There’s a new diver in town! Haze just did her PADI Open Water certification at Pulau Sembilan, which is a cluster of small islands half an hour’s boat ride away from Lumut. The underwater condition, and thus diving, was subpar at best. Visibility was quite poor except for one of the dives, and there wasn’t exactly a lot of exotic creatures to spot either.
However, for whatever that is lack in diving, the couple dinners we had at the area more than made up for it.
Hai Tien Di Seafood Restaurant, Sitiawan
On the second night of our stay at Lumut, Haze and I joined our fatty dive master James, together with fellow dive buddy Alan to Hai Tien Di seafood restaurant at Sitiawan with the promise of awesome fresh oysters and yummy seafood.
It was about a 20 minutes drive away from where we stayed at Marina Island Pangkor, and we were not disappointed.
check out the size of fresh oyster there
We ordered 10 big oysters as appetizer (RM 5 a piece), and just check out their size! They fleshy part of the oysters were as big as my palm, easily the biggest oysters I had.
Coupled with the fact that these creatures were actually alive in the tank prior to being served, they were absolutely delicious. A dash of lime or some Tabasco sauce was all it takes, and try not to make the mistake of putting it in with one mouthful lest you wanna make a full of yourself having oysters spilling out at the corner of your mouth.
Positively tasty.
steamed prawns, they were alive moments ago
Our biggest main dish was the steamed live prawns. At Hai Tien Di, you get to choose between the “normal” frozen prawns, or the live prawns from the tank. We of course, went for broke and chose the later.
With live seafood, the simplest cooking method is usually the best. This is to preserve the essence of the taste, so for this dish, we have it steamed, as recommended by the operator.
The prawns sliced in halves, and steamed with a bit of ginger, fried garlic, spring onion, light soya sauce, and Chinese wine. It was delightful, packed with that seafood sweetness. At RM 65 this was definitely not cheap, but worth it nonetheless.
fresh oyster, fried vegetable, steamed grouper
A seafood meal is not complete without fish, so we ordered a live grouper, steamed teow chew style (RM 35). It was of course, absolutely fresh and went well with steamed rice.
We also had a plate of vegetable (RM8) to satisfy the vitamin c/fiber requirements. You must always have a serving of vegetable at every meal, no?
we sure did have our stomachs stuffed
The service at Hai Tien Di was pretty good, food came quite fast as well. I can’t say that this is a place that is economical (for a small town), but the quality of fresh/live seafood here was stunning, and those oysters were absolutely delicious.
If you find yourself at Lumut/Sitiawan, this would be a place worth visiting.
Address:
Hai Tien Di Seafood Restaurant
522 Kampung Cina,
32000 Sitiawan, Perak
GPS: 4.190067, 100.684217
Tel: 05-692 4679
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From time to time, I like to go into a restaurant totally devoid of any idea what is being served there. Last weekend was one such occasion. Haze and I were near Leisure Mall and hungry, we drove around a bit, parked the car, and decided to head into Restaurant K.T.L – which stands for Kwong Tau Lou (光头佬, bald guy)
steamed tilapia and steamed egg are the must order items
The reason we chose this particular restaurant was that it looked cheap, almost unfurnished, and yet filled with mostly older diners & families. To me, these are a sure sign that good food is available, and it won’t break your wallet.
After seated, we asked for recommendations from the wait staff and ordered a steamed tilapia with tao chio (beans), steamed egg, and a plate of vegetable. Total dishes to choose from was very limited, there’s 2 types of fish (other being haruan), always steamed but with a few different variations, eggs, steamed ribs, and a few types of vegetables. Just as well, makes ordering quite a lot easier.
check out how smooth is the steamed egg, slurps!
Dishes didn’t come quick, and you have the pleasure of seeing them catch the tilapia that’ll end up on your table.
But when it does, boy, the fish was great! The tao chio sauce was very flavorful and quite a bit spicy too, they even stuffed it full in the fish’s cavity too, a nice touch for sure.
