The best places to eat in Kajang for 2012

As we come to the end of 2012, we would like to list our favorite restaurants. These are the places that we keep returning to. These are listed in no order of priority. Click on the links to take you back to our earlier reviews.

Chinese Restaurants
1. Wan Fatt behind Jalan Mendaling, Kajang -they are scheduled to move from their current location soon as the premises will make way for the MRT project. We will keep you posted on their new location.
2. Sing Kee at Bandar Teknologi, Jalan Semenyih
3. Min Kee at Broga – our regular family gathering place, great for the braised eight treasure duck
4. Fook Loy in Sg Chua
5. Sin Tai Mah in Semenyih, famous for their ‘lai sar yee’

Indian Restaurants
Unfortunately, we are still looking – please send us your feedback if you have found any worth mentioning.

Malay Restaurants
1. Satay Haji Samuri, the flag bearer for Kajang satay
2. Satay UK in Bandar Baru Bangi, good not only for satay but also for their signature Urat Ketin (UK) soup and Malay dishes.

Thai Restaurants
Only one worth mentioning - A’Wet Thai at Sg Chua

Indonesian Restaurants
These are sprouting up everywhere now, mostly selling Ayam Penyet. But our pick is Rumah Makan Cibiuk at Taman Putra, Sg Chua – possibly our best new find of 2012.

Japanese Restaurants
Koya Japanese Restaurant in Bandar Mahkota, Cheras. Pretty decent Japanese food at reasonable prices.

Happy eating and do keep the suggestions coming. Happy New Year!

The best Loh Mee in town at Restoran Y, Balakong (CLOSED)

UPDATE AS AT JUNE 2014 - CLOSED
 Gone but not forgotten.

Once in a while, you come across a hawker stall with food that's good enough to make you take a 15 minute drive just to taste the fare. Such is the case with the Loh Mee stall at Restoran Y in Balakong.

 Located just behind the AEON (Jusco) Cheras Selatan, the corner coffee shop has many hawker stalls selling the usual stuff like wan tan noodles, curry mee, chap fan, Western food (which is popular) etc. From our first visit here, we were attracted by the sign reading "Ulu Yam Loh Mee".

For those of you who are not aware, Ulu Yam is to Loh Mee what Kajang is to Satay.

The Ulu Yam Loh Mee

The loh mee uses a hand made noodle which we understand from the stall operator, is sourced from Ulu Yam directly. The noodle has a nice texture and consistency which sets it apart from the usual machine made variety. The other tell-tale sign is the irregular size of the noodles, the result of being hand made. The gravy is thick and tasty with slices of pork, prawn and vegetable. You can also choose to add some "XO" wine to enhance the taste of the noodles but it will cost you RM2 more. The noodles are good with or without the XO wine.

The Spare Rib Noodle with Yam

Another good choice here is the Spare Rib Noodles with Yam. The spare ribs are cooked with the yam slices until both are soft and tender. The ribs practically falls off the bone whilst the yam will melt in your mouth. The thick gravy is good to the last drop and best enjoyed with a nice dollop of their pretty good sambal.

If you are ever at AEON Cheras Selatan and looking for something good to eat, take a walk outside to this place and I'm sure you won't regret it. Merry Christmas everyone and happy eating.

Location : Corner coffee shop behind AEON Cheras Selatan, Balakong.

Rumah Makan Cibiuk

Kajang is honored to be the location of the first Rumah Makan Cibiuk franchise restaurant in Malaysia. Originally from the Cibiuk district in the Garut region of Java, the restaurant has expanded to over 40 franchise restaurants all over Indonesia. From their website, the story goes that  the Malaysian entrepreneur who opened the restaurant in Kajang, first ate at Cibiuk's Bandung outlet during a shopping trip there and was so enamored by the food, inspiring the set-up of the franchise here in Malaysia.

