Meng Kee Steamed Soup is one of those places where I’ve been to so many times that I had always thought that I wrote about it before. A quick search revealed that I haven’t, and there were actually at least a couple sets of pictures taken from this place from quite a while back.

more than half the menu consists of various steamed soup

Meng Kee is located by the Taman Paramount Giant Hypermarket and Post Office, right next door to one of my other favorite Chinese “tai chau” – Ming Heong.

There are a couple dozen tables sprawling around the area with about three quarter of them totally alfresco style. I wouldn’t go there when it’s raining or even just drizzling, however, on any other given night, you usually have to wait for a table. It is a very busy little corner.

various types of steamed soup and herbal soup, and other dishes

Once you’re seated, it is usually quite a challenge to get the attention of the waiters and secure a menu. Over half of the dishes offered here are steamed soup. You can find anything from “tung kwai”, chicken soup in coconut, peanut, pork tripes, ribs, ABC, black chicken, to ginseng soup.

Most soup come in a single-person serving, with a handful of them for twin sharing. I’ve tried at least half a dozen different types of soup here and for the most part, they’re rather awesome, but perhaps with the exception of pork tripe soup. For a good bowl of pork tripe soup, I’ll head to Weng Soon Jaya at USJ instead.

steamed chicken, 3 colored steamed egg, Mellissa

Other than soup, they serve a few steamed vegetables, tofu, pretty awesome lamb curry, steamed chicken with oyster sauce, and my favorite – three colored steamed egg (with normal egg, century egg, and salted egg).

With the exception of the curry, deep fried and asam fish, almost everything from Meng Kee is steamed or soup. If you’re looking for a healthy meal that is also easy on the wallet (most soup starts from RM 4 to RM 8, and other dishes not over RM 10) too, you know where to go now.

Address:
Jalan 20/22,
Taman Paramount, PJ,
Selangor
GPS: 3.107553,101.624141

In a not so related note:

I like the feel of the new Blackberry 8520 I got from XBerry party, it feels pretty good in my hand. Small, sleek, and rather light even if compared with the normal “dumb” phones.

I also think that the touch pad is actually pretty nifty. While others might prefer the more traditional BlackBerry trackball, I think the touch pad has more longevity and a lot less headache when you’re at a beach (fine grains of sand getting into the trackball can be quite a pita to clean)

If you missed buying the 8520 at RM 888 during the launch, Xpax is now selling the package at RM 998, completely unlocked. Get a unit and join the club yo!

Next up: updating BBM!

Tags:  chicken,  egg,  mellissa,  soup,  taman-paramount

Posted by KY | 25 Comments »

A couple Fridays ago, Eiling invited me to Cubes Chinese Restaurant at Jaya One for a food review session.

Jaya One is slowly becoming a pretty popular watering (and dining) hole in PJ, and it is not hard to see why. There are plenty of restaurants, cafes, and pubs offering a wide variety of cuisines, and parking is relatively cheap and easy to find.

Cubes Chinese Restaurant

Yiling, Eiling’s sister, but not Ziling, (mystery of the EZY sister naming convention) and I reached the restaurant and had a good 20 minutes flipping through the menu and chatting before our Eiling finally arrived.

The interior decoration of the restaurant is modern, chic, very different from typical high end Chinese restaurants. We were greeted by the owner, Mr. Ang, who turned out to be a very friendly, funny, and fine host.

probably the best London Aromatic Duck….

So we got started with a serving of “probably the best London Aromatic Duck”. The server flossed the quarter duck confit to and we then wrapped the meat with very fine crepe, spring onion, julienned cucumber, and the special sauce. Their signature appetizer dish, and it was very yummy! Reminded me of the similar dish at Kensington, Seremban.

braised peanuts, juice, enzymes

Throughout dinner, we were served hot tea, a variety of interesting juices (vegetable juice anyone?); and since Eiling is a buddy of the restaurateur, we were also served the little shot glasses of “enzymes” which were fermented juice that tasted very close to being alcohol but not quite, it was pretty interesting. An acquired taste I must say.

double boiled soup, tofu with spinach and mushroom, tiger prawn with rice crisp

We then had the Double Boiled Scallops with Tong Sum Soup. The pork ribs, scallops, and herbs certainly works very well together to produce a very sweet and herbal tasting soup, I like it.

