Tag / petai
The inner part of Ara Damansara away from the slightly more glamorous Oasis Square area used to be quite a bit of hidden area of PJ that’s not exactly a gem. There were a few less than interesting kopitiam, and an ill fated then-new commercial area by the name of New Ze Xui that eventually died a natural death. It was quite sad, and I know that full well as I used to stay at the nearby Crimson Apartment when I first moved to KL for work.
Well, that all matters little when the owner of Jatujak Bangkok Street Food decided to set up shop and provided a little spark to the area, I suppose you could call it a hidden gem.
Jatujak Bangkok Street Food at Ara Damansara
Being located at this part of PJ with little else going has its benefits, especially when it comes to parking. The shop itself too get to occupy quite a decent alfresco area since there isn’t any other competition nearby, which all translate to a good start to any dining experience.
Haze and I paid our first visit there a couple weeks ago when we met up with Lance for our first, and his second dinner in the same day at the same place. It’s always a good sign when someone is game to visit the same place more than once on the same week, much less the same day.
salt grilled tilapia, petai prawn, clear soup tomyam
The menu at Jatujak is quite extensive, they have a good selection of seafood, tomyam, otak otak, and other typical Thai “tai chao” style food, as well as grilled items, and even pork dishes.
For dinner, we ordered four dishes to go with rice, and a few desserts to boot. All our main dishes came within 5-10 minutes despite the crowd, something that few restaurants manage to deliver, I was very impressed to say the least.
The salt grilled tilapia (RM 39) was our main dish, the fish properly prepared just the way you’d find by the streets of Bangkok, and we didn’t need to wait for 20+ minutes like we did at Tigerlily, and I thought it was actually a more than decent dish.
grilled cockles, this was really awesome
Clear tomyam soup (RM 22) was proper hot and did not disappoint, while the petai prawn (RM 30) could perhaps use more petai than prawns, but my favorite dish turned out to be the grilled cockles (RM 10), which reminds me of the good times back in the days at Nong & Jimmy, the cockles would go really really well with a cold beer or three.
iced coconut original, with red ruby, and with mango
We completed our dinner with a dessert each – coconut shake with ice cream (RM 8), coconut ruby (RM 12), and ice coconut mango (RM 12). Each came in their proper coconut shell as container and were proper rich, sweet, and have their shaved iced so fine they were silky smooth.
I guess it’s no wonder this is one of Lance’s favorite place to dine, and I believe it is also a place I’d revisit pretty soon.
Address:
Jatujak @ Siam Bangkok Street Food
B-G-31 Blk B, Jalan PJU 1a/3j,
Taipan Damansara 1 Ara Damansara,
47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.119825, 101.590183
Tel: 03-7859 6359
Several weeks ago I was invited to a soft launch of Little Mums, the restaurant that was run by the same people that brought us Mum’s Place at Damansara Perdana, a restaurant that I’ve reviewed almost ten years ago, with shitty camera phone then. As the name suggests, this offshoot is run by the second generation, offering many of the best selling dishes from the parent restaurant.
Update 29/6/2017: This restaurant is closed, rumor has it that the owners moved out of the country.
Little Mums at Damansara Uptown
Located at the back row of Damansara Uptown, Little Mum spots a modern yet simple interior, and while parking isn’t the most ideal this part of PJ, it is not exactly an exercise of patient either. Little Mum serves both lunch and dinner, and offers several individual plates in addition to the usual “tai chao” style dishes.
prawn sambal petai, fried cencaru, soft shell crab with butter cheese sauce
On our visit, we started off with an appetizer with the crab cheese sticks (RM 16.80), a dish that would really go well with some cold beer, which sadly they do not offer.
Our main meal was served with steamed rice, and we had prawn with sambal petai (RM 31.80), fried cencaru with cili padi paste and petai (RM 26), soft shell crab with butter cheese sauce (RM 10.20/100g), daun keledek with lime juice (RM 15), and brinjal with black pepper (RM 15).
daun keledek, terung black pepper
These dishes were as good as I remembered them. The cencaru and soft shell crab stood out as the two must-order dishes were strong tasting in a good way, especially for those who like their food spicy. While daun keledek is one of their classics, I found myself really enjoying the black pepper brinjal even though as with the other previously mentioned dishes, it was really spicy as well.
crab cheese stick, sago gula melaka, cendol, pulut tekan
For dessert, sago gula melaka (RM 6.30) was really well executed, and pulut tekan (RM 7.30), served with homemade kaya, is another must-try. This version is like hot KFC vs stale fried chicken from the roadside, you gotta try it.
I did find the cendol with red bean (RM 6.30) a little underwhelming though, and perhaps being from Penang has something to do with that judgement.
KY, Horng, Yuki, Haze
Little Mums serves Halal food and the prices are nett. While it is slightly on the high side when it comes to pricing, they do deliver rather well in terms of quality of food. Would certainly visit again.
Address:
Little Mums
13, Jalan SS 21/1a, Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
GPS: 3.136665, 101.620997
Tel: 03-7710 0388
A few weeks ago one of my colleagues asked “hey KY jom makan”, and since there’s nothing outside of endangered species and kiwi I don’t eat, I got on the car without knowing where I would end up.
