vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
With GPS Coordinates
Steaks & Western Food @ Maria’s Cafe and Restaurant, Damansara Perdana, PJ
Nov 23rd
After spending hundreds of Ringgit on steaks at other famous restaurants in Klang Valley like Prime, Gaucho Grill, Jake’s, Las Vacas, Meatworks, Suzi’s Corner etc, in the end I still find myself going back to Maria’s Cafe. Overall, they are still the best in my book after weighing all the factors, especially quality and affordability.
As mentioned in my previous posts here and here, the steaks at Maria’s are heavily marinated to add more flavor into the meats. So if you are a steak purist then obviously this is not your thing. I have tried the Kobe and Wagyu here in two previous visits so this time I went for the Australian Black Angus (190gm, medium rare & no sauce) instead. Although this looks like a tenderloin, it is actually a rib eye cut with a tag price of Rm42/100gm. Among the three high-end steak meat, Black Angus would be the most affordable to most of our budgets. Click here to continue reading >
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.
Ah Di Flying Wantan Mee @ Kedai Kopi Peng Kee Baru, Taman Usahawan Kepong
Nov 3rd
This has got to be the nicest Wantan Mee I have had in a long time. It is a small stall in an inconspicuous coffee shop at Kepong, operated by a husband and wife team. Well if you remember, I blogged about the Flying Wantan Mee in Seapark where the cook would literally airborne the noodles after he runs it over cold water. That is also somewhat practiced here. I have to admit that is the main reason I went to check this out, to see the stunt for myself. But never would I have expected the Wantan Mee to taste so good, in fact even better than the Seapark one.
- Basically, it has fulfilled all my criterias of being a good Wantan Mee:
- The noodle is thin, crisp with a QQ texture and doesn’t stick together. Nice for slurping.
- No funny alkaline taste.
- Uses lard so got that nice fragrance.
- Not oily at all.
- Each shrimp wonton has a whole succulent and fresh shrimp inside. Soup does not taste heavy of MSG, really has the sweet shrimp flavor.
Now I can’t say much about the Char Siew since I didn’t try theirs but as far as noodles and wanton go this is definitely better than Seapark’s.
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.
