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Friday 22 October 2010

Restoran Sup Ketin UK @Section 7, Bandar Baru Bangi (BBB)

I find it rather strange, writing about this place as it happend by chance, that I found it. I was hungry, driving around in Bandar Baru Bangi Section 7 (closer to Sg. Chua) when I noticed the crowd in this shop - so I went to investigate. My first experience was a ta'pau - after choosing from the spread layed out. I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome of that packed soup and swore to go back for more.
Delicious! Notice the ox-tail in the soup

My 2nd and 3rd outing here was with friends and they too gave thumbs up to the beef soup here. The use of celery gives the soup a very nice flavour, different from other offerings. This is how it works, you go up to their counter - select the various 'parts' available, they mix it up in a bowl and add the brewed soup and some chillies if you want it spicy and serve it to you. It goes with rice.

The selection counter - a good spread
I would have prefered some sliced french loafs to go with this soup, it would have made an excellant offering. I must suggest to them next time I am there.

Simply Delicious!
No doubt, the soup is simply delicious - you just have to try it. I had two friends who were hesitant to try it on the first time, but ended up giving it a thumbs up after trying it.

The other interesting thing here is the number of satay they sell. We just had to try it - chicken and beef. Chicken was ok, but the beef was exceptionally good. Well marinated and tender, much like Malaysia Restaurant (in our shoot-out). No wonder they were selling in large volume - and they acquired another shop across the street to cater for the satay lovers in Bangi.

Now according to another blog I read, the owner used to sell watches in Chow Kit area, before embarking in this business. Originally from Terangganu - he brought with him the east-coast taste to the offering. Each bowl of goodness cost RM6 - RM8 depending on what goes in. It is said to be a very Kelantanese type of cooking. Somehow, the Kelantanese always get food right, I have noticed.

Fish Head Noodles @Sri Kembangan

I've been wanting to write about this fish head noodles for some time now. Located just behind the famous Hee Lai Ton Restaurant at Taman Muhibah in Sri Kembangan, it's a normal corner lot coffee-shop place.
An unassuming coffee-shop
Restoran Hing Fatt serves about the best tasting fish head noodles in town. I was told that these guys are under the same ownership as the famous one in Taman Desa, off Old Klang Road. The uniform is the same and the taste is the same too. I was also told on weekends, you have to queue up to get your serving. My favorite time is weekdays, late morning or early lunch here, normally with my partner in crime.

Mouth watering serving, in milky soup, just how I like it
There are 2 choices for your serving, either the fried fish head or the fish paste. I always prefer the fish head - being able to nibble and extracting the goodness from the bones. The soup is very tasty and the fish head comes with ample flesh to nibble on. You may also call the fish paste as a side order, served in a bowl of soup.

Fried fish head served in bee hoon soup
My partner in crime prefers the chunky fish paste - so that he doesn't have to waste time nibbling on the fried fish or feel short changed on the wasted bones - so he says. Anyway, we all have our personal preferences and both taste equally good.
No nibbling or extraction needed, just bite on it!
The noodle is served with home made chili sauce and 'limau kasturi' (calamansi lime) for a blend of hot and sour taste. This certainly adds a kick to the overall serving. It must be consumed hot and spicy and while the sweat is pouring down. I would recommend a nice tall glass of Kopi-si-peng (iced coffee) to cool down the burning tongue. They make lovely Hainanese traditional coffee-shop type coffee here. A must have!

This is the best fish head noodles south of Kuala Lumpur that I have tasted, on par (cause they are related) with the Taman Desa Fish Head Noodles, and less crowded (on weekdays that is). Ample parking is available around the shop.


Thursday 21 October 2010

Kajangfood’s Top 10 Best Restaurants in South Klang Valley

It's the First Anniversary of our Kajangfood blog. It's been a year of exploring (burp!) and documenting (burp!) some of the best food in South Klang Valley. From Cheras to Broga, from Puchong to Dengkil, we've scoured the countryside for the best eating places we have heard about. Thanks to our readers and friends for all the suggestions and feedback. In return, we'd like to share with you our updated Top 10 list of best restaurants in this part of the world. Our criteria for selection is pretty simple; consistent good food, reasonable prices and popular with the locals. With the exception of the satay and bak kut teh (pork rib soup) places, the rest are restaurants with a full a-la carte menu.
 
1. Satay Kajang Haji Samuri
    Haji Samuri topped our Ultimate Best Kajang Satay Shoot-Out. With a pretty good chicken satay and a decent beef satay, it's easy to understand why they have been so successful not only in Kajang, but also expanding nationwide. Their peanut sauce sets them apart from the others – their well balanced (spicy and flavorful) is one of the best.
     
