HUHU Café @ Waitomo Caves, New Zealand

If you are like me, putting a night around Waitomo Caves and not sure where to eat for dinner; Huhu Cafe is a good choice. The place is cozy and the food was good. 

As we are clueless on the proportion of food and suitability to our pallette, the waitress was patient enough to accommodate our constant requests.

Ice Cream Sundae with Marshmallows

Lemon & Garlic Roasted Chicken Leg, Mash Potato, Chargrilled 

Asparagus

Crispy Pork Hock, Apple & Coriander Salad, Kumara Mash, Apple 

Syrup, Tomato Chilli Jam

Pan-Fried Fish of the Day, Courgette & Avocado Salad, Corn

Mayo, Potato Skins

We ordered a glass of Vilagrad Tawny Port (Ohaupo, Waikato) each. It was sweet and easy to down though you can feel that it is quite strong. Half way down I felt all warmed up and my face can feel the heat. 

Overall, I find the dinner a good wrap up of the busy day we had. And of course the good food and drinks, as well as the helpful staff and warm ambience complete it.

Vegetarian Lunch @ Gandhi's (Brickfields)

We wanted to celebrate my colleague's birthday. He is a strict vegetarian, so for his Birthday, we brought him to Gandhi's. The place is very packed and food can be cleared by 1.30 pm.

The restaurant offers rice with 30-40 dishes for customers to choose. At night, they even offer menu dishes. 

Alternative to rice, you can also choose idli or other flour dishes, depending on day.

Below are the various combo we all picked for ourselves. 

We are all terrible big eaters :D

Even with our plate full, we are still looking at the serving table and other people's plate. Haish.. terrible.

As the restaurant is named after the great man, not only there are food for tummy, there are also food for thought. ❤❤❤

Map: https://goo.gl/maps/cZevt5jCCTJ2

Address: Gandhi's Vegetarian Restaurant, 28, Jalan Scott, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur

森苑 E Farm Restoran

On the way back from Kuantan, Sis and Bro In Law suggested we stop by at the foothill of Genting for dinner. The English name of the place is quite funny - E Farm. The location is not somewhere you might come across easily. But the food was good.

The environment is cooling and relaxing.

The restaurant offers good river fish. For those that are not familiar with Chinese food, river fishes can be very expensive due to its rarity. So please do not order if you are not sure and did not ask the price properly. 

Anyway, the dish that made a mark in my head is this free-range chicken in pig stomach soup. The soup is strongly peppered. But the chicken skin is the most crunchy I have ever tasted. The only other time I tasted such crunchy chicken skin is in Betong, Thailand.

The river fish we ordered is called "Sun Yue". I have no idea what species or its name in other language. But the meat is smooth and firm. And most importantly, because it is not farmed fish, there is no smell of river soil (if you know what I mean). The best way to eat a fresh free-range fish is steam.

The next interesting dish is the frozen sweet sour pork. A good frozen sweet sour pork must be crunchy cold on the outside and juicy hot inside. They have made it quite well. 

Then we have seafood tofu for the kids.

The steamed calamari is suitable for people who are on "Clean Diet". Too clean for me :P

The price of the whole dinner is not cheap, but given the quality of food, we'd say it is quite fair. We would go back again if we do pass Karak Highway again.

MAP: Google Map to E Farm

森苑E Farm Restoran, Kampung Bukit Tinggi, Pahang, Malaysia

Restoran Foon Lock @ Kampung Bukit Tinggi

I love to stop by Kampung Bukit Tinggi whenever I travel to either Genting or Berjaya's Bukit Tinggi. I would eat and shop some unique foodstuff there. So far, we kept going back to Restoran Foon Lock as we miss some of the food there. 

One of its specialty is the Sang Har Don Fun (freshwater prawn glass noodles). 

The prawns are extra large (to the extent that you'll find meat in the prawns' claws). It is slightly spicy so kids may not be suitable. 

Claypot ginger wine chicken 

Double-boiled freshwater turtle soup (Don't ask about the taste, I didn't take it)

Deep fried tofu. Not memorable.

Kids and visitors' favourite. Stir-fried Crispy Pork Belly. It is thinly cut. Crispy and tastes salty-sweet.

Another specialty of Foon Lock: Claypot Freshwater Fish. To tell the truth, I don't really get this dish. The only plus I see this is that the claypot keep the fish warm. Other than that, it is much the same like a steam fish.

Traffic and parking is a problem there. People goes there during weekends for food and shopping vegetables (especially ginger). But going there once a while on holiday, it is still bearable.

MAP: Google map to Foon Lock

Hoong Tho, eating memories

It was at least 25 years back when we would visit Hoong Tho, for Wat Tan Hor, Jar Wanton, Yue Sang Juk and Yue Watt Yee Meen. Along the way, we stopped coming due to the area turning touristy and the sometimes exorbitant price they charged during the festive seasons. But there are some good memories with my family that jam or price cannot stop me from coming back, though not as often.

