Kyspeaks.com

As promised on the Taman Desa Japanese BBQ post, here’s how you spend less than 1/4 the money and DIY some pork bbq goodness at home. An awesome BBQ chicken wing recipe is thrown in as well.

This BBQ was done several weeks ago when my sister and my niece were in KL to get their visa application finalised. They have moved to the states now.

pork, chicken wings, vege, we have it all. Kerol & FA working on the grill

pork belly BBQ:

• buy pork belly from the market, I paid RM 25 for about 15 portions of what you’d get from Taman Desa BBQ place, cut them in squares
• marinate with half a cup of cooking sake, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 tablespoon vinegar
• as for sauce, add chopped garlic to Japanese salad dressing (wafu dressing, shoyu vinegar)
• BBQ on medium heat till cooked

my sister & niece, with a few friends & ex housemates

awesome chicken wing BBQ:

• marinated chicken wings (together with drummets) with 3 parts oyster sauce, 2 parts soya sauce, and 1 part dark soya sauce
• add some pepper to the marinate
• let it marinate for at least half an hour in the fridge, longer = better
• BBQ over medium fire, poke the drummet – no juice coming out = cooked

instax pic with my sister, the niece, and me. =D

Vegetable BBQ:

• er.. just put them on stick and burn away!
• add some salt to serve

That’s it, simple and yummy BBQ. The experiment was a success, will have a bigger BBQ party next time!

Hidden at Taman Desa is a pretty special place, a little shack with the name 大众烧肉 (Japanese BBQ) that seems like it was lifted from one of those Chinese kungfu series of the 80s. A place where the protagonist grabs a few bites while casually kicks about fifteen person’s butt.

Within the small shack there were a few tall tables and benches, and around the area, more tables are available al fresco style. This Japanese BBQ place is a fair weathered restaurant, while there are some areas under the roof, capacity would be quite limited during rainy day, which unfortunately, would also be the best times to have BBQ around here.

small and quaint set up, charcoal fire, alfresco dining – perfect ambience

We were introduced to this place by Terence and Michelle (who speaks Japanese), and decided to pay a visit several weeks ago to check out what the fuss is all about.

On a weekend night, the place was fully packed. We had to wait for some half an hour before a table was available, and another 15-20 minutes before the busy waiters bother to start taking our orders.

the Genghiskhan lamb, pork ramen, and mixed vegetable

Most items on the menu consists of raw meat, but for those who want to lace their stomach while waiting for food to be cooked, they serve 3 types of ramen (RM 10 each), and steamed rice is available at RM 3 per pop too. Kerol tried the ramen and reported that it was acceptable, if not underwhelming.

After we ordered our raw meat, a charcoal stove is set up between the two tables we were seated. Our first dish to go on the stove was Genghiskhan lamb (RM 20), which reminded me a little bit of bulgogi but with chunks of lamb instead. it was pretty tasty and went well with steamed rice, but portion was a little small.

various pork including  pork belly, pork liver, beef short ribs, pork tongue

When our meat finally arrives, we finally realized that “small portion” is a pretty consistent issue here.

Pork belly, shoulder loin, inside leg, neck and big intestine are priced at RM 10 per plate, while tongue, throat, liver, heart, stomach, and small intestine at RM 6 per plate. The slightly bigger plate beef short ribs was RM 15.

We didn’t order steak (RM 25) or beef brisket, ribeye, tongue (RM 10 each) though, so can’t comment on the portion.

here’s four more other types of pork, including belly, shoulder loin, neck

The meat could take a bit of time to grill, but the result was mostly positive, with the pork belly especially superb! Those layer of pork fat in between the meat were succulent and yummy (if you don’t mess up and over cooked it lah).

I’m pretty partial to the leaner cut of meat, and pork stomach (tripe) was a bit too tough to chew after grilling, I guess that’s a part of pork that’s best left stewed or cooked in soup.

we only had one stove for seven of us though

Dining at Gerai Makan Japanese BBQ can be pretty cool, there isn’t another place that let you grill your pork with charcoal fire in that rustic environment anywhere in Klang Valley that I’m aware of.

