It was my supreme ignorance that one of my favorite no frill Chinese restaurant chain now has a branch in KLCC – Kiki Taiwanese Cuisine, by the same people that brought us Fong Lye at Gardens.
Kiki Taiwanese Restaurant, 4th floor KLCC
Like the other 4th floor restaurants on Suria Mall, Kiki has a modern interior decoration with table arrangement centered towards packing as many people as possible without it being a fire hazard. That’s fine and dandy for quick afternoon lunches for the most part, but not exactly a place you’d want to bring your Valentine’s date for a quiet & private dating session over lunch.
3 cup chicken set (RM 23.80)
Most dishes come in the form of set menus with rice/noodle, soup, vegetable, and some tidbits in addition to the main ingredient. They are generally priced at around RM 20+ to RM 30+ and served quickly, which is great for office lunch crowds.
mixed seafood & bitter gourd set (RM 35.80)
The three dishes we had – 3 cup chicken set (RM 23.80), mixed seafood & bitter gourd set (RM 35.80), and steamed fish with pineapples & Taiwan marinated sweet bean (RM 23.80) were pretty much within expectations when it comes with taste, and definitely a little over the top in terms of portion. While you don’t get any premium ingredients (example: fish would be tilapia), the quality is more than justifiable for the price stated on the menu.
steamed fish with pineapples & Taiwan marinated sweet bean (RM 23.80)
Overall, despite the crowd, Kiki delivers pretty much as well as their sister branches at Gardens and other locations. Would definitely not mind going again.
my lunch partners at Kiki Taiwanese Restaurant, KLCC
Address: Fourth Level, Suria KLCC Kuala Lumpur GPS:3.158126, 101.711833 Tel: 03-2166 9699
December 17th, 2008 was the second time I went to Little Taiwan at Avenue K for lunch, it was also a rather significant date as that was the day I conned Mell for her phone number and suggested that the nuffies to join me for lunch over there. My intention was of course, to meet her. She didn’t know the whole udang di sebalik batu then, hee-hee.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Update 15/8/2015: this place does not exist anymore
Little Taiwan, with the glorious braised pork!
Anyway, a little known fact about KLCC is that there is no pork served at any of the restaurants or either of the two food courts. The nearest pork fix for me would usually be Wisma Sentral, or Avenue K.
I had initially thought that Little Taiwan would be one fo those halal Chinese food outlets, until I saw their menu and immediately started drooling over the pictures of the glorious braised pork. It has since become one of my regular venues whenever I crave for those unhealthy and yet delicious glistering fats.
For weekday lunches, the outlet offers a quite a selection of set menu priced at RM 9.90 to RM 14.90. The set lunches come with a main dish (either with rice or noodle) and a choice of either green tea or red tea. This would only be around the price of a typical meal at Burger King.
My favorite at Little Taiwan would be their braised pork. Three pieces of very tender and rather fatty pork braised to perfection, rice is served with a dash of mince meat sauce, and there are also a bit of fermented vegetable as well as a couple slices of fresh cucumber and tomato to go with it. This dish is certainly not for the more health conscious diners.
I have also tried their braised beef and salted fried chicken, I find the beef pretty tender and the meat portion generous. As for the chicken, it lacks the more intense (and salty) taste I prefer of the same dish at Fong Lye. Other dishes generally receive pretty decent comments too.
Avenue K is located right opposite KLCC, accessible via the LRT station
Overall Little Taiwan offers a pretty good value and some rather delicious dishes. If you’re at KLCC and crave for pork, you know where to go. The restaurant is located just an escalator ride away from the KLCC LRT station.
Little Taiwan also has outlets at Mid Valley, Subang SS15, Pavilion, and Pearl Point (Old Klang Road)
Huai Bin was in town a few days ago, so Ringo and I took the opportunity to meet him at Midvalley Gardens for dinner. My previous time meeting this formally notorious dude was actually during the PPS bash in June 2005 when this blog was just barely 5 months young.
Time certainly flies, the dude went through a national fame and a year of rehab since. How many of us could boost that kinda personal history? And then there are those crazy piercings. Anyway.. lest I digress.
this place is constantly packed
Fong Lye to Taiwanese food is pretty similar to Dragon-i in Shanghainese food, relatively affordable, comfortable ambiance, with a high turnover rate. The menu is not overly extensive, but most importantly, it is laden with many pork dishes, some beef, and a few chicken entrees.
I ordered the pork intestine set while Ringo asked for hot & spicy dimsum. Huai Bin went for the three variety supreme diced chicken, Melody the Taiwanese braised beef noodle, and HB’s friend a beef roll.
braised beef noodle, hot & spicy dimsum, pork intestine, and 3 variety supreme dice chicken set
The sets come with soup, a small portion of vegetable, a yong tao fu style brinjal, and a meat ball of sort, and steamed rice with some minced pork on top (was very good!) as standard package. The Three Supreme Diced Chicken was probably the tastiest of what we ordered. Very flavorful with just enough hotness provided from the dried chili, it is pretty similar to kung pao chicken, except better.
My Pork Intestine Set came with intestine, coagulated pork blood, tofu, and salted vegetable in a tomato based broth that is sour and spicy. It was pretty good, but I thought the portion of salted vegetable might have been a little excessive, and Ringo should stop stealing my coagulated blood though!
Hot & Spicy Dimsum was somewhat similar with the previous dish, except that it doesn’t have much broth, and a lot more spicy. Tofu, intestine, vegetable, and some other pork parts with the “ma la” spicy sauce. It was pretty interesting but a little too spicy though.
Beef Roll and the Taiwanese Braised Beef Noodle were delicious dishes themselves too, as you would expect from a restaurant specialized in Taiwanese food.
Huai Bin’s gf was the camera lady, secret identify
We also had a Peanut Snow Mountain as dessert, but unfortunately the memory of two girls one cup killed my enjoyment for this item.
While the main dishes were pretty reasonably priced at less than RM 20.00, drinks are pretty pricey here. A pot of tea for two is RM 12, a beer RM 12.50, and yoghurt drinks at RM 7.30 each. I guess you gotta make up for the rentals at Gardens somehow.
Fong Lye is on 3rd floor, Mid Valley Gardens
Fong Lye can also be found at 94, Jalan Imbi; and No. 9 Plaza Prismaville at Hartamas.
Address: Lot T208, 3rd Floor The Gardens,
Mid Valley City Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200, Kuala Lumpur GPS: 3.118675, 101.676085
Tel: 03-2282 8699
