A couple days ago I got the attack of the bak kut teh craving, you know that feeling when you just have to have it, so much so that you can almost smell the bkt soup even before even deciding where to eat.
So I decided to head to SS 14, one of the few places with concentrated bak kut teh restaurants at night time. A quick search online and I found that my buddy Galvin gave a good review for Ah Ping bak kut teh, if it’s good enough for the Klang chao ah beng, it is good enough for me.
Ah Ping bak kut teh at Subang Jaya SS 14
Ah Ping is easily the busiest bak kut teh restaurant at SS14. This of course, is a good sign. As it was already dinner time, parking was actually a breeze.
We took a seat inside (you can have a table alfresco style to0 when weather permits) and ordered a bowl of bak kut teh with everything in it + enoki mushroom, a plate of vegetable, and a serving of yao char kuai.
thick and fragrant herbal soup is essential in bak kut teh
Our bowl of “everything in it” came with plenty of pork, intestine, tripes, fuchok, tofu, a couple shiitake mushroom, and a few leaves of lettuce soaked in pretty thick Klang style (as opposed to Teow Chew) bak kut teh soup.
The bak kut teh definitely packs a punch, I like the soup, and you know that they’ve cooked everything right when the meat falls off the bones easily, and intestines didn’t need more than a few seconds to chew through. It was overall a rather satisfying experience.
The yao char kuai too was quite crunchy, unlike some nighttime bkt places where they tend to use yao char kuai prepared in the morning and tends to be a bit soggy.
bak kut teh with everything in, yao char kuai, rice, and vegetable
Together with drinks, total bill came to be RM 32.50, pretty reasonable for two person. If you’re not willing to drive all the way to Kepong for Kaka bak kut teh (cos they serve kidney), Ah Ping at at SS 14 certainly won’t leave you disappointed.
Address:
Ah Ping Bak Kut Teh
42, Jalan SS14/2,
Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.072767, 101.590933
Tel: 012-323 3938 / 012-267 8390
Time to take a little break from writing about Bangkok and lets talk about something closer to home for a bit. After all, this site has the reputation of being a food blog of sort, no?
Well, this dining expedition happened late last year when Kerol decided to lead myself and Horng to this little hideout that is F4 Fish Head at the relatively unfashionable part of USJ, within the light industrial area at the back of Summit mall, otherwise known as the traffic death zone during rush hour.
F4 Fish head, next to USJ badminton hall
The restaurant occupies a small industrial lot, which is rather big by kopitiam standard. By the time we got there at around 6:30, it was already 80% full despite located in a rather hidden area.
We sat down and ordered a steamed fish head with ginger and onion, a plate of potato leaves with balacan, and a clay pot port belly with salted fish.
fish head with ginger & garlic, potato leaves, pork belly with salted fish
Food did take a while to arrive but it wasn’t unacceptably long.
The steamed fish head with ginger and garlic(not exactly sure the type of fish used) was very delightful. Now fish heads are usually prepared with curry, but if you have good quality and fresh fish heads, steaming would be a preferred method. The fish was soft, and as it was almost 1/3 of the fish instead of just the head, there were plenty to chew from.
The clay pot pork belly with salted fish too was a very commendable dish. Saturated with the goodness of 3-layered pork that is skin/fat/meat and salted fish in dark soya sauce and dried chili. It was a good contrast to the fairer taste of the steamed fish head.
KY, Kerol, and Horng
As for the potato leaves with balacan, well, it was decent but nothing particularly outstanding. A good accompanying dish to counter the meat and fish. But I do feel that perhaps a steamed soup might serve us better.
F4 Fish Head is hidden within Subang Jaya Industries Park
Total meal came to something like RM 60, very economical for what we ordered. I need to go back there again to try out other types of fish head dishes they have. They’re open for lunch as well as dinner.
Address:
F4 Fish Head
Lot 776, Sub lot 3,
Jalan Subang 4,
Subang Jaya Industries Park,
47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.04651, 101.59724
Tel: 012-325 9111
Other reviews:
Yiling
Quietly tucked in a row of shop houses at SS18 is the JM Bariani House that serves traditional Johor nasi briyani. My colleague and I went there on a particularly warm afternoon for lunch as this place is actually air conditioned. It was a wise decision, not only did we not have to sweat in a kopitiam, the food was so good it reminded me of the awesome Indian nasi briyani I had at Myanmar.
illustrated menu and a comfortable interior
JM Bariani House serves all but one item (mee bandung) that isn’t nasi briyani as main dish. There’s lamb, beef, chicken, fried chicken, and even just pure nasi briyani without any meat. They also serve nasi briyani gam ayam (chicken) every Wednesday and nasi briyani gam kambing (lamb) every Saturday.
I ordered a lamb briyani and my colleague had the chicken briyani, we also ordered a tauhu bakar (fried bean curd skin stuffed with mengkuang, cucumber, and sauce) to share.
chicken and lamb briyani, tauhu bakar
The rice used is the finer and smaller grain than usual, very soft and fragrant. The meat was so tender you can cut it with your spoon, they must be cooked for many hours. The taste was just right, not overly spicy, salty, nor sweet, but just a perfect harmony that was very satisfying. My colleague was very satisfied with the chicken briyani as well.