Cibiuk has the tagline "Rajanya Sambal" which can be translated as The King of Sambal or The Sambal is King (you decide). And the sambal literally takes center stage, placed on a pedestal in the middle of the restaurant, where you can help yourself to a variety of sambal and fresh salad (lalapan or ulam). Be warned that some of the sambal really pack a punch - think tongue numbing pungency and profuse sweating; you get the picture.

Varieties of sambal with some fresh salad

Various rice sets are available for single diners, two or four persons. There are also a-la carte options which we have not explored yet. First up was the Nasi Liwet Kastrol (for 2 persons). The menu really could do with a translation of the unfamiliar Indonesian terms in English or Malay as I had no idea what Nasi Liwet or Kastrol was when I first ordered this. Nasi Liwet turned out to be rice cooked in chicken stock and coconut milk and topped with fried shallots, cili padi (birds eye chilli) and some fresh basil leaves. It may be close cousin to our own nasi lemak and the rice was tasty enough to be eaten on its own. Kastrol is actually the pot in which the rice is served in.

The nasi liwet served in a kastrol

The set came with fried chicken, tempe, tauhu, salted fish (although the tempe was missing in our set), lalapan and more sambal. The fried chicken is done perfectly in true Indonesian style, piping hot and crispy on the outside and moist and juicy inside. The chicken is not the broiler variety and has a nice texture and bite, possibly a kampong (free range) variety. This was a great choice for us to begin your journey into Cibiuk's Sundanese cuisine and is highly recommended.

The nasi liwet set for 2 persons

On another visit, we had the Nasi Bakar Pulen Komplit set. The nasi bakar is actually cooked rice rolled in a banana leaf  wrap and then grilled. The grilling imparts the aroma of the banana leaf into the rice. The rice was nice and tasty too, almost like the tasty nasi liwet we had before. The grilled chicken had a nice caramelized outer skin, partly due to a sweetish sauce the chicken had apparently been dipped in. The tempe, tauhoo and lalapan made an appearance here too. This too is a good set which we highly recommend.

The nasi timbel ayam bakar set

Another rice set that we have tried is the Nasi Timbel Komplit Lele Goreng. I was told that nasi timbel means rice wrapped into a packet. And that was just what it was, plain white rice wrapped into a packet with banana leaf. Lele goreng is the ubiquitous Indonesian favorite ikan keli  deep fried until crispy. Accompanied again by the tempe, tauhoo and lalapan. It was good but not particularly outstanding.

Nasi timbel komplit lele goreng

If you like some soup to accompany your meal, you could try the Sop Buntut literally translated as Backside Soup. Don't worry though, it is actually a flavorful Oxtail Soup served with several thick slices of fried emping floating on the top. Good but not outstanding.

Sop Buntut

A really good antidote after all the fiery sambals is the Jus Alpukat which is Avocado Juice. This is dependent on the availability of avocado which I was told is shipped in regularly from Indonesia. Do check if it is available as the creamy avocado really soothes the burning tongue after the pungency of the sambal takes effect.

Jus Alpukat

Prices are pretty reasonable and Teh-O is served gratis (free). The new restaurant is open sided and is thus airy, cool  and comfortable at dinner time. Low tables are available for those who prefer to sit on the floor (on a raised platform) for a more authentic kampong feel. 

Overall, this is one of our best finds for 2012 and I'm sure it's a place we will be returning to more often in 2013, especially to try their a-la carte menu. 

Location : No 1G Kajang Putra, Jalan Putra 6, 43000 Kajang (it is located near the Sg Ramal Toll booth off the Silk Highway. Easiest way to get here is via the Silk Highway from Jalan Bukit, Jalan Reko or Sg Chua heading towards Putrajaya, exit just before the Sg Ramal Toll and the restaurant is just on the left side of the highway).
Contact : 012-4570061 / 012-3617348
Website : http://cibiuk.my/
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/RumahMakanCibiukMalaysia

Sup Power Ali

Sup Power Ali has been around for some time now, located along the Jalan Semenyih road near the interchange with the Silk Highway.

