Review: Lai Foong Beef Noodles @ Taman Taynton View, Cheras

**Non-Halal**


This was the day where Malaysians went out in full force to vote for their government. Capt'n Hook have to take his mother to cast her vote in Cheras and after that I need to hurry to Kepong to do my duty. In between we need to have our lunch and off we went for Lai Foong Beef Noodles. I have only knew of this branch in Taman Taynton View last year but never got round to check it out until Edward's brother at the old Lai Foong urged us to come here to pay Edward a visit. He mentioned that it's air conditioned in Cheras so it's more comfortable however the prices are higher but compensated with larger portion.

You see, Edward was Capt'n Hook's colleague back in their banking days aeons ago. He quit his desk job five years ago to start this branch. His wife have learnt to cooked them beef dishes and is helping out in the kitchen. However on the day we were there, it was so jammed pack that Edward can't even take 5 to say hi. We managed to catch up though last Monday. He told us that when he first started out, the 2 years were very quiet until the newspapers highlighted Lai Foong existence in Cheras. Then business just went boom!

BoiBoi was having a grumpy time as he said he doesn't want to eat noodles but you know we don't always give in to him even though most times we'll oblige. So when he was given the menu, he gave me his grumpy look and pointed at this "What!!!??! You want me to eat this???" *chuckle* Yeah right!

We did asked Edward, what is their best seller and in a jest he pointed at the bull penis too!! Not sure if he was just pulling our legs but he said they got sold off quickly. Not that he makes a lot, just "punn thiu" (half a length) and based on my memory of a food show, bull penis can be quite long :p



Since we're not big fans of offal, it's always lean meat and beef balls for me and I like mine with lai fun (a type of rice noodles) (RM7.00 a bowl). We knew the broth was cooked for many hours in a huge tank (almost the height of my chest) at their KL HQ as Edward's brother was preparing them when we were there a couple of months ago. Forgot to ask if MSG is used but I dun really feel that thirsty even after downing the broth.



Since grumpy BoiBoi didn't want to have noodles, so he was happy to see his favourite fried rice on the menu. This Beef Fried Rice (RM8.00) was quite generous in portion and ingredients. Filled with wok hei too!



So was the Fried Beef Noodles (RM7.50) which Capt'n Hook ordered as an extra dish after seeing almost every other table have a plate of these.

Edward mentioned that they might have to close for a few days during Hari Raya Aidil Fitri as their beef supplier will be closed since many of their workers are Muslims. So do call up before turning up, but horrr we tried calling before and no one picked up the phone cos they were just too busy :p

It was sad to note that our other favourite noodles place Restoran 3U along the main road Jalan Dato Haji Harun had closed and replaced with another food place.

Restoran Lai Foong Beef Noodle

8 Jalan Nadchatiram, 

Taman Taynton View, 

Off Jalan Cheras, 

56000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: +6012-2133 321
GPS Coordinates: 3.089158, 101.734214

Business hours: Daily 8.00am to 4.00pm. Closed on Tuesdays unless it falls on a public holiday.

Beef and Guinness Stew

I've made many versions of Beef Stews and each time using different ingredients, usually with what I have on hand. Since it's St. Patrick's Day "season", I've made one using Guinness stout based on Jamie Oliver's Beef & Ale Stew recipe and it tasted superb! This beef stew of mine is the simplest with the least amount of ingredients used by far.

Let's see if I can recall how much of ingredients I've added in...

Beef and Guinness Stew

400 - 500g stewing beef (chuck would be good), cut into 1.5" cubes
Some flour for dusting
3 stalks of eryngii  mushrooms, sliced into thick rounds
1/2 yellow zucchini, sliced into thick rounds
1/2 green zucchini, sliced into thick rounds
1 carrots, sliced thickly
2 stalks celery, cut into 2 inches length
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 medium sized white onions, chopped
1 can 320ml Guinness stout
1/2 cups of water
3 tbsp tomato puree
Some herbs like thyme, rosemary and 1 bay leaf

1. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Dust in flour and shake off excess.

2. Heat pan and pour in some olive oil. Brown the beef cubes on all sides, remove and set aside.

3. If there isn't enough oil in the same pan, pour in some to sauté the chopped onions and celery. Fry till brown or caramalised before adding the vegetables except mushrooms. Stir and fry them for a couple of minutes before adding the beef.

