Restoran Sin Kee @ Sri Gombak

When my father-in-law was still alive, we would occasionally eat at Sin Kee. After he passed away, for some reason, we never returned to this restaurant. It wasn't intentional, we just never thought of this place.

Much has changed in the four  years we haven't been there. They have an air-cond section now, while the price and quality of food remains the same, good as ever. Yoohoo! 

The assam steamed fish was really appetizing. I could eat the rice alone with just the gravy. Even mother-in-law who had claimed that she's not hungry finished every single grain of her rice, and attributed it to the delicious assam fish. Hubby did not like it, but then, he doesn't like anything that's sour.

The salted egg sotong was on the subtle side. It did not have too much salted egg flavour, and was not too salty. The sotong flesh was cooked just right, was not chewy, and the crumbs had a well-balanced sweet and salty flavour to it. 

The house-specialty tofu was what I remember the restaurant for, and why I suggested the place after more than four years' absence. Those little round things were some kind of nuts. I'm not sure what they were, as my Cantonese is not good enough to understand the waitress. 

Yesterday was the first time we ordered their house specialty vegetable. Don't ask me what veg it is. I have no idea. I wish I knew, though, as the veg was smooth and totally yummy. I'd have to keep an eye for similar-looking veg in the wet market the next time.

The total bill, inclusive of three white rice and a pot of tea for four pax, was RM66.80. Not bad, eh? Definitely will return to it again, hopefully not in another four years' time.  :)

Address:

Restoran Sin Kee

Lot 8, Jalan SG 1/10,

Pusat Penjaja,

Taman Industri Bolton

68100 Batu Caves

Tel: (03) 6189 7972 / 8972

Payung Cafe @ Cherating Village

Payung Cafe, a reggae pub-bistro is one of the very few cafes in Cherating that sells beer. Carlsberg is its only 'vice', there's no other alcoholic drinks on the menu. Did I say pub bistro? Yes I did. If Payung Cafe were located in KL, it would have been a full fledged reggae pub bistro, I'm sure.

With this kind of welcome, how could I stay away?  :P

At the entrance, beneath the roof, is this sign.......

It was a good thing I went as Mrs Potato, and not my alter ego, Blackie Bond. Blackie Bond would have been armed. As Mrs Potato, my only weapon is my huge elephant-sized thighs. 

The reggae-look interior, with reggae music playing in the background

Photos of the  proprietor and his wife

The proprietor, in his dreadlocks hairstyle, was about to leave with his wife when we arrived at 12:45pm. His wife is the cook, and we had to persuade them to cook for us before they went gallivanting. Other guests were not so lucky. They were turned away.


The menu was rather limited, but it's ok. We are not too fussy when we're on one of those "back to kampung" holidays.

Baked tomatoes with bolognaise and cheese

The baked tomatoes with bolognaise and cheese were yummy, but not so the garlic bread. The latter was rather common.

Penne Arrabiata

Speaking of common, I ordered a very common dish, Penne Arrabiata. It was a little disappointing. The tomato sauce was way too diluted.


On a totally unrelated subject, rice is supposed to be the Chinese's staple food. Some Chinese must have rice for every meal or they'll feel like they haven't eaten yet. We call those people fun-tong in Cantonese, or pnui tang in Hokkien, which literally translated, means rice bin. It makes me wonder, what would people call me? Pasta bin?? 

A non-paying guest.....hubby's cousin??

For other non-food related stories on Cherating, please visit my other blog:
1. Turtle watching
2. Mangrove river tour
3. Cherating, The Good and The Bad

Beef with tomatoes for my guinea pigs

I admit I'm hyper and I get bored easily. I like changes and anything new. That includes what I serve for dinner, to the delight of hubby and dismay of mum. They never knew if one day I might serve them roasted mice on skewers.


But I haven't figured out yet where to get my mice or how to marinade them, and until I do, I'll just have to contend myself with trying to replicate the food that I had enjoyed on my pigging out trips.


Last Sunday I had beef with tomatoes in Uncle Duck. It motivated me to try to recreate the 'real' beef with tomatoes that I had enjoyed so much at Wong Kei. 


I'm not good with beef, I'm not one of those who could churn out slices of tender moist beef strips. So I cheated by making beef balls instead.

The ingredients are: minced beef, bread crumbs, 1 large onion, 2 medium-sized tomatoes and 1 celery stick. Cut the onion and tomatoes into wedges, and slice the celery about 1/2 inch.


To make the beef balls, mix minced beef with some ground black pepper, a pinch of salt and breadcrumbs. Deep-fry until golden brown, remove and set aside.


