I went to this place in Chow Yang area of SS2 thanks to my house mate Kerol having to spend Jack, who has helped fixing her computer numerous times thanks to her attraction to the world of spyware, worm, and computer virus. Being hungry at the same time, I accidentally got a free meal too.

a standard kopitiam “tai chao” set up

After deliberating for a few minutes, we decided to go to Restaurant Shanky, a tai chao (大炒) place on the same row as KAYU Nasi Kandar at the SS2 Chow Yang area. The restaurant is of a typical kopitiam set up but kept rather clean and hygienic looking.

We ordered 3 dishes for, well, 3 of us. A Thai style deep fried fish with Siakap, spinach, and pork belly with salted fish (咸鱼花腩). All these to go with steamed rice.

Thai style fish, spinach, and pork belly with salted fish

Food came after about 15-20 minutes, pretty standard waiting time for a tai chao place. The Thai style fish was really good, the fish deep fried to a crispy texture, and it came with Thai chili sauce and plenty of garnish such as parsley, shallots, and red chili. The combination of the sweet and spicy sauce with the crispy fish meat was pretty addictive.

The spinach is topped with some “silver fish” just like the one from Ah Leong’s fried rice at the nearby mamak square. An interesting combination. Lastly, the pork belly with salted fish is just as good as I’ve tasted from any other places, a very sinful dish that will nullify 3 hours of intense badminton.

restaurant shanky is situated on the same row as Kayu Nasi Kandar

The bill came to around RM 50 for the 3 dishes. Pretty reasonable, I’d say it is inline with the nearby new Chow Yhang restaurant in terms of food quality and price.

Address:
20, Jalan SS2/12
47300, Petaling Jaya
Selangor

Tags:  chinese-food,  chow-yang,  restaurant,  salted-fish,  shanky,  SS2 SS3 SS4,  thai-fish

Posted by KY | 3 Comments »

After watching the Astro AEC program (channel 19) “Our Root” on the Baba and Nyonya cultures featuring Kelvin the noob on Sunday. We decided that it would be fitting to have some Nyonya food for dinner to celebrate his success in dodging the grandmother’s “got bring gf back or not?” question on satellite TV. So we headed to Ah Tuan Ee’s Place in SS2.

“jiu hu char” or fried mengkuang with dried cuttle fish

There are actually no less than 4 Nyonya restaurants in SS2. The others are Restaurant Bibichick, Melaka Street, and well, Nyona Restaurant. I have sampled them and they were all pretty decent.

Ah Tuan Ee’s Place has a much more refined interior decoration and a nicer ambiance comparing to it’s counterparts. The illustrated menu is especially helpful if you are not familiar with traditional Nyonya food.

nice ambiance and illustrated menu

For the three of us, we ordered a “jiu hu char” (fried mengkuang with dried cuttle fish), sambal salted fish, egg plant with sambal, and fried asam prawn to go with steamed rice.

“jiu hu char”, sambal salted fish, egg plant with sambal, fried asam prawn

The food were pretty good, especially the super simple dish that is the salted fish sambal that goes very well with white rice. The egg plant was a little too oily, but the prawn and “jiu hu char” dishes reminded me of my mom’s cooking, it was great. (My mom isn’t a Nyonya, but Penang Chinese cooking is similar in many ways). It was a pretty good meal.

Ah Tuan Ee’s Place is just a block from SS2 Square

The food were good, however, the price isn’t very economical. I guess you do have to pay for the nice ambiance after all. The meal for 3 costs us RM 77, that includes a 10% service charge and the 5% government tax.

