A couple days ago I got the attack of the bak kut teh craving, you know that feeling when you just have to have it, so much so that you can almost smell the bkt soup even before even deciding where to eat.
So I decided to head to SS 14, one of the few places with concentrated bak kut teh restaurants at night time. A quick search online and I found that my buddy Galvin gave a good review for Ah Ping bak kut teh, if it’s good enough for the Klang chao ah beng, it is good enough for me.
Ah Ping bak kut teh at Subang Jaya SS 14
Ah Ping is easily the busiest bak kut teh restaurant at SS14. This of course, is a good sign. As it was already dinner time, parking was actually a breeze.
We took a seat inside (you can have a table alfresco style to0 when weather permits) and ordered a bowl of bak kut teh with everything in it + enoki mushroom, a plate of vegetable, and a serving of yao char kuai.
thick and fragrant herbal soup is essential in bak kut teh
Our bowl of “everything in it” came with plenty of pork, intestine, tripes, fuchok, tofu, a couple shiitake mushroom, and a few leaves of lettuce soaked in pretty thick Klang style (as opposed to Teow Chew) bak kut teh soup.
The bak kut teh definitely packs a punch, I like the soup, and you know that they’ve cooked everything right when the meat falls off the bones easily, and intestines didn’t need more than a few seconds to chew through. It was overall a rather satisfying experience.
The yao char kuai too was quite crunchy, unlike some nighttime bkt places where they tend to use yao char kuai prepared in the morning and tends to be a bit soggy.
bak kut teh with everything in, yao char kuai, rice, and vegetable
Together with drinks, total bill came to be RM 32.50, pretty reasonable for two person. If you’re not willing to drive all the way to Kepong for Kaka bak kut teh (cos they serve kidney), Ah Ping at at SS 14 certainly won’t leave you disappointed.
Address:
Ah Ping Bak Kut Teh
42, Jalan SS14/2,
Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.072767, 101.590933
Tel: 012-323 3938 / 012-267 8390
Remember a couple years ago, when suddenly out of nowhere there was this huge donut craze?
Big Apples and J.Co donuts (and later Krispy Kreme) were popping up everywhere, accompanying each new branch was always a long queue of customers eager to get a taste of fluffy pastry with a hole in the middle, it was quite a phenomena, well, at least until we got tired of it and the whole thing sort of tapered down.
The same thing is happening all over again, but this time around it is them Bubble Tea.
Chatime, only took a photo, wasn’t too impressed
Bubble tea is of course, nothing new in this country. The difference in these new establishments are not revolutionary, but they seemed to inject a breath of freshness in this old product.
Places like Chatime, Gongcha, and Ochado has one thing in common – they use updated ordering system and allows you to customize each drinks with different sugar and ice level as well as extra ingredients should you choose to add (pearl, grass jelly, etc). The tea are also brewed each day (or every few hours), no powdered form is used.
A fancy plastic seal is used to seal the drinks, only to be popped open by the oversize straw 2 seconds later.
Price wise, they are somewhere in between your average cup of Old Town drinks and Starbucks coffee, which means from around RM 5.90 to RM 7.90 or so, depending on the type of tea, additional pearl/jelly/milk froth, etc.
As of writing, Chatime has the most branches in Malaysia with a total of 15, you can find them as far as Melaka and Penang (check the listing here). I tried their milk tea with pearl and frankly, wasn’t too impressed. The tea tasted alright, it wasn’t too sweet, but at the same time didn’t give me any ummph I was hoping for. I wouldn’t line up for 20 mins to get a cup of Chatime bubble tea, but if I’m thirsty and there isn’t a line, I’ll probably still grab one.
Address:
Chatime
G-K9, SSTwo Mall,
No. 40 Jalan SS2/72,
47400 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.12093, 101.62727
Website: Chatime at facebook
Gong Cha at SS 15, one of Haze’s favs
Then there’s Gong Cha at SS 15 and Mid Valley, just like Chatime, it is another Taiwanese chain that was started in the mid of last decade and recently arrived in Malaysia. Gong Cha is not nearly as prolific as Chatime, but I find their drinks quite a bit better in quality, especially those with perforated milk.
Their grass jelly and one particular winter melon tea were quite lovely. Lucky SS 15 is some distance from where I stay and they only open till 10 pm, otherwise I’d spend too much calorie quota at this place I think.
The white pearl (extra RM 1.50) at Gong Cha has a nice texture to it, but I couldn’t distinguised their standard black pearl (RM 1) with those from pasar malam, so no more black pearl for me.
