Ho Soon Tomyam Thai Seafood Restaurant @ Bukit Mertajam
Feb 8th
Ho Soon Thai Tomyam Seafood restaurant was recommended by the helper who comes to help clean our house weekly. According to her the restaurant is always buzzing with families – something she knew because she works in the restaurant at night. Taking this as a hint of good food as well as to try something new, we decided to have a Thai meal at Ho Soon for our Christmas family dinner.
Well she was right about the buzz. During dinner time around 6pm, the restaurant was already almost full by the time we reach. If we reached 5 minutes later we would had have to wait for an empty table.
Needless to say, Tomyam is a must and we had a small portion of Tomyam Seafood @ RM18. The amount of seafood like prawns, squids and slices of fish was good, fresh and justified for the price. I like the Tomyam soup too. It was quite thick and slightly sweet, not too sour nor too spicy. Personally, I prefer this variation more because I am not too fond of sourish stuff.
Thai Steam Black Pomfret with Chili Lime Sauce @ RM38. We felt the portion was a little too big for the four of us but we enjoyed it nonetheless.
Chung Cheng Chilli Mee @ Golden Mile Food Centre, Beach Road
Feb 5th
While researching for good Prawn Mee I stumbled upon many good recommendations about Chung Cheng Chilli Mee in Golden Mile Food Centre along Beach Road. Chung Cheng happens to sell Prawn Mee as well but it is their Chilli Mee that has got raving reviews. The food centre is also near to an Army Market popular for its army and camping equipments.
Luckily when I went the queue was short and I got to order in less than few minutes. In Singapore, any popular food stalls would have a queue so long it could stretch all the way to the entrance of the food court. I am not exaggerating here. I experienced waiting 30 minutes for a plate of chicken rice before lol. Read the rest of this entry »
Prince Cafe Hong Kong Cuisine @ Kepong
Feb 3rd
Prince Cafe is a chained Hong Kong style cafe that have a few branches in Klang Valley. As far as I know they had branches in Kepong, SS2 and Mid Valley (closed down) From the recent closure of their Mid Valley branch I am thinking they aren’t doing too well.
It’s kinda obvious (at least to me) that they are aiming to tap into the Yum Cha market, and might want to emulate the success of Kim Gary and Wong Kok Char Chan Teng alike. But as far as I am concerned, the food served at Kim Gary and Wong Kok in Malaysia are not up to the standards. Well I could give their Yin Yong or HK Milk Tea a pass but their food is just a let down.
What I said is based on the fact that I have tried the Kim Gary in Singapore and I feel there is a heaven-and-earth difference. So when your competition is not strong, standards are low hence less room for improvements. That being said, it’s obvious my experience with Prince Cafe to follow was a disappointing one.
Macau style Pork Chop Burger @ RM6.50. While I could tolerate the idea of purposely arranging the pork chops in such a messy way in creating an arty impression – there’s nothing to like about the overly dry pork chops and excessive use of mayonnaise.
Pork Chop Cheese Baked Rice @ RM16.90 had a huge portion but it arrived cold and tasted dry – really dry. They were generous with the mayonnaise on my pork chop burger but decided to stinge on the curry sauce for the cheese baked rice lol. Well luckily the waiter happily obliged to bring us extra curry sauce so it was bearable.
For this kind of pricing and food quality, you are better off sticking to Kim Gary or Wong Kok. Or better still, support local Yum Cha scene and have white coffee at Old Town instead.
Prince Cafe (info provided for the lulz)
No 22, 24 & 26, Jalan Metro Perdana 8
Taman Usahawan Kepong, 52100 KL
Pak Man Mee Kuah Ketam @ Cherok Tok Kun, Bukit Mertajam
Feb 2nd
Pak Man Mee Kuah Ketam is a small canteen like shop at Cherok Tok Kun that is famous for their traditional Malay noodles that uses flower crab to prepare the delicious gravy. The stall is located located just at the intersection before you turn into the road leading to Bukit Mertajam hill.
I am not sure if Haji Mohd is a branch or somehow related to Pak Man because both of them seem to sell the same thing. But their noodles tastes different so I am guessing no.
When ordering, I stood next to the stall and noticed a big pot of simmering gravy used to prepare the Mee Kuah. It smelled terrific and the heat was very overpowering. By this I knew I was in for something special.
A normal plate of Mee Kuah Ketam costs RM3, or RM3.50 for the bigger plate as well as the Mee Kuah Special. Not exactly cheap for BM standards but I would say it’s worth it considering the generous amount of ingredients they give – chewy sweet and spicy sotong, prawns, ‘heh chee‘ (prawn pritters), tau kua, chilies, hard boiled egg and a sprinkle of crushed peanuts. Shown here is the Mee Kuah Special, which I think had extra prawns and sotong.
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328 Famous Katong Laksa @ East Coast Road
Jan 31st
I love Katong Laksa, it has to be the one of the hawker food I have eaten the most since coming to Singapore. For me, having a good bowl of piping hot laksa with a can of ice cool Sarsi under a hot weather is a bliss. And it’s a great way to experience the common daily life of an average Singaporean too. I aim to try all the delicious laksa in the island before I head back to Malaysia, because it will definitely be on my list of missed Singapore food.
When it comes to popularity, without a shout of a doubt 328 Katong Laksa @ East Coast Road has it. The shop’s wall is full of photos of famous Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities who have eaten here and given their share of thumbs up. However, famous as they might be, for me it’s only the taste that matters most.
