A Review By BoiBoi, Three Little Pigs & The Big Bad Wolf

**Non-Halal**


This is a first for Babe in the City - KL! This blog post is written by BoiBoi (who is turning 11 next month) after Capt'n Hook took BoiBoi for a burger dinner at Three Little Pigs & The Big Bad Wolf. It's their first time there and when I asked BoiBoi how was his dinner, he went on describing to me about the burger, the place, you get it? I asked him casually how about writing his experience down and he did just that. He ran into his room and grab his pencil and notepad. He scratched down the following in a mere 10 minutes! He has learnt well to KISS! Atta BoiBoi!!! I've gotten his permission to post up here and he has been asking when I'm going to do it.

Reproduced here with very minimal corrections and I've moved some of the sentences around to make it a bit more coherent plus the actual name and prices:

--------------------------------

Last night, Daddy and I went to Three Little Pigs & The Big Bad Wolf Restaurant in BVI. Both of us had a meaty burger (Big Bad Burger RM28 each) and it was worth it. The bun was bigger than Burger Junkyard's. It has bacon, cheese and a big pork patty. It comes served with fries.

Taken by BoiBoi using his Ipod

At about 7.45pm, the queue was really long. The table service was bad and was not set up properly even though customers were around. We had to ask for condiments like salt and ketchup.

Their dessert was not as great as I've expected as there were not much choices. Other than that, I have spied someone having lasagne (BoiBoi's fave) but someone next to us recommended the pesto pasta. But it was really really worth it.


Three Little Pigs & The Big Bad Wolf
Lot G1A, Ground Floor Bangsar Village
No 1 Jalan Telawi Satu,
Bangsar Baru
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2283 2270
Business hours: 9.00am - 11.00pm daily

Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy Version 2.0

**Non-Halal**




My first version of Mui Choy Munn Chue Yuk (Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Cabbage) was not really satisfactory. It took too long for the pork to become tender that I have to use pressure cooker after braising for 45 minutes. The taste wasn't that great as well, way too salty and watery. I tweaked the recipe and I managed to perfect this dish to our liking. However, there are some extra steps to make them this tasty :D

Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy Version 2.0

500g pork belly, with skin removed
6 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
2 Tbsp oil

150g preserved sweet mustard cabbage
150g preserved salted mustard cabbage
5 slices ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped

Gravy:
1 litre water (more when needed)
1 1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce, more if you like really dark (mine's 1 Tbsp :p)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
A good dash of white pepper
3 - 4 small pieces of rock sugar

Wash preserved mustard cabbage throughly, going thru the leaves as there plenty of grits in between. Soak for about 3 - 4 hours separately, changing water a couple of times. Squeeze out all the water and sliced into 1 - 1.5 cm length. Set aside.

Feel free to trim off more fats from the pork belly which I did. I've already asked my butcher for the leanest belly until to the point he said your mui choy dish won't taste nice like that!!! lol

Sliced pork belly strip into 3 large chunks. Boil water in a pan and cook the pork belly in rapid boiliing water for about 15 minutes. Remove from pan and rinse the pork belly under running tap water. Slice pork belly into 1 - 1.5 cm thick pieces. Set aside.

In a medium pan or wok, dry-fry (without oil) prepared preserved mustard cabbage, chopped garlic and ginger slices under medium heat until dry and fragrant. Dish up and set aside.

In the same pan, heat up the oil and fry the garlic cloves until fragrant before adding the pork belly slices. Stir and toss in the fried preserved mustard cabbage until well mixed.

Pour in the water and gravy ingredients. Cover with lid and bring to boil. Give it a taste and adjust the seasonings like oyster sauce or light soy sauce or rock sugar to your taste. Cover and simmer under low heat for 45 minutes - 1 hour. Check the pan in between, if needed add in some hot water when the water dries up too much. Preferably the meat ought to be covered with liquid.

It is done when the pork belly is tender and the flavour has been absorbed; and the gravy is thickened. If you find it has too much gravy, open the lid and let it braise. We like ours with loads of gravy, so yummy to go with rice!!!

Char Siu Wantan Mee (Noodles) @ Restoran Meng Shiang, Taman Yulek

**Non-Halal**


I've heard and read so much about the char siu (bbq pork) over at this corner coffee shop named Restoran Meng Shiang in Taman Cheras/Yulek but never got round to it. The thing most people complaint about was the waiting time. Since we were passing by here on a weekday, we gave it a try. Took a look inside the double-lot coffee shop, doesn't seems pack and we managed to grab a table near this stall.

