Tag: burgers

Five Guys Malaysia @ SkyAvenue, Genting Highlands

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American fast food chain Five Guys – known for their Cajun-style fries, hamburgers, and milkshakes – debuted in Malaysia back in October 2021. Malaysians, of course, dutifully fell into hour-long queues at their outlet in Genting Highlands, despite the menu’s hefty price tags. Since then, they’ve opened another branch in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, so fans of the franchise need not drive all the way up Genting.

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As usual, I am late aboard the hype train. So late, in fact, that the train has come and gone – because when the Hubs and I dropped by for lunch recently, there was no queue and there were plenty of seats available for dine-in.

PS: Dining here was not part of the plan. I wanted pizza at Motorino’s, but they weren’t open yet. (Restaurants in Genting open really late on Saturday for some reason -__-)

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Five Guys boasts a spacious interior, with an open-air kitchen where you can watch the cooks in action. The interior design features white and red chequered tiles, wooden tables, and counter seating. You’ll also see a bunch of potato sacks near the entrance, a homage to the brand’s history. Apparently back in the day when stores didn’t have enough storage space, they’d stack bags of potatoes in the dining area. These days, this configuration is used for aesthetics.

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There aren’t many items on the menu, but I prefer it this way. I’d rather dine at a place that excels in making one or two good mains, over better variety but mediocre dishes.

At Five Guys, they basically serve just hamburgers (basically the Cheeseburger and the Hamburger, and ‘little’ versions which are smaller in size), hotdogs, fries, sandwiches (with vegan options), and milkshakes.

I see many reviews touting the burgers as “pricey”. While I agree that they are more expensive than your regular burgers, I don’t think it’s fair to bash them for it because we all know food in Genting is pricey af. And to be honest, I’d rather spend RM35 on a filling burger than I would for nasi lemak or chicken rice (which is what some of the restos at Genting price them at. Very ordinary kopitiam food at an exorbitant price).

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The Hubs got a Hamburger, which came wrapped in foil for easy eating. The portion was huge, with double patties stuffed between toasted sesame seed buns.

You can customize the toppings, with options such as mayo, mustard, ketchup, barbecue sauce and hot sauce, as well as relish, grilled mushrooms, onions, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, jalapenos, and green peppers. As we were keen to try the ‘original’ taste, we simply had all of the toppings included.

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The Hubs gave it his seal of approval, declaring it the ‘best gourmet burger’ he had so far in Malaysia. I’m not a big fan of beef burgers, but this was pretty good in my opinion. The patties were moist but not to the point of being greasy (which I think some people prefer), and the meat was well seasoned but not too salty. All of the toppings came together really well too.

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My Cheese Dog (RM30), while tasty, was not worth RM30 imo. The toppings are the same; I requested no pickles, but it got into the hotdog somehow lol. I recommend getting the burger rather than the hotdog if you want more value for your money.

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Last but not least, we splurged on a Milkshake (RM25). Yes, yes, RM25 is a lot for a drink – but we figured since we aren’t going to come this way for a long time, might as well just go the whole hog.

Like the burgers, you can customize “mix-ins” for your milkshake, including vanilla, chocolate, strawberries, peanut butter, Oreo cookies, salted caramel, bananas, and malted milk. We had ours with vanilla and Oreo cookies. My verdict? I liked it; it was rich and sweet – probably not something you’d have on the daily. The mix was so thick and creamy that we actually had trouble drinking it through the straw lol.

My thoughts on Five Guys? Despite reviews calling it overpriced and overrated, I think the burger is something worth trying. Of course, this is purely my personal opinion/taste: I know there are many who say that brands such as KGB or even local joint MyBurgerLab offer better gourmet burgers. But for me, Five Guys is a pretty decent food option in Genting Highlands.

FIVE GUYS MALAYSIA (GENTING HIGHLANDS)

Lot SA – T2A – 25, SkyAvenue, 69000 Genting Highlands, Pahang

Opening hours: 11AM – 10PM (daily)

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Review: I Tried Burger King Malaysia’s new Japanese Curry Burger

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It’s been awhile since I last had anything from Burger King, but they recently launched new menu items – ie the Japanese Curry Whopper and the Japanese Curry Chick’N Crisp – which looked pretty promising. Since there’s a Burger King at the place where I shop for groceries, I got the chicken version to go (ala carte: RM12). You can also get the sets, which come with the standard fries and a drink.

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First impressions: Sizeable. With fast food joints, sometimes you get really sad-looking, deflated burgers that looked as if an elephant had sat on them lol. This burger came with not one but two crispy chicken patties and a slice of cheese in between, and these were topped with a generous amount of vegetables and onions, sandwiched between two fluffy sesame buns.

