Southeast Asian cuisine

Review: Mamee Jonker House 163 Retail Park Mont Kiara – Needs More Mamee

January 16, 2020Posted in FoodTagged Asian cuisine, Asian food, dining, eats, Featured, food, food photography, food review, instant noodles, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Mamee, Mamee Jonker House, Melaka, noodles, Southeast Asia, Southeast Asian cuisine1 Comment

You might recall a recent blog post where I visited Mamee Jonker House in Melaka – a museum/resto/themed space dedicated to all things Mamee. Blog post here. I thoroughly enjoyed their creative dishes, which utilised Mamee noodles as the main carbo, spruced up with various ingredients.

The photos from the story I did for work were so good (thanks to N@Hubs!), the Editor jokingly said she wanted Mamee. There’s actually a Mamee Jonker House in KL as well, and it wasn’t too far from the office, so we set off on a little lunch adventure.

Mamee Jonker House KL is located at 163 Retail Park in Mont Kiara, and it bears the hallmarks of the original outlet – ie lots of Mamee paraphernalia, a section selling Mamee snacks and noodles, a family-friendly kitchen space where you can customise your noodle cups, as well as a chic dining area. The interiors are bright and cheerful, with tall windows that allow for plenty of natural sunlight to filter in. There is also a children’s playground area at the back of the outlet.

A fun wall of doodled Mamee cups

As Mamee hails from Melaka, visitors will find a proud display of its cultural heritage, including rattan baskets and handmade crafts from Melaka for sale

When it came to the food, however, I was a little disappointed as it was quite different from the one I enjoyed in Melaka.

Rather than Mamee dishes, the menu is more a mix of Melaka cuisine and typical cafe fare, with items such as Hainanese Chicken Rice, Nasi Goreng Kampung mixed with Western offerings like Fish & Chips, as well as light bites of sandwiches and fries. The only few dishes that actually feature Mamee is the pasta (option to switch with Mamee from regular pasta) and the Mamee Mee Goreng Mamak with Satay.

Colleague’s Bolognese Pasta (replaced with Mamee) consisted of homemade meatballs, tomato, herbs and parmesan cheese. Tastewise it was good, and the al dente, springy texture of the Mamee noodles lent it a unique twist.

Editor had the Mamee Mee Goreng Mamak, wok fried and served with a sunny side up. She said it was okay but nothing great.

Meanwhile, I had the Mee Bodoh (yes, as in ‘Stupid’ Mee). This is apparently a famous dish in Melaka, run by one Pak Hassan (will try it someday). The original requires yellow noodles, but I. Was. Going. To. Get. My. Damn. Mamee. So I requested for the chef to change it to Mamee noodles.

Also, a conversation with the waiter:

Me: Why do they call it Mee Bodoh?

Him: (I think he was nervous) Er, mee ni, dia bodoh ah… (er, thesenoodles, they’re stupid…)

Editor: chortles with laughter

Him: (backtracking) Er mee bodoh ni, dia famous dekat Melaka.. style dia panggil Bodoh. (er this mee bodoh, it’s famous in Melaka.. the style is called Bodoh).

…Long story short, he didn’t answer my question (perhaps he had no idea why it was called that) but it was funny all the same.

Again, noodles were cooked al dente which I liked. It had a sweetish taste, kinda like when you stir fry something in Maggi sauce, but there were also some other seasonings I couldn’t quite put my finger (or tongue) on. Tasty, but not WOW or anything. I still prefer the dishes I tried at the original Mamee Jonker House in Melaka. Pricing here is also on the higher side, maybe due to the setting.

Verdict: They need to incorporate more Mamee noodles in their offerings, to be honest. That’s just my humble opinion. Food is good, not great – I think this is a one-time visit for me.

