vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Restaurant
Opus Bistro Italian Restaurant @ Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar
Dec 19th
One of my best meals recently was had at Opus Bistro, an Italian restaurant at the Bangkung Row, Bangsar. This simple yet slick ‘neighborhood restaurant’ is certainly more than what it appears to be and everything was perfect from appetizier to soup and entrees. Just one visit was enough for me to place it at the top of my favorite Western restaurants to go.
But of course good food does not come cheap, which is why you will also appreciate Opus’ reasonably priced menu as another great reason to visit. Most appetizers are below RM30, except for the premiums like foie gras (RM60). If you are looking forward to try many different appetizers and don’t mind sharing then Opus’ Special Seafood Antipasti Platter is the best choice. Priced at RM45 for a platter, it comes with the best of Opus’ seafood including grilled scallops and tiger prawns, clams in white wine sauce and calamari ripieni (squid stuffed with risotto rice in tomato sauce).
Honestly, this impressed me so much. Besides the beautiful presentation, the array of flavors on the platter is amazingly wonderful and it sends your taste buds into euphoria, making one feel excited about the dishes to follow. And as expected, all the seafood is as fresh as will get and I especially loved the squid and clams.
Min Huang Restaurant – Shanghai & Hong Kong Style Dim Sum & Desserts @ Kepong
Dec 17th
After coming back from Hong Kong I have been shunning our local dim sum joints because I feel they are not up to the standards anymore. If you have been to Hong Kong and tasted some of the best dim sum in the world, I am sure you can relate to this. The last time I had dim sum was at Foh San 2 months ago and I found myself not enjoying the food at all. Everything just tasted uninspiring and dull.
Now, based on a reader’s suggestion, I went to Min Huang Restaurant in Kepong. They serve plenty of Shanghai and Hong Kong style dim sum and desserts which I find to be good enough to earn a recommendation from me. And yes, even after comparing them with those I had in HK.
Among the many dishes we had here, the Shanghai Special Fried Bean Sheet @ RM4.80 (small) would be the most recommended one. The bean sheet is very similar to koay teow but appears a lot thinner, more translucent and with a slightly chewy texture. The chef sure cooked the dish right by infusing a lot of ‘wok hei’ and egg fragrance into it, it tastes just delicious.
A special variant of Xiao Long Bao seasoned with Chinese herbs is served here @ RM7.20. It tastes exactly like the normal Xiao Long Bao, just that it has an extra pleasant herb flavor to it.
Seremban Baked Crabs 芙蓉烧蟹 @ Kedai Makanan Seremban
Nov 10th
Would a makan trip to Seremban be complete without trying their famous Baked Crabs? I guess not. Since this is a local specialty, for sure there are a couple of restaurants that prepares this dish to cater to the demand. But through the recommendation of the locals we chose to eat at Kedai Makanan Seremban seafood restaurant. It is also the most famous one in town after being featured in countless media.
Although the dish is called 芙蓉烧蟹 (‘Fu Yong Siu Hai’) in Cantonese and translates to Grilled/BBQ Crab, the crabs are not barbecued at all. In fact they are deep fried and then coated with some special sticky sweet sauce. So if you are coming here expecting the the crabs to be grilled/baked/BBQ-ed then you will be surprised, heh. Actually I feel weird that I am calling it ‘Baked Crabs’ when it is supposed to be ‘Fried Crabs’ lol. But I am sticking to it anyway in respect to its Chinese name.
I believe there are people out there who do not like to have their crabs deep fried because the flesh tends to be dry and stick to the shells. Well, I am one of them. Luckily the chef is experienced and the crabs were fresh, plus he did not overcook them. So the amount of meat that got stuck at the shells is minimal and mostly at the legs. As you can see, the chunk of meat at the crab’s claw is still perfect and juicy. FYI it costs RM70 for two crabs (1 large and 1 medium) weighing a total of 1.4kg.
Claypot Pepper Bak Kut Teh @ Sekmechoy Restaurant, Bandar Manjalara
Oct 30th
Sekmechoy, a restaurant that has its roots at Salak South specializing in Claypot Pepper Bak Kut Teh is the latest addition to the huge list of Bak Kut Teh restaurants in Kepong. But first let me just say that if you do could not afford to be the earliest customer or wait for at least one hour during peak periods, you can forget about eating here because they are currently understaffed as well as overwhelmed with customers. Getting a table would be the least of your concerns, as the food is getting out of the kitchen really slowly. Luckily the food was very good and quite worth the wait, else I would have been cranky.
I know I have said some bad things about pepper based Bak Kut Teh in the past. But after trying Sekmechoy’s I have to take back those words now. Although it tastes very different from the herbal version, there is no doubt it is still delicious in its own way. I find the clear broth’s peppery flavor spot on and not too overpowering, which I think is why it tastes acceptable for me. Each portion costs RM11.
