On a fine Tuesday, my colleague Sheng Huah came over to my corner and asked if I wanted to join a couple of them for dinner on Wednesday, and promised something different from the ordinary ‘siu chau’ at Wisma Cosway.
I am constantly looking for new things and places to eat, so why not?
Restaurant Jiang He at Jalan Padang
We took a good 10 minute walk from Jalan Kia Peng, passing Pavilion, Starhill Gallery and arrived at Restaurant Jiang He right next to smallish Fei Har Ching Ser temple at Jalan Padang (directly across Bintang Palace, the infamous pub/karaoke.)
On normal days, restaurant Jiang He serves chap fan (Chinese mixed rice), but every Wednesday, they have this special fried chicken.
the fried chicken is the killer, every Wednesday
The photos here are taken over the span of two separate visits. Both times I ordered the excellent fried chicken, with it’s crispy crunchy skin and succulent tasty meat that is quite irresistible, I suspect the marinate involves belacan. Definitely worth a try if you’re at the area. Thumbs up to Sheng’s recommendation.
indoor and outdoor seating area, colleagues Sheng & Sam
Their char siu (bbq pork) and siu yok (roast pork) were not particularly impressive though, I suggest leaving more space for the chicken instead. However, if you like potato, don’t miss their wedges, they’re slightly burnt and very good!
The pricing at Restaurant Jiang He is pretty reasonable. Drumstick (actually almost a 1/4 chicken) chicken rice costs about RM 7.50, while thigh version goes for around RM 6 or so.
Remember though, the fried chicken is only available on Wednesdays.
Address:
Restaurant Jiang He
Jalan Padang,
Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.145980, 101.71378
The last time I went to Changkat Bukit Bintang for a meal was over half a year ago at Bermuda and Onions for a very satisfying lunch. I had actually never been to that part of town at night, so it was actually pretty surprising for me when I went to Gypsy Wine and Bar to discover that the street is filled with quite a number of restaurants and pubs bustling with foreigners and locals alike.
Gypsy Bar & Wine at Changkat Bukit Bintang
The reason I picked Gypsy Wine and Bar, of course, was mainly due to the Guinness-infused Christmas main course promotion they are running. If you didn’t catch my previous posts on Ronnie Q at Bangsar and Cafe Chulo at Jaya One , lets just recap on how this works:
Guinness Draught, the season of smoothness!
Amanda and I ordered entrees from the promotional menu, Guinness-infused lamb skewer, and seafood spaghetti. We also asked for half a dozen oysters (as it was still during happy hour) and mussels as appetizer to get the evening started.
half dozen raw oysters, mussels “kam heong” style
The oysters (RM 17.99) were very fresh and delicious (they somehow gave us 7 instead of half dozen). I like to have mine with just a little bit of lemon while Amanda loves to add a tad of Tabasco sauce with hers. We of course, washed it down with the smoothness of Guinness Draughts.
Curiously, the mussels (RM12) served was prepared in “kam heong” style that is usually associated with roadside stalls preparing lala, such as the stall at SS4. They actually tasted pretty good though.
lamb skewer and seafood spaghetti
The lamb skewer ( RM 23) was a proper Guinness-infused dish. Four pretty big chunk of marinated lamb skewered to perfection and sits on a bed of sauteed pea, mushroom, and tomato; served with brown sauce. The lamb was very juicy and you can actually taste the distinct Guinness influenced in it, which complements the bold taste of the lamb very well. A bit of lamb, a spoonful of sauteed peas & mushroom, and a gulp of Guinness Draught, perfect.
The seafood spaghetti (RM 22) came with a generous portion of mussels, squid rings, and prawns in tomato-based sauce. I like the fact that plenty of garlic is used in this dish and the taste did not disappoint at all.
Amanda & a couple of 1/2 pint Guinness Draughts
The dinner came to just over RM 80 for two of us. Four dishes including fresh oysters, a couple 1/2 pint Guinness Daught, very good music (80s during dinner time, you know Gorge Michael, Boy George etc), and excellent ambiance. I think I shall visit that part of KL more often.
