I met up with Terence (the guy who always over order food) a couple weeks ago for lunch. We originally decided to have the excellent Char Siu at Aman Suria, but the place was not open and so we went for the next best thing, the famous chicken rice at Yat Yeh Hing kopitiam, Kelana Jaya.

glorious chicken (pics with N82)

This place is usually quite packed during lunch time, it might even take a while for you to find an empty table. The good thing is, once you made your order, you can help yourself with unlimited servings of soup while waiting for the main dishes to be served. We usually helped ourselves with the chili sauce too.

Terence enjoying his lunch

For the two of us, we ordered something like half a steamed chicken, a plate of bean sprouts, and some chicken intestines. Of course, we had a couple bowls of soup (ABC with chicken legs) too. The chicken were pretty chunky and juicy, and the soup really delicious, the intestine however, is a bit of an acquired taste.

To many, the chili sauce at a chicken rice place is just as important as the meat itself. If you are one of these people, this stall certainly does not disappoint. The chili sauce is fragrant and makes perfect compliment to the meat, especially with some mashed ginger providing added level of sophistication.

chili sauce, bean sprouts, soup, and chicken intestine

The meal costs about RM 15 for the two of us. A satisfying meal that provides pretty decent value for money. The chicken rice stall only opens for lunch.

Yat Yeh Hing kopitiam is just a couple blocks past Kelana Jaya LRT station

Address:
33, Jalan SS 4D/2,
People’s Park,
47301 Petaling Jaya
Tel:012-629 4807

Tags:  chicken-rice,  chinese-food,  dining,  eats,  hainan,  hawker,  kelana-jaya,  soup,  steamed chicken

Posted by KY | 21 Comments »

Kimberly the cun was the cover girl on the Star’s RAGE yesterday. Coincidentally, yours truly was mentioned in the Metro section of the paper the same day in a very good article titled “The changing hawker scene“.

True, Kim has the whole page to her, and I have 3 paragraphs. But hey, I’m keeping the paper cut out nonetheless. (the difference is, Kim has gathered more than 6 copies, I’m keeping only 1, narcissism isn’t necessary)

The article talks about the impact of foreign workers in the local hawker scene, and here are my bites, quoted verbatim from the paper:

Blogger Kar Yeong, or better known as KY, who has gained recognitions among netizens for reviewing a huge array of food and restaurants in his blog http://kyspeaks.com, is among those who prefers food stalls manned by locals.

“Foreigners grew up in their home country and aren’t as accustomed to the local taste, so naturally the flavours might be a bit out of tune when compared to what we like,” he said.

To be fair, according to KY, there are foreign stalls selling tasty non-local food such as the gyoza prepared by the Shanghainese cook at the Ming Tien food court in Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya.

Thumbnail of the article on the left, click here for the full screen shot (just in case the permanent link at thestar.com.my is removed)

I want to thank the writer Xin Yi for including me in her research.

Tags:  blogger,  food,  hawker,  metro,  news,  the star

Posted by KY | 11 Comments »

So since today is a Friday (meaning 2 hour lunch) and I was thinking of something spicy, together with Nicholas decided to pick up the nuffie Skyler for some Pan Mee in the city. Ordinarily, we would have gone to the famous Kin Kin Pan Mee, but I decided to give Restaurant Super Kitchen just across the road a chance to prove their worth since Kin Kin is always too packed, and I was never too good at tolerating horrible service anyway. Give the underdogs a chance, shouldn’t we?

a much more hygienic setting, with air conditioning too

We ordered the dried Pan Mee, and instead of having to wait for over half an hour in hot and sweaty condition, the food came within a few minutes. Minced pork, anchovies, poached egg, pretty much the same thing you get from their more famous counterpart. One of the most annoying thing about Kin Kin besides the owner’s attitude, is the fact that the soup always lag behind the noodle by at least 3-5 minutes. Over here, everything is served at the same time, perfect.

the chili is just as good and the pan mee very well made

Of course, the most important part is the taste of the food. After all, many of us might place good food above everything else. I find that the Pan Mee at Super Kitchen, if you can shrug off the psychological effect of this place offering “imitation food”, it is actually pretty good! I believe that a person who has never heard of Kin Kin would probably prefer this place especially if you take everything else (price, service, and ambiance) into consideration.

