When in Macao or Hong Kong, one of the meals you shouldn’t leave out is dimsum. After all, every other dimsum places back in Malaysia called themselves some “XX Hong Kong dimsum”, wait, they don’t call it Macao dimsum… well anyway!
Long Wah Tea House, Macao
Long Wah Tea House is one of the more established dim sum restaurants in Macao, the restaurant is located in a corner shop on the first floor at the Northern side of the peninsular, pretty close to China border. Unlike most restaurants in Macao, this one actually has decent space and not overly crammed.
The modus operandi here is self-served. You start off by choosing the type of tea you want for the morning from some 8 different varieties, then help yourself in picking up the dimsum of your choice at the dimsum steamer by one side of the wall.
There were also pots of flower by the balcony, giving it a very classic, relaxing ambiance.
beef tripe, char siu pao, steamed pork ribs
As we reached there pretty late at around 1 pm at the tail end of their business hour, we only had a few dishes to pick from – the char siu pao, beef tripe, and steamed pork ribs.
The dimsum were on point, with the tripe deliciously soft and flavorful and the ribs properly prepared. The char siu pao though, could use abit more char siu, but they were still pretty good.
choose your favorite tea
Well, after having a meal here, there’s a pretty neat temple about 6-7 minutes walk up north. Enjoy!
Address: Long Wah Tea House 3 R. Norte do Mercado Alm. Lacerda, Macau GPS: 22.205734, 113.545040 Hours: 7 am to 2 pm
When it comes to places to wind down and have a glass of alcoholic beverages or two, we are certainly spoiled for choices in Klang Valley. However, if you are looking for a comfortable spot with a good selection of wine and proper food, suddenly there aren’t many choices anymore. For those around Kuchai Lama area, however, there’s C Chateau Cafe and Wine Bar.
C Chateau wine bar at Kuchai Lama
C Chateau Wine Bar is situated at the row of shops facing Dynasty Garden Condominium at Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park, with usually a better parking situation compared to the rest of the commercial area.
selection of wine at C Chateau wine bar
Inside, the restaurant is tastefully decorated and carries a good selection of wine both from old and new worlds at a reasonable price point. Additionally, there is also an in-house bartender who shakes up your favorite cocktails for those who prefer your drink to be a little fancier. This is however, not a yumseng beer place.
On Saturdays, there will also be a live band singing at a small stage set up by the side of the restaurant, giving the place that extra soothing ambiance.
white, red wine, butterfly cocktail, gin & tonic
For our visit, we tried a glass of their red & white wine as well as a butterfly cocktail and a classic gin & tonic, both concocted up by the friendly bartender, a friend whom I’ve known since before the turn of the millennium via this little old computer program called IRC that some of you old farts might remember.
Interestingly though we only manage to meet up in real life earlier this year, and yes I can vouch for her cocktail making skills.
iberico short ribs, baked portobello mushroom
While drinks and mood are pretty good at C Chateau, what about food?
Well, for that they have a relatively small but sufficient menu created by a young chef who has a pretty creative touch in his dishes.
We sampled four different dishes for the two of us, starting with the Fantastic Iberian, slow Iberico short ribs with special spices rub, and burnt lime. The dish was well cooked with meat easily peeled off the bone, while just a tad salty and strongly seasoned if you eat it as it, it was perfect to go with wine for sure.
New Zealand lamb rack, Vietnamese spring roll tempura
Another meat dish we had was Rack and Ruin – or pan seared New Zealand lamb rack served with infused Chinese wine risotto. I thought the risotto was rather interesting, utilizing Chinese wine to add a different dimension to the rice that was prepared al-dente style. It was quite a unique taste that I find myself gravitates towards.
Our favorite though was the Vietnamese Spring Roll Tempura, a mix of sweet corn with spring roll ingredients and a prawn tempura wrapped in Vietnamese spring roll sheet resulted in an explosion of freshness and crunchy delight. You should absolutely try this.
wine, dinner, and dessert of homemade cheese cake
Last but not least, Bello Mello, or baked portobello with tomato salsa and pickled onion, should satisfy anyone who loves mushroom.
While they don’t exactly have a proper dessert menu, the homemade cheesecake we had at C Chateau was quite delightful.
