Johnny's Resturant (Halal)

I like this place not because it bears my home-name (Johnny), but because it is a kind of poor man's version of the more upmarket Coca Thai chain of resturants. If you've been to Thailand, you would have come across a very popular local chain called MK Restaurant, which is the Thai poor man's version of Coca Thai. Coca Thai, if you are not aware, is an international chain of Thai restaurants which pioneered the 'Thai Suki' (an adaptation from the Japanese Sukiyaki?). This outlet is the nearest one to Kajang and is situated within the AEON Cheras Selatan shopping centre in Balakong.

They are famous for their steamboat ('Thai Suki') which is a hot pot with clear stock for you to cook your own choice of ingredients. These may include the basic seafood (prawns, fish, squid etc), meat (chicken paste, chicken slices, beef etc), vegetables, tofu, fisball and meatballs in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours and some noodles and raw eggs to finish. After cooking all the fresh ingredients, the stocks becomes sweet an flavourful. You must save some ingredients to eat with the noodles and the delicious stock at the end. Slurpy goodness.

So what sets Johhny's apart from our local Ali, Ah Chong and Anand's steamboat places ? Once again - it's in the sauce ! The chilli sauce here, just like the sauce at Coca Thai, is a trade secret and is a true taste of Thailand - sweet, sour, hot and salty all at the same time. I can finish a whole bowl of the sauce on my own with the steamboat. But be prepared with tissue paper as it is suitably pungent, in true Thai tradition.

Also worth the trying are the side dishes of mango salad (watch out for the fiery hot chili padi inside!), chicken wings and pineapple fried rice. You will also need a sweet Thai dessert to cool your scorched tongue after all the chillies.

Check their website for a location near you :

http://www.johnnyrestaurant.com/index.htm

or if you want the upmarket version, look for Coca Thai:

http://www.coca.com/cocaglobal_eng.php