I always thought that Mini Apom is only found in but two stalls in Penang situated right outside Union Primary School at Jalan Burma, and every time I went back to the island of good eats, getting my stomach stuffed with these was always in the list of things to do.
Well, now I can do that right here at PJ’s Ming Tien food court.
Penang apom, comes in two flavors
The Penang Apom stall is situated on the far right of the food court, manned by an operator from Penang who moved down to KL some 7-8 years ago (and speaks perfect Penang Hokkien, of course).
The mini apom comes either with sweet corns or banana slice in them and you get 5 pieces for RM 3. The taste is as good as those found in Penang, and definitely worth the money paid for. The only downside is that if the apom’s been sitting on the shelves for a while they tend to get cold and wouldn’t taste quite as good. Then again, 15-20 seconds in a microwave would fix that, or you could perhaps insist on freshly made ones.
The stall operates from about 5 pm till late, they also offer regular apom.
chicken porridge – simple comfort food
The chicken porridge stall at Ming Tien food court now has a pair of new operators that is familiar to anyone who frequents SS 2 mamak square. The kids that used to help out at the chicken rice stall at SS 2 are now running the show.
I’ve always loved their silky smooth steamed chicken, so it was my dinner choice the other night as I was looking for some comfort food to fill my stomach.
chicken porridge at Ming Tien, originally from SS2 mamak
The chicken was identical to those offered at their parents’ stall, and the porridge too were quite flavorful in itself, with the dash of sesame oil, white pepper, and soya sauce. Bean sprouts is also offered as a separate dish, and on top of that, there’s chicken liver and gizzards as well.
It’s a shame that they don’t serve chicken rice here (most likely due to presence of other chicken rice stalls at the food court), but if you’re looking for some good chicken porridge, this is definitely one of them.
Address:
Ming Tien Hawker Center
Jalan SS24/8, Taman Megah,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.114334, 101.611658
Yes, this is yet another curry mee post. More specifically, a curry mee place with coagulated pork blood in the list of ingredients, the only way real curry mee should be.
It is the same back story from Penang One post is what led me to this place.
restaurant Millenium 86 at Seapark
A man’s gotta have his curry mee, and I’m actually glad that this stall is now much closer to home than when it was located at Restaurant Good Food. To me, this means that I don’t need to necessarily wake up before 8:30 for restaurant okay’s curry mee, or brave the traffic to Puchong for Penang One.
glorious Penang style curry mee, with coagulated blood
The curry mee is as good as I remember. Pork blood, prawns, cockles, tofupok, long beans, and of course that slightly charred chili paste with fragrant coconut milk based broth. This is Penang style curry mee as close as you can get, and would have been absolutely perfect if not for the lack of cuttle fish, but I’m not complaining.
If you love curry mee, this is definitely one of the very few places worth going. The operator also offers Kuih Teow Soup, I should try it next. 
map to Restaurant Millenium 86 at Sea Park
Address:
Restaurant Mellenium Eighty Six
Jalan 20/22,
Taman Paramount, Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.108099, 101.623983
Pan mee is one of the few underrated hawker dishes originated right around here in Klang Valley that has seen some revival as of late, most notably due to chili pan mee places such as the famous Kin Kin pan mee, and restaurant Super Kitchen (which I prefer largely due to better service).
While I occasionally enjoys chili version of this dish, the true pan mee connoisseurs will always tell you that to taste the real pan mee, you need to get back to it’s origin and have the good old fashion hand peeled version.
Hock Thai restaurant, at the less glamourous area of SS 2omb
The quest for good old school pan mee brought me to this relatively obscure row of shop lots at SS 2 that is situated somewhere behind the Bomba building and Tropicana City Mall – a corner kopitiam by the name of Hock Thai Seafood Restaurant (they serve seafood tai chao at night)
dry and normal soup version of pan mee, with hand made noodle
I met Michael there and we ordered both the dry and soup version of pan mee (RM 4.50). The ingredients aren’t fancy, you get the usual pan mee leave, flavorful minced meat, crunchy fried anchovies, slices of mushroom, and those sweet potato leaves.
What is special here though, is the hand made noodle. The pan mee was very soft and smooth, almost bordering the texture of koay chap yet unmistakably pan mee. It was positively delicious, the soup that comes with weren’t overly salty either, just subtle and flavorful. Furthermore, the chili paste that is served as the condiment was not a disappointment either.
This was one pan mee that I actually enjoyed eating without overloading the dish with chili.
Michael ordered an extra bowl of kolo mee
A quick check on foursquare revealed that the Sarawak Kolo Mee (RM 5) too is recommended. We ordered a bowl to share, and sure enough it was another awesome choice. The thin noodle reminds me of angel hair spaghetti and I love the mixture of minced meat and deep fried garlic with the taste of char siu oil in it. Would definitely come again for this too.
If you are a fan of traditional pan mee or kolo mee, Hock Thai kopitiam is definitely a place worth checking out.
Address:
Hock Thai Seafood Restaurant
Jalan SS2/103, Petaling Jaya,
Selangor 47300
GPS: 3.12653, 101.62593
Mee Pok (面薄), the dish that appears to have a wrong spelling at first glance (mee pork anyone?), is one of the “newest” hawker dishes that I got to know. Growing up in Penang, I had never heard of it, and did not know the existence of this simple yet wonderful dish until Haze brought me to Tang Pin Kitchen at PJ SS2.
Tang Pin Kitchen at SS2, the Hailam coffee/tea is beautiful
Tang Pin Kitchen is situated on the same row of shops that also houses Lobsterman, Teow Chew Meng, and Bibichik. I’ve drove past it several times heading to these other restaurants, but it wasn’t until a few months ago that I started frequenting this place.
