Curry Chicken Bun @ Lucky Seafood Restaurant, Port Dickson

When it comes to Port Dickson, the one popular thing that tops any foodie's must-eat is none other than Lucky Kings Bun's gigantic curry chicken bun at Lucky Seafood Restaurant @ Taman Aman, Port Dickson.  The curry chicken wrapped inside a shiny-golden brown bun (RM 28) is large enough to feed up to 4 people.  With chicken, potatoes and bread, it is a complete meal on its own.

The moment the bun and the foil covering the curry was opened, we are welcomed with a strong aromatic smell, leaving us with this sudden urge to dive in immediately.  Obviously, we didn't.

The curry is thick with a creamy texture - the perfect consistency for dipping with bread.  You will notice that the curry actually focuses more on the use of spices and is on the sweeter end, without a lot of heat.  Nonetheless, the spices were well-used and is not too overbearing.  In fact, in my opinion, it sort of resembles Indian curry.  Taste-wise, it is packed with a lot of flavour.  Plus, the curry doesn't feel too oily.

Although I didn't eat much of the chicken (I was focusing more on the bread and curry), they were quite juicy and not over-cooked.  The potatoes (my favourite) were nicely cooked through and have absorbed a lot of the flavours of the curry.

Of course, any curry experience wouldn't be complete without the bread dipped in the sinful curry.  The soft and fluffy bread has a strong buttery taste and although it goes very well with the creamy curry, we find it was slightly on the oilier side (and probably a bit contradicting with the strong flavours of the curry and santan).  A plain fluffy bread would have matched the delicious curry chicken better.

Overall, the curry chicken is very good on its own (oh my, looking at the pics is already making me salivating) and if the bun is less buttery, it would have been perfect.  But nevertheless, it is still a very good dish that will bring definitely me back here again for another round.

There are also other versions of this specialty - tung po pork and curry pork.  Unfortunately, when we visited Lucky Seafood, there was only the famous chicken curry bun.  Well, that gives me a better reason to come back!

Restoran Lucky (P.D.) Seafood

No 4366, Taman Aman

Jalan Bandar Lukut

71010 Port Dickson

GPS: 2.568634,101.8283

Tel: 06-6512392

Open: 11.30 a.m. -11 p.m.

Burgers, Fried Chicken and Fries @ Bad Boy Cooks, Ara Damansara

It was a public holiday and supposedly, the plan was to do some CNY shopping but unfortunately, I had to be called in to work.  Pretty depressing, actually.  So after a long afternoon working, I decided to shove off my diet plans and head for some greasy, unhealthy but satisfying burgers and fries (yes, that’s what stress do to you).  The first thing I thought was, why not try out this Bad Boy Cooks @ Oasis Square, Ara Damansara.

Ever since it was opened, the place is always crowded and it did look like a decent American-style diner with good food.  Just looking at the menu, I must say the pricing seems unreasonably low.  A burger at less than RM10, it did seem like quite a deal.  Also, for just an additional RM1, you can complete the meal with a choice of iced green tea, iced lime juice or iced lime tea.  Looks like there may be hope for our wallets!

KS ordered the Cajun Chicken (RM 12) from their house specials menu.  The grilled chicken was marinated with Bad Boy Cajun spices, topped with brown sauce and served with whipped potato and coleslaw.  It sounded nice but the real thing is slightly far from our expectations.  Besides the juicy grilled chicken, the rest of the dish is not piping hot, as though it has been cooked and cooled for hours.  It would have been a great dish had it been served hot as the chicken had some great flavour.

As for me, I came for only one purpose and that’s burger.  I ordered the Fire Bird (RM 9) – pan-fried chicken breast topped with spicy chilli mayonnaise, cheese, tomato and coleslaw served with long cut fries.  Firstly, the visuals didn't look impressive or appetizing - not something you'd expect from a place like this.  Secondly, the portion was disappointingly small, not just the burger but also the amount of fries (fries was good).  Lastly, in terms of flavour, the chilli mayonnaise managed to save a bit of the otherwise bland burger.  Not to mention, my burger came very late after KS finished his chicken.

Since we underestimate the serving size, we had to make an extra order as we’re still haven’t reach the 70% full mark.

Luckily, this last dish we ordered was pretty good and quite satisfying.  The Fried Chicken (RM 10) - a piece of golden brown chicken breast breaded with Japanese breadcrumbs, served with homemade coleslaw and cut fries (RM10), topped with Pomodoro sauce.  This tomato-based sauce was, again, cold and quite watery.  In fact, the bottled tomato sauce did a better job.  But that aside, the chicken is cooked to perfection - very succulent and crispy.  Definitely a thumbs up for the chicken.

It was quite a disappointing experience as we didn't expect it to be so fast-food style.  Well, we did get what we paid for and so, can’t really complain much.  If I want a quick and light snack, it would probably be a good place to hang out given the small portion.  But, for a proper meal, I might need to think twice.

