Roast Pork, Happy Garden, Kuchai Road Kuala Lumpur

Located in this really old run down shop next to the famous 4 faced Buddha in Happy Garden, is this really popular roast pork stall. (never realized there was one as this shop looks really run down.)
It is advised to get to this place before lunch. If you're late, there will be no tables and most of the time, their famous roast pork (烧肉)will be sold out.
After hearing about their so called fame, I decided that I had to go see for myself. My first time, I got there at about 12.30pm. Crowd was already there and I could not get a table inside, therefore had to settle for one outside that was barely in the shade.
Damn, this shop is old. Windows missing, pipes leaking, walls that need some paint work done and floors that require a whole month of scrubbing.
No wonder comes to take orders other than this pretty friendly Chinese lady that sells drinks. Walked over to the stall and placed my order. Char Siew (叉烧), Roast pork (烧肉)  and Roast Chicken.
The food took forever to come. Place was not exactly crowded, wonder what took so long. When it finally came, I was hungry. First impressions. Roast pork looked OK but the char siew, I had my doubts. Too red for my liking. Red meaning they used coloring on the meat making them look too red on the surface. Not good. Here we go again, sigh.

This looks pretty nice. Taste wise not bad but nothing to really shout about either.

Now check out the red borders of each slice of meat. That is coloring. Char Siew should be BBQ-ed for color, aroma and taste.

Another photo of the coloring to emphasize my point!

The roast pork although cut not as thinly as other places which is good, is actually on the average in terms of taste, aroma and texture. Yes, if you compare to some other places around this area, I will agree that this one is one of the better ones. Crispy skin but does not have that melt in your mouth experience. I reckon that the soya sauce should be kept separate and not poured on the roast pork. Soya sauce will cover the taste of the meat and often get the crispy skin soggy even before it reaches your table. Roast pork is normally already on the salty side therefore you do not need to drown it with soya sauce unless you have something to hide..Smirk!!
The BBQ pork....hmm...not good. I hate going to places where they have colored char siew. Reason why it's called char siew is before you BBQ the damn meat. OUT!!!!
Roast chicken..very very normal. Any other decent chicken rice stall can do this.

Overall. = Dirty restaurant which mean hygiene is of concern though I've not gotten a tummy ache yet and Yes I do have a pretty strong stomach. Food wise, they ain't cheap. For two persons, this will cost you about RM20+ excluding drinks.

Roast Pork = 1.5 (because they were not cut into paper thin slices)

Char Siew = 0

Roast Chicken = 1 (if you can't get this right then you had better shut it down)

WIR - Hmm..I will come back but maybe just stick to the roast pork and nothing else.

Typica Coffee, Shaw Parade, Pudu

Hidden in the dodgy part of town is this tiny and cosy specialty coffee place. It sits on the side of a run down old mall, Shaw Parade in Pudu. Decided to give this a try after hearing a bit from some mates. Surprisingly the place was rather packed on a Sunday afternoon. Matured, white collar looking folks in there, enjoying their coffee while reading a book or a group of them chatting with the owners about coffee. Amazing.

Looks like lab apparatus. Coffee making equipment.

The coffee here ain't cheap. If I remember correctly, the cheapest brew is for about RM25. You choose the type of beans, they'll serve the beans out in a plate for you to smell, play with and maybe eat them I guess. (My apologies..I have no idea) Then they take the beans back and grind them. The whole process of brewing this coffee actually takes a while. It's done in a bunch of flasks that looks like lab equipment. The owner of this place, I reckon, takes pride in brewing the coffee. She will stand guard, smell it, stir it until it's al dente, then pour the freshly brewed coffee into a "Typica" cup. No milk is given and no sugar to be seen. Did not want to ask for it as I already observed the people in this place. Everyone had theirs black. Not wanting to be outdone, had mine black too. It better taste good for RM25+ a pop.

It was actually pretty nice. The coffee aroma was not the same as the usual Nescafe I have every morning. It was actually pretty soothing. (They should make perfume smell this way) The taste? Slightly acidic, good after taste that was not bitter after all. It sort of confused my palette but as it streamed down my untrained throat, it left me wanting more. Pretty much orgasmic to me. LOL.

Well, for coffee lovers out there, you should give this place a try. Pretty expensive though but I reckon you will not be hanging around this side of town too much.

Will I return = YES only if I have the spare cash to burn on expensive coffee.

Points = 2.5

(0.5 was deducted as they did not have much to eat there. The cheese cake I ordered was just too normal to even bother to write about and it was way way to expensive for such a small slice.)

