Mutton curry

My work lunch gang decided to eat Chicken Tandoori and Cheese Naan (flatbread) so we walked to a nearby mamak restaurant. I wanted my vegetables so I ate the following plate of "chap fan" (rice with a few selected dishes). The stir fried cabbage and beansprouts were the only vegetable dishes available at that time (a little before 12noon).

Mutton curry, beansprouts, cabbage and a little rice - MYR6 - the mutton cubes were tender so they were quite tasty.

Yamagoya

I read about Yuzu Ramen a few days ago and it so happened that I was at Publika last Saturday so I made it a point to drop by Yamagoya Ramen that specializes in Kyushu style ramen (rich broth cooked for many hours using pork bones) for a bowl of Yuzu Ramen.

Yuzu Ramen - MYR26 - inclusive of half an egg, a few slices of thin Char Siu (pork slices), beansprout and bamboo shoots. In the photo above, the Char Siu and ramen noodles can't be seen. I must have expected too much because I could not really detect the Yuzu taste and after concentrating hard when drinking the broth, I could just taste a slight hint of Yuzu. The broth however, is lighter than the broth of the bowl of Roasted Char Siu Ramen that my spouse ate (photo below).

Next time, I may try the Lemon Ramen with slices of lemon in the broth as shown by the photo in the menu.

Roasted Char Siu Ramen - MYR24 - with thick pieces of flavourful roasted Char Siu. I find the roasted Char Siu a bit tough but my spouse likes them. He also loves the piping hot full bodied broth that is full of porky goodness.

The ramen noodles in both bowls are the same thin noodles, soft and not too chewy. The amount of ramen noodles is not too much so I find it quite easy to finish a bowl of ramen on my own.

I did not order any drink but my spouse ordered a cup of hot green tea (MYR2) and a serving of Menma (fermented bamboo shoots) for MYR3.

One can grind some sesame into the bowl of ramen for more flavour.

What does this say?

The fine print says - "....Please taste to the last one drop." Unfortunately we were too full so we did not finish drinking the broth in our bowls. :(

Nice Interior

Yamagoya Ramen,

A2-G2-8, Publika,

Service Charge: 10%

Govt. Tax: 6%

Total Bill: MYR63.80 (2 pax)

Credit Card Payment: Yes

TeoChew Chendul at Publika

Yesterday, we attended a toddler's birthday party in Publika and walked around for a while after the event as the parking fee is very affordable - only MYR2 per entry during weekends. At the food court, we noticed that "Penang Road Famous TeoChew Chendul" has opened an outlet here. Previously, we went to the outlet at Paradigm Mall so good to know we have another choice now.

Fruit Rojak - MYR6.90 (prices are nett) - jicama, pineapple, umbra or ambarella (kedondong), cucumber and surprisingly cuttlefish in crushed peanuts and shrimp paste sauce. Very tasty.

Original chendul - MYR4.90 - we requested for the palm sugar to be served separately so that we can put just enough to get a slight sweetness only. For an additional fee, one can choose to have ice cream or durian or chempedak (Artocarpus integer) added to the chendul.

It was early, way before lunch time so there were no customers yet.

We also stumbled upon Coffee and Art Fringe Festival Asia (CAFFA 2014) at Publika where there are about 10 stalls offering free coffee tasting but we do not like crowds so we did not taste any coffee there.

McD Taro Pie

I read about McD having a taro pie in Nux V's post so I decide to try it the next time I pass by a McD.

Taro Pie - MYR2.50 ++ (Total MYR2.65)

It is deep fried instead of baked and looks exactly like McD Apple Pie externally.

I am surprised that even the taro fillings have gooey sauce like McD apple pies' fillings. It just swapped the apple pieces with taro pieces.

Closed up - I can see  a few pieces of taro in the fillings. A bit on the sweet and oily side.

Ichi Zen

After walking for a while in Tokyo Street, Pavilion and looking at the menus of all the Japanese restaurants there, we decided to have lunch at Ichi Zen.

Chawan Mushi that came with our set lunch. 

Salmon Shioyaki and Deep Fried Oysters (2) Set Lunch - MYR25.90 - includes rice, salad, fruits, pickled cucumbers and miso soup.

Cod Shioyaki and Squid Set Lunch - MYR28.90 - includes rice, salad, fruits, pickled cucumbers and miso soup.

