I was first introduced to Restaurant Uncle Meng by a colleague of mine that simply said “the other day we went to this char siu place, it was good, lets go”, or something to that effect. So on one fine Friday over lunch (2 hours lunch wooho0), we drove all the way to Taman Shamelin for some good old BBQ pork.
restaurant uncle meng is actually a kopitiam
We ordered char siu (BBQ pork) and roast chicken for the four of us, and like many other chicken rice places, soup is self served, you can take as many bowls as you like. They have roast pork here as well but it didn’t seemed to be their speciality and hence we decided to opt out on that. We also ordered some rice to go with the meat.
glorious char siu, as good as I’ve ever tasted
You get to choose the fattiness of the char siu, we had ours medium and it was glorious! The meat was super tender and you can cut through the fat just by gently slicing it with a blunt spoon. Accompanying the superb texture was the taste that did not disappoint, it was simple one of the best char siu I’ve ever had.
I found out that Meng Brother is actually the younger brother of Meng Kee char siu at Tengkat Tongshin (now at Jalan Alor), which is also the sibling of the equally superb Meng Kee at Shah Alam. The three brothers seemed to have Cheras, KL, and Shah Alam covered so far as awesome char siu goes.
Sheng here was enjoying his lunch to the fullest extend
As for the soup and roast chicken, they were of pretty decent quality too. If you crave for some good char siu that is priced decently and don’t mind making a drive to Taman Shamelin, check out Meng Brother’s!
Address:
Restaurant Uncle Meng
Jalan 6/91
Taman Shamelin, Cheras
Kuala Lumpur 56100
GPS: 3.123898, 101.738310
Chef Stefano Merlo hail from the kitchen of the acclaimed Rossini’s at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok, and brought with him a unique take on contemporary Italian cuisine at Favola from 15 – 21 April, 2012. There are over 20 menu items to choose from, and available only for dinner. Ala carte dishes are priced from RM 30++ to RM 250++, while a 4-course set menu is available at RM 300 nett per person or 4-course set menu with wine pairing at RM 450 nett.
We were among the lucky few to be invited to the cooking and tasting session with Chef Stefano last weekend.
Chef Stefano Merlo at Favola, Le Meridien KL
Chef Stefano is a native of Padua in northern Italy and has worked alongside with many highly regarded chefs in prestigious restaurants around the world. This includes Michelin starred Chef Alfredo Russo from “Il Dolce Stil Novo”, and respected Head Chef Toshikazu Tsuji from Enoteca Pinchiorri in Tokyo.
artichokes fritata in preperation
The good chef prepared three dishes for us to sample during the cooking demonstration – Artichokes Fritata, Seafood Risotto, and Milk Risotto with Cherry Parfait.
First, the artichokes fritata, a very interesting preparation of perhaps the most mundane of all ingredients – egg.
artichokes fritata
First, fry eggs with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper but keeping the yolks slightly runny. Transfer the fritata in a blender and blend it with cream till smooth. Peel and clean artichokes and steam in oven for 30 minutes at 90c. To serve, pour 3 spoon of fritata and top with artichoke, crutons, shiso cress and extra virgin olive oil.
The only tricky part is that you need a culinary foam maker to make this fritata, but the result was a breakfast with very unique texture and a familiar taste, it was very nice.
seafood risotto, plenty of bisque is the key
Next was seafood risotto.
lecithin is used to make foam, and seafood prepared separately
Toast rice with butter and a pinch of salt, then cook with clam and mussel stock till rice is ‘al dente’ (slightly hard in the center). Remove from heat and add two tablespoon of butter, then mix rice with parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.
