vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Kuala Lumpur
Chan Chan Yong Tau Foo @ Bandar Menjalara, Kepong
Aug 8th
Fortunately when it comes to Yong Tau Fu I don’t need to travel far for it. A good one is only 5 minutes away from SL’s house and we visit it quite regularly. Chan Chan Yong Tau Foo has become one of our ‘safe places’ to eat where the service is fast with reasonably priced menu and the food surely won’t fail one.
Most of the restaurants in Kepong are packed to the brim in the weekends so you usually end up spending more time waiting for food instead. Sometimes the waiting time could even exceed 1 hour! So, after a few times we got tired of this and decided to look for alternatives; hence discovering Chan Chan YTF.
For RM1.10 a piece, I would say the yong tau fu’s price here is not cheap but quite standard because I have seen those priced at RM1.20 in PJ, eg. Ampang Yong Tau Fu at SS2. Not only that, Chan Chan is more worthy eating if you take the yong tau fu’s size into consideration too. The fried items are easily double the size of what you would get at some other places. But of course you can even find some YTF restaurants in Kepong selling RM0.60 a piece but those come with terms and conditions so let’s no go there.
Ah Loong Grilled Fish Seafood Restaurant @ Jinjang Utara
Jul 26th
Being the biggest ‘New Village’ on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Jinjang has been infamously known for gangsterism in the past and common perception is that it is an unsafe area. This is most likely why the public tend to shun Jinjang and go to Kepong for food instead, even though Jinjang has plenty of cheaper eateries and seafood restaurants waiting to be discovered.
As for me, I too have been shunning Jinjang for the same reason mentioned earlier. But one day we decided to venture into Jinjang after learning there is a good seafood restaurant worth trying called Restoran Loong Grilled Fish Seafood. After seeing for myself, honestly I could say that Jinjang is not THAT bad of a place. It is quite similar to any new village you would come across like Seri Kembangan and Sungai Buloh – poorly planned township, often connected with narrow, crowded and bumpy roads. But still it is not the best place to bring a guest, especially if your purpose is to impress.
Ah Loong is quite well known for their ample supply of large crabs, which was also the main reason for us to come here. We were not disappointed at all. Although the size is still a far cry from the one we had before in Singapore, it is one of the largest we manage to find so far. If you ask me, I prefer to savor crabs in their natural flavor so I tend to have them baked or grilled with minimal seasoning.
Lin Yuan Steamboat Kitchen @ Queens Park Cheras
Jul 19th
Believe it or not this was my second time having a meal at Cheras and the restaurant we went is called Lin Yuan Steamboat Kitchen. It is a popular steamboat restaurant in Cheras famed for their pumpkin porridge as soup base and homemade ingredients, especially the special meat balls that burst with juices when bit.
The standard steamboat set can be considered quite cheap in KL for RM14.90 each. But then when you looked at the portion it is just average and the amount of seafood is actually less than what is being offered at other places. So at Lin Yuan you are mostly expected to add on some ala carte stuff to bump the overall dining experience. From top left to bottom left: Garoupa fish slices @ RM13 (very thin slices, not really worth the price), Meat Balls @ RM13 (good stuff, ping pong ball sized with a firm texture that really burst with juice) and the so-called imported beef slices @ RM15 (also very thinly sliced, I feel it’s very very expensive)
‘Klasik’ Satay Station @ Restoran O’din, Taman Ehsan Kepong
Jul 12th
ANNOUNCEMENT: ‘Klasik’ Satay Station has moved to a new location at Taman Kepong Indah and is no longer operating the stall at Restoran O’din. Details here: http://www.vkeong.com/2012/02/klasik-satay-station-has-moved-to-taman-kepong-indah/
Last week, a reader suggested me to try a satay stall in Taman Ehsan Kepong called ‘Klasik’ Satay Station. For him it is the best among the famous ones in Klang Valley. After doing my own homework I found that ‘Klasik’ is still new to the satay scene and is relatively unknown in the cyberspace.
Just FYI, ‘Klasik’ did a satay blind test with their customers. The result was interesting, as it showed that 10/10 customers preferred theirs over the satay giant from Kajang aka Hj Samuri. Regardless of whether that bold claim is true or not, it was the biggest reason I dropped by to check them out last weekend.
Since ‘Klasik’ is still a new player – one year old to be exact, they are just renting a stall space in Restoran O’din. From what I was told, the boss’ sifu operates another stall in Kajang and is the original inventor of Sate Kajang. But just to be clear I am only repeating what he said so don’t take my words for it.
Besides using the best ingredients, one of the secrets in ‘Klasik’ satay lies in the oily baste. You know, the tin of oil satay sellers would dip their self made lemongrass brush into? If you look carefully it does look very different from the rest, which are usually just cooking oil.
