Long Grilled Fish @ Jinjang Utara

As a town, Jinjang does not inspire much confidence with its shabby and cowboy-like appearance. However, it has a number of unpretentious eateries that serve cheap and good food. One of them, Long Grilled Fish, is rather famous, and is crowded most of the time. 


Service is quick, however, but do not expect cuisine-like quality which you get from 'real' restaurants. It is a tai ch'ao (big fried) store, so as long as you expect a tai ch'ao quality, you'll be pleased.

Since they're famous for their baked crabs, that's what hubby and I ordered. When the crabs are done, butter is drizzled on them and salt sprinkled over it. Tasty but a tad oily.

The sei tai ting wong (four heavenly kings), which consists of fried brinjals, long beans, four-angled beans and okra with shrimp sambal was not bad. 

The stir-fried choy tum, a leafy vegetable whose texture reminds me of brussels sprouts, was crunchy and slightly salty. Just the way I like it.

I don't really remember what the seaweed tofu soup tasted like. I guess it must have been neither good nor bad, for I tend to remember both ends of the taste spectrum. 

The lala fried rice was good, and went very well with the dishes. 

Restoran Robson Heights

We used to frequent this eatery when we were living in the vicinity. We remember it for its reasonable price and good quality food. That said, do bear in mind that it would be to your benefit if you were to ask the prices when you see 'seasonal price' listed next to the item you want. Do not fall into the trap like a friend of a friend's, where they were charged RM270 for a fish.


Now that I've given you fair warning, let's move on. After we moved from the vicinity, we hardly returned to Robson Heights. The restaurants in our new neighbourhood were a dime a dozen, and we didn't feel the need to drive halfway across KL to have some decent Chinese food.


But three Saturdays ago, an ex-classmate of hubby's returned from Singapore to perform Qing Ming rites. Robson Heights, located halfway between us, was the ideal place to have some good food.

Their prawns in salted egg yolk was done differently from other Chinese restaurants. Instead of the regular dry version, it was wet with a distinct salted egg yolk flavour. It was probably the best salted egg version I've ever had. Yumm....

The buttermilk sotong had a twist....it was served with crispy dried pork floss. 

Kangkong belacan was our friend's choice of vegetables. Apparently, he could not get decent kangkong belacan in Singapore. As for me, I like this kangkong belacan better than any other that I've had.

Now, I don't know how true this is, but apparently, in Singapore, you can't order a Hokkien Mai Fun Mee (beehoon mee). You can order either a Hokkien Mee or Hokkien Mai Fun. This is the one dish that our friend asked for each and every time he returns to KL to visit his family.


Personally, we prefer the Hokkien Mee without the beehoon, but as he returns to KL only twice a year, we like to accommodate him. 


This dish, unfortunately was not a winner for Robson Heights. It was too dry, and the mee did not fully absorb the flavour of the gravy. The best Hokkien Mee award still goes to the now-defunct stall at Taman Wahyu, Jalan Ipoh.


The total damage was RM77, which I think, was pretty reasonable. We did not order any rice. We ate those dishes on their own.


Address:
Lorong Syed Putra
KL

Pinang Lanta Seafood @ Kepong

Even though Penang Lanta Seafood has been around for the past four and a half years, we only paid them a visit exactly a month ago, on July 9, 2011. We had tried, many times, to eat there before. But each time we were there, the restaurant was always crowded, with a long line of customers standing outside the premises waiting for an available seat. Until five Saturdays ago. We were there early and managed to get a seat.


Our delight was short-lived, however. We had expected some really sumptuous food. The food wasn't bad as in bad, we've had worse, but the quality was rather mediocre, which we hadn't expected, considering the constant crowd.


Being only two, we ordered their house-specialty noodles, clams in superior stock (song tong lala) and crab in salted egg.

House-specialty noodle - RM7

Of the three, the house-specialty noodle was the worst. Extremely dry and with only the taste of dark soya sauce, It could have been fried by a ten-year-old kid. I wonder what their other dish which aren't house-specialty would be like.....rocks and pebbles?? We didn't finish it.

Song tong lala - RM16

Although the song tong lala was slightly better than the house-specialty noodle, it was the worst we'd ever had. There was not a single hint of Chinese rice wine in the soup, neither was there any ginger or garlic flavour to it. In short, if you like blander than bland song tong lala, you won't be disappointed.

Salted egg crab - RM33 per kg

The crabs were probably the only saving grace. Sorry, let me correct myself. The salted egg was the only saving grace. It was really tasty, with lots of salted egg yolk flavour. The crabs, however, was very small, the size where other restaurants charge you RM18 a kg. Not worth the hassle of picking apart the shells to get to the meat.  


We left the restaurant wondering if the crowd that patronizes this restaurant had never had a better meal for the same price, or even less. The best salted egg crab is still found at Lala Chong at Ara Damansara, PJ, for RM40 a kg the last time we were there. Hmm....speaking of Lala Chong, I should take some photos and blog about it the next time I'm there. 