Gypsy is located along Changkat Bukit Bintang
Address:
No. 33 Jalan Changkat Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.147749, 101.707209
Tel: 016-365 6113
I actually tried this halal bak kua (BBQ meat) a couple months ago but kept forgetting to post it until a reader emailed me the other day, the content goes:
MK wrote:
do u have any idea where to get halal bak kua in KL?
and then I replied:
No halal bak kut teh as far as I know, but there’s vegetarian bak kut teh that has similar tasting soup you can find at Taman Mayang, near the old Lim Kok Wing building. It’s a stall by the roadside that’s very near to William’s mamak stall, operates during lunch time.
Regards,
KY
Which was a wrong answer because MK was asking about bak kua, not my favorite Chinese Malaysian food, bak kut teh. So I had to sent another email to the friendly reader who politely pointed out my mistake…
NOTE: This place is unfortunately, closed. I guess the concept did not work
my ex-colleague Abby likes the beef bak kua
Anyway, this particular stall selling halal bak kua called Grilled to Perfection is situated at the basement food court of Pavilion KL. Just a stone’s throw away from it’s non-halal counterpart Kiew Brothers that sells bacon bak kua I posted about a couple months ago.
The stall offers three types of BBQ meat: sliced beef, sliced chicken, and sambal chicken. You can also have them in rounded coin shapes instead of sheets as well. They are priced at RM 72-75 per KG, very similar to the market price of the non-halal versions
the three types of bak kua, sliced beef, sambal chicken, and sliced chicken
As for the taste, I find that the beef bak kua (the only one I tried) was a little dryer than what I am used to, possibly due to the relatively leaner meat as compared to pork. However, it does taste like bak kua, and to my ex-colleague who has never tasted something like this, it was a revelation.
So far this is the only place I’m aware of that sells Halal bak kua, so if you don’t eat pork and want to try out this Chinese delicacy, Pavilion KL is the place!
Address: (Corporate, stall at basement of Pavilion KL)
No. 73, Jalan Cemerlang,
Taman Perindustrian Cemerlang,
81800 Ulu Tiram, Johor
GPS: 3.148872, 101.713368
Tel: 03-5891 0934
While the KLCC area offers quite a variety of lunch choices, one eventually gets tired of them, that is when we decided to head down to Bukit Bintang area to hunt for something more satisfying and ended up at Ka Soh (家嫂) Restaurant. This little restaurant actually sits right in a parking lot opposite Ritz Carlton hotel.
big prawn *drools*
The place is famous for their fish head noodle, but for this session, we decided to go for their dishes with steamed rice. For the two of us, we ordered some big prawn with dark sauce (明虾), a tofu dish, and fried Hong Kong choy sam (菜心) vegetable. A standard dish of delicious achat (pickled vegetable with crushed peanuts) was served as appetizer.
The food didn’t arrived in less than 15 minute’s time and were served pretty much all at the same time. Taste wise, they were all excellent, the prawn very fresh and sweet, and the brown sauce was probably just a simple combination of dark soya sauce and some other seasoning; but proved to be very effective as the compliment to the succulent seafood. The tofu too was very smooth and the sauce not over powering. Lastly, there must be something about Hong Kong and Chinese vegetable that is just so juicy and sweet (“organic” fertilizer maybe?) that made the simple choy sam dish so delicious.
The simple trick to ordering is to provide a varying texture and taste across the dishes. In this case, the firm texture of prawn, the smooth tofu, and the slightly crunchy vegetable, we also have the taste of seafood, fresh vegetable, and the more subtle tofu.
three dishes and an appetizer
This wasn’t a cheap lunch (their fish head noodle would be cheaper), the meal costs a little over RM 30 per person. However, the 6 big prawns were huge and would probably cost over RM 10 each if you order them from the mamak stalls. Locals usually aren’t ready to pay this type of price for Chinese food but will happily shell out more for foreign cuisine, which is somewhat of a puzzlement to me. This place is totally worth it though, you will find photos of celebrities dining there on the wall as a testament to the good food served here.
Ka Soh is just right opposite Ritz Carlton Hotel
Address:
205, Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.147619, 101.715835
Tel: 03-2148 2207/3207
Other Branches:
