Quickie: SS15 Rojak Pasembur and Cendol

My friend brought me here for the infamous rojak/pasembur. The queue is always long. 

The menu is simple. You choose among the 4 options: 

(1) Squid + egg; (2) Squid only; (3) Egg only; (4) Without squid/egg

Many people ordered take-away. I ate there (standing) and ordered 18 take-away (for my other friends who placed order through me).

I'd say the sauce texture is nice - not too thin/thick. Sweetness and spiciness blends well.

As you walk down the next stall, you will get cendol. But it is really nothing to shout about. The cendol's coconut milk is not thick enough and the palm sugar is not fragrant.

Address: Jalan SS 15/4g, Ss 15, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor

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

Spring Water Bak Kut Teh @ Sungai Lembing

Haha.. By virtue of the whole town's water supply is from spring water, everything and anything you eat also it is called SPRING WATER XXX.

We went to Sungai Lembing Mining Restaurant for bak kut teh lunch as recommended by the resort owner. When we settled down in the restaurant, we understand why he recommended that restaurant. The restaurant is decorated with posters of the resort as well. Hmm.. you scratch my back, I scratch your back.

Anyway, the bak kut teh was ok. The pot include a big bone (as long as the pot's width) with meat attached. The meat was tender. I won't say the soup was particularly fragrant. Overall the bak kut teh was just average. No complaints.

They also have vinegar pork trotter. I think it was not too sour. A nice to have.

 They also sell roasted pork and char siew. The roasted pork is crispy and more flavourful than Ah Ding's (Refer Post on Ah Ding). The char siew was tender and sweet. 

 Other than the spread below, we had wanted to try their pau (steamed bun), but at 2pm, they are all sold out. Maybe other times then. 

MAP: Google Map to Spring Water BKT

Quickie: Ngap Thui Mein (Herbal Duck Meat Noodles) @ Bidor

Everyone goes to Pun Chun, while this stall in Restoran Sin Thean Thean stays inconspicuous at the corner (cross beween Jalan Besar and Jalan Dewan Orang Ramai).

The lady sells herbal duck noodles and wanton noodles.

Just the look at the noodles already win over Pun Chun's.

Need I say more? Don't think so.

MAP: Google map to Sin Thean Thean

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

Kedai Makan Mak Engku

Ooh.. I love ikan bakar (grilled fish). And this is my favourite in Kuala Lumpur. I know.. I know... I have been to Ikan Bakar Tanglin, I have been to Ikan Bakar Bellamy. But Mak Engku offerred so much more. If you have tried their fresh fish, the beef soup, the vast variety of dishes to go along with the steamy white rice. And their drinks come in generous portion to douse the heat of all the sambals.

As the Board on top rightly said, this is "explosive grilled fish". It is not plainly grilled, but marinated in spices. I particularly appreciate their stingray or ikan pari in Malay. The ones they offerred here are white meat stingray, the texture is softer compared to the grey meat type (which I think is not so suitable for grilling). Not many ikan bakar stall offer the white meat type.

Anyway, there are so many choices of fish, you will definitely find something that you like.

We took a big piece of stingray. It comes with air asam (spicy tamarind sauce) separately.

I usually combine my grilled fish with ulam (fresh greens). My favourite is ulam raja (cosmos caudatus) - as seen at the top right of the picture. It has that distinct mango-like aroma that goes really well with the fish.

Special mention is this sup daging/tulang (beef bone soup). The soup is very warming because of the spices and beef. The meat is really tender.

Like I said, there are plenty of choices other than grilled fish. Chicken,veges, fried, stews, you name it, they got it. 

This is the time I have to practice self-restrain. But when in hunger, 'everything also I want'.

Of course, this can't be left out. the variety of sambals (chili pastes). Sambal belacan, sambal budu, sambal kicap, sambal cencaru, etc. It is telling you, there are many ways to spice up your life.

And of course, with all these spicy stuff, you need extensive water supply. Their drinks will not disappoint you.