This stall sells char siu wantan mee (noodles), it's nearly 12.30pm and thank goodness there were char siu strips hanging at the glass display. Later on, we saw one of the staff bringing out more char siu strips wooohooo. We put in our order of one small and one medium, surprisingly our noodles came within 15 minutes instead of the standard waiting time of 45 minutes.

This was my one-portion noodles. Loved the generous amount of char siu that were glistening in full glory of the caramalised sweet and sticky marinade. What I liked is it's not sickly sweet kind and they are not fatty. Plus I got char siu thau (head) part of the strip. Yes I know it's not healthy to have the charred bits, I guess once a while should be ok? And this is my kinda of a perfect char siu wantan mee where the noodles were cooked al dente retaining the bite whilst not tasting heavy of alkaline that is used to make the noodles. The dark sauce must have the right balance of oil, dark soy sauce and light soy sauce with a slight hint of sesame oil which this stall have nailed it to the T!



My benchmark is Koon Kee and this stall really matched up, if not better! The 3 pieces of wantan - nothing to shout about though but the char siu, noodles and the sauces combi were excellent.



This is Capt'n Hook's one and a half portion (medium) noodles (sorry pic a bit blur cos I need to hurry up and tuck in :p).



I gather the elusive waiting time must be for weekends. We also noticed that the chicken rice stall next to them also belonged to the same family. The display of steamed chicken, siu yuk (roast pork) and char siu, has very little offering left. The wife manned the noodles stall whilst the husband took care of the rice stall. Meanwhile, the daughter takes in order and stuffing the wantan with minced pork mixture.

Restoran Meng Shiang is just a stone throw away from A Wet Thai Cafe and opposite the 3-shoplots Restoran Hau Kee.


Restoran Meng Shiang
1 & 3, Jalan Kas Kas 2
Taman Cheras (Taman Yulek)
Kuala Lumpur

Review: Ninja Joe (Pork Burger)

**Non-Halal**




Let's start the year with something porky. It's just some fast food in the form of burgers, nothing fancy but these pork burgers by Ninja Joe really rocked our bellies. They have been around for a while, just that we never get to blog about it earlier since almost every non-Muslims in the blogsphere have written about this joint.

Their set ups are pretty simple and seriously this is a home grown brand even though banging on a ermm Japanese theme and they're not a foreign franchise. Even their menu is quite basic with just 3 types of pork burgers to choose from which is great so that people who are indecisive can quickly make up their mind :p, a few side orders and a small selection of drinks and ice cream.

The basic burger is named Ninja that is just pork burger patty on a split bun with tomato slice and lettuce. The specialty is the choices of sauces available ranging from original, oriental, teriyaki, spicy, black pepper and sweet & sour. The Ninja is rather small in size, for myself, one Ninja would be sufficient but for Capt'n Hook... he can go between 2 to 3 Ninjas. I supposed it must be due to it's sheer size, the pricing comes in either solo, 2, 3 or 6 with the price of RM5.50, RM9.90, RM12.90 and RM29.90 respectively. So far I've sticked with either original or teriyaki sauce which both were great with the pork burger. Not very sloppy but good enough.



Even our BoiBoi likes one and he does not go for the normal ones aka Ninjas. He has such a good taste bud that he tends to order The Big Boss or Brucely. Now, I'm beginning to wonder aloud as in what would "The Big Boss" or "Brucely" have got to do with ninjas or joes? (Note that "The Big Boss" and "Brucely" sounded like a reference to Bruce Lee, perhaps the owner is a big fan of Bruce Lee Xiao Long!)

The Big Boss (RM8.50) has pork patty, a fried egg, onion slices, lettuce and tomato slice in between buns. You can opt to add bacon for RM1 and cheese for RM1. For BoiBoi, he usually would ask for both! I think he's on a grow spurt these days. I'm cringing that he may get taller than me by the end of the year for now his head had reached the top of my ear!!! That means I've to get new sets of trousers for him *sobs*



Then there's the Brucely (RM9.90) which I quite like too, the difference is instead of pork patty, this burger has a slice of pork chop, tomato slice and lettuce. Again one can opt for the extra bacon and cheese with the addition of RM1 each. Even though it's a piece of pork chop, rest assure that it's very tender and juicy. Sorry no pic on this one cos I can't find it :p

For all pork burger orders, just pay an extra of RM3.90 for the set that would include a cold drink and fries or RM4.90 for Zing Soda and fries. We didn't quite like the thick fries so we usually do not take the sets. I've asked for Zing Soda once which you can see in the first pic, I think that was an orange flavour. Just the usual soda with added orange syrup for flavour. The thing I like is I could actually get green tea to go with these lovely pork burgers.