The steamed egg was on a big plate but very thin, and very very soft. Imagine the softest chawanmushi, and this was 3 times softer. It tasted very simple yet awesome, with soya sauce and a hint of sesame oil on it. (I tried to replicate the steamed egg at home the other day and failed miserably)
The only let down at the place was the vegetable. Well, it wasn’t bad, it was average, but after the fish and egg, this was slightly disappointing.
The dinner came to be slightly less than RM 20 per person including two Chinese tea. For fresh fish and excellent dishes, it was a steal. Definitely will go there again.
Address:
Restaurant K.T.L.
Gerai No.3A, Jalan Manis
Taman Segar
56100 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.088250, 101.743231
Tel: 017-872 7567, 012-308 7311, 014-322 3613
Jalan Peel has always been a place where the locals go to eat. The area has some of the most old school traditional eateries one can find outside Pudu area.
A few weeks ago I went there for the first time when we visited the Sunway Velocity showroom. It was the good people from Sunway who actually treated us lunch at Kar Kar Lai (家家来). Thanks!
Kar Kar Lai 家家来 at Peel Road
The set up at Kar Kar Lai isn’t much. An inconspicuous stall with plenty of meat on display, with make shift tents over a dozen of so tables by Jalan Peel. Not very different from Thim Kee at Pudu, 10 points for old school feel, 1 for weather protection.
We ordered steamed chicken, siu yok (roast pork), char siu (bbq pork), steamed tilapia, and vegetable to go with rice for lunch, but did not try the yummy looking pork knuckle or chicken feet, unfortunately.
steamed tilapia, steamed chicken, char siu
The steamed tilapia with thai sauce was pretty good. The meat fresh and tender, the sauce packs a kick, goes well with white rice but probably too strong to eat as is.
Steamed kampung chicken was yummy too, slightly tougher than normal chicken, but quite a bit more flavorful. After all, Kar Kar Lai’s signboard shows that this is a chicken rice stall.
My favorite of the day though, goes to the char siu (bbq pork). The caramelized meat was tender, sweet, and positively delicious, don’t miss this out if you come here. This is on par with some of the better char siu in town, like Meng Kee at Glenmarie and Famous Seremban Favorites at Aman Suria.
siu yok (roast pork), vegetable at Kar Kar Lai
The siu yok (roast pork) was what our host kept telling us about, but to be honest, while it was good, I couldn’t say that it is exceptional with a straight face, an off day perhaps? (Our host swore it’s better on other days). I would definitely give it another try.
As usual, we also ordered a vegetable dish to make sure mom approves.
Nic Gan, Kim, Gareth, Haze, KY
Overall, Kar Kar Lai is a place definitely worth visiting even just for the char siu and steamed chicken, I’d also like to try their pork knuckle and Chinese sausage next time. Price information is absent since lunch was bought by our generous host from Sunway, but I have a feeling it’s pretty affordable.
Address:
Kar Kar Lai 家家来
Jalan Peel, Cheras
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.12865, 101.72488
A couple Fridays ago my buddies Terence and Horng made a trip down to KL and bought me birthday lunch. Since it was a little too early for the best roast pork at Wong Meng Kee (they only start serving at 12:30pm sharp), Terence suggested that we head to Thim Kee Steamed Fish, a place with the best Tilapia, according to Mr. Goh.
Thim Kee Steamed Fish at Pudu
As with anywhere in Pudu, parking is always a challenge, Pudu plaza car park is an option since the stall is situated just directly opposite the old mall. The hawker shack itself isn’t exactly the most comfortable of all dining places, but it’s largely sheltered, and relatively clean.
The three of us were joined by Sean, so four of us ordered up a total of four dishes to share.
delicious deep fried tilapia
First to come was their famous deep fried tilapia that was so crispy on the outside but still has its meat fresh tasting and tender (must be fried with really high temperature, check out the gas canisters on top collage). The fish is served on top of a sauce that carries a hint of sweetness and fermented bean flavor, unique and in a very good way.
This is a definite must order, I’ve never tasted tilapia so good, it’s even better than Sister Lan’s tilapia at Rawang.
butter squid, herbal steamed tilapia, fried chicken
The butter squid here is served in a clay pot and comes with butter in liquid state, which results in soft and tender squid but one that doesn’t get as much flavor from the butter/spice/curry leave. Still a dish worth ordering though.