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They were also very generous with the Japanese curry sauce, mixed with mayo. The sauce is the winner here; mildly sweet with a hint of spice, and it binds all of the elements in the burger really well – you get a flavourful mix of sweet and savoury, paired with the crispness of the patty, the juicy moistness of the chicken meat, the soft and pillowy buns, plus the crunch from the onions and veggies. A solid burger: I’d give it an 8.5/10.

Aside from the chicken, there’s also BK’s signature Beef Whopper, but with Japanese curry sauce. The sets go for RM15.90 (chicken) and RM16.90 (beef), and are available for a limited time only.

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Burgers, Wings and American Fare @ Mean Mince, Mutiara Damansara

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Mention Mutiara Damansara and most will think of IKEA and The Curve – but venture further in to the housing area and you’ll find a hidden gem, tucked within a quiet suburban spot just next to the Mutiara Damansara police station. Opened two years ago, Mean Mince dishes out American fare the likes of juicy burgers, wings, onion rings and deep dish pizzas, and has made a name for itself among burger fans for its unique deep fried burger.

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The shop is appropriately Americana-themed, with American license plates and black and white photos of New York and the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge, while the speakers blast diner music. Plenty of natural sunlight makes for a cheerful, well-lit interior, and the ‘bar’ (setup looks like one but they don’t serve alcohol) is lined with rows of soda bottles. 

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The restaurant’s specialties are its burgers, in particular the deep fried burger – but I didn’t feel like having one so I ordered some snacks instead. I have read rave reviews about the burgers though, so might be back again to try them!

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They give you a small bucket of light popcorn to munch on while you wait for your order.

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The Very Vanilla Shake (RM10) was done right – thick, sweet and cold, they don’t skimp on the ingredients. Perfect with fried finger food, or to wash down your burgers and onion rings.

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Their Buffalo Wings comes highly recommended. For just RM13.90, you get six pieces of succulent, deep fried to perfection wings, coated in a sour and spicy buffalo sauce and served with blue cheese aioli. The wings are literal perfection: crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The sauce is what really makes the dish pop, though – I’ve had buffalo wings at many places in Malaysia, and they somehow can’t live up to the ones I’ve had at BWW in LA. The ones at Mean Mince taste authentic.

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Also, the main reason I came to check the place out: Mozzarella sticks (RM13.90). I’ve been craving mozzarella sticks for several weeks now and Mean Mince turned up in my search while I was googling for places that sold them in PJ. Again, portions are very generous – the cheese is almost bursting out of its batter, and the tangy tomato salsa that comes with it helps to cut through the heaviness.

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Gotta do that cheese pull

Overall, Mean Mince is a great place for American food, and the service is fast and friendly. Will be making a return visit for the burgers!

MEAN MINCE

31-1, Jalan PJU 7/16A, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Opening hours: 12pm – 9pm (Thurs – Tuesdays). Closed Wednesdays.

Telephone: 03-7733-2512

facebook.com/meanmince

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Fast Food Chains That Are No Longer In Malaysia

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Hey guys! It’s Day 20 of the Enhanced Movement Control Order in Malaysia, with about eight more days to go. There’ll be an announcement on April10th to see if it’ll be extended again. I hope not because my cravings are so bad, I actually dreamt of eating fried chicken – but this is a critical time and we might have no choice but to weather the storm.

Speaking of fried chicken, I’ve been watching videos of Keith from The Try Guys, where he eats everything on the menu of a fast food chain, like Wendy’s. We no longer have Wendy’s in Malaysia, so it was nostalgic to see some of the items they serve. It got me thinking about some of the other fast food chains that were here before, but are now long gone.

So without further ado:

White Castle

White Castle was founded in Wichita in 1928, wayyy before KFC or McDonalds. It is known for its small, square burgers – called ‘sliders – which has been listed by Time as one of the world’s most influential burgers. I don’t remember it, but apparently my parents brought me here once when I was very little. They didn’t last very long in Malaysia, so by the time I was old enough to remember eating fast food, they were already gone.

Long John Silver’s 

Back when I was younger, fast food was a luxury. My family was not well off, and my parents weren’t big fans of what they call ‘junk’ (they still aren’t, but now I can afford to grab a burger every now and then, lol). Perhaps it’s because these moments are so few and far between that I recall eating at Long John Silver’s so vividly. This American seafood chain was named after the pirate character from Treasure Island. Their fish and chips might just be the reason why I’m still a big fan of the dish today.