I've ordered one of the sides, a Shuriken (5 pieces for RM4.90). I was given a number plate as they need to fry them up upon order. Even arrived piping hot, these potato and pork croquettes are really disappointing. The texture is mushy and very oily. After that one experience, we just couldn't be bothered with the fries and sides and straight hit the pork burgers.



I'm so glad that there are more Ninja Joe branches these days with the latest being opened in 1 Utama. Other than that it can be found at Tropicana City Mall, Sunway Pyramid and The Gardens. Our only gripe is The Gardens outlet does not have a wash basin to wash our hands before and after a burger or two. Not very convenient as we need to wait for everyone to finish up before heading towards the washroom to wash our hands. Thank goodness there's one at Tropicana City Mall and I think Sunway has it too but I can't really recall. We haven't been to the one at 1 Utama and I really do hope they have one install in this outlet due to convenience and hygiene reason.


Ninja Joe's Branches:

• LG-233, The Gardens Mall (Mid Valley)
• LG-113, 1 Utama Shopping Mall
• First floor, F1.93-95 Sunway Pyramid (Next to TGIF)
• LG-18, Tropicana City Mall

Opens Mon - Sun 10.00am - 10.00pm

Steamed Pork with Egg

Please excuse me with this pockmarked egg dish with deep river valley running through it. The dish got overheated! This is actually one of my childhood favourite - Steamed Pork with Egg.

I've actually forgotten about this dish until recently when I was at my parents' place, my mom made this for my BoiBoi albeit using chicken meat instead. So I've asked her how to go about it and here goes another guesstimation dish again...

Mix in some cornflour and grounded white pepper into minced pork or chicken. If you have a salty palate, you can add a dash of soy sauce. Set aside. In a bowl, crack in 2 eggs and 1 salted egg. If you really like salted egg yolk, you can add in one more salted egg, just the yolk and omit the whites. Mash the salted egg yolk a little then beat lightly taking care not to create foam. Otherwise the surface won't look pretty. Mix in the meat evenly and pour into a heatproof plate. Steam on low heat for about 10-12 mins.

As easy as that and the reason why mine turned out pockmarked was because I've used my electric steamer that don't allow me to control the heat. So I guess the next time, I cannot be so lazy then.

Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy

**Non-Halal**


Mui Choy is a type of preserved mustard cabbage. It has 2 varieties which is the sweet (teem) mui choy or salty (harm) mui choy. The sweet variety come in darker colour where else the salty one is more greenish in colour. Mui Choy is every Hakka household staple which others have learnt to appreciate as well. Mui Choy is generally braised or stewed with pork with pork belly being the most popular part known as Mui Choy Munn Chu Yuk or Mui Choy Khau Yuk.

My mother being a Hakka has learnt some of these dishes from her mother and we all enjoyed them tremendously as these dishes are usually being turned low-fat and low-sodium by my mother. They still tasted good nevertheless.

So here is how, the 3rd generation in the family, cooks this dish which I think my grandma would roll her eyes in her grave :p all caused I've used the pressure cooker to hasten cooking time and to really soften the meat until they melt in the mouth.

I've used the sweet mui choy which need to be washed off all the grit especially on the inner folds of the leaves. I've soaked mine for around 1 hour and even though they're "sweet" but in actual fact, they're quite salty as well. I would say 3-4 hours with changes of water in between would have done a better job in removing the saltiness.

As for the pork belly, I managed to get the portion with quite some chunks of lean meat. I also cheated by removing quite a bit of the fats layers (I can hear my grandma screaming at me in Hakka!!) then sliced them to about 1/2 - 1 cm thickness.

I actually did braised them on the stove but after 45 mins or so, the meat does not give me the melt-in-mouth texture. So I poured them into the pressure cooker and cooked it for about 15 mins and voila... perfect! My recipe is still a little too salty hence have to be tweaked to reduce the saltiness. I gather that one ought to start with lesser seasoning and slowly build it up by tasting the dish as it cooks.