Overall this is certainly a competent restaurant and a wine bar with pretty good ambiance worthy of checking out, especially for those who wants to have a relaxing evening enjoying some tasteful alcohol without hearing the constant “YUM SENG” from your neighboring tables.
Address: C Chateau Wine Bar
No 14, Jalan Kuchai Maju 9,
Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur GPS: 3.089199, 101.686731 Tel: 012-929 0108 Hours: 11am to 2am
Continuing our effect of exploring more eateries in the west part of Klang Valley that is .. Klang itself, today we’re going to look at one of the most popular roast duck restaurants in the area.
The name of the restaurant is I-Po, and as you may have guessed, a play on the spelling of Ipoh, the town up north famous for ladies with fair skin and temples within holes in their mountains.
Resotran I-Po, Klang
The restaurant itself isn’t too difficult to find, it is accessible via two different major roads in Klang, and parking isn’t something entirely too challenging.
As an additional advantage, unlike most restaurants in Klang, this one speaks Cantonese (since they’re from Ipoh, I assume) in addition to Klang style Hokkien and Mandarin, which can be convenient to some.
roast duck, roast pork, ribs, and more
The restaurant offers a little more than just roast duck, you can also find roast pork, bbq pork, pork ribs, and several types of vegetables, tofu, eggs, almost ala mixed rice style.
For lunch, we ordered a portion of roast duck, roast pork, ribs, and some salted vegetable to go with good old fashion steamed rice. A little bit of everything, really.
a closer look at these roast meat goodness
The roast duck did not disappoint, properly flavored, succulent meat with crispy skin, could hold its own among the better ones (such as Loong Foong & Sunrise in PJ, Chen Chen in KL, Sun Ming in Cheras), but the duck seems slightly smaller in size though.
They’ve also got the skin for their roast pork down perfectly, which seems like something eateries at Klang does very well. The pork ribs though isn’t exactly comparable with the gems at Peng Heong just a few kilometers away.
What I really like though, is the condiments they provide here. The home-made chili sauce here is very different from the ones you get at usual roast duck places, it is slightly sweeter but has a good kick to it, I find it very appealing. Of course, the usual roast duck sauce is offered as well.
Haze and KY at I-Po restaurant
Overall I’d say it is a restaurant definitely worth visiting, especially if you’re at this part of town. Food’s pretty good and prices are fair. Remember, Klang isn’t just about bak kut teh.
Address: I-Po Restoran 180, Jalan Batu Unjur 1, Taman Bayu Perdana, 41200 Klang, Selangor GPS: 3.015270, 101.432853 Tel: 03-3324 2295 Hours: 8am to 5pm, closes on Wednesday
A week or so ago I was invited by Haze’s friend to a small food review session at Scott Garden’s AfterWerk pub/bar. This isn’t usually my type of place to look for food, but since it’s a friend, why not?
As it turns out, you can sometimes find decent food at unsuspecting places.
AfterWerk at Scott Garden, ground floor at the left corner, with live band
AfterWerk is operated by the same people who used to run Pedro’s Place, a new management/owner for the last half a year or so.
The restaurant/pub is located on the left corner of Scott’s Garden on the ground floor, you can park your car in the huge indoor parking, or right outside the restaurant aka valet/illegal style.
Like most pubs/bar, AfterWerk offers a variety of cocktails, beer, whisky, and there’s dart machine, and most importantly, an ass-kicking 8 piece Filipino band that actually sings very well! (We stayed for quite a few songs after the food review session)
we started with French Onion Soup
Anyway, since the owner previously ran proper restaurant, food isn’t something of an after thought here. The menu consists of a mixture of Mexican/Western and local dishes. Prices are pretty decent, as with most pubs that usually make a lion’s share of their revenue from drinks instead.
For the purpose of this visit, we sampled four of their dishes.
We kicked off the night with French Onion soup that comes with a floating piece of cheese and a side of garlic/cheese bread. The serving was rather big for a starter but I don’t even mind, it was really delicious. The savory of cheese with those broth really worked well.
Chili Burger with a side of fries
Next up was their Chili Beef Burger. This rendition of the popular American staple comes with a rather thick patty and plenty of chili with a layer of melted cheese on top. You can request the chili to be mild or really hot, we had it probably somewhere in the middle.
