A few months back, after a lovely dinner at Le Meridien’s Prime (really awesome steak), the communication manager Cheryl offered a complimentary Starwood Privilege membership to me for a year. The card holder is entitled to 50% discount in food bills for two at Westin, Le Meridien, and Sheraton in KL as well as other participating hotels.
The Living Room, Westin Hotel KL, Starwood Privilege
More awesomely, the membership pack also comes with a bunch of vouchers that include a free stay, and one free meal (for 2 pax) each at the three hotels mentioned above as well as other discounts and special deals. Check member offers page for more.
Last Monday we decided to finally utilize one of the vouchers and head to The Living Room at Westin KL for dinner. A restaurant with quiet and relaxing ambiance (I went there for Kaesler Winemaker’s Dinner before)
“Malaysia Signature” at The Living Room
We opted for The Living Room since it is the only one the voucher could be used for a sit down dinner (others are buffet). The free meal was for their set dinner, so Haze and I picked the one set that’s available for the night – Nasi Berlauk “Pak Dan”. We could have ordered extra dishes off the menu and enjoy 50% discount but didn’t, this proved to be a wise choice as the portion from the set meal was rather big.
Before the main meal, we were served some bread as appetizer. A note, do not over indulge on the bread. They are very delicious but always remember not to over stuffed the stomach at early going.
The dish comes with Ekor Assam Pedas, Sotong Sumbat, Ayam Kapitan, Sambal Telur Puyuh, Kacang Panjang Goreng, Nasi Putih, Papadums, Sambal Belacan with Ulam, and Puding Caramel Kelapa.
For the non-Malay speaking world, that translate to spicy tamarind oxtail, stuffed squid, kapitan chicken, quail’s egg with sambal, fried lady’s finger, steamed rice, crispy cracker, raw vegetable with sambal belacan, and coconut caramel pudding.
Nasi Berlauk “Pak Dan”, Puding Caramel Kelapa
That was from the description off the menu, but interestingly there’s also some sauteed prawns with onion which was lovely. My favorite item on the dish had gotta be the oxtail, very tender, juicy, and full of flavor. The quail’s egg too was excellent.
The only gripe I had with the dish was the chicken that proved to be slightly too dry, and not exactly spicy (perhaps catering to international crowd.)
The coconut caramel pudding made an unconventional but pretty interesting dessert, sweet and a bit exotic.
Overall this was a very good dinner. The original price of RM 98 per person might be a bit hefty, but hey, this is a five star hotel with great ambiance, and best of all, I had the voucher. It is also good to see that some of the higher end hotel restaurants serve local delights instead of your usual Western, Japanese, and Chinese cuisines too. 
Address:
The Living Room, Westin Hotel
199 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.147758, 101.714591
Tel: 03-2731 8333
A couple weeks ago three of us went to the much blogged Indonesian food outlet Waroeng Penyet at the Curve. For those who can’t read the Indonesian (or Malay) language, waroeng (or warong) is a traditional hut, while penyet translates to flattened. So I guess you can call it a flattened hut though the place doesn’t look exactly like a hut nor is it flattened.
no frill fast food outlet setting
As their logo suggests, the signature dish at this outlet would be the ayam penyet (flattened chicken). We ordered 2 servings of that, a bawal bakar (black pomphret), udang penyet (flattened prawn), pete udang belado (prawn with petai), and a sayur asem (vegetable soup). Of course, we were not able to deny the temptation of the curious soda gembira (happy soda).
Just like Carl’s Jr., you get a number after you order, and the food is served to the table fresh and steaming.
how do you like the soda gembira?
The chicken were absolutely stunning. Crispy on the outside and still juicy on the inside. The sambal was very flavorful, with the taste of fresh chili and a slight tangy sensation, it compliments all sorts of meat nicely. The prawn and pomphret were equally good as well. The soup though, it something I wouldn’t order again, it was a bit weird to me with the slightly sourly taste that is everything wrong between tomyam and chicken soup. I guess it might be an acquired taste… but perhaps not for me.
These dishes were served with rice, so you do get a proper traditional meal in a modern setting.
flavorful, spicy, and absolutely delicious
If I remember correctly, each dishes were priced just under RM 10. The excellent sambal (3 types actually) can be refilled at will, and I will definitely go there again. Give it a try if you are one of those who love spicy flavorful food!