    2. Restoran Wan Fatt
      There's no change with Wan Fatt, they're still churning out good food at reasonable prices. Their signature steamed fish and lor mee are worth special mention. Well worthy of their mention in the Ho Chak TV show.

      3. Restoran Sing Kee (New Entry)

      If you've been following our blog, this new entry to the Top 10 would come as no surprise. We've been singing their praises since we found them in Bandar Teknologi (after they moved there from Semenyih). Their ginger steamed wan yee (fresh water fish) is about the best we have had, and their pork with yam is also outstanding.
      4. Fook Loy Restaurant
      One of our regular eating spots. We keep returning for their claypot braised dishes (chicken, duck and even terrapin occasionally). Also worthy of mention is their signature dish of tomyam style prawn served in a coconut. 

      5. Restoran 52

      Our favorite restaurant in Semenyih, their signature dish – Guinness pork ribs - is a sweet and sticky success. I particularly like their spinach soup with century egg and fish finger slices. 

      6. Seatown Seafood Restaurant (New Entry)

      A rather obscure and little known restaurant on Jalan Reko, we keep going back for their shark curry. The curry beats most Indian restaurants flat – which is the greatest compliment for a Chinese chef. They are also generous with their petai. Just try the stir fried petai with prawns. A new entry to the Top 10, we're still exploring their offerings.
       
      7. Ming Kee Restaurant

      Another of our regular eating spots. A must-have here is the best braised eight treasure duck which has to be pre-ordered. Not many restaurants still have this hard to prepare dish. Also good here is the butter fried tilapia fish – crunchy to the last bone !
       
      8. Balakong BKT & steam fish (New Entry)

      This is actually a bak kut teh restaurant and a limited a-la carte menu. However it serves what in our opinion is the best steamed fish head in the Klang Valley – even better than the famous Chan Sow Lin restaurants. The pork leg is another must have here. The bak kut teh is not particularly outstanding though. I just realised we have not

      9. Bukit Mewah Restaurant

      This is another Kajang restaurant that's been featured on the Ho Chak TV show. Their signature dish is the lotus leaf wrapped fried tilapia and fish head curry. We haven't tried the curry as it did not look too interesting but the lotus leaf wrapped fish is a must-have here. Prices are pretty reasonable too.
       
      10. Restoran Soong Kee

      A popular restaurant in Kg Baru Sri Kembangan, we haven't got down to doing a proper review of this place yet. Their signature boneless fish and steamed kampong chicken are the draws here. Look out for a review soon.

      So there you have it. Some places have dropped out of the Top 10 due to dwindling standards or rising prices. That's the nature of the food business, whats up this year may be down next year. So do keep visiting our blog for the latest updates. We'll try our best to keep you updated (Buuuurrrpppppp!!!).


       

      Monday 18 October 2010

      Restoran One One Three, Dengkil

      Gd and myself have eaten at Restoran One One Three in Dengkil several times and it's become our regular joint if we need to go down to KLIA or LCCT to pick up or send anyone at these airports. Located just before Dengkil town as you come from Putrajaya, it's popular with students from Putrajaya and Cyberjaya and also local Dengkil folks too. Don't be put off by the signboard outside highlighting various expensive types of seafood (empurau, umur-umur, sultan and bamboo fish), they have dishes to suit all budgets. We've seen many tables with crabs here, so it must be popular here. We haven't tried the crabs though, but here's what we have tried:-

      Steamed tilapia fish in cheong-cheng (spicy chilli) style
      The sauce was suitably thick and pungent from the use of lots of chillies. Slightly sweet as well from the use of sugar to counter the heat, the gravy is great when eaten with rice. Fried pork lard pieces (chee yau char) lent a wonderful aroma to the gravy. The fish was fresh and firm and steamed to perfection. This was a well executed dish.

      Tung po meat with fried buns
      One of their signature dishes, the very fatty pieces of pork (fat content was more than 50%!) are slow braised in a sweet sauce until soft and tender. Split open the accompanying fried buns, insert the meat and it's a truly sinful and decadent sandwich treat. It's really nice but we'd think twice before ordering again in the near future due to the high fat content. 
      Baby French beans stir fried with garlic
      Crunchy baby French beans quickly stir fried with some garlic. Simple and nice. Very good.
      Special taufoo with minced meat
      Another of their signature dishes. A soft rectangular piece of fried taufoo topped with a tasty minced meat sauce. Very good.