This is the place we go to for some local "comfort" food, steaming bowls of hot thick and spicy Mamak style soup with your choice of meat - chicken, beef, mutton, oxtail or various types of innards including tendons, tripe, 'torpedo' and bones. It's served with bread cubes, the perfect accompaniment to mop us the tasty soup.

There's also a stall selling nasi lemak with dishes but it's really not worth mentioning. The soup however is worth the drive there. Give it a try on cold rainy night (like today) and you'll not regret it. Be warned however that it's not for the faint hearted - the soup really packs the chilli and spices. Also be warned that picking too many meats may burn your pockets. We usually just order chicken, beef or oxtail separately. You tend to get more value for money that way ;-)

Location : 7-A, Jalan 1, Taman Maju 2, Jalan Semenyih, Kajang

Beef noodles at Zuan Kee, Bandar Teknologi (CLOSED)

UPDATE AS AT JUNE 2014 - CLOSED
Gone but not forgotten.

Once in a while, I get the urge to have a good bowl of soupy noodles. My favorite pork noodles with an extra scoop of lard and garlic is usually the first choice. The next choice would be beef noodles. Made with beef stock brewed for hours, it is a great comfort food.

You can have it with beef and tripe,

Or with just the beef slices.

It comes topped with fragrant fried shallots and spring onions. I'd recommend the slippery smooth kway teow (flat rice noodles) which goes very nicely with the soup. They also have the dry version, but that would be missing their star ingredient - the beef soup, which is good to the last drop. Possibly the best beef noodle soup in South Klang Valley ?

Location: No 1 Jalan 1/3, Seksyen 1, Bandar Teknologi Kajang, Semenyih, 43500 Selangor

Lek Kee Chicken Rice, Taman Kajang Prima

Following up on my earlier post about the best chicken rice in Kajang, the main contender for the title was Lek Kee Chicken Rice which was located at the car park area of the Kajang market. Quite famous actually, but also notorious. See the comments to the review in the Kajang Town blog here.

Actually gd, Rose and myself too have a love hate relationship with the Kam Mou (golden haired guy) who used to chop the meat there. Good food but bad hygiene and bad attitude. But putting everything else aside, it was a pretty good chicken rice. So when the Kam Mou dissapeared, we though that was the end of his legacy.

The good news is that Lek Kee has now reopened at Taman Kajang Prima, off Jalan Semenyih.

However the Kam Mou has lost his signature blonde hair and is now with black hair :-) Not sure if he is less ham sap as well ;-)

Still with the same bad ass attitude though. Somehow it wouldn't be the same without the attitude :-)

Chicken and char siew are still good. Haven't tried the duck and siew yoke yet. Give it a try and let me know what you think. It's located behind the HSBC Bank.

The best chicken rice in Kajang ?

This is going to be contentious but I'm sticking my (chicken) neck out here. The best chicken rice IMHO is to be found in a coffee shop named Double Six Restaurant (Restoran 66) at Bandar Teknologi, Jalan Semnyih, Kajang.

A steady stream of customers from about 12 noon until they sell out, which can be as early as 2 p.m. is testament to the quality of the chicken rice here.

 The roast chicken, roast pork and char siew are all good.

And the rice is cooked in chicken stock, making it tasty and flavorful.

Located on the left side of the main road as you enter Bandar Teknologi from Jalan Semenyih, do give it a try and let me know what you think.

Old Man II

During our visit to the Arabian House Restaurant recently, we noticed a place named Old Man II nearby. We have written about the Old Man Restaurant before and that place is located close by too. So we decided to give this new outlet a try and find out if the restaurants are related.

We were given a nice menu with an extensive selection. It reminded us of Esquire Kitchen. There were many one dish rice or noodle options as well as a la-carte choices. We decided to go with the latter and ordered some of their signature dishes:-

First up was their House Special Steamed Tilapia (RM23). Well this house must be very tolerant to chillies as we found this to be pretty spicy and pungent. The fish was fresh and tasty though. You'll enjoy this if you like the spicy stuff.

