Pork Noodles @ Peter's Pork Noodle, Brickfields

When it comes to Brickfields, almost anyone will talk highly of this off-shoot stall at Mayflower FoodCourt @ Jalan Vivekananda, that serves one of the best bowls of mouth-watering pork noodles.   Visit Peter's Pork Noodle and experience it for yourself - noodles in a clear broth, filled with pork meat and the usual mixed innards (if these are not your cup of tea, you can always omit them), and for that extra touch, a topping of raw egg.

The first thing I noticed about Peter’s Pork Noodle is the generous amount of pork served with each bowl.  Most stalls would rather skimp on the ingredients in return for a more handsome profit but Peter’s definitely deserves two thumbs up for putting a generous amount of meat.

The highlight of any pork noodle is their soup and of course, the juicy tender pork and I have to say this one tops it all.  If I had a choice, I would have just finished every single drop of that soup without even touching anything else.

Would I come back again?  Definitely, even if the place is hot (especially after a walk under the hot sun from KL Sentral).

Peter’s Pork Noodle

Mayflower Food Court

No. 144A, Jalan Vivekananda

Off Jalan Tun Sambanthan

Brickfields

50470 Kuala Lumpur

GPS:  3.131169,101.686575

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.

Old-school Vegetarian @ Organic Leaf Restaurant, Section 17 PJ

When I first looked at the menu of Organic Leaf Restaurant @ Section 17, Petaling Jaya, I was confused and almost stunned to see the words "fish"," chicken", "beef" and "mutton" listed because I clearly remembered entering a vegetarian restaurant.  After (shyly) confirming with KS that those are indeed mock meat, I laughed hilariously.  Well, guess it has been a very long time since I stepped into a Chinese vegetarian restaurant.  

(To me, vegetarian means accepting that whatever you eat is not meat and so, I find it very weird as to why we still need to fool ourselves that those are "meat".  Well...)

First up was the Crispy Fish Cutlet with Dried Chillies (RM 14.80).  Having eaten some delicious mock fish meat at Simple Life, I was very keen to order "fish" again.  This dish definitely lived up to my expectations.

The "skin", made from seaweed, was chewy while the "meat" has a slight firm texture, giving the impression of a real fish fillet.  The gravy was kung-po style, with a mild heat.  It's not too oily and it's pretty appetizing.  Portion was quite reasonable.

Another dish we ordered is the Braised Eggplant with Soy Beans (RM 13.80).  It was slightly disappointing as it was not as fragrant as expected.  There were a little too much of lemongrass and curry leaves, which somehow masked the flavour of the soy beans. On top of that, the eggplant were irregularly cut in length and so, some pieces were under-cooked.  Portion-wise, it was relatively small.

For drinks, I ordered Homemade Ginger Tea (RM 3.80).  It has a very strong ginger taste, which is pretty good to dispel wind from the body, but a little more sugar would have done a great job to tone down the spiciness and make it more pleasant.

In my opinion, Organic Leaf Restaurant is okay for some decent home-cook, Chinese-style vegetarian food, with a slightly modern and homey ambiance.

Parking should not be an issue, but unfortunately, it's located at quite an isolated corner of PJ and hence, can be a little quiet at night.  Not sure if the nearby police station would help give some assurance, though, but with the recent alarming crime rates, it would be good to stay alert if you're visiting here at night.

Organic Leaf Restaurant

No 3, Jalan 17/45

Section 17

46400 Petaling Jaya

GPS:  3.118817,101.629645

Wedding Banquet @ Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur

One of my close university friend was finally getting married in May and had her wedding reception at a 5-star Starwood hotel, Sheraton Imperial Hotel Kuala Lumpur.  After a long, tiring morning as one of her ji mui, I finally can sit back and enjoy the night as a guest.

Coming to a wedding banquet, one will never fail to scan through the menu for the night despite being very aware that Chinese wedding banquets are always very predictable.  But for this wedding, it was slightly out-of-the-box.  The menu was quite unique as it has a combination of Chinese, Western and Local flavours.

Before we start on the food, I must comment how superb the service was at Sheraton.  Everything was served into individual plates by the waiters and so, we are pretty much spoilt for the night.  The good thing is, it gave us quality time to mingle with our friends and catch up with the good old times (as well as taking loads of pictures).

Now, comes the food.

The first to arrive was none other than the Four Hot Precious Combinations.  I usually deem the first dish of a  9-course banquet the best and usually made it a point to satisfy my appetite first by eating more of it.  This is, of course, not an exception.

