Nippy Noodle House 竹升面 - Kuchai Road, Kuala Lumpur

Friend called up and asked if I wanted to do lunch at this pretty nice noodle house in Kuchai. Hmm..noodles, I love noodles. Packed up and got there in 10 minutes but had to drive around for another 40 minutes just to get a park. Parking is a bummer in this place. No wonder business is not too fantastic.

Anyway, this place makes their own noodles using the traditional way of using a long bamboo to press the dough. This method makes the noodles more "crunchy" and as the chinese say "springy" 彈牙Supposedly this is the best method and my grandfather used to do it this way before the invent of noodle making machines. Well, it is good to see this method again in KL.
I ordered the abalone noodles (dry) RM 9.50 and the "Mui Choy" Pork noodles RM 6 (dry. don't know what that is called in English)

Check this out. Super duper small serving. The noodles isn't even enough for a 4 year old. 

Note - The serving is extremely small. My nieces can eat 3 bowls of it. Bloody hell. Lucky for them is that mine was abalone noodles so for 9 bucks I am not going to bitch about it too much. The noodles were indeed pretty springy 彈牙 but as with most places, they are just too DAMN thin! What is wrong with the noodle people now? Are Malaysians' mouths that small or they have no teeth to bite? Anyway for the dry noodles, I was slightly disappointed. The noodles were made ok but it's the cooking. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the combination of the various sauces must be right. This one just had everything in it but no taste thus nothing interesting to tickle your taste buds.


Points - 1 (this is crap for a noodle house)


Then it was the Mui Choy 梅菜Pork Noodles. The cook must have bought the wrong 梅菜 as it was terrible. The pork pieces in there was worse. You can hardly find it in there, blink and you'll miss it. My suggestion to them is to take this off their menu. Do not serve or sell something which you suck at!


Points - 0


As you can see the servings were too small so I had to order one last bowl in order not to punish my tummy. As grand dad used to say, if you want to know if a noodles house especially a wanton noodle house is good, you have to try the soup based noodles. Ordered their wanton soup noodles. 

Surprised to see a bigger bowl now and for RM5.50, I was happy again. Had about 4-5 wantons in it. Tasted the soup and damn! No good. No taste, not enough of anything. Very light soup that had no kick at all. I was wondering if the cook ever tasted his own soup. Wanton was not bad. Pretty fresh I must say and five pieces of it, that's not bad.


Points - 1 - 0.5 was given as bonus for the 5 wantons in it. 

John King Hong Kong Egg Tarts 蛋撻 - Low Yat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur

Well after my quick ramen fix, got myself a pair of this John King's egg tarts (蛋撻). Looked pretty ok for RM1.60 a piece, it ain't cheap either but then what is cheap in Malaysia these days. It looked nice when it was still in the glass counter but when I opened it up to eat, I was not too impressed. The tart's crust is not anything like the ones you get in Hong Kong. It was a bit too thin and not as fluffy. It was packed up pretty tight but one bite, it was just ok. The thing is egg tarts must be a little warm in order for the pastry to melt in your mouth. The egg was not good. It just did not have the 蛋撻 taste. Too mild and you just cannot taste egg. The pastry was made with peanut oil which immediately proved that I was right. You do not make good egg tarts with peanut oil. You need lard 豬油 to do this. It brings out the fragrance of the tart and makes the pastry soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Nothing else can replace this.

I just hate it when they use aluminium to put tarts into. Don't this people realize that it does leave a slight metal taste to their food?

The so-called John King - Famous Hong Kong Egg Tarts - Thumbs down. Our local Thong Kee egg tarts are way better.

Points - 0.5 seriously I won't bother too much about this place. Boo!

Taro Ramen 太郎拉麵- Low Yat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur

Noodles. I can have noodles all week and will not grow tired of it. Noodles are just so interesting. You can have them dry, with soup, fried, cold, hot. The Chinese fellow that invented noodles should be given a Noble Peace Prize instead of some of the idiots that get it these days.

