PJ is one of the oldest townships in Klang Valley with it’s oldest part aptly called Old Town. In this part of the valley, you can find quite a number of eateries older folks are familiar with.
As a general rule of thumb, older establishments that withstood the test of time usually offers better foods, which is why once in a while we’d head to the food court at PJ old town for some good old fashion hawker food.
sting ray curry, vinegar pork, and chicken rice
The last time we went was a few weeks ago, and this time around we ordered the curry fish from Gerai Seong Kee. There were a few types of fish to choose from, we ordered a big clay pot of stingray curry mainly due to the lack of hazard in fish bones.
I almost always choose stingray when it comes to ikan bakar as well. It’s just a lot easier, not to mention the fact that I actually love the way it tastes.
clay pot stingray curry fish from Seong Kee
Rather than ordering white rice to go with the curry fish, we got a serving of pork knuckle with vinegar and a plate of roast pork and roast chicken from Kie Kee chicken rice. This way, we get to have four different dishes with chicken rice instead of plain tasting normal steamed rice.
The concept is pretty much like how you’d dine in a Tai Chow place, except this is actually a food court.
roast chicken, roast pork, and pork knuckle with vinegar from Kie Kee
As it turned out, the rich and creamy santan based curry fish actually does go very well with chicken rice. Combination of cabbage, brinjal, ladies finger and that soft silky stingray meat mixes well with the slightly oily rice.
The pork knuckle was fatty and quite strong tasting, just the way I like it. The best thing is, alternating the few dishes ensures that your palate doesn’t go dull by having the same taste throughout the entire meal. It was good.
Best of all, the lunch session didn’t exactly cost us an arm and a leg, it’s in a food court after all. However, the serving from Kie Kee seems to be getting smaller and smaller while the price basically remains rather cheap. I guess you can’t escape from inflation after all.
Address:
Intersection of
Jalan Othman & Jalan Selangor
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.087519, 101.645948
BU Centrepoint has always been sort of a meeting place for the only reason that Suanie stays only a stone’s throw away, and when she says we meet there, we meet there. An argument with Suanie is an exercise in futility.
We have been to the BigWateryAmericanCoffeeChain numerous time but strangely enough, last Tuesday was the first time we went to Cagayan’s right next door.
pork ribs at Cagayan’s, Filipino Cuisine
Cagayan’s is one of the very few restaurants that serves Filipino cuisine. Now personally I’ve never been to the country nor have I heard a lot about the food there. I must confess that the only thing about this place that attracted me was the rather big “Non Halal” sign and the pictures of pork ribs and nuermous other pork dishes. Kerol had the same sentiment.
I’m quite clueless when it comes to Philipinno food, but luckily the menu comes with description as well as photos of each dish, making our job much easier.
pork adobo, caldereta (lamb curry), pork binagoongan, french rivera
For the five of us, we ordered a medium rack of pork ribs (RM 36.50) with original sauce to share (6 pieces) as well as individual dishes. To be frank, I thought the ribs were average, Tony Roma’s at Bangkok‘s pork ribs was better than this, but this wasn’t bad either.
My dish was pork abodo (RM 11.00) with rice. Abodo apparently is a very common Filipino cooking process that involves stewing with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorn. The wholesome pork belly with the slightly sourish and salty marinate tasted better than I had expected, I could eat it with rice even without any chili, but with the chili padi that they have it was even better.
rachel, suanie, KY, kerol, and horng at Cagayan’s
Horng ordered Pork Binagoongan (RM 12.00), which is a bowl of pork belly cooked with fermented fish paste bagoong based soup. Like fish sauce popular in Vietnamese cuisine or shrimp paste in our local sambal, the soup carries a subtle but distinct taste that might not suit everyone, but we love it!
Rachel’s lamb caldereta (RM 12.50) actually tasted like a mild version of lamb curry with slightly different spices, I find it very delicious too. Apparently this is also a popular method of cooking for dog meat in Philippines, hmm, I wonder if that would taste even better?
The French Rivera spaghetti (RM 9.00) was alright, Suan didn’t complain nor compliment, so I guess it was just average.
Cagayan’s is located at BU Centrepoint, just next to Starbucks on ground floor
With the ribs and drinks, dinner came to RM 20+ per person. Though not everything tasted super awesome, the few rice dishes we had was impressive enough to warrant many visits in the future.
Address:
Cagayan’s
G107-108 Centrepoint
Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.137988, 101.610124
Tel: 03-77241022
The last time I wrote an entry about Ming Tien was over a year ago on the Bak Kut Teh and Dumpling. To be frank, I am not a very big fan of this big hawker center despite the fact that is is located within walking distance. I usually go there out of necessity.