So here is my recipe (adjusted) in guesstimation:

Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy

1/2 strip pork belly (around 500 - 600g)
2 strips of sweet mui choy, soak and cut into 1 - 2 cm length
3 slices of ginger, cut into strips
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp oyster sauce*
1/2 tsp soy sauce*
1 tsp sugar*

* seasonings amount varies, depending on how salty is your mui choy. I supposed layering the seasonings slowly adding bit by bit and keep tasting until one find the right balance

1. Sliced pork belly into 1 cm thickness. I've asked my butcher to remove the skin. Roast pork (siew yuk) can be used too.

2. Wash mui choy thoroughly under running water especially the inner leaves to remove the grits. Soak in a bowl of water for 3-4 hours and change the water a couple of times in between. Then slice them into 1 - 2 cm in length, do remove and discard the woody parts towards the root.

3. Heat up some oil and fry ginger and garlic till fragrant in a wok (or can do it in the pressure cooker) before adding the meat. Just stir the meat around (I did not brown them). Stir in mui choy and mix well.

4. Pour in just enough water to cover and add in the seasonings. Remember to slowly layer the seasoning so that you can adjust the saltiness. Keep tasting.

5. When it comes to a slow boil, put on the lid (follow your pressure cooker instructions) and cook for about 15 minutes. When done, release the pressure and dish out the braised pork belly with mui choy and serve with rice.

I'm submitting this for Muhibbah Malaysian Monday blog event. This event is the brainchild of  Shaz (Test With A Skewer) and Suresh (3 Hungry Tummies). Read more here.

Review: Weissbräu German Bistro & Bar

**Non-Halal**


There seems to be an influx of non-halal German bistros and restaurants in Klang Valley for the past couple of years and Weissbräu German Bistro & Bar is one of them. Located at the Connection floor, Pavilion KL where the 2 rows of restaurants with alfresco dining are.

It was a very hot afternoon, Capt'n Hook can't resist a glass of Franziskaner (RM31.80++) to chill. I wish I could then indulge in one but alas I can't since I wasn't allowed to take cold drinks as I was on TCM treatment.

For lunch, he ordered a Giant Wienerschnitzel (RM34.00++) even though he was thinking of having a pork knuckle but decided not to knowing that we might not be able to finish one. The Giant Wienerschnitzel is a deep fried breaded pork escalope (a piece of boneless meat thinned with mallet) served with mash potatoes and sauerkraut which he opted.  When it says "Giant", it really meant GIANT here. The whole piece of meat filled up the entire rectangular plate with excess meat hanging outside the plate!

Just to show you that I'm not kidding that it's really gigantic... the piece of meat against the fork & knife! I think for us, this piece of meat could have fed three of us nicely. Capt'n Hook did not managed to finish this and ended up packing the remainder home.

I felt like having a bit of everything, so I went for Alsatian Sauerkraut (RM38.00++) and opted for roesti for my carb. This platter has braised pork belly, loin and knuckle. These braised meats are rather plain tasting. The knuckle tasted like boiled meat. Wished the knuckle served is the roasted kind for variety sake since the other two parts were braised. There were two sausages on the platter which are frankfurter and nürnberger. Loved the grilled nürnberger here as I can taste the robust spices. At least the sausages here doesn't tasted like commercial factory made ones. Best dipped in mustard.

The roesti (pan-fried shredded potato strips) served on a separate plate is done to perfection. The inside is  steamy soft whilst the outside is crispy! The sauerkraut is a winner too.

I can't say much about Weissbräu since we have only been here once. I supposed we need to try out more items on the menu to decide if they really lived up to being a good German bistro. The litmus test would of course the pork knuckle. Another time then...

Weissbräu German Bistro & Bar
Lot 3.05.02 & C3.16.00, Level 3,

Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, 

168 Jalan Bukit Bintang,

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2142 0288
Opens daily 10:00am to 1:00am (till 2:00am on Friday & Saturday)
Happy hours throughout the day till 9:00pm

Review: Reunion Restaurant

**Non-Halal**


Tucked in a corner on the second floor of Bangsar Village II is where one can find the most sinful Chinese dishes in this part of Kuala Lumpur. Reunion Restaurant which is owned by E&O group is not a big restaurant so it is advisable to place your reservation ahead, no matter if it's lunch or dinner cos it's almost always full house.



