Dinner @ Gong Fu Kitchen, Kota Damansara

Today's dinner bring us to Gong Fu Kitchen @ Kota Damansara.  Serving Cantonese dishes, this restaurant boasts that no MSG has been used to ensure authenticity in its taste and promote good healthy eating.

First up is the double-boiled soup.  Their soup choices are rotated everyday, so if you come everyday, you'll bound to sample different nutritious soups.  Since it was Friday, we had the double-boiled old cucumber soup.

The soup is very nice to drink.  It very flavourful and packed with the sweetness of the carrots & old cucumbers.  It has a little spiciness in it as they have added salted mustard greens.  I like it as the saltiness is just right.  Perfect start to a meal.  Plus, I can confirm it has no MSG, as we did not return home feeling very thirsty.

For the mains, we ordered the Three Fortune Chinese Sausage Claypot Rice.  There were a few other choices but we decided on this mainly because it was labelled Chef's Recommendation and the picture looks really good.  Obviously, for illustration purposes as the real thing did not look as pleasant in the pictures.

Presentation wise, so-so.  It is basically plain rice cooked in claypot and topped with cured, waxed meats & vegetables, drizzled with some dark soya sauce.  A little disappointed as we were expecting it to be like the usual claypot rice.

Still it tasted alright, as the waxed meats flavoured the rice.  But we found it a bit too oily, could have been from the waxed meat.  Not a dish that I would order again - too unhealthy.

We also ordered the Honey Roasted Pork Chee Cheung Fun as the second main dish.  Now, this dish is worth coming back for.

I like how the layer of rice noodle is not too thin or too thick.  I always dislike it that it breaks the moment I pick up the chee cheung fun, but here, it holds pretty nicely.

They have also put in a lot of pork & vegetables.  The soya sauce tasted quite sweet and blends very well with the dish, without masking the roasted pork.  Didn't try the dried chillies to go together with the chee cheung fun as I was having sorethroat, so can't comment.

We ordered hot sugarcane with carrots herbal drink.  Sweetness is just right, perfect to soothe my throat.


Gong Fu Kitchen
22A, Jalan PJU 5/21
The Strand, Kota Damansara
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Frozen Yogurt @ 9 Berries, KL City Walk

NOTE:  Starting from 20 October 2012, 9 Berries will be operating from a new place at Sunway Giza Mall, Kota Damansara.

Along the longest strip walk in KL, KL City Walk, lies a very nice, cozy little stall that serves delicious frozen yogurt (commonly known as froyo).

Owned by a very friendly Korean couple, Andy & Mimi, 9 Berries is very nicely decorated.  They display a lot of Korean items such as accessories, CDs and decorative items, all for sale.  So, while your taste-buds enjoy the icy treat, your eyes can feast on the goodies.

KS and I decided to drop by right after work to snack a bit before going home (and get stuck in the Friday jam).

1)  Korean style frozen yogurt

Unfortunately, there are only 2 flavours available.  So, we decided to go for the Original flavour instead.

We ordered a medium size (RM 6.90) and it comes with two toppings - cornflakes & chocolate chips (In fact, you're free to decide what toppings you want.  They  have choco balls, Oreo Biscuits, a range of fruits etc).

The yogurt is so nice!  Unlike the frozen yogurt from Tutti Frutti, their frozen yogurt is very light and fluffy.  Also, the texture is very smooth.  Taste-wise, real yogurt and the sweetness is just right.

Just the perfect treat on a hot afternoon!

Note, I am no big fan of yogurt (never really liked the taste), but I actually like the frozen yogurt they serve here at 9 Berries.  So, you can imagine how nice it tasted.

Definitely will be coming back for a second round to taste the other flavours.  Maybe this time, I will go large (Large for RM 9.90).

And apparently, their frozen yogurt are made daily with fresh milk.  So, you can be sure the quality is good.

2)  Liege style Belgian Waffle

The key feature of Liege style waffle is the tasty sugary coating on the surface of the waffle as a result of the caramelisation of the pearl sugar during the baking process.  It is usually denser and chewier than the normal waffle we normally find - Brussels waffle.

This is my first time eating Liege style waffle and so, was kinda caught by surprise when it turned to be chewier than the usual waffle.

The texture is a bit like wholemeal bread and slightly on the drier side.  Despite having the caramelized sugar coating, it was not very sweet.

It would have been much nicer if it was slightly warmer to bring out the crispiness of the sugar coating.  But I guess it could be because it is almost the end of the day, and the waffle has slowly gone soft.  Maybe if eaten while it is still fresh would have been much better.

Still, it tasted great when eaten together with the frozen yogurt.  The combination is quite good since the waffle does not go soggy very fast when combined with the frozen yogurt.

They also serve yogurt smoothies on their menu.

For those working nearby, it is definitely worth dropping by this cozy little stall to sample this non-fattening, healthy treat.

Note:

• If you are coming from Pavillion using the overhead bridge, just get down at Bank Islam.  The entrance to KL City Walk is between Bank Islam building & Impiana Hotel.
• 9 Berries is closer to Jalan P Ramlee (right behind Wisma Hong Leong).