Waroeng Penyet is situated on the first floor near the bridge connecting Ikano Power Center to the Curve.
Address:
First Floor, Lot 1.32
The Curve
Mutiara Damansara
Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.157699, 101.611540
Tel: 017-200 3988
So I finally went to the Mum’s Place at Damansara Perdana for a feast. The dinner ended up a celebration of gluttony, as we made the mistake of allowing Kelvin to order, the result was 6 dishes for the 5 of us.
nice food, nice deco, illustrated menu
Mum’s place is a nicely decorated, slightly upper class restaurant in the new hip residential area that is Damansara Perdana. The place is furnished with lotsa wooden artifacts, similar to Bumbu Bali at Puchong, if not more extravagant. The place was rather busy and we had to wait for our table. However, service was brisk once we were seated.
cincaru, soft shell crab, fried fish, steamed egg
If you are new to this place, it’s plenty easy to order as the menu comes with lotsa pictures. We (or rather, Kelvin) ordered five fried cincaru fish (leather jack), soft shell crab, deep fried jenahak (red snapper) with pineapple, steamed egg, fried vege, and fishball soup. All these to go with nicely cooked jasmine rice. We also asked for the very good sambal balacan, it reminds me of how my mom prepares it, nothing but balancan and red chili crushed with the old school penumbuk and serves with a squeeze of fresh lime.
the vege, fishball soup, sambal belacan, the feast
The cincaru fish is a must-order item, more so if you are a person who loves to have petai. Coupling with the sambal belacan, this dish is an absolute delight to have. The other speciality of Mum’s place is the soft shell crab, deep fried to a crispy texture with some strong taste of traditional spices. Very different from the way Japanese restaurants serve it.
The steamed egg, fried fish topped with pineapple, vege, and fishball soup were all very good dishes as well. The different tastes and texture of the six dishes proved to be a winning combination as far as gastronimcal satisfaction goes. It was a lot of food, but we didn’t have any trouble finishing everything.
mango pudding, satisfied mat salleh, water chestnut dessert, Kelvin and Suanie
After the main meal, right before the 20 minute interval whereby my stomach will politely inform me of its desire to explode, Kelvin somehow convinced me to try the water chestnut dessert. So we had that, and another friend had the equally good mango pudding.
Dinner for five was around RM 250, including a couple glasses of beer and that huge plate of soft shell crab. Mum’s place certainly isn’t the cheapest, but the excellent food and very nice environment more than make up for the price. I’ll definately go there again. By the way, it is Halal too.
just a little further from IKEA and Tesco
Address:
31-1, 33-1, 35-1, 37-1 & 39-1, Jalan PJU 8/5A,
Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya, 47820 Selangor
GPS: 3.165166, 101.605564
Tel: 03-7726 3376 / 1877
Following the post on mee goreng at the Mount Eskin hawker center, some of you have commented on other food available there, such as the kueh teow soup. Yes, there are more than a few awesome hawker stalls there. I went to the same place the second time in as many days and had the Curry Mee, since I was too lazy to drive to Lorong Seratus Tahun for the same thing that tastes just as good.
with plenty of sambal, the way i like it
The ingredients in this curry mee is slightly different from those you get in other places. The main thing is of coruse, the noodle/meehun with bean sprouts in the coconut milk based soup. Coagulated blood, prawn, cuttle fish, cockles, and curiously, two fishball (though it’s more of a squarish than ball shape). And of course, the sambal paste on the spoon.
the stall, and the people
Since the Penang curry mee’s soup is rather plain without the sambal, the first thing you have to do is to mix it up with the proper amount of sambal according to your personal tolerance and taste. I particulary like the sambal here, it has a trace of those “burnt” smell to it, sort of remind me of the flavor in the sambal stuffed fried fish. While not very spicy, it has a very good aroma and taste to it.
The fishballs, while a little unorthodox for curry mee, does provide a good contrasting taste in compliment to other ingredients. It is a little hard to explain, you should try it.
here’s how you get to mount eskin in Penang
The hawker center operates from around noon to about 4 something in the afternoon daily.
Address:
Jalan Mt. Erskine,
Tg. Tokong, Penang
GPS: 5.450560, 100.302064