Nicholas is feeling the heat, over sized forehead sweating like mad

Another thing to note about this place is the choices of drinks you get to choose. While the opposite restaurant only serves a few choices of canned drinks and over sweetened herbal tea, you get much wider choices, just like an ordinary coffee shop. After discovering this place, I think I’m not going to have to put up with the famous Kin Kin again, the food is pretty much just as good, and the service with a smile won me over.

Restaurant Super Kitchen is just right opposite Kin Kin Pan Mee

Address:
Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman 1,
off Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur

Tags:  food,  hawker,  kin-kin,  KL,  kuala-lumpur,  pan-mee,  spicy,  super-kitchen

Posted by KY | 15 Comments »

Being a Penangite living in KL, one of the many hawker foods that we always miss is the famous Char Kueh Teow. When I first came down to this part of the country many years ago, this is the dish that I always avoid when fixing my stomach at various kopitiams. On the rare occasions that I gave it a try, the experience was usually quite horrid.

yeh, that’s the size of prawn i love

However, recently I have started to experiment with the various “Penang” char kueh teow places in KL again, thinking that there must be a few good stalls around. I now employ a standard litmus test before I make my order. It is very simple, I will order in Hokkien, and if the hawker answers in anything other than a perfect Penang version of Hokkien, I simply excuse myself and go for my second choice. The test has proven to be very useful thus far.

now you see it, now you don’t

I have actually heard of this place from FA before decided to give it a try. The kopitiam is nameless and is located at the other end of the same row of shops that has the famous kopitiam with loh ngap (duck), very good roti bakar, and seafood porridge, among other things.

The char kueh teow was surprising good, not as great as the two famous Penang stalls, but plenty close enough to warrant a trip for anyone who loves this dish. The prawns are pretty big, and the dish comes complete with cockles and Chinese sausage too. I usually like to have mine extra spicy for some extra kicks. I finished the plate in no more than 5 minutes.

the unnamed kopitiam housing this char kueh teow stall is situated by MBPJ building

Upon looking at me snapping pictures, the stall owner actually came up to me for a chat. Apparently he is the 2nd generation owner of the stall, handed over from his mother and the stall has been in operation for some 20 years.

As usual, there will be people who are quick to point out that it used to be better, and the son isn’t as good as the mom’s char kueh teow. To me, I think most of us don’t realize that char kueh teow is not something like great art works, where Picasso’s son wouldn’t do better. Our taste buds are getting less by the days, and most often than not, we would have been exposed to wider variety of good food since 5 years ago. Don’t commit the fallacy, just give it a good honest try, I think you’ll like it.

Tags:  char-kueh-teow,  char-kuih-teow,  delicious,  hawker,  penang-food

Posted by KY | 21 Comments »

When it comes to food in the historical town that is Melaka, there are a few items that you must never miss. Kinda like the Char Kueh Teow and Laksa in Penang, the must-eat items in Melaka are Satey Celup (video!), Chendol, Poh Piah, and of course, perhaps the most famous of all, the Chicken Rice Ball.

very old school set up, with marble table

Chung Wah restaurant (中华茶室) is one of the very first, and regarded by many, the best chicken rice ball restaurant in Melaka. It is also perhaps the most accessible one, with a paid car park just right beside the building, across from the St. Paul’s church (another must visit place in Melaka).

The place is always packed during weekends, and almost impossible to get in during festive seasons. After fighting through a small crowd to get our table, we ordered a middle portion chicken meat with 2 plates of chicken rice balls (5 balls per plate)

chicken, rice balls, and chili, we’re all set

The chicken came with only one style, white chicken, since this is a pure Hainanese restaurant, no roasted or BBQ variety. The meat was smooth and tasted rather good, with sufficient flavor in all departments. The chili that is so important to any chicken rice dish was actually very good, has a kick in it while retaining a savory pepper aroma, addictive. The main attraction, the rice balls themselves, were somehow rather cold, but otherwise tasted pretty good. It is like having Bak Chang made of chicken rice, an interesting experience if you haven’t tried it.

Chung Wah restaurant is right at the end/beginning of Jonker Walk

The meal for two was about RM 13-14, RM 8 for the chicken, and RM 1.50 for a plate of 5 rice balls.

Tags:  chicken-rice-ball,  dining,  Eats,  food,  hawker,  melacca,  Melaka,  white-chicken

Posted by KY | 22 Comments »