Everyone in a while, Kerol would come over and pick us up for brunch over the weekends. Being from Penang, this not-terribly-young lady is a truly picky when it comes to choosing her food. So whenever she brings me to a new eatery, it is most often one worth the stomach.
New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice at Jalan Gasing
A couple weeks ago she brought myself and housemate Rachel to the New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice at Jalan Gasing.
I am quite a fan of chicken rice, from Malay stalls, Ayamas, air-conditioned restaurant, to the famous Fatty Loh Chicken Rice in Penang, I’ve really tried them all. However, none of the above mentioned outlets is as big as this place.
pork meat balls, bean sprouts, roasted pork, steamed chicken
Since arriving at PJ from Ipoh in 1977, New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice has expanded to four shop lots with tables on both levels. There were at least 30 workers including servers, hosts, cleaners, cooks, and kitchen helpers in the very efficiently and rather clean restaurant. Order is done with an assistant of a PDA connected wirelessly to the kitchen too.
For the three of us, we ordered roasted and steamed spring chicken, roasted pork (siu yok), six pork meatballs, and a portion of bean sprouts.
Rachel, Kerol, and KY enjoying some chicken rice
One very important thing at any chicken rice places is the quality of it’s chili sauce, and in this regard, New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice did not disappoint. The chili does pack a kick, and minced ginger is available too.
The chicken was really delightful, even the breast meat was rather smooth and rather tasty, but of course, I still prefer dark meat anytime. Bean sprouts were fat and juicy, providing a nice contrasting texture to the meat. The meat balls were, although famous and tasted pretty decent, isn’t at the same league Wan Hou Steamboat‘s version. The roasted pork too, was alright but isn’t something I would recommend strongly, I had wish we ordered more chicken instead.
New Restuarant Ipoh Chicken Rice is pretty close to Federal Highway
With everything we ordered, lunch came to about RM 10 or so per person. Not exactly the cheapest meal but a pretty satisfying one. The place opens from 7:30 in the morning till some 11pm at night daily. Interestingly, there’s another chicken rice shop right next to it that is more old school, and as Mell said, her grand dad’s favorite. I shall check out that particular Satellite Chicken Rice shop soon.
Address:
New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice
107, Jalan Gasing 10/1
46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.107456, 101.65334
Tel: 03-7956 0958
On a lazy weekend morning a few weeks ago, I was looking for a lunch buddy and happened to see Lorna coming online over MSN.
I said okay with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity, then proceed to get ready and wait for the lady to pick me up. (sexual equality, right? 
)
note: sadly this place is closed.
Lorna sipping her syrup ais
As it turned out, the nasi ayam bakar special (special roasted chicken rice) place is located pretty close to where I stay, at SS5 just next to the big Kelana Jaya Giant. The Malay food court area was not as busy in the afternoon as it is at night, there were only a few tables occupied.
drum stick, rice, soup, satisfying
We ordered two sets of nasi ayam bakar with drum sticks, and another extra drum stick for good measure. To properly Malaysianised the meal, we had iced syrup to drink.
The bbq chicken was rather unique, I could only describe it as a cross between roasted chicken and the chicken tandoori with the sauce that is somewhat similar to paprik style, slightly sweet and a little spicy. The rice was cooked together with other chicken parts (such as neck) and I presume, fats; thus carry a very fragrant smell that goes very well with the meat. It was very unique and certainly delicious. We finished devoured everything to the bones.
If I remember correctly, the chicken rice was less than RM 5 per portion and only available during lunch. The same place also have a big sign board that says “steamboat”, I wonder how Malay steamboat tastes like, maybe another time.
Address:
Jalan SS6/2,
Kelana Jaya, PJ, Selangor
GPS: 3.101791, 101.598172
Earlier this month I was invited to the Wild Rice restaurant at Mid Valley Boulevard hotel for a food review session courtesy of foodstreet. I looked through the list of my MSN and found a dinner partner in Ringo to go there with me. (you know, a fehmes blogger to increase my street cred.)
wild rice restaurant, with indoor and outdoor seatings
The wild rice restaurant is situated on the 9th floor with nice indoor seatings as well as the open terrace with a beautiful pool view.
We were greeted by the friendly communication manager Mr. Huang, and shortly after that the dishes started coming in. The good chef prepared eight dishes for just the three of us for the night. Other than their weekend buffet, Wild Rice restaurant serves Malaysian food as well as Western dishes.
clay pot chicken rice, char kueh teow, Penang seafood hor fun
Our first dish of the night was none other than Char Kueh Teow. I usually have my reservations when it comes to this dish, but the chef (who has a very strong Penang tie) actually pulled this off rather well. The good size prawns, chives, bean sprouts, and egg combined to deliver a dish that tasted pretty good.
Similarly, the Penang Hor Fun was very nice as well. I like the way the egg is done with the yolk still half cooked while the white spread over the flat noodle. The hor fun comes with prawns, squid, dory fish fillet, and vegetables.
The chef also prepared two versions of clay pot chicken rice for us, the more usual recipe with salted fish, and a version with century egg. Although I love century eggs, I think the combination is a little weird though, this little experiment from the chef didn’t turn out very great (the dish is not on the menu). Then again, I always applaud chefs who are willing to experiment.
