During a particular Saturday evening a few weeks ago, I was loitering online and saw Eiling came on. As both of us were feeling hungry and haven’t had a plan for dinner, she decided to introduce her favorite Steamboat restaurant to me, Wan Hou at SS14.

look at the lady enjoying

The air-conditioned and clean interior is a welcoming change from most other steamboat places. I’ve always found steamboat goes best with clear soup, and the soup here is rather flavorful, I suspect the involvement of pork bones in preparing them.

order set, or ala-carte. love the condiments

For two of us, we ordered a set for one, a big portion of their famous meatballs, half portion of fish ball, and another half portion of their fish wantan look-alike thingy.

When you are at Wan Hou, do remember to ask for their special sauce that is made with sesame oil, fried shallots, garlics, chili padi, and if I remember correctly, apple vinegar. This condiment goes really well with clear soup steamboat, you just have to try it.

oh, glorious pork meat balls!

The ingredients were fresh and the set actually pretty big. There were plenty of vegetable, tofu skin, assortments of fish balls and meatballs, prawn, egg, noodle, and even half a corn. A pretty nice combination.

However, the most important thing at this steamboat place has got to be the pork meatballs. Larger than usual and very firm and juicy. It tasted just like how pork meatballs should, succulent and flavorful, it was probably the best I’ve had. I will go there again just because of this!

Wan Hou Steamboat is opposite Metropolitan College

I believe we spent less than RM40 there and yet came out very satisfied. There are other items in the menu I haven’t tried, but I am sure that wasn’t the last time I go to Wan Hou.

Address:
14, Jalan SS14/2,
47500 Subang Jaya.
GPS: 3.072833, 101.591499

Other review: YiLing

Tags:  eiling,  fish,  meatball,  pork,  ss14,  Steamboat

Posted by KY | 33 Comments »

While Cheddie paid a visit to KL about 2 months ago, Cheesie and I went for a seafood dinner to commemorate nothing at all. I’ve decided that Lala Chong be the destination since I’ve heard about the place for the longest time but have yet to give it a try.

it was very packed

Lala Chong looks to be a halal place with many female Muslim working as servers. However, mud crab is served though, so I guess it would be up to individual’s interpretation on the appropriateness to eat here if you embrace Islam.

Anyway, for the two of us we ordered three dishes. A shiong thong 上汤 lala, baked crab, and a spicy paku pakis (fern) to go with some rice. The place was really packed on that Friday night, but luckily food didn’t take too long to arrive.

lala, paku pakis (fern), baked crab, cheesie & cheddie

The shiong thong 上汤 lala was cooked in this herbal soup with some chili padi, it was pretty good but unfortunately the shellfish lacks in size. For a place with the name Lala in it, I think that’s a bit wrong.

However, the baked crab was fantastic. I think only salt, plenty of ginger, and some chili padi were used; but the crab was very fresh, very sweet, and very very juicy. I really liked it. No thick sauce to mask the original taste of crab, and no messy wet fingers to deal with either.

Cheesie’s favorite dish was the paku pakis with canned tuna. I find it very interesting too, the texture of paku pakis is unlike other vegetables, and the taste of tuna, chili, and garlic made it a pretty unique experience. Can’t really have it without rice though.

Lala Chong is just opposite Terminal 3, Subang Airport

If I remember correctly, the dinner costs some RM 70 for the two of us. Pretty reasonable for what we had.

A little boy was really amused with Cheddie that night, as evident from that picture. I think he was asking if he could have her baked.

Address:
Lot PT 6824, Terminal 3,
Abdul Aziz Shah Airport,
47200 Subang, Selangor
GPS: 3.135145, 101.553626
Tel: 03-7859 1906

Tags:  cheddie,  crab,  lala,  paku pakis,  ringo,  seafood,  subang,  tuna

Posted by KY | 43 Comments »

A little while ago I received an invitation from Andrea from Restaurant Coca for a food review session. It was quite a while since the last time I had Coca (for steamboat) and remember the experience to be a rather good one. Anyhow, Suan, FA, Ringo, Tim, and I went to the session on a particular Tuesday night last month and gorged ourselves silly.

the five free loaders at Coca and our juices

Most of you might have been associating Restaurant Coca with their higher end steamboat dinners, while this is still true, our review session was to try on their newer Thai inspired dishes instead.