The food tastes good but for this affordable price, we did expect the amount of fish served to be very little and true enough we got a small and thin piece of salmon and cod but no complaints from us.

The set lunch we ordered.

 Interior

 Store front

Other outlets by the same group.

Ichi Zen,

Tokyo Street,  Pavilion

Service Charge: 10%

Gov. Tax: NA

Total Bill: MYR60.30 (2 pax)

2nd Time Wiser

My lunch gang decided to go to the "bad pasta" place again because they actually like eating the pasta there so I ordered the chicken noodles in clear soup this time.

Tiny cubes of chicken meat in clear soup with cabbage and a mix of mee hoon and kway teow noodle - MYR6.90 plus 5% service charge (MYR7.25 in total). Well this is better than the pasta I ate previously because the mee hoon is very soft and the soup is not oily at all.

Chicken Cornish Pasty

After eating pies at "A Pie Thing", I plan to try the pies at other eateries so when my work lunch gang wanted to eat at Secret Recipe, I was thinking ok, a pie then but there were no pies available that day so I went for the closest food to a pie and that is a cornish pasty. There were two types of Chicken Cornish Pasty - spicy and non-spicy and I selected the non-spicy one.

Chicken Cornish Pasty - Non Spicy - MYR8.80++ (total MYR10.20).

Cross Section

Shredded chicken meat instead of cubes and there is a hint of curry taste despite it being the non-spicy version. A very filling meal.

Interior

Cake counter

Shop Front

Recipe:Sarawak Laksa Paste

After reading the comments asking about the differences between Sarawak Laksa and the other Laksa's', I googled and found the recipe for Sarawak Laksa Paste and how to cook your own Sarawak Laksa with the paste you have made so I am sharing the links I found here. If you like to cook and have the following ingredients, you can make your own Sarawak Laksa including the paste:

To make the Sarawak Laksa paste, you will need:
shallots, garlic, galangal (lengkuas), red chilies, lemongrass (serai), dried chilies, candlenuts (buah keras), sesame seeds, peanuts, cumin seeds, coriander seeds. star anise, cloves, nutmegs, cardamons, salt, sugar. tamarind bulbs (Assam Jawa). For the details, please visit:
 http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.com/2011/11/secret-of-sarawak-laksa-paste-revealed.html

For the Sarawak Laksa, you will need:
Sarawak Laksa paste, prawns, chicken meat, eggs, beansprouts, coriander leaves, chilies, lime, mee hoon (rice vermicelli), salt, pepper, coconut milk. For the details, please visit:
http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/sarawak-laksa-malaysian-monday-95.html

Happy Cooking! As you can see, the paste is made up of many spices and herbs to give it the special taste.

Old photo from July 2013 - Sarawak Laksa from Hai Siang Kopitiam, Bandar Puteri Puchong - MYR8.50 then (I am not sure what the price is now).

Sarawak Laksa

Aunt Christina's Sarawak Laksa - MYR6.50 (big)

I finally ate this Sarawak Laksa at Nam Chun Coffee Shop at Lucky Garden, Bangsar. Very tasty indeed with 2 big prawns (for a big portion), crunchy beansprouts, shredded chicken meat, shredded omelette and a thick flavourful broth. 

Previously I have eaten Sarawak Laksa at Hai Siang Kopitiam in Bandar Puteri, Puchong and found that the broth has a very strong overpowering herbal taste to it which I thought applies to all Sarawak Laksa but after eating Aunt Christina's Sarawak Laksa, I found that this is not true as the broth this time has only a slight herbal taste. I like both versions so I am going to try more versions of Sarawak Laksa found here and hopefully one day I could taste the real McCoy.

Zab Zab Boat Noodle

After eating at Authentic Thai Boat Noodle, we noticed that there is another Thai Boat Noodle eatery nearby so we decided to try it too. This Zab Zab Boat Noodle eatery serves Tom Yam flavour noodle in addition to the Original flavour. The bowl used is bigger but the portion of noodle served is just as little (at most 2 mouthfuls but I guess 1 mouthful if you have a big mouth).

It is very simple to order as there are very limited food items on the menu. We just have to decide:
1. Tom Yam or Original taste
2. Thai Kuey Teow or Mee Hoon
3. Soup or Dry
4. How many bowls (each bowl costs MYR1.90 nett)

and order a combination of the above variables.