The specialty here is Fried Hokkien Noodles :p Capt'n Hook's Caucasian friend loves the noodles here so much that each time he meet up with Capt'n Hook, it would be here in Reunion. I can so understand why he's smitten and so were the hoards of food bloggers whom have blogged about the Hokkien noodles here. The thick noodles are really dark glistening with oil and hidden in there are loads of crispy pork lard (chu yau char in Cantonese). I loved the inclusion of pork liver which was perfectly smooth and tender other than prawns, pork meat and squid which made the dish very old school. Our small portion for 3 (which we can't finish) costed RM29.80, not exactly cheap but it's really worth it.



The noodles to be eaten with the sambal, they went hand-in-hand indeed.



The other dish that kept us ordering is the roast meat combination. Our 2 combi (RM24.80) that evening was BBQ pork (char siu) and roasted pork (siu yuk) that comes with some fried salted peanuts on the side. BoiBoi loves the char siu most as it's not overly sweet and charred just nice. Crispy cracklings with flavourful tender meat, what more can one ask for in a piece of siu yuk?



Dining with BoiBoi means we have to order a dessert for him *roll eyes*. In Chinese restaurants, it's almost always Chinese pancake and the daddy ordered the lotus paste pancake (RM13.80). As I noticed the price is not cheap in fact more expensive than Xin Cuisine in Concorde Hotel as Xin only charges RM10 for a pancake.



The pastry, no doubt, is very flaky filled with ample amount of lotus paste. It's a tad oily though, my only complain here.



All the above dishes with one serving of Chinese tea (Tie Guan Yin) and 2 plain water (foc) came to RM83.75 inclusive of 6% Government tax and 10% service charge. I  know, we can have many plates of fried Hokkien noodles at dai chow places with that amount but I guess indulging in such sinful noodles with a nice cosy environment and fantastic service once in a while it's quite worth it.


Reunion Restaurant
2F-18/19, 2nd Floor
Bangsar Village II
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2287 3770
Opens for lunch and dinner

Steamed Pork Ribs with Bean and Salted Plum Sauce

**Non-Halal**



I saw Celine posted a Steamed Pork recipe recently and it's quite similar to this steamed pork ribs that my mother used to make. I supposed it's a dish where most of us, Chinese, used to have on our dinner table since we were young. You can find similar dish on dim sum trays.

This version has the combination of preserved bean sauce (mien si in Cantonese) and salted plum (comes in a glass jar). Let me guesstimate the ingredients, I've used about 300-400g spare ribs, 1.5 tsp (remember to use more if you're used to salty dish cos mine is the less salt version) minced preserved bean sauce, 1 salted plum (smash it a bit), 1/4 or less tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp cornflour. Just mix up all ingredients and marinade for around 20 minutes, then steam for 20 minutes or until ribs are cooked. You can scatter some chopped spring onions on top after steaming but I don't have any hence the ugly looking pic.

I've also made another version with the addition of fermented black beans which really enhanced the taste further.

I just search my blog and found this Steamed Ribs with Tasty Sauce! Totally forgotten about this recipe heh :p The ingredients are a little long but it does tasted tasty as it claimed.

Review: Kedai Satay Xiang Ji (Jonker Satay) @ Malacca

**Non-Halal**


We were in Malacca back in November for a short trip to attend a wedding. I got hold of Lanatir to give me some directions on where and what to eat but it's really too bad that we did not have much time to go round looking for the places he had recommended. There was this satay place, Kedai Satay Xiang Ji (Jonker Satay), that we wanted to try and we decided to check the place out after our walkabout around Jonker Street and the city. We drove pass and saw the shutters were down!!! I sms Lanatir and he couldn't believed that it was closed!!! Sighhhh... so we drove off to the hotel as it was getting a little late.



The next day, after the wedding reception in the afternoon, Capt'n Hook had wanted to drop by at Jonker Street again before we head home. We have to drive pass Xiang Ji and I saw half the shutters were down. Capt'n Hook stopped the car and I got down to enquire. Woooohooooo it seems they were taking some orders for take-away and could accommodate my orders for 30 sticks of pork satay. Yes only pork satay was available at that time and we can count how lucky we were. Apparently, the entire family has taken the week off for a holiday to China, hence the shop was shut. They were partly opened that Sunday as they have taken a large take-away order. Since there were excess sticks so that's how I got my 30 sticks! I'm not sure who these elderly couples were but they mentioned their boss and family have gone for holiday, were they staff or were they the owners?



With the charcoal fire roaring away assisted by the Uncle's hand powered fan, my order was quickly grilled up. We could not resist the smell of the satay even though we were stuffed from the luncheon so we each have a few sticks. Whoaaaaa so nice and fragrant even without the peanut dip! There isn't much fatty parts but yet each bite is tender and are well spiced with amongst others lemongrass and tumeric.





