Simple but great dinner!

If you live in Petaling Jaya and you don't mind driving a little bit further for a meal, I would recommend Choong Foong Restaurant in Kampung Subang. It's roughly about 15 minutes drive from Uptown. They serve great food at reasonable prices. They used to operate in a wooden house but currently it's an air-conditioned restaurant.

The reason why I love to patronise this particular restaurant is because I think they serve the BEST "Harm-yue Far Larm Pou" I have ever tasted. It is actually pork belly meat stir fried with salted fish, dark soy sauce with paprika and onions served in a sizling claypot. You will have to stir the dish in the claypot when it arrives and the sauce will slowy dry up before you eat.

The next best dish they have is the deep fried grass carp belly or also known as "Wan Yue Larm". Carp belly has many fine bones and it might be quite a nuisance eating it BUT not this one. Because it is deep fried, the bones are crunchy and fragrant. This dish is topped with light soy sauce and chilli. It's already mouth-watering enough just trying to explain this :)

We had an aditional steam chicken. This is a free range chicken or also known as "kampung" chicken. In case some of you do not know, "kampung" means village in Malay. But this particular free range chicken is from the large breed. I was told there were large breed types free range chicken in Malaysia. Amazing yeah?

Lastly is just a simple stir fried "kangkung belachan". Need I explain more about this dish? It's the most common dish in Malaysia!

If you're going in an average group of 5, the total bill will cost approximately RM100.00. Reasonable yeah? Choong Foong Restaurant is located in Kampung Subang directly across the Metro Driving Academy. I think they're open everyday.

Hakka Restaurant, Kuala Lumpur

Had my dinner at the Hakka Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur just now. This restaurant is one of the oldest Chinese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. My dad told me it has existed since the 50s but they've been shifting around from one place to another. Rumors say that the owner is a lousy paymaster especially when it comes to his monthly rental. But one thing for sure, the food is still good no matter where they shift to. Let me introduce you to our dishes we had just now.

Roasted pork knuckle. This was quite good. The skin is roasted until it's perfectly crispy. Some people might not enjoy it as it is a little sticky inside due to its gelatine. I personally like it. I added some "bird's eye" chilli (cili padi) in it to make it more exciting and it turned out well indeed. (RM42.00)

The next dish was my favourite. This is a must have dish for my family everytime we patronise this restaurant. It's the preserved vegetable fried with cockles. The dish originated from this particular restaurant. It is the chef's specialty only available here. No other restaurants serves this dish and no matter how they try to cook it, nothing beats this place. That was the reason why we had 2 portions of this dish. The waitress thought we were joking at first :) (RM18.00/big)

Then came the paprika fried frogs. Yeah, frogs... In asia, frogs are cultivated and served in a dish. Mainly cooked in Chinese cuisines. This dish is quite nice. Frog meat is always smooth and tender and furthermore cooked in paprika, anything cooked in paprika is always nice. (RM38.00)

We had a "sambal belachan" asparagus. It's fried with dried prawns, chilli and "belachan". In case you do not know, "belachan" is a Malay name for shrimp paste. It is used in cooking Malay cuisines but it now turns out to be a favourite ingredient for Chinese cuisines. (RM20.00)

Lastly came the steamed catfish. This is the highest grade fresh water cat fish which the Chinese calls it as "White Whisker Old Man". In Cantonese is called "Pak Sou Kung". Due to its freshness, we had it steamed in soya sauce without anything else. (RM63.00)

Hakka Restaurant is located at the junction of Jalan Kia Peng heading towards Jalan Raja Chulan. It's directly across the road from The Pavillion shopping mall. Just a small warning, the price here ain't really cheap so be prepared to spend an average of RM300.00 for 5 guests including beer. Although it may be costly to dine here, the quality of their food is just great! Bon appetit!

My PJ Beer Adventure!

Discovered this newly opened place at Mutiara Damansara called Craftbrews. It's located in the groundfloor of Menara Batu Kawan just around the vicinity of Tesco, Courts Mammoth and the Lexus car showroom.

They have outdoor and indoor seats. Since it was a humid night, I decided to stick to the indoor seats. The place was packed with people as it was a Saturday night. The ambience was almost perfect. Lightings were not too bright nor too dark. Airconditioning was just right. I liked the place very much. As the waiter brought me to my seat, I noticed many towers of green beer were ordered by the patrons. What an eye catcher!