4. I transfered them into a pressure cooker and pour in Guinness stout. I've also added about 1/2 cup of water as I liked my stew with lots of gravy so that we can mop them up with bread. You can use a normal pot, just that you need to keep it on low fire for about 2 hours or chuck into oven for about an hour or so on moderate heat.

5.  Add in the tomato puree. Season with salt and pepper. Remember to taste and adjust your seasonings. Add the mushrooms, cover and simmer accordingly. For my pressure cooker, I just need to cook it for 15-20 minutes before turning off the heat. Imagine how much time and gas saved? :p

6. When done, serve hot with crusty bread or mash potatoes.

Note on pressure cooker:

Since I've quite a number of mails on the brands and where to get pressure cooker in Kuala Lumpur, so let me have my say here. My pressure cooker was a gift and it's a hard anodised Futura brand and it's from India. Since it was a gift, I've no idea where to get this in town as so far I've not seen this in Kuala Lumpur.

Actually one does not need to buy expensive brands for pressure cooker as the cheaper ones especially from India worked very well. Spare parts are easily available too but don't worry too much about this as usually one just need to replace the rubber seal on the lid when it's worn out. My friends who have relatives in India told me that the Indians use pressure cookers extensively for the daily cooking.

As far as I know, there are two pretty popular Indian brands we can easily get here and they are Premier and Prestige. Premier is available at Jusco while Prestige can be found at most Indian departmental stores at Lebuh Ampang, Brickfields and Klang. There's one located inside Bangunan Mariamman (behind Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, or diagonally opposite Pasar Seni LRT Station) which the name escaped me now. There were 2 shops can be found along Lebuh Ampang.

The prices are fair, if I can remember correctly an aluminium 5l pot would most probably cost around RM200 or less and you could actually ask for a discount. A few of my ex-colleagues got these and were mighty pleased with their purchase.

With regards to the usage and the stories of the lid blew off and wreck the ceiling... yeah I've heard of them, in fact when I was young, my dad's friend experienced this too. My pot was actually stashed away since I was quite scared after hearing all these stories. I've only started using it around 2005 after Capt'n Hook found out that we have one :p He was the one who encouraged me to use it since he knew how to operates one. When I first started using it, I always made sure he's around when I uses the pressure cooker, well just in case anything happen kekeke. I'm more confident and braver these days :D

Well, the reason of lids being blew off basically boils down on how you use it. Just read the instruction manual and follow the steps and you'll be fine. Most importantly, you will need to wait for the pot to cool down so that the pressure will let off in the process and also to let the food to continue to cook. However, there are ways for you to let off the pressure quickly, just refer to the manual as each pot operates differently. Based on my knowledge, the difference of paying extra for expensive brands are they have safety features incorporated into the design. Most of them won't allow the lid to be opened until all pressure is released.

So there you go... and I hope this helps if you're still deliberating to get or use a pressure cooker or not.

Happy weekend!

Review: Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist (Evening Edition)

**Non-Halal**


Thank you guys for your well wishes. I think I'm better now albeit the lingering cough, something that will take time and numerous concoctions to cure. Now, let's get back to some blogging business.

Did you know that before Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist operates from the hole-in-the-wall shop at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (opens from 10:30am to 3:30pm); they started off at a cart at the lane between Hong Leong Bank and Chinatown Food Court at Jalan Hang Lekir? I used to go there for a bowl of hearty beef noodles after office hours with my colleagues then.

The stall is still operation now but opens only in the evening. There are few tables available here, so most times one might need to share a tiny table with other patrons. Service is very quick here and I have my bowl of dry mee and hor fun (flat rice noodles) with beef balls and meat slices in a jiffy. The mee served here is not of the yellow oily kind but it's the flat egg noodles. Gave the bowl of noodles a thorough mix with the minced meat and slurped them down. It's still as good as I could remember.



The minced meat sauce is well seasoned and melded well with the noodles be it dry or soupy style. The beef balls are bouncy and the sliced beef is tender, best when dipped into the chilli sauce. I emptied the bowl of broth so do I need to tell you how good this is heh? Did not feel thirsty after a bowl of this ;-)

So I'm glad that I can head to Shin Kee at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock for brunch or lunch and to Jalan Hang Lekir for dinner.