For the sauce, combine 2 tablespoons ketchup, 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon chicken stock, half teaspoon corn starch in half cup water. But please note that I did not use the measuring spoons or cups. I was too lazy to take them out of my drawer and simply used the dinner spoons and tea spoons. I used a regular mug, but the amount of water was about half a measuring cup. 


Heat up the wok with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, stir the onions until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and celery. Stir fry for a while, then add the combined sauce and simmer for about 2 - 3 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft. Pour in the deep-fried beef balls, and simmer for another minute or so. Serve immediately, or keep warm while you cook another dish.


Accompanying that beef with tomatoes is bitter gourd in black bean sauce, a dish that hubby and mum would not touch until hubby was diagnosed diabetic. Bitter gourd (or bitter melon) is good for insulin production.

I do not believe I need to go into details on how to fry the bitter gourd (it's just like any vegetable), so I'll just focus on the ingredients I use for the black bean sauce. They are: 1 tablespoon preserved black beans, washed and rinsed, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon anchovies stock.


Hubby's verdict? Two thumbs up. Mum gingerly spooned the sauce onto her rice and tentatively raised it to her mouth.....


Bon appetite......


*disclaimer: the author shall not be held responsible if any readers suffer from diarrhea as a direct result of following the above recipes......*  :P

The Wok Cafe @ The Strand Damansara

Born and raised in Penang, I have a penchant for Penang nyonya food. There aren't many authentic Penang nyonya food in KL. There are more sub-par ones than there are good ones. I am therefore, on a permanent quest to find that perfect, authentic restaurant. 

Authentic here is defined as a replicate of my grandma's cooking. She was one woman who cooked like nobody I know, and her skills are surpassed by none in the nyonya food area. That is not surprising, as she was brought up in a home where her father had employed a professional chef to cook for them, and from whom she had learned the skill as a kid. Yup, born in 1917, she was brought up in that era's decadent lifestyle of having a chef with a few cooks, drivers, home tutors, servants and a lady's maid to attend to her.

The Wok Cafe is nowhere near my grandma's level, but is on par with Tanjung Bungah Restaurant in Chow Yang, SS2, another restaurant whose owner came from Penang. However, with its quaint furniture and deco, The Wok has a cozier ambience. The gold engravings on the doors and partition screens plus the signboard made me feel like I was back in my grandparents' house. My grandfather had an engraved sign with "The Lee family" in Chinese character above the door too.

The infamous Rose Chan 

The place was crowded when we arrived, and there was some confusion amongst the limited number of staff. We had to wait for a while before our order was served.

Perut ikan - RM10

Perut ikan literally means fish stomach although none were used by The Wok Cafe. While it was enjoyable, I still think no one can cook this dish as well as my grandma. The extra ingredients to give it a cuisine touch were missing. I suppose it's not possible to make it the way my grandma did and charged only RM10 for it.

Assam fried prawns - RM24

The prawns were succulent and sweet though the assam flavour was too subtle to be detected (again, using my grandma's cooking as the benchmark). Still, I liked it enough to lick the gravy off the shells.

Otak-otak - RM6

Very dry and without much flavour, the otak-otak was a disappointment. The best so far, is still the one in Penang at Song River, Gurney Drive. Following closely behind is the one at Taman Tun Dr Ismail (KL) wet market.

Sago gula Melaka - RM4

The sago gula Melaka was one of the better ones I've had. The gula Melaka, or palm sugar, was undiluted and fragrant. We ordered one each. The next time I'm there, I'm gonna order two for myself. I love sweets....sago gula Melaka, trifle, caramel pudding, chendol.....you name it, I love it.

Overall, considering I could not order my grandma up from the grave to cook for me, I would say the food was decent, I enjoyed it, and I would go back again to try the other dishes on their menu.

Update:

We have since visited The Wok again, and ordered other items on the menu. To read the updated post, please click here.

Address:

The Wok Cafe

No. 26-G, Jalan PJU 5/21

The Strand Damansara

Kota Damansara

47810 PJ

Tel: 012 - 275 0396 / 012 - 263 5460

(Turn into at the CIMB junction, and at the T-junction, turn left.)

Tony Roma's @ MidValley City

I know this sounds crazy, but occasionally I do crave for burgers. Not the thin patty that's McDonald's excuse of a burger, but the thick, chunky types. I know I can, but sometimes when you're out and it's time for dinner, you're not going to rush home and make your own patties. 


There are a few places that serve decent burgers, though I bet that's the last place anyone would go to. My favourite place is T.G.I.F. though hubby's is Tony Roma's. And since Tony Roma's was conveniently available when our tummy started growling after a day's shopping, Tony Roma's it was. I know, a place not known for burgers but steak......