Address:
Gong Cha
No 3, Jalan SS15/7,
47500 Subang Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.07629, 101.59040
Tel: 03-5638 3328
Website: http://www.gong-cha.com.my
Ochado at Pavilion Tokyo Street is good, Suanie & Cheesie agrees!
My favorite of the lot though, is Ochado at Pavilion’s newest 6th floor section – Tokyo Street (that also house the popular ramen place – Hokkaido Santouka.
Ochado isn’t Taiwanese bubble tea, but Japanese instead (though this brand actually started from Singapore last year). To me the tea actually tasted a bit better, and so does their grass jelly. I’ve also tried their coffee with a type of “coffee pearl” that was simply marvelous.
When Cheesie tested it, she went “OMG IT HAS IKURA!“. The coffee pearl pops in your mouth and release concentrated flavors in small doses, I love it.
However, being in Pavilion also means that Ochado is slightly more expensive than the other two brands, but not more than extra RM 1 or 2 for similar drinks.
Address:
Ochado
6.33.00 & 6.34.00, Level 6, Pavilion
Jln Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.148872, 101.713368
Website: Ochado at Pavilion KL
For those who likes bubble tea, this is a good development. However, just like the donut craze, the Old Town & other modern kopitiam craze before, and the HK cha chan teng craze before that, eventually the bubble tea craze will come down and settle on a plateau. I’ll give it 1-2 years.
Daorae Korean BBQ Restaurant is probably no stranger to most who loves Korean food. My first visit to this chain was the USJ Taipan main branch at least 4-5 years ago. I went there again last week when the worms in my gut was starving for some Galbi.
Daorae Korean BBQ Garden at USJ Taipan
I’m not quite sure if this is the very first branch of Daorae, they have branches now at Hartamas, Penang Bayan Point, Kota Damansara, Kepong, Puchong Bandar Puteri, and another new one in PJ (the NZX branch has since closed). When we were there, there was an friendly old Korean guy who looked very much like the owner, and he explained that “Daorae” means many people, which translate to good business.
I must say they chose the right name. Daorae for Korean food is much like the Superdining chains for Japanese food (Rakuzen, Sushi Zanmai, Pasta Zanmai, Kura)
banchan – kimchi, salad, chives, cockles and more!
The one thing I always love about korean food is all the banchan (small dishes). Other than the standard kimchi, you almost always get something different on each visit. On this trip there were cockles, steamed egg in hot pot, salad, chives, fish cake, and more. I think we had some 10 different varieties. You can usually ask for refill too.
galbi (marinated beef), 3 layer pork
For the two of us, I ordered a portion of galbi (marinated beef short ribs) and 3 layer pork for the grill.
As usual, the expertly trained servers did the whole grilling right in front of us. Galbi’s best served with the ssamjang sauce (fermented bean paste & pepper) and wrapped in fresh lettuce. I like to add a piece of grilled garlic too.
The samgyeopsal (three layer pork) was lovely too. Grilled and usually goes either with the same ssamjang or gireumjang sauce (sesame oil and salt). Nothing like some pork to fill the stomach.
kimchi jiggae, Haze
Other than the two grilled meat and those free banchan, I also ordered a portion of kimchi jiggae – a stew with kimchi, tofu, pork, scallion, onion and such. This is typically served with a bowl of fragrant Korean rice, which I like.
It was as usual, a satisfying meal at Daorae, though one that isn’t exactly economical (RM 140) for the two of us, otherwise I’d do it more often. Galllbiiiiiiiii
Address:
Daorae Korean BBQ Restuarant
No.8C, Top Speed Business Center,
Jalan USJ 10/1J,
47620 UEP Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.048045, 101.585987
Tel: 03-8024-2616
SS15 in Subang is seriously shaping up as the premier one stop center for Japanese food. Years ago, there was Rakuzen, and now, the number of restaurants at this little area has blossomed to double digit. One of the latest installment being Yamada.
Having blogged about Rakuzen, Hyotan, Jyu Raku, and Sumi Ka, I guess it make sense to pay a visit to Yamada as well.
Yamada Japanese restuarant at Subang SS15
Yamada is located right across the road from SJMC, just a few doors down from Jyu Raku and Rakuzen. Whenever a restaurant opens among the more established and still able to attract customers, you know they must be at least decent.
The crowd at weekend night when we were there mainly consists of Japanese expats, and the chef himself is an old Japanese guy, that’s always a good start.