Well other than Shin Kee, Soong Kee is our favourite too for a quick and easy dinner. The best soupy version for me can be found at Lai Foong Restaurant. Nearer home, we loved Restoran 3U for their beef balls, beef tendon balls and stewed beef noodles!


Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist
Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (opens from 10:30am to 3:30pm)
Jalan Hang Lekir (evenings)
Kuala Lumpur

Review: Bergs Burger @ Far East Square, Singapore

**Non-Halal**


A couple of months back, I followed Capt'n Hook to Singapore on a day trip. While he attend a meeting, I just loiter around the CBD :p

When he was done, he took me to Bergs Burger for lunch which he claimed served one of the juiciest burger round the corner. Now that really caught my interest! It's located in Far East Square. We walked into this quaint place which looked like clusters of restored old shop houses that are covered in huge see through roof where the sun shines brightly in! It's really like East meet West kinda concept. I loved where the central part where diners dine sort of like alfresco but shaded under the clear roof. It was a bit warm due to the hot sun but still all right. When you have time, drop in at Fuk Tak Chi Museum. It was one of Singapore's oldest temple but now restored into a Chinese heritage museum. There are a lot of interesting artifacts that I could recognise that belonged to my grandparents days! Best part, entrance is free.



Let's get back to burger business. The menu is proudly displayed on the large chalk board opposite the cashier and cooking station. It's no easy task which burger to pick from the rather extensive menu. Noted that there one can opt for either a large Bergs sized burger or a small one. After you order and pay at the cashier, you'll be given a number plate. Place the plate on your table and wait patiently for your burger.

We waited quite a bit since it was lunch time as the burgers are made to order. Can watch the crew grilling burgers at the open kitchen. Since we sat outside, we didn't get to smell the aroma. Loved the table and bench cos it's like having a picnic in the city!



Our burgers finally were delivered and they came in individual paper bags. The burgers were half wrapped in white wax paper. My small order was a Miss Piggy (SGD10.50) that from the menu states "Prime Beef Pattie, Streaky Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Aioli, Bergs Sauce & Edam Cheese". Mmm...mmmm my kinda burger that have real crispy bacon! The beef patty is juicy, in fact the whole combination is so nice and juicy that I did not need to add any chilli sauce.



Capt'n Hook had a small Crikey Too (SGD11.50) that reads "Prime Beef Pattie, Streaky Bacon, Pineapple, Beetroot, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Aioli, Bergs Sauce & Edam Cheese". With the addition of pineapple and beetroot, needless to say it was kinda messy eating this burger as the pink tainted sauce kept dripping out. Now I totally understand why the guys opposite us use the paper bags to line the table cos some of the condiments keep dropping out when they take bites of it LOL. And it's not helping when the tables have gaps in between hehehe



The prices seems reasonable dollar to dollar. Even McD these days can cost up to RM10 a burger! I loved this messy experience and I really hope we can get such quality burger at a very reasonable price here in Kuala Lumpur.




Bergs Burger
137 Amoy St,
#01-01 Far East Square,
Singapore

Tel: +65 6438 6505

McD's Prosperity Beef Burger is Back!

Just a quick community message, if you're fan of black pepper sauce coated beef patty on a bed of raw onion in between sesame seeds buns, it's time to hit the I'm Lovin' It place :D



McD's Prosperity Beef Burger is back! It's sooo satisfying to sink in to one ;-)



Wished the Twister Fries is a permanent item on the menu though!



Oh yeah, it was just too fantastic that this is available for McValue Lunch for only RM9.95, 12 - 3pm everyday! *skipping and hopping to McD*

Review: The Yogitree

The Yogitree in The Gardens has been one of our fave place to chill out whilst having delicious meals be it for lunch, tea, or dinner. This is another marvelous creation of Chef Ekachai of The Social, Planter's Jim and T Club. For this cafe, they're serving healthy dishes using fresh, natural and mostly organic ingredients without using addictives.