MAMEE JONKER HOUSE KL (163 RETAIL PARK)

Lot 3F-01a, 163 Retail Park, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur

Opening hours: 10AM – 10PM

Phone: 03-2022 5588

Best Tom Yum and Fried Squid @ Thai Thai, Sunway Pyramid

August 13, 2019February 19, 2021Posted in FoodTagged dining, dinner, eating, eats, Featured, food, food review, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, restaurant review, Southeast Asia, Southeast Asian cuisine, Southeast Asian food, Sunway Pyramid, Thai, Thai cuisine, Thai food, tom yumLeave a comment

Been awhile since I went to Sunway Pyramid! The original plan was to have hotpot with C, but we ended up getting Thai food instead at Thai Thai. Despite being rather pricey, they’ve been consistently good on previous visits, and they did not disappoint this time either.

The interior hasn’t changed much – but they added some colourful murals of plants/flowers and animals on one side of the wall.

Thirst quenchers: Ice blended coconut shake and iced three-layer Thai milk tea. A bit hard to drink because they don’t give straws anymore, but gotta do our part for the environment! The coconut shake was refreshing and sweet – good ice to coconut ratio. Milk tea was milky but not too sweet.

I highly recommend getting the Tom Yum (you can choose from chicken, seafood or shrimp). We ordered the chicken for 2 pax (RM39++). It was hard to get the soup out with the spoon because the pot was kinda narrow – but taste wise, this is one of the better tom yum soups that I’ve had in the Klang Valley. Sour with a spicy kick (but not to the point that you breathe fire; just makes you sweat a little), it’s chock full of flavour from the lemongrass, chilli and other herbs. The chicken meat was also cooked to tender perfection. You can easily polish off bowls of rice with this.

I also suggest getting the fried squid appetiser. Coated in crisp batter, the springy pieces of squid come with a sweet Thai chilli dip.

We only ordered two dishes to go with our rice because the stuff is rather pricey, but they have loads of other dishes as well, such as the popular Thai basil chicken, fried omelette, steamed fish, mango sticky rice, and more.

Prices average from RM20+ up to RM60++ for dishes such as the whole fish.

Thai-Thai Restaurant
LOT G1-135.Oasis Boulevard, Sunway Pyramid, No.3, Jalan PJS 11/15, Bandar Sunway,46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-74919428

Business hours: 10am – 10pm (daily).

Review: Sawadeethai, Bandar Puteri Puchong

February 3, 2019Posted in FoodTagged dining, eats, Featured, food, food review, Malaysia, Puchong, restaurant review, Southeast Asian cuisine, Southeast Asian food, Thai, Thai foodLeave a comment

The Pops celebrated his b’day recently. The initial plan was to head to a Nyonya restaurant in Bandar Puteri Puchong for dinner. Upon arriving however, we discovered that said eatery had been replaced by a place selling Thai food. 😦

Not wanting to waste any more time, we decided to give Sawadeethai a shot.

Quite empty despite being a weekend. The interior looks pretty generic: marble tabletops and dark wood furniture; the only indication that it is a Thai restaurant being the framed elephant tapestries at the back.

Our orders were served up reasonably fast. First, fragrant Thai rice, served in a classic silver rice pot.

Green curry chicken, loaded with an assortment of vegetables and tender, boneless chicken chunks. The coconut milk was pronounced but not overpowering, and it was not too spicy (which can be good or bad, depending on how much kick you like).

One of my favourite things to order at a Thai restaurant – grilled pork skewers! These were the right balance of lean and fat, tender and flavourful with a slight char.

Stir fried kailan. The red chilli was just for garnishing as it was not spicy. Vegetables were fresh and crunchy.

Pandan chicken – boneless chicken pieces wrapped in fragant pandan leaves and deep fried. Again, flavour was just right without being overly salty, and the chicken was juicy with a nice, crisp exterior. Good stuff.

The only hit and miss was the squid. Unlike the Chinese-style which usually has a crumbly coating, this version’s batter resembled the Malay-style cumi-cumi goreng more. Each piece was probably 60-70% batter over squid, and the coating was tasteless. It was only decent with the sweet lemon sauce.

All in all our bill came up to just over RM100, which was pretty reasonable, as the portions are generous. A good place to go to if you’re craving Thai food and don’t want a long line.

