I first heard about the Otak-Otak Place from suanie who said “the food is good loh”.

It would not be so significant if the statement was from anyone else, but suanie is from Batu Pahat, which is very close to Muar where they sells the best otak-otak. So when Mell and I found ourselves in Tropicana City Mall a couple days ago, I decided to pay a visit to this restaurant.

otak-otak place, quirky but old school design

Otak-otak place is decorated in a very quirky but old school way, there are old black bicycles, furniture designs from a couple generations ago, and even Ding Dang and Tora snacks for sale.

The selection on their menu is actually quite wide. There are half a dozen types of otak-otak to choose from (steamed, bbq, “cucur”, dumpling, roll, etc), with fish, squid, or prawn fillings. Local favorites like nasi lemak, ayam perchik, pulut, roti jala, mee rebus, asam laksa, curry laksa, soto, fish head noodles, bakso, and more are available too.

steamed otak-otak, roti jala, mee bandung muar, bbq otak-otak

We ordered steamed otak-otak (squid), 5 sticks of BBQ otak-otak (fish), mee bandung Muar, and roti jala for dinner. While waiting for food to be served, we amused ourselves with the Happy Families card game on the table, anyone still remembers the rules?

We managed a few games before the steamed otak-otak (RM 3) arrived, and it was actually very delicious, I’d rate it better than the one at Kopitiam, 1-Utama. The BBQ stick otak-otak too tasted very close to those suanie brought from Muar, though at RM 5.50 for 5 sticks they are quite a bit more pricey than the Southern counterparts, but someone has to pay for air conditioning and mall rental.

KY and Mell

Mee bandung Muar (RM 7.90) comes in a clay pot with prawns, meat, egg, vegetable, and half a lime. I asked for mee with meehun. While I don’t really know how the “authentic” mee bandung Muar tastes like, this one cuts the cake for me. The soup was flavorful and ingredients aplenty, but those who can’t handle spicy food should take caution though.

Mell liked the roti jala (RM 5.90) she ordered too. I took a bite, and while the roti jala was good, I thought the chicken curry could be a bit thicker.

Tropicana City Mall is located between LDP & Sprint

The meal came to around RM 25 for two of us, including drinks. There is a 5% service charge but no government tax imposed. You can find Otak-otak place at lower ground floor, new wing of 1-Utama shopping complex.

As a bonus, there’s yogurt ice cream at Tropicana City Mall too, and now that GSC is opening there, it has become my all time favorite hang-out place especially when the weather is too hot.

Address:
Otak-Otak Place
Lot L1-58, 1st Floor
Tropicana City Mall
3, Jalan SS20/27
47400 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.130757,101.626421
Tel:03-7728 0403

Tags:  mee bandung,  mellissa,  otak-otak,  roti jala,  tropicana city

Posted by KY | 27 Comments »

When I first got the invitation from foodstreet for a food review session from Peony Garden at Kota Damansara, I did some searches on the internet and but was not able to find any blog entries. So I went to the restaurant with Eiling (who is going to give me some golden tickets) having little to expect.

seven dishes to sample, with original ingredients

As it turns out, Peony Garden serves Northern Nyonya food, which means they are actually from Penang, my hometown. The relatively new restaurant is run by a pair of siblings, Karen and Eugene Chew, whom despite knowing little about blogs and the way of cyber world, were very friendly (especially when we arrived at our common mother tongue, Penang Hokkien).

We were served the unique “green leaves drink” that is made of seven different types of grass and leaves. It tasted pretty refreshing though slightly on the sweeter side. The owners explained to us that many of the ingredients used are sourced from Penang and other states, and Karen cooks everything from scratch, the traditional way, even the sambal is made by pounding fresh chili and shrimp paste by hand.

Penang otak-otak, asam prawn, curry black pomphret, salted vegetable duck soup

We were then served seven dishes, and I recognized what they were instantly without having to be explained! Tau eu bak (soya sauce pork), asam prawn, curry bawal hitam (black pomphret), salted vegetable duck soup, Penang otak-otak, jui hu char (fried sengkuang with dried cuttle fish), and fried spring roll. These are the dishes I grew up with, the memory of mom working in her kitchen flashes back like a tsunami wave, the familiar smell, the sound of sengkuang sizzling in the wok, and how she always peel the asam shrimps for us. I wish mom was here to have this session with me.