The destination turned out to be Ayam Bakar Wong Solo, one of my favorite ayam bakar/ayam penyet places that I’ve only had from take-outs.
Ayam Bakar Wong Solo at Ampang
Wong Solo at Ampang is situated by Jalan Dagang Besar, less than five mintues away from Ampang Point. Parking is a painless affair, and the restaurant, while having less than inspiring interior decoration, is equipped with air conditioning, a great feature considering you’re going to end up eating something spicy.
ayam bakar, terung, and petai sambal
Both the ayam bakar and ayam penyet is served with a side of tempe, tauhu, a small portion of terung (eggplant), and those really addictive sambal. The tempe here is the first that I really enjoyed.
The difference between ayam bakar and ayam penyet is the way the chicken is cooked. One is over fire, and the other is deep fried and smashed. Both are equally good but I do prefer ayam bakar as it is a rarer dish among the two.
Terung is a pretty decent dish but we were glad we ordered sambal petai. Those stinky beans and prawns made for good side dish for sure.
Address:
Ayam Bakar Wong Solo
G18/G19, Jalan Dagang B/3A (Taman Dagang),
68000 Ampang, Selangor
GPS: 3.148964, 101.754808
Tel: 03-4270 1947
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Several weeks ago I was invited to one of the most unique dining experiences at Chyuan’s Tiffin Underground Supper Club.
While popular in some parts of the world, the idea of supper club is relatively new in Malaysia. It is basically a private dining affair at someone’s residence with with a menu of the chef’s choosing. A sort of omakase or degustation menu at a more intimate dining setup restaurants can’t provide.
Chyuan’s Tiffin Underground Supper Club
Chyuan’s Tiffin is located at Endah Promenade at Seri Peataling, while it is an “underground” supper club, the premise is actually pretty high up in the air with a great view of KL city.
Chef Raymond Kwong, Chef Muk and Chef Eddie Kwong are the three contributors to this idea. Chef Muk specialises in Thai cuisine while the two guys in Nyonya recipes. The combination works well for my kind of taste.
our dinner for the night, mixture of Nyonya and Thai delights
Chyuan’s Tiffin caters group of 4-8 people per dining session (call or enquire on FB, more people = cheaper). Our review session was for party of seven. When we arrived in the evening, the mixture of Thai & Nyonya affair was already mostly prepared.
Thai laksa, steamed tilapia, raw prawn salad, fried chicken with lime leaves
We started out with raw prawn salad that’s served with home made green chilli dip that packs a punch. The raw crystal prawn here reminds me of the one we had at Thai Garden Village at Kepong, except better.
The Thai laksa has a thick broth with sardine fish as one of the main ingredients, together with rice noodle, mint, basil leaves, and some sambal, made for an excellent main dish. Many of us went for second.
The steamed tilapia was stuffed with herbs and best consumed by wrapping chunks of it with lettuce and mint leaves, a dash of the same green chilli dip and you’ve got a winner.
steamed banana cake & santan marshmallow, petai with prawn, salted fish tofu
Fried chicken with lime leaves is a dish best consumed while hot, so perhaps it lost some crispiness while we took our time taking photos, I did like the fact that copious amount of garlic is used.
Petai is one of my all time favorite Asian food ingredients, hence it is suffice to say taht I really enjoyed the stinky bean stir fry with kaffir lime. The dish isn’t overly strong, and having it prepared in a non spicy way provided a welcoming change.
The salted fish tofu is another pretty interesting dish, if you like “cincalok”, you’d love the pairing of this slightly harder type of tofu with it.
Haze and KY showing the biggest and smallest tea sets
For dessert, I really enjoyed the santan marshmallow and the steamed banana cake with coconut milk. However, the Coconut Cake with Green Peas Paste and Coconut Meat wasn’t executed to perfection as it should.
Overall though, it was a very unique experience with pretty good food. If you haven’t tried anything like this before, give them a call.
Address:
Chyuan’s Tiffin Underground Supper Club
Endah Promenade,
Seri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.063769, 101.697083
Tel: 012-917 6268
FB: fb.com/pages/Chyuans-Tiffin-Underground-Supper-Club
A couple weekends ago I had an epiphany. I had garupa fish fillet in the fridge, and a pack of curry powder, so why not put them together and see what happens, right?
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you – fried fish fillet with curry powder.
cover the fish with a layer of curry powder before frying
This dish is so easy to make you could do it in kemahiran hidup and not mess it up.
Ingredients:
- fish fillet (any type of fish)
- curry powder
- salt
- cooking oil for frying
- 1 bulb of garlic
- petai (optional)
some garlic and petai for garnish
Cooking instructions:
- apply salt and curry powder to fish fillet (must be dry)
- fry fish in medium heat for 7-10 mins each side depending on thickness
- separately, fry chopped garlic to golden brown
- fry petai for 2 mintues
- serve while hot!
fried curry fish fillet with petai and garlic
So there you go, a simple recipe anyone can try. Fried curry fish fillet with petai. For more simple home-cook recipes, check the KY cooks section.