As the name suggests, there are four different items served:

• Stir Fried Fresh Top Shell with Capsicums:  Cooked in kung po style, the flavour was quite mild but the top shell was fantastically thick and fresh.  And no, it was not spicy.
• Deep Fried Almond Coated Ball:  Despite its fancy name, it was just fish paste coated in a slightly crispy almond flakes.  Tasted average.
• Steamed Prawn Dumpling with Supreme Sauce:  Looked like sui gao but tasted like har gow.  Flavourful and juicy, with the sweetness of the prawn meat but would have preferred that the prawn tail to be removed.
• Vietnamese Yam Roll:  This was my favourite of the four!  Gooey, sweet purple yam wrapped in rice paper and deep-fried.  Something you would normally find as a dessert, but having it presented here acts like a palate cleanser to neutralise the heavy, complicated flavours of the other food.

I was very glad that her wedding did not involve any shark fins.  In fact, if I ever have mine, I will also not serve shark fins – not only do they actually not add much flavour to the soup, they are extremely bad to the environment.

Instead of the usual Chinese double-boiled soups, we had the individually-served Cream of Pumpkin Soup with Seafood.  I must say, this is a very good bowl of pumpkin soup.  It has a nice, thick consistency and is super flavourful & sweet.  However, the seafood, which is mainly shelled prawns, was barely a part of the soup.  While the seafood was fresh, you can’t taste the seafood infused into the soup.  It felt like the seafood was added into the pumpkin soup just for the sake of being there instead of actually contributing to the overall flavour.

The next dish to arrive was the Oven Roasted Pei Pa Chicken with Sesame Paste and Bean Paste.  I was hoping for some crispy and air-dried skin, but the sauce has wet the skin too much.  For me, the meat has quite a mushy not-so-fresh texture, although KS didn't really find it an issue.  Although the chicken tasted good (mainly due to the sauce), the texture was too unbearable for me to continue.  For me, this was a big no-no.

Luckily, the next dish, the Steamed Omega Barramundi with Japanese Soy Sauce, made up for its disappointing chicken  dish.  The meaty fish was very fresh and sweet.  The fish skin, soaked with the gentle sweet soy sauce, was delicious with its fatty and slightly chewy texture.

You know it is almost towards the end when you start seeing the Braised Japanese Mushroom with Vegetable being served.  The Japanese mushrooms were huge and meaty but unfortunately, there was just not enough flavours that managed to be absorbed into the mushrooms itself.  The sauce that braised the mushrooms was just so-so - mainly just starch.  But the broccoli was crisp and sweet.

The next dish to come is the Baked Tiger Prawn with Cheese and Garlic.  Okay, I do admit I am not a fan of prawns (due to allergy) and usually opt to leave it out.  But, it just so happened that this dish came out right when everyone from our table decided to go out of the hall for a re-union picture taking.  In fact, when the waiter took finally took it away, the dish was not really touched at all.  Quite a waste, actually.

We came back just in time for the final dish, which most of us were really looking forward to because it is rarely (almost never) to find an Indian cuisine in a Chinese wedding banquet.  Yes, Nasi Minyak with Diced Chicken and Anchovies on Banana Leaf.

It definitely looked and smelled good but a little disappointing in the end.  The rice is very dry own its own and hence, adding the curry is a must.  However, the mixed vegetable curry is heavily concentrated with spices without much balance in the flavours – hardly any sweetness or acidity to tone down the spices.  Despite that, the rice (minus the curry, obviously) is quite flavourful especially with the salty but fragrant fried anchovies mixed into the rice.  Just a little more moisture would go a long way to make this dish more memorable.

Last but not least was the Western Desserts.  Depending on your “luck”, the dessert options are alternated.  Since KS and I attended, I can try two different types of dessert.

The one I had, which is the tastier dessert, is the Chocolate Parfait with Passion-fruit Coulis.  The chocolate parfait was very creamy and silky.  Chocolate lovers would love this rich chocolate dessert.  The blueberries gave quite an acidic punch to the dessert although I felt they have overdone the acidity by combining the passion-fruit coulis with the blueberries.

KS had the Cheese Cake with Berries Compote instead.  The flavours are quite mild and not too cheesy, which is suitable for those who are not a big fan of cheesecakes.  The berries compote was quite sour, which unfortunately is annoying as it keeps masking the flavours of the cheesecake.

For both desserts, they are laid on top of a sweet, crispy mixed sesame tuiles.   KS liked it very much as it was very fragrant.  I don’t fancy it much as it is very difficult to break it into reasonably sized pieces without making a mess to the dessert or almost “breaking” the plate.  Tried to be lady-like and refrain from using my fingers, but obviously, failed.