Tom Yam Mee Hoon Soup - I like this better than the Original Flavour because of the slight spiciness.

Left: Tom Yam Thai Kuey Teow Soup Right: Tom Yam Mee Hoon Soup - I prefer mee hoon over the kuey teow because Thai kuey teow is thinner and slippery so the mee hoon is easier to eat.

Original Mee Hoon Soup

We started by ordering 6 bowls - 4 original and 2 tom yam.

Original Thai Kuey Teow Soup

Very crispy Pork Rind - MYR1.90 and Coconut Juice - MYR5.50

After eating the first round, we realised that we did not order any dry version so we ordered two bowls of Tom Yam Mee Hoon and Thai Kuey Teow Dry above. The dry version just means using very little Tom Yam soup as the sauce instead.

In the end, the two of us ate 12 bowls with a bowl of Pork Rind.

Sauces provided

Menu of the Noodle

The Thai Coconut Jelly was sold out that day

Drinks available

I like the Tom Yam soup mee hoon so I will go back for more when it is not so crowded. We had to wait for a while to get a seat this time.

Zab Zab Boat Noodle (Same row as Drunken Cat Restaurant)
Jalan Kuchai Maju 7
 Off Jalan Kuchai Lama
Price: MYR1.90 per bowl (nett)
Total Bill: MYR30.20 (2 pax)

Ice cream for breakfast

Everyday I reach the office at around 8 am but the door will only be opened at 8.30 am so I will hang out at the nearby convenient store. On this day, I felt like having ice cream for breakfast and so I did.

Magnum Chocolate & Strawberry Ice cream - MYR4.10 - bought from the convenient store (7-11).

Delicious Chocolate Coating

Strawberry and vanilla ice cream coated by chocolate. What a treat!

Happy Chef Corner

Princess Ribbon mentioned this eatery in her previous comment so here is the post. We seldom eat here because some of our lunch gang can only eat Halal food so I only eat here when they are not with us for that day. This is the cheapest eatery in this area - just look at the prices below (be warned - many photos that look almost the same).

1. Stir fried bok choy 2. Stir fried sweet potato leaves 3. Potatoes and chicken breast meat in curry with rice - MYR5.70 - a bit on the oily side for the stir fried veges but I am not complaining due to the price.

Once I went to another eatery and had nasi lemak (coconut milk rice) and I wanted to eat something green so I went to this eatery after my nasi lemak meal just to eat veges and selected 2 dishes - 1. Four-angled bean 2. Snake bean and the price was MYR2 only.

1. Bitter Gourd 2. Lettuce 3. Some sort of Beans (don't know which type) 4. One potato and one piece of chicken breast meat in curry - MYR5.50 - somehow of all the meat dishes available, I am only attracted to the chicken and potato curry dish.

1. Chinese Spinach (Yin Choy) 2. Water convolvulus (Kang Kong) 3. A piece of chicken breast meat in soy sauce - MYR5 -  the usual chicken and potato curry was not available on this day so I chose another chicken dish.

There was rice underneath all the veges and egg. 1.Bitter gourd 2. Napa cabbage (Wong Nga Pak) 3. Chinese Spinach (Yin Choy) 4. Steamed egg - MYR5.5 - I find the steamed egg very, very salty, and then only found out it is steamed SALTED eggs - that explained the extreme saltiness of this steamed egg.

1. Broccoli and cauliflower (this dish is not available every day) 2. Chinese spinach 3. Chicken and potato curry - MYR5 only.

1. Chicken and potato curry 2. Hard boiled egg 3. Bok Choy 4. Capsicum, baby corn, broccoli, cauliflower - MYR5.90 due to the additional egg. I felt I needed more protein on this day.

1. Bok Choy 2. Water cress 3. Chicken and potato curry 4. Pumpkin with dried shrimp - MYR6.30 - the pumpkin dish is really delicious.

1. chicken and potato curry 2. Hardboiled egg 3. Broccoli and mushroom 4. Chinese spinach (Yin Choy) - MYR5.60 only. The rice was hidden beneath the veges.

Long queue due to the cheap price.

Not air-conditioned so you get pretty sweaty when you take too long to finish your meal. No hanging around to chat after your meal.

 Shopfront