We heated the remainder sticks up when we were back home in the microwave oven and ate them with the peanut sauce. I really couldn't care much of the sauce even though it's nice (since I really loved peanuts in anything and everything :p) cos the satay alone is already very delicious!



Now I understand why I've seen pictures of people queuing up to have a go at this satay place cos the pork satay is really awesome (I can't help it but to use the word here as Capt'n Hook really detest this word *chuckle*) here! If I'm not wrong, each stick is 60 sens.


Kedai Satay Xiang Ji (Jonker Satay)
50, Jalan Portugis,

Melaka

Tel: 019 667 8868

Pretty near to Jonker Street, opposite SRJK Pay Teck

Coordinates: N2 11.980 E102 14.801
Opening hours: 12.00pm - 5.30pm

Kwai Far Yuk Fried Rice

**Non-Halal**


In the running towards Chinese New Year, this is an absolutely simple solution not to be "slaughtered", that is to cook something quick and simple at home. We normally fry rice with lap cheung (Chinese sausage) but this time round I did it with Kwai Far Yuk. Kwai Far Yuk is a type of lap mei (waxed meat) that is hmmm almost oblong in shape and it's flat about 1/2 cm thick.



I usually boil the Kwai Far Yuk for a few minutes to get rid of the wax and fatty bits before slicing them up. For this fried rice, I diced them. Prepared some diced long beans, chopped garlic and scrambled eggs. I've used day old brown rice. First, I fried the Kwai Far Yuk in a wee bit of oil before I dump in the garlic. Let the garlic turn a little brown before putting in the long beans. Add in some salt but not too much. Keep stirring till the long beans are cooked. Add in the rice, making sure the grains are separated and not clumpy. Stir and mix well. Add in a few dashes of soy sauce and ground pepper powder. Keep stirring and then add the egg last. Mix well and serve hot with fresh chilli strips. Easy peasy.

Stir-Fried Flowering Chives with Roast Pork

**Non-Halal**




I've cooked this very simple dish but packed a punch in terms of nutrition, ermmm well except for the fatty bits of the roast pork (siew yuk) :p Flowering Chives can be found easily these days at the wet markets and supermarkets but I know quite a number of people dislike them cos they have a distinct pungent flavour. So it's either one likes it or hates it.

There are only 2 main ingredients ie. chopped roast pork and flowering chives cut into sections. Seasonings needed were chopped garlic, oyster sauce, salt (only when necessary), a few grains of sugar and white pepper powder. Easy peasy... first, fry chopped garlic in oil till fragrant before adding the roast pork. Stir and brown the pork a bit. Add in the flowering chives and stir. Next, pour in a wee bit of water and add in the seasonings. Cover with a lid for a few minutes so that the flowering chives can turn a little soft with the steam generated. If you prefer them to be crunchy, do not cover too long. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt if necessary or you can add more oyster sauce. Dish up and serve hot with rice.

Peppery Diced Meat, Potatoes and Peas

**Non-Halal**




This is a creation of my mother and she cooks this a lot when were younger since potatoes are our favourite on the dining table. It's still our favourite dish and now my BoiBoi likes it too.

We normally use lean pork but occasionally we uses chicken meat either breast or thigh. Just diced them evenly and marinade with some oyster sauce, white pepper powder, sesame oil, some cornstarch and a few grains of sugar. Deep fried them till light brown and set aside.

Diced the potatoes to about the size of the meat and deep fried in hot oil till cooked and lightly browned. Set aside.

To assemble the whole dish, fry some diced onions till translucent before adding the meat. When done, put in the fried potatoes and stir well. Next add in some water (not too much as it's meant to be a dry dish) mixed with a dash of oyster sauce, a little dark soy sauce and a little sugar. You can season with some salt too if you wish. Stir and add in some green peas. Then add in lots of white pepper powder, well a lot more than usual but how much depends how hot you can take it. This is a rather peppery dish.

Dish up and serve with rice. Missing this already cos it's soooo yummy. Psssttt we tend to steal bites of this dish by shoving down by the spoonfuls :p without anyone looking before meal time kekeke and I still do this LOL.

Review: Ad Hog Restaurant

**Non-Halal**

I've received an sms from PureGlutton asking me to join her for a pork feast at a new Ad Hog Restaurant. After a couple more smses then I realised the whole jing gang of babitarians will be there wooohooo! How not to say no right???