The problem though, was that of price and service. If you really want to have a satisfying dinner, expect to dig in quite a bit to your wallet and spend at least a couple hours there.

Yuki, Horng, KY, Kerol, Michelle, Ah Chan, Ruby, Haze (saw BangsarBabe there too)

While I am probably never going to be a regular customer there, it’s a cool place to be once in a blue moon (they do serve pretty cheap beer, including Asahi). We also took the idea and made our own pork BBQ, I’ll share that on this space soon. 😀

Address:
Japanese BBQ
Center Court Plaza Faber,
Jalan Desa Jaya Taman Desa
Off. Jalan Klang Lama
58100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.1065905 , 101.6783134

It never ceases to amaze me how communication technology brings people together. Ever since my old batch of ex-housemates moved out of my place over a year ago, we actually haven’t met for the longest time.

It wasn’t until a week ago when Huey Fang finally joined facebook that Carol decided that we should meet up again after such a long lay off. So we did just that last Saturday.

Horng, Heuy Fang, KY, Carol

Just as we were struggling to find a venue, I received an sms from Xaviera inviting us to Bondai Grill & Pub‘s soft opening at Curve. Perfect timing, so Horng, Huey Fang, Carol, ah Chan, and I went there right after dinner and joined by Suan, Ahfa, Bob, and Jack.

Of the three ex housemates, I’ve known Horng (also known as Honry) for 24, Huey Fang for 15, and Carol for 12 years and counting. They are some of my best friends whom I know I could count on for anything, and I do mean anything.

ah Chan, Jack & FA, Xaveira and Suan

I’ve known Suan virtually for at least 8-9 years and in person for over 5 years, FA for just a bit shorter than that, and Xaveira, ah Chan, and Jack pretty much before the conception of this blog. They’ve all been very good friends over the years.

I haven’t had such a great time since forever. Lotsa laughters, lotsa chit chats, and even a few heart to heart sessions. Thank you guys, and here’s to friendship.

p/s: We need to do this more often.

p/s 2: facebook album here

p/s 3: I wish I have one, with LCD tv please

I did not know the existence of this place until my house mate Huey Fang the SS2 dining specialist (been to almost all restaurants in SS2 since she will usually get lost at other places) pointed it out to me last night. We then decided to have a light dinner there instead of visiting our frequent mamak square since the sky doesn’t look to be staying dry for long.

The name of the place is 中国华佗馆, pronounced “zhong kwok wah thor kwoon” in Cantonese. I didn’t spot any English or Malay names other than the HERBAL TEA printed under one of the traditional herbal tea containers (see picture below).

Update 25/8/2013: unfortunately this place is now closed

smallish place with nice ambiance, excellent porridge

The restaurant, only occupying half a shop lot, is pretty small but not overly crammed. The menu is pretty simple, offering several types of Herbal tea, “thong sui” (糖水), “guai leng gou” (龟零膏), and a few light dishes that can pass for a meal.

I ordered a five flower herbal (五华茶) tea and fish ball with glass noodle, while the other noobs went for porridge (神仙粥), chee cheong fun, and snow fungus with longan thong sui.

“thong sui”, fish ball soup, “chee cheong fun”, and a satisfied customer

The porridge was probably the best dishes. while the chee cheong fun and fish ball soup were pretty good as well. At less than RM 4.00 per dish, there’s pretty good value for money too. My traditional herbal tea and the thong sui were RM 2.00 per bowl (yes, old school bowl, not glass) were excellent too. I have also heard good things about the fried rice, but don’t bother to order the carrot cakes or curry chicken rice.

situated just the row behind McDonald’s at PJ SS2

This is a pretty nice little hide-out at the frenzy that is SS2. I’ll definitely go there again.

Address:
Jalan SS 2/55,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.116959, 101.621400