Review: Restoran Tong Cheng at Chukai, Kemaman

**Non-Halal**


BoiBoi and I followed my parents to a road trip to Kemaman, Terengganu, over a weekend a couple of months back. It was durian season and a friend of my parents have invited a bunch of their friends over to have a galore at their durian orchard. For dinner, we were brought to this Restoran Tong Cheng at Chukai town. It's not located along the main streets but somewhere in the inner roads. I'm not sure now how to get there but it's at the road behind Jalan Che Teng. Turn right at U-Mart and the restaurant is just at the back. I've learnt Kemaman is a district, while Chukai is the town as we got a little confused over these 2 names that were used interchangeably.

The friend did all the ordering and these were the dishes we have...

A claypot of braised lamb which has loads of ginger and spring onions that removed the gamey smell of the lamb. I asked BoiBoi if he would like some lamb and he said no thanks. Anyway, I scooped some on his plate and you know what... he asked me what was it, so nice one *roll eyes*



The deep fried tofu dish here is drizzled with a mild sambal belacan sauce. Nothing spectacular here.



This is a simple buttered mantis prawn but their style is kinda different. There were very little buttered bits but in a good way so that the flavour does not overwhelm the freshness of the prawn. Did I mentioned the mantis prawn is so huge that they have to halved it?  



The restaurant had ran out of larger fish, hence we have 2 on the plates instead. I think they're garoupa and just lightly steamed with soya sauce topped with garlic, ginger, spring onions and coriander. Just like home cooked, very yummy cos the fish is soooo fresh and sweet!



Then we have a stir-fried roasted pork (siew yuk) that is filled with gravy with onions and tomatoes quarters. Very different indeed. The flavours were great here.



I think we have a plate of greens as well but I did not captured a pic of it, must be busy eating and tending to BoiBoi.

There were 10 of us but luckily the portion was just right but you might think it's too little yeah. Just that you didn't know we already have like 2 rounds of durians before heading for dinner and then another round of dinner for supper!!! Not sure of the prices but I overheard it was cheap!

T'was was a great trip indeed! *BURP* excuse me...

Kaya and Omelette Sandwich

You must think that I have gone nuts posting something so simple like this :p but for me the simplest are usually the best tasting stuff ever!

I used to go to this food court near my previous work place for breakfast with a couple of my ex-colleagues many years ago. The drinks stall usually served simple breakfast fare like kaya toast with soft boiled eggs; roti john; toasted bun etc, you get the gist... but at one time they introduced this sandwich which I can't remember what was the name since it was "that" long ago. In fact I have totally forgotten about this sandwich which I liked cos it has two of my favourite items - kaya and egg!

One morning recently, I've made myself just a simple bread with kaya, then I noticed I haven't placed my eggs into the fridge. Hence, I took the carton and lifted the eggs from the carton to place them into the fridge. Anyway, one of the egg cracked a little whilst I was doing it eeekkk! So what should I do??? Since I didn't want to keep the egg, what better way than to use it right away.

I cracked 2 eggs into a bowl and lightly beat it. Lightly oiled a frying pan and proceed to made a thin omelette. In fact I could made 2 thin ones from 2 eggs! Next, I slotted the omelette in between my kaya spreaded bread, the Hainanese (kopitiam) type, and voila... a Kaya and Omelette Sandwich heh :p

One set for me and another set for Capt'n Hook. Ohhh yums!



Sorry for the lameness of this post LOL. Happy morning!

Review: Kim Gary Restaurant

**Non-Halal**


We were at Sungai Wang Plaza (SWP) one evening, can't recall why but these days there are hardly any good food outlets here. Anyway Capt'n Hook decided to find a place to have dinner here before heading home. I guess the safest bet is to have something familiar and that we have tried before and taddaaaa it's Kim Gary Restaurant hahahaha... wow I still remember my ex-colleague, Jas, was raving to us about this restaurant when it first opened in Malaysia and it was located in SWP!

It has been quite a number of years since we last step into a Kim Gary Restaurant which has sinced mushroomed all over Malaysia. The outlet in SWP had undergone a renovation. Seems to be still popular amongst youngsters. Flipping through the thick menu, the contents are a far cry from those days. There are loads of choices and of late, there's even Western food like sizzling steaks!

