Restoran Tropikiri, Taman Bukit Mayang Emas, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
2, Jalan BM 1/2, Taman Bukit Mayang Emas, 47301 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Roughly, Daily, 7:30am - 3pm

Time Visited:
11am, Saturday Morning

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Lam Mee and Teh Peng

I weirdly find myself coming back here again after once a person who knows the owner of the shop mistaken me and mentioned that I look familiar and have seen me here before and asked do I live around here. Well, actually, that night was my first time in a very very long time going there for dinner. LOL.

Anyway, today was the first time I went over there for breakfast where all the stalls were opened. Previous visits here were all past 3pm and the only shop that's opened till night time is the Chicken Rice Stall, the noodles stall beside it and the Nasi Lemak stall. But today was the first time I witness all of the shops opened and man, they have so many stalls here. No wonder everybody crowd to this place. It's almost a full house with a handful of tables left to occupy! So then, I decided to go for the Lam Mee today.

The uncle that mans the stall is a very jovial guy. He's so cheerful and cheeky when he response to you. I was there to order when suddenly a woman stepped beside me out of nowhere and started to order when the uncle was asking me what do I want to eat. I was a little shocked at first because this woman totally didn't see me at all and was almost standing on my spot! O_o The uncle acknowledged her order and then continue to ask me and said what do I wanna eat. That's when I ordered the Lam Mee.

The quirky uncle prepared it quite fast and it came to my place in quite a jiffy with the uncle in a spiffing manner said "Six dollar" with a Hong Kong accent. Well, the Lam Mee was mediocre but with just RM6, it's ok. The problem here is the drinks. My Teh Peng though has an aromatic taste to it costs RM2.40 which is a little dearer than quite a number of places. Anyway, I was a little strapped for time since it was already past 11am and I'm supposed to start working again already. So I hurriedly gobbled up my food and drink and started to go to work. Not that it's a must, but I've got nothing better to do anyway. LOL. And me with an idle mind, well, it's just torturous and agony because my mind will start wandering and remind me of a certain someone which will make me feel very sad. Oh well.

Total Wallet Damage:
As I mentioned above, RM6 for the Lam Mee, RM2.40 for the Iced Milk Tea.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Variety is great. Loads of choices and food is okay, Drinks a little expensive.

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Lai Foong Restaurant, City Centre, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
No. 138, Jalan Tun H S Lee, City Centre, 50050 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 6:30am - 9:30pm I guess. According to google? LOL.

Time Visited:
11am, Friday morning

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Pan Mee (tear), Teh Peng

This place I frequent back in 2008 till 2011 when I was working around here. I sometimes walk over here to have my lunch and the beef noodle is one of the famous stalls in KL where people flock to eat. They boast of their reputation and also charges a higher than normal rate. But on this day that I revisited the place again, I decided to try a pan mee stall which I have not seen before. Hence my curiosity to try it. I went for the tear version instead of the normal run through those pasta machine kneader. But I guess due to this, it took quite a while till my order came.

Although it's only 11am, it already has almost a full house and once it hit the lunch hour, the office crowd really thronged to this place and filled it up.

There's nothing much to say about this place except that the pan mee is kind of tasteless I would have to say and the chili watery. I guess there's much improvement needed for the pan mee stall whose mee was thicker than the average stall and miles behind one of the best pan mee in Klang Valley, the Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih House in Klang.

As I was hanging around my break time here, I also noticed that the beef noodles has now raised it's price to double digits. Times really has changed. I know it's bad for me to long for the good old days and me heading to obsolete kingdom very very soon but that's how the way the world works. If you can't keep up with it's pace, pretty soon you'll be extinct.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM7 - Pan Mee which is pretty expensive. God knows why they charge such high pricing. Must be due to them being in a tourist district.
RM2.30 for the Teh Peng. Ok I guess. Considering that they're in the heart of KL.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Well, it's unfair to rate this shop with such crummy Pan Mee when the beef noodles is what attracts a lot of people to this place. Still, I didn't taste the beef noodles again so I'm not sure if they're still maintaining their excellent taste but one things for sure that's change for them and that is the pricing.

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Restoran Megah Good Luck, Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
1 Jalan SS24/11, Taman Megah, 47301 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 7am - 9pm (?)

Time Visited:
10:20am, Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Sabah Special Pork Noodles and Kopi Peng (Iced Coffee)

I've only eaten here once before and that was with my family and this seems to open during the 2nd day of Chinese New Year.

Another affiliation I had with this place is when the owner once called me to deliver to her shop raffia strings and so I just delivered it and receive a small amount of money in exchange for that. LOL. Yeah, that was totally random out of the blue but I somehow got roped into being a delivery boy for this restaurant on that particular day. Haha.