Bad Boy Cooks

Lot R-07, Oasis Square

Ara Damansara

47301 Petaling Jaya

GPS:  3.113782, 101.57466

Korean BBQ @ San Nae Deul BBQ, Oasis Square

After watching numerous Running Man episodes, sometimes, I just can't help drooling for some really good Korean barbeque and lots of kimchi.  Luckily, there's one really good place, which I recently discovered, that serves really good Korean BBQ - San Nae Deul @ Oasis Square, Ara Damansara.

As there were only two of us, we could only order one BBQ dish (otherwise, we couldn't fit in a kimchi stew or a bulgogi) and this usually became a big restrictive factor because some places do not actually allow for only one order of BBQ item.  But not San Nae Deul.  So, you can imagine how happy we were.

As beef is temporarily off our list (due to mild allergic reaction), pork is the next best thing and hence, we ordered the Gochujang Sam Gyup Sal (RM 35) - three thick and fatty slices of pork belly meat marinated in a house-special spicy fermented soybean paste.  Thinking about it is already making me salivating.

I must say, this is very good with that mild char-grilled fragrance and sweet, spicy taste.  It is very addictive.  The pork belly was very well-marinated with a balanced flavour - so much so that it taste good own its on without the dipping sauce.  The pork belly is not too fatty and the meat is quite tender.  I must also praise the waiter who helped us barbecue the meat to perfection.

Next is the Kimchi Jjigae (RM 18).  When it comes to judging whether a Korean restaurant is good, kimchi stew is usually the best benchmark tool.  However, disappointment awaits us because this kimchi stew somehow lacks the spicy and sour kick that we were hoping for.

Based on our tastebuds, it tasted very tomato-ish - a bit like ABC soup with some chilli and tom-yam soup without the spices.  Nevertheless, it was still a decent and flavourful bowl of vegetable and tofu soup - just not within our reasonable expectation of a kimchi soup.

Their refillable banchan or side dishes were also good and had most of what we love.  For instance, the potato salad and ikan bilis, which we had requested for numerous refills.  One commendable point is that they are actually okay with us refilling a few times, unlike other places which do have a limit on the number of refills you can have.

To end, we were given one complimentary fruit juice or coffee/tea to enjoy at their sister company, which is the Korean bar, ASA, located just below San Nan Deul.

Overall, it was a good barbecue experience and will definitely come back to San Nae Deul as the price and taste is reasonable.  Service was good and very accommodating.  Although it was a small restaurant, it was very cosy and comfortable but seats can be hard to come buy if you're here in a big group.

San Nan Deul BBQ

R-08, Oasis Square

No 2, Jalan PJU 1A/7A

Ara Damansara

47301 Petaling Jaya

GPS:  3.113983,101.574359

Tel: 03-77346538

“Ho Chiak” Thai Food @ Thai Ho Chiak, Seksyen 19, Petaling Jaya

Thai Ho Chiak @ Seksyen 19, when pronounced, would have sounded like the hokkien phrase for "very delicious".  It was such a catchy name, as well as having a very outstanding signage, I am very tempted to try this place each time we passed by when heading towards SS2.  As the name suggests, the food was indeed commendable.

The way to judge the quality of a Thai restaurant is to sample its tom yum soup and so, it was no surprise to see the Chicken Tom Yum (RM 25) on our table.

Firstly, I am very impressed that Thai Ho Chiak has replaced the usual bland boneless chicken meats for chicken meat that actually has skin and bones still intact (my mum always says anything cooked with bones has the best flavour - she's never wrong).  The best part is that the chicken has been deep-fried first and hence, gave an added fragrant flavour to the soup.  Despite that, the soup was nowhere near oily, which is fantastic.  On top of that, chicken was plentiful - it was more than enough for the two of us.

Another thing I love about this tom yum is that it comes with plenty of vegetables – cabbage, tomatoes and mushrooms.  On its own, it is already a complete dish.  Soup-wise, it is quite hot and a little on the saltier side.  The tanginess is a bit lacking and doesn't have the kind of kick that will send you wiggling but we still find it very flavourful.

We also ordered the Stir-fry Kai Lan with Pork Belly (RM 12).  You'd be surprise of how fresh and crisp the kai lan is - totally love it.  Just lightly stir-fried with garlic, it was sweet and simple.  They were also very generous with the thick slices of pork belly.

At RM 1.50, the portion size of the white rice was surprisingly huge too.  Even KS could barely finish his and half of mine (which he usually does).

Generally, we felt the taste has sort of been localized to resemble more of a Chinese cuisine, with a wide range of Chinese lookalike dishes on the menu.  Nevertheless, the food is good and reasonably priced.  Definitely worth a visit.

The restaurant is air-conditioned and very comfortable, with good service.  Seats are pretty limited for small groups of diners as most tables accommodate for larger groups.  So, if you're thinking of a family dinner occasion, you may want to consider Thai Ho Chiak.

Thai Ho Chiak

No 2, Jalan 19/3

Section 19

46300 Petaling Jaya

GPS:  3.117671,101.629095