The Japanese too have done themselves proud with their own ramen. Most places serve Japanese ramen in a shoyu based soup but this place it's a bit different. It's called Taro Ramen or Taro Men in short. The first time I had taro men was in Tokyo about ten years ago. I was amazed at the different type of soup compared to the normal ramen you get on the streets in Tokyo. Thick, miso based soup cooked with pork bones. 

When I came across Taro Ramen in Low Yat, I had to try it. It's a small cosy restaurant with just 3 employees which also happen to be Burmese. Quick browse through the menu and everything seems like the normal Japanese restaurant in KL. Nothing surprising in their line up. Quickly ordered their recommended Char Su Taro Men. 

Serving was good with nice cuts of char su. Tender and juicy. This pig was cooked right but the soup and noodles were just an OK OK-lah! (photos taken with my old iphone 3)

Service is pretty efficient in this place. The Burmese girl acts more Japanese than the Chinese girls in other Japanese places. Gambate!
I was rather surprised with the serving. They are generous with their char su here. I had about six pieces of it in my bowl. (most ramen stores in KL really "stinge" on this. The most you will get in a bowl is probably 3 very thin slices!)
First thing, taste the soup. Not bad. You know that they tried hard to replicate the ones in Tokyo but it was just a little too light compared to the ones in Tokyo. Taro Men's soup should be thicker, strong pork flavors to it. This is just ok, maybe it was done for the local Malaysians that are not used to the thick type of ramen soup. One thing to note before I forget it that the soup was hot. Very important to have hot soup for noodles.
The ramen was a bit too thin for my liking. It should be at least another 0.5 mm thicker then it would have been perfect. Cooked slightly soft which caused this poor fella a lot of points by now.


Overall, I would say that for a quick fix of ramen cravings then go for it. For RM15 bucks a pot, it's not that expensive. Service is good and polite. (Point to note!) Clean and cosy. Food wise - they need to improve on the soup.


Points - 1.5

Hainan Chicken Rice (雞容海南雞飯) - Jalan Sultan, Kuala Lumpur

This place is a favorite of mine since the one two doors away sucks big time. I referring to the famous Nam Heong Chicken rice shop. Ever since it was bought over by Esquire Kitchen, the quality of the food there dropped faster than the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Anyway the place I am talking about is just two doors from Nam Heong. It's an old, dingy looking shop with no decor whatsoever. I was told that the old man used to work for Nam Heong. It is one of those chicken rice places that still serves chicken insides. Not only do they have chicken liver and gizzards, they also have chicken intestines. (Most chicken rice shops do not serve intestines as they are too lazy to wash and prepare them.)
As usual ordered chicken for two, a small bowl of pork balls and Spicy & sour vegetables. Note: This is one of the last remaining chicken rice shops that serve your rice in a bowl.

Rice is meant to be cooked this way. 

One thing about this place is that the chicken is done perfectly. Honestly I cannot stand the sight of blood in my chicken which you do get in other places. 白切雞 or "white chicken" is an art form. You just do not dip the entire 

chicken into the soup to cook it.

You mean't to "shower" it slowly with the hot soup, basically bathing it like a 
baby. It then cooks the bird gently and in return the results are a tender and juicy 
chicken.

Points - 3

Perfectly cooked chicken which was juicy and succulent. They do not drown the birds in soya sauce

but where are the spring onions?

The pork balls are just very normal pork balls which I will not waste too much
time talking about it. Not too good and not bad either.

Points - 1 

The pork balls were of decent size but where is my spring onions and coriander? 

Points - 0


All in all, this old shop is a good place for lunch and my craving for chicken 
rice. My suggestion is go there soon before the old folks in there retire.

Room Eighteen - Mid Valley Megamall

Lunch time in Mid Valley is always madness. If you work there, you should eat at 12 noon and try to avoid the 1pm crowd. I have never really had much to say about the Tai Thong Group ever since their main restaurant in Jalan Imbi closed down. These days the group has moved on to do more Hong Kong style restaurants and also some western fusion restaurants which have failed miserably.

