Every once in a while, we drive out to have lunch with colleagues and friends even though there are plenty of choices within walking distance at KLCC. Our destination last week was Charn Kee Tasty Corner at Jalan Alor, Nicholas (the driver) recommended the famous clay pot fish paste noodle he has been eating ever since he was a little boy.

a kopitiam set up, with illustrated menu

The restaurant (kopitiam set up) serves several dishes, with illustrated menu to aid the selection process for the uninformed. Naturally I have to try the clay pot fish paste noodle, the other noobs had the dry version of fish paste noodle and the lam mee (something similar to loh mee). We also ordered extra dumplings and fish balls to share.

lam mee, fish paste noodle dry and soup version, dumplings and more fish balls

Even though it was at busy lunch hour, food didn’t take too long to arrive. The clay pot fish paste noodle was really good, reminded me of the same dish that I had at Kota Kinabalu some years ago. The fish paste and prawns complimented the noodle nicely and give the soup a subtle seafood taste. I particularly like the strong chili paste that accompanies the dish.

My colleagues returned very positive verdicts on their respective dishes too. The extra fish balls and extra dumplings were very good as well. The texture of the fish ball were just perfect.

look at the happy bunch!

Price wise, Charn Kee is pretty reasonable, if my memory serves me correct, the meal costs less than RM 8 per person inclusive drinks. This is going to be one of the places to eat in KL for me.

Charn Kee at Jalan Alor is just a short walk from Bukit Bintang area

Address:
No 35, Jalan Alor,
50200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.145797, 101.708819
7:30am to 4:30pm, close on Monday

Tags:  charn-kee,  delicious,  dumpling,  fish-noodle,  jalan-alor,  KL,  kopitiam,  tasty-corner

Posted by KY | 8 Comments »

I was with an otaku at Sungei Wang plaza picking up his expensive Japanese action figures, and decided to head to Lot 10 for some La Mian (拉面) at Crystal Jade. According to the guy, this place serves one of the best La Mian in the region, and heaps better than the One Noodle at SS2, a place that I thought was pretty decent.

absolutely mouth-watering La Mian

The restaurant is located by the side of the Lot 10 main entrance, nicely decorated with wooden partition, pretty comfortable chairs, and a bar-style kitchen area so you can watch the chefs swinging dough into noodle. There is also an outdoor area, I imagine it’ll be pretty nice enjoying your bowl of noodle at night watching the carousel of people strolling down Bintang Walk.

very classy interior deco

We ordered 2 bowls of La Mian, one plain and one with beef, vegetable, xiao long bao (小龙包), shallow fried dumpling (Gyoza/鍋貼), a mango dessert, and some herbal tea.

We didn’t have to wait long before the dumpling is served. They were very delicious and juicy, still packing some soup together with the meat inside. The xiao long bao too were top notch, served steaming hot on top of some lettuce in the bamboo basket. You can even see the juice in the xiao long bao from the picture above, and it really tastes as good as it look. The vegetable too, wasn’t overcooked and the seasoning done just right, I found myself chewing down the stems as if it was some high quality asparagus.

the sifu making la mian.

The La Mian though, was something else. It was very smooth and rich in flavor to the point that the beef, though pretty delicious itself, proved to be a distraction to the savoring taste of the noodle. No wonder the dude ordered a plain La Mian instead. Comparing the La Mian here to the SS2 counterpart is like comparing Fiat to Ferrari, same country of origin, you might even say same soul, but totally different class. It really opened my taste to La Mian.

map to Lot 10

Of course, the location and the excellent quality of food does come at a price. We spent over RM 30 per person, but it was all worth it. I will definitely go there again when I head to town again.

Address:
R2 Annexe Block
Lot 10 Shopping Center
GPS: 3.146290, 101.711721
Tel: 03-2148-2338

Tags:  crystal-jade,  dining,  dumpling,  eats,  gyoza,  ky,  La-Mian,  lot-10,  noodle,  sungei-wang,  xiao-long-bao

Posted by KY | 20 Comments »

Hunting for a simple and pleasant place for dinner, my buddy Kenneth suggested Restaurant Grandma Kitchen Cafe at Damansara Uptown. I just have to try it since the dude said this place serves the “xiao long bao” (小龙包) in a particularly interesting way.

the LMF is there too.

Though Uptown is notorious for having a horrendous parking situation, we didn’t find much trouble putting away the car legally since it was at night. Your luck might vary.

The restaurant is located just a few shops next to RHB bank. The decoration is simple but pleasant. There are plenty of choices to choose from, cook-to-order dimsum, fried rice, noodle, and various other local dishes to go with steamed rice as well.

suck the juice!

Once I spotted the Petai Seafood fried rice on the menu, the choice is simple. I ordered that and the famous “101″ premium juicy dumpling (the xiao long bao). The other noobs ordered Tomyam seafood fried rice and a plate of butter chicken with curry leaves.

The petai fried rice did not disappoint, and the xiao long bao was very tasty as well. A word of cautious though, since the xiao long bao came with a little straw for you to suck the juice, don’t do it straight! Wait for a couple minutes to let it cool down first, alternatively, you can steal a Starbucks super-hot-liquid friendly straw. hehe

get your own sambal

The fried rice costs RM 6.80 per portion, and the excellent xiao long bao RM 3.80. Drinks are priced pretty reasonably at RM 2.30 to RM 4+. Overall a pretty good value for the food and environment. Will definitely go there again.

map of uptown

Restoran Grandma Kitchen Cafe
Address:
6, Jalan SS21/39, D.U.,
PJ, 47400 Selangor
GPS: 3.137367, 101.622763
Tel: 03-7722 1886

Tags:  dumpling,  fried-rice,  grandma,  petai,  PJ,  uptown,  xiao-long-bao

Posted by KY | 10 Comments »