While I liked the chili, I thought the thick patty was not nearly as fatty as I usually liked them. Then again it is probably a good thing for those who are slightly more health conscious. A pretty decent burger otherwise.
half a rack of ribs, jalapeno poppers
The four of us then shared a half rack of pork ribs. The ribs properly prepared and came with a layer of BBQ sauce plastered all over. The meat was soft and savory, I find myself really enjoying it despite being pretty stuffed from the previous two courses. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of pork ribs. It could maybe be slightly saltier, but I’m just nitpicking.
Other than the three dishes, we also sampled one of their beer food – jalapeno poppers. This turned out to be pretty hot, and perhaps slightly too hot even for me but I imagine it’d be pretty awesome with some ice cold beer. Jalapeno is like any peppers, the level of spiciness is not constant, sometimes you get it hot, and sometimes they are mild.
Haze & KY, Reiko & friend at work
If you’re close to the vicinity of Scott Garden, AfterWerk is definitely a decent place to check out if you’re up for a beer of three, but I would also consider it a good option for some late dinner as well.
Address: Afterwerk Scott Garden Jalan Klang Lama, 58100 Kuala Lumpur GPS: 3.094886, 101.674963 Tel: 03-7982 0700 Hours: 4pm to 2am
Whenever food and Klang are mentioned in the same sentence, the topic of bak kut teh is often inevitable, however, Klang offers more than just bak kut teh. Lets look at four different places you should check out if you’re at Klang, just in case you’ve just had your bak kut teh the day before.
Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih at Taman Berkeley
Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih at Taman Berkeley is the most famous pan mee restaurant in all of Klang, the version here is slightly different from those served at other part of Klang Valley, instead of chilli paste you get chilli padi and soya sauce, and lettuce is used as vegetable of choice.
Expect long wait time as each bowl is cooked individually. Starting at RM 3.50 per bowl, this place offers great value too.
Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih | Address: 19 Lebuh Bangau, Taman Berkeley, Klang | Tel: 017-336 6183 |Opening hours: 10am to 10pm daily. | GPS: 3.060055, 101.463443
Peng Heong Hakka Paikut, love their sour & spicy vegetable
If pork ribs fancy you, Peng Heong Hakka Paikut will surely deliver. The corner shop not far from the central bus station at Klang offers one of the most delicious and succulent fried pork ribs you can find anywhere.
delicious pork ribs, asam fish, pork stomach soup, sour and spicy vegetable
Their menu is quite extensive as well, I especially love their sour and spicy vegetable soup that hits all the right spots. Asam fish and pork stomach soup are two other dishes worth checking out as well. However, their bak kut teh is subpar, so don’t waste your time or stomach space for that.
Peng Heong Hakka Paikut Restaurant | Address: No 2, Lorong Gudang Nanas, Off Jalan Pasar, 41400 Klang | Tel: 019-260 0855 | GPS: 3.048, 101.4448 | Operating Hours: brunch till late lunch
you don’t have to go to Melaka for delicious pohpiah
Melaka is famous for many hawker delights, with one of my favorite being the pohpiah at Jonker Street, mainly due to it’s pork lard infused ingredients. So you can imagine I was more than happy to find out that you can find very similar pohpiah right at Eng Ann Hawker Centre, Klang, which neighbours Taman Berkeley.
the pohpiah is infused with pork lard and lap cheong too
There are two pohpiah stalls here, and both are comparable in taste. The ingredients include pork lard and lap cheong, which really gives this otherwise simple snack an extra kick. If you like the Melaka version, this one won’t disappoint.
Tan Kee Pohpiah or Eng Ann Pohpiah | Address: Eng Ann Hakwer Centre, Jalan Pekan Baru & Jalan Kawasari 8, Klang | GPS: 3.058001,101.460022 | Hours: lunch till tea time, daily
made-to-order black sesame glutinous ball with ginger soup
For after dinner dessert, head to Taman Berkeley again for some freshly made black sesame glutinous ball in ginger soup. This classic Chinese dessert Kedai Kopi Tech Le is pretty much made to order here with a choice of black sesame or as the ingredient. This stuff will clear up your sinus immediately. I love it.
Tong Kee at Kedai Kopi Tec Le | Address: Kedai Kopi Tec Le, Lebuh Bangau, Taman Berkeley, Klang | Opening hours: supper, closed on Monday and Thursday | GPS:3.060006, 101.464115