Hainanese chicken chop, avocado burger, pan fried salmon, oxtail soup
Then there’s the very crispy and juicy Hainanese chicken chop that I wish I have a bigger stomach to eat more. The chicken chop consists of 1/4 quarter chicken with thigh and drumstick, fresh button mushroom in brown sauce with some mixed vegetables, and of course, fries. (I wonder if they have fries in Hainan, but lets not digress)
The pan fried salmon was good as well, but I think the most interesting dish for the day goes to the avocado burger. This vegetarian dish has beet root, cheese, butter, and a generous serving of sliced avocado. If you had California Roll, you know how avocado tastes like. The combination of avocado relish, and cheese in the bun was actually delicious.
the good chef and Ringo
Ringo’s favorite dish, if my memory serves me correct, was the Malaysian oxtail soup. It wasn’t too spicy nor tasted too strongly. The soup was just nice with the meat tender and the carrots soft, serving it in a clay pot does help by keeping the temperature.
Boulevard Hotel is situated at the North Court of Mid Valley City
The best thing about Wild Rice restaurant is the fact that it is open 24 hrs a day. To me this spells the end of mamak after midnight show especially if I’m at Mid Valley.
As for price, I think they are pretty reasonable for a hotel. Soup is RM15; the burger and other local dishes are around RM 18 to RM 22. Expect to pay slightly more for western dishes, but the portions are pretty big. The good news is that the prices are nett, no extra 10% or 5%. I like that.
Address:
Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.119262, 101.677802
Tel: 03-2295 8000
I met up with Terence (the guy who always over order food) a couple weeks ago for lunch. We originally decided to have the excellent Char Siu at Aman Suria, but the place was not open and so we went for the next best thing, the famous chicken rice at Yat Yeh Hing kopitiam, Kelana Jaya.
glorious chicken (pics with N82)
This place is usually quite packed during lunch time, it might even take a while for you to find an empty table. The good thing is, once you made your order, you can help yourself with unlimited servings of soup while waiting for the main dishes to be served. We usually helped ourselves with the chili sauce too.
Terence enjoying his lunch
For the two of us, we ordered something like half a steamed chicken, a plate of bean sprouts, and some chicken intestines. Of course, we had a couple bowls of soup (ABC with chicken legs) too. The chicken were pretty chunky and juicy, and the soup really delicious, the intestine however, is a bit of an acquired taste.
To many, the chili sauce at a chicken rice place is just as important as the meat itself. If you are one of these people, this stall certainly does not disappoint. The chili sauce is fragrant and makes perfect compliment to the meat, especially with some mashed ginger providing added level of sophistication.
chili sauce, bean sprouts, soup, and chicken intestine
The meal costs about RM 15 for the two of us. A satisfying meal that provides pretty decent value for money. The chicken rice stall only opens for lunch.
Yat Yeh Hing kopitiam is just a couple blocks past Kelana Jaya LRT station
Address:
33, Jalan SS 4D/2,
People’s Park,
47301 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.112802, 101.599245
Tel:012-629 4807
One of my old friends cass, whom I haven’t really meet since Terence’s wedding last year suggested that a small get together session is organized to catch up for lost time. The venue was to be at Bernard’s Bistro at Bandar Utama Centrepoint, and she called it a chicken rice gathering since the chicken rice there is supposed to be superb. A facebook event was created, and last week 8 of gathered.
plenty of chicken, a soup, and some bean sprouts
To be honest, I have some reserves on the lady’s statement with regards to the chicken rice, but I ordered it nonetheless. This is partly due to the fact that I know Champs (just upstairs of Bernard’s) also serves pretty good Chinese food (especially the soya sauce pork 豆油肉), and since Champs were sort of a spin off from Bernard’s according to some sources, the food shouldn’t disappoint.
These two restaurants are unique in the sense that they have a wide selection of traditional Malaysian/Chinese food in a bistro setting that is not very different from Chilis or TGI Friday’s. So you can have a combination of chicken rice and whiskey, or nasi lemak with cocktail, if you wish.
prawn mee and nasi lemak are good too
So I went with the recommendation and ordered the chicken rice, drum stick portion. The other noobs had the wing portion, and faggot called for the left breast (left breast is statistically bigger than the right), and some ordered the hokkien mee and nasi lemak as well.
clockwise: kerol, suan, faggot, steph, cass, st, kim
Food was served professionally some 10 minutes later. A pretty big portion of chicken, a plate of bean sprouts, soup, rice, and the chili sauce/paste that is synonymous to chicken rice. To cass’s credit, it actually tasted very good! The chicken was very smooth and the sauce not too salty, the chili was good too as Kerol had about 3 servings. The others commended the nasi lemak and hokkien mee too.
Bernard’s is located at BU Centrepoint, below MOMO Japanese Restaurant
The chicken rice was RM 11.50++, the bill came to around RM 20 per person including drinks and the extra charges. It was a very nice get together session that I think we should do a bit more often, good food, nice ambiance, and even better company.
Address:
G9A-14, Centrepoint,
Jalan Leboh Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.137988, 101.610124
Tel: 03-7710 3188