How about the price? Let's take the bottom meal for 2 as an example. Stingray, veges, quail eggs, rice and ice lemon tea for 2. Total RM27. Economical or costly, you decide on your own.

Oh yea... location, location, location..

          

Restoran Sinki @ Dengkil and Steamed Bun (Pau) to Bring Home

It is in very very very rare occasion that Ben would have the mood to take us far for food. I took the opportunity to venture to Dengkil when we stayed in Putrajaya for a staycation.

We went to Restoran Sinki (though in chinese, I am sure the name Sinki is meaningful). 

We ordered the famous sweet spicy fish. The fish used is threadfin. It is fried till crunchy and generously doused with sweet, spicy and slightly sour sauce. I LOVE THIS!

We also had Sang Har Chow Mein (fried yellow noodles with river prawns). The prawns were fresh and cooked just right so that it is springy to bite.

The restaurant is located facing the main road, so you won't miss it. Only problem is parking. The Kedai Kopi IUI that is right beside Sinki offerred nice steamed bun and homemade kaya (coconut jam). We bought a few variety of steamed buns and brought home for tea.

This Pau below is Peanut Pau. The Pau skin is soft and chewy. The peanut is fragrant with sesame mixed with the grounded peanut.

PL had the Lotus Paste Pau. They were infused with screwpine leaf (pandan) fragrance.

Verdict: I would love to go back again for both restaurants.

Price? Oops.. It so happens Ben met a friend there and they paid for our meals without us knowing, so I don't know. But given that many people come for lunch and dinner here, the price must be reasonable.

Finding Johor Treats @ Medan Selera Presint 9

Searching for nice local eats in Putrajaya is not that easy for outsiders. Googling it in English mostly direct us to grand restaurants, malls or mamak stalls.

Let me teach you another trick. Try googling your searches in Malay or Chinese. You will have better luck finding good recommendation of local food this way.

That's how I found this place. Were we glad.

PM and I had a good time digging into otak-otak Muar. Otak-otak is a piece of spiced fish paste folded in between 2 pieces of coconut/palm leaves. They are barbecued to slightly charred. The fragrance.. mm.....

Then there is this mee rebus Johor. The gravy was thick and tastes great. It is not too spicy so the kids liked it too.

Then they have that Johorean infamous kacang pool. It taste a bit like chilli corn carne with a half cooked egg, calamansi, chilli and shallots. It comes with thick buttered bread to soak up the gravy.

The nasi lemak is not really a Johor thing but I sure love the sambal ikan bilis, as simple as it is. Anyway, it was cleared off by the kids. I only get the remnants of what's left. 

I felt really satisfied not having to resort to McD or KFC.

Chicken House @ Ampang

 Eh.. I thought the title is Chicken House.. Why am I featuring pork knuckle here.. 

We were told this is one of the house specialty, and so we ordered one. It came with the lettuce and sauce for wrapping. This dish cost RM80. Kinda pricy for us.

The meat is cold. Cooked in spices and then leave it to marinate. I find the meat's texture a bit too powdery and dry. Taste wise it is actually good. We couldn't finish the big portion. When we pack it back home and dip the meat with Sabah hot chili sauce, it was great.

 Of course we can't miss ordering the chicken. It was actually quite pricy for a fried chicken dish. So it is more worth it to try those that comes with sauce, as that's more of their specialty. But since PL wanted the dry type, we gave in and ordered half spicy sauce and the other half plain. I think this cost around RM50 or so.

 To tell the truth, I wouldn't rave over this. But it is not a bad experience either. The service was ok. The lady owner was quite amicable.

I read in other blogs the hot pot is good too. I would probably come back again to try the others on the menu.

If you too want to try it too? The shop is located on the 2nd floor. Address as below:

Ampang Putra Residency, 5-L2, Jalan Ampang Putra, Taman Putra Sulaiman, 68000 Ampang, Kuala Lumpur