Just cause the area is quite new, the GPS gave us wrong instructions and send us very close by but then suddenly sent us away from it!! No lost there with a call to the right person :p and we were the last to arrive. From there we found out Sam, one of the partners from Checkers had opened up Ad Hog. Ahhhh that explains. Nigel did the ordering and dishes were shared amongst us all.

While waiting for our food to arrive, we were delighted to have some delish ang koo made by PureGlutton! Then Sam came with this huge log of pork to entice us! Apparently, it's in the midst of drying before roasting for dinner.

The first to arrive is Babi Guling with rice, lawar and sambal (RM16.90). The Babi Guling tasted exactly like those you find in Bali and Nigel who just came back from there vouched for it too! Traditionally Babi Guling is a whole suckling pig stuffed with various spices and herbs like ginger, candlenuts, turmeric, chillies, lemongrass, etc and roasted on a pit. The fork tender meat is served with the crackling with the accompaniments. It was remarked by some whom we knew that it tasted like rendang which is not a surprise since similar spices and herbs were used. Anyway, this dish is only available during lunch in limited portion. If you wish to have this, do place in your order when you call up for reservation.

Then we have the Chicken Pogs (RM49) which is a chicken roulade with stuffings wrapped with bacon. Served with a salad and mash potatoes.

The roulade is lovely with the bacon crispy but tender chicken on the inside. The salad has papaya in it with the signature dressing that as cumin in it. The mash here is nothing to shout about though, a little dry I reckon. My only complaint here is the portion of salad! Kinda stingy in size and looked out of proportion on the plate. Sam, please increase and give us mountain size salad just cause the salad is SOOO awesome! :p

A Pork Shoulder Steak (RM39) was served next. Loved the juicy steak and it's flavourful. BoiBoi asked for more of the pork! Kinda rare ok. The steaks are served with the same delicious salad and a few slices of steamed orange sweet potatoes to be dipped in olive oil and salt. Again my gripe was the portion of sides.

The Roast Pork (RM39) came with fresh homemade sauerkraut which is totally different from the pickled kind. Those who doesn't like the usual sauerkraut, do give it a go here. It's really good. 

As for the pork, aiyoh the meat is so tender, melt in the mouth and the skin ohhh so crispy. Just look at the cracklings! Wish there were more :D

This is the Prosciutto Pizza (RM35). A simple thin crust pizza topped with prosciutto and cheeses. How not to like pizza like this?

We closed our lunch with rounds of Rum Ice Cream (RM12). Similar to Checkers, Ad Hog's version has vanilla ice cream topped with black grass jelly, longan and kidney beans drowned with rum. 

PureGlutton brought along a moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. What a perfect end to our perfect Babitarian meal!

Now, when we were there a few weeks back, the signage is not up yet. Sam said it's coming soon. So I'm not sure if it's up already by now. If not, look out for a shoplot that looks like this.

There's no menu yet but you can see some of the items listed on the board outside. Sam cooks whatever that is available in the market that day, I guess a little eccentric just like the decor of mismatched tables and chairs.

Can't wait to be there again and it shouldn't be difficult now since we know the way already, yay!


Ad Hog Restaurant

25 Jalan PJU 3/45

Sunway Damansara

47810 Petaling Jaya

Tel: 019-312 1922 (Sam)
Closed on Mondays
GPS coordinates: 3.1635178, 101.5983099 (N03° 9.8111′, E101° 35.8986′)
Map

Review: Checkers Restaurant

**Non-Halal**

This is a post strictly for Babitarians :p

I was told this Checkers Restaurant was owned by 2 partners, Mr Tan and Sam but Sam has since departed and opened his own porkilicious restaurant called Ad Hog which I will blog about it later on. We were at Checkers with Capt'n Hook's friends and they did the ordering. There were 5 of us that night, sharing all the food away.

Just in case you're not sure which is the restaurant when you reach here, it's this one...

Yeah no signboard and in a secluded spot but yet it can still drive the people here in droves. Since the place is rather small, reservation is must especially on weekends. The interior of this place is nothing at all romantic or suitable for fine dining as the tables and chairs are never in the mix and match theme *chuckle*. There were plastic chairs and tables, some foldable metal chairs thrown in.



