I actually tried this halal bak kua (BBQ meat) a couple months ago but kept forgetting to post it until a reader emailed me the other day, the content goes:
MK wrote:
do u have any idea where to get halal bak kua in KL?
and then I replied:
No halal bak kut teh as far as I know, but there’s vegetarian bak kut teh that has similar tasting soup you can find at Taman Mayang, near the old Lim Kok Wing building. It’s a stall by the roadside that’s very near to William’s mamak stall, operates during lunch time.
Regards,
KY
Which was a wrong answer because MK was asking about bak kua, not my favorite Chinese Malaysian food, bak kut teh. So I had to sent another email to the friendly reader who politely pointed out my mistake…
NOTE: This place is unfortunately, closed. I guess the concept did not work
my ex-colleague Abby likes the beef bak kua
Anyway, this particular stall selling halal bak kua called Grilled to Perfection is situated at the basement food court of Pavilion KL. Just a stone’s throw away from it’s non-halal counterpart Kiew Brothers that sells bacon bak kua I posted about a couple months ago.
The stall offers three types of BBQ meat: sliced beef, sliced chicken, and sambal chicken. You can also have them in rounded coin shapes instead of sheets as well. They are priced at RM 72-75 per KG, very similar to the market price of the non-halal versions
the three types of bak kua, sliced beef, sambal chicken, and sliced chicken
As for the taste, I find that the beef bak kua (the only one I tried) was a little dryer than what I am used to, possibly due to the relatively leaner meat as compared to pork. However, it does taste like bak kua, and to my ex-colleague who has never tasted something like this, it was a revelation.
So far this is the only place I’m aware of that sells Halal bak kua, so if you don’t eat pork and want to try out this Chinese delicacy, Pavilion KL is the place!
Address: (Corporate, stall at basement of Pavilion KL)
No. 73, Jalan Cemerlang,
Taman Perindustrian Cemerlang,
81800 Ulu Tiram, Johor
GPS: 3.148872, 101.713368
Tel: 03-5891 0934
It actually took me more than three years working at KLCC to discover Ozenki Ozeki Japanese restaurant, situated just a stone’s throw away from my office at Menara TA. I couldn’t resist the temptation looking at the giant menu outside the restaurant and decided to give it a try just a while ago, and went there again with the noob Nicholas before he left KLCC to greener pasture.
the menu is huge, literally.
Other than the ala carte menu, Ozeki offers some unique set lunches. I always chose the RM 28++ combo, you basically get to choose 2 main dishes from 6-7 different choices, with salad, soup, rice, fruits, and a couple condiments accompanying the set. The mains include sushi, sashimi, tempura, saba shioyaki (grilled mackeral), salmon shioyaki, unagi kabayaki, chicken teriyaki, and beef teriyaki. There are also noodle set lunch and normal set lunch.
fresh Japanese food with decent pricing
While the 2 mains might look a bit smallish, they are actually plenty enough for lunch. In this outing, I had the grilled salmon and 5 pieces of sushi to go with some rice, soup, salad, and a rather delicious piece of tofu as appetizer. The noob had unagi and sashimi instead.
the menu inside is the same size as this one outside
Overall, the food was pretty good, and for this area in Klang Valley, a pretty good value. Service was friendly and professional, interior decoration and ambiance were nice, and most importantly, the ingredients were fresh. I’m feeling like going there again this week. Anyone?
Ozeki is situated at Menara TA, just a couple minutes from KLCC
Address:
Menara TA One, Ground Floor,
No. 22, Jalan P.Ramlee,
50250 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.156724, 101.709795
Tel: 03-2166 4263
Happy Deepavali (or Diwali) to my Hindu friends.
I took the opportunity of the holiday to go down to KL and snap me some pictures. These shots were taken around Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, near the Maju Junction. The Canon 400D and Tamron SP90 were the gear used in this excursion, I was trying to see the effect of using a basically macro/portrait lens for streets photography.
anticipation
An old man anticipating the arrival of his bus as cars and bikes passes him in the reflection.
rejected
specks of gold
the spiral
In the older part of the city, you can find remnants of architecture from the bygone era. Do we still have dedicated fire escape routes in shop houses these days?
where do you want to go today?
There are a few more of these at my flickr set
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
GPS: 3.161031, 101.698272
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