As usual, when most people, well especially like Capt'n Hook, see the words healthy and organic, they'll immediately have words like bland, boring, tasteless crop up in their mind and are usually very skeptical about the taste. Asking them to eat these kinda food is like dragging a cat for a bath!



Somehow one day Capt'n Hook and I decided to dine here for dinner. He was squirmish but after his first taste, he took a liking to the food here. Once, we were here for dinner and we opted for their set dinner which is really value for money.

They have Oriental Set at RM49++; Fish of the Day Set at RM65++ and Western Dinner Set at RM69++ (click the link to see sample menus). You can opt for a glass of wine or fresh juice. Starters are usually soup, followed by a few choices of main course to choose from and ends with a dessert which you can pick from the cake display.

We tried the Oriental set where we opted for a juice. Watermelon juice was served and seriously, it's refreshing and tasted naturally sweet.



That day, we were served Beef Herbal Soup which has clear broth and 2 springy beef meatballs.



Capt'n Hook opted for Ayam Perchik Nasi Ulam which was surprisingly good. He usually doesn't fancy the multigrains rice I cook but he has no complain here with the brown rice eaten with the freshly chopped ulam (leafy herbs). The chicken is baked before perchik gravy is slathered on it. This is tasty and he wished they gave more of the gravy. In the platter was a piece of fried fish marinaded in turmeric. Quite a huge portion I would say.



As for myself, I asked for Beef Noodle Soup. Adoi, I found out the soup base is actually the same soup that they served as the starter. *roll eyes* Sighhh they should have serve a different kinda of soup eh??? The taste is similar to Vietnamese Pho but the herbs and spices taste are stronger.



As we were too stuffed, we packed our desserts back. Since the cakes were served with ice-cream, they allowed us to have the ice-cream there. We picked a Carrot and Orange Cake with Cream Cheese frosting and Peach and Banana Crumble. The carrot cake is moist and packed with carrots as you can see below. I liked the crumble a lot as it contained thick layers of peaches and bananas!





On another occasion, we were there with BoiBoi in a weekend. I shared a Soup of The Day which is Cauliflower Soup (RM16) and Grilled Organic Chicken on Toasted Ciabatta with Basil Mayonnaise and Tomato Salsa (RM20). Both portions are quite large, luckily we were sharing. The soup was just normal but loved the crispy garlic toast that came with it. The sandwich has a lot of thickly shredded chicken inside. The sandwich is so tall that was kinda messy to eat up hahaha BoiBoi was busy wiping up after each bite.

BoiBoi had a Very Berry (RM12) juice which has strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, cranberry and carrot. It was indeed a very berry combi and tasted a little on the tangy side.



Capt'n Hook ordered the Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding (RM39) which is only available on weekends. The beef was roasted perfectly to his liking. The meat was tender, almost melt in the mouth texture. I will definitely order this again.



We ended our meal with an old school cake, Pineapple Upside Down Cake served with vanilla ice-cream. Hmm very moist and the best part is they uses fresh pineapples and not canned ones!



With attentive service, great and healthy food... Yogitree will continue to be one of our fave haunt in The Gardens ;-)

Since today has such an auspicious date, I just wish Yogitree will have a long life like Planter's Jim and The Social!!!


The Yogitree
Lot F-237B, 1st Floor, (Isetan Side)
Gardens Mid Valley,
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (603) 2282 6163


Technorati Tags: malaysian food

Stir-Fried Beef With Brocolli

I made a simple stir-fry of beef and brocolli cos my boiboi likes brocolli. Not sure if this is conventional or not but it worked well. I cut the beef into strips and marinade them with a bit of soy sauce, pepper, cornflour and a dash of worcestershire sauce. Quickly blanch brocolli flowerettes in boiling water, drain and set aside. You may run cold water over them to retain a crunchier bite.

Heat oil in a wok and stir in chopped garlic and ginger. When they're fragrant, stir in the beef strips and loosen them up to prevent them from clumping together. When the beef is pink, put in the brocolli and stir quickly. Next pour in a concoction of water (not too much, perhaps around 3-4 tbsp or so according to how much sauce you would like to have in the end), oyster sauce, cornflour and a few dashes of worcestershire sauce. Stir and wait till the sauce is thicken. Dish up and serve hot with rice.