Yamada Bento – fried chicken, sashimi, tempura, unagi, and more
I went for Yamada Bento (RM 60) that came with quite a lot of stuff, chicken karaage (fried chicken), tempura, sashimi, unagi, potato salad, saba, and miso soup.
The sashimi tasted pretty awesome, with hotate (scallop), salmon, surf clam, yellow tail, and one of the better cuts of tuna. Chicken was pretty good if not slightly oily. I don’t have any negative feedbacks for the tempura, unagi, or potato salad, but I thought the saba (i think it was saba fish) was a little over cooked to be honest.
potato salad, california handroll, saba, torikara bento
Haze ordered a serving of potato salad (RM 12), a california handroll (RM 8), and the saba, torikara bento (RM 48). That was of course, a bit too much food. The bento came with saba that tasted nicer than mine, the same chicken, and a bowl of ramen that I thought tasted rather good. Instead of avocado, the california roll curiously had mango in it, a little strange but it worked.
Compared to some the competitors, the price at Yamada seems a bit steeper. As for food wise, the quality is there but I didn’t think it was always spot on. Next time I’m gonna spy on the Japanese customers to see what they order. I suspect most of their raw stuff must be very good, as I can attest with the serving of sashimi in my bento.
There’re still a handful of Japanese restaurants at the area I haven’t been too, next time then!
Address:
Yamada Japanese Restaurant
No. 5, Jalan SS15/5A,
47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan
GPS: 3.078895, 101.592711
Tel: 03-5635-2574
Several weeks ago I was invited by Miss Lim Su Ann aka pinkpau for a food review session at Skewers, a (mainly) BBQ joint located at one of the newer shopping malls that sprung out at Subang recently. This one aptly named Subang Avenue, located directly next to Carrefour hypermart.
Skewers restaurant at Subang Avenue
My partners in crime during this session were Suanie, Horng, Michael, and Haze. Pinkpau decided we do not deserve her attendance, but we still love her, I guess. hehehe
We were greeted by the very friendly (almost to a fault) part owner of the restaurant, Ken Low, and the host promptly ordered some sangria for us while waiting for dinner to commence.
spicy fish burger, different in a good way!
Do note, since most dishes at Skewers are grill to order, food can take slightly longer to arrive compare to your normal taichau kinda place (like New Paris). A little bit of a patience is usually needed for freshly prepared food.
The dish that impressed me most was, oddly enough, not a grilled dish, it was their spicy fish burger! Spicy, fresh tasting, and very refreshing, everyone should try it!
tiger prawn, big beef burger, skewered lamb
Grilled tiger prawns were yummy too, no surprise there, and I also particularly love the skewered lamb, very succulent, goes very well with the rice and vegetable.
The humungous beef burger we had came with salad, chips, cheese, jalapeno peppers, egg, and even chili. It was very wholesome, but I though the meat was a bit dry though (they promise to look into it, so hopefully this has been fixed)
grilled chicken wings, squid with salted egg, skewered chicken
Then of course, there’s chicken wings (how can a BBQ place not serve chicken wings right?). Their version is different from your typical kopitiam/food court style but closer to American buffalo wings instead, tastes pretty good, but would be even better if there’s some sour cream to go with, I think.
Deep fried squid with salted egg is done very differently here too, instead of just the egg yolk, the entire salted egg is utilized here. This meant that the sauce turned out quite salty, which basically stops at being interesting but I don’t exactly find it an improvement over the more traditional yolk-only version. Perhaps this is will be changed in the future, according to Ken.
Skewered chicken is juicy and tasty, definitely makes good beer food.
apple crumple, something, tiramisu, and er.. something else
Skewers also serve quite a selection of desserts. We tried their apple crumple, tiramisu (pretty good!), and two other desserts that I can’t remember if you put a gun to my temple. They were pretty decent, but nothing really stands out though.
Suanie, KY, Michael, Haze, Ken, Horng
Overall I think Skewers is definitely a place worth visiting. Parking is ample (underground), the restaurant is nicely decorated and has a very nice alfresco dining area with a well stock alcohol menu too.
If you’re looking for a drinking place that also happen to serve more than decent dinner, you wouldn’t be disappointed.
Address:
Skewers
Subang Avenue, Jalan Kemajuan Subang
Jalan Kemajuan Subang, Selangor
GPS: 3.08215, 101.58929
Tel: 03-5632 1368
