The 20th day of November, 2009 marked two significant events – it was my buddy Horng’s birthday, and at the same day, Kim collected her new ride SuzyGanas. Since the birthday boy was coming back from his assignment in Manila, Jac, Eric, Kerol, and I decided to catch him from the airport (we went to the wrong one initially).
Kim and Gareth later joined us for dinner at Dengkil Seafood Restaurant, the one place you should definitely check out if you love fresh water fish and tong po pork. It helps if you’re close to Putrajaya or KLIA for the drive from PJ won’t exactly be a short one.
fish menu on the wall, horng holding a bottle of Glenfiddich single malt whisky
The “fish menu” displayed on the wall were at least a couple dozen of both fresh and saltwater fish you can order. The prices of each fish is displayed prominently for your budgetary convenience. Of course, the ability to read Chinese is utmost important in this case.
For example (per 100 gram):
Yes, you heard it right, Empurau really does cost that much, which is quite apt for it’s Chinese name 忘不了, literally means Never Forget (especially for the one who pays).
tong po pork, vegetable, steamed patin fish
We ordered five dishes for the seven of us, fish, pork, vegetable, prawn, and chicken to go with rice and a bottle of Glendfiddich single malt whisky the birthday boy obtained from the airport duty free shop.
First to come was the tong po pork (RM 18). Now I’ve had this dish several times but I must say that this is the absolute best that I’ve had so far. The pork so succulent, soft, and so flavorful almost to a point of disbelieve. The combination of the steamy hot mantao (RM 1 each) and fatty pork was a match made in heaven. It was so good we ordered an encore straight away. This is definitely a must-order dish here.
The steamed patin fish (RM 63 – 900g) too was quite excellent. It was sweet, fresh, and steamed just enough to leave the soft texture intact. Fried ginger and coriander provided some contrast and the soy sauce used were of good quality too.
The vegetable dish (RM 12) was just to fulfill our supposed vitamin C quota, nothing spectacular to be frank.
Vietnamese prawn, patin fish with rice, salted chicken
The big ticket item turned out to be the giant fresh water prawn cooked in Vietnamese style (RM 120 for 7 big prawns). The huge prawns deep fried before mixing with the very strong tasting sauce that is spicy but yet unlike curry. It was quite tasty and went well with rice, but didn’t leave an impression nearly as strong as the fish and especially the pork.
Salted chicken (RM 20) was our fifth order and the unsuspecting looking dish actually turned out to be rather nice. The chicken skin was crunchy yet the meat still juicy. Sometimes it is toughest to create a good tasting dish with simple ingredients. We liked this dish quite a lot too.
Kim, Gareth, Horng, KY, Kerol, Jac, and Eric
The two order of pork, four other dishes, rice, and drinks for seven of us came to RM 277. That worked out to be slightly less than RM 40 per person, a pretty reasonable amount for what we ordered. The group went there again after one of the go-kart sessions not long ago, and of course, we ordered a bigger portion of tong po pork that time.
By the way, this place is dog friendly too, and operates for lunch and dinner till rather late (past 11pm)
Address:
Dengkil Seafood Restaurant
Lot 20, Tingkat 1, Jalan Kajang-Dengkil,
43800 Dengkil, Selangor
GPS: 2.859538,101.678971
Tel: 03-8768 7868, 012-218 2919
I first read about this Thai Fish Farm Restaurant from the post on Kim’s blog. It is a place hidden in the jungle of Hulu Langat, situated at the other end of Klang Valley from where we stay (if you can still consider Hulu Langat to be within Klang Valley), and less than a couple kilometers away from the famous “look-out point”.
grilled crabs, fresh vegetable, Thai Fish Farm Restaurant
It took us close to an hour’s drive to get to Hulu Langat from northern part of PJ on New Year’s day, partly due to the holiday’s heavy traffic, and partly the annoying rain.
It is advisable to go there with a car that has at least decent ground clearance as the last kilometer or so (from the turning off Jalan Hulu Langat KM 4) consist of unpaved road within the jungle.
It felt like we were smuggling contrabands in golden triangle than going for dinner, it was as remote as it was dodgy. Once we reached there, however, there were dozens of cars parked at the clearing and the place was full of people we had to wait over 20 minutes to secure a table.
Thai steamed siakap, vegetable, snail meat, omelete
For the 10 of us, we ordered seven crabs (we wanted more but they ran out!), two types of fish, squid, snails, vegetables, lamb, and vegetable. We ordered some rice to go with all these, and coconut drinks as well as some toddy with Guinness to complete the illusion of being on vacation since we were sitting on stilts by a body of water anyway.
The steamed siakap (barramundi) was delicious, the chili padi and garlic a Thai signature. Vegetable was super fresh, and the omelet, well were just omelet.
The snail meat though, was quite special. Fried in (most probably) curry paste/powder with lime leaf and long bean, it was chewy and flavorful. Tasted like a slightly harder version of escargot but with stronger taste, I liked it a lot.
grilled crab, squid with salted egg, salt grilled fish, grilled lamb
Dinner at Thai Fish Farm is not complete without some grilled crab. Like at Hing Ket in Kampung Jawa, the crab is grilled without any additional seasoning to preserve the original taste of the crustacean. They were not overly grilled and still rather juicy, was quite good to be honest.
The grilled lamb was alright, but I prefer the kampung jawa version. Squid with salted egg though, was a bit of a disappointment. Instead of having the squid fried with salted egg, the “salted egg sauce” was poured on separately, it was a bit weird and slimy, not something I’d order again.