Address:
74, Jalan SS2/72
Petaling Jaya
47300 Selangor
Tel: 03-7957 2915

Tags:  ah-tuan-ee,  dining,  Eats,  food,  ky,  Melaka,  nyoya,  SS2 SS3 SS4

Posted by KY | 8 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
Tel: 03-7875 2025

Tags:  Bak Kut Teh,  delicious,  Eats,  meat,  PJ,  pork,  soup,  SS2 SS3 SS4,  teo-chew

Posted by KY | 7 Comments »

Restaurant Fei Loh Hokkien Mee (肥佬福建面) is one of the newest establishments in the busy commercial area that is SS2 in PJ, occupying the same shop lot that used to house a rather interesting restaurant called Nutripot that failed to attract enough customers. I thought I’d give this new place a try last week, since it was drizzling and my itch of trying new places got the better of me again.

pretty decent size prawn filled with roe

Instead of trying their Hokkien Mee, I ordered the slightly more luxurious “Sang Har Mee” with Cantonese Kuey Teow (Fresh Prawn Noodle, 生虾面) instead, since they put up a big banner advertising it, for RM 13, why not? The Kerol ordered a Cantonese Egg Gravy with Kueh Teow and Meehun, or traditionally called “Yin Yeong”. Other than these dish, the restaurant offers Hokkien mee, various types of fried rice, Loh Mee, and some side dishes such as lala, braised duck, pork ribs, chicken wing, and vegetable.

clean and comfortable environment

The food came steaming hot and the portions were pretty decent as well. My Fresh Prawn Noodle looked especially eye-pleasing, with the red color from prawn’s roe, and the thick gravy, ahh.. it was just so appetizing. Fortunately, the dish did not disappoint my tongue, it was very savory and the prawn tasted fresh and delicious.

Kerol’s dish were pretty good too, though she complained that they have a bit too much garlic in it, personally, I love garlic and could never have enough of them. I also like the fact that there is free flow chili paste (that is pretty good) and pickled green chili to go about.

pretty decent noodle dishes at reasonable price

Together with a couple glasses of Chinese tea, the bill came to RM 20. The normal noodle dish was RM 6 and the drinks RM 0.50. Pretty reasonably priced for a proper set up and air conditioned dining environment. I wouldn’t hesitate to go there again to try out some of their other dishes.

However, if you are into just Fresh Prawn Noodle and don’t mind to spend more, Green View Restaurant, also at SS2, is the place to go.

Fei Loh is just a few steps away from the Korean House.

Address:
Ground Floor, 179, Jalan SS2/24
47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel: 03-7877 9527

* close every Mondays

Tags:  dining,  Eats,  fresh-prawn-noodle,  hokkien-mee,  ky,  loh-mee,  PJ,  sang-har-min,  SS2 SS3 SS4

Posted by KY | 5 Comments »

Restaurant Chef Loong (龙师傅) is probably the second successful dessert place at the PJ food hotspot that is SS2. If memory serves me correct, this particular restaurant has been in operation for more than two years, and usually packed with customers at supper hours since day one.

their famous xiao long bao (小龙包)

As with most dessert places that caters for those “yum char” customers, this restaurant is separated into the indoor and outdoor sections. Smoking or air conditioning, take your pick. The interior decoration is simple yet tasteful, with some random Chinese calligraphies on the wall, and pretty comfortable seats.

Their pictorial menu is very simple to read, and you don’t even have to know mandarin, just point to what you would like to have to the servers will do. We ordered their claim of fame, the xiao long bao (小龙包, soup dumpling), lotus root pancake, and salad prawn just to satisfy the itching tongues at the wee hours.

salad prawn and lotus pancake, yummm

The xiao long bao here is still one of the bests I’ve tried, really juicy and packed with tasty meaty fillings. The skin is not too thick either. The lotus roots pancake is pretty crispy and sweet, just like how it should be. As for the salad prawn, you’ll love the crunchy skin and the big savory prawns. To make it more sinful, make use of the mayonnaises dippings. Don’t ask me if this combination is any good for your health though.

Chef Loong is situated at the same row with the Police Station

Together with 2 drinks (ginseng herbal tea and winter melon drinks), the bill came to RM 21.90 including a 5% service charge and 5% government tax. Not exactly the cheapest yum char session, but definitely worth the money.

Address:
86 Jalan SS2/60,
47300 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7877 4826

Tags:  chef-loong,  desserts,  eats,  ky,  loong-xi-fu,  malaysian-food,  PJ,  SS2 SS3 SS4,  xiao-long-bao

Posted by KY | 11 Comments »