Many of you do know that I stay in Shah Alam, specifically, at the KEN Rimba township, which I wrote about way back in 2013, also the time when I placed my down payment to a unit at the place I now call home.
Well, the township has since grown quite a bit since many of us moved in several years back, with the KEN Rimba Condominium 1 residents being the latest batch to be joining the neighborhood.
A bit of re-cap on KEN Rimba township –
The community is set up at Seksyen 16 Shah Alam, and located just slightly over 1km from the i-City/UiTM exit. As for major highways, you can also get to NKVE in a few minutes, and with the West Coast Expressway now being built, accessibility will only get better.
The township itself has also certainly grown since I last moved here. There’s now a few convenient stores such as 99 Speedmart, 7-Eleven, and MyDin, there’s a 24 hour mamak, several restaurants (including a big Ana Ikan Bakar), 24 hour laundry, car wash, service centers, and more.
Additionally, within a few KM you’ll find the Taman Rashna Chinese School, Padang Jawa School, the above mentioned UiTM, KTM station, Shah Alam hospital, Pantai Hospital at Eng Ann, JPJ, JPN, and even a cinema (TSR Cineplex). With the huge iCity Mall being near completion and situated perfectly just 5 minutes away, the township is rather well served in terms of convenience.
Having stayed here the past 3 years or so, I came to appreciate the community and convenience at this area, slightly away from the super busy KL & PJ area to be able to anjoy the slightly quieter suburban life, but still within reasonable travel time even if you work in the city center.
On a more personal level, as someone who’s passionate about food, the location has also been pretty kind to me. Being just a short drive from Klang, I have since explored quite a few more breakfast bak kut teh places such as Kee Heong, Teong, and Teck Seong, expanding knowledge on one of my favorite dishes. Other nearby awesome food includes fatty meehun kuih, and poh piah at Eng Ann. Then there’s also the 24 hour ayam penyet place, Klang style red wine mee suah, and the most awesome apple strudel in Klang Valley too, so many hidden gems in this area.
Show unit of KEN Rimba Condominium 1
The good news is, there are some limited available units up for grabs at the KEN Rimba township, including both the Condominium 1 and landed houses.
For those who’re not familiar with KEN Rimba, I’ve made 3 different videos show casing KEN Condominium 1 with it’s interior, amnesties & facilities, as well as the township overall to show you how living in this place is about.
For those who loved the old first generation Jalan Batai char kuih teow (Damansara Height’s Seng Lee kopitiam) back in the days, you’re in luck! You can now find the original uncle manning the stall at Sen Kee White Coffee kopitiam at Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam.
Sen Kee White Coffee at Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam
I was first informed about this place by another ckt seeking friend who originated from Penang. Naturally, I decided to check it out the very next day.
According to the operator, he’s been operating at this location for about two months now, while his daughter is still running the show at the previous place.
char kuih teow with duck egg
Like any proper char kuih teow places, they serve only char kuih teow and nothing else, but you do get a choice between normal chicken egg, or my usual choice when available – duck egg.
The CKT was just as I remembered, plenty of wok hei, with pretty decent size prawns for Klang Valley standard, and all the necessary ingredients such as bean sprouts, cockles, and chives. However, in replacement of lap cheong, you get fish cakes, which is something that’s not 100% ideal but acceptable in my book.
So for those of you who used to love a proper plate of char kuih teow from the uncle who used to operate at Jalan Batai, this is a place to go. There’s also a second generation Batai CKT now at Klang for anyone who’s curious.
do you recognise this char kuih teow uncle?
Address: Sen Kee White Coffee 33, Jalan Mewah 25/63, Taman Sri Muda, 40400 Shah Alam, Selangor GPS: 3.030874, 101.535499
In Malaysia, when the weather is hot, the answer is always Cendol or Ais Kacang, and today, we’re going to talk about one of the better Cendols here in Shah Alam – Cendol Pak Akob
Cendol Pak Akob, Seksyen 16 Shah Alam
Located outside the mosque at Shah Alam Seksyen 16, Cendol Pak Akob is no stranger to the locals and students of UiTM, the huge university nearby.
The cendol is operated from one of those original food truck that’s been around for decades (one where the operator stands by the side instead of INSIDE the truck). Thankfully, they also prepared a number of tables and chairs complete with giant umbrellas for your convenience.
cendol is always perfect for hot weather
Pak Akob offers basic cendol (RM 1.50) with a few additions:
Cendol Pulut (RM 2.50)
Cendol Tapai (RM 2.50)
Cendol Jagung (RM 2.00)
Cendol Pulut Jagung or Tapai Jagung (RM 2.50)
love my cendol with pulut or tapai
Of course, you can also mix & match from the above “extra” ingredients as you wish. My favorite is tapai, the fermented glutinous rice that carries a slightly sourish taste that matches really well with the sweet nature of cendol.
On a hot day just after you have a good meal of bak kut teh in Klang, this is definitely a place worth checking out.