Generally, it was a very good and memorable experience.  After all, it was not the food that actually makes a wedding successful but the joy and sweetness of the couple and their guests celebrating through the night.

My dear friend, hope you will have a everlasting, happy and sweet marriage!

Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel

Jalan Sultan Ismail

50250 Kuala Lumpur

Lunch @ Tang House of Fishball, SS15 Subang Jaya

These days have been getting pretty hot and with such a stuffy weather, we just need to find somewhere nearby and air-conditioned.  That was how we stumbled across Tang House of Fishball @ SS15 Subang Jaya.  Despite my parents commenting about its mediocre taste, I just wanted to try it myself since some bloggers gave quite a good review about it.

Their signature dish is the Tang Pin Mee Pok (RM 6.00), topped with minced pork meat, slices of fish cake and lard, drizzled with a flavourful sauce.  It is usually a spicy dish but I ordered the non-spicy version instead.  Tasted very much like Hakka noodle, what makes it different is the flat, yellow egg noodles which somehow reminded me of fettuccine.  The taste is pretty light and not very oily.  Unfortunately, the portion is quite small and the consistency varies in each visit.

KS ordered the Handmade Fish Noodles (RM 7.00).  Initially, I thought it was a soup noodle, but then again, the picture in the menu was not very clear.  Anyway, it was a bowl of vermicelli with fish paste noodles topped with minced meat and fish cake, drizzled with some fish broth.  It has a very light flavour - a taste that was hardly noticeable.  I guess it was not salty enough but KS found it quite bearable.  The springy fish paste noodles, unfortunately, didn't really taste like fish to me.

One worth-trying dish in Tang House is the Hock Chew Ball (RM 6.00) - 6 pieces of bouncy fishballs filled with tender pork meat.  While the fishballs are worth a mention, what makes it very memorable is the sweet and flavourful fish-based broth that was cooked with bitter-gourd.  The taste was simple and light, but bursting with flavours.  No bitter taste at all.  It was good.

We also ordered the Signature Pan-Fried Dumplings (RM 6.00 - 8 pieces) to snack on.  There is nothing exceptionally outstanding about these pan-fried dumplings.  The dumpling skin has a nice crispy texture while still juicy on the inside.  The setback - it was a bit burnt for some of the dumplings and slightly oily.  The vinegar was just so-so and didn't help to accentuate the flavours much.

Finally, comes the desserts.  No drinks were ordered as we are attracted to the range of hot or cold soup desserts that they offer.

The one I liked the most is the cold Double-boiled Winter Melon and Longan (RM 3.80) dessert.  Comes with a lot of dried longans, it was not overly sweet and works well as a thirst quencher.

Another nice dessert is the Barley Fu Chuk Gingko (RM 3.50) cooked in soy milk.  The sweetness is just right and the soy milk give it a nice smooth texture.  The only thing I didn't like was that there was no balance of the three ingredients - there were more barley than the fu chuk and gingko.

While the Black Glutinous Rice Porridge (RM 3.50) looked nice in the menu, the actual was, unfortunately, not very appetizing with the coconut milk unattractively combining with the porridge.  It was obvious that the porridge was quite diluted, but despite that, the flavour and fragrance of the black glutinous rice is still there.  Just the texture was missing.

Generally, there are some hits and misses, with consistency being quite a problem.  The first visit was really good and that made us come back for a second, but disappointing, visit.  I ate the mee pok twice and it didn't taste the same on my second visit.  Could it be because it was a weekday?  Maybe a third visit could confirm the consistency problem.

Tang House of Fishball
No.31, Ground Floor
Jalan SS15/4E
47300 Subang Jaya

GPS:  3.078001, 101.5873017

Dinner @ Tasty Porridge, Taipan USJ10

Weather has been scorching hot and stuffy last Saturday as compared to the gloomy and rainy days for the days before.  With such weather, it came as no surprise that I barely had much appetite for anything heavy or complicated.  That's why I suggested to have some light porridge for dinner at Tasty Porridge @ Taipan USJ10,  Subang Jaya.

Knowing that I liked the crispy, fried intestines, KS insisted to order the Authentic Pork Mix Porridge (RM 6).  The porridge is smooth and has enough flavour, i.e. not bland.  However, I felt the porridge is not watery enough and it gets quite starchy when it cools.  The fried intestines were indeed nice and crispy, and without too much saltiness in it.   On top of that, there are a lot of meat in the porridge.