This place serves their own brewed beer. They brew it in Singapore and transports them to Boleh Land. They can't brew it in Boleh Land because it's illegal so they have to choose the little red dot down South to be the brewery. My first order of their own brewed beer was the Green Lager Monster. Tried a half pint. Boy was it terrible! It's green as it's brewed with spirulina. The colour is interesting but the whole thing sucks! I don't think it can be categorised as a lager or even a beer! It has a very strong sour aftertaste. I believe most of the patrons here ordered this crap due to its interesting colour.

I couldn't remember the name of my next drink... It's some sort of pilsner, I think... Also doesn't taste like beer. Tried half pint and it too has a sour aftertaste but not as bad as the green crap I had earlier. Had a difficult time drinking it with a frowning face all the way.

Next was half pint of the Wheat Beer or also known as Weizen. This one taste slightly better than both the previous one. But there is a very strong stench of fermented wheat in it. Got to hold on to your nose if while gulping it down. Besides the terrible smell, it doesn't have that bad sour aftertaste but tastes rather like bread... Liquid bread.

Then I tried half pint of the English Ale. This drink is darker in colour to compare with the rest. Funny thing, it tastes just like Chinese Bitter Tea (Foo Char) with gas and foam. Still taste terrible. Not recommended for the REAL BEER DRINKERS in town.

After hours of antagonizing suffering and pain, I decided to order a full pint of Hoegarden beer. Even the waiter was shocked when I asked for a full pint. "Full pint???!!!" he asked with a shock in his face. "Yes!" I replied leaving him confused for a while. The Hoegarden arrived, I gulped half of the pint down immediately cum washing my tongue. It was such a relief when the Hoegarden was flowing down smoothly through my throat and into my belly. My mind halucinated immediately with images of serenity at a beautiful lagoon. The Hoegarden served here is very fresh.

So, if you're looking for a place to drink in PJ with a nice ambience, I recommend this place as it suits for people to chit chat comfortably. Just remember not to order their own brewed beer unless you would like to be adventurous and try it yourself. Their own brewed beer are priced at RM17.00 for half pint. Cheers!

Mussels...

Had my dinner in this restaurant called The Occidental in Auckland, New Zealand. The place is jam-packed with people. I had to wait for several minutes before they got me a place to sit. This restaurant is famous for their mussels and Belgium beer.

I ordered 2 pots of different flavoured mussels. Each pot contains 1kg of mussels cooked in your desired flavour. They have grilled mussels too but I don't think I could finish all of it so I decided to stick with the 2 pots. While waiting for my feast to arrive, had a Belgium beer called Leffe. Tried the Leffe Blonde. I should say that it tastes rather ok... Nothing special to shout about but it is just ok... It's thick and quite foamy but the flavour is rather odd. It has a sour aftertaste to it. The colour is dark brown rather than golden brown. I wonder why they call it blonde...

Then came my 2 pots of mussels accompanied by fries. The mussels here in Auckland are huge and fresh! Unlike the mussels back home in Boleh Land, these mussels makes those back home look like midgets! The average length of the mussels are 5 to 6 inches. Inspite of its gigantic size, the flesh is still sweet and tender.

The first pot of mussels was cooked in Celery, Onion & Garlic flavour. The mussels are rather dry on the top part of the pot. Try stirring it in the pot to get the sauce from the bottom and you'll get the flavour you want. The sauce is clear and watery like soup. Goes very well with the mussels.

The second pot was cooked in Blue Cheese... Mmmmm... The sauce is thick and creamy. I would recommend everyone to try this flavour. Ordered garlic bread to dip in the sauce.... Yum yum... Finished the sauce to its last drop. To recall and write about this dish makes me extremely hungry now....

Each pot costs only NZ$19.00. It's rather reasonable to compare with a normal meal in Auckland. So, for anyone visiting Auckland, do visit this restaurant and try their mussels. I don't think anyone would regret patronising this joint.

The Beer Deal in Perth!