Big stack - RM24.90

Since hubby and I tend to share the same tastes in food, music, movies and humour, many times we both tend to order the same thing, and this time is no different. I'm drooling all over again as I looked at that juicy patty with bacon and cheese. Junk has never looked nor tasted so delicious.


It was a good thing we shared a soup between us, for I only managed to eat one quarter of the fries. Had I gone along with hubby's wish and ordered a bowl each, I would not have been able to finish the burger and that would have been a crying shame. 

Baked potato soup - RM5.90 if you ordered the entree, RM7.90 if you didn't

The soup had the right texture and went well with the bacon bits and parsley. I enjoyed it even though It's not my favourite type of soup. 


Address:
Tony Roma's
LG 217, Mid Valley City
No. 1, Medan Syed Putra, KL
Tel: 03 - 2282 8243

Nature's Vegetarian Restaurant @ Bangsar

I remember those days before hubby was diagnosed as diabetic, he did not like vegetables and avoided vegetarian restaurants like a plague. He took pride in being a 'meat man'. Things have since changed, and we've been going to quite a few vegetarian restaurants these days as he has embarked upon a 'healthy-living' mission.


Although we've been to this place a few times, I've always forgotten to take any pictures and blog about it. On the last visit, I managed to take two photos......

The bitter-curd was cooked just right, not too soft, and the black bean sauce was light and fragrant. RM12.

The Golden Beancurd was smooth and went well with the "sin kua" (a type of melon). RM12. 

At RM1.50 a bowl, I'd consider the brown rice to be cheap. And the best part is, it's not overcooked and soggy, unlike some restaurants.

How do I rate this place? Well, this is also one of the places I'd definitely bring my cousin and her vegetarian husband when they visit us in Malaysia, so, work the rating out for yourself....... :)


Address:
Nature's Vegetarian Restaurant
No. 24, Jalan Telawi 3,
Bangsar Baru, KL
Tel: 03 - 2283 5523

delicious @ Bangsar Village II

Delicious is the name of a chain restaurant started by Benjamin Yong in 2004 as a small tearoom in the back of a boutique. Today, E&O Hotel has a 51% stake in it, and it has expanded to six outlets, including one in Penang. 


The ingredients used are all halal making it a good place to hang out with Muslim friends. Plus, there are specific vegetarian dishes, too. It's definitely going into my list of places to take my cousin and her vegetarian husband when they visit us in Malaysia.

Salmon Angelhair - RM27.90

Is this getting familiar? If you're thinking you're always seeing salmon or pasta on my blog, that's because salmon is my favourite fish just as it is my cats', and next to brown rice, pasta is my staple diet. I could eat pasta everyday and never tire of it.


But this pasta tastes different from all the other salmon pasta I've had. The caviar complemented the smoked salmon and creamy sauce with parsley flakes. Truly yummylicious.

Quiche Lorraine with Beef Bacon - RM18.90

Hubby who likes quiche, opted for the Lorraine quiche after asking the waiter if it's big enough as a main course. He's concerned that it might not be enough to fill him. When it arrived, it looked kinda small. Turned out the amount was just right, especially when we shared the two dishes and finished off with a cheesecake. And yes, it tastes as good as it looks. I liked the salad dressing on the salad, too. I've always hated those salad that came with Thousand Island Dressing. Yuck! I wish someone would ban those commercial Thousand Island Dressing. Oops....hope there's no thousand island dressing fan reading this.....

Macadamia cheesecake - RM13.90

The cheesecake is not the light fluffy type that you get for RM6 or RM7 a piece, but the real, heavy type. Topped with macadamia nuts and caramel, it was sinfully rich, particularly so for diabetic hubby!! But it's his weekly treat to eat whatever he likes, after being on the strict diet I imposed on him throughout the week at home. Trust me, it's no fun being on that diet. Even a simple cup of hot chocolate at night has been replaced with plain oats soaked in hot water.


While perusing the menu, we also discovered that they have a traditional English afternoon tea for two at RM59.90. Now I know where to go if I'm craving for an English afternoon tea and don't happen to be in Cameron Highlands!


This restaurant lives up to its name. My verdict is:-

Address:
delicious
GF-1, Ground Floor, Bangsar Village II,
2 Jalan Telawi 1,
Bangsar Baru, KL.
Tel: 03 - 2287 1554/3
URL: http://www.thedeliciousgroup.com

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

Recipe: Oatmeal-Sunflower Bread

Nothing beats the aroma of a freshly baked bread. A cliche, but true. And digging into a loaf of freshly baked loaf is simply heavenly. I used to bake until it got too troublesome to get bread flour or wheat gluten (to make bread four). We'd eat the freshly baked loaf with ham, luncheon meat, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes dinner. Any leftovers would be finished at breakfast the next morning.