Most of us ordered juices to start the meal, and I just had to get the pretty curious Roselle drink the moment I saw it on the menu. For the uninitiated, it is a type of Hibiscus (ala our national flower) with the drink that is sweet in a different way. The Roselle tasted fresh and very juicy to the bite too, I love it. Unfortunately Andrea said they imported this particular ingredient from overseas and they aren’t available at the stores.. bummer.

pandan chicken, stuffed prawns, deep fried calamari

Next came three appetizer dishes: pandan chicken, stuffed prawns, and deep fried calamari.

Out of the three items, the stuffed prawns were a bit disappointing, but perhaps maybe it was the presentation. They look so awesome but at the end the taste was just average, a case of visual over hype I suppose. Deep fried calamari was one of Tim’s favorite appetizer, the fresh squid and the taste of batter was a good combination. As for me, I have to go with the pandan chicken, it was probably the best I’ve had, better than the “paper wrapped chicken” at balakong and even the same dish at De Chiengmai. The chicken very succulent and the marinate was just perfect.

seafood tomyam, steamed fish with thai sauce, tofu with scallops, kailan

After the pretty heavy appetizers, we had seven main dishes to go with rice. Steamed siakap with Thai sauce was very good, the sour and salty soup mixes well with the fish and garnish. Fried kailan provided a fresher taste, while the clay pot tofu carried a very strong sweetness from scallops, very nice.

However, I find the seafood tomyam a little too “lemak” (though milk is used in substitute of coconut milk/santan) and didn’t enjoy it much. To me, tomyam should be sour and spicy instead, so I find the experience a little strange. The green chicken curry, though lemak as well, tasted pretty good as that was how it should be.

deep fried mantao and chili crabs, butter prawns

The big ticket items were the butter prawns and chili crab. The buttery batter used is slightly different from usual, with more Thai inspired spices and thus carries a stronger taste that I find very nice. I had extra since Tim, being a noob, doesn’t eat prawns.

The deep fried mantao went really well with the sauce from chili crab dish. As for the crab itself, while not very impressive in size, was fresh and tasted pretty good.

the desserts: mango with glutinous rice, red ruby, sago in coconut milk

As our stomach started to expand like a hot air balloon and already having quite a bit of leftovers due to the impossible amount of food served. Andrea decided that the meal wouldn’t be complete without trying their desserts.

We had red ruby, sago in coconut milk, mango with glutinous rice, and ice kacang. I only tried a few spoonful from each of them. They were quite good, but to be honest, I was already over stuffed to the point of losing my sense of taste.

It was a pretty good dinner, and I do think that most of their Thai dishes were pretty good (especially the pandan chicken). While the price is a little on the high side, Coca offers a very nice ambiance with pretty good quality ingredients.

Address:
Subang Parade,
Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.082109,101.585416
Tel: 03-5632 8766

Tags:  chicken,  coca,  crab,  FA,  fish,  ky,  prawn,  ringo,  squid,  suanie,  thai-food,  tim

Posted by KY | 30 Comments »

When I was working at Leisure Commerce Square, we used to travel quite a bit for a good lunch. We’ve been to the siew yoke (bbq pork) place at Aman Suria, pork tripe soup at USJ, and even banana leaf rice at Raju at PJ State. Just before I left the company, we decided to venture into the parking hell that is USJ Taipan and give Meaty House a try.

Meaty house is located just a couple of shops from Starbucks

Meaty house is located just a couple of shops from Starbucks, facing the multilayer parking lots that you should use lest boiling your blood away looking for a street spot (that you have to pay anyway.) The interior of the restaurant is a little dated and not very well lit either. The seats and tables were a bit old, but we were there with only one objective, and romance wasn’t it.

pork belly, pork knuckle, ribs & sausages

The server was very friendly and recommended us the three dishes we ordered for the day. Pork belly, pork knuckle, and a ribs & sausages dish. We also had 3 glasses of home-brewed barley drinks to go with it.

