Tai Ho Jiak @ Kajang Prima

 Tai Ho Jiak @ Kajang Prima

This place has been drawing a steady crowd since opening a few months ago, and I finally managed to drop by on a quiet weekday evening. The atmosphere was relaxed, with moderate noise levels and no wait time—ideal for a casual dinner.

The food was generally good, and I found the set meals to be excellent value for money. The Braised Pork was tender and flavorful, pairing beautifully with warm rice. The pickled cucumber added a refreshing tartness and chill that helped open the appetite, while the seaweed soup was simple but satisfying.

The Handmade Dumplings were a standout—tasty, well-textured, and something I’d happily order à la carte next time. Definitely a highlight of the meal.

For dessert, I preferred the Brown Sugar Brûlée over the Signature Herbal Jelly. The brûlée had a deeper, more indulgent flavor, although the boba balls didn’t quite add to the experience. The herbal jelly was light and refreshing, but less memorable.

Service was prompt and friendly throughout, and the overall dining experience felt well-balanced. With prices ranging from RM 20–40 per person, it’s a solid dinner option that delivers on both taste and value.

I’ll definitely be back to explore more of the menu.

CLOSED : Lo Ma Zhi

Unfortunately, this restaurant has ceased operations on 18 August 2025. However I'm keeping this post here in memory of the good food and good times I had there.

Somebody commented that it's been 8 years since my last post on this blog. It's true, and much water has flown under the bridge in that time - career move, studies etc. Eight years ago, my workplace was at Jalan Ipoh in KL and one of my favourite restaurants, Lo Ma Zhi was located just down the road along the same road. The restaurant relocated in 2018 during the MRT construction works on Jalan Ipoh and I moved to an office in the heart of KL business district. After losing touch with restaurant for almost 8 years too, I had a pleasant and memorable reconnect during the Raya holiday. Taking advantage of the toll-free and almost traffic-free roads, I made my way to the somewhat obscure location in Tropicana Selatan. Located among the landscape and plant nurseries is the (not so) new location for Lo Ma Zhi Restaurant at Lot 10, Kawasan Landskap & Nurseri, Jalan Tropicana Selatan, Persiaran Tropicana, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Some of the dishes for lunch were:

Steamed Ikan Patin - wild patin fish steamed in a simple soy sauce with some cili padi.

Smoked Platter - smoked pork belly and duck breast with smoked lychee and braised peanuts - highly recommended.

Doggy Duck - a traditional Hakka braised duck dish cooked with ginger and spices - highly recommended. 

Drunken Emperor Eggs - egg in rice wine - highly recommended.

Kam heong la-la.

Pa Wong Chicken Chop - fried chicken chops.

Salted Spice Brinjal - highly recommended.

Nanyang Vegetables - a variation of Lo Hon Chai but with added red fermented beancurd.

All the food were either excellent or good. My only complaint was that the Nanyang Vegetables were a little soggy by the time it reached the table. 

This was a trip down memory lane for me. And now that I know where they are, this will not be the last visit too. Do give it a try if you're in the area. Reservations are required so do call 010-2421132 before you visit.

My top 10 breakfast and lunch places in Bandar Mahkota Cheras

I've been frequenting the Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) and Sg Long (SL) areas on Saturdays for the last few years and have had the opportunity to try various breakfast and lunch spots. BMC and SL are predominantly Chinese areas so the food outlets are primarily Chinese with some Western, Indian, Mamak (a unique Malaysian cuisine actually) with only a spattering of Malay stalls (no proper Malay restaurant I believe). 

There are many coffee shops and cafes , but most produce (with a few exceptions) average or mediocre food for the masses. I personally prefer the shops which specialise in particular dishes as they tend to make them well.

Here's my list of favorites in BMC in no particular order. Follow the links for location and other details on Google Maps.

1. Family Pho (Vietnamese)

Run by a Vietnamese family, this place has been around for some time. Besides the ubiquitous Pho, their Bahn Mi sandwich is worth trying too. Full meals with dishes are available too and what I've tried so far has been good.  

2. Yeng Kee Noodle House 2 

This is a branch of a noodles house from Taman Yulek Cheras. Their various fish head noodles are good and regulars even store their bottles of rice wine at the shop, to be added to the noodles for extra aroma and taste. My favourite here however are the Tendon Pork Noodles soup. The pork slices have an extraordinary texture and the broth is light and refreshing. Highly recommended.

3. Restoran Wa Bao Zai Claypot Chicken Rice 

This is a recent discovery and the Claypot Chicken Rice ticked all the right boxes - slightly burnt crust, tender well cooked chicken, pork sausages and add-on salted fish. Their Chicken Soup in Coconut was good and is recommended as well. The owner's wife is Vietnamese and she sells fresh Vietnamese tea and cashew nuts at the counter. 