Tiger Prawn with Rice Crisp came next. The prawn itself was the size of my palm, deep fried in a way that still leave the meat very succulent. The pairing of rice crisp is to provide a different texture to the prawn.

Homemade Bean Curd with Spinach and Mushroom provided yet another dimension of taste that is typical of Chinese cuisine. Soft, smooth, and certainly not lacking in taste, the mushroom with it’s sauce and scallop bits certainly adds a bit of character to the otherwise plain tofu dish.

honey roasted pork ribs, stir fry lotus roots and celery, almond soup and  black sesame tong yuen

The dish that was probably most amazing in the whole dinner was the Honey Roasted Pork Ribs. I mean, just look at it, a generous piece of ribs, doesn’t look anything more like a slab of char siew (bbq pork), but when you cut into the meat, ahh. The meat immediately breaks on impact and the aroma of that perfectly roasted pork come rushing out. It was really succulent and really, really tasty. This dish should not be missed.

We finally wrapped up the main course with Stir Fry Lotus Roots and Celery, the vegetable certainly provided a fresh change of taste from the seafood and meat. The lotus roots is prepared in two ways, deep fried and by normal stir frying.  This provides a slightly different flavor, the deep fried version reminds me of deep fried bitter gourd you get in places like Kanna Curry House

Yiling, KY, and Eiling

After we were absolutely filled to the brim, Mr. Ang ordered us (and we denied at first) the Almond Soup with Black Sesame Glutinous Balls. I think the almond soup was a tad too thick and would personally prefer soya milk in this case, but the glutinous balls was very yummy. Reminded me of the version made by (well, reheated) Mellissa one particular night at Melbourne.

Overall, the dinner was only bested by the company at the table. Eiling and Yiling always made good company, and Mr. Ang, being a fantastic host, made the entire experience that much better. Price at Cubes would be slightly higher than your run-of-the-mill Chinese outlets, but the combination of food and ambiance made it all very worth it.

So if you’re looking for a finer Chinese cuisine not located in a 5-star hotel, this would be one of the very few places worth visiting.

Address:
Cubes
18-1, Block L1-1,
Palm Square Jaya One,
No. 72A, Jalan Universiti,
Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.118298, 101.635294
Tel: 3-7958 6616

Tags:  chinese-food,  cubes,  duck,  eiling,  jaya one,  pork-ribs,  prawn,  soup,  yiling

Posted by KY | 32 Comments »

I met up with Terence (the guy who always over order food) a couple weeks ago for lunch. We originally decided to have the excellent Char Siu at Aman Suria, but the place was not open and so we went for the next best thing, the famous chicken rice at Yat Yeh Hing kopitiam, Kelana Jaya.

glorious chicken (pics with N82)

This place is usually quite packed during lunch time, it might even take a while for you to find an empty table. The good thing is, once you made your order, you can help yourself with unlimited servings of soup while waiting for the main dishes to be served. We usually helped ourselves with the chili sauce too.

Terence enjoying his lunch

For the two of us, we ordered something like half a steamed chicken, a plate of bean sprouts, and some chicken intestines. Of course, we had a couple bowls of soup (ABC with chicken legs) too. The chicken were pretty chunky and juicy, and the soup really delicious, the intestine however, is a bit of an acquired taste.

To many, the chili sauce at a chicken rice place is just as important as the meat itself. If you are one of these people, this stall certainly does not disappoint. The chili sauce is fragrant and makes perfect compliment to the meat, especially with some mashed ginger providing added level of sophistication.

chili sauce, bean sprouts, soup, and chicken intestine

The meal costs about RM 15 for the two of us. A satisfying meal that provides pretty decent value for money. The chicken rice stall only opens for lunch.

