It’s always a constant headache whenever we try to decide on where to eat, and asking me for a suggestion without specifying any criteria usually won’t get us anywhere. So when Eiling came over to have dinner with us, I left the decision to her.

88 Seafood Restaurant, with pictured menu

With her suggestion, we went to this 88 Seafood Restaurant at Sunwaymas Commercial Center (also known as Aman Suria) for some old fashion Chinese food. This was the first time I had any “tai chau” at this area despite staying relatively close by.

It was around 6:30 when we arrived on a Sunday and already the restaurant was over 70% full, with tables set up both under the roof and alfresco style. Business was rather brisk.

Guinness pork ribs, sambal belacan asparagus, salted-egg squid, tofu with minced pork

I like the fact that every entry on the menu at 88 Seafood comes with a picture, so you know exactly what you want to order will look like. That said, like most Chinese restaurants, you can always order out of the menu. We did just that for our fish dish, asked for normal steamed fish with red snapper instead of their Teow Chew style steamed fish.

We also ordered the Guinness pork ribs, asparagus with sambal belacan, deep fried squid with salted egg, and tofu with mince pork to go with rice for the four of us.

steamed red snapper, KY, Eiling, Kerol, Horng

Though service wasn’t terribly fast, the four dishes did come at almost the same time, with the steamed fish some 5 minutes later. This is much better than some restaurants that serves dish by dish punctuated with long waits in between.

As for the dishes, the asparagus was alright, I’d prefer them to be of smaller size; the tofu too was not bad but I think Lucky Loke at SS3 serves up a better tasting one.

That said, the Guinness pork was really good; and the steamed red snapper was very fresh and tasted superb with all the fried garlic and ginger, not to mention the perfect balance of soya sauce and oil to complete the dish.

This was my first experience with the fried squid with salted egg dish, my previous experience has been limited to salted egg with crab and prawn, but this version too passed with flying colors. It was a combination of the richness of salted egg yolk, fragrance of curry leaves, and the spiciness of chili padi that makes the squid tasted so yummy.

88 Seafood Restaurant is located at PJU 1/3b & PJU 1/3c

The dinner came up to some RM 75 or so, and considering we had 5 dishes with meat, seafood, vegetable, and tofu, it was rather inexpensive. Most importantly, it was a well satisfying and none of the dishes disappointed us.

I shall return.

Addess:
88 Restaurant Seafood Restaurant
Jalan PJU 1/3b,
Sunway Mas Commercial Centre,
47301 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.119835,101.599942

Tags:  aman-suria,  chinese-food,  eiling,  horng,  kerol,  sunwaymas,  tai-chau

Posted by KY | 36 Comments »

A couple Fridays ago, Eiling invited me to Cubes Chinese Restaurant at Jaya One for a food review session.

Jaya One is slowly becoming a pretty popular watering (and dining) hole in PJ, and it is not hard to see why. There are plenty of restaurants, cafes, and pubs offering a wide variety of cuisines, and parking is relatively cheap and easy to find.

Cubes Chinese Restaurant

Yiling, Eiling’s sister, but not Ziling, (mystery of the EZY sister naming convention) and I reached the restaurant and had a good 20 minutes flipping through the menu and chatting before our Eiling finally arrived.

The interior decoration of the restaurant is modern, chic, very different from typical high end Chinese restaurants. We were greeted by the owner, Mr. Ang, who turned out to be a very friendly, funny, and fine host.

probably the best London Aromatic Duck….

So we got started with a serving of “probably the best London Aromatic Duck”. The server flossed the quarter duck confit to and we then wrapped the meat with very fine crepe, spring onion, julienned cucumber, and the special sauce. Their signature appetizer dish, and it was very yummy! Reminded me of the similar dish at Kensington, Seremban.

braised peanuts, juice, enzymes

Throughout dinner, we were served hot tea, a variety of interesting juices (vegetable juice anyone?); and since Eiling is a buddy of the restaurateur, we were also served the little shot glasses of “enzymes” which were fermented juice that tasted very close to being alcohol but not quite, it was pretty interesting. An acquired taste I must say.

double boiled soup, tofu with spinach and mushroom, tiger prawn with rice crisp

We then had the Double Boiled Scallops with Tong Sum Soup. The pork ribs, scallops, and herbs certainly works very well together to produce a very sweet and herbal tasting soup, I like it.

