vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Selangor
The Waterlily Tropicana, Contemporary Balinese Bistro @ Mutiara Tropicana
Feb 17th
We happened to be at The Waterlily Bistro at Mutiara Tropicana for our Valentine’s Day dinner. It was an unplanned one so we could count ourselves lucky for being able to even secure a table after a short wait.
This Balinese themed restaurant is owned by the same management of Ole Ole Bali and Bumbu Bali. If you have dined at any of the mentioned restaurants, expect their menus to be extremely familiar to the point they are like almost identical.
Nasi Campur @ RM33, a signature dish across all their branches may it be Bumbu Bali, Ole Ole Bali or Waterlily. This ultimate rice is a combination of Balinese Grilled Lemongrass Prawns, Squid, Fish, choice of Beef or Chicken Rendang, Sate Lilit served with beans salad, anchovy crackers, Sambel Terasi and Sambel Matah.
Penang Char Koay Teow @ Sun Hin Loong Restaurant, SS2
Feb 15th
Being unable to look for a Char Koay Teow that tastes as good as those in Penang is one of my major frustrations in food while working in Klang Valley. So I am glad to have found one that is able to fry up an authentic tasting plate of Penang Char Koay Teow, which is ironically so near to me all this time – the stall in Sun Hin Loong at SS2 just next to Watsons.
I know this might be old news but this entry is actually dedicated to you Penangites out there who are working in Klang Valley like me. If you wish to have a fix of some authentic Penang Char Koay Teow, this is the place to be.
There are countless Char Koay Teow stalls in Klang Valley that include the word ‘Penang’ into their stall name but the taste is always far from being close. After a while I just gave up the search totally. But recently a close friend managed to convince me to try Sun Hin Loong’s, because his recommendations usually won’t go wrong.
Hua Xing Restaurant @ Plaza Seri Setia, Sungei Way
Feb 2nd
Hua Xing restaurant, a hidden gem in Sungei Way that specializes in Hokkien dishes. You are bound to find the food here refreshingly good despite the seemingly familiar looking dishes.
If you are a first timer, let me make it easy for you. There are essentially three dishes you have to try here. First, the Spring Rolls, which looked more like banana fritters actually. Simple yet delicious with a crispy outside, these could get pretty addictive when dipped into Thai chili sauce.
Extra Super Tanker Fine Chinese Restaurant @ Damansara Kim PJ
Jan 22nd
Believe it or not, after working for almost 6 years this is the first Sao Gong Zhao I attended. Although this dinner tradition is usually organized by companies or bosses to reward their staff before the start of Chinese New Year, I had it with some close friends instead.
Extra Super Tanker restaurant was our choice, well known for their creative signature dishes. But also notorious for being inconsistent with their quality. We took a bet I guess. The dinner started off great, the whole Roast Duck @ RM88 was delicious. This popular dish usually requires booking.
If it was RM88 for the duck alone I would have screamed “CRAZY!” But luckily it wasn’t the case. The RM88 also included the Mantao for sandwiching the Roast Duck Skin and a slice of crispy fried pancake. I usually find roast duck pancake very boring after a few but Extra Super Tanker’s (Roasted Duck in “Chinese Sandwich Style”) was really good. Too bad the portion was kind of fixed and had to be divided equally among us because I simply could not keep my hands off them.
Fried Crab Meat with Egg & Pine Nuts @ RM80, which I think is spin off from the sharks fin version you usually find at Chinese wedding dinners. Instead of sharks fin, more chunks of crab meat and pine nuts are used so the dish has a better flavor and texture value, not oily too. Some lettuce leaves are provided to wrap them up but I preferred to have it just as it is. OK OK, I admit I was just being lazy.