Food didn’t take long to arrive as it wasn’t busy during the weekday lunch time we were there. All three dishes were actually very good, and I particularly love the German pork knuckle, very crunchy on the outside and yet flavorful and fatty without being too oily inside. The home-made honey mustard sauce was perfect for both the sausages and the pork knuckle.

Pork belly was good too, although I could probably use a slightly fattier cut (I’m one of those pork lard people). The ribs too were equally good, with the hint of char siu (roasted pork) taste to it. The side dishes of coleslaw and some unidentified vegetables though, were nothing to shout about.

*slurps*

Each dishes cost less than RM 30. Ribs & sausages RM 26.80, pork belly RM 23.80, pork knuckle RM 29.80. Overall I would say that this place offers very good value for what you get. A slightly higher class place would be EURO DELI at Damansara Kim or Jarrod & Rawlins at Hartamas, and if you really want it splurge a bit, there’s always Bermuda & Onions at Cangkat Bukit Bintang, and Bruno’s at Jaya 33. If you love pork, either one of these places would be pretty satisfying.

Meaty house is located in USJ Taipan Triangle

Address:
37, Jalan USJ 10/1D,
Taipan Triangle, Subang Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.049244, 101.584289
Tel: 03-5633 5634

Tags:  pork,  pork belly,  pork knuckle,  pork-ribs,  taipan,  USJ

Posted by KY | 24 Comments »

When it comes to steamboat in Malaysia, tomyam, clear soup, and porridge usually comes to mind. Most people aren’t aware that there is also the spicy Sichuan and Mongolian style steamboat in the valley. Last I had this type of steamboat was more than 1.5 years ago at Hong La Qiao and Inner Mongolian Restaurant at Pudu, so when the invitation to Jin Shan Cheng from foodstreet came in, I was rather delighted to revisit this version of steamboat.

steamboat is always best enjoyed in a group

Jin Shan Cheng is located at Sunway Mentari, across NPE from Sunway Pyramid. The restaurant itself is on first floor, but there’s actually elevator for those who are extremely lazy. Interior decoration is rather simple and without much fan fair, but this isn’t exactly a fancy restaurant, we’re here only for the food anyway.

the condiments and two types of soup

The steamboat comes with two types of soup, the traditional super spicy with lots of chili oil Sichuan style, and the other without. They are basically the same soup base though. Instead of your usual chicken rice style sambal or chili padi, there is a pretty special type of sauce accompanying the steamboat. I tasted a hint of cilantro, garlic, ginger, oil, and some type of pepper. Of course, there are also fuyu (fermented tofu), peanut sauce, and chili oil. Those usually go very well with meat items.

spicy frog legs, spicy fish pot, pepper beef

While waiting for the soup to boil, we were served three traditional Sichuan dishes. The spicy frog legs cos Eiling mentioned to the owner that she likes frog legs, the spicy fish pot, and the sizzling pepper beef.

The frog legs were actually very good, spicy yet full of flavor. The boss explained that they use a type of pepper imported from China to bring out the original taste. The fish, while very oily (wouldn’t be the correct recipe if it wasn’t), tasted pretty good too, I think it’ll go well with some rice but unfortunately we didn’t order any. Though cooked with tilapia instead of cod, it still did justice to the dish.

stop teasing with scallop already, Eiling!

For the steamboat, we had beef slice, scallop, vegetable, pork kidney, fish meat, and a few other items. My favorite had to be the kidney, closely followed by the beef. Both items tasted great with the strong flavoring from the soup and condiments. However, you need to make sure that they are not over cooked, a 5-10 second bath in the boiling soup is all you need.

Jin Shan Cheng is located at Sunway Mentari

The price at Jin Shan Cheng is pretty reasonable, the cooked dishes start from RM 15 for small portion. For example, the spicy fish pot costs RM 20 to RM 35. Not bad for something authentic an different. This place is best for those who love spicy food, you’re advised to stick with clear soup pulau ketam steamboat otherwise.

more pictures at my flickr set

Address:
No. 42A-2, Jalan PJS 8/2
Dataran Mentari, Bandar Sunway,
56301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.075284, 101.613053
Tel: 03-5631 8220
Web: www.jscmsb.com

Tags:  dinner,  fish,  hotpot,  review,  sichuan,  spicy,  Steamboat

Posted by KY | 17 Comments »