One of my ingredients of all time is beef tendon. Soft, flavorful, addictive beef tendon. To me, beef tendon to beef is like bacon to pork, they are absolutely delicious little chunks of goodness.
Beef tendons are often found at beef noodle (both Vietnamese and local) versions, often is the keyword, they don’t necessarily have it, nor are they always prepared perfectly.
beef noodle at restaurant Sun Sea, OUG
We came to Restaurant Sun Sea at OUG and stumbled upon this hawker stall that offers Sarawak noodle, fish head meehun, and stewed beef noodle. I didn’t think anything of it until I saw the little sign that says – beef tendon.
So we ordered two bowls – mine just tendon, and Haze had tripes and beef tendon in her version. Of course, you can have it with normal beef too, if you so choose to.
beef tendon, what’s not to love?
My beef tendon noodle (RM 5.50 or 6) and Haze’s beef tripes and tendon (RM 
were prepared the Johor style – clearer but flavorful soup that comes with little chunks of salted vegetable. Similar to Uncle Cheng’s special beef noodle.
This place did not disappoint, over all the soup was good, and most importantly, the tendon were soft and yummy. If you love beef tendons like me, you’ll like it.
we were pleasantly surprised, it was good, Haze didn’t like photos with no makeup
While I do find that Uncle Cheng’s beef noodle (and the special tendon they sometimes carry) is slightly better than here, this place is quite a lot cheaper, and does not have the sometimes unpredictable operating hours like Uncle Cheng’s.
Best of all, the same kopitiam also serves one of the best Penang Curry Mee with coagulated blood, and a very decent pork noodle too.
Address:
Restaurant Sun Sea
Jalan Hujan Rahmat,
Overseas Union Garden,
58200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.073945, 101.673234
daily till around noon+
———————————————–
ADS
Have awesome music you love? Let those who calls you listen to it!
Join the Call Me Tone-A-Thon and get as many Call Me Tones as you like with Celcom. They are more than 4,000 songs to choose from.
Further more, there’s a chance to win up to RM 7,000 daily cash prize! Everyday one lucky subscrier will win cash prize between RM 2,000 to RM 7,000. Then…. then…. there’s this grand prize – A Volkswagen Polo!
Call Me Tone-A-Thon runs from 14 Dec 2011 till 12 Jan 2012. Just type CAR send it to 22222.
WHen you do that you’ll get 2 Call Me Tones and will be charged RM 5. The tones can be redeemed at www.thecube.my. To qualify you need to send at least 3 SMSes to 22222 and purchase 6 Call Me Tones at RM 15.
Check out www.thecube.my/mdp/cmtathon.jsp for more and good luck!
I’ve heard and read about the famed Uncle Cheng’s Special Beef Noodle (at Seksyen 17 then) for quite some time, and always meant to give it a try. That mission somehow eluded me, then one day, I saw the bright and shiny UNCLE CHENG special beef noodle signage on the shop lot right next to the pet fish store I always frequent at Alisan.
Uncle Cheng moved to within walking distance from my house, marvelous!
Uncle Cheng’s special beef noodle, new location at Alisan
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the area, this area called Alisan (Alison) is actually at the tail end of SS 2, intersecting SS 3 and SS 4, within a stone’s throw away from Taman Bahagia Station and quite a distance away from the more familiar SS 2 square (with wai sek kai, McDonald’s, and the likes).
beef, tripe, and beef ball – RM 7.50
Uncle Cheng serves Johor style beef noodle, and this is quite a bit different from the usual Central version that we are familiar with (like ngau kei at Tengkat Tongshin, song kee at lot 10 Hutong).
The soup version of beef noodle comes with clear broth that’s slightly salty, a choice of laifun, horfun, or meehun, beef, tripes, and beef balls, a bit of salted vegetable, and served with home made chili sauce that carries a kick.
This is the basic version at RM 7.50, with the amount of beef stuff, it was certainly well worth the money.
beef noodle, dry and soup, with laifun & meehun options
The dry version is served with the same ingredients but with the addition of sesame seeds and peanuts, a slightly sweet, starchy sauce completes the dish, with a small bowl of soup at the side. I’ve tried both and personally favors the soup version, the dry one is not bad but slightly too starchy for me, but it does certainly have an interesting texture with the sesame seeds and peanuts.
There’s also beef noodle with dry meat (RM 8.50), beef, tripe, beef balls, dry meat (RM 9), tenderloin meat (RM 9), beef + tripe + beef balls + dry meat + tendon (RM 12), I tried the latter before, and boy it was a feast.
check out the special beef tendon, the size of it!