To go with the porridge, we definitely cannot leave out the Deep Fried Dough Stick (RM 1.30) or yau char kwai.  The yau char kwai is quite fresh, not oily and very crispy.  Goes very well with the porridge.  Sorry, no pictures of the yau char kwai as I couldn't wait to dip into the porridge :P

We also ordered the Claypot Kung Po Pork Belly Slices (RM 13) as KS wanted to have rice instead.  The flavours were quite intense with the hotness from not only the dried chillies but also the cut chillies.  However, despite being a kung-po dish, it tasted nowhere near because it is lacking the acidity of the vinegar.  Also, the dish is pretty salty but should be fine as long as it goes with rice.  Nevertheless, the dish is still reasonable as the pork slices were not too fatty and are quite tender.

Finally is the Chinese lettuce (RM 6).  A pretty standard plate of nicely-cooked vegetables.  For this price, it was quite big portion.

On any hot day, a good cup of herbal tea would be the best antidote to cool down the body.  For that, we ordered the chrysanthemum tea (RM 2.30) which has a nice flowery taste and the right level of sweetness.  Tasted like how we would prepare at home - not too diluted.

Overall, the food and the price it charged is quite reasonable.  Service was very fast and so, you don't have to wait very long.   Place is clean and well-conditioned.  However, getting a carpark in Taipan is, as expected, pretty difficult but there's always the multi-storey carpark building opposite Tasty Porridge as an alternative.

Tasty Porridge

19-G, Jalan USJ 10/1C

47600 Subang Jaya

GPS:  3.048385,101.584821

Dinner @ Noble Mansion Restaurant, PJ

Next to the Jaya 33 is a newly-built office building called the The Plaza @ Jaya 33, which houses the latest   concept restaurant of the famous The Oriental Group of Restaurants - the Noble Mansion.  Housing 4 different sections - The Lantern, The Bamboo Courtyard, The Terracotta Rooms and The Grand Hall - Noble Mansion is created with a modern interpretation of a Chinese traditional mansion in mind.

Thinking of checking out this new Chinese restaurant, I brought my parents for dinner.  As we were pretty early, the restaurant is pretty quiet except for the busy wait-staffs setting up the tables.

For starters, I ordered the Vegetarian Spring Roll (RM 8).  This light snack looks very adorable and beautifully presented.  It is very refreshing as it is cold and juicy with a lot of vegetables wrapped in a thin fried beancurd skin and topped with a slice of cherry tomato.  Simple but very flavourful and appetizing.

My mum insisted to order the Claypot Eggplant with egg and crabmeat (RM 28).  Visually, it looked a bit bland but thankfully, the actual taste was more appealing.  With a raw egg dropped into a sizzling hot claypot, it gives a nice smooth texture to the gravy.  On top of that, there were plenty of fat, chunky crabmeat among the soft, sweet eggplants.

We then have the Sizzling Fried Rice with Chicken Cubes (RM 28) - not really the exact name as I forgotten to jot down the name.  The flavours were quite balanced and the rice has a nice wok-hei, especially the nice fragrant and crispy burnt rice at the bottom, which my mum adores very much.  Eaten together with their special dried chilli sauce, it was lovely.  The portion, on the other hand, was shockingly huge - one portion size can feed around 4-5 person.

Next is the Braised Ee-fu Noodles with Prawn Roe (RM 20).  The ee-fu noodles were springy and has a nice chewy texture. The flavourful noodles were sprinkled with some paprika-like dried prawn roe.  In my opinion, I didn't feel as though the prawn roe contributed much to the taste.  Nevertheless, I still love this noodle dish as it was not too dry.  However, this dish is slightly oily towards the end.

The food were indeed delicious and worth every cent paid.  It lived up to my expectations.  Service was very good and attentive but I hope it was not because we were one of the few early diners for the evening.  As we were seated at the Grand Hall by the windows, we had a very nice of the PJ neighbourhood.

The main hall can accommodate about 31 tables, but there are various small rooms available which can fit small gatherings of about 1 - 5 tables.

Noble Mansion

Unit P1-01, 1st Floor

The Plaza @ Jaya 33

No. 1, Jalan Semangat

Seksyen 13

46100 Petaling Jaya

Tel:  03-79569288

Hunanese Cuisine @ Restaurant Xiang Li Place, Damansara Utama

There was a mini gathering with KS friends at the Restaurant Xiang Li Place @ Damansara Utama, which serves some authentic Hunanese cuisine.  I was looking forward to it, not only for the meeting of some new friends, but because I have never tried any Hunanese cuisine.  There were barely any reviews about this place and hence, I didn't have much expectations.  Luckily, the overall experience was not too bad.