4. SK Pork Noodles

A branch of the famous Seri Kembangan Pork Noodles, this is another regular go-to places for pork noodles in BMC.

5. Rojak Stall at 63 Food Station

A hard working Chinese guy runs this stall single-handedly and manages to serve a very good version of the Mamak style rojak. 

6. Beef Noodles at 63 Food Station

The chef at this stall is pretty old but his expertise shows in the flavourful beef noodle broth which has been boiled for hours. All the meat and innards are tender, and the slices of melon melt in your mouth. Highly recommended. 

7. Hock Kee Ulu Yam Loh Mee 

Their signature Ulu Yam Loh Mee is good. But my favorite here is their Hokkien Mee. Cooked with hand made thick noodles with generous amounts of pork lard, this noodle might be even better than the other famous speciality Hokkien noodles place down the road. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

8. Nasi Kandar Pokok Cheri 

The most authentic Nasi Kandar or Mamak restaurant in BMC. It will not earn any points for the dark and dingy interior but the food, especially the curries, bring me back to Penang. Have your favourite dishes and don't forget to tell them to "banjir" the rice with "kuah campur".

9. Woo Pin Fish Head Noodles

Another branch of a famous fish head noodle shop from Taman Desa, this place lives up to the reputation of its original shop. Good fish head noodles which are well executed.

10. Ah Teo Pan Mee & Zhu Ro Fen

There are a few pan mee shops around BMC, some with queues for tables. But I personally like the pan mee here. Both the sop and dry versions are good. Also good are their Pork Noodles and Curry Mee. 

Do give them a try and let me know in the comments if you have any other favourites that are not on this list.

Lakeside Hometaste Restaurant (tepi rumah)

Front Entrance to Lakeside Hometaste Restaurant (side of a house next to lake)

On a cloudy late Sunday morning, decided to go food hunting in Sg. Chua with my partner-in-crime, the unexplored territories. Following my GPS to a so called 'free range chicken' place nearby - which we presumed had closed, we accidently found this place as there were many cars parked there. We decided to try it out. It is right opposite the lake from the famous Thai restaurant, A-Wet.

Loh Pan-Mee before adding black vinegar

Basically its a noodle place with most of them going for pan-mee base. There was Yee Mee, Pan Mee, Loh Mee, Curry Mee served dry (kon lo) or soupy. I tried the Loh Pan Mee in thick Pan Mee (they also have thin Pan-mee) - which I found it to be tasty but a little thick on the broth. My PIC went for Kon Lo Pan Mee which was quite tasty too. Side dishes were fried dumpling and fish ball soup. Fried dumpling was a little small but very tasty where as the fish ball soup was big but the fish ball lack the springy texture and ordinary in taste. I do intend to try other side dishes next time there.

Kon-loh Pan-Mee & fish ball soup

The airy spacious enviroment was a plus point, it has lots of fans too, clean and nice. There was a constant flow of customers but it was not crowded/congested. 

This place gave me the feeling you were seated at the verendah of your house, overlooking the lake in front and enjoying your Sunday morning brunch. They also make lovely kampung styled kopi-ais which went great with the meal. Nice place, nice food and some SYTs to serve you - what else could you ask for? BTW. I was told, there have been in business since 2015, so its not that new.

Fried dumplings

Ex Oldman, Restaurant Happy

To write or not to write, to share or not to share - the million dollar question we always ask. To be honest, I am reluctant to share this place as it is ‘damn good’ and I don’t want to end up waiting when I go there once he become famous, but.......what the heck!

Famous Oldman (retired)

Farewell Oldman, welcome Youngman and I am indeed happy to blog about Happy Restaurant - it’s kept me happy for the last month or so since they appeared on my food radar.

Located at the parking lot of Pasar Kajang where the Oldman Restaurant used to be, it is now renamed as Happy Restaurant and run by a young tattooed Chef and his Cantonese/Mandarin speaking and ever-smiling wife. Nice couple they are.

I was a bit skeptical when this new guy appeared about 2 weeks after Oldman Uncle decided to retire. He told us his son’s friend will be taking over after a quick renovation. Now I have been a faithful customer for the last 3 weeks or so and I have to admit, I am kinda addicted to this place, swearing to come back again next weekend!

'Youngman' Chef

Today’s dinner even inspired me to get back to my blogging, so here it goes - Kajang’s new secret food hideout @Pasar Kajang parking lot - Restoran Happy.

Husband wife team with a child in tow, the wife greets you with a big smile (every time without fail), she even remembers what you had there the last time and ever willing to recommend something new for us to try. Although a Myanmarese, she speaks Mandarin and Cantonese fluently and some Bahasa too.