As for the tauhu bakar, I could say that I’ve had better. You would probably want to skip this item when you’re there.
The lamb briyani was RM 10.50 and chicken at RM 9.50. Not exactly economical but wouldn’t break your bank either. Some might justify it with air conditioning provided, but I’d say the awesome nasi briyani more than make up for the slightly higher price.
Address:
21 & 21A Jalan SS18/6,
Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.064812, 101.585866
Tel: 03-5634 4660
While our Muslim friends were celebrating the Prophet’s birthday last Thursday, I was invited to sample some dishes at Lisa Spaghetti at SS15, Subang Jaya. As I have a limited stomach myself, Sammy and Dree were called upon to lend a stomach in this expedition. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
update (april 2010): This restaurant is now closed.
comfortable ambiance in simplicity
Situated just across Taylor’s University College’s main campus at Subang Jaya, the restaurant caters mostly to students and young adults. The menu and especially pricing reflects just that, everything is priced at less than RM 10 (most dishes from RM 4.99 to RM7.99), with the only exception being the hotplate lamb chop at RM 12.80. Very good value, but what about quality of the food?
Lisa and Chan, our very friendly hosts
As we were busy tasting the 6 main dishes Lisa prepared, the very friendly host explained to us on how she arrived at opening this restaurant late last year. Even though a small establishment, the recipes are sourced internationally through Lisa’s mother in law who has traveled and lived in various parts of the world for more than 40 years. This includes Italy, America, and England. The restaurant aims to serve these dishes as close to their original form as possible.
hot plate princess, stew rice, curry spaghetti, fried butter rice
First dish to arrive was the hotplate princess, a generous portion of Lisa Spaghetti and black pepper boneless chicken with half a dozen small sausages. I find the sauce very flavorful and yet not over powering, the chicken was juicy and compliments the pasta rather well. Stew rice was arguably my favorite of the day, the gravy was thick and delicious and goes very well with the chicken and steamed rice.
hotplate lamb chop, white sauce spaghetti, fried ice cream, oyster mushroom
The curry spaghetti and fried butter rice were pretty good as well, providing a sort of fusion between the east and the west and came out pretty good. As our collective stomachs were filling up, Lisa brought out the hotplate lamb chop and white sauce spaghetti. I enjoyed the lamb chop with its juicy meat and black pepper sauce, but I must say that if you are not a big fan of cheesy food, the white sauce spaghetti might prove to be too rich and too cheesy.
Lisa Spaghetti is situated just opposite Taylor’s University College at Subang Jaya
After the 6 entrees for the 3 of us, Lisa still wasn’t prepared to let us go. She brought out fried ice cream and fried oyster mushroom. The dessert and the finger food were pretty good too, I just wish I had a bigger stomach.
While the selection (mostly chicken) of dishes might not be very big, the taste and especially the price at Lisa Spaghetti were very good. Where else can you have a plate of spaghetti starting at RM 5.00 and soft drinks only at RM 1.80 in an air conditioned restaurant? Give it a try, I’m sure I will be there again when I find myself at SS15.
Address:
No. 38, Jalan SS15/8
Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.076045, 101.590490
Tel: 016-345 8886
Tien Kee (田记) is becoming one of my favorite comfort food places ever since Kelvin brought me there after one of our badminton sessions. Traditional and true to the origin Teow Chew and Hakka food with reasonable price in a comfortable surrounding, I can’t really ask for more.
air conditioned restaurant with traditional food
The restaurant has a very simple one-page menu that lays out everything they serve. While not very extensive, you do get quite a selection of traditional Teow Chew and Hakka food. There are a few choices of Soup dishes ranging from Grouper, Pomphret, and Saito fish to pork and bitter gourd. Other than that, they have abacus （客家算盘子）, soon kueh (客家笋糕), otak-otak, pork with yam (芋头扣肉), and pork knuckle with vinger （猪脚醋）as well.
long bean rice, fish soup, and noodle soup
I have been actually been to this place 4-5 times ever since first stepped foot in it less than a month ago. This is from someone who usually don’t visit the same place twice in the same week.
I’ve had the soup dishes, tried the abacus, otak-otak, pork dishes, and soon kueh. So far I could say that none of the dishes disappoint. The soup dishes were very subtle and goes down easy with either white rice, if you are slightly more adventurous, there are long bean rice and yam rice too.
soon kueh, pork knuckle with vinegar, otak-otak, and abacus
The soon kueh is a type of dumpling look-alike that is stuffed with dried shrimps, bamboo shoots, fungus, and minced meat. You should really try this out as there aren’t many places that serve this the way it’s supposed to be. Surprisingly, the otak-otak was rather good too, and the other dishes were equally up to the task in satisfying taste buds.
Tien Kee is situated just a short drive away from Subang’s Colleges
The soup dishes are priced from RM 5 to RM 15 while the other side dishes range from RM 2.20 to RM 7. A pretty good value for some very good old fashion cuisine. You don’t need to confine yourself to having porridge when you are looking for some comfort food.
Address:
No. 94, Jalan SS14/1,
47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor
GPS: 3.066681, 101.586370
Tel: 012-232 0028, 012-373 2262