SAWADEE THAI RESTAURANT

22, Jalan Puteri 2/3, Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong, Selangor

Opening hours: 10AM – 3PM, 5PM – 10PM

Review: Kong Sai Zai, Bandar Putri Puchong – Poached Chicken and Curry Ribs

January 19, 2018January 15, 2018Posted in FoodTagged Asian food, Bandar Putri Puchong, casual dining., dining, Featured, food, food in Puchong, food photography, Kong Sai Zai, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Puchong, restaurant review, Southeast Asian cuisine, Southeast Asian foodLeave a comment

Ask any Puchong-ite about where to get poached chicken and chances are, you’ll be directed to Kong Sai Zai in Bandar Putri, Puchong. In the restaurant’s early days, they occupied just one corner shoplot, but have since extended to two, with an upstairs dining area to boot. The quality of the dishes has not changed much: a good thing, since many establishments lose their QC once they’ve become popular – but the price has gone up significantly as well.

There are two chicken options available – regular (RM25 – half) or free-range/village (RM30- half). Village chicken has less meat and is pricier, because unlike their farm-bred counterparts, the chickens are allowed to ‘roam’ free and are raised using traditional farming methods. Some people therefore see them as a healthier alternative to commercialised chicken factories, where the chickens are often cooped up with no room to run around, and injected with all sorts of antibiotics to stimulate growth.

We went for half village chicken coz the guy said they ran out of the regular ones. The portion was still hefty! The meat was soft and tender, but what really elevated the dish was the sauce, which seemed to be a blend of soy sauce and (presumably) sesame oil. It is sweet rather than salty, and the meat soaks it up well, so that the natural flavours of the chicken are highlighted rather than being overpowered. It’s not the best poached chicken I’ve had, but it’s still quite a good one nonetheless.

Stir-fried veggies were pretty good – fresh and crunchy.

BONUS: I recommend ordering this! Curry pork ribs (RM13 – single portion). It doesn’t look very appetising since it’s served in an aluminium tin foil. It’s messy and the curry looks (and probably is!) very oily. But the flavours are good, and the ribs are melt-in-your-mouth tender. Wish they had chopped this up more evenly though coz there were some really humongous pieces vs tiny ones.

KONG SAI ZAI (BANDAR PUTERI PUCHONG)

44G, Jalan Puteri 5/2, Bandar Puteri Puchong.

Business hours: Lunch (11.30AM – 2.30PM), Dinner (5.30PM – 10PM), closed Mondays

Phone: 019-208 8249

Review: Rawang Smoked Chicken @ Village Restaurant, Rawang

January 17, 2018January 14, 2018Posted in FoodTagged Asian, Chinese food, Featured, food, food photography, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Rawang, smoked chicken, Southeast Asian cuisine, Village Restaurant1 Comment

So as you might already be aware of, the fam and I went up to Genting over the weekend to enjoy some cool weather. It was evening by the time we made our way back, so we decided to stop by in Rawang for dinner at a place called Village Restaurant. It’s small and they don’t have a huge selection of dishes, but the few that they do, they do exceptionally well. We’ve been here a couple of times and the food quality has always been consistent.

We ordered a few of their signature dishes, the first being the Winter Melon soup. The winter melon is carved out and used as a vessel for the soup, which is made from boiling pork bones, mushrooms, dried scallops and a host of other herbs and goodies. You can really taste the full-bodied flavours – proof that the soup has been boiled for a good amount of time – complimented by the natural sweetness of the winter melon. The ‘bowl’ also keeps the soup warm. Tasty and nutritious!

The star of the resto is their Smoked Chicken (RM25 – half chicken). The chicken is moist and tender on the inside, and the skin has absorbed the smokey flavour so it has a slightly charred taste. The skin is salty, resembling salted chicken. It’s easy to polish off several bowls of rice with this dish!

Last but not least, we had pork belly with salted fish, another dish with strong and pungent flavours. The pork belly slices were fatty but it was well- balanced by the salted fish and did not end up feeling greasy at all.

Service is friendly and efficient, although the wait for food takes a long time since they make it from scratch. Good food is worth the wait, though!

VILLAGE RESTAURANT

No.15-16, Block B, Gerai M.P.S Rawang,
Rawang, Selangor 48000

Open for lunch and dinner (closed Tuesdays)

Sunset pic before heading home. Til next post!