I remembered having Yue Watt (fish paste) in Hoong Tho. So we ordered a plate of Giong Choong Yue Watt (Fish Paste Fried with Ginger and Spring Onion)

We also ordered Jar Chuen Kuen (Fried Spring Roll)

Wat Tan Hor - Flat rice noodles with smooth egg sauce

Hoong Tho Meen - basically yee meen (dried fried yellow noodles) with thick sauce with sprinkles of Har Ji (shrimp toast)

As kids, the highlight of our visit is the fried wanton with sweet sour sauce. I remembered that dad always had to request for extra sauce because we kids love them.

Now the same thing applied to the next generation. Wonder if the kids will have similar fond memories like we did.

Map: Google Map to Hoong Tho

Personal glimpse: The fondest memory I had was having Yue Pin Juk (Fish Slice Porridge). This was where I was introduced and where I fell in love with cantonese porridge. They used to set up a small stove at the front of the shop to serve up this dish. But now they no longer serve porridge in Hoong Tho. Maybe some things are best left in the corner of our mind to be drawn out once in a while and reminisced. The longer it is kept, the sweeter they are.

En En Coffee Shop (fka Deli Miu Cafe)

I wonder if I have shared Deli Miu Cafe before. If yes, then this is just an updated name of the shop. The stalls are still the same.

 So what's good here? 

The noodles. The chicken. And the satay.

This is Hokkien Char with meatballs. Basically it is fried noodles with soy sauce accompanied by some meat  (here they serve with fish, prawn and meatballs) and vegetables. If you like spicy, mixed in some sambal belacan into your noodles and your Hokkien Char is elevated to a different level.

The belacan chicken wings is another must if you are a meat lover. The chicken is fragrant. Crunchy on the outside and tender inside.

The highlight for our family is the Mee Sua Gor. This is rice vermicelli cooked in thick soup. It is eaten with black vinegar. For better kick, add in pickled green chilli. My kids had 3 bowls each.

The satay is nice. The pork satay is even better. It tasted like Thai bbq skewered pork. The meat is tender and full flavoured.

Map: Google Map to En En
Look for: Maybank/Petron along Jalan Ayer Itam

A day in Taiping

My dad hailed from Taiping. We used to come back Taiping at least annually for Chinese New Year (CNY). Then the annual visit changed from CNY to Qing Ming (visit ancestor's grave). And now we just keep coming back annually to keep the tradition going and go down the memory lane until the day we can't do it anymore..
But what I want to share with you, are the standard makan place that has been there for at least 3 generations. That speaks for itself.

Breakfast @ Chai Chee

Chai Chee used to be so busy from morning till late in the night. But now, it is only the morning that you see the hustle and bustle. But at least we still get our must-eat "Chai Thow Guey". 

 There are only 2 or 3 stalls selling this now. As far as I know, this deep fried white radish cake to be eaten with the sweet sauce can only be found here in Taiping. Eat it when it is hot. You won't be able to stop.

Can you guess what's in the tiffin?

How about now? These should pretty much give you an idea..

Yup, it's nasi lemak. I'd say this is the local nasi lemak where you can also mix with soy sauce pork. It's basically nasi lemak with a difference (catered taste). But for a nasi lemak lover like me, the difference is a good one :)

 

And then there is the Taiping Char Koay Teow with Fishball. But this one seemed a mixture between Taiping and Cantonese style. Nevertheless, you can still taste the fragrance from intense heat of frying the koay teow (btw, this is flat rice vermicelli).










Oh and how can we forget the wan ton mee + sambal belacan. My dad used to drive down to Taiping just to fulfill his craving for this noodles.

Lunch @ Kedai Ais Kacang Merah Raex (fka Rex Cinema Red Bean Ice)

My dad loved it. I loved it. My kids loved it. 

 Need I say more?

The red bean ice stall used to be accompanied by a few other eatery stalls. They all moved in together after Rex Cinema has been taken down. One of our best lok-lok haunt is here.

Do you know the curry mee in Taiping is slightly different from Penang. The base is white with a stronger curry fragrant compared to Penang.

Oh I miss the northern Pohpiah which is simple without all the krup krup, which I find a pain to the mouth and not very helpful to the clean taste I expected from a pohpiah (this is personal).

Dinner @ Pasat

If we could, we would have tasted every single stalls that sells nasi lemak bungkus here. The 220ftx60ft square is laden with stalls selling rice, dim sum, chee cheong fun, char koay teow, noodles and drinks. Nasi lemak bungkus are the standard staple offered by the drinks stalls. Every single stalls get their supplies from different sources, so you get different variety of nasi lemak bungkus. There are sambal prawn, curry prawn, fried fish, sambal anchovies, sotong, mantis prawn, many many more according to season and suppliers.

Nasi Lemak Bungkus - Udang + Kacang Panjang

My favourite of all the nasi lemak bungkus is prawn curry with long beans. I have yet to try the seasonal mantis prawn. Looking forward to my next trip.

My sis came across this deep fried dried fish coated with sweet sauce. Savoury.

DO YOU KNOW?

My dad said there used to be weather masters sitting here. What do they do? They bet on the exact time that the first rain drop from the corner of this market roof. These masters will look at the sky, feel the moist on their skin or even taste and smell the air. And they can tell you the exact time rain will drop.