vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Restaurant
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.
Char Siew ‘Chap Fan’ @ Chuen How Restaurant, Batu Berendam
Oct 6th
There are two popular Char Siew rice in Melaka, one at Jalan Bunga Raya and another at Batu Berendam. Even though they are basically selling the same thing, their style and business hours are totally different.
The one at Jalan Bunga Raya is famous for their fatty Char Siew and only opens during the day, while the one at Batu Berendam sold in Chuen How restaurant is the leaner type and previously they only open for dinner. Now they are also open for lunch from 10am onwards until 10pm.
Chuen How’s Char Siew is the one I am going to show you and it was surprisingly very very delicious, one of my most memorable eats in Melaka. Anyway, you won’t find a lot of information about this Char Siew online so if it wasn’t for my friend’s (a Malaccan) guidance I wouldn’t know about it. And since this is at Batu Berendam it was quite a drive from the town center, but man was it worth it!
Chuen How is basically a ‘chap fan‘ (economy rice) restaurant and most of the customers are locals comprising of the working people and families who take away packets of packed rice for dinner. Besides the Char Siew, the assam fish is equally popular. The sourness and spiciness are very strong but in a good way that it opens up your appetite nicely. Price wise it is as common as any other ‘chap fan’ stalls you will encounter.
Roast Goose @ Yue Kee Restaurant (裕記大飯店), Sham Tseng Hong Kong
Oct 1st
Dim Sum aside, ‘Siu Ngor‘ (Roast Goose) is one of the more memorable food we had in Hong Kong. There are quite a number of restaurants selling Roast Goose in HK but the famous ones are none other than the original Sham Tseng Yue Kee and the classy Yung Kee Restaurant at Central. We actually tried both, and felt that while both are equally good and up to expected standards, Yue Kee is more appealing to us because it won’t burn a hole in your wallet like Yung Kee would.
The ‘lai pai‘ (regular) portion here is a quarter of a roast goose and it is priced at $100 for the upper part and $120 for the lower part. The lower part is slightly more expensive simply because that’s where the drumstick is at. If you were not specific enough while ordering you will most probably get the upper part like we did. So if you intend to savor the drumstick and thigh portion, do let the waiter know exactly which part you want when he is placing the order. If the menu is missing from the table, insist on it to know what is available.