The Mongolian Style Pork (RM15) had slices of pork stir-fried with lots of onions, black pepper and curry leave (?) as well as a sprinkling of chilli padi. Hmmmmm...I never knew they had curry leaves in Mongolia? Putting aside the rather inappropriate name of the dish, it tasted pretty interesting actually.

Four Treasure Tofu (RM13) had fried pieces of silken tofu topped with a sauce that had carrots, green beans, red peppers and fish paste (the four treasures?). Pretty decent.

The Shrimp Omelette or Foo Yong Tan (RM10) came with plump and juicy prawns. Nicely executed.

The Stir Fried Lotus Root came with mushrooms, celery, green beans, carrots and cashew nuts as well. Nicely done too.

After the searing hot chilli, we needed something sweet to cool off. The Vietnamese Iced Coffee I ordered was too sweet and not strong enough. The Longan and Sea Coconut too was rather sweet. However the fresh Kedondong Juice served with Assam Boi, was the right choice to cool down.

We found the cooks to be quite restrained in the use of salt (which I personally think is a good thing) and we assume not much MSG was used as well. Overall the results were rather mixed but it certainly warrants more visits. And yes, they appear to be under the same management as the Old Man Restaurant nearby as we spotted a couple of familiar faces here.

Location : No 21-G, Jalan Putra 3, Taman Putra Kajang, Sg Chua, Kajang
Contact : 013-2802898

CLOSED-Kg Lobak Thai Seafood & BBQ, Seremban

This is an overdue post from an outing last year. We took a long drive all the way to Jalan Lobak in Seremban to sample some Thai food at the (then) newly opened Kg Lobak Thai Seafood & BBQ restaurant. Located just beside (or behind) the Petronas station along Jalan Lobak, it's easy to find and there's ample parking at the side and front.

We tried some Thai staples. The Chicken Feet Kerabu was was nice and well balanced; sweet, hot and sour as it should be.

The Pandan Chicken was well marinated and tasty. Thumbs up.

The Fish Cake was springy and tasty.

The Tom Yam Soup was suitably hot, sour and slightly sweet too. I personally prefer the tom yam with coconut milk so this version without santan did not hit the spot for me although it was well executed.

The Thai Lemon Sauce Fish on the other hand hit the spot for me and was good to the last bone. Sweet and tangy, the lemon sauce was a perfect foil for the fresh fish.

A small serving of Fried Rice topped off our lunch.

We had a peek in the kitchen and found that it was manned by Thai cooks who cooked everything from scratch, using fresh ingredients.

Overall, a great addition for the Seremban folk craving for authentic Thai food. May be worth the drive down too.

Location : Behind the Petronas station, Jalan Lobak, Seremban, Negri Sembilan.

Arabian House Restaurant

I’d noticed a new Middle Eastern restaurant at Taman Putra, Kajang about a month now. It’s located near the SILK Highway Sg Chua toll plaza. Take the last exit on the left just before the toll plaza heading towards Putrajaya and the restaurant is just on the left side of the exit. It’s brightly lit but does not have much in terms of Middle Eastern décor. 

The waiters are mostly Middle Eastern too and there’s some communication problem when ordering. Best to indicate the numbers on the menu once you’ve made your selection. Asking for explanations of the menu items is not advisable unless you speak Arabic. On our maiden visit, we decided to have a rice and chicken dish and some barbeque meats / mixed grill. Blame it on a menu that is not very clear but both dishes came served with rice.

The ‘Kapsa’ chicken (RM12) was described as ‘tender chicken meat stewed with fragrant rice’. Sounds a bit like briyani? The chicken was truly cooked till tender and practically dropping off the bone. The rice was imbued with the flavors of the chicken and was tasty and flavorful. No gravy was necessary although id did seem rather dry by Asian standards. Highly recommended.

