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.