As usual Capt'n Hook stick to his Cheese Baked Rice with Chicken Chop (RM17.90 per set) and he opted for the set that came with a soup, a drink which he chose Honey Lemon and a dessert. Not sure what's with these HK style restaurants, they served the dessert first even before our drinks arrived!!! We took one bite each and decided to leave it alone as it's really bland... not sure what kinda pudding is this.



There's soup which nothing to shout about. The baked rice took a while to arrive and it's quite standard. A layer of browned melted cheese over chicken chop served with fried rice. I guess really value for money.



As for myself, I tried something named Honey Pomelo Tea (RM3.90) and what I've gotten is actually Korean Honey Citron Tea.



I picked one of the smaller portion of food on the menu which is Macau Pork Chop Burger (RM6.90). Not authentic Macau Pork Bun as the pork chop has a film of sauce coating it with some mayonnaise and tomato and cucumber slices. At least this burger is juicy and tasty, best of all I could finish it up.



There are Service Charge 10% and Government Tax 5% but we have Jusco card which entitled to 5% discount. Our total bill came up to RM31.45.


Kim Gary Restaurant
Sungai Wang Plaza
Tel: +603 2144 8113
List of outlets

Papa, Mama and Baby Bears' Cheese Burgers

*chuckle*

Duhhh my BoiBoi insisted on having McDonald's after school last Friday even though we have wanted to eat char siu rice but being a "Yar Sei Hau" papa, Capt'n Hook obliged and swing in to McDonald's instead.

While we were browsing at the menu board, there's this Triple Cheese Burger promotion on. So the Papa Bear ordered that one. Baby Bear decided to have a Kiddie's treat of Cheese Burger. Since they're on a cheese burger roll, the Mama Bear will have the Double Cheese Burger then LOL

This is Baby Bear's Cheese Burger. He likes this all cause it has cheese in it!



Mama Bear's Double Cheese Burger. Luckily for the cheese slices otherwise the patty, well as usual, is dry.



Papa Bear's Triple Cheese Burger. No comment.



Again, when you look at the menu and the promotions on telly and their web... there's always the disclaimer - Products shown are for illustration purposes only. Need I say more??? :p

Have a Blessed Mid-Autumn Festival

Wishing everyone a joyous celebrating this Mid-Autumn Festival. Do enjoy the moon today as it was touted to be the roundest as compared to the rest of the year.

Oh yeah, today's Capt'n Hook's birthday as well so we're having double celebration today! Yippeee, happy birthday Capt'n Hook!!!


My other posts on this festival:

Wishing All a Blessed Mid-Autumn Festival
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival
Teo Chew Mooncake
Mid-Autumn Festival Cutie Lotus Paste Biscuits
New World Mooncakes
Of Alf and Jabba the Hut...
Wishing All a Blessed Mid-Autumn Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival 2007: Leisure Mall (Cheras)
Yuan Xiao Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival Part 1: Mid Valley
Mid-Autumn Festival Part 2: Jelly Mooncake
Mid-Autumn Festival Part 3: Leisure Mall
Mid-Autumn Festival Part 4: Shangri-la's Mooncake
Mid-Autumn Festival Part 5: A Date With The Moon
Review: Bakerzins Mini Snowskin Mooncake
Review: Mooncake from Lavender Cake Shop
Mid-Autumn Festival 2004

Review: Prego's Come As You Are, Eat As You Can Promotion

**No Pork Served**


We were at Westin last week and noticed this promotion of Prego pasted at the elevator door. Sounds pretty reasonable for an eat all you can pizza and pasta that comes with a soft drink going for RM40++ (5% Government tax and 10% service charge) per person. This promotion is on for the month of September and not valid with SPG membership or another other discounts.

There is a special menu of pizzas and pasta, plus desserts that you can order for this promotion. The pasta are served in small bowls to taste or larger bowls to share and pizzas came in 7" diameter if you wish to taste more, otherwise a regular sized to be served on a larger group. You can eat to your heart content sharing with your friends and family at the table. When I check it's website's menu, it seems that this promo was on in August but the selection of pizzas and pastas looked slightly different from the current month or maybe it's the same? I can't really remember heh :p

A large loaf of round crusty bread is served with a special tomato dip.



We have ordered the following pastas...

A Frutti de Mare which is mixed fresh seafood in tangy tomato sauce. Wow so much seafood in the small bowl of pasta and tossed in a light touch of olive oil.