Let's begin with the beer review as I promised to write about beer in Perth end of this month. I mentioned Little Creatures in my earlier blog when I was in Adelaide so this is it. Visited this bar called My Place located in the heart of the city. It's just directly opposite to Madam Maude or is it Miss Maude? Quite a nice cozy place but I noticed I was the only "chink" in there. But what the heck?! People there looks friendly and getting drunk was more important than to worry about anti-asians at that time :)

LITTLE CREATURES (PALE ALE)

Little Creatures ain't really a beer... It's pale ale. Apparently those bums in OZ thought me the differences between beer and ale. They're both simillar except beer contains hop whereelse ale doesn't. And also it is brewed differently. They said beer uses the yeast which is fermented from the bottom and ale uses the yeast fermented from the top. Or was it vice versa? Can't really remember. I only knew how to drink that night. Anyway, this beverage comes in full pint size bottles at 568ml. It's really crispy, not too dry and quite a thirst quencher. Sadly, I find my Little Creatures that night missing something in its flavour. It wasn't as fragrant as I had it before. (5.2%alc)

JAMES SQUIRE (POTTER)

This is a very unique beer. It has a rich chocolate taste in it. I know, what the heck???!!! Chocolaty beer???!!! YUCKS! But wait!... I wasn't so keen to try it at first but after a sip of it, WOW! Amazingly it was a good combination! A must try for tourists visiting Perth. I wouldn't call this a beer, but at least it's one of my favourite alcoholic beverage from now on. It is thick, creamy and the colour is dark like stout. Yet it's still a beer. The dark colour comes from the chocolate. Yes... It is really brewed with chocolate. Try it! You won't regret it for sure... (5.0% alc)

JAMES SQUIRE (I.P.A.)

I.P.A. stands for India Pale Ales... I didn't quite like this drink... I have to say that it is quite smooth but it tastes like as though methanol has been added in the drink for the extra kick. The colour is more towards brownish or rusty gold. Written on the side of the bottle:-

"Convicts weren't the only thing the English exported to a hot, distant country. At about the same time James Squire embarked for Australia, this style of beer shipped out for India's shores. Spoilage was offset during the long journey by adding more hops and increasing India Pale Ale's alcohol content - it's unlikely the same kindness was offered to the 'passengers' of the First Fleet." (5.6% alc)

I wonder if you noticed that this beer review doesn't have any prices? Honestly, I was pretty drunk that night. I forgot to take the receipt after paying and I returned back to my hotel and knocked out. I think I couldn't even walk back properly. If I am not mistaken, the prices for each bottle of beer ranges from AU$5.00 - AU$6.00. So, it's still quite affordable especially for blokes like us who comes from the Boleh Land! CHEERS EVERYONE!

My in-flight meals from Rome - KL

Well, I have to say that Malaysia Airlines have fairly improved on their in-flight meals. People always think that in-flight meals are always pre-cooked food which taste terrible or it's always the typical cold sandwiches. Let me change your views from now on :)

Upon departing out of Rome, we started with satay for starters. Satay is a traditional BBQ chicken/beef skewers marinated with lemongrass topped with spicy peanut sauce. It is a traditional Malay dish which is loved by all races and all ages in Malaysia. The ones served by Malaysia Airlines is delicious and the meat is very tender. It is not dry but juicy and piping hot too. The spicy peanut sauce is thick and rich with aroma. This is the award wining signature dish for Malaysia Airlines and should I say, I'll give my 2 thumbs up for this dish! :)

Then there came my food tray which initially served my appetizers. 2 garlic breads, smoked salmon with prawns accompanied by fresh vegetables and a bowl of mixed fruits. I don't think I'll need to explain much about the garlic bread as I have mentioned about it in my previous blog. Anyway, the smoked salmon was a little dry but the flavour is still there. Squeeze the lemon juice on it to remove the fishy smell and viola! It tastes quite good. The prawn was fresh. It gives a good chewy sensation in your mouth. As I love vegetables, the fresh vegetables around it makes the dish more exciting with crunchiness in your mouth.

My main course was the stuffed pasta in cream sauce with cheese. It's 3 slices of pastas stuffed with cheese in it. This is the first time I had such a dish and may I say, it was fun to try new flavours. The stuffing in the pasta makes it quite a heavy dish. The flavour is a little bit flat and there's a strong cheesy stench. But in overall, it still is quite a good dish.

