I always thought that Mini Apom is only found in but two stalls in Penang situated right outside Union Primary School at Jalan Burma, and every time I went back to the island of good eats, getting my stomach stuffed with these was always in the list of things to do.
Well, now I can do that right here at PJ’s Ming Tien food court.
Penang apom, comes in two flavors
The Penang Apom stall is situated on the far right of the food court, manned by an operator from Penang who moved down to KL some 7-8 years ago (and speaks perfect Penang Hokkien, of course).
The mini apom comes either with sweet corns or banana slice in them and you get 5 pieces for RM 3. The taste is as good as those found in Penang, and definitely worth the money paid for. The only downside is that if the apom’s been sitting on the shelves for a while they tend to get cold and wouldn’t taste quite as good. Then again, 15-20 seconds in a microwave would fix that, or you could perhaps insist on freshly made ones.
The stall operates from about 5 pm till late, they also offer regular apom.
chicken porridge – simple comfort food
The chicken porridge stall at Ming Tien food court now has a pair of new operators that is familiar to anyone who frequents SS 2 mamak square. The kids that used to help out at the chicken rice stall at SS 2 are now running the show.
I’ve always loved their silky smooth steamed chicken, so it was my dinner choice the other night as I was looking for some comfort food to fill my stomach.
chicken porridge at Ming Tien, originally from SS2 mamak
The chicken was identical to those offered at their parents’ stall, and the porridge too were quite flavorful in itself, with the dash of sesame oil, white pepper, and soya sauce. Bean sprouts is also offered as a separate dish, and on top of that, there’s chicken liver and gizzards as well.
It’s a shame that they don’t serve chicken rice here (most likely due to presence of other chicken rice stalls at the food court), but if you’re looking for some good chicken porridge, this is definitely one of them.
Address:
Ming Tien Hawker Center
Jalan SS24/8, Taman Megah,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.114334, 101.611658
This is easily one of my favorite dishes from mom when I was young. Every time mom made her signature chicken rice, I would take a second serving. I think if she had made this more often, perhaps I’d be 6 foot tall and weigh 80kg with pure muscle (or more likely, same height with extra 20kg fat)
awesome home cook chicken rice with chinese sausage
The ingredients are quite close to claypot chicken rice, but with a few extras that you typically wouldn’t find at hawker center.
While it does take a few extra steps to prepare, this isn’t a dish that is difficult to make at all, or have ingredients that are hard to source even if you aren’t reside in Malaysia (and crave for that claypot chicken rice). Here’s the recipe.
home cook chicken rice ingredients – chicken, mushroom, chinese sausage
The ingredients (for 2 pax):
fry the rice and ingredients, then continue in rice cooker
You do need both a frying pan and rice cooker to make this dish, but no, there’s no clay pot or charcoal flame needed in this case.
Instructions:
prepare the condiments – fried shallots and spring onion
While waiting for the rice to cook, prepare some fried shallots and chopped some fresh green onion as garnish. They will greatly add to the overall flavor and texture to the chicken rice dish.
One or two stalks of green onion and a couple shallots would be enough.
haze enjoying the chicken rice with ABC soup
The result is two plates of absolutely delicious home cook chicken rice prepared only in around one hour or so. The dish is best accompanied with some clear soup (ABC, radish soup, etc). Optionally, you can also add some salted fish on top, I would if I had some good quality ones to go with.
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Taman Paramount is one of my favorite locations for dinner for the simple fact that it is pretty close to where I stay, and it doesn’t hurt that the area (including seapark and ss2) is littered with a lot of good old fashion eateries.
One one of our routine “what should we eat for dinner, how about just drive around till we find something?” exercise, we spotted this newly opened clay pot rice place that looked pretty decent, and thus decided to check it out.
Restaurant Gafan – the clay pot rice specialist
As it turned out, this Restaurant Gafan is a branch of the much reviewed clay pot chicken rice with the same name in Taman Connaught. If it’s good enough for masak-masak , it’s good enough for me.
The restaurant has a pretty basic kopitiam style set up, with plastic tables and chairs under plenty of ceiling fans.
clay pot chicken rice with lap cheong & salted fish, or fermented tofu
There’s 10 types of clay pot rice on the menu, 6 of them with chicken, remaining four with lamb, prawn, beef, and fish. They also offer a few types of vegetable, soup, and tofu to go with the main course.