Yat Yeh Hing kopitiam is just a couple blocks past Kelana Jaya LRT station

Address:
33, Jalan SS 4D/2,
People’s Park,
47301 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.112802, 101.599245
Tel:012-629 4807

Tags:  chicken-rice,  chinese-food,  hainan,  hawker,  kelana-jaya,  soup,  steamed chicken

Posted by KY | 25 Comments »

While on the way visiting my friend at Puchong, Kerol suggested that we go to this place that has excellent clay pot dishes at Seri Kembangan. The direction she gave us was “nearby South City Plaza”. Luckily we managed to find Kien Kee without much trouble.

hawker center setting, but with only 1 stall

The so called restaurant is situated at an almost hawker center like area, with the kitchen occupying one lot, and tables spread around in the middle of the square and also some unused ‘office’ rooms (with air conditioning). We quickly found a table in one of those air conditioned places and ordered 4 dishes, the spicy soup (辣汤), clay pot chicken (花雕鸡), chicken with rice wine soup (黄酒鸡), and vegetable. The first three were the must-order stuff as recommended by Kerol.

the four dishes we ordered

We had to wait for quite a long time before the food came, I guess it usually takes a bit longer to work with clay pots instead of the normal cooking methods. Then again, you get the benefit of having the food staying hot for much longer time.

The dishes were actually very good. I particularly like the clay pot chicken, very strongly flavored and goes very well with rice. The spicy soup tasted similar to pork tripe soup I had at USJ, but just a tad less spicy, ingredients include pork tripe, intestine, meat, chicken, and some unidentified innards. It was the first time I had this hakka delicacy, I had naively thought it was something similar with hot and sour soup instead. A rather nice dish I must say.

I’m not exactly a fan of chicken rice wine soup (黄酒鸡), the taste is pretty strong and with appropriate amount ingest, will probably make you blush and a bit tipsy. Kerol said it is among the best she had though.

don’t soil your shirt like this aunty.

The bill came to almost RM 80, with a lot of drinks we ordered. It isn’t exactly cheap, nor expensive. Other than the long wait, it is a pretty nice place to dine, and I have a feeling I shall go there again.

Address:
D-1, Jalan 10/3
43300 Seri Kembangan
Selangor
GPS: 3.022562, 101.705552
Tel: 012-350 9900
opens 9am to 3pm, 6pm to 9pm, close on Monday

Tags:  chicken,  chinese-food,  dinner,  klang-valley,  serdang,  seri-kembangan,  soup

Posted by KY | 14 Comments »

I have spotted this relatively new Teo Chew Bak Kut Teh (潮州肉骨茶) restaurant for quite some time before finally have a chance to step in and get a taste of what it is all about. As you might aware, Bak Kut Teh is one of my favorite local dishes, as I have devoted a whole sub-category for it.

Restaurants in SS2 come and go, there is a new restaurant almost every month, and similarly, a failed food outlet at the same rate. Luckily, this survival of the fittest cycle has led to the improvement of the quality of food offered in this region.

clean and comfortable eating environment

The menu offers quite a variety of food to choose from. There are of course, bak kut teh, with over a dozen different pork ingredients to choose from (ribs, fatty meat, liver, intestine, etc), loh pork arm (卤猪脚), vegetables, and even Teo Chew porridge and noodle. I ordered the first 3 items for myself and my sister, and two bowls of rice, of course.

meat, meat, chili, vege, perfect!

As with many bak kut teh places, red chili, chili padi, and chopped garlic is available on every table. There’s also normal and dark soya sauce that goes so well with the meat and chili. The restaurant is also very clean and comfortable, a welcoming departure from most bak kut teh operations.

The bak kut teh, while not spectacular, was decent, with the meat cooked to a very soft texture. The soup though, is not as thick than the Klang version. However, the loh pork arm that we ordered was fantastic. Again, the meat and skin cooked to a very soft and easy-to-chew texture and the broth just perfect. It tasted very juicy, and went well with the chili and garlic combination. It makes me salivate just writing about it, even just having had lunch!

The entire meal, including a couple glasses of Chinese tea, was around RM 20. Which is pretty standard for a bak kut teh meal for two.

Teo Chew Bak Kut Teh is at the heart of PJ

Operating hours are 7am to 3pm, and 6 to 10pm. Closed on Mondays except public holidays.

Address:
26, 28 Jalan SS2/66,
47300 PJ, Selangor
GPS: 3.119294, 101.620284
Tel: 03-7875 2025

Tags:  Bak Kut Teh,  bkt,  PJ,  pork,  soup,  SS2 SS3 SS4,  teo-chew

Posted by KY | 8 Comments »