Address:
Pinang Lanta Seafood
3G, 5G, Block 5, Jalan Metro Perdana Timur 2
Taman Usahawan Kepong,
52100 KL
Tel: 013 - 484 9612 / 016 - 377 2028

Seremban Baked Crab

There has been talk in the blogesphere about how delicious the baked crabs in Seremban is, so on the last public holiday (our King's birthday), we took a day trip to Seremban to check it out.


Located along the same road not far from the Seremban Pasar Besar, it was easy to find. We arrived at two-ish in the afternoon and most of the tables were already served. We didn't have long to wait for our orders.

Baked crabs @ RM50/kg

The crabs were a disappointment. First, the taste wasn't as au naturel as the one we had at Hing Ket Grill House. The shells and plate were coated with a black oily substance. Hubby thought it was baked in marmite, but I reminded him that it was baked au naturel, or supposedly so. The black stuff had a burnt taste to it. I suspect we were served Baked Crabs au naturel Carcinogenic. 


Meat-wise, the crabs had a lot of sodium. We did not finish them. We were given a bowl of dipping sauce to 'lessen' the salty taste, but we were disinclined to trick our taste-buds. We found that all the strong, pungent dipping sauce did was to camouflage the taste of the crab. 

Besides the crabs, we ordered song tong lala or clams in superior stock and a plate of fried noodle. The lala wasn't good either. There was a distinct lack of wine, ginger and other flavours.

'Song tong lala' (clams in superior stock) - RM10

As for the fried noodle, it was OILY. Either we are finicky, or those who had reviewed this particular restaurant are die-hard fans. Or, perhaps the restaurant had a bad day and we happened to be there on that day?? Unlikely, I think.....

Fried noodles - RM6

Of all the dishes, the most noteworthy is this plate of crispy fried flour chips. Sorry, I have no clue as to what it's called, but where other restaurants serve peanuts, they serve this.

This dish is the most delicious - RM2.10. We went all the way to Seremban for this!! :-o


The total bill came to RM72.10 inclusive of a pot of tea for two. Will we return? Never! Not even if it's free. Sorry, just my honest opinion.


Address:
Seremban Seafood Village
No. 3720-3724 Jalan Tuanku Munawir,
Seremban
Tel: 06 - 764 1260

Hing Ket Grill House

Perhaps it's a throwback to my caveman ancestors, but I find that certain food like crabs taste better grilled au naturel. I could picture my ancestors sitting around a fire and cooking a crab skewed on a hunting spear. Once the crab is cooked, they would probably sink their teeth into the crab, shell and all. The crunch is good for sharpening the teeth or removing the plague.....no?


Anyway, society has since progressed, and in modern day KL, crabs are served in various styles, such as creamy butter and cheese sauce, Marmite sauce, fried in salted egg, sweet and spicy sauce, steamed with rice wine, and so on. However, there aren't many places that serve grilled crabs, not even the very famous Fatty Cat Crab Restaurants. 


There's one miserable restaurant in Kepong that offers grilled crabs, but the crabs are so small that the hassle of picking apart the shells is just not worth it. You can get grilled or baked crabs au naturel in Langkawi and Seremban, but that's another story.


My point is, for anyone who appreciates the natural sweetness of grilled crab meat, Hing Ket Grill House is THE place. Located at Kampung Jawa, Klang (directions and address at the bottom of the post), it serves the best grilled crab, sotong (squid), lamb chop and lala (clam) meehoon I've ever had. Take a look at what we had to start off 2011.

The crab meat was very sweet and juicy. And the claws are huge! Priced at RM52/kg, it's worth every single ringgit.

The squid was tender and succulent, cooked just right. It's great with or without the accompanying plum sauce. RM10.

We asked for the lamb chop to be served cut as opening the crab shells were enough involvement in our food, lazy people that we were. It was tender and fragrant. RM17.

The lala meehoon was perfect, neither dry nor oily. RM10


The total bill came to RM91.80 for two, inclusive of a pot of Chinese tea and two wet towels. Hing Ket Grill House is also famous for its salt baked prawns and fried tong fun, which we'll probably try at our next visit.


Address:
Lot 3569, Batu 3-1/4, Kampung Jawa, Klang.
Tel: (03) 3371-3913 / 3371-0861
Business hours: 11:30am - 2:30pm  and  5:30pm - 10:30pm


Directions:
Take the Kesas highway to Klang. After the toll, keep left. Take the first exit to Kampung Jawa / Jalan Kebun. At the traffic lights at the top of the exit ramp, turn right to Kampung Jawa. Follow the course of the road. After some distance, you will come to a roundabout junction (a.k.a. circus, in London), continue to keep straight (or, twelve o'clock). A word of caution - be extra careful there because motorists on all four legs of the circus could travel straight ahead without going around the roundabout. Continue to follow the course of the road. The restaurant, a converted house, is located on the left, just before the road curves around a bend. Kitty corner to it is a big mosque. 

We parked at the premises, though parking space is rather limited (for about 10 cars). For those not so lucky, further down the road, on the right, is an open air car park.