In the taste department, the food actually measured up very well. The asam prawn, cooked with asam and dark soya sauce carries a strong and fragrant asam taste that is slightly salty and sourish, complementing the sweetness of the shrimp perfectly. The fish curry is done the traditional way as well, with black pomphret and a generous portion of laksa flower that adds to the taste. There is no substitute with another type of fish as “lemak” (fatty) taste of the black pomphret suits the asam curry best.

soya sauce pork, jui hu char, spring roll

I personally always prefer the Penang style otak-otak, and the version at Peony, though not the best I’ve had, was not bad either. As for salted vegetable duck soup, it might take a little used to if you are not accustomed to it, sourish and slightly spicy, I liked it.

Jui hu char is a dish that is cooked by many Penang family whenever they worship ancestors (don’t ask me why). It is best eaten with some sambal and wrapped with fresh lettuce, much like the way you’d have Korean BBQ meat. The deep fried spring rolls actually shares the main ingredient (sengkuang) with jiu hu char, but served with a unique blend of dark soya source and chili that gives it a pretty interesting taste, in a good way.

If you’ve followed this blog for some time, you know that I am a pork lover. The tau eu bak here was absolutely fantastic, cooked for hours to the very soft and tender texture, the soya sauce is imported from Nothern state to get the taste just right. Coupled with the original sambal, I had to fight with Eiling till the last piece, it was as good as it is sinful.

green leaf drinks, and eiling with the Peony plate

Dishes are priced from RM 8 to RM 20+, pretty decent even though the portions aren’t big. Authentic foods are hard to come by these days, and I don’t think you can get them any more authentic than here. A family run restaurant that prepares everything painstakingly the traditional way. I am sure I will return.

Poeny Garden is just 5 minutes away from IKEA/Ikano/Curve

The restaurant also host private events and birthday parties. If you like it the old school way with nasi kunyit, curry chicken, and hard boiled egg for your baby’s full moon, they do it too.

Lunch: Tue to Fri 11am – 2pm
Dinner: Tue to Sun 6 – 10pm

Address:
16-1, Jalan PJU 5/10,
Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.150886, 101.593237
Tel: 03-6141 8323

Tags:  asam,  baba,  cuisine,  cuttle fish,  food,  nyonya,  otak-otak

Posted by KY | 44 Comments »

After spending way too much energy and sweat on our futsal last night, we decided to head to the famous Jalan 223 nasi lemak place for some well deserved recuperation session. Even though it was already past 11pm on a weekday, the Selera Jaya 223 food court is bustling with activity, there are so many hungry ghosts packed in the area you would think there’s a sideshow going on.

futsal buddies: Dree, Jeff, Shiang, and Terence

The main attraction at this place is the nasi lemak. There are two types, the nasi lemak with blue print a little sweeter and wetter, while the red print version is slightly drier but more spicy. They come with half a hard boiled egg and some fried anchovies. Since there are so many customers dining at the area, the nasi lemak is always still hot for consumption, a nasi lemak panas is always better than the nasi lemak at room temperature.

I’ve tried both versions and they are really tasty, with no fuss and no frill. You can’t beat the value at RM 1 per packet either.

2 types of nasi lemak, otak-otak, and a set of half boil egg

Half boiled egg is another item that they do very well here. Just look at the picture above, perfect boiling, and you don’t even need to crack the eggs yourself. My buddy Shiang insisted that using the half boil eggs as gravy for the nasi lemak is the way to go. I didn’t try that myself, sinful, sinful.

the most “Kao” milo ice ever

As for drinks, the milo ice is definitely the most “kao” you can get anywhere. I thought filling 1/3 of my glass with milo powder is pretty “kao” already, over here they do it at almost 1/2 glass. It is a bit crazy if you ask me.

The otak-otak, while fresh and served hot, is really not up to par as compared to those I had in some other places (most notably those Suanie brought from Johor). However, I do eat it once in a while just to refresh my taste bud. They do taste a little too sweet.

the food court is situated just across Amway building at Jalan 223

If you’re looking for a midnight indulgence with an original local theme, this is definitely the place to be.

Address:
Medan Selera 223,
Jalan 223, Petaling Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.100482, 101.633223

Tags:  jalan 223,  mamak,  nasi-lemak,  otak-otak

Posted by KY | 38 Comments »

I found myself at Plaza Damas last weekend. After several hours of attending to certain business, it was suddenly dinner time. We decided that perhaps it would be a good idea to explore something at this comfortably small but elegant mall instead of heading elsewhere to quiet down the little growling sound from my stomach that is starting to get annoying.