I went there with my housemate Rachel a couple weeks ago with Rachel due to laziness to drive for a quick dinner. Not knowing what to order, I took up Rachel’s advice to share a pot of Curry Fish Head.
Curry Fish Head stall at Ming Tien Food Court
Apparently this particular Curry Fish Head stall is pretty new at Ming Tien that escaped my notice the last time I went (months ago).
For the two of us, we ordered a pot of curry fish head with rice.
a big clay pot curry fish head, yums
The fish head came in a clay pot, which is actually pretty nice to keep the warmth in. Other than pieces of fish head and meat, there are long beans, okra, tau pok (deep fried tofu), and brinjal. The broth is santan (coconut milk) based, and I find that it could be slightly spicier. Then again, I am from Penang and we generally like our food to be spicier than native Klang Valley dwellers.
Though the fish itself was just average, overall taste was pretty decent. Not great, but not bad either. For around RM 10 per person, it was actually a pretty good value for money.
Address:
Ming Tien Hawker Center
Jalan SS24/8, Taman Megah,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.114334, 101.611658
Being a true blue Malaysian, I love my nasi lemak. When my futsal buddy decided that we should head down to Kampung Baru from PJ after our game at 11pm on a weekday, I didn’t think it was a bad idea at all. I will happily trade a little bit of sleep for a good session of nasi lemak anytime.
There are several famous nasi lemak places around the area. The nasi lemak RA few hundred meters away, and nasi lemak antarabangsa that is even closer (I’ve yet to try) to this nasi lemak CT Garden situated right at Kampung Baru.
plenty off add-ons to go with your nasi lemak
The actual nasi lemak packets are rather small and pretty basic. A quarter of an egg, a small cup of rice, and plenty of very tasty sambal. The difference at this place is the availability of the huge variety of lauk (side dishes). Chicken cooked in half a dozen methods, fish, eggs, vegetable, squid, cuttle fish, cockles, beef, lamb, liver, lung, and more.
we didn’t leave anything behind
We had 2-3 packets of nasi lemak (RM 1) per person to go with some ayam madu (honey chicken), cockles, potato, and cuttle fish. Chicken and cockles were pretty good, but the cuttle fish was the one that caught my attention. The texture was just right, a little bit like biting down well cooked cartilage and went very well with the sambal. Personally I am not a huge fan of spicy soggy potato chips, but the other two dudes seemed to love it though.
The nasi lemak with lauk and drinks costs us about RM 6-8 per person. I guess nasi lemak isn’t exactly the cheapest meal these days, but it was worth it at this place though.
Nasi lemak CT Garden opens from 6pm to around 5am, parking is not too difficult. The place is also pretty clean and comfortable. Now I’ll have to try antarabangsa and see what the fuss is all about.
Address:
Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman
Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.16246, 101.70113
Others:
masak-masak
When it comes to sinful meals, banana leaf rice can’t escape to be in the list that also includes bak kut teh and nasi lemak. Good food are usually not very good for the body, and I guess that is what made us we enjoy it so much. If it is something you can have every day, you would get bored of it very fast isn’t it?
Anyway, one of the more famous banana leaf rice in PJ would be Raju’s that is situated next to La Saelle Secondary School just off Jalan Gasing.
they can deep fry everything
Much like most Banana leaf rice places, Raju’s serve all sorts of freshly deep fried stuff to go with the rice on banana leaf accompanying the typical three vegetables and papadum. You can choose from various types of fish, squid (which I love), chicken, fish roe, prawn, and so forth.
There are also other curry dishes, we ordered a plate of curry prawns for the day. Other choices include mutton curry, chicken, and curry squid.
prawn, squid, chicken, and the curry
The condiments i absolutely love when having banana leaf rice is the deep fried bitter gourd and chili padi. After deep fried, the bitter gourd is crunchy and only retain a very subtle bitter taste, goes very well with curry. The chili padi is salty and spicy, acts more like a substitute for a spicy and solid version of soya sauce than anything else, to me at least.
love the deep fried chili and bitter gourd
As for price, the standard banana leaf rice with just vegetables, papadum, and meatless curry would be around 4 or 5 ringgit. However, the bill can really add up when you add in many other side dishes like what we had that day. Few ringgit a piece of chicken, more than 10 for the squid, the prawns, and drinks. It can easily come up to over 20 ringgit per person. I’d say the price at this place is on par with other banana leaf places.
Raju’s is next to La Salle High School
Besides banana leaf rice, you can find many types of traditional indian snacks like vadai here. The tosai and roti canai (also served on banana leaf) are very good here as well.. I also love the outside under-the-tree seatings they have.
If you haven’t been there before, give it a try.
Address:
27, Jalan Cantek 5/13
Off Jalan Gasing
Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.101703, 101.653769
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