That Sunday, I wanted to start off early in my work, but then it started to rain and the weather became really cooling and so I couldn't help myself and went back to bed. It's been so long since I went back to bed and slept till 10am. That's when I woke up and decided to go for breakfast and decided to head over here to have a meal. It was really a bad idea to be here at 10am on a Sunday because this place was packed to the brim. Even with me just being a single person, It was so hard for me to even get a place. All the seats looked occupied and there's not a single table that seems to have space for me to share with a family. But eventually, I managed to squeeze into one where the family reluctantly gave the place to me.

I ordered the Sabah Special Pork Noodles to try while for my drink I went for the Kopi Peng. It didn't take long for the noodles to arrive. In fact, after I sat down they were already bringing it over to me. Maybe because I took a while before I managed to get my seat as well. Anyway, I felt that the drink was a little way too expensive here. RM2.50 for Kopi Peng? Even for KL standard it's a little bit pricey.

But thankfully the noodles were cheap and affordable with it being just RM6. Frankly speaking I have no idea why they called it Sabah Special Pork Noodles. Seems to me like it's just your ordinary pork noodles. The major difference that I probably saw in this noodle is that the pork were thin and delicate hence making it smooth in eating it. I like the garnishing of chu yau cha or crispy pork lard being sprinkled on top along with some spring onions which is always a welcoming enhancement material for me. There's also some pork intestines in there but they were small in size. Anyway, it's a decent enough bowl of noodles and for RM6, it's probably good enough for me to return to eat it again.

When it was close to 11am, the crowd seems to have dissipated down and although there's still a fair bit of crowd there, it's not as crowded as when I arrived. That one maybe came from after doing their morning marketing and also finished service from the church nearby? LOL. I don't know. Strange there's so many people crowding there to eat at that particular time.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM6 for the Pork Noodles and a whopping RM2.50 for just the Kopi Peng.

Final Verdict:
6/10. It's a decent enough place for some kopitiam hawker food but by golly the drink seems to be dearer than your usual kopitiam price. I'd understand if it's really famous kopitiams like Chow Yang in SS2 but this place? Pfft.

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SS2 Chow Yang Kopitiam, SS2, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
50, Jalan SS 2/10, SS 2, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, probably around 7am - 9pm. Depends on individual stalls and whether have they sold out for the day

Time Visited:
11am, Saturday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Curry Noodles and Chinese Tea Ice

This is really a success story for this kopitiam. When I first got to know it about 15 years ago, it was located at the prominent turning at a corner lot. It then occupy the corner lot at the back of it and started to expand to it's next door shop as well. After not visiting it for a long time and seeing that it's not there anymore just about 3 years back, I thought that it has closed down. Then one fine day, I stumbled upon it's lesser restaurant where it's a "take your order on what dishes you want to serve with your style" restaurant and I thought, oh, that's Chow Yang because it's also the same business owner, just that that one is for people who wanna order their dishes with rice. And later on, I stumbled upon the back of it and I was surprised to see this very, very big Chow Yang Kopitiam that's stretched across I think 4 shop lots. This truly shows that they were so successful, they had to move in order to accommodate to their demand. On top of being in 4 shoplots, inside it is packed with hawker stalls with a lot of it lining up with just little space in between for them to operate with stalls all around selling different types of food. This is purely heavenly with it having so many choices.

I decided that this round I wanted to try the curry noodles. Most of the stalls around here are manned by the old folks that's been plying their trade for years in Chow Yang and another kopitiam that used to be around here with the exception of less than a handful being manned by young hats. It didn't take me long till I received my curry noodles which was manned by a sole lady. She was so kind and dedicated to manning her station. When I approached her stall, she was away to deliver an order to a table but when she saw me at her stall, she quickly ran back to it. LOL. I ordered my food and sat down nearby. She was also very kind and asked me had I ordered my drink yet and took my order and relayed it to the drinks people. The drinks people on the other hand, which was manned mostly by foreigners except for the owner himself who's usually fixing drinks, they mostly couldn't be bothered and is not attentive to customers. They do their work at almost a third of their heart and seemed very very lazy to clean up dirty dishes and also to bring customers their drink. They even got my order wrong which turned into warm Chinese tea but I couldn't be bothered correcting him and having him change my order. No wonder the Aunty asked if I've already ordered my drink.

The drinks here are of normal price, well, at least the Chinese tea is at RM0.60. As for Curry Noodles, is slightly more expensive than other places I know which is priced at RM7.50. But then again, of late, the price at some places are increasing and they're blaming it on the increasing petrol price. :(
The noodles was okay. A normal, decent, bowl of curry noodles. I'm glad that I found this place back and reunited with it. LOL.