For those who loves beef tendon as much as yours truly, Uncle Cheng sometimes carry a special type of beef tendon not easily available anywhere else. The chef personally introduced this big slab of tendon to me. Served in a bowl of saltier broth, it was sticky, super flavorful, and absolutely heaven for anyone who loves tendon. I was lucky.
A separate bowl of tendon goes for RM 6 or RM 12. You can also order shank, brisket, and even bone marrow in bowl or clay pot.
Uncle Cheng is open for breakfast and lunch everyday, and dinner too on weekends. The good chef/owner is still tinkering a bit with the menu I think, but whatever that is described here are always available.
I’m gonna walk there more often. 
p/s: this place is pork free.
Address:
Uncle Cheng Special Beef Noodle
Jalan SS 2/4a
SS 2, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.111731,101.611218
Tel: 012-303 0626
I’ve been wanting to blog about this place for the longest time. First I went there without a camera, pictures taken with BB wasn’t good enough in that low light condition. On second trial, we were robbed before I transfer the photos from Haze‘s camera. So I guess 3rd time is the charm.
Lot 10 Hutong Food Court
After the recent renovation, Lot 10 Hutong became some sort of a minority in the food court business. The people from YTL (who owns Lot 10, Starhill, and others) managed to convince some of the best hawker foods around KL to operate at the once iconic mall’s basemen and keep to their original and traditional way.
This means that while there’s a definite upgrade in hygiene and ambiance, the foods’ still prepared with original recipe, down to using charcoal fire, if it was originally cooked with charcoal.
And oh, a lot of the food stalls are non-halal.
Soong Kee beef noodle set for RM 8.90
I was recommended over twitter (follow me @kyspeaks) to try the Soong Kee beef noodle the first time I stepped into the newly renovated food court. I’ve never been to the original shop at Pudu, but after having this several times, I’m convinced it is on par with one of my other favorites – Ngau Kei at Tengkat Tong Shin.
A set of beef noodle + mixed beef soup + oily vegetable + chinese tea goes for only RM 8.90. For KL pricing that’s practically a steal, and this is in a fully air conditioned and comfortable dining location. Bravo to Lot 10 for pulling this off. Of course, you can also order ala carte for cheaper, but I almost always go for the set.
KY & Haze enjoying some beef noodle for early dinner
The bowl comes with beef balls, meat, and tripes all soaked in savory broth. However, the best part has got to be the generous amount of minced meat on top of the noodle and oily vegetable. They are actually minced pork! yums!
While Soong Kee serves decent chili sauce to go with the beef noodle, I still favor the version at Ngau Kei simply because it packs more kick and has actual chili texture. The Soong Kee’s version is just a bit like bottled chili sauce.
At the end, both places has their pros & cons. Soong Kee at Hutong Lot 10 wins in cleanliness, comfort, and offer great value with their set; Ngau Kei has better chili sauce and serves beef tendon, and opens pretty much around the clock. Take your pick.
Address:
Soong Kee at Hutong food court
Lower Ground Floor
Lot 10 Shopping Mall
Jalan Bukit Bintang
GPS: 3.146462, 101.711758
This post is the continuation of the First day of Heineken Star Final at Krabi that was published in this blog about a week ago.
After getting back from Aonang beach the night before and having decided that there isn’t exactly anywhere to have authentic Thai food at the area, Mell and I decided to seek local food elsewhere.
Thai beef noodle, with beef balls and meat
Instead of having lunch provided by Heineken at Sheraton, we walked out of the hotel and chanced up upon this little beef noodle place just a block away to the south. With some finger pointing and my super limited Thai language, we managed to order a bowl of beef ball noodle for Mell, and another bowl of mixed beef and beef ball noodle for me.
The portion was quite small, reminding me of hawker food in Penang, but they do however, tastes rather good. The beef was tender and the beef ball had a good texture going on too. I particularly like the abundance of bean sprouts and vegetables served here. It was pretty good for brunch, and it was only 30 baht each.
happiness is when you have good breakfast to start the day
While horng and suanie were still on the island hopping trip arranged by Heineken (their accounts here, and here), Mell and I thought about heading to Krabi town. That idea was scrapped as soon as we saw that the hotel shuttle charges 400 baht per person for a round trip ride, which just doesn’t make economic sense.
And I had thought that hotel shuttles are free. Thanks Sheraton, for building your resort so far away from civilization and charge significant dollars for your shuttle services, hmph!
another nameless Tomyam place near Sheraton at Krabi, Thailand
After brunch, we spent some time walking around the hotel and chilling. We also discovered that there were computers with internet access at the business center for hotel guests, free of charge! That was when I took the opportunity to check my mails and go on twitter for a bit.