9 Berries
F4, KL City Walk
Jalan P Ramlee
50250 Kuala Lumpur

(open on weekdays until 7pm)

McD Breakfast

An unhealthy breakfast @ McDonalds - Fish O Fillet :P

Lunch @ Jalan Mesu

Lately, it is getting harder to find somewhere around the Raja Chulan area serving decent and cheap food for us poor working people.  With the current rapid development in KL, shops/stalls are slowly being replaced with newer, more expensive eateries.

It will be a matter of time this small stall will also be gone, hopefully not so soon.

This stall, located along Jalan Mesu off Lorong Ceylon, serves a variety of noodles - wantan mee, pork noodles, prawn noodles, fishball noodles, curry mee. You name it and most likely they will have it.  And the best part is, you can sort-of customize your order.


For me, I usually order plain curry noodles that comes along with fried wantan and lots of fried beancurd.

The only problem is that the consistency of its quality is a bit questionable.  Sometimes, you'll find it tasting very nice and sometimes, it just tasted so-so only.  That's how my curry noodles usually taste.  It's pretty much a game of luck.  

On days when I am lucky, the soup is very nice to drink.  Not too thick or too watery.  Even the spiciness is just right.  (Obviously, today is the lucky day as my noodles are tasting great).

On days when it tasted so-so, the soup tasted a bit diluted. Looking at its colour, you will know when they have added tad too much water.


Environment wise, it can be very hot and stuffy on a hot, sunny day. You'll need to consider what you wear (and maybe the weather too) before deciding to go there - chances you'll be sweating a lot!

Dayak cuisine @ the.Dyak, Kuching

All my life, I have no idea what the orang asli (the aboriginal tribes of Malaysia) cuisine actually tasted like.  So, when I was out for a trip at Kuching for my very first time, I made up my mind that we must at least sample a traditional orang asli cuisine, no matter what.


Many people commented one particular restaurant serving Dayak cuisine, giving very good ratings on TripAdvisor.  Given its reliability, I decided to put the.Dyak at the top of my to-eat list (along with the sarawak laksa & kolo mee).


So, on our very last day of our trip, we stopped by this fine-dining restaurant.  It was sort of a "thank you" lunch to our friends-cum-tour guide, who had taken time off their busy schedule to bring us around.


Since our friend had recently tried this restaurant, we left the ordering to her & her husband.  Since I didn't have to go through the menu, I had all the time taking pictures of this wonderfully decorated restaurant and slowly enjoy.


The restaurant is very beautiful & cosy, and the owner had put a lot of thoughts into decorating the restaurant.  You can see many pictures, paintings & other decorative items (vase, swords, musical instrument) of the Dayak tribe.  Coming here is like visiting a mini museum of the Dayak tribe.


In fact, one of the waiters came to know that we are tourists, and he handed us a printed paper with a whole lot of history & descriptions behind each of the items displayed in this restaurant.


It was an interesting experience, learning about the tribe while waiting for the food to arrive. (Quite a pity though, as I didn't manage to digest every information)

Food
(Note:  The descriptions are all taken from the.Dyak's Facebook.  I could barely remember most of the names of the dishes, let alone those ingredients)

Manok Lulun - Chicken cooked in bamboo with ginger, onions, lemongrass, wild ginger flowers & tapioca leaves

This dish, although it look very simple and bland, is very flavourful.  I drank the sauce as though it was soup. Very light & freshening.  Close resemblance to Chinese cuisine.

Paku Kubok Gulai Bungai Kechala - Jungle frens stir-fried with wild ginger flowers & chillies

I love this dish.  Tasted like kangkung belacan, and the ferns are still very crunchy.  Not as slimy as I thought.

Jani Tunu - Well-marinated three-layered fatty char-grilled pork served with a refreshing sambal mixture.

A little disappointed as it was not very juicy as I have expected but still nice (I think I ate this the most).  But the star of this dish is the sambal sauce.  Dipping the pork with the sambal mixture just make you want to have more.

Daun Ubi Guring - Finely-chopped tapioca leaves

Don't be fooled by how unattractive it looks.  Surprisingly, it tasted nice & very juicy.  I am not sure what actually goes into it, but it tasted well on its own.

Tuak ice-cream - For desserts, we ordered the special version that has two types of rice wine.  Greedy, we are.

But somehow, I got taken aback with this dessert as the alcohol level is a bit to strong for my liking (not really an alcohol person).  A very unique taste, is all I can comment.  I think for all the tuak lovers, you may like this.

The service is fantastic.  The waiters are very friendly and polite - all with big sweet smiles on their faces.

Overall, it is a comforting place to relax and enjoy good food after a tiring day-out.  I totally love the ambiance of this place - it felt like you have just entered into someone's house and the host is whipping out his finest dishes while you learn about the stories of his family, history & culture.

An experience you should not miss!



the.Dyak
29, Ground Floor,
Panovel Commercial Complex,
Jalan Simpang Tiga,
93300 Kuching
Sarawak