Of all the loafs I had made, the oatmeal-sunflower bread remains one of my favourites. This modified recipe is specially posted up for the benefit of Fern, and anyone who loves to bake. The original recipe, and why I modified it, is explained at the bottom of the page.


Ingredients:


1/2 cup fresh milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoon butter
3 cups bread flour
4 tablespoon rolled oats
1-1/4 teaspoon salt
2-1/4 teaspoon dry yeast
4 tablespoon sunflower seeds


Method:


1. Measure carefully, place all ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by your bread machine manufacturer. Add sunflower seeds at the raisin/nut signal or 5 to 10 minutes before the last kneading cycle ends.


2. Select Basic/White, Regular cycle. Use Light Crust colour. 


3. Remove baked bread from pan and cool on wire rack.


I modified the recipe after a few times of baking it. The original recipe called for 1 cup water and 2 tablespoon milk powder instead. It also called for 1/2 cup rolled oats. I found using 1/2 cup fresh milk and 1/2 cup water, and reducing the rolled oats to 4 tablespoons produce a lighter texture.


To make bread flour (if none is available), add 1/2 tablespoon wheat gluten to each cup of plain flour.


Enjoy...........

Friendscino @ Damansara Perdana

Located in Damansara Perdana, Friendscino is a family pub restaurant. When we were there two weeks ago, there were several families with children in tow.

Board games for the whole family are available on the mahogany shelf

This guy can really croon

Hubby had bought a 4-course dinner package from one of those online prepaid promotions for RM27 each. It was really value for money. They did not shortchange on the quality of the food at all.

The Ceasar Salad with cheese was creamy and has a strong cheese flavour. Yummy.

Next came the wild mushroom soup. I enjoyed the home-made soup to the last drop, and putting the chutney on the garlic bread was an ingenious idea. The sweet and tangy chutney went very well with the garlic bread.

The Norwegian salmon was grilled to perfection. It was accompanied with baked baby potatoes, sauerkraut, sweet peas, brocolli and the barbecue sauce had a slight tang of chutney, too. Two thumbs up.

The bread and butter pudding with ice cream and raspberry sauce was not too sweet. It was just right for me, and acceptable by diabetic hubby. Although he did say that his blood sugar has probably spiked.

They didn't have wine on the menu so I opted for a glass of Pina Colado. I almost didn't get that, as they had run out of coconut milk, but before I could make up my mind what to order instead, one of the staff came up to our table to say they could rush out to get the coconut milk if I really want Pina Colado. Yes, I do, thank you.  :)

Cameron Highlands Apples

You would be forgiven if you thought "Oh no, she got conned again with another dodgy apple from Cameron Highlands" (see Conned - Hybrid Guava-Apple It Is Not). Forgiven, but wrong.  

My first thought when I walked into a farm and saw these plants was "What are these? Eggplants??" I wasn't alone in thinking that. A woman very authoritatively told her husband and kids that those were definitely eggplants. However, I wasn't as hundred percent sure as she was. And hubby was certain those were not eggplants. So I went and asked one of the farmhands. He said those were apples. Apples?? Yes, Cameron Highlands' very own apples. Are they sour or sweet? Sweet. They taste like honeydew. Ohhh.....


The farmhand said all the riped ones had been plucked. Being someone who loved to try new things, I didn't want to go home without getting some. After badgering him, he said if I saw any that was yellow with red stripes, I could pluck those. But I'd have to keep them in room temperature for about two days for them to completely ripen, otherwise they won't taste good.

 Nope, not ripe for plucking

Ready to be plucked, and should ripen in two days

We only managed to find six apples that could be plucked. I guess there must have been a lot of tourists that visited during the May 1st holiday, as this is not the peak season. 


Today, three of the apples ripened and they exuded a rich honeydew smell. After chilling them in the fridge for a few hours, we sank our teeth into them. And......they were wonderful. Very juicy, juicier than regular honeydew, and sweet, those apples taste exactly like honeydew. The skin was a little funny, though. Felt like plastic. I couldn't peel them with a peeler, but after I had cut them, I could peel it off by pulling at the edge and dragging it off in one neat tug. Another hybrid??!! But the farmhand did NOT say it's a hybrid apple-honeydew......

The apples were very juicy and sweet

"Riped" pak choy for picking

Didn't pick any cherry tomatoes as those that were riped were too tiny while the decent sized ones were not ready for picking

The sunflowers were not for sale and signs were posted prominently forbidding picking of the flowers

Bigger than my head -- I took a photo standing next to it to compare who has a bigger head and the sunflower won hands down