Category / SS2 SS3 SS4
June 1, 2013
There aren’t very many hawkers in Klang Valley that offers the combination of these things in their offering:
The little corner stall at New Yew Sang in Kelana Jaya (also have good Thai food at night) is one of the few that scores in all three areas.
the “siu chau” stall at New Yew Sang, Kelana Jaya
The siu chau (小抄) has been a staple at this kopitiam for ages. Among the dishes offered are fried rice, Cantonese fried (horfun or yin yeong), Thai style fried rice, and loh mee. They open for business for breakfast and lunch, and the kopitiam is usually pretty busy on weekday lunch hours.
Parking situation around the restaurant isn’t the best, but nothing too troublesome for those who don’t mind walking a few steps.
kungfu yin yeong with crispy fried noodle at the bottom
My favorite here is their Cantonese Yin Yeong (廣府鴛鴦 RM 5.50), a combination of horfun and deep fried noodle at the bottom covered in thick broth that is pretty similar to egg drop soup. Prawns, pork slices, and vegetable makes up the rest of the ingredients.
They definitely do a good job on this pretty difficult to execute dish, and for less than 6 ringgit a plate, the portion is definitely more than enough as well.
their fried rice is pretty good too
The standard fried rice is also priced at RM 5.50, and for extra RM 1 you get a beautifully done sunny side top egg. The fried rice comes with pork, prawn, egg, and finely chopped carrots & long beans too. The only way to make this better is if you have some awesome sambal belacan from Penang to go with, but sometimes you can’t ask for too much.
Address:
New Yee Sang kopitiam
Jalan SS 6/8
Kelana Jaya
GPS: 3.106717, 101.598178
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April 28, 2013
Haze and I both knows how to enjoy a piece of good beef, but unfortunately good beef are usually only available at very up class restaurants (such as Prime or Mandarin Grill); and speaking from experience, those from the more affordable places often disappoints.
Then there’s Las Vacas, a no-frill restaurant and retail that offers prime cuts of beef and lamb at very decent price.
Las Vacas at Kelana Jaya
Las Vacas is basically a meat shop with professionally trained butchers and a kitchen. They stock a wide selection of meat and you can either buy raw to grill at home, or dine in.
There’s Angus, Wagyu, grain fed, tenderloin, ribeye, sirloin, lamb shoulder, and even salami, sausages, and burger patties.
grain fed tenderloin and wagyu ribeye
We went there for the first time a few weeks ago, I ordered a medium rare tenderloin, while Haze asked for her Wagyu ribeye to be prepared rare. Prices of meat is indicated at the display per 100 gram, and normal cut is usually 280-300 grams, though you can always choose a bigger/smaller portion according to appetite.
There’s a cooking fee (RM 15 if I remember correctly) on top of the price of the meat, and you get a small serving of salad (quite forgettable) and a piece of pretty decent garlic bread on the side.
love that my tenderloin was cooked to perfection – medium rare
The meat did take a while to get prepared, and I believe it was because they actually let it sit before serving to ensure they are properly moist. There’s Dijon mustard and A1 steak sauce if you like, but I love my steak as is with nothing but basica salt & pepper seasoning to fully enjoy the unadulterated taste of meat.
The result was excellent, and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Dinner ended up at around RM 180 including a couple bottles of premium carbonated drinks. Pretty reasonable for what we got, will visit again.
Address:
Las Vacas
No.23, Jalan SS5A/11 Kelana Jaya
47301 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
GPS: 3.095934, 101.604719
Tel: 03-7874 0711
Web: lasvacasmeat.com
Hours: Tues – Sunday, 10am – 10pm
January 25, 2013
Fa Ying at Paradigm Mall is the new foray into modern Thai cuisine by the same people who run Rama V at Jalan U Thant.
If you aren’t exactly a Thai historian, the name Fa Ying (means Princess) might sound a bit bizarre for a Thai restaurant. According to the owner, Fa Ying was the name of the playful sister of Rama V, the revered Thai King who was credited to the modernization of Siam. Since this outlet serves a “playful” interpretation of Thai cuisine to the sister restaurant Rama V, hence the name Fa Ying.