      The expensive fishes look interesting – we may give it a try sometime soon. Look out for more reviews in future.

      Location : No 1, Taman Sri Dengkil, Jalan Air Hitam, 43800 Dengkil, Selangor
      Contact : 017-660 0113 or 012-626 8961

      Thursday 14 October 2010

      Loi Fatt Restaurant, Cheras

      Last month we visited Loi Fatt Baru and promised to return and do a review of the other Loi Fatt, operated by the former's brother. Loi Fatt is actually the original restaurant and we were keen to learn if they were any better than the 'baru' place next door.
      Strangely, the owner and chef was also on hand during our visit to take our order and make recommendations (just like the other place earlier). It was supposed to be a celebration for Ros' birthday and we wanted to have some crabs. Unfortunately we were told that they did not get their supply of crabs, so we were left crab-less! He did however recommend the steamed tilapia fish in a Nyonya style.
      We were pleasantly surprised to find the dish loaded with vegetables like brinjals, ladies fingers, tomatoes, long beans and onions. It would have made an excellent one-dish meal. Considering that there were only 5 of us, they did give us a rather large fish and we found it difficult to finish the fish. The gravy was tasty but lacked the spiciness and sourness typical of a good Nyonya dish. RM35.00 for this dish.
      The chef advised that they had fresh water prawns and suggested their speciality – prawns prepared in 2 styles. But we were not in the mood for too much prawns again so we opted for sang har meen. A type of sang meen was used which absorbed the prawn gravy very well. Some of the medium sized prawns had roe, which added another taste dimension and a pinkish tinge to the gravy. It was a pretty good dish but not quite as good as the Jalan Silang or Jalan Imbi sang har meen. RM60.00 for this dish with 4 medium sized prawns.
      The chef suggested the Hakka char yoke for the meat dish. This was pre-cooked and reached or table pretty fast. It was a little starchy and was not really memorable. My mother in-law makes a better version.
      The special taufoo with fish was very good. Crispy on the outside and soft and moist inside. It came with a tangy chilli sauce but was good enough to eat on it's own.
      For our vegetable dish, we had sweet potato leaves with fermented bean-curd. There was not much fermented bean gravy in the dish. It was OK only.

      Overall, we felt that the Baru's cooking and execution was slightly better than this place. But don't take our word for it. Try it yourselves and let us know what you think.

      Location : 168, 9th Mile Kg Baru Cheras, Kajang
      Contact : 03-90758035

      Wednesday 13 October 2010

      Yap Chuan Bah Kut Teh Restaurant, Kg Baru Puchong Bt 14

      Now Yap Chuan is a restaurant that I have wanted to try for a long time. I heard about their 14 year old chef prodigy who created the 'dry' bah kut teh which has won over many bah kut teh connoisseurs. Truth be told, our previous attempts to go here for dinner were thwarted by some crisis or another.

      Well, Ros and myself finally managed a visit for brunch recently. Located pretty close to Kg Baru Puchong, this is an area known for good food – the famous Puchong Yong Tau Foo is located nearby, as well as many good 'tai chow' places.
      The normal BKT
      This being our first visit, we had to try their bah kut teh. The BKT was certainly up to mark – thick and quite flavorful and very much the Hokkien-Klang variety. Ros however commented that the soup did not have a strong herbal aroma – maybe less use of the aromatic 'dong quai' ? All the same, I would rate this as one of the best in South Klang Valley. RM9.00 for a single serving.
      The 'dry' BKT

      The dry version of the BKT came with thin slices of pork (both lean and fatty), intestines, offal, ears etc together with some ladies finger slices. Everything was sliced thinner than the normal BKT to suit the quick cooking method in the claypot. The result is a slightly sweet but very flavorful sauce coating all the ingredients. Very appetizing when eaten with rice. Very worthy of it's status as the signature dish of this restaurant. RM10 for a single serving.
      The otak-otak

      We ordered the steamed otak-otak. It was quite fresh with sufficient pieces of fish inside. However we found it a tad bland, compared to the Muar otak-otak which packs a spicier and bolder taste. This was not quite worth the asking price of RM13.00 per serving.
      The crunchy vegetable

      The salad (po li sang) vegetable was served blanched and crispy with a topping of garlic oil. A perfect accompaniment for the BKT. RM4.00 only for a small serving.

      Overall we were very happy with our visit and vowed to return for more. I heard their steamed tilapia fish is pretty good too.


      Location : 53, Jalan BPU 2, Bandar Puchong Utama, Selangor
      Contact : 012-674 4440
      GPS Coordinates : 2.994486,101.621094