Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Restoran SS8, Taman Sungai Besi Indah, Seri Kembangan, Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
Jalan Sb Indah 1/16, Taman Sungai Besi Indah, 43300 Seri Kembangan, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Early mornings till late night? LOL. It's a kopitiam. There's no affix time mentioned.

Time Visited:
10:10am, Sunday morning.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Pork Noodles and Kopi Peng
Found this gem of a place when I was around that area. Near the Mines area, there are quite a few places around that are home to kopitiams. And why I call this a gem is because it's cheap and effectively fast too. Not to mention delicious to the taste. I'm wondering if the other kopitiam nearby is just as good.

When I was there