Since we waited rather long for someone to arrive, Mr Tan brought us a plate of tomatoes to munch on. Whoa I think Mr Tan is in good mood today! It looked simple right of just sliced tomatoes with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and basil leaves, seasoned with some salt and freshly cracked black peppers but it really packed in a punch especially so when the sweet tomatoes are of the roma kind ;-) Thank you Mr Tan.



When the last of the friend arrived, our dishes start to appear on our table. The first was Grilled Expensive Mushroom (RM10). Hehe the name kinda quirky, actually quite a number of dishes have such names. A small plate of grilled fresh shiitake mushrooms on a bed of purple cabbage and lettuce was served.



Next to arrive was Stinking Rose with Toast (RM8.50)! Just in case you do not know, Stinking Rose is another name for garlic. A whole bulb of garlic with the top cut off a little is roasted in the oven with some olive oil and serve with toasted baguette. I usually does the same at home too when I roast chicken. Roasted garlic is not pungent and it turn sweet due to the caramalisation. We dug out the garlic from the skin and spread them on toast. This is purely for garlic lover and not for the faint hearted. Luckily Capt'n Hook is a fan of garlic, and petai too hahaha...

We have both soup available that night which is not in the menu. If not mistaken one is a lobster bisque or was it seafood?? And the other is a French onion soup. Loved the flavour of the bisque and the consistency too. The onion soup being lighter as it's a clear beef broth with loads of caramalised onions in it topped with grilled cheese.

We have a House Salad (RM15). I normally stay away from house salads from most places cos they usually just give you a plate of lettuce with tomatoes, cucumber, shredded carrots and perhaps some green capsicum with Thousand Island dressing *shudders*. However, the house salad here is my kinda salad! The mix is fantastic as the more expensive greens were used such as rocket (arugula), frisse, radicchio etc with finely shredded jicama (sengkuang) and carrots; cute pink radishes etc! What complimented well was the dressing that has a hint of cumin. We polished this all off!

A portion of Mexican Pork And Sausage was ordered from the black board. I can't remember the price now. On the plate has a small slab of pork marinaded in a Mexican rub and a short but thick pork sausage; some mashed potatoes and a large portion of salad. The salad in here were different from the house salad. It has papaya cubes and kidney beans. The pork was tasty but not like fantastic, it was ok. I like the salad a lot!



Next we have a Porky's Best (RM49) which is a southern style barbeque ribs served with salad, corn on the cob and mash potatoes. The ribs were fork tender with the meat detaching from the bone so easily. They were already good on their own, the dip of brown sauce and a tangy salsa are really not necessary. Again I do really have to highlight their salad. This one has fennel and chick peas! Nice!!!



We also have an extra side order of mash potatoes (RM8.50) that came with brown sauce. We liked the creamy mash as it still have lumps of potato bits. This was polished off too, on top of those served with the meat.



By now, I was already quite full but the boys asked for a Roasted Pork Knuckle upon Mr Tan's recommendation. The knuckle with a very crispy skin was served with 2 dollops of mash potatoes, a bit of greens, sauerkraut, the tangy dip and salsa. Thank goodness we were sharing and the boys managed to scrape this clean. The knuckle is tender and went well with the salsa and dip but it was already good to eat just as it is.



With our stomach packed to the brim but yet we can't resist ordering the desserts of Mississippi Mud Cake (RM15) and Porky's Wild Ice-Cream - Drowned (RM17, RM15 not drowned) of course!

The mud cake is served with vanilla ice-cream and quite forgettable, simply because I can make a better one that has whisky in it *cough cough*



Now the Porky's Wild Ice-Cream is really wild as it has a base of vanilla ice-cream topped with green strands of cendol, cincau (black jelly), canned longan and roasted almonds! Sounds really like a 1Malaysia dessert eh? :p Anyway, the drowned version has rum at the bottom of the ice-cream. This is the dessert not to be missed.



Overall the food is good here but a lot of people have complained about the arrogant and obnoxious Mr Tan *chuckle* and also the steep pricing. Well just in case for the info of those who doesn't shop for pork meat, the price of pork has increased rather many folds and it's still increasing as time goes by *sobs*. No corkage is charged here and we brought along 2 bottles of wine.

While I was googling for info on Checkers, I found a rather interesting read here... seems like Checkers had started off as a pizza place which explained the furnitures in here. Pizza is still available here upon request ;-)


Checkers Restaurant
19, Lorong Setiabistari 2,

Damansara Heights, 

50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2095 3304

Business Hours: 6.00pm - 10.00pm, close on Mondays
Coordinates: 3°8'37"N 101°39'26"E