The salt grilled fish is something that I have seen when I was in Thailand but never had the chance to give it a try. The fish, Tilapia in this case, is simply applied with generous amount of salt and grilled. While the fish meat, being Tilapia, was still quite tasteless, and this is where the salted fish skin comes in. Apply a little bit of fish skin and it goes so well with the meat, a rather interesting combination, no soya sauce needed.
kerol, FA, Kim, Gareth, Horng, Ruby, Suan, Eric, KY, Jac, and Terence (hidden)
The bill came up to slightly less than RM 40 per person including coconut juice for everyone (around RM 350+ in total if I’m not mistaken). A very satisfying dinner at exotic location at a decent price, and most importantly, with the company you want to be with. That, was a good new year dinner.
Address:
Restaurant Thai Fish Farm
Km 4, Jalan Ampang Hulu Langat,
68000 Ampang, Selangor
GPS: 3.130077, 101.803586
Tel: 017-251 5235, 019-260 6493
The most common complains among the new arrivals working at the twin towers and the surrounding area seems to be the price of food. From fast foods such as McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King, to the food courts and restaurants within KLCC and Avenue K malls, you often need to spend at least around RM10 to get a decent meal.
Warong Kak Fauziah is located behind Lembaga Getah Malaysia
However, if you are willing to walk just a bit, there are hidden gems littered all around the KLCC vicinity. Warong Kak Fauziah with its excellent ikan bakar (grilled fish) is one of them.
Hidden behind Lembaga Getah Malaysia (opposite main entrance of the twin towers), the little zinc roofed shack is tricky to get to. The safest bet is to walk from the back road of Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, and just follow what your nose tells you. There is usually a healthy crowd during lunch time on weekdays.
freshly grilled fish with rice comes to less than RM 6
There are three types of ikan bakar available here, ikan kembung (hardtail), ikan keli (catfish), and ikan pari (stingray). My favorite is always the ikan pari due to mainly the fact that there is no bone to deal with. For lunch, in addition to the fish, I also grabbed an omelet and some ulam (raw vegetable) to go with rice.
As with many ikan bakar places, you can find at least 3-4 different types of condiments to go with the fish, sambal belacan, chili with soya sauce and lime, cencaluk, and so forth. I usually like to mix them up.
KY and Chew (who wants a gf)
The ikan pari here was simply delicious. Rich, oily, and generous portion of very tasty stingray meat mixed with the spicy sambal with that bits of burnt fish skin, there isn’t many thing that is so down to earth, no nonsense, halal and unhealthy. I love it. Best of all, the plate of fish, egg, vegetable, and rice was less than RM 6 in total.
Warong Kak Fauziah is located behind Lembaga Getah Malaysia
Good food, great price, there isn’t nothing not to like about this place. Well, except maybe the lack of air conditioning, but that is pushing it, no?
Address:
Warong Kak Fauziah,
behind Lembaga Getah Malaysia
Jalan Ampang, KL
GPS: 3.160088,101.711941
One of my favorite restaurants at the Curve is Waroeng Penyet that serves the pretty unique ayam penyet (flattened fried chicken) that was completely new to me only slightly over a year ago. I have been there quite a few times since but always loath the idea of having to brace the traffic and having to pay parking to get my favorite Indonesian food.
So when I spotted this place on the way home after a round of hitting golf balls everywhere at the Sunway driving range, I immediately suggest to Horng that we should just have our dinner there.
clean and air conditioned interior
The set up of Ayam Penyet AP is just a notch above your normal kopitiam. There are a few tables alfresco style for those who might want to have puff after meal, and also plenty of tables for those who prefer air conditioning. The restaurant is clean and comfortable tho there isn’t any effort being put in interior decoration.
The menu here is a bit more extensive compared to Waroeng Penyet, other than the standard Ayam penyet, they have beef, cat fish, prawn, bakso (beef ball), mixed vegetable, and a few types soups too.
ayam penyet, ikan penyet (keli), and terung penyet
We ordered ayam penyet, lele penyet (keli, cat fish), and terong penyet (eggplant) to go with two rice for dinner.
The ayam penyet (I had the drumstick) was just as tasty as their counterpart at the Curve. Crispy, flavorful, and with that very addictive hot sambal. I also like the fact that they give more crispy bits.
The deep fried cat fish too was not bad in its own, very aromatic and soft in texture. And as a person who loves eggplant, I absolutely adore the terung penyet. The crispy bits and sambal works very well with the contrasting soft texture of fried eggplant. Very delicious.
satisfying dinner
Ayam penyet was priced at RM 7 (already the most expensive item in their menu!), the fish was RM 6.50, and eggplant only RM 2.50. Two plates of rice at RM 1.20 each and you have a very satisfying dinner for way less than RM 20.00!
I am sure this is one of the places I would visit repeatedly.
you can see Ayam Penyet AP from LDP just before heading up to the suspension bridge.
Other than Mentari, they have another outlet at Subang Jaya (No. 74, GF, Jln SS15/4, Subang), and Bangi (No. 9, GF, Jln 15/1D, Section 15, 43650 Bandar Baru Bangi) as well.
Address:
Ayam Penyet AP
No 17, GF, Jln PJS 8/17,
Dataran Mentari,
46150 PJ, Selangor
GPS: 3.076950, 101.613282
Tel: 019-577 5399
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