Pretty neat, I thought, but maybe adding “Thai restaurant” at the back of that big sign board bight help a little.
Fa Ying Thai Restaurant at Paradigm Mall
The restaurant is located at The Boulevard at Paradigm Mall, the semi-outdoor area under the office block with a set up that’s not entirely unlike the “covered alfresco” area at Pavilion. It’s pretty much open air while still sheltered from the harshest of elements.
Fa Ying also spot a full bar, serving liquor, cocktails, and beer
For those likes some proper drinks to go with Thai food, Fa Ying is definitely a place to go. Spotting a full bar, the restaurant serves a variety of cocktails, beer, and other drinks.
Some of the drinks we tried were:
- Mango Thai Pandan RM 21
- Thai Tom Yam RM 21 (funny name..)
- Mojito Selection RM 24
- Lemongrass Basil and Mango Sparkler RM 13
They also serve a fishbowl drink called Marquessa (RM 100) that comes with dragon fruit, cucumber, Absolut blue, burnt orange peel, white wine, and soda. It’s like a potent Thai version of Sangria.
While not an expert in cocktails by any means, I did enjoy their drinks.
lamb, fish, and seafood sate
Lets move on to the food.
We sampled three types of Thai satay here. The lamb satay (RM 20) was flavorful but without the overly strong “lamb” taste that some people dislike.
Fish satay a tender and soft, while the seafood satay with prawns & mussels were refreshing and went very well with their sourish sauce.
minced beef in cucumber, watermelon salad, pomelo salad
Minced meat in cucumber (RM 12) looked a bit like sushi but carries the distinctive Thai taste. The cucumber provided nice contrast to the meat, without the requirement of steamed rice to complement the meat. I’ll wouldn’t mind this as beer food.
For those who loves to go green, watermelon salad (RM 12) and pomelo salad (RM 16) will do the job just fine.
grilled scallops served with spinach and manow sauce
Our favorite appetizer of the day goes to this beautifully presented grilled scallops with spinach and manow sauce (RM 19). The scallops were perfectly seared, and the sourish manow sauce provided just the kick to complete this seafood experience.
I also think that this dish offers excellent value.
cod fish with manow, spaghetti with river prawn, Thai green curry pesto
Codfish with Manow (RM 42) provides a choice for those who loves this buttery fish, I find no fault in the execution of this dish, except that it’ll probably leave some room for dessert.
Spaghetti with Thai green curry pesto (RM 22) and spaghetti with river prawn (RM 32) are among the two pasta dishes offered here, both were a bit spicy and definitely not masking their Thai origin. I find the experience a little strange, but perhaps it’s something you get used to.
roast duck sandwich, grilled tenderloin with green curry
My favorite main dish goes to the roast duck sandwich (RM 20). It was simple yet brilliant, and I wonder why it took so long for anyone to come up with this. It was utterly delicious and I would go back to Fa Ying just to have this. (btw my colleague Sheng had this and gave his approval as well)
Lastly, we also sampled their grilled tenderloin with green curry mushroom (RM 42). Perhaps I’m spoiled by those high grade beef at Prime, but for less than RM 50, the meat was decent.
Thai desserts at Fa Ying
Like most Thai restaurants, Fa Ying serves a variety of traditional desserts. I liked the fried banana fritters with vanilla ice cream, and their mango with sticky rice was pretty good as well. Each of these dish comes with half a strawberry, leaving the trace of the “playful” nature of Fa Ying.
Pearl, Reiko, Evelyn, Suan, Haze, KY, Audrey, Owner
We had a pretty good session at Fa Ying, and it is definitely a place I’ll revisit (if not just for the roast duck sandwich!). Mention ‘PRINCESS’ as password and get 10% off food bill before 1st of February 2013.
If you are looking for Thai food with a bit of a twist at a place with nice ambiance to bring a date, this would be a sweet choice.