Later in the night, I got a little hungry and needed something to eat. For supper, I requested for an instant noodle from the cabin crew. In about approximately 5 minutes later, the cabin crew served my delicious instant noodle in a 5 star manner. You can see it in the picture that this is what we call luxury instant noodles. It's cooked with prawns, chicken, tofu and vegetables. Eat it with the sliced chilli and it's the perfect instant noodles!

Then there came breakfast time before we landed in Kuala Lumpur. I tried the chicken noodles for the first time. Sorry to say, this dish isn't that good. It was too salty and the noodles were a little overcooked. The vegetables were too soft as they were overcooked. Although the looks of the dish is wonderful, it is still a mere disaster for me. Had to consume alot of drinking water after that meal due to it being too salty. The fresh fruits served with it played a big part of cleaning my tongue :)

Roma, Italia

This is my first trip to Rome... Really great to be there as I've only seen this beautiful city on TV and magazines. For the first time there, I was so excited about trying their original pastas and pizzas and whatever food I can find.

Day 1

Upon checking into the hotel, I took about 2 hours nap after the long flight before I begin my adventure in the city. As I arrive the city riding on the hotel shuttle, I saw many historical sites and buildings. I was dropped off somewhere in the middle of the city called Via Luigi Petroselli and everything there on begins on foot. Walked for nearly 45 minutes and I discovered a restaurant or shall I call it "ristorante" called Comparone, or is it called Trastevere... Not sure which is the actual name as it has 2 names written on their signboard. Anyway, this restaurant has been established for 200 years, as what they claimed. Had my lunch there and the place is just perfect! The cooling breeze in summer makes the whole ambience wonderful!

I was recommended to try their minestrone soup as the waiter claimed that they originated this recipe. Minestrone soup is actually vegetable soup with a little bit of pastas in it. Boy was it good! The amount of vegetables in it were trully generous. It includes celery, potatoes, carrots, zucchinis, basils leaves, oregano and some pastas. This was the best minestrone soup I had besides Campbells canned minestrone soup :) EU$8.00

My main course was rather exciting.... I had a lobster linguine in tomato sauce. The linguine was "Al Dente"! Which means it's cooked to the tooth! There should be a slight resistance in the center when it's chewed. The tomato sauce were cooked with diced garlic and it was sprinkled with a generous amount of chopped parsleys. The lobster was quite a shocking too! Although it was only half a lobster, it was really fresh. The meat was succulent and juicy. Only negative part is the lobster was a little too salty. Overall, it was still a great dish. EU$18.00

I couldn't wait to try their local beer immediately after my meal. I was recommended the Nastro Azzurro beer. I didn't like it at all. First things first, I couldn't read the ingredients as it's all written in Italian. Tastes like pilsner beer. The reason I didn't like it is because the flavour really isn't there. I can taste the hop but no fragrance whatsoever. The only positive remark I could give about this beer is that it's "quite" smooth... I'll give this beer a 2/10 rating based on my taste. (4.6% alc) EU$6.00 restaurant price

Had a long walk after my meal and I bought a small bottle of Peroni beer at a drink stand near a piaza which I've forgotten it's name. This beer tastes better than the earlier one. The flavour is richer but still rather flat to compare with our own local beers. There is quite a strong malt flavour in it too. This I can tell is a lager beer. Overall, it is not bad. (4.7% alc) EU$2.50

It was dinner time then when I entered a pizzaria. Of course I'll need to try a pizza here in Italy. This is where pizza originated from and I'd be a fool not to try it. They sell pizzas in 2 ways, by slices or the whole thing. They charge pizza slices by it's weight. The average price is about EU$1.60 to EU$1.90 per 100 grams. Since I'm an eating machine, I ordered a whole pizza which is close to 700 grams. I tried the 4 cheese flavour which they call it as "Formaggi". It contains mozzarella, fontina, feta and parmesan cheese. I was kind of greedy too at that time so I asked the waiter to modifiy it by adding pepperoni on it. It turned out great BUT it's totaly different from the pizzas we have back home. The crust is really dry and it tastes like Indian naan bread. I noticed their style of baking pizzas are making it slightly burned and chared. The end of the crusts are crispy. EU$12.00