“Fish Satay” in lemon grass

We past several restaurants before deciding upon Penang Village. Being from Penang island, I am always skeptical towards restaurants that claim to serve Penang food. However, I was feeling a little adventurous that day, and whatever food I could see from those customers that are already eating certainly looks inviting.

nice ambiance and surprisingly good food

The menu is simple and illustrated with enough photos of the dishes to guide those who can’t read English or Malay. We ended up ordering 5 items for the two of us, nasi lemak with beef, nasi tomato with lamb, kailan (vegetable) with salted fish, fish satay, and otak-otak.

beef nasi lemak and lamb nasi tomato

Even though it was a weekend evening, the food didn’t take more than 10 minutes to come. The nasi tomato and nasi lemak came with pretty good meat curry (rendang and kurma), the rice tasted very authentic and even the presentation was rather high class. A small glass of acar accompanied the rice.

The otak-otak served is of the Penang variety, for the uninitiated, it is a type of steamed fish paste with mixture of traditional spices. The otak-otak was not oily and nor over powering, just nice and a good companion to the rice dishes.

I especially like the interesting “fish satay” served on a lemon grass stick. It reminded me of the same thing I had at Bumbubali (a Balinese restaurant at Puchong), very succulent and delicious. The taste of fish cake and the core infused with lemon grass aroma was simply brilliant. This would be my must-order at Penang Village.

Penang otak-otak, kailan with salted fish, fish satay

The rice dishes were around RM 12+ each with the other dishes slightly cheaper. The dinner costs RM 60+ for the two of us, 5 dishes and 1 drink. A pretty decent price for the quality of food and location. I am not too sure about their other classic dishes like Char Kueh Teow, but if they can have similar quality it wouldn’t be disappointing.

Plaza Damas is located at Sri Hartamas

Other than Plaza Damas, Penang Village has branches at USJ 9, TTDI, Alamanda Putrajaya Mall, and a couple other locations at Indonesia too.

Address:
Hartamas Shopping Centre (Plaza Damas)
Lot G8B&9, Sri Hartamas, KL
GPS: 3.163548, 101.656076
Tel: 03-6201 9816

Tags:  fish cake,  hartamas shopping center,  lemon grass,  nasi tomato,  nasi-lemak,  otak-otak,  satay

Posted by KY | 10 Comments »

The first thing we fill our stomach with when arriving dead starved (thanks to PLUS highway who decided to repave the road during Saturday rush hour) at Melaka was the pork satay. Situated opposite to the Pay Teck school on Jalan Portugis, the shop is actually just a few blocks away from the famous Jonker Walk.

ooO glorious food

Satay is traditionally a Malay dish, and most of the time prepared by Muslim, hence, with Halal meat, ie: no pork. However, in this historic town of Melaka where you can get fried pork fat in Poh Piah, it is just fitting that pork satay is served too (by non-Muslim of course)

the shop and the satisfied customers

The thing about this Xiang Ji satay shop is that you don’t really have to place any order. After you sit down, they will start to serve you satay soon as they are done from the barbecue pit. We had plenty of pork satay, liver satay and chicken satay, sadly, they ran out of my favorite: the pork intestine satay.

satay with the ketupad, peanut sauce, raw cucumber and onion

The portion of a single satay is not very big here, probably about half the size of those huge Ampang satay, but the taste is different. The pork goes well with their marinate tastes of turmeric and some other sauces that I obviously don’t know (probably their trade secret). The liver though, can be a little dry, but still pretty good. The chicken satay did not disappoint either.

but ARGH, why no intestine!!?! Looks like I’ll have to go there again.

After the satay, we went to Jonker Walk and to have some snack, other than the Poh Piah on previous post, we had the must-eat Chendol and also some very good otak-otak sold on a stall nearby the unmistakable Jonker88 restaurant.

The Chendol in Melaka is poured with the thick and original Gula Melaka (palm sugar) which made all the difference. The rich and sweet caramel taste of palm sugar on top of the finely shaved ice was just absolutely delightful.

Look it! I can even draw up a Melaka map!

Address:
Kedai Satey Xiang Ji
50, Jln Portugis
Melaka
GPS: 2.202817,102.244209
Tel: 019- 667 8868

Address:
Jonker88
88, Jalan Hang Jebat
75200, Melaka
GPS: 2.195634, 102.247728
Tel: 019-397 5665

Tags:  chendol,  eats,  ky,  Melaka,  otak-otak,  pork,  satay

Posted by KY | 31 Comments »