Shakey’s Pizza 

Shakey’s made its debut in the late 90s to early 2000s – I remember there was an outlet at my neighbourhood mall In Puchong, and we dined there a couple of times. Unfortunately the brand was unable to compete with more popular chains like Domino’s and Pizza Hut (both are still going strong today), and eventually shuttered. The last time I had Shakey’s was in Manila – not the pizza, but their potato mojos.

Papa John’s 

Another one that people my age might remember quite well is Papa John’s, an American pizza chain. Again, it did not survive too long and officially exited the Malaysian market in 2016. I was actually sad to see it go, as I really liked their cheese pizza, which was just plain pizza with different types of cheese. The crust was not as thick as Pizza Hut’s, but not as thin as Dominos.

Popeye’s 

Popeye’s was one of my favourite places for fried chicken – whenever my friends and I hit up Sunway Pyramid (that was the outlet closest to my place), we would stop by Popeye’s for their crispy, juicy Louisiana-style fried chicken. Of course, you can’t miss the honey butter biscuits and mashed potato.

Wendy’s 

Wendy’s was quite a recent exit, as Berjaya group did not renew their franchise last year. People laud them for their square-patty beef burgers, but personally, I prefer their fried chicken (no surprise!) . They had a shrimp burger on the menu once, which was excellent as well.

 

What are some of the nostalgic fast food chains in your country that have exited the market?

 

 

 

Review: Uncle Don’s, SS2 Petaling Jaya

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Hey guys! 

Sorry for not updating this space more often; things have just been super busy. The editor was on compassionate leave, so I was manning the fort alone, and these two weeks are crucial coz we’re closing our magazine pages. Between that, handling the digital side of things, working on a pitch AND my part time gig, you can imagine how crazy it has been. D’:

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The JW and I were in SS2 PJ and she suggested Uncle Don’s for dinner. There’s an outlet in Puchong as well and it’s always super packed, so I was quite curious as to why it’s so popular. The food is a mix of Western and local specialties, so you can get burgers and pastas, as well as rice/noodle dishes.

Was not too impressed with the service. We got there around 7PM and the tables inside were already filled up. Despite seeing us looking around for a table outside, the waiters stood around chatting with each other, completely ignoring us. When we found a table, it was awhile before they finally came to give us the menu.

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Ordered the Vanilla milkshake; turned out to be a sorry excuse for a beverage. I know you call it ice-cream, but damn… it was mostly ice and no cream lol. And as you can see pic, the portion was abysmal. After stirring it around, it didn’t even take up 3/4 of the mug.  I guess it was a blessing in disguise that the portion was small because the drink was tasteless.

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I absolutely adore buffalo wings – so I was really excited when I saw they had ‘Giant Buffalo Wings’ on their menu.

…. Introducing regular wings with a spicy sauce! If there was a buffalo wing dry rub on it, I couldn’t taste it. 😦 Taste-wise it wasn’t too bad; I was just disappointed because I was expecting the sauce-coated kind. Sigh.

After two misses, the burger fared much better. I had the fish burger (Above) while JW had the lamb. They were stacked, humongous and messy – and I liked how homemade the patties tasted. Also topped with a generous amount of oozy cheese and slices of pineapple for a sweet/tangy kick. The fries tasted like the regular frozen kind.

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JW’s lamb burger.

All in all, an average dining experience. Burger was good but other items not so; and the service was a turn off.

  • Food: burger 7.5/10, other items meh, SAD VANILLA MILKSHAKE 😦 .
  • Service: 3/10 are you being paid to chat and ignore customers when you clearly saw them looking for a table?
  • Ambience: I actually like the ambience inside, although we couldn’t get a table there. Good for drinks and casual get togethers. 7/10. 
  • Price: Surprisingly affordable. You can get fried rice etc. for as low as RM10.

UNCLE DON’S (SS2 MAIN BRANCH)

183, Jalan SS2/24, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Business hours: Daily, 11am-12am.

Tel: 03-78658293

Review: Petaling Jaya’s legendary Jackson’s Burger, SS14

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Petaling Jaya folks will no doubt know about Jackson’s Burger at SS14, the legendary burger truck run by a Chinese couple for over 40 years. That’s a long time and a lot of burgers flipped! 

Not being from PJ myself, I never got down to trying it until recently, when a colleague’s random cravings saw us driving there to ‘tapau’ orders for the whole office.

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Off days are not fixed, so we were lucky that they were open! 🙂 You can opt for take away, but there are a few chairs under the tree where you can dine ‘al fresco’, so to speak lol.