I tried the basic clay pot chicken rice with lap cheong (with addition of salted fish) and also chicken with fermented tofu at this place, and so far both versions came out rather good (RM 7-10 per serving). I also like the fact that they give you a tower towel to hold the super hot clay pot.
Kerol’s enjoying her clay pot chicken rice, and so was I!
Do try the steamed soup (RM 4) here too. They are quite delicious, and sipping soup makes waiting for the freshly cooked clay pot rice a lot less boring.
Business is still pretty slow (at least at dinner time) but I do hope this place stays. Other clay pot chicken rice worth checking out includes Hong Kee at Petaling Street, Busy Corner and Khoon Kee at DJ, and Veng Soon at Old Town.
Address:
Restaurant Gafan
No. 11, Jalan 20/13
Paramount Garden,
46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.106096, 101.625338
Tel: 017-608 3228
Ladies and gentlemen, today we’re gonna talk about lunch sets. Reasonably cheap lunch sets at KLCC (but not at one of the food courts) that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
May I present.. Santini!
To be honest, I’ve only started going there less than a year ago despite having been working at KLCC seemingly forever. The only reason being that 1) I thought it was very expensive, and 2) I actually didn’t know where it was located.
fish & chips, grilled chicken, spaghetti bolognese
There’re quite a few choices on the menu that goes for RM 14.90 per set. You get a choice of soft drink and a main course, and if you’re feeling rich (or extra hungry), add RM 3.50 for soup of the day, garden salad, or illy coffee.
Pretty good deal if you ask me.
So far I’ve not been able to not order either the grilled chicken or grilled lamb leg. Both of those dishes were pretty yummy, and comes with a bit of salad topped with balsamic vinegar.
grilled lamb leg, and my colleagues!
I’ve also tried the spaghetti and a bit of the fish & chips, they tasted pretty decent too. Other choices include pizza of the day, pasta, whole meal sandwich, and salad.
Do make sure that you have a pretty flexible lunch hour if you plan to go there though. Like many restaurants in Malaysia, this one suffers in slowness of execution during busy lunch hours. Service too can be a bit lackluster at times.
On the bright side, this is only about as pricey as Little Penang or Madam Kwan for a completely different cuisine. The more choices the better. 
note: Santini is actually own by Tai Thong, which also runs San Francisco steakhouse, among other restaurants.
Address:
Santini at KLCC
Lot No. G45B,
Ground Floor, Suria KLCC
GPS: 3.157581, 101.712102
Tel: 03-2382 0329
Mee Suah is one of my favorite form of noodle out there. Made of rice flour and usually served in soup with a wide variety of other ingredients, mee suah is silky smooth and usually has a very soft texture.
herbal soup mee suah at Ming Tien food court
Mee Suah is also often consumed during traditional Chinese birthdays, the long strands of noodle signify longevity, and you’re supposed to not break it into smaller strands when having mee suah for such occasions.
As for me, I just love mine with some herbal soup and some chicken/duck drumsticks.
a bowl of herbal soup mee suah with chicken drumstick
The Herbal Soup Mee Suah stall at Ming Tien food court at PJ happened to offer pretty decent versions of these herbal soup mee suah this side of Klang Valley. The dish comes with your choice of meat, flavorful Chinese herbal soup, mee suah, and some green onion sprinkled on top. Very simple and yet rather delicious. Soya sauce with chili padi usually accompanies the dish as condiment.
A bowl of chicken drum stick mee suah goes for RM 4.50, they also serve the same dish with duck meat (RM 5), duck drumstick (RM 6), and pork spare ribs (RM 5).
4-eye KY, Gareth and Kim, Haze the awesome artist
The general standard of food at Ming Tien has shown a marked improvement from a few years ago too. Other things that I like there include the fried lychee, soy duck with rice, and fried dumpling. It also helps that this is a dog friendly place, especially you choose one of the tables at the side that’s closest to the pet store.
Address:
Ming Tien Hawker Center
Jalan SS24/8, Taman Megah,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.114334, 101.611658