Address:
Fa Ying Thai Restaurant
The Boulevard, Paradigm Mall
Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.108806, 101.59564
Tel: 03-7451 2933
November 14, 2012
The PJ SS2 mamak square is a pretty popular and cheap dinner/supper place, with a mixture of Chinese (all pork free) and Malay/Mamak offerings. There’s good chicken rice, fried rice, tomyam, and more, but what most people don’t realise is that there’s a pretty awesome nasi lemak half-stall as well.
Nasi Lemak Utara, sharing the same stall with Burger Wan
This is a half-stall because it shares the same spot as the burger stall, with the nasi lemak “desk” facing on the other side. In fact, the nasi lemak guy and the burger guy are related.
Nasi lemak is usually ready by around 7+ in the evening but it often doesn’t last the whole night. There isn’t many dishes to choose from, but the usual suspects of sambal cuttle fish, fried chicken with rempah (my favorite), curry chicken, and cockles are almost always available.
super delicious nasi lemak, at a fair price, check out the rempah too
The rice is fragrant and usually served warm with a sheet of banana leaf, and you get peanuts, fried anchovies, and half a hard boiled egg by default. The sambal is pretty mean and carries quite a kick as well. My go-to order is usually the chicken with rempah (ask for more rempah) and cockles, and that usually comes up to RM 7 or so, pretty reasonable price for what you get.
Next time when you’re there, do give it a try if they are open (there’s no pattern, sometimes the dude takes random holidays it seems).
Address:
Nasi Lemak Utara
Jalan SS 2/60,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.117783, 101.622430
November 1, 2012
Hidden at this not-so glamorous part of SS2 is a little restaurant that has made a name for itself despite the location (at the dead end from the same road that has New Paris) and the rather odd name – Toast & Roast.
Toast & Roast at the less glamorous part of SS2
I was initially introduced to this restaurant from Cheesie, and this is her go-to restaurant due to the location as well as the availability of, in her words, very good charsiu.
So last weekends we finally stopped by this little shop and give it a try over lunch.
glorious char siu, one of the bests in town (this is from a rather “fat” section)
Unlike most other locations in SS2, this place doesn’t suffer from a shortage of parking space. The restaurant itself though, can be quite a bit busy over lunch time, and while charsiu and rice can be served relatively fast, noodle dishes can sometimes take a while to arrive.
The premise is pretty clean, and there isn’t any interior decoration to speak of. It’s a no nonsense old school eatery that just happened to have a pretty modern name.
the roast pork is decent, and I quite enjoyed the sui kao (dumpling) too
We ordered a medium portion of charsiu (bbq pork, RM 16) and a small portion of siuyok (roast pork, RM 8) to share. Yuki opted another plate of charsiu rice as her main dish while the rest of us went with Hakka noodle (RM 4.50 or RM 5.50).
The charsiu that was served to us turned out to be a pretty fat cut. This suits me just as well as “pun fei sau”, or the half fatty version, but might be too much for some. I love the flavor and the melt in your mouth feel from the fats, it was on par with some of the bests. My only complain is the serving size, for RM 16 you only get some 2 dozen pieces.
then there’s hakkan noodle, and you can order single serving charsiu rice too
As for the Hakka Mee, you can opt to have it served either with minced pork or charsiu. Since we already ordered charsiu to share, we chose the former.
The combination of minced pork with that bits of fried fish skin worked well, and I enjoyed the texture of the noodle as well. Of course, everything tasted even better when you add in a couple pieces of charsiu to go with. I wasn’t disappointed.
Horng, Yuki, Kerol, and KY
Oh, then there’s those fried sui kao (dumplings RM1) that’s stuffed with black fungus, minced pork, and prawns that were quite addictive. Do order this as they make excellent appetizer while you wait for those Hakka mee.
Toast & Roast can be a bit pricey, but I do think this is the case of “you get what you paid for”. I don’t mind revisiting this place at least once a month or something. 
Address:
Toast & Roast
No. 20, Jalan SS2/72
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.128346, 101.627866
Tel: 016-682 2249
Hours: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, close on Tuesdays