Options available as per menu: chicken, beef, fish or hot dog. They apparently have a crab burger as well.

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The patties here are homemade – none of that frozen sht – and grilled in butter, which makes it super fragrant and juicy. The smell wafting from the grill was enough to make our stomachs rumble. The buns are also given a light grilling to make them toasty and crisp. Diners can choose to add an egg + slice of cheese for a complete burgerlicious experience.

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My beef burger + extra cheese = RM5.30. 

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THIS. This is what good burgers should be about. Simple, no frills but oh-so-tasty.

The patty was flavourful, well seasoned and juicy, and I could really taste the difference and freshness in quality as compared to frozen patties. Instead of mayo which may overpower the taste of meat, the burger has just chilli sauce, onions and cucumbers.

My only qualm with it was the small portion. I could easily eat two and not be full 😀

Uncle and Auntie have been at it for 40 years and they don’t seem to have any apprentices, so better go get the burgers while they’re still at it! 🙂

JACKSON’S BURGER

Jalan 14/29 Section 14.

11.30am – 5pm

 

First Impressions & Juicy Burgers @ Grand Trailer Park Taverna, Melbourne

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Hey, guys! Remember a couple of months ago when I went to Melbourne ? Well, I can finally blog about it now ! 😀

My first time in Australia was to Sydney, over 20 years ago, so understandably, I don’t remember much other than going to the zoo to see kangaroos and koalas, taking pictures at the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, and visiting Hanna Barbera land. I’ve also never been to Melbourne, so it was a completely new experience for me. Was chaffeured to my hotel – The Grand Hyatt – which is very close to the city’s Chinatown. 

I was surprised to find heavy traffic in the city center. Guess jams aren’t just a KL-problem. It was a pleasant place to walk around though, with lots of trees, restaurants, chic cafes and colourful street art in alleyways. The community is diverse, with lots of races, so I didn’t feel out of place. Did you know that Melbourne is known as one of the world’s most liveable cities? 

Beautiful old architecture, such as the one found on this church facade, intermingle with modern skyscrapers.

Basic room at the Hyatt. Lunch was provided, but I decided to skip it to meet a local friend, St. He recommended we grab some burgers at a place called Grand Trailer Park Taverna. Going up a narrow staircase, we emerged on the second floor to a bright resto/pub-like area with private booths. Slid into a cosy one and ordered their signature dish.

I had the KSA, which consisted of a thick, juicy premium aussie beef patty, topped with American cheddar cheese, tomato, butter lettuce and a special burger sauce with American mustard, all sandwiched between two fluffy toasted brioche buns. St’s recommendation was on point (he’s a chef so I was expecting it!). I loved the juiciness of the beef, which was done medium in the middle. Just a beautifully made burger, no complaints. The beer-battered chips were also nice and crisp; although I personally prefer thin-cut ones.

It was a quick lunch coz I had to rush to join a walking tour at 2PM, but it was a great place to chill and catch up with friends. PS: You make your order at the counter and collect it yourself when it’s done.

GRAND TRAILER PARK TAVERNA

87 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Opening hours: 1130AM – 10PM (daily, closed on Mondays)
Phone: +61399723699

grandtrailerpark.com.au

 

Review: Texas Chicken Malaysia’s Crunchy Jalapeno Burger

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So recently I saw this on my timeline: Texas Chicken Malaysia (known as Church’s overseas, but due to religious sensitivities they’ve changed the name in certain countries) was having a new promo with their Crunchy Jalapeno Burger and Wrap. It looked really good, so I thought of trying it out when I was at The Mines shopping center recently..

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I was pleasantly surprised to find that the burger was rather huge. At least there’s no false advertising! Tastewise it was decent, although I felt the fried chicken patty’s batter was too flour-ish and lacked flavour. And if you think about it, it’s really just the regular chicken burger, but with a nacho and Jalapeno bombers added on top.

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The combo set came with fries and a piece of fried chicken. The fried chicken is much better than KFC’s, but I still list it as third after A&W’s and Marrybrown’s. The fries were limp but I actually like them that way. Soft drinks are refillable.

The service at The Mines outlet, though, is far from stellar. My server was daydreaming and was really slow, and he forgot to give me my chicken until I reminded him. It took him more than 15 minutes to serve the two customers in front of me, I was wondering if I was in a ‘fast food’ restaurant or not lol.

TEXAS CHICKEN MALAYSIA (MINES outlet)

The Mines, L1-46A, Jalan Dulang, Mines Wellness City, 43300 Seri Kembangan, Selangor, Malaysia

Open daily: 10AM-10PM