Tiger Prawn with Rice Crisp came next. The prawn itself was the size of my palm, deep fried in a way that still leave the meat very succulent. The pairing of rice crisp is to provide a different texture to the prawn.

Homemade Bean Curd with Spinach and Mushroom provided yet another dimension of taste that is typical of Chinese cuisine. Soft, smooth, and certainly not lacking in taste, the mushroom with it’s sauce and scallop bits certainly adds a bit of character to the otherwise plain tofu dish.

honey roasted pork ribs, stir fry lotus roots and celery, almond soup and  black sesame tong yuen

The dish that was probably most amazing in the whole dinner was the Honey Roasted Pork Ribs. I mean, just look at it, a generous piece of ribs, doesn’t look anything more like a slab of char siew (bbq pork), but when you cut into the meat, ahh. The meat immediately breaks on impact and the aroma of that perfectly roasted pork come rushing out. It was really succulent and really, really tasty. This dish should not be missed.

We finally wrapped up the main course with Stir Fry Lotus Roots and Celery, the vegetable certainly provided a fresh change of taste from the seafood and meat. The lotus roots is prepared in two ways, deep fried and by normal stir frying.  This provides a slightly different flavor, the deep fried version reminds me of deep fried bitter gourd you get in places like Kanna Curry House

Yiling, KY, and Eiling

After we were absolutely filled to the brim, Mr. Ang ordered us (and we denied at first) the Almond Soup with Black Sesame Glutinous Balls. I think the almond soup was a tad too thick and would personally prefer soya milk in this case, but the glutinous balls was very yummy. Reminded me of the version made by (well, reheated) Mellissa one particular night at Melbourne.

Overall, the dinner was only bested by the company at the table. Eiling and Yiling always made good company, and Mr. Ang, being a fantastic host, made the entire experience that much better. Price at Cubes would be slightly higher than your run-of-the-mill Chinese outlets, but the combination of food and ambiance made it all very worth it.

So if you’re looking for a finer Chinese cuisine not located in a 5-star hotel, this would be one of the very few places worth visiting.

Address:
Cubes
18-1, Block L1-1,
Palm Square Jaya One,
No. 72A, Jalan Universiti,
Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.118298, 101.635294
Tel: 3-7958 6616

Tags:  chinese-food,  cubes,  duck,  eiling,  jaya one,  pork-ribs,  prawn,  soup,  yiling

Posted by KY | 32 Comments »

On the first day at Melbourne, Mell and I met up with Margaret and Kerol. Margaret is a dear friend who came to Melbourne more than two years ago to study and was last seen on this blog on the pudu Mongolian Steamboat place we went for her farewell.

It has been over a year since we met in KL, I think I still had a different (and some said very tragic) hairstyle then.

KY, Mell, Kerol, and Margaret at Red Silks, Chinatown @ Melbourne

Chinatown at Melbourne is located at Little Bourke Street from the intersection of Swanston (the busiest street) to around the intersection with Exhibition or Spring Street. Red Silks is technically not really in Chinatown anymore as it is located in a little mall at Bourke Street half a block away.

The closest tram stop to the place would be Swanston/Bourke.

braised preserved vegetable with pork belly, eggplant, clay pot tofu with seafood

The restaurant offers quite a wide variety of Chinese foods; from noodles to single serving vegetable-on-rice to the more common “tai chau” style dishes, they have it all. As a licensed bar, they do serve beer & wine too.

For lunch, we ordered 3 dishes to go with steamed rice for the four of us.

lemon honey tea & iced milk tea, glorious fatty pork belly

I of course, ordered the braised preserved vegetable with pork belly (mui choi kao yok). While slightly too salty to be eaten alone, the dish goes very well with steamed rice with its fatty pork belly. If only they had chili padi..

The eggplant with minced pork was quite a strong tasting dish that goes well with steamed rice, I do find it a bit too heavy after a while though.