If you like plenty of choices to choose from in your family, this is the place to be. But for a lone diner like me, well, there's yet a stall there that attracts me to keep coming back but if I don't know what to eat and I want lots of choices to choose from at a lower price than normal restaurant, this is the place to be.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM7.50 for the curry noodles. 60 sen for the Chinese tea.

Final Verdict:
7.5/10. The main draw here is the many, many hawker stalls to choose from. And this place is really huge but there's a lot of people who goes here to eat as well. Still, I'm sure seating shouldn't be much of a problem for a lone diner. Worse come to worse, just share a table with someone. LOL.

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Tasty Porridge, SS2, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
No. 51, Jalan SS2/64, 47300, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Close on Mondays. 
Other Days 11:30am - 10:30pm.

Time Visited:
4pm, Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Cincao Ice and Chicken and Salted Egg Porridge

Due to intermittent rain on that day, it got me feeling very lazy and so I stopped work at 1pm. After resting awhile at home, I decided to had something to eat and probably skip dinner. So I headed over to the usual row in SS2 that I'm used to going and decided to try for the first time this place called Tasty Porridge.

Despite years and years of coming to this street and seeing countless of shops open and close in this very row, I've never once visited this place to eat though I'm tempted to do so sometimes but opted for something heavy instead of just porridge. But since today it's still early, I've decided to go for it.

As the sign indicates, this place mainly sells porridge, but I did see some other types of food as well. I think I saw rice or noodles as well? Can't be sure since I'm famous for losing my god damn mind and memory and also sometimes hallucinate and can't differentiate between reality and dreams. LOL. Anyway, I decided to go for their chicken porridge with salted egg. Their recommendation is actually the pork porridge and they also have the frog porridge as well which is a rare find nowadays.

As you can see from the picture, it's served in a claypot like fashion. Be sure to add all the condiments in. This greatly increases it's delicious factor. There's the oil, the soy sauce, pepper and fried garlic. Yummy. I especially love it with loads of fried garlic. The very funny thing is that there's this old lady who came by and asked me for money. D:
She kept saying she's unemployed and very hungry and wanted some money for food and said she don't smoke and what not...blah blah blah. Later on, the manager who saw this told me that she actually gambles. I guess she gambled all her money away. Tsk tsk tsk. The funny thing was she even offered to cut my hair and kept saying it's free. Why don't I want it. LOL. I know I have very unkempt hair and I've stopped going to salons and barbers to get it trim anymore because I don't feel the need to anymore. I don't care if I look like a hobo which I guess I do till she suggested to cut my hair for free. Haha.

Anyway, it took a moderate waiting amount of time for the food to come. As for the cincao, it contains no sweetness at all. It's just like that jelly with water. That's all. But it's okay. I just needed something to wash down my meal afterwards. The porridge was also okay but I much prefer porridge time more than this. I find the porridge at Porridge Time taste better. This ones okay just slightly less desirable as compared to Porridge Time. It took me not long to finish the whole shebang and off I go to laze off some more at Rekindle for a cup of coffee.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM11.35. RM7.90 for the porridge the rest is drinks and 6% GST and a 1 sen rounding adjustment.

Final Verdict:
6/10. So-so. Well, it's not bad in taste.

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Medan Selera Shamelin Food Court, Taman Shamelin Perkasa, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
2, Jalan 5/91a, Taman Shamelin Perkasa, Cheras 56100 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Federal Territory, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Unknown. Also dependent on which stall you're it is but generally, they open early till late night probably Daily 8am - midnight

Time Visited:
4:30pm, Saturday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Roast Duck Rice and Chinese Tea Ice

It started to drizzle when I was around that vicinity. Not certain of my way around, I took shelter at this food court and decided to try out some of it's dishes.

By the time of 4pm plus, the hawker stalls' staffs were all on taking-it-easy mode since during this time, the lunch crowd has long gone and the dinner crowd has yet to come it while those who's in search of teatime won't visit such a place due to it's heavy meals and environment that aren't as pleasant to be staying around. But even at a time of 4pm, there's still some people around and even after I've came in and had my meal, there were some people who started to come in for their meals already.

There's a lot of hawker stalls around and unlike normal kopitiam places, this one has most still opened to serve customers. They probably operate at night too hence the still open state. I guess they're just getting ready for the dinner crowd and just wind down a little instead of closing till dinnertime. The signs on all the stalls were big and easy to see what each stall sells. This truly indicate that each stall owner is definitely there for the long haul since it's not easy nor cheap to change the signs. I decided to try out the roast duck rice over there.

