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Food and Drink
Food!!
Shang Kee Ipoh Chicken Rice @ Glutton Street, Kepong Baru
May 23rd
Two years after discovering Shang Kee Ipoh Chicken Rice at Kepong‘s Glutton Street, we still find ourselves eating here regularly for a quick, cheap and good meal. In fact, it is one of our backup makan places whenever we couldn’t decide where to go for lunch.
Shang Kee does not deliberately undercook their chicken slightly to get that pinkish look and juicy texture. So you will not find any bloody pieces of chicken served to you here, at least none in my many visits thus far. However, the fully cooked meat is still slippery smooth and tender – flavorful and aromatic when served with a dash of sesame oil and sweet soya sauce. And if you are wondering what the light reddish spots are on the drumstick, those are just some reflections from the chili sauce.
Perkampungan Ikan Bakar Terapung @ Umbai, Melaka
May 18th
The furthest I have been to in Melaka is Umbai – a town famous for seafood, notably ikan bakar. As far as I know there are two places you could go to satisfy your seafood craving here. It could be either at the older Medan Ikan Bakar (in which the Parameswara stall is most popular) or at the spanking new floating complex blessed with a nice view of the sea known as “Perkampungan Ikan Bakar Terapung“, or PIBT in short.
We decided to check out the latter for no particular reason. And no, that’s not my Kancil.
It was only 5.30pm so there weren’t many people there yet. Only a handful of stalls were operating while the rest was just starting to open up for the night. Of course, as expected there will be a few stray cats lingering around, but generally the place seemed clean and well maintained.
After surveying the options available, we chose to order from stall no.5 Enak Rasa Ikan Bakar. Like any normal ikan bakar stall, you get to choose the type of seafood you want and the cooking style you fancy. If you are undecided, the cooks are friendly and happy to recommend according to your preferences.
Fresh Water Prawns @ Han Thoy Restaurant, Panchor (Johor)
May 15th
Panchor is a small town within Muar district in Johor situated approximately 30km north east of Muar’s town center. Back in the older days when road networks were not as developed as they are today, Panchor was a busy river port used to transport inner agricultural and plantation crops on the Muar River. Fresh river prawns are aplenty too, which is why some outstation people would make a special trip off the beaten path for a quick meal here.
We did not have the coordinates of the restaurant so we could only rely on the GPS to route us to the address we found online. After driving along some questionable roads through a dense oil palm plantation for a while, we managed to find Han Thoy (the restaurant famous for fresh water prawns) easily once we reached the town. It was literally just a stone’s throw away from the big river. Our first impression of the town was that it is quiet, clean and seemed to be stuck in the 60′s.
This was meant to be a light meal before we continue our journey to Muar so we only tried two of their signature dishes. There are many cooking styles available for the river prawns but we opted for the steamed version (with ginger and scallion in egg white) because we thought it was the best way to enjoy their natural flavor to the fullest.
Roast Goose @ Yung Kee Restaurant 鏞記酒家, Central Hong Kong
May 11th
Yung Kee Restaurant located at the heart of Central is one of the top restaurants in Asia according to various restaurant guides. They serve a number of award winning Chinese dishes but Roast Goose is the main reason why they are so popular. Just how popular you ask? Well, the demand for Yung Kee’s roast goose is so high that as many as 300 birds are sold daily and it is even served in first and business class on board Cathay Pacific’s flights. So with that in mind, we thought Yung Kee was worth a visit despite their reputation of being expensive.
Among the many places we ate in Hong Kong, Yung Kee is be the classiest of all. Service is much more friendlier and attentive too, which kind of explains the prices here. And maybe because we already expected the price to be sky high, we were not very shocked when browsing the menu. In fact, we found Yung Kee’s pricing is similar to what Yue Kee is charging. Half a bird (two to four person portion) costs $240 while a quarter (two-person portion) goes for $120.
Looks mouth-watering good, right? It definitely is. Sadly, the reality is that it will be very difficult for us to get a roast goose that could match the flavor, smoky fragrance and texture of Yung Kee’s in Malaysia. No matter which piece you pick from the plate may it be the thigh, drumstick or breast, the meat tastes equally juicy and delicious. And of course the crispy skin with a thin layer of fat underneath was our favorite part.