Herbal steamed tilapia is another fish we ordered, since this place is famous for tilapia, so why not? I couldn’t find any fault from this dish except for the fact that there’s only so much you can get out of tilapia, I think this would taste much better if only it was a siakap (barramundi) or pomphret.
Fried chicken is another must-order dish. This tastes like a cross between Vietnamese style lemen grass chicken and traditional Malay pandan chicken but deep fried. The sauce that came with the chicken was sweet+spicy and definitely flavorful. I wanna have the whole chicken drumstick by myself next time!
note: GPS should be 3.136585, 101.713824
As with most hawker stalls at Pudu, price is rather reasonable. The total bill for four of us came to some RM 60+, we left with really satisfied stomachs. Will definitely return, thank you guys for treating!
p/s: By the way, do call and make a reservation to make sure fish and more importantly, seats are available!
Address:
Thim Kee Steamed Fish
Jalan 1/77c, Off Jalan Pudu,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.136585, 101.713824
Tel: 03-3986 3097
Remember the news on the possible removal of One Bangsar a few months back? Well, I wish that won’t ever come true. The restaurants on the stretch at Jalan Ara provides one of the nicest ambiance you can get anywhere, with lush green lawn and quaint interior decoration, and more often than not, excellent food.
Bangsar Seafood Garden
I had actually been to Bangsar Seafood Garden once (during Galvin’s wedding) prior to the invitation by Jade to the food review session. Then again, it was a wedding dinner, and for some reasons I could never remember in details how food at wedding dinners tastes like.
Which means that the food review session was most welcomed. Together with Haze, Suanie, Kerol, Horng, and Cheesie, we went over for dinner a couple weeks back.
butter crab and deep fried mantao
I felt that it is appropriate to write about the butter crab first, even though it wasn’t the first dish served.
The crab’s fabulous, they are fresh, big, sweet, and best of all, soaked in the awesome butter sauce with a hint of curry leave taste that’s so addictive. Do order the deep fried mantao to take advantage of the sauce.
Also, forget about the steamed mantao, you won’t get much health benefit at all anyway if they were to be dipped into butter sauce, the deep fried version tastes so much better.
steamed cod fish with essence of chicken, baked chicken with cheese
No seafood dinner is complete without fish, and for the dinner we had steamed cod fish that came with plenty of mushroom, cilantro, ginger, carrot, and even bean curd skin. Like the steamed haruan from restaurant Yap Yin, a bottle of Brand’s essence of chicken is poured to give the soup base an even richer taste.
Of course, cod fish tastes (well, naturally more expensive too) more refine than haruan.
The baked chicken with cheese reminds me of lasagna, but not a very good one at that. The chicken’s fried, but it was a bit spicy, too cheesy, and just overall a dish that’s slightly too weird for my taste.
Thai style stir fried prawns, assorted greens with macadamia
The Thai style stir fried prawns is another must-order item here. Massive de-shelled tiger prawns cooked with tomyam-ish sauce and served sizzling on a hot plate, very very yummy. Goes best with some rice, but in our case, fried mantao.
The vitamin C quota was satisfied with a plate of assorted greens with macadamia nuts, a luxury if rather tasty dish. Combination of green peas, lotus roots, fungus, carrots, and more were just nice for this purpose.
desserts galore at Bangsar Seafood
A good dinner’s always followed by desserts (or so all the girls say), we had fungus, peanut soup, longan and sea coconut, mango sago ice, and a couple other more traditional style sweet dishes to conclude the dinner.
To be truthful, desserts aren’t one of Bangsar Seafood’s strength. They are decent, but not something to really anticipate after all those awesome seafood.
Cheesie, KY & Haze, Horng, Suanie & Kerol, Jade
We had a good time over the review session, and I’d like to thank Jade for the invite.
Oh, if you want to have a garden wedding, there’s a huge and “golf course perfect” lawn at Bangsar Seafood Garden that’s perfect for the occasion too!
Address:
Bangsar Seafood Garden Restaurant
One Bangsar, No 63, Jalan Ara
Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.129461, 101.669294
Tel: 03-2282 2555