I was pretty lazy today and chose the nearest restaurant. Room Eighteen is one of Tai Thong's projects and has been revamped twice if I remember correctly.(used to be called Chopstick Noodle House) I have been to this place a few times and each time I have left the place fuming as the service is really hopeless.

Went through the menu and the usual stuff is still there. Very Hongkee inclined menu with dim sum extras in it. (Will talk about their dim sum selection next time) They stopped their lunch set menu but are not promoting a couple of their new dishes. Hot pot this and hot pot that. Nothing that really fancies me.

As usual I ordered their Double Combination rice, which you can choose two type of their roasted meat. (duck, chicken, roasted pork, char siew) I chose the roasted duck and pork. My lunch partner ordered the new menu selection of Hot Pot Spicy Fried Rice. (Bei Foong Tong, I will try to type chinese next time)

Color combination of the fried rice was pretty good. It did taste pretty good. Fried rice has to be done in a way that the rice does not stick together and it cannot be too oily. (Mum always says,"Use overnight cooked rice!) I must admit that this was not too bad. The only thing is that it does not live up to its name - Hot Pot Spicy Fried Rice. It didn't come sizzling hot although it was served in this Korean looking Bee Beem Bap bowl. As it is called "Bei Foong Tong", it has to be spicy. This was not at all the spicy fried rice I had in mind. There was not much ingredients in it other than a lot of vegetables that made it look colorful. No chicken, no pork..you mean NO MEAT? Some slices of egg..and that was about it. For 12 bucks, I better go the mamak for their fried rice. There at least I cannot complain as you would not expect anything.

Points - 1

Next came my double combination roasted meat rice. As you can see above, the servings pretty small. Just a few slices of each meat. The steamed white rice was cold (maybe due to their overzealous air conditioning), actually the whole dish was cold. They even "stinged" on the cucumbers. Cooking 101 - Don't ever cut your cucumbers this way. They don't look good and it makes you look bad. 

The roast duck was ok. Not much taste to it though as I reckon they expect you to dip it in their plum sauce and maybe a little chilli oil. (The plum sauce was terrible. Not much taste to it and you would expect this sauce to be thick and sweet) I have nothing much to say about the roasted pork as it just tasted like any ordinary roast pork you get at the coffee shops. For RM12.90, this is pricey and not satisfying.

Points - 1

Finally, I was impressed today with the service which was rather quick and efficient. The food came out in about 10 minutes and the bill came in a jiffy. I recommend this place if you have no other place in mind for lunch. The food is just OK, nothing to shout about. The air condition in there is freezing and the service can be atrocious.

Curry Noodles, Jln Sultan Brunei, Pudu

One thing about this place is the consistency of their quality. They surprisingly have maintained their quality of their curry although business is good. 

The aroma of their curry is just fantastic. One sniff and it sure gets you salivating! The combination of the curry spices and coconut milk is absolutely perfect. It is not too thick but rich enough. The curry is not too spicy as if it's too spicy, it kills off your taste buds and you cannot taste anything else. 

You can order any combination of add ons. Mine came with the works. Chicken, cockels, taufu pok and bean sprouts.

I must say that each time I come here, I am impressed. The quality has remained the same. This aunty takes pride in her products!

The "white" chicken is done to perfection. Smooth and juicy. One way to determine this is to order breast meat. I took one bite and it was fabulous. Dip the chicken together with the sambal, it's just does not get better than this. The raw cockels (si ham) goes really well with the hot curry as cooked ones will just get too dry. Raw ones will gradually get cooked in the soup and the taste of the fresh cockels together with the curry is just perfect.

For those who have never tried good curry noodles, this place is a must. Cheap, good and satisfying.

The stall is located just under the big tree on Jln Sultan Brunei, off Jalan Pudu.