Technorati Tags: beef

Beef Stew Version 4.0 - The Red Wine One

Gosh how time flew... it's already 7 days into 2009. Hope you guys were off to a good start.

My year started off with loads of running around for last minutes stuff to prepare my boiboi to attend Standard 1 - bookshops, uniforms, shoes, orientations... you get the gist? Not forgetting my annual trip to the doc for pap smear... well I usually time it around my birthday in case I forget but since I've missed it, I decided to see my doc at the start of the year *beaming cos my doc and nurses read my blog. Waves to them.*

Just got to work today after 2 and a half weeks of leave clearing :p My brain is still crawling extremely slowly. Updating might still be sporadic. Before cobwebs collect all over, here's another beef stew but this time I used up half a bottle of unfinished red wine instead of adding water or stock. Otherwise the marinades remained more or less the same but I think I've used Bovril instead of Marmite, no difference there. The only other new item I've experimented was using Eryngii mushrooms. After cooking in the pressure pot, these babies remained crunchy and springy. Add a nice bite to the usual mush.

The dry red wine gave the stew a strong tang but I adjusted the taste by adding oysters sauce hehe weird huh but it does helped, salt and sugar. This time I served the stew on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes. I'm salivating looking at the pic now hahaha masuk bakul angkat sendiri heh!



Beef Stew Version 1.0
Beef Stew Version 2.0
Beef Stew Version 3.0


Technorati Tags: beef stew

More Ways with Corned Beef

Here are more ways to enjoy a regular can of corned beef... or rather one can, 2 ways :D

I've read in a blog about those char charn teng (local cafes) in Hong Kong serves corned beef with egg on toasts. The pic seems like corned beef omelette so I pandai-pandai (cleverly) just stir-fry the corn beef for a while with a sprinkle of black pepper before breaking in the eggs. So here's one style... eaten in between two slices of bread or toasts (not pictured) with chilli sauce was a wholesome goodness!



Next, I brown some chopped onions with some olive oil before adding corned beef. Sprinkle in generous dose of black pepper (I like loads with my corned beef :p). Stir and fry for a few minutes before pouring in strained canned whole corn kernels. Stir till well mixed and dish up. Best eaten by stuffing them into a warmed up pita bread lined with lettuce and tomatoes (sorry, no pics again hehehe - inside stomach liau).



My other ways...
Corned Beef With Diced Capsicum and Onion
Quick Corned Beef Snack


Technorati Tags: corned beef

Beef Stew Version 3.0

This was the version of Beef Stew that made Yozora dashed to the store for a pressure cooker. The method is quite similar to my Version 2.0 with a change of some vegetables. Other than the usual onions, tomatoes, button mushrooms, carrots and potatoes, I have fennel and zucchini (green and yellow).



Whilst the marinade and sauces are basically the same but this round, I fried the flour dredged beef in batches in the pressure cooker and set aside. Next, fried the chopped onions and fennel. Put in the beef and top with water plus all the necessary sauces like oyster sauce, Marmite and few dashes Woscestershire Sauce. I've also added in a can of whole tomatoes (use the spatula to smash them into smaller pieces). Cover up the cooker and cook for about 15 mins. Depressurised to open the lid to add in the vegetables. Top up with some water and cover the lid to cook for another 10 mins. Depressurise again to open the lid. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Serve with crusty bread.


Technorati Tags: beef stew

Review: Restoran 3U @ Taman Tayton View, Cheras

**Non-Halal**

Update 27 June 2013

Sad to say this place had since closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I read the recent article on Restoran 3U in The Star recently. I was so glad that they have changed their operation hours! They're now open from 8am till 8pm. We checked them out one Sunday and was glad they were opened.

Hubby ordered the Prawn Noodle (RM6.80) which came topped with huge prawns (I think got 3), fish cake and pork slices. He said it was nice but there were nicer ones out there like Champs or San Peng hawker. I took a bit of the soup and agreed with him too.



I shared this bowl of Prawn Wantan Hor Fun (rice noodles) with boiboi. There were 6 prawns wantan in there, of which 4 went to boiboi since he loves it so much. The hor fun is slippery and smooth. The soup base tasted naturally sweet, I guess must be from the stock that they usually made using prawn shells.