Parking is usually plenty easy to find, though it can be a little tough to get a table on busy weekend mornings.
mee pok, not for the faint hearted
My go-to dish is always the wholesomely delicious mee pok (RM 6). Why delicious? Simple, the abundance of lard and minced pork covering the yellow flat noodle. One does not simply deny lard. The sauce consists of a mixture of vinegar, oil, and chili. Mix em all up and you get a little bowl of excellence.
The dish is is also served with a side of clear soup and a few slices of fish paste. The fish paste is exactly the sort you’ll find from 60s Teow Chew fish ball restaurant, since they’re run by the same people.
gyoza, hailam tea, tao fu far, and fried noodle
Other than mee pok, there are also choices like curry mee, soup noodle, fried chee cheong fun, fish ball, fish paste, porridge, and more.
We usually share another side dish to go with the mee pok. Gyoza (RM 6) and home made fish noodle (RM 7) are pretty tasty. Their Tien Pin toast bread is a must try too especially if you’re looking for just a light breakfast.
pork belly appetizer, century egg with shredded pork porridge
Directly behind Tang Pin Kitchen is the related Restaurant Tien Pin. The menu choices is a little bigger, and you can actually order everything that’s available at Tang Pin Kitchen as well.
I’ve tried their pork belly appetizer thingy which was delightful, and the century egg with shredded pork porridge, which while very tasty, should also be about three times the serving size. Then again, I’ll have to pay another visit to check this place out more comprehensively, perhaps over dinner one of these days.
Address:
Tang Pin Kitchen
No. 24, Jalan SS 2/24,
47300 PJ Selangor
GPS: 3.11326, 101.62090
Tel: 03-7877 2376
Branch: 97 Ground Floor, Jalan, SS19/6 47500 Subang Jaya
Restaurant Tien Pin:
19,jalan ss 2/30 47300 PJ Sel
Tel: 78752120
Branch: 13A-1 jalan S 10/3, seksyen 10, jalan bukit, 43000 kajang
Lobster is one of those sea creatures that usually means slightly different things to different people. The image of lobsters that we’re familiar with are usually the spiny lobster, which is quite a bit more prevalent in Chinese cuisine and local seafood restaurants.
The Lobsterman, however, serves only Homarus Americanus, or the American lobster, which is easily identified with their iconic big claws. Lobsterman is in fact the only lobster specialty restaurant in the country.
The Lobsterman. Homarus Americanus
My only previous visit to this restaurant was some 7-8 years ago, prior to the birth of this blog. I’ve been longing to head there again for a while now, so for Haze’s birthday, we went there for dinner.
The menu at Lobsterman is quite extensive (you can find a full listing on their website). Other than lobsters, they serve beef, chicken, salmon, cod, and a couple lamb dishes too.
Lobsters are priced according to weight:
this sweet lobster was our dinner, your life will be well delicious
However, the best deal would be their lobster special menu priced at RM 128. For that you get baked escargot/half dozen New Zealand mussels, soup of the day, live Atlantic lobster (550 gram) prepared in style of your choice, seafood rice/pasta, dessert of the day, and tea/coffee.
If I remember correctly, I ordered the same deal during the first visit and it was something like RM 98 then. Marginal increase in price over the years, plenty reasonable.
baked escargot and cream of mushroom
We ordered the special set with and upgraded lobster (700 gram for extra RM 20 just cos the ran out of 550 gram lobster) and an Uruguayan tenderloin (RM 56) to share.
First to come was the baked escargot and it was much better than expected. The escargot is shelled and served in a special plate. Plenty of cream, cheese, and the snail goodness. We loved it.
The cream of mushroom soup tho, was very ordinary, and I wouldn’t recommend ordering if it wasn’t part of a set.
700 gram lobster, char broiled the traditional American style
We had our lobster prepared the good old American way – char-broiled.
Alternatively you can have it prepared HK style (garlic), Japanese (sashimi or soup), American (stuffed, simmered), France (Terragon butter baked), Italy (lobster thermidor), local (stir fry salt & pepper or XO sauce), Chinese (braised yee mee, steamed, lotus leaf), Indian (curry), Thai (tomyam) and more.
I’d recommend sticking to methods that involves less spices in order to enjoy the natural taste of the seafood. I had tried lobster sashimi before and it was really good.
the birthday girl was obviously enjoying the lobster much
The char broiled style too was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed the lobster. It was fresh (obviously), firm, and flavorful. There was a side of butter to go with the lobster but I find it unnecessary, it was really good on its own too.
we also ordered the filet mignon, pleasantly surprised with how well it was
The Uruguayan tenderloin was a slab of prime barrel cut filet mignon at 220 gram. Haze loved it rare and that was how we had it. We ordered it with the sauce on the side and ended up not touching the sauce at all. The meat was tender and really turned out to be much better than anticipated.
It was probably one of the best non-wagyu/kobe beef that I’ve ever had. Would probably go there again when I am in for some good beef.
Horng, Suan, Yuki, and Kerol came in to surprise the birthday girl
After the dinner, Suan, Horng, Kerol and Yuki came in for a little surprised cake for the birthday girl. I had to delay our departure from the restaurant to make this happen as the guys were stuck in traffic, but alas it was a real surprise.
A good dinner, and pretty reasonably priced (I wouldn’t say affordable). Everything ended up around RM 250 (with drinks & taxes), but it was well worth it.
Address:
Lobsterman Homarus Americanus
53 Jalan SS 2/30
Ss 2, 47300 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
Website: lobsterman.com.my
GPS: 3.114334, 101.621717
Tel: 03-7877 6772