The butcher was having his meal while the rest of the family members (it's a family business) were sitting at one of the round table nearby chit chatting. When they saw me walking towards their stall and stopping there, an old man approached me quickly and asked me what do I want. I'm amazed at the pace he moved and also surprised that he's also the person who takes orders, serves and receives the payment. Interesting to see such an old fella working there. It didn't take long till I receive my meal and the drinks were quite quick to get to me too even though it's quite a big place. Now that's efficiency.

Unfortunately, this place is a bit dearer with the Roast Duck Rice at RM7.50 while the Chinese Tea Ice costs RM0.70. So it's a cheap but not that cheap place. The roast duck was quite okay with some hits and misses. The rice was well okay but the chili was too watery. The duck's okay and the sauce although tasty seems to be weak in it's taste. The soup didn't do any good as it was almost tasteless. But nonetheless, it's a hearty enough meal to fill your tummy. As for the Chinese Tea Ice, well, it's just that. A bit too pricey for Chinese Tea Ice.

So there you have it, another Cheap but not that Cheap kopitiam. *Sigh*. Cheap kopitiam to eat is becoming extinct. At least there's still Section 17, Petaling Jaya to fall back on. So far, that's the most reliable of them all.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM7.50 for the Duck Rice and RM0.70 for the Chinese Tea Ice.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Huge place so there's bound to be seats even though peak hour but way too limited in parking space. Food and drinks a bit more expensive then my expectation but there's a lot of variety here for food. That's lovely.

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Artisan Coffee, Section 13 (Seksyen 13), Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
Jalan 13/2, Section 13 (Seksyen 13), 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 8:30am - Midnight

Time Visited:
2:30pm, Sunday afternoon

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Creamy Tomato Beef Bacon and a Latte

Why haven't I heard of this place before??? It was such a rare gem of a find and it took me so long but finally, I had took a notice of this place and I'm glad I did.

Little did I know, I have visited their counterpart branch before which is the Artistry by Artisan Coffee at Atria but yet I never knew that their HQ was this delightful cafe hidden from the busy roads of Petaling Jaya. Going inwards in roads that leads to a very quiet area, Artisan Coffee is far from the busy road and caved in from the quiet streets where warehouses resides. It's housed in a former warehouse as well and I totally love the ambiance here. Since it's in such an inner road, the parking here are aplenty with nothing opened all around except for this bustling cafe. I parked right beneath a big tree which provided a very cool shade for my car since the weather outside turned from air-conditioning cool to scorching fiery hot since 10am.

Though outside may seem quiet but inside was filled with patrons all lazing around without any signs of them going off. Looks like everyone's in here for the long haul. The upstairs area overlooking downstairs is simply mesmerizing to me but I opted to sit outside and enjoy the heat a little. LOL. The toilets are separated into male and female but the male toilet is located upstairs while the female toilet is downstairs.

This place is actually fully self-service so after you've done your ordering and your payment, you're supposed to pick up your own drinks and food. The receipt will have your number and when your number comes up on the sign, you're to pick it up from the kitchen. As for the drinks, you're to pick it up at the end of the drinks bar. It's near where you can take some water as well.

The kind barista actually took my drink to me when I failed to notice that my drink was ready and awaiting for my pickup. Bless her soul. But I took my plate of Creamy Tomato Beef Bacon Pasta on my own. The coffee is on the lighter side and a latte would prove to be too milky. I should've ordered something less of a milk ratio. Perhaps a flat white would be better. But it's not to say the coffee's not good. Oh, no. It's quite fantastic just that my preference has leaned towards having a much bolder coffee taste.

As for the Creamy Tomato Beef Bacon, they weren't kidding when it says Creamy Tomato. It's very very creamy and rich in it's cheese taste. The tomato wasn't a dominant character in this plate but does provide it's significant flavor to it. All of it cast off a much balanced in taste that I very much like. But due to it's creaminess, I must say that anyone eating this would need to take precaution so as not to spurt any sauce onto your shirt.

After finishing my meal, I head on home to rest awhile before continuing on with work.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM29.70. RM11 for the Latte and RM17 for the pasta. 6% GST is charged.

Final Verdict:
8/10. I'm loving this place. I just like how it's hideaway from the busy streets and how marvelously serene in such a warehouse and factory like surroundings. I'm told that there will be mosquitoes around and I can see why with some greeneries around hence outside, they had mosquito coils at the ready down at every table. I would love to visit this place once more but I'll need my GPS again to locate it since I'm a little confused on how I got in here. LOL.

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