The Mix Grill (RM15) consisted of kebabs and barbeque meats. The lamb kebab was probably the tastiest lamb I’ve ever eaten. Slowly cooked and moist inside, the lamb had also been nicely marinated. Highly recommended. The chicken pieces had a spicy marinade and was similarly moist inside. Highly recommended too. There was a third kebab which was quite pale in color which I assumed was minced chicken. This too was moist inside but lacked the flavors of the lamb and chicken pieces. Overall a great introduction to Middle Eastern grilled kebabs and meats. Served with long grain rice and a sauce on the side, it was good to the last grain. Very good.

The lemon juice with mint drink (RM6) was just the right drink for the hot weather and to end a great meal for Ros. 

I had the Turkish coffee (RM4). If you’ve never had Turkish coffee, be warned that the coffee grains are not strained out. It also has a bitter aftertaste. But I’m a coffee addict so I’ll take my coffee in any style or form. 

We spotted three Middle Eastern cooks in the kitchen. A rotating grill for the grilled chicken and a barbeque pit for the grilled kebabs could be seen too. Overall very authentic and tasty Middle Eastern food. We’ll be returning to try more from their extensive menu. Now, if only we could speak Arabic……..

Location : 1G Jalan Putra Kajang 5, Taman Putra Kajang, 43000 Kajang, Selangor
Contact : 03-87343476

Koya Japanese Restaurant, Bandar Mahkota Cheras

We finally found a Japanese place around the Kajang area worth writing about and one that we can recommend. It’s located at Bandar Mahkota Cheras near the Rotiman bakery (one of our favorite cake shops in South Klang Valley). 

We understand that the cook is Japanese. This was our first visit and we just tried a few items on the menu. First was the ‘tobiko sushi’(RM6), laden with flying fish roe, this had the usual crunchy and fishy taste. Good (sorry no photo as it came out blur).

Next was the soft shell crab and avocado roll (RM15). The soft shell crab was still hot and crunchy and this was balanced by the soft avocado. Bits of sesame seeds and tobiko gave the roll different textures whilst the Japanese mayonnaise gave it some sweetness and creaminess. Very good and recommended.

 Next was the ‘gyoza’ or Japanese dumpling (RM8). I think it was steamed and then finished on the grill. It was a little soft (compared to Chinese dumplings) but the fillings were tasty. Good.

We had the ‘unagi’ set (RM31) which at first look was a little disappointing in terms of the size of the grilled eel serving. However we could not fault the taste. The accompanying ‘chawan mushi’ (egg custard with meat) was soft and silken with a nice slight eggy fragrance. No fault with the ‘miso’ soup either but the rice was not the Japanese variety but a local long grain variety. 

They have quite an extensive menu with the usual Japanese items including sashimi (raw seafood items), agemono (deep fried), yakimono (grilled or pan fried), stewed dishes and noodles. No doubt, enough reasons for us to make return visits in future. Japanese sake is also available.   

Location : No 56, Jalan Temenggung 1/9, SCK 9, Bandar Mahkota Cheras, 43200 Kajang, Selangor
Contact : 03-90198260

Hoong Kee 168, "Famous Sg Chua Steamed Fish Head"

We found a gem of a place within a food court in Sg Chua. Located beside the Sg Chua Footsal Court (opposite the Esso Petrol Station). 

 Located rather conspicuously at the left side of the food court as you enter, there is a banner reading Hoong Kee 168 “Famous Sg Chua Steamed Fish Head”. 

We had the steamed fish head with black bean. Perfectly steamed and with a spattering of beans and shredded radish. Highly recommended.

 The steamed pork ribs were good but not particularly outstanding.

Vegetables were scalded and served with oyster sauce and fried scallions. Good.

Taufoo (soy bean curd) with mince meat. So-so only. 

They also operate the bak kut teh stall opposite. We ordered a bowl. Pretty decent stuff but ask to omit the fried taufoo puffs as it adds an alkaline taste to the soup.

The food court also has stall selling fried rice and noodles (the fried rice looked good), Thai food (we had a pretty decent Thai fried rice here), curry laksa with chicken curry (pretty decent too), a Chinese nasi lemak stall and an apparently a famous pan mee seller (which gd tried and commented as being mediocre).  Surely worth a visit.