I have drove past Restaurant Hoppy with the recognizable giant roast duck “statue” at SS2 many times, but for various reasons (eg: several of the noobs do not eat duck), I have never had a chance to try it until last weekend. This is despite the fact that I actually do love to eat duck, as evident from postings on Fatty Duck, Sunrise, Loong Foong, and the PJ State Loh Ngap.

herbal roast duck, tofu, and steamed soup

For the two of us, I ordered a bottom quarter (thighs and drumstick portion) Tang Gui (当归) roast duck, a tofu dish, and a steamed soup. The other types of herbal roast duck includes Ginseng (泡参) and Shin Chuan (十全) style. I know Tang Gui is supposed to be a female’s herb, but that’s the only type left when I was there, so be it.

To be fair, the skin of their roast duck, while very good, is not as crispy as Loong Foong. However, the unique herbal taste more than make up for this short coming. The duck meat actually tastes strongly of the herbs, and the gravy was very strong too. I must say that this is not for those who dislike the Chinese medicinal herb tastes, but I absolutely love it. The tofu and soup, while not exceptional, were pretty decent as well.

no frill but comfortable set up

The meal for two came to around RM 25 for two. That is including the 5% government tax and the curious 2% service charge. This is still very good value for the rather unique roast duck and some pretty good side dishes. The restaurant also offers other dishes commonly found in many Chinese restaurants, such as seafood, vegetables, poultry dishes, and so forth. You can actually bring friends who aren’t into eating ducks there.

Restaurant Hoppy is situated at SS2

This restaurant, is in fact, not the only branch. There are branches of Restaurant Hoppy in PJS 8/5, Sunway, and Jalan Desa 2/1 at Kepong.

Address:
Restaurant Hoppy (SS2 Sdn Bhd)
40, Jalan SS2/66,
47300 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7877 9729

Tags:  chinese-food,  dining,  eats,  herbal,  hoppy,  Petaling-Jaya,  roast-duck,  SS2 SS3 SS4,  tofu

Posted by KY | 7 Comments »

It’s been the second year in the running that I get myself busy and cook the Chinese New Year reunion dinner for my family. It is quite a bit of work compared to pigging ourselves out at some fancy restaurant, but I don’t get many chances of cooking for the family, so why not?

gone with the old, in with the new!

Since my cheap old twin stove has rusted till the point of no return, I decided to get something more hardcore for the kitchen. After scouring around the few electrical appliances stores, I finally get my hands on this hardcore industrial strength Rinnai stove, made in Japan. This baby has a flame thrower ignition sequence, and come complete with thick metal stand that will last me decades. It was RM 185 well spent.

My first dish is the miso soup with Lala (clam).

Ingredients:

• a packet of Lala
• some garlic
• miso paste (or instant miso soup, since I couldn’t find miso paste at Cold Storage)
• a tube of Japanese tofu
• spring onion

Steps:

• clean the Lalas throughly
• mince some garlic and boil them with the Lala
• add miso paste
• add the sliced tofu
• add some chopped spring onion just before serving

Simple isn’t it? Of course, this is only the first of four dishes that I prepared for the night. A little bit of Japanese taste to the traditional Chinese occasion. I’ll blog about the other 3 dishes: Hong Kong Kailan with roasted pork, steamed pomphret, and beef with broccoli in the next few posts.

Gong Xi Fa Chai to you too!

Tags:  chinese-new-year,  cooks,  ky,  lala,  miso,  reunion-dinner,  soup,  tofu

Posted by KY | 8 Comments »

The “new” Chow Yhang, as it is written in Chinese character 新朝阳, is actually own by the the same boss that once operate the restaurant of the same name located at where KAYU and Mee Yoke are now. Years after selling off the two corner lots, Chow Yhang now run the new shop just a stone’s throw away from the old location.

always packed but there’s air contioner

We got there at about 8:30 on Saturday night and there was a healthy crowd at the restaurant, luckily we got a table just as the previous diners were leaving. Though stripped of it’s former glory of spanning across 2 corner shop lots, the new Chow Yhang is still nicely set up restaurant, it’s no frill decoration is clean; and rather comfortable with air conditioners keeping the temperature at check.

oyster omelet, tofu, vegetable, and soup

For 5 of us, we ordered an oyster omelet (蚝煎), a basic fried vegetable (蒜米豆苗), tofu with minced meat (王金豆腐), seaweed soup (紫菜汤肉碎), and the unique dish - fried bacon (炸华腩).

To my delight, the first dish came in less than 10 minutes after ordering. However, the subsequent dishes did not exactly come fast enough, so we ended up almost finishing the first before the last one arrived. Not so great at planning, I suppose, but I’m not about to complain too much.

the fried bacon with Thai sauce, yummmm

The food though, was top notch.

Instead of normal white rice, fragrant rice is used, nice. The oyster omelet fried just nice and goes well with the chili paste provided. The tofu, soup, and vegetables hold their own in terms of taste as well as presentation, not too salty nor blunt. The fried bacon though, was excellent, if you happen to be the sort of person who loves bacon. The crispy pork bits with plenty of raw shallots, lettuce, and Thai sauce blends very well to create a pretty unique taste and texture. It is rich and not for the faint hearted.

Just a couple of turns away from the expensive LDP

The bill came to RM 73, a pretty good deal considering it was less than RM 15.00 for each of us. The most expensive dish was only RM 15 (fried bacon). Would definitely go there again.

Address:
135 Jalan SS 2/6
47300, Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel: 03-7876 8767

Tags:  bacon,  chow-yhang,  dining,  Eats,  food,  hungry,  ky,  SS2 SS3 SS4,  tofu

Posted by KY | 10 Comments »

This is yet another hidden place in the middle of KL introduced by Kelvin. Contrary to the Kampung Atap curry fish head (another place introduced by the same bloke), Yee Sang Fat (易生发) is famous for their steamed fish head.

the gang enjoying good food

This kopitiam is not trivial to locate. Situated opposite the Pudu Methodist Church just next to Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Yew, the easiest way to get there is via Jalan Pasar. Since there are tables set up both in and outside this tai chau (大炒) place, you won’t miss it if you are on the correct road (Jalan Gajah).

fish head, brinjal, pork ribs, vegetable

We asked for the must-try steamed fish head, brinjal (egg plant) with garlic, pork ribs, soupy lala, fried kangkung, and a tofu dish recommended by the waiter. We pretty much ordered all the dishes that printed on their lighted sign board that also spot the shop’s name. Six dishes for ten person to go with rice.

It didn’t take too long for the dishes to be served. The lala came first, and we devoured it like there’s no tomorrow. Then it was the fish head, steamed with plenty of garlic, ginger, and spring onion. The portion was pretty big too, and more like 1/3 of a fish instead of just the head.

tofu and lala

The vegetable and pork ribs were pretty good, but my favorite of the day must be the brinjal with garlic. The soft and tender brinjal fried with some salt and lots of crispy garlic topped with spring onion. The contrast of the differing textures and the taste were just perfect. On the contrary, the tofu dish was pretty much forgettable.

not the easiest place to get to (NOTE: check comment #9)

This meal came to slightly over RM 120.00 for 10 of us, definitely a great value. Granted we did not order any fancy drinks, but there were fish head, lala, and meat as well. A burger meal with fries and coca-cola will cost you around RM 12 at Burger King. I’m sure we will go there again one of these days.

Address:
Jalan Gajah,
off JalanYew Pudu
Kuala Lumpur 55100

Tags:  brinjal,  dining,  fish-head,  food,  ky,  lala,  pork-ribs,  pudu,  tofu

Posted by KY | 13 Comments »