Points = 3

Not for the Faint Hearted

I reckon most of you would have tried most of the inner parts of a pig. But this, I bet you've never tried. Ordered it a week in advance and Fuji san (proprietor of the Yaki Niku place in Tmn Desa) was kind enough to book it and prepare it for us. Actually I was quite surprised that he remembered it cos when we talked about it last week, we were pretty drunk after rounds of sake bombs.


First look of it and it just looks like any other part of the pig. It actually looks like the intestines. It smelled really good with a dash of sesame oil and some ponzu sauce. Ponzu is literally citrus juice. Mix some lemon juice and shoyu, that's simplified ponzu for you.

Check this out. Small dish that tastes absolutely delicious. Pair it with beers or sake. Perfect combination. (Photo: Courtesy of Moby Low)

This dish is one of the most refreshing and tantalizing dishes of the night. The "parts" were crunchy paired with the ponzu sauce, it had this citrusy twang to it that makes your taste buds go wild. Fuji san did a fantastic job with this. There was no overkill of too much lemon juice and it was not too salty at all. Just perfect. Down a little beer after it. Perfect combination. (this dish goes well with any alcohol. Hot night down the beers with it and cool night have some sake.)

By now, you must be still wondering what in the world is this dish? I have been thinking high and low on how do I call this dish and yet sound cultured.

Seriously I can't. It's a simple dish of "Buta Omanko" which is literally translated as Pork Vagina! Reckon that it should be called Pig's Uterus (thanks to Linda for the correction)

Now you have it and yes I tried it. It was superb!

Points: 4

Swatow Lane Food court, Penang

I was utterly impressed when I got here. I remember that the chendol stall was at the corner coffee shop but it has since moved into the food court opposite the shop. Now located in this sparkling new food court, it reminds me a bit of the ones you find in Singapore. Clean, organized and good parking.
First stop was to order the chendol and ice kacang. There was quite a queue but service was pretty quick and efficient. Presentation of the traditional Malaysian dessert is never a good sight but the taste is always the killer.

Check out the kidney beans. Big arse ones. They were not too stingy on the gula melaka and the chendol was absolutely mouth watering especially in our weather. 

The ice kacang is nothing to shout about. The shaven ice is bit too coarse. I do not like canned corn in my ice kacang.


Next stop was to order curry noodles. The stall is located just in front of the chendol stall. Check out the photo below. The presentation - thumbs up! It makes the customer feel good when the cook go through the pains of arranging their food in a nicer way. Aesthetically, this was really good.

As I said earlier, the bowl of curry noodles came and boy! I was impressed. Bonus points for effort to make the dish look good.

Immediately I took a whiff of the curry noodles. Nothing much...again I smelled it again....nothing much still. This is not a good sign for curry noodles. The aroma of the curry spices were not there. First sip of the curry and again this confirmed that the spices were not there and it was not as tantalizing as I expected it to be. Although the prawns were good, everything else to the bowl of noodles was mediocre. The cockels (Si Ham) were so small, one blink and you'll miss it. Yet again, I have been deceived by the good looks.

The food court of Swatow Lane is indeed a nice place if you want variety and cleanliness. I like the way the whole place is organized and the way the tables are arranged. Not too cramp unlike the food courts in KL where they will try to fit 20 tables in a 5'x5' area.

Chendol = 2 Points
Ice Kacang = 1 Point
Curry Noodles = 1 Point

Hokkien Mee aka Prawn Noodles at New Lane (off Macalister Rd, Penang)

I've always loved this place. It's at the corner coffee shop (New Lane) on the same row as Sunway Hotel. It's been more than 20 years since I first ate at this place. The only thing that caught my taste buds was the Hokkien Mee or Prawn Mee. Me and my mates broke the record here years ago consuming more than 30 bowls a day and throughout our 3 day stay, we had at least 90 bowls.
First impression is the coffee shop that probably has remained the same for the past 30 years.  The old lady that mans the Hokkien Mee stall was not around. Don't know if it's still her. A younger lady in her 30's was there.
First disappointment was that there were no spare ribs left. Damn! I was here for those juicy pork spare ribs cooked in the thick broth cooked from pork bones, prawns and a little dash of MSG. (Lol, kidding, more like a big bowl of MSG).
The noodles arrived and I knew that it was to be another disappointment. Why the hell did they throw in two fish balls into the Hokkien Mee? 
Soup was not as thick as it used to be. The taste of prawns was not exactly visible too. The sambal paste had no kick to it. Serving was small as usual.
2 Points