This is a creamy Farfalle Prego Carbonara which have beef bacon, egg yolk, cream and parmesan that BoiBoi asked for. Just look how thick the sauce is, luckily it's only a small bowl. Capt'n Hook and I took a spoonful each and BoiBoi whacked the rest. This must be his favourite pasta that nite.



The Tagliatelle Guancia took quite a while to come. If I know this fresh flat egg pasta ribbons with red wine braised beef cheeks is sooooo delicious, I would have ordered a large portion! The braised beef cheeks melted in the mouth and tasted like Chinese canned stew pork meat, how not to be delish???



The pizzas were all crispy thin crusted baked in wood oven which I kept watching the Chef shoving in and out pizza after pizza in the open kitchen.

A must order is the Margherita which consists of tomato, oregano, mozzarella & basil. Simple but delectable.



Loved the Wow Suprema for it contained a whole lot of ingredients like pepperoni, turkey ham, gorgonzola, artichoke and kalamata olives. The toppings were so heavy hence it was kinda a feat to lift up a piece to bite on. Be ready to get messy!



BoiBoi specifically picked Napoletana, I've no idea why since it's his first time ordering this. He said he likes anchovies *roll eyes* must have been watching too much kiddies channels! On this pizza, the toppings were anchovies, capers, mozzarella, oregano with tomato sauce on the base. BoiBoi likes this but I find the anchovies a tad salty for my taste bud. Capt'n Hook who can tolerate salty food finds it ok.



Capricciosa has toppings of turkey ham, marinated bell pepper, mushrooms, chicken sausage and kalamata olives. This pizza is packed with loads of ingredients as well. Since I have a penchant for bell peppers, I find them a nice sweetish compliment to this pizza.



Next we have Sottobosco which is a mixed wild forest mushrooms, mozzarella, garlic and sage. I liked how the mushrooms were slightly charred which gave a rather robust flavour coupled with a hint of sage and garlic. Lovely!



By now we were quite stuffed but can't resist ordering the two dessert pizzas.

For nutella lovers like BoiBoi and I, Nutella e Pistacchio Pizza is pure heavenly for us! The hazelnut base spread has a sprinkling of roasted pistachio nuts. The only thing I wish there were more were pistachio!



BoiBoi specifically asked for Cioccolato Pizza which has dark chocolate sauce topped with diced fresh strawberries. Again, I wish they could use more of the strawberries and the chocolate sauce is too thin. Otherwise this dessert was just so so only. Stay away from this and get on with the gelato!



Woohoooo then we tried all the 6 flavours of gelato served that day.

The green tea has just a light hint of green tea flavour which should be good for those who doesn't like green tea. One of my friend who detest green tea told me they tasted like fish tank water! Hahaha...but I think she might find this ok. The creamy vanilla has some marshmallows on top which we got some in our scoop as we were there quite early. BoiBoi's favourite! Then we have the pistachio that I find ok.



The next batch, we have raspberry which is surprisingly quite light and not as rich as the 3 earlier. Maybe the tang helped to counter the creaminess. The chocolate one the best out of all! Capt'n Hook who is not a chocolate fan unless it has nuts gave full praises too. Each spoonful, not only rich dark chocolaty gelato envelopes our mouth but there we some crunchiness from the chocolate ribbons. Best! The next best for me is the strawberry as it contained chockful of strawberry chunks which lent a frozen fruity goodness to the gelato.



So what do you think of the eat all you can pizzas and pastas? I know we don't eat a lot but judging from the prices from the ala carte menu and the size of our tummy, we won't be able to taste so many varieties of pizzas and pastas in one go. What more with large creamy scoops of gelato thrown in!!! Would be great if there is huge bunch of us there :D


Prego at Westin Kuala Lumpur
Ground Floor, 199, Jalan Bukit Bintang

55100 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel: (+603) 2731 8333

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sat: Lunch and Dinner

Sunday: 6.00pm to 10.30pm

Moon Festival Cutey Biscuits aka Gung Tzai Pheng

I've made a batch of Gung Tzai Pheng (Moon Festival Cutey Biscuits) this year and they all turned out quite good. I experimented with various molds and found those like peach or even angkoo are the easiest to mold the biscuits as I do not have to spend time ensuring the nooks and corners of complicated shapes like goldfish or khei loon (a type of Chinese lion) are properly filled with dough. So the moral of the story is - don't buy molds that looked super cute with lots of designs on them :p



I did the angkoo one just for fun cause GFAD made some angkoo kuih using square mooncake molds :p



This biscuit is quite easy peasy but just tedious in terms of having to weigh the dough and fillings before assembling them. Recipe can be found here and here.