We ordered a small bowl of Beef Tendon Balls (ngau kan yuen in Cantonese). I tell you, no wonder WMW, BBO and Boo_licious came all the way to Cheras to devour the beef noodles. The soup was fantastic, very very flavourful. The three of us drank up the soup till the very last drop! As for the tendon balls, they're very springy and I'm sure would have bounced very far if I were to drop one on the floor. I'm gonna just eat their beef noodles the next time!!!



As we've watched an episode of Ho Chak featuring their prawn noodles, we're aware that they do use MSG in their soup, hence I did feel thirsty later on. Otherwise, everything is a OK.


Restoran 3U
25 Jalan Dato Haji Harun
Taman Taynton View, Cheras
Opening Hours: Daily, 8am to 8pm, except Wednesdays. Opens on public holidays.
Tel: 012-3161189 / 016-6500609


Technorati Tags: Malaysian Food + Beef Noodles + Prawn Wantan Noodles

Another Version of Beef Stew

I've made another round of beef stew but this time it's slightly different. I marinaded the beef with some salt, pepper and a few generous dashes of Woscestershire Sauce. In my pressure cooker, I fried the chopped onions, leeks, garlic cloves and celery in some olive oil. Coat the beef in flour and add them into the cooker. Brown the meat evenly to seal in the flavours.

In some water, I mixed in some Marmite and few dashes Woscestershire Sauce. Pour the mixture into the cooker, ensuring there's enough water to cover the meat. Cover and cook as per instructions, in my case, for about 10 mins, before I turn off the fire. Released the pressure followed by the lid and turn on the fire. Add in the rest of the ingredients. This round I added leeks, celery, carrots, potatoes, button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and tomatoes. Pour in more water covering half of the vegetables. Let it come to a boil, taste and adjust the seasonings with salt. Put on the lid and cook under pressure for another 5 minutes. Once pressure are released, open the lid. Stir the stew and ensure the vegetables are cooked thru.

Again my boiboi refused to eat when I mentioned I'll be serving this for lunch but when I served it and asked him to try, he was game since I served it with bread. As usual he loves it and so did hubby! I guess this time the method worked better as the meat turned out melt in the mouth, plus I've used Marmite lent a lovely taste to the stew. My big pot of stew got finished up by dinner! A first indeed haha...


Technorati Tags: beef stew

Review: Beef Noodles at Lai Fong Restaurant

**Non-Halal**

I made a pit stop at Lai Fong for a late breakfast after visiting the clinic few weeks back for my cough. My standard order whenever I'm here would be the beef noodles. I simply love the clear broth that tasted so flavoursome with the addition of harm choy (pickled mustard cabbage) and chopped corriander. I usually drink them all up without having any qualms since it's not thirst inducing, an indication of no or very little MSG is used.



My usual order would be the soup based thick rice noodles (lai fun in Cantonese) with sliced meat and meat ball. The meat is sliced thinly and coated with marinade and some corn flour for a smooth and slippery finish. The meat balls are bouncy on the bite. Suffice to say I ate and drank everything up leaving an almost empty bowl! However, the only shortcoming is the chilli sauce. Somehow this type of blended chillies with calamansi lime doesn't seems to jive with the usual chilli sauce for beef noodles.



I've also tried a couple of times the long time stall that is now residing in Chinatown Food Court. Once was with Miss Sweet 16 where I had the dry version. I don't like the sauce used for the dry version. It's not helping when they do not serve fresh noodles. The soup was just ok with the usual meat and meat balls. Another time, I tried the soup version. Somehow it's just not as flavourful as Lai Fong or Soong Kee or Shin Kee. Moreover, I felt extremely thirsty after eating that bowl of noodles.

With that I think I've concluded posting up most of the beef noodles stalls/shops around Chinatown. Did I missed out any??


Lai Foong Restaurant
138, Jalan Tun HS Lee
Kuala Lumpur
Tel No: 603 - 2072 8123

Chinatown Food Court
Jalan Hang Lekir
(behind Hong Leong Bank)

Both stalls opens from morning till lunch time

Technorati Tags: beef noodles + Beef Ball noodles + malaysian food + petaling street