What have we tried so far and recommendations: at the top of the list will be the simple fried Talapia topped with lots of fried garlic-chili-api mix - superb, will make your crave for more! Well executed for a very simple fried fish but full of flavour from the garlic-chili api sauce.This is a must have. (FYI: There is a guy under a tree in Sg. Way who does this style of frying Ikan Kembung for lunch, laced with similar garlic sauce - very famous - behind Cycle & Carriage, 200m from new Krishna Curry House - Federal Highway)

Fried Talapia with garlic-chili-padi topping

Next, pork ribs cooked with lots of onion and tomato plus some samsu (rice wine) - as normal as it look, has a fantastic aroma/flavour to it (reminds me of really good claypot musang from the good old days) - its a very 'old school' way of cooking with fantastic results.

The Bitter Gourd and Salted Egg came as the biggest surprise - we were expecting the normal stir fried green bitter gourd, but was completely surprised when it was served as deep fried and looked much different from our expectation - it was very tasty and strangely, not bitter! Makes a good appetizer. 

Retro-tasting Pork Ribs with onion-tomato & samsu

I also have to mention the pork ribs (or even fried chicken) topped with crushed peanuts sauce we had - very tasty and flavourful.

We had eggplant/brinjal with salted fish and this was also a winner - flavourful but a little oily (he admitted, he forgot to drain the eggplant after frying it - give him the benefit of the doubt this time - still new).

Fried Bitter Gourd in Salted egg

Other dishes we tried here were kangkong in claypot - not sure why the claypot but just average stir fried kangkong. It was ok, little different. The curry sea-food claypot of parwns/sotong/fish was very tasty, worth a try too. There is also a dry fish head curry - garupa fish with some vege - also tasty and worth the try.

What was amazing, my kaki makan friends all kept telling me, this place is like an addiction, we keep wanting to go back there week after week for his cooking! Must be good. He is open from about 10am in the morning to about 3pm after lunch, then a break till 5.30pm, then to 9.00pm. Youngman has taste and can dish out some awesome dishes, tell us what you think. Keep up the good work Chef Youngman! 


GPS Location 2.990527, 101.793127
Address: 824, Jalan Changkat, 43000 Kajang, Selangor
(Pasar Kajang Car Park area)
 
(more photos to whet your appetite below)

Garupa Fish Head

4-angled beans with lotus root - very good!

Fried nam yee pork - simple, nice

Steamed brinjal - yes, white in colour! nice.

Fried squid/sotong with salted egg - nice

Pork ribs in special peanut sauce

Signature fresh fried talapia & loads of garlic-chiliapi! RECOMMENDED!

Live & Fresh Talapia in 'Samsu' - sorry, only for regulars ;-) (1/3 bottle of samsu!)

Fried Ikan Kembung with young garlic-chilipadi - also for regulars only, sorry ;-)

The Gift Tilapia Restaurant @ Seremban

A word of thanks to Sivin Kit for bringing this restaurant to our attention. On a recent visit to Seremban, we made a short detour to try the food here.

 

A must try would be their signature farm fresh tilapia. We chose the plain steamed tilapia fish with chili padi (birds eye chilli). The fish was indeed fresh and firm. It had a clean taste and no 'muddy' smell. Highly recommended and good value at RM35 (before GST ya). Perhaps one of the best we have ever tried. 

 

We had to try their version of the Japanese unagi (eel). However their version was made with the humble ikan keli (catfish). The fish had the right amount of fat and was slightly sweet from the sauce. It was very good but could have been better with a little more caramalization and more teriyaki sauce. The bed of shredded cabbage and carrot is a bonus vegetable dish too. Quite good value ar RM15.

 

The nyonya style Kapitan chicken curry was decent only at RM13 for a small portion.

 

The paku (fern shoots) with sambal belacan (shrimp paste) was exceptional and highly recommended. For RM10, it's a steal.   

 

Overall, a great little restaurant. Lunch time is a good time to visit as it gets crowded come dinner time. We'll definitely be back to try more. Give it a try and tell us what you think.

Location:   No.11, Lorong Merbok 6/1, Taman Bunga Blossom, 70100 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

Contact :  010-251 5340

Food Taiwan Restaurant @ Bandar Teknologi, Kajang

Fans of Taiwanese food can rejoice with the opening of a new restaurant tucked away in a obscure location in Bandar Teknologi Kajang.

 

Looking  like a normal coffee shop, it offers up some variations to the usual local fare. These include:-

 

Beef noodles - a thick beef stew  with springy noodles. It was a little salty and just average in taste.

 

Fried rice with pork. Very generous with the pork but rather average taste. 