This year, Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on 22 September. You'll still have some time left to make these cutie biscuits!

Note: There is no need to refrigerate the dough! It'll make your dough "melt".

Happy Malaysia Day!!!

To my country ~ Happy 47th Malaysia Day! I've enjoyed this commercial by Digi Telecommunication which stated clearly that we're different cos we're multi racial but yet we enjoy and share common things amongst us. Enjoy the hilarious story ;-)

Steamed Chicken with Pickled Mustard Cabbage and Mushroom

Another hearty steamed dish I've done. This is a rather unique dish which was featured in Steamed Cuisine published by Famous Cuisine.

In this one dish, you'll find meat, tofu, harm choy (pickled mustard cabbage), shitake mushroom and chicken essence! Absolutely loved this wholesome dish filled with natural sweetness with some tang, even my BoiBoi surprised me by asking for extra broth!


This is before cooking

Here's my version of the recipe:

Steamed Chicken with Pickled Mustard Cabbage and Mushroom

2 kampung chicken thighs, skinned and chopped into pieces

Marinade chicken with:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
A dash of sesame oil
Some pepper
Wee bit of sugar to bring out the taste
2 tsp cornflour

About a fistful of pickled mustard cabbage (buy those for soup), soaked and sliced
2 dried shitake mushrooms (soaked and sliced)
1 small packet of Japanese egg tofu (can use white tofu), sliced
Several cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bottle of chicken essence

In a deep heatproof dish, I placed the tofu at the bottom. Next the chicken pieces followed by the rest of the ingredients. Just scatter them all round the chicken. Put the dish in the steamer together with the bottle of chicken essence.

Steam for about 20 minutes or until chicken pieces are cooked through. Remove from steamer and serve by pouring the heated chicken essence over the chicken pieces.

Ready to be served

Another easy peasy steamed dish to be bookmarked ;-)

Review: Siu Pai Kuat Meen @ Sixty Three Kopitiam

**Non-Halal**


My parents took me to Sixty Three Kopitiam for breakfast several times but of the few times I've been there, it's basically just normal kopitiam fare. There was once I waited rather long (more than 30 mins and I went over to remind them like twice) for my char siu (bbq pork) wantan meen (noodles) to arrive! Even though the wantan meen does tasted not bad but I shudder having to wait that long! Anyway, one weekend my mother urged recommended the siu pai kuat (bbq pork ribs) meen. Arrghh and she pointed it's from the same wantan meen stall.



Sighhh since my parents are ordering the siu pai kuat meen, I decided to give it a try. Wowzer, this time the waiting time is not long at all! Best part is I have no regret as the bbq pork ribs are really tender with some burnt bits. With the noodles done al dente, this plate of siu pai kuat meen is lips-smacking good! Can't recall how much is a plate but it's quite decent, most probably around RM5 or so. If you're around Kepong, it's worth coming by for a plate.



This kopitiam is located in the corner, the road before Thong Lung Sang Seafood Restaurant.


Sixty Three Kopitiam
Jalan Metro Perdana 2
Taman Usahawan, Kepong
Tel: +603-6250 2389
Map here

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Wishing all Muslims the blessed moments of happiness to be cherished forever on this festive season. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir & Batin.

For those who are travelling during this period, have a safe journey and happy holidays.

Review: La Risata Bar, Pizzeria & Ristorante

**Pork Free**


Sometime back we decided to go Italian and off we head to Ampang via MRR2 and turn right off to hit Persiaran Ampang. Yikes when we reached there... we saw a banner instead of La Risata. Upon closer look, the banner stated that La Risata had moved a few doors away! Phewwww hehehe else we have to go Korean!

Wow what a transformation. La Risata now is located in 2 shoplots and freshly renovated. I've gone to Medan Damansara as well and they both have similar design. The one in Ampang have a large air well, covered of course with a staircase leading to the wine room. Very classy but yet rustic with exposed bricks wall, black grilles and lovely lightings.