Day 2

Rented a car on the second day. Took a drive to Pisa to visit the leaning tower. It was a long drive and decided to stop at a rest area. There are many rest area restaurants along the highway and it's called Autogrill. I ordered some sort of sandwhich which it's bread is like pita. Tried 2 types of their sandwhiches which was the Buffolini and Capri. Buffolini is grilled with beef bacon, beef fillet, feta cheese and vegetables in it. Whereelse the Capri is grilled with pork ham, feta cheese and vegetables. It tasted good but it has a very strong cheesy stench. Buffolini EU$2.50, Capri EU$2.00

As I arrived Pissa, I was amazed to find Duff Beer! In case you do not know what Duff Beer is, it's a very famous beer brand which only exists in The Simpsons cartoon. I was shocked that such a beer from a fictional cartoon is brought to reality!!! Bought a 6 pack which costs me EU$18.00 and drank it immediately. Funny thing, it tasted really good! Maybe it's good because it is not made in Italy, instead it's made in Germany. For more info, visit http://www.duff-bier.com/. (4.9% alc) EU$3.00

I had my dinner in a restaurant called Ristorante Ingresso. The place setting is typically Italian like what you watch in the movies. This is a place where the Godfather Don Vito Corleone would have his meal. I had to try how the spaghetti bolognaise (pronounced "bor lo nay" here) tasted like. It looked different as the tomato sauce is more brown than red. They use pork lard to cook the sauce which makes it extremely delicious! A mixture of beef and pork was used to make the sauce too unlike the typical plain beef or chicken style we have back home. The waitress told me that this is the original style of cooking bolognaise sauce in Italy. EU$9.00

Day 3

Today I travelled South of Rome heading towards Sorrento. Had my lunch in a local restaurant which I have forgotten it's name. Tried the lasagne and it turned out OK but more on the dry side. The portion is really huge and thick. It has minced beef, minced pork, mashed hard-boiled eggs with lots of herbs and spices. Honestly, I'd prefer the lasagne in Dave's Deli back home 10 years ago. EU$8.00

After visiting the town of Sorrento, the drive continued all the way to Amalfi. Took some pictures before heading to Risto Al Corso located at Vietri sul Mare which was about an hour plus drive from Amalfi. This is quite a famous restaurant recommended by the locals. The place setting isn't bad. Dining area is upstairs as the ground floor is only used as a reception and kitchen. Everything inside the restaurant is red and black in colour. Although the lightings are a little gloomy, it still gives a warm welcoming feeling. This time, I had a superb meal with numbers of varieties. They gave a free appetiser which is some sort of fried dough balls with herbs in it. Tasted good but the only thing is it might be a little dry.

Grilled Prawns were fresh. They were extra large too. European size if you know what I mean. Garnished all over with freshly chopped parsley. Squeeze the lemon on them and it'll give you a slight zest in the flavour! EU$10.00

Then there came the The Joint Brace. It came with 3 types of meat which were grilled pork, grilled veal and sausage. It turned out "so so only lah" :) It is garnished and cooked the same way as the grilled prawns. Squeeze the lemon in it, and you'll get the same thing too. I'll explain about the sausage later as I ordered extra sausages after having this. EU$8.00

My main course was the Penne Arrabiata. The portion was extremely huge. It's cooked with capsicums, cherry tomatoes, parsleys, oregano leaves with chicken and pork. YUM! YUM! YUM! It tastes extremely good! I love it so much! It isn't too oily and the flavour is just wonderful! EU$5.00

Lastly was the 3 sausages... And I thought sausages come in a shape of the you know what, but this is different. It doesn't have the pork intestine as the skin instead it's just the meat. It is fully homemade. This is my favourite dish I had in my whole Italian trip. I love it so much! My mouth is watering now as I try to describe it. It's really juicy and tender. But I believe a picture is worth a thousand words. The picture has 1 sausage missing, I ate it before I took a picture of it :) EU$5.00

Had some wine during the meal. Was recommended to try Sam Marcus red wine. I don't know what kind of wine this is but it tasted quite good. Goes well with our meal and very appetising. EU$6.00

When I got back to my hotel in Rome, decided to get one last round of booze before I hit the sack. Tried a bottle of Birra Moretti. It's a lager beer and this is the first Italian beer which I quite enjoy. There is a little crisp in it, flavour is fairly rich, quite fragrant and smooth to down. I recommend this beer for tourists visting Italy. Shouldn't be wrong :) EU$3.00 (large bottle)