Address: Cendol Pak Akob Persiaran Selangor Seksyen 16, Shah Alam
GPS: 3.060802, 101.507710 Tel: 012-604 0757 Hours: after lunch
Ever since we moved to KEN Rimba, we have had to drive out for most of our meals, until very recently – the famed Ana Ikan Bakar Petai opened a branch literally right outside at our doorstep here in Shah Alam.
Update 23/12/18: This place has since closed down
Ana Ikan Bakar Petai, now in Shah Alam
For the uninitiated, Ana Ikan Bakar Petai is a “brand” originated from Kuantan which also has a rather popular branch in Bangi. This is their 3rd outlet, occupying three shop lots, including upstairs & side walkway, a pretty big set up for the this otherwise pretty sleepy commercial area.
We’ve been to the place quite a few times since, it certainly is legit.
squid, prawns, crab, shellfish, and a variety of fish to choose from
At Ana Ikan Bakar, you get to choose from quite a variety of seafood – squid, lala, bamboo clams, prawns, blue crabs, sting ray, cencaru, siakap (barramundi), jenahak, garupa, and more. The price is per 100 gram (RM 3.50 – RM 7.00) is clearly stated on the display as well, so you know what you going to have to pay.
There are several cooking methods as well, with the most popular being bakar petai. If bakar isn’t what you want, you can have them masak cili, manis, halia, kicap, pedas, tiga rasa, asam pedas, lamprik, kerabu mangga, goreng kunyit, or steam limau, asam boi, or halia. Quite a number of permutations really.
pari & sotong with petai
On our first visit we had a ikan pari & sotong prepared the traditional bakar petai style. The fish was absolutely on point, super spicy with the hint of petai permeating from the sauce. As it is basically covered with the sauce, you really don’t need to have a separate condiment to go with. I also particularly like the texture of the fish here that is not overly cooked like many others.
all wrapped up in banana leaf, the only way!
The sotong bakar petai was pretty good too, but to be honest if you already have a bakar petai dish, it’s best to go with a different cooking method. On subsequent visits, we found out that the sotong is best deep fried, and they also serve very good ikan siakap steamed limau, with tiga rasa among their most popular orders as well.
keropok lekor, tomyam, lala, kailan ikan masin
Ana Ikan Bakar Petai serves more than just ikan bakar. There’s a full menu of traditional “goreng goreng” dishes. Their vegetable dishes are among the best I’ve had (try their kailan ikan masin), tomyam was good as well. There’s also other dishes such as various types of fried rice, meat, soup, etc.
Oh by the way, the lala is not worth ordering. Happy dining!
Since Setia City Mall is arguably the most happening shopping center nearest to our residence, we’ve been going there quite a bit. To be honest, shopping mall food aren’t usually in my list of preferred lunch/dinner options, but sometimes you do find a gems among the thorns.
For Setia City Mall, Tuk Tuk and Little Nyonya being some of our favorites, and today we’re going to talk about the latter.
Little Nyonya at Setia City Mall, almost always packed
It’s easy to want to give Little Nyonya a try when you’re at the mall. It is almost always one of the most crowded restaurants on the lower ground level. The decoration is simple and optimised to packed as many customers as possible, so comfort level may not exactly be on top of their list.
Think of it as a place for quick eats instead of leisure dining with great ambience and you’ll not be disappointed.
asam pedas fish, asam prawn, two style kailan, rendang chicken
Little Nyonya offers quite a comprehensive list of menu with individual dishes such as nasi lemak, rendang beef with rice, nyonya curry chicken rice and so forth as well as dishes to share ala “tai chao” style.
For the four of us, we ordered four dishes, a starter, and some desserts for dinner.
Apart from asam pedas fish (RM 22.90) which I thought had a good seasoning and base but lacking quality fish (dory was used I believe), the other three dishes were on point. Asam prawn (RM 19.90) had a balance of asam & cooking caramel taste to it, two style kailan was as advertised, and the redang chicken (RM 17.90) turned out to be one of our favorites of the night, really good marinate that seems to penetrate the poultry while not being over powering, we would definitely order this dish again.
pie tee, bubur cha cha, cendol, pengat pulut
Pie tee (RM 7.50) is a must-haves at any Nyonya restaurant, and this version is well, acceptable.
For desserts, I thought cendol (RM 5.50) was perhaps a little too watery for my liking, it did have a good gula Melaka presence. Others were happy with bubur cha cha (RM 4.80) and the rather rarely seen pengat pulut (RM 5.80). Pengat pisang, pengat ubi keladi, bee koh moy, and ais kacang were some desserts we did not try, perhaps next time.
for a restaurant this size, the menu is rather extensive
If you find yourself at Setia Alam City Mall, Little Nyonya is certainly a place worthy to spend a meal on, especially when Tuk Tuk is overly packed.
Address: Little Nyonya LG-43, Setia City Mall, Persiaran Setia Dagang, Setia Alam, 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor GPS: 3.085229, 101.458629 Tel: 03-3375 8788 Hours: 10 am to 10 pm