The clay pot tofu with seafood came with good size prawns, cuttle fish, scallops, crab sticks, green peas, and a generous portion of Japanese tofu in classy yummy gravy. This dish was as good as I’ve had from anywhere else.

Bullens Lane is at the heart of Chinatown

The portions were quite large and we actually did not manage to finish all three dishes. The bill came to about A$17 per person, still rather affordable in Melbourne standard. Other dishes in their lunch specials menu goes from $8 to $10.5 and like most other places around here, water is free.

Address:
Red Silk Restaurant and Bar
101, 1st Floor
200 Bourke Street
Melbourne
GPS: -37.81284,144.967357
Tel: +613-9663 9922

Tags:  chinatown,  chinese-food,  kerol,  margie,  melbourne,  mellissa

Posted by KY | 25 Comments »

Elegant Inn, unlike the slightly more famed Holiday Inn, is a pretty high class restaurant serving Hong Kong cuisine and not a hotel chain. This is among the things I learn from the invitation to the said restaurant at Menara Hup Seng a couple Saturdays ago.

classy indoor as and alfresco dining areas at Elegant Inn

The invitation was extended by Millennium Associates, on behalf of Jeanette of Elegant Inn. Mellissa and I were joined by Jasmine (epicuriousgirl) and her friend Jess in this review session. The four of us were seated in a private room as the host insists that we be treated to a full dining experience.

Elegant Inn first started at Taman Connaught before opening this outlet at the heart of KL, explained Jeanette as she suggests what we should have for lunch.

yee sang with all natural ingredients

Naturally, we started off with yee sang, the unique Malaysian Chinese New Year tradition. This was my 4th yee sang session and I was more than happy to find out that the yee sang here is slightly different. All natural and most importantly, fresh ingredients are used. Pamelo, raddish, cucumber, smoked salmon, crackers, jellyfish, etc. Auspiciousness in a slightly healthier style.

Appetizer: soft shell crab, fried calamari, seared scallop on tofu

A huge plate of nicely presented dish was then served as the appetizer. There’s the slightly spicy soft shell crab with plenty of onion, a portion of salt and pepper calamari (椒盐鲜鱿)，and four lightly seared scallops sitting on tofu.

Scallop is always one of my favorites. The combination of soft tofu and succulent scallop provided the perfect start for this meal. I had the calamari followed by soft shell crabs and they were both very good as well, one salty and crunch while the other spicy and fragrant. By now I was convinced we’re into something pretty special.

double boiled soup

Next came the pretty impressive double boiled soup. Pork, ribs, tripe, shell chunks, phoenix claws, kampung chicken, scallops, and preserved vegetable boiled for 4-6 hours, the traditional way. End result is a bowl of very rich tasting soup with a hint of pepper and a mixture of sweetness from all the ingredients.

This soup reminds me of the one I had at Sheraton, they’re both at the same high level while not exactly similar in taste or ingredients.

steamed Australian Jade Perch and stuffed chicken wings

Like any proper Chinese meal, we have fish next. Live Australian Jade Perch is not a fish commonly found in Malaysian restaurant unless frozen, Jeanette told us about one of her many expeditions in sourcing ingredients. The steamed fish was done just right with it’s smooth texture and sweet seafood taste preserved in a very light seasoning. I particularly love the fatty belly portion the waitress expertly boned.

Jeanette insisted that we should try their stuffed chicken wing, and so we did. The wings came out looking like what you would expect, and it wasn’t until cutting it open do you see the wonder of their culinary skills. Gone were the bones and replaced with a mixture of ham, water chestnuts, prawns, and more. Eight ingredients in total. The wings were rather delicious and probably makes for perfect beer tidbits.

fried rice, bitter gourd with salted vegetable (ham choy), choy sum with waxed goose liver

Bitter gourd with salted vegetable is one Elegant Inn’s signature dishes, and that suits me just fine since I love bitter gourd. The very subtle salted vegetable taste blends with the spiciness of chili and the rather strong version of bitter gourd was very addictive to me, but I hazard it is not a dish for everyone.