Pork Place, IOI Boulevard, Puchong

I chanced upon this place called Pork Place in Puchong recently. (getting stuck on the highway gets you looking at things more I guess. LOL) Located on a discreet side of IOI Boulevard is this cosy little restaurant. Named after the only produce they have. You guessed right. PORK!
I actually quite like the decor of the place. Good ambience, cleanly decorated without overdoing it like some places you go to. Decorated with some pretty cute pictures of pigs makes this place not too serious though this interior decoration is also seen in other "pig" specialty restaurants in town. They also have this part of the restaurant that is a dedicated butcher selling, yes, yes, pork. I guess they pride themselves with the pigs they sell especially with the various certifications stuck on the glass windows.

Anyway, let's get down to the food. Menu is not extensive which sometimes is a good thing. (I do not enjoy restaurants with a 20 page menu as most of the times, the food's all terrible. Nothing stands out) I believe that a good restaurant does not need to sell too many things but sell things that you're good at.

My order of the day is their house special which is the Pork Knuckle (RM 40 for a half portion) and the Sausage platter (RM26) plus two tiger beers (RM 13 per bottle).  I must say that the waiter was pretty helpful and polite. (Bonus point)

Wait time was 10-15 minutes and both dishes came out. Small portions for that price. Good thing I was not really hungry.

First dish, the pork knuckles. Presentation wise - the usual with most places that serve this dish. Only thing is that the meat was cut into bite size portions. (Maybe it was due to it being a half portion). Nice fresh salad on the side with mashed potato and gravy.
First taste. The pork skin was crispy but did not have much taste to it. It did have a burnt taste to it. Not too good. The meat initially tasted pretty good. Nice flavour, not too salty but as you take a few more bites, the disappointment creeps in. Somehow the meat had this very strong "pig" taste. It was just a little too overwhelming. The chef must have skipped a step or two preparing this as I am very very particular with this. Pork being pigs must be done the right way in order to eliminate or minimize their natural smell. If this isn't done correctly, it spoils the dish. Sigh!

Points = 0.5

Second dish, the sausage platter. Two pieces of fat sausages. One Bratwurst and the other one I cannot remember. Again, some salad and mashed potato.
I must say that the sausages are nothing to shout about. I can get these stuff at a local deli. Cheaper and maybe tastier. At least if it's cheap, I cannot really complain, right?

Points = 0.5

I left this place a tad disappointed. I liked the ambience, the attentive service but the food was not impressive at all. Did not bother with dessert in order not to dig a deeper hole for them.

Overall = 0.5 out of 5 including the bonus for the service.

WIR (will I return) = Maybe if they improve on their cooking skill but at this moment I won't. Oh, before I forget, I will return to try if I don't have to pay!

Sanuki Udon, Taman Bukit Desa

Located on the hills of Taman Desa is a pretty much undiscovered Japanese eatery. I would not call it a restaurant as it's really an eatery. Owned by Fuji-san (the dude that also owns the yakiniku place in Taman Desa. http://darthko-foodcritic.blogspot.com/2011/08/yakiniku-taman-desa-kuala-lumpur.html), this was his first adventure into the world of F & B. 
Anyway, it turns out to be very Japanese and on week nights, this place is filled to the brim with Japanese expatriates. The udon here is made fresh everyday and you can buy them back and cook them yourself. I love the way this guy maintains freshness and quality of his food. Everything is done with discipline and order thus serving food with consistent quality all the time.
The menu isn't huge which is good I reckon. (Huge menus most of the time mean only one thing. Jack of all trades and master of none.) Other than udon, they also serve some side dishes such as karaage (fried chicken cutlets), edamame, salad etc. In the evenings, they will have yakitori. (chicken skewers) Chicken arse lovers will love this place as they serve yakitori bishop's nose. LOL!
I normally order the house special. You can either have it hot or cold but I always have the hot one. I should remind myself to try the cold one next time. The house special comes with just udon and poached egg. (no oil, which is good) Add a little chilli in it, mix it up and it's actually a very refreshing bowl of udon. Well if you want it spicier add more chilli. I was told that the idea for this house special came from the boss trying our local Chilli Pan Mee. It does make sense as it basically is the same except you don't have too much other stuff in it such as anchovies and minced pork.

This time I also tried the Udon in soup (cold). The weather's here too hot so cold noodles for lunch is always a good idea. The soup is very much like the ones that you eat with soba. Noodles are fresh and has a very good texture. 

Slurp the udon out and add a little wasabi to it to give it a more interesting taste.

Udon is pretty much a healthier choice compared to our local food. Once in a while, it's a good change to our oily diet. Price wise, I would say it's pretty decent here. Freshly made udon for RM5 a bowl, not bad but not cheap either considering you don't get anything else in it.


Points - 3 (0.5 is given due to the cleanliness and service)

Ramly Burger - Malaysians' All time favourite burger.

Ask any Malaysian and he or she would have definitely had Ramly Burger. I reckon Ramly burgers are like McDonald's to us minus all the advertising, french fries and value meals. Most Malaysians will have their own favourite stall, which happens to be anywhere from road sides to outside your local 7-11.