Since brunch was relatively light, we got hungry again by early evening. For the early dinner, we again went exploring at the small strips of shops outside the hotel and came to this little nameless restaurant with an old lady as the head chef.
two bowls of tomyam (prawn and chicken), and omelet
Again with my limited Thai language, I tried to order a tomyam prawn (tomyam kung) and a basil chicken dish to go with rice. After spending at least 5 minutes pointing and talking, I thought I had nailed it down.
When food came, it was two bowls of tomyam instead – tomyam prawn and tomyam chicken. Mission 50% passed. I then went to the kitchen and ordered an omelet dish so that we have some variety.
The tomyam soups were not as strong tasting as those we had at Pradiphat street in Bangkok, but they were pretty good in their own rights. We finished everything and only had to pay some 200 baht for a couple well fed and satisfied stomachs.
BBQ dinner with Heineken
At night, we gathered at the hotel for a Thai BBQ dinner that was actually pretty delicious. Highlights of Champions League games were played and we met quite a few hardcore fans in the ballroom. It was hilarious how some of the fans from Cameroon reacted when Eto’o failed to score as if it was a live game. VJ Utt from MTV Asia hosted the event with another pretty lady, but I didn’t pay much attention.
Mell and I decided to take some rest before the game and we ended up sleeping in the hotel room while Horng & Suanie danced away at the canopy with giant screen. It turned out to be a decent choice, Suan was too tired to watch the game by the time we got there, and Horng was so spent after the game he ended up not able to go to work the day after. Hahaha
Champions League Final – MU vs Barcalona
Heineken did put up a great show before and during half time of the game with their over energetic cheer leading squad flipping and jumping to the music. However, the game itself was a bit anticlimactic, MU basically went to sleep after 15 minutes. Two goals later, Mell, being an MU fan, couldn’t take it anymore and so we headed back to the room to watch it on TV instead.
We had an early breakfast at the hotel and headed to the hotel by 10 something in the morning to fly back to KL. It was a pretty enjoyable holiday in spite of the rain that fell quite heavily 60% of the time we were there.
That was 3 weeks ago, I wouldn’t mind another holiday now!
I had noticed this little Vietnamese Beef Noodle call Pho Hoa place at the Curve before this particular trip, and told Mell that we had to try this place before she left for Melbourne. So on Valentine’s day itself, a day where most couples were standing in line for hours at posher restaurants, we chose to take the opportunity to this place.
No queue there, only a few families and another an old couple who are probably married too many years to be worried about celebrating the overrated Valentine’s (I like the fact that Mell shares the same view with me on this).
a small setup tucked at the corner away from the main street at the Curve
I have been in Ho Chi Minh city many times in my previous job, and the one thing I miss the most about Vietnam is the beef noodle, or Pho.
Ever since I stopped going there, I had been visiting Vietnamese restaurants like O’Viet at Sunway Pyramid for try out their pho but most of the time the standards have been not good enough to worth a blog post.
On top of all, I can never find any place that serves pho with beef tendon (my favorite ingredient) until this one. I was so happy!
check out that glorious beef tendon!!
Like most restaurants at the Curve, Pho Hoa has an indoor as well as alfresco dining area. Interior decoration is pretty simple and uninspiring, but we were here purely for the food anyway, so it was all good.
The menu at Pho Hoa consist of the usual Vietnamese spring rolls, rice bowls, vermicelli bowls, and of course, the pho. The good thing here is the availability to create your own pho according to your choice of ingredients: brisket, a few types of flanks, steak, tendon, and tripe.
I ordered mine with steak, tripe, and a lot of tendon while Mell went for the basic.
KY & Mell and a cup of Vietnamese coffee
The tendon was very soft and tender, just the way it should be. The soup too was rather tasty. Being a true pho lover, I even asked for more basil and mint leaves from the Vietnamese waiter (always a good sign). It was one of the more satisfying bowl of Vietnamese beef noodle I’ve had for a while.
I also had their very strong Vietnamese drip coffee (cafe da), something you should order unless you plan to sleep in the next 6 hours.
The bill came up to less than RM 40 with the two bowls of noodle at RM 15.99 and RM 11.99, definitely within a very good value for the food I had. I’m thinking of having this tomorrow for lunch this weekend!
Address:
Pho Hoa
G34, the Curve,
Mutiara Damansara
PJ, 40870 Selangor
GPS: 3.157699, 101.611540
Tel: 03-7725 9880