Whilst waiting for dinner to arrive, the boys played a few rounds of foosball. Just note that you need to deposit some money to get the ball in case it goes "rolling away" :p Everyone have loads of fun of course!

Our drinks arrived, mango juice and iced lemon tea. I stuck to warm water.



Next, a basket of warm bread is served with tapenade which is a nice change from most olive oil and balsamic vinegar combo.

 

BoiBoi's Lasagna Di Carne (RM21) arrived and I have to call them over to dig in. BoiBoi ate the beef lasagne all up and proclaimed it's delicious. Do excuse the pics cos I had just gotten a new camera then, was still fiddling with it :p



Capt'n Hook's Zuppa Di Pesce (RM30 for half serving) was a half serving of a tomato based seafood stew. He didn't expect it to be tomato based since he never like tomato but he still eat them all up. Atta boy! Heh... anyway he finds the stew has chockful of fish, prawns (huge ones), squid, clams, crabs and mussels. He said he was glad he ordered this stew as it was indeed very good which I agreed. Highly recommended and please be reminded even though it's half portion but it's still quite a large portion. Very hearty!

I ordered a simple Pizza Peperoni (RM23). Smoky thin crusted dough is my favourite kinda of base, coupled with generous amount of cheese and peperoni, what more can I asked for? I can't even finish this on my own, luckily BoiBoi and Capt'n Hook had a piece each!



After more foosball, we asked BoiBoi if he wanted any dessert and of course he said yes, as usual. He ran off to the gelato fridge and chose a vanilla one (RM8). We both have to help him as he was struggling to finish up the creamy gelato. BoiBoi went a bit overdrive that evening as he really ate a lot, imagine a whole portion of lasagna with beef and layers of cheeses plus a slice of pizza! He rubbed his tummy in the car ride back and exclaimed "I think I overate!!!" muahahaha poor greedy boy. No wonder I have to keep buying him new trousers every 6 months now as he's really growing taller and taller!

Capt'n Hook ended his meal with an espresso, ahhh bliss.



It's newly renovated La Risata but it still gave us the same old heart and tummy warming Italian dishes. Highly recommended if you wish to entertain a bunch of kids as they're really kiddies friendly. Best for family and with friends as well.

Sorry that I can't find the receipt now hence no pricing for the drinks. There should be Government Tax and Service Charges imposed.


La Risata Bar, Pizzeria & Restorante
(The website is under renovation now at the time of posting)
Ampang
16 Persiaran Ampang
55000 Ampang
Tel: +603 4252 6269

Damansara
128 Jalan Kasah
Medan Damansara
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2095 9572

Hennessy X.O’s Appreciation Grows Presents Chef Alvin Leung

Funnily I've no idea why I've been receiving newsletters and invites occasionally from Riche Monde Malaysia but I usually just run through the articles quickly since I'm not much of a drinker. No need to say, I declined all invites since they're mostly held in clubs on weekends. Not only I'm outta clubbing scenes but who to babysit our BoiBoi hehe? However, the latest news I've received really pique my interest.

Apparently, this month Riche Monde is holding the third installment of the annual gastronomical event, Hennessy X.O’s Appreciation Grows. They are bringing in Chef Alvin Leung from the two Michelin stars BO Innovation in Hong Kong. You must be wondering what so special about this. You see, Chef Alvin is a professionally trained engineer but is a self-taught chef!!! His approach is combining centuries-old Chinese recipes with modern ingredients and cooking techniques!

Without hesitation, I quickly check BO Innovation's website and wow the chef looked really cool. Reminded me of Capt'n Hook's tattoo but Chef Alvin's tattoo is more fierce-some :p Now to think of it, I think I did read about him earlier in one of those HK touristy magazines that Capt'n Hook brought back from his business trips. I scrolled through the menu of course and found lots of interesting items like Yak and Cheese which is essentially cheung fun (my fave ccf) but with yak cheese and truffle!!! There's also molecular xiao long bao with vegetarian option as well. I'm amazed!

Well, if you would like to experience such interesting items, Chef Alvin will be here 20th - 25th September 2010 cooking up a storm to serve you in a special "dome" on the grounds of Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club.

To book your place or for further information please call 603-2178 0230 or click www.hennessyxo.com.my. Tickets sales per person is at RM800.