Ramly burgers are like the local McDonald's franchise. They buy their stuff from Ramly hence the name which includes most of the ingredients such as the patty and bread. I was told that you can get a loan for this and you're also provided with training on how to set up, manage your books, cook etc. Pretty organized right?
I have not really tried a really bad Ramly burger except once in TTDI. The stall outside 7-11 in TTDI! It was bad. Tasted horrible that I cannot describe it. Will never go near that stall ever again.
My culinary journey this time takes me just round my neighbourhood in Taman Desa. This Ramly stall has been at the local 7-11 for years. I reckon that it's been at least 20 years as I watched the little baby girl grow up to be a little big fat girl now.


One thing about this stall is that it's not like the rest which are normally run by some young punks. This is family run and it's pretty clean in a way. Cooking wise is pretty much the same as the rest of the stalls. I love the way they cook the burgers. Slowly cooking it on the grill and once it's almost done, they cut it through the middle carefully not breaking it into half and sprinkle seasoning into the middle of the patty. Interesting way of adding more MSG flavour into the burger. On top of that, you can have the special which is wrapped in egg and maybe add a slice of cheese too. Talk about innovation.

They only open after dark. I stole this photo from the car.

Standardized wrapping.

I always order the normal or "biasa" chicken burger as I do not like too much stuff in my burger. For RM2.50 it's a decent deal. (used to be only 1.80-2.00 ringgit) Most guys will have to down at least 2 of  these burgers. One is just never enough.


Heil Ramly Burgers! You can never go wrong with these fellas!

Akasaka Ramen, Tokyo Japan

I am reporting this live from Tokyo, Japan. It has been more than 10 years since I was here. First thing I did once I dumped my luggage at the hotel was to look for ramen. Japanese ramen is my favorite. Coming to Japan and not having ramen is a sin and those that do not will burn in hell while getting choked with ramen.
Happened to walk past this place called Akasaka Ramen which looked really inviting. Small eatery with the usual vending machine where you buy a ticket for the ramen that you want. Simply pass the ticket to the waitress waiting and in a couple of minutes, food is served. Systematic and beats the hassle of trying to communicate to her.

This Shoyu Ramen is superb. Soya based soup, thick and full of flavor. I love the fact that the soup is all based from pork stock. Fresh, noodles just right, good serving. Only thing was the egg which was just a very normal hard boiled egg. Yummy!

Now this is the cream of the place. Pork Ramen. Whitish, thick pork soup with tender pork slices. The soup itself is a meal. It is so fulfilling, I was screaming with joy when I had my first mouthful of it. Sweetness of a soup perfectly done. Not salty but just so full of flavor that you can literally feel the pig running around in your mouth. LOL. The pork slices were sensational. It melts in your mouth. I mean it. It is done with perfection, soft, tender, juicy, you name it. Absolutely heaven.


This is one place I will come back before I return to KL. Price is reasonable. Shoyu ramen for 750 yen and the pork ramen for only 680 yen. Free iced water plus eat all you can bean sprouts (appetizer) which are marinated with sesame oil and sprinkled with chilli powder. Great little place with the usually polite Japanese service.


Points - 4 Thumbs Up!

Say NO! To Pets in restaurants

I do love dogs. I used to own dogs till they all got kidnapped which explains why I do not have a dog anymore due to the heartache that the whole family had to endure when they got stolen. (Curse those damn dog thieves, one day the dogs will just maul these fuckers back. I am sure. Laws of Karma.)
The one thing that I cannot stand is people bringing their dogs to restaurants. Come on!! It's a place where humans go to and eat. Keep your dog at home. Do not bring it sitting on a chair and pretending to be human.
Malaysians have no consideration at all. Bringing a hairy Shih Tsu into a restaurant is one of them. I do not want doggie hair in my soup! Worst thing is that these arses treat their dogs like humans. Dogs must know their place. (How to train your dog - Rule No.1) - Never have your dog at the dinner table and feed it too! No wonder they have dumb dogs that will never respond to them unless there is food.
I was just at this Bak Kut Teh restaurant down Old Klang Road where this really Chinese Ah Beng family strutted in with their father (middle aged loan shark in a singlet) and their damn ribbon tied hairy Shih Tsu. Best part is the girl (maybe boy as I could not tell) put the pork in her mouth, then started feeding the dog with the pieces of meat in her mouth. Hand in the mouth, pull out a piece then stick it to the dog and it goes over and over again. Damn!! Talk about hygiene! 


All I am saying is that restaurants of all kinds should just ban pets from their places. You can have your dog outside but not inside where people eat. Dogs should know their place and it's definitely not on the dinner table.


Am I wrong?