The first to arrive is the Pork Ribs with Seaweed Soup.  The soup is quite decent and light although I find the pork flavours are not very intense.  I suspected it could be because the soup had turned cold while we were waiting for some late-comers.  The soup was whitish, which I am not very sure why as it didn't really taste as though milk was added in.

Then, it's the Mao’s Signature Red Braised Pork, which is pork belly braised with potatoes in a spicy sauce.  This dish is very delicious and definitely one of my favourite dishes.

The chunky pork belly is juicy and tender, with the right amount of fattiness that practically melts in your mouth.  Then, of course, are the pan-friend chunks of potatoes that did a very good job in soaking up the nice, spicy sauce, filled with the fragrance of garlic and spring onions.  Although this dish is very hot as you eat, but it is that kind of hot-ness that makes you wanna have more.

Next comes the Spicy Steamed Tilapia Fish, topped with cut chillies and fermented black beans, served with soy sauce.  Overall, the fish is quite fresh but the taste is a bit lacking some saltiness.  It felt as though the fermented beans were not steamed together with the fish, and hence, most of the flavour did not combine into the fish very well.

We also ordered the Signature Bridge Tofu.  The name describes it - steamed minced meat with egg is separated by thinly sliced silky tofu that resembles a bridge over a river.  It looked quite interesting but I find the flavour was a bit bland.  The minced meat was lacking some saltiness and the soy sauce was of little help to bring the flavours out.  But the tofu was nice and smooth.

While visually, this Dry Pot Mushroom Stew looked very bland with not much variety of colours, it is a very nice and flavourful dish.  Definitely made it to our list of favourite dishes.  There were a variety of thinly sliced mushrooms cooked with sliced pork belly and leek, and coated witha sweet gravy.  It is not a hot dish, but just be careful of those tiny, unsuspecting cut chillies.

The next dish which I liked very much is the Stir-fried Beans with Minced Meat.  The name is a bit misleading as I could barely find any beans - mostly minced pork with chopped salted radish and black fungus.  This crunchy dish has a nice sweet and salty taste to it and goes very well with plain rice.  Too bad it came almost towards the end when I had barely any rice left.

The last dish to arrive was the Stir-fried Cauliflower, which is has nothing much to shout about.  As the name suggests, it was only cauliflower and nothing else.  Visually, it was not appetizing and hence, I barely ate it.

Another thing to watch out is the pre-packed sterilized utensils which are charged at RM1 per set - pretty costly to the meal.  So, if you’re unwilling to actually pay for it, do make an effort to request for a set of normal utensils which don't incur extra charges.  I don't think there will be any significant differences in hygiene level.

Overall, Xiang Li Place serves pretty decent food, some memorable while some are just so-so.  Would definitely come back for the braised pork & mushroom pot stew.

Restaurant Xiang Li Place

No 74G & 76G

Jalan SS21/62

Damansara Utama

47400 Petaling Jaya

Hainanese Lunch @ Gastro Cafe, Subang Jaya

Right after attending my cousin's wedding ceremony at The Saujana Hotel, we set off for a late lunch at Gastro Cafe @ SS15 Subang Jaya.  I always wanted to try this Hainanese place out since it was opened, but I just never had the chance to set foot there.

Me being a huge fan of nasi lemak, I had to order the Nasi Lemak with Halua Chicken (RM 7.80), served with sambal, ikan bilis, egg and stir-fried long beans.  The halua chicken or sweet chicken was a bit over-cooked and hence, a little bit hard, but it was seasoned pretty good.  Eaten together with the sweet and spicy sambal, it was just right.  Plus, they were very generous with my favourite ikan bilis!  The portion is a quite big and worth the price paid.

For KS, he ordered the Gastro Chicken Chop (RM 11.50) served with original Hainanese sauce and a piece of white bread to sweep up the sauce.  The chicken chop was quite succulent but unfortunately, was just soaked in too much sauce, making the crispy outer layer going soggy.  The sauce was a bit bland, and so, didn't make the dish stand out very much.  As compared to the nasi lemak, the portion is a bit smaller but still good enough.

To end, we ordered the cendol as desserts.  The portion was amazingly large and they have put enough gula melaka to sweeten the ice.  The filling were pretty standard - cendol jelly and red beans.  Overall, an enjoyable cooling dessert to end.

Generally, Gastro Cafe is quite a decent place for a quick simple meal at an affordable price.  The service was quite good and quite accommodating to our specific requests to remove peanuts from our servings.

Gastro Cafe

No 4 & 6, Jalan SS15/4B

47500 Subang Jaya