This really suck. I came all the way for the noodles and this is what I get. This happens when business is good and they slack on quality. They've forgotten what their own noodles taste like. 
STRIKE OUT!

Phun Chun Duck Noodles, Bidor, Perak

Last Friday (8 July 2011) I had to drive to Penang for a good mate's wedding. As the usual ritual goes, I had to make a detour to Bidor for the only thing that is worth going there for. Duck Noodles! To be exact it's actually Duck's thigh noodles.

Got there at 10.30am and it was pretty quiet. The first time I was there was probably 20 odd years ago with my old man. Everything seems the same, same old tables, same old chairs, same old cutlery and same of bowls.

Ordered their famous noodles plus a portion of the duck I saw hanging outside. The food came in a jiffy and I was excited. I've always loved noodles especially wanton noodles. (I am from a noodle family) 

First things first. Give it a smell. Ginger, duck, red dates check! Tasted the soup. Not bad. Quality is still there. 

Checked the noodles. Damn! I hate dry wanton noodles that is too wet. Too much sauce. We need to understand that the art of mixing wanton noodles is to have just enough sauce. Not too dry and not too wet. (I &%#* hate it when I see cooks instinctively scoop a little soup and pour it on the noodles just before mixing!)

 The noodles were too wet. Taste was mediocre. Not enough of everything. I can do better!

Remember to scoop some of the fatty duck oil and mix it with your noodles for extra flavor. Soup was pretty standard. Not bad. Not too much ginger and not much herbal twang to it. (Ho Weng Kee's was way better. I am biased here.)

Well, the noodles were cooked al dente but the sauce was disappointing.

Before eating, scoop the top layer of the duck soup and mix it with your noodles. (something my grandfather taught me. The fatty duck oil has got this superb fragrance to it and adds flavor to your noodles.)

Overall, the soup was not too bad, duck was just tender but the noodles were a disappointment. STRIKE 1

Points = 3

Then it was onto the extra roasted duck. Nothing much to say about it as I was not too impressed. It was neither here nor there plus the gravy they splashed on it basically drowned the damn duck. I will not order that again. STRIKE 2

Points = 1 

Good thing being early is that they serve the food really fast and surprising they were polite. One more thing that I almost forgot, their kopi O ping (iced black coffee) was good. (stolen base)

Overall verdict.

If you're traveling and you happen to be near Bidor, go try it. I would go for old time's sake but not because the food is damn good but that was the only place before Ipoh that had good food before the days of the NS highway. Point to note: Do not bloody try the char siew!

(My apologies for using some baseball terminology here but it made perfect sense as I typed. STRIKE 3 and you're out!)

First ever post

I have also prided myself as a critic. I comment on every damn thing and most of all the food that I consume. Over the years, I have had all kinds of stuff from all over the world, tried many restaurant, stalls, cafes, you name it and I have come to the point of no turning back when it comes to telling people off for eating crap.
In addition, I have read magazines, websites and blogs that always give suggestions of restaurants specifically in Malaysia. One thing to point out. Most of their suggestions SUCK! Everything seems to be good for these people or are they that easily satisfied. Just because the presentation is good, it does not mean the dish is good. 
In my blog, I will try to stick to my principles of giving shit just for the sake of giving shit and of course give credit to the deserving. 
Most of the ratings will be based between 1-5. 

• 1 being DONT BOTHER 
• 5 Better try it now before they too become bad.

Extra bonuses will include cleanliness, service, knowledge, quality and presentation. Then again I will not penalize them for these as we're talking about delicious food here.