few good stalls around. I now employ a standard litmus test before I make my order. It is very simple, I will order in Hokkien, and if the hawker answers in anything other than a perfect Penang version of Hokkien, I simply excuse myself and go for my second choice. The test has proven to be very useful thus far.

now you see it, now you don’t

I have actually heard of this place from FA before decided to give it a try. The kopitiam is nameless and is located at the other end of the same row of shops that has the famous kopitiam with loh ngap (duck), very good roti bakar, and seafood porridge, among other things.

The char kueh teow was surprising good, not as great as the two famous Penang stalls, but plenty close enough to warrant a trip for anyone who loves this dish. The prawns are pretty big, and the dish comes complete with cockles and Chinese sausage too. I usually like to have mine extra spicy for some extra kicks. I finished the plate in no more than 5 minutes.

the unnamed kopitiam housing this char kueh teow stall is situated by MBPJ building

Upon looking at me snapping pictures, the stall owner actually came up to me for a chat. Apparently he is the 2nd generation owner of the stall, handed over from his mother and the stall has been in operation for some 20 years.

As usual, there will be people who are quick to point out that it used to be better, and the son isn’t as good as the mom’s char kueh teow. To me, I think most of us don’t realize that char kueh teow is not something like great art works, where Picasso’s son wouldn’t do better. Our taste buds are getting less by the days, and most often than not, we would have been exposed to wider variety of good food since 5 years ago. Don’t commit the fallacy, just give it a good honest try, I think you’ll like it.

Address:
Jalan Tengah,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS:3.099046, 101.644467

Tags:  char-kueh-teow,  ckt,  hawker,  penang-food,  PJ,  state

Posted by KY | 27 Comments »

Note: This restaurant is no longer in business

Restaurant Fei Loh Hokkien Mee (肥佬福建面) is one of the newest establishments in the busy commercial area that is SS2 in PJ, occupying the same shop lot that used to house a rather interesting restaurant called Nutripot that failed to attract enough customers. I thought I’d give this new place a try last week, since it was drizzling and my itch of trying new places got the better of me again.

pretty decent size prawn filled with roe

Instead of trying their Hokkien Mee, I ordered the slightly more luxurious “Sang Har Mee” with Cantonese Kuey Teow (Fresh Prawn Noodle, 生虾面) instead, since they put up a big banner advertising it, for RM 13, why not? The Kerol ordered a Cantonese Egg Gravy with Kueh Teow and Meehun, or traditionally called “Yin Yeong”. Other than these dish, the restaurant offers Hokkien mee, various types of fried rice, Loh Mee, and some side dishes such as lala, braised duck, pork ribs, chicken wing, and vegetable.

clean and comfortable environment

The food came steaming hot and the portions were pretty decent as well. My Fresh Prawn Noodle looked especially eye-pleasing, with the red color from prawn’s roe, and the thick gravy, ahh.. it was just so appetizing. Fortunately, the dish did not disappoint my tongue, it was very savory and the prawn tasted fresh and delicious.

Kerol’s dish were pretty good too, though she complained that they have a bit too much garlic in it, personally, I love garlic and could never have enough of them. I also like the fact that there is free flow chili paste (that is pretty good) and pickled green chili to go about.

pretty decent noodle dishes at reasonable price

Together with a couple glasses of Chinese tea, the bill came to RM 20. The normal noodle dish was RM 6 and the drinks RM 0.50. Pretty reasonably priced for a proper set up and air conditioned dining environment. I wouldn’t hesitate to go there again to try out some of their other dishes.

However, if you are into just Fresh Prawn Noodle and don’t mind to spend more, Green View Restaurant, also at SS2, is the place to go.

Fei Loh is just a few steps away from the Korean House.

Address:
Ground Floor, 179, Jalan SS2/24
47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.116755, 101.622677
Tel: 03-7877 9527

* close every Mondays

Tags:  fresh-prawn-noodle,  hokkien-mee,  kerol,  loh-mee,  PJ,  SS2 SS3 SS4

Posted by KY | 7 Comments »

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and I only managed to get to having brunch past 1pm in the afternoon. We decided to go to the nearby restaurant New Yew Sang at SS5 to satisfy our stomachs.

note: Not in business anymore, owner passed away from heart attack.

Since the steamed rice stall has pretty much sold off everything except a couple different choices, I decided to try something else and spotted this oddity in a Chinese kopitiam, a mee goreng stall. I figured if an Indian guy can stay in business in this environment, the food can’t be bad.

mee goreng, extra spicy and extra sotong

For the uninformed, mee goreng traditionally comes with yellow noodle, bean sprout, fried tofu, cucur udang, potato, vegetable, and of course, the all important marinated cuttle fish or squid.

I ordered a plate of mee goreng, extra hot, and with extra cuttle fish. When it arrived, the dish was smelling great and looking great. I snapped a couple pictures and squeezed the lime on the noodle before burying myself in right away. The taste was just great, all the ingredients provided their different texture and taste, contributing to the overall savory and spicy satisfaction. The extra cuttle fish was well worth the money too, it was firm and tasted just the way I like it.

I didn’t leave anything behind

The plate of mee goreng was RM 4.00 due to the extra sotong option, otherwise it goes for RM 3.00. The same stall also offers mee rebus, rojak, as well as maggie soup and maggie goreng.

New Yew Sang is on Jalan Bahagia, a stone’s throw away from KJ Giant

Address:
Jalan SS 6/8
Kelana Jaya
GPS: 3.106717, 101.598178

Tags:  hawker,  kelana-jaya,  kopitiam,  mee-goreng,  Petaling-Jaya,  ss6

Posted by KY | 21 Comments »

After driving around PJ not knowing what to have for dinner, we somehow ended up at Sri Hartamas. Since the density of Korean restaurants at this area is probably only second to Ampang, we decided to include Kimchi for dinner.

note: this place is no longer in operation

quiet little place just above 7-11

After scouring around for a parking spot, we finally deposited the vehicle next to the 7-11 convenient store. Since there is a little Korean restaurant situated right above this place, we decided to give it a try instead of going to some of the bigger and more lavished competitors.

Mu Gong He is just like many other Korean restaurants, offering numerous grilled meat dishes but not a whole lot of other stuff that does not use the burner. The interior decoration is simple and actually a little dated. Since it was a weekday evening, the restaurant was rather quiet too.

the soup and side dishes

We ordered 2 soups, a Kimchi jjigae (Kimchi soup), and a Hae Mul Soon Dubu (Seafood tofu soup). The two soups (more like stew) came with banchan (side dishes) that is typical of Korean food. Two metal bowls of steamed rice were served too.

The two stews were surprisingly good, the Kimchi stew very strong in taste and packed with quite a lot of kimchi, as well as meat, tofu, and other ingredients. The kimchi served here were more fermented and thus more flavorful. Just the way I like it. The seafood soup though, was even better, generous amount of shellfish, squid, and prawn gives the soup a good base. The tofu used was very smooth and tasted awesome soaking in the spicy soup. There was even a half boiled egg, just perfect.

situated in Sri Hartamas, pretty easy to find

It was a very satisfying meal, 10 different dishes with rice. The banchan comes free and the soups each cost RM 15. Including tax, the two of us only needed to shell out RM 16.50 for a very satisfying meal. This place is a little underrated, but I would happily go there again.

Address:
Jalan 23/70A
Sri Hartamas
(above 7-11)
GPS: 3.161674, 101.649756

Tags:  banchan,  cuisine,  hartamas,  kimchi,  korean-food,  seafood

Posted by KY | 16 Comments »