The choy sum with waxed goose liver (腊鸸肝) was a very sinful dish. The wax meat tasted something in between dried meat and foie gras, with that sliver of liver bitterness and very rich texture and taste. You could almost feel your arteries contracting but it was impossible to stop having “just another piece”. To me, the choy sum was almost just an excuse to have this sinful ingredient.

Jeanette went into a long and elaborated speech on their dancing fried rice, explaining how they use 2 grades of rice kept in 2 different temperatures, and how the eggs had to be fried first, the wok washed and then top grade dried shrimps from HK fried next, wash the work again and finally add everything in while tossing the rice non stop till it’s cooked.

That just seems like too much work for good old fashion fried rice, and I didn’t see the point until I actually tasted the dish myself. It was simply the best fried rice I’ve had, you can literally taste the individual grain and the distinct flavor added by crab meat and bits of dried shrimps, eggs, and green onion. This is a must-orderdish.

steamed brown sugar cake, mini egg tarts

As we start to wind down, Jeanette brought out some very tasty mini egg tarts and steamed brown sugar cake (malai kou in Cantonese 馬拉糕). They were both very delicious and properly made traditional Chinese pastries I wish I could have more. We finished them despite the already rather full stomach.

mango pudding with milk, tong sui (糖水）with mochi

The lunch session was ended on a sweet note. We were served a couple bowls of tong sui (糖水), sweet ginger soup with mochi and the sea coconut with fungus and logan soup. In addition to that, we also had the mango pudding with milk that had chunks of mango in every scoop, just like the way it is supposed to be.

Mellissa, Jeanette, and Yours Truly

I was as overly stuffed as I was impressed with Elegant Inn at this point. It was one of the best lunch experience I’ve ever had in a Chinese restaurant. Quality of food as well as the ambiance were both excellent. I had no idea how much the meal costs and yes, the prices would be on the higher side but considering the experience and quality provided here, it will be well worth it.

Elegant Inn is located at Menara Hup Seng.

Address:
2.01, 2nd Floor, Podium Block,
Menara Hap Seng,
Jalan P.Ramlee,
50250 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.153034,101.70752
Tel: 03-2070 9399

Tags:  chicken,  chinese-food,  fish,  hong-kong-cuisine,  mellissa,  pork,  traditional,  yee sang

Posted by KY | 35 Comments »

My housemate Rachel, her course mate Lucy Liu Amanda, and I were at Taman Paramount scouting for a place for dinner when we spotted Restaurant Kong Sai. A place that looked clean, comfortable, and pretty busy. Since we happened to park the car just across the road, we decided to give this place a try despite never heard about it before.

Restaurant Kong Sai, Taman Paramount

One of my favorite open air Tai Chau (Chinese cook to order) places, Ming Heong, is located right across from this restaurant. If Kong Sai can attract as many customers as Ming Heong, it only make sense that their food must be up to the standard as well.

Fortunately my logic didn’t fail this time.

pork knuckle vinegar, omelet, lotus root soup, vegetable

For three of us, we ordered four dishes. A pork knuckle vinegar, an omelet, a bowl of steamed soup with lotus root, and fried vegetable for some vitamin and iron.

Our food did take a while to arrive. The soup really smells good and tasted very sweet, obviously cooked long enough with pork bones and chicken feet. The lotus root and peanuts in the soup were soft while still retaining enough taste.

say hello to Lucy Liu Amanda

Vegetable and omelet were both pretty good dishes, but the best dish of the night undoubtedly went to the pork knuckle vinegar. The generous serving of pork came with just the right proportion of skin, fat, and meat. Coupled with the strong taste of ginger, vinegar, and their excellent home made chicken rice style chili sauce; it was totally awesome. We devoured everything.

Kong Sai Restaurant is situated right across Giant Hypermart

If my memory serves me correctly, the dinner and drinks came to around RM 40. Pretty good value I’d say.

Apparently every other table orders their steamed chicken (ala chicken rice style) as well, I am going to try that the next time.

Address:
39, Jalan 20/22,
Taman Paramount, PJ
Selangor
GPS: 3.106890, 101.623975

Tags:  amanda,  chinese-food,  kopitiam,  ky,  pork,  rachel,  rice

Posted by KY | 39 Comments »