vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Seafood
Seafood
RM32.80++ Shabu Shabu Buffet @ Nagomi, Menara Hap Seng
Feb 1st
I am sure you know the problem with steamboat buffets. The ingredients are often not fresh and the soup is usually laden with ajinomoto. Luckily Nagomi decided to serve Shabu Shabu buffet and despite being 50% more expensive than the average steamboat buffet restaurants, the price is justified because the expected quality is there.
For RM32.80++ per adult (exclusive of drinks, green tea is RM3) you get to choose from over 80 types of ingredients to swish in the dashi hot pot. Well, that’s what they claim. I did not count but the spread certainly did not look like it consisted of anything near to 80 choices lol. Among all, we enjoyed the tiger prawns the most. Although they were frozen, they were still fresh, tasted sweet and the shells could be peeled off easily after being cooked.
Fried Oyster (O Chien) @ CH Coffee Shop, Bukit Mertajam
Dec 28th
I miss blogging about my hometown’s food. For those who don’t know where I am from, it’s Bukit Mertajam – a small town on the mainland of Penang. Now that I am home for the holidays, it is time for food hunting again. There is a saying in the Chinese community that good food can always be found near temples. Come to think of it, that saying is quite true especially in small towns, like mine.
The most famous temple in BM would be Pek Kong Cheng which is situated right in the center of the town, just next to the wet market. In the morning, there are plenty of food stalls in the catering for the local marker goers and workers with some being the most famous ones in town like the white wantan mee, koay chap, prawn noodle and many more. Come night, it turns into a popular supper spot with new food stalls that operate until midnight.
My latest discovery is a Fried Oyster stall that is manned by a young man in his 20s. I seldom return to BM nowadays so I didn’t even realize the stall which he has been operating for almost 5 years. His style of fried oyster is true to the northern Malaysian style, in which the eggs are fried into thin pieces then folded on top of each other followed by the oysters. The smallest portion costs RM7 and consists of two eggs and roughly 8-10 oysters. There are a few large sized oysters while the rest are medium to small but nothing too tiny, so not bad at all.
Ho Ho Steamboat with Roe Crabs @ Jalan Segambut, KL
Dec 7th
If you see a steamboat post in my blog then it means the rainy season is here again – simply because it is the only time I would crave for steamboat. Although we went to Ho Ho Steamboat again, this time it was at their Jalan Segambut branch. This outlet is different from the rest in the sense that the premise is not the conventional shop lot but more of a private mansion.
The usual steamboat set, same price as the one we had at Menjalara, RM15.50 per head with a minimum order of 2 pax. The portion might look small, judging by the look of it but the amount given is actually just nice to satisfy two average adults. As for the ingredients’ freshness and quality, I do not have any complaints whatsoever considering the price paid.
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.