 

The highlight of the visit - the famed Taiwanese Stinky Taufoo. And wow, did it stink. This was a real Fear Factor moment for me. Both Ros and Jeremy were nauseous from the smell so it was left to me to wolf it down. The first mouthful smelt like sewage in my mouth. And the chilli topping and pickled cabbage did little to add flavor to this dish. It tasted flat and disgusting. Anyway, as per my personal motto - I'll try anything once - I persevered and finished the whole plate. And for that, I was left with a disgusting taste and smell in my mouth for the rest of the day! Once is enough for me unfortunately.

 

The desserts here were more promising though. This red bean, grass jelly and bubble tea thingy was huge for RM6.90 (I think) and enough for 3 persons.  

 

The honey tea was thick and nice. Enough for two persons too.

Overall, this is a nice little Taiwanese cafe. Go for the desserts and snacks. 

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

No 1 Jalan 1/3, Seksyen 1, Bandar Teknologi Kajang, Selangor Darul, Seminyih, Selangor, Malaysia - See more at: http://my.nusalist.com/restaurants/all/2.965659/101.826843/no-2-jalan-p21-bandar-teknologi-kajang-43500-semenyih-selangorno-2-jalan-p21-bandar-teknologi-kajang-43500-semenyih-selangor-malaysia#sthash.YFdwcdB6.dpuf

No 1 Jalan 1/3, Seksyen 1, Bandar Teknologi Kajang, Selangor Darul, Seminyih, Selangor, Malaysia - See more at: http://my.nusalist.com/restaurants/all/2.965659/101.826843/no-2-jalan-p21-bandar-teknologi-kajang-43500-semenyih-selangorno-2-jalan-p21-bandar-teknologi-kajang-43500-semenyih-selangor-malaysia#sthash.YFdwcdB6.dpuf

MyLim Restaurant and Kang Master Chef Restaurant @ Semenyih Sentral

If you've been to Ipoh before, you may have noticed a red and white building in the heart of town selling salt baked chicken. It's practically an institution in Ipoh and I make it a point to pack back a few chickens every time I visit Ipoh. The good news for Kajang and Semenyih folks is that you need not have to travel to Ipoh to taste this delicacy. We have our own version of

it in Semenyih called MyLim.

MyLim and Kang Master Chef - side by side

If you visit the shop, you'll find rows of ovens with chicken slowly baking in salt crystals.

 

The chicken are wrapped in paper which retains all the juicy goodness or 'chicken essence'.

 You can have the chicken chopped and served with rice at the restaurant. 

Or you can eat it at the next door restaurant called Kang Master Chef Restaurant. Supposedly famous for fish head noodles, we found the signature dish there to be quite uninspiring.

Ditto for the seafood curry noodles. Not worth talking about.

 

 

But do give MyLim a try. You can also get it shrink wrapped and ready for the freezer. It makes an excellent spare dish when you need it, just take out from freezer, steam, chop it up according to your personal liking and it's ready to serve.  It's RM22 for a whole chicken, either freshly baked or shrink wrapped. They also do delivery so give them a call to find out.

Location :  Jalan Semenyih Sentral 6, Semenyih Sentral, Selangor

Contact : 03- 87248820 (MyLim)

Fook Loy Restaurant @ Sg Chua

Another leisurely Sunday family lunch, this time at Fook Loy in Sg Chua. This is a restaurant that has remained the same over the years. This is what we had:-

 

Their signature must-order dish - prawns in fresh coconut. This is NOT a Thai style tom yam, so you have to get your expectations right. Fresh medium sized prawns are cooked in a spicy broth, using fresh coconut water. The coconut water and fresh prawns impart a delicate sweetness to the soup. Don't forget to scoop up the soup, it's the best part and good to the last drop. RM55 for a large serving for 13 persons.

  

Fook Loy serves roasted duck and chicken rice at lunch time for a quick lunch. Their duck is worth ordering, and this half duck portion (RM23) came with a tangy lemon sauce. Recommended.

 Another signature dish, braised taufoo with seafood. Nice.

 

Steamed pak su kong  fish. The fish was fresh (the use live fish from tanks), but the sauce was rather bland. The fish is RM5 per 100g.

 

We asked for the roasted chicken (RM46 for a whole bird) to be served with a Thai style kerabu gravy. The chicken was rather dry and the gravy was not sufficiently spicy/piquant or sweet. This was quite disappointing. 

 

For vegetable, we had the stir fried bean sprouts with green dragon leaf (Ching Long Chai). A simple dish with different textrures and tastes. Well executed.

The lunch cost us RM255 for 7 dishes (we also had a claypot pork with salted fish dish) with rice and tea for 13 persons. Overall, the food was good, but not outstanding. As I mentioned earlier, this is a restaurant that has remained very much unchanged over the years, which in the ever evolving food scene and with customers having more discerning palates, is not a good thing. 

Location : No 61, Jalan Kima (Kg Bukit Angkat), Sg Chua, Kajang (at the junction of the road leading to the Jade Hills project)
Contact : 03-87333985