Pan fry or grill the seafood (one by one as they have different cooking time). Make foam by using the remaining clam and mussel stock mix with lecithin (this can be omitted at home). Pour risotto in serving plate, mix seafood and foam to serve.
seafood risotto, almost too pretty to eat
The risotto took some 20 minutes or so to make, and the resulting dish was excellent. It was undoubtedly the best risotto I’ve tried. The generous amount of seafood stock used in the preparation of this risotto made it very rich and flavorful, but at the same time Chef Stefano kept it in check and not overpowering. Exquisite.
milk risotto with cherry parfait
milk risotto with cherry parfait is a dish that takes quite a bit of preparation and a pacojet to prepare, so I guess it is not very useful to share the recipe here, but if you have a penchant for unfamiliar taste, this dessert is a must order. I love it, but Haze find it unsuitable for her taste. It is milky, and has a texture not unlike porridge, but yet undoubtedly a dessert. Try it!
Saturday lunch buffet at Favola
After the cooking demonstration and a taste of all the three creations by Chef Stefano, we were treated with the Saturday Hi-Tea at Favola (RM 88++ from 12pm – 3pm).
The generous spread includes antipasti, salad, dessert, meat, seafood, risotto, pasta, bread, and fresh baked pizzas, and more.
i love the squid ink pasta
It was definitely a very fulfilling session with some familiar faces. Read what the others say.
KY, Haze, Evelyn, Suan, Horng, Mei, Josen
Address:
Favola
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur 50470
GPS: 3.135631,101.686476
Tel: 03-2263 7753
After attending the Time Out Food Awards at KLPAC (a couple weeks ago), a few of us decided to have supper (or actually, dinner, since we didn’t really have a meal at the event). Boo of masak-masak suggested Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien mee, which was a great location since we were already at Sentul, and Hokkien mee for late night?
Awesome choice if you ask me, nothing beats some starch, pork, seafood, and lard near midnight.
restuarant Ah Yap Hokkien mee at Sentul, Jon & Isadora
While the premise of Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien mee is now a pretty nice corner shop lot with air conditioned as well as al fresco style dining areas, every plate of Hokkien mee is still prepared with good old charcoal fire, exactly the same as when it was just a stall in the nearby kopitiam. (there are even other branches now).
Many believes that Hokkien Mee is best fried using charcoal fire, and that there is a distinctive difference in taste when preapred with gas vs charcoal. For me though, I’m not quire sure, I like it when it tastes good, and frankly doesn’t care too much about the romantic idea of having it old school or modern. If it tastes good, it’s fine by me if it was gas, coal, charcoal, or wood fire.
the old school hokkien mee, made with charcoal fire
Our Hokkien mee (RM 12) was quite awesome, there were no surprises – big fat noodle, meehun (we asked for it), prawns, slices of fish cake, pork slices, vegetable, and of course, pork lard.
It really did taste as good as it looks, and made better when Isadora asked for extra lard for us. 
butter chicken, marmaid pork ribs, extra pork lard, and tapioka hokkien mee
Other than the Hokkien Mee, we also ordered marmite pork ribs, butter chicken, bitter gourd with salted egg yolk, and another plate of special Hokkien mee made with tapioka noodle.
The marmite ribs (RM 23) were frankly speaking, way too skinny. It would probably be a dream come true for those who loves lean meat, but we weren’t really impressed.
Butter chicken (RM 23) was a pretty decent dish though, flavorful with pretty nice texture to go with. The bitter gourd with salted egg yolk (RM 20) though, was my favorite for the night. The combination of the bitterness and the richness of salted egg yolk, in a weird sort of cosmic logic, worked well for our palates. This is a dish that needs to be tasted to be impressed.
As for the tapioka noodle Hokkien Mee (RM 16), well, imagine the texture of bubble tea pearls, except flattened and served in a plate of Hokkien mee ingredients. I wouldn’t say it was bad, bit it was a bit too chewy for my liking. A novelty perhaps, but not something I would order again.
The Hokkien mee at Ah Yap is certainly worth eating, the other dishes however, was a bit of a hit and miss, and does not really offer very good value for money either. I’d stick with having the original Hokkien mee and that sinful bitter gourd with salted egg yolk here.
Address:
Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien Mee
744, Jalan Sentul,
51000 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.178117, 101.692436
Tel : 012-3036800, 012-2816862
opening hours are from 5 p.m – 1 a.m
First, a little snippet from wiki about Napa Valley:
In 1965, Napa Valley icon Robert Mondavi broke away from his family’s Charles Krug estate to found his own. This was the first new large scale winery to be established in the valley since before prohibition. Following the establishment of the Mondavi estate, the number of wineries in the valley continued to grow, as did the region’s reputation.
Travis Brown, Regional Director for Asia for Robert Mondavi wines
In addition, Robert Mondavi Winery also perfected the dry oak-aged Sauvignon Blanc and labeled it as ”Fumé Blanc” in 1966. This was an unpopular variety in California at the time, but the wine proved to be a success.
In time, Robert Mondavi successfully developed a number of premium wines that earned the respect of connoisseurs and vintners alike.
tomato, cheese, bread, calamari, simple yet utterly delicious
A few weeks ago, we were invited to the winemaker’s dinner at Favola, Le Meridien KL.
Classy Italian food prepared by one of my favorite chefs – Chef Antoine, and pairing them with some fine wines from Robert Mondavi, what is there not to like?
Fumé Blanc, Robert Mondavi’s version of Sauvignon Blanc
We sampled Chardonnay sourced from the cool growing regions of the southern Napa Valley with its rich and complex taste; Pinot Noir, a bright and vivacious wine; the full body Merlot; the soft and silky Cabernet Sauvignon; and of course, the Fumé Blanc.
David Stephen and the good chefs at Le Meridien KL
As for food, there were the usual arrays of excellent pasta, tomato, cheese, pizza, bread, risotto, and of course, the best freshly made Belgium waffle ever.
Though my knowledge in wine is still amateur at best, I did learn a few things after this event, and would at least know which wine to choose from without being disappointed.
Address:
Favola
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur 50470
GPS: 3.135631,101.686476
Tel: 03-2263 7888
From time to time, I like to go into a restaurant totally devoid of any idea what is being served there. Last weekend was one such occasion. Haze and I were near Leisure Mall and hungry, we drove around a bit, parked the car, and decided to head into Restaurant K.T.L – which stands for Kwong Tau Lou (光头佬, bald guy)
steamed tilapia and steamed egg are the must order items
The reason we chose this particular restaurant was that it looked cheap, almost unfurnished, and yet filled with mostly older diners & families. To me, these are a sure sign that good food is available, and it won’t break your wallet.
After seated, we asked for recommendations from the wait staff and ordered a steamed tilapia with tao chio (beans), steamed egg, and a plate of vegetable. Total dishes to choose from was very limited, there’s 2 types of fish (other being haruan), always steamed but with a few different variations, eggs, steamed ribs, and a few types of vegetables. Just as well, makes ordering quite a lot easier.
check out how smooth is the steamed egg, slurps!
Dishes didn’t come quick, and you have the pleasure of seeing them catch the tilapia that’ll end up on your table.
But when it does, boy, the fish was great! The tao chio sauce was very flavorful and quite a bit spicy too, they even stuffed it full in the fish’s cavity too, a nice touch for sure.
The steamed egg was on a big plate but very thin, and very very soft. Imagine the softest chawanmushi, and this was 3 times softer. It tasted very simple yet awesome, with soya sauce and a hint of sesame oil on it. (I tried to replicate the steamed egg at home the other day and failed miserably)
The only let down at the place was the vegetable. Well, it wasn’t bad, it was average, but after the fish and egg, this was slightly disappointing.
The dinner came to be slightly less than RM 20 per person including two Chinese tea. For fresh fish and excellent dishes, it was a steal. Definitely will go there again.
Address:
Restaurant K.T.L.
Gerai No.3A, Jalan Manis
Taman Segar
56100 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.088250, 101.743231
Tel: 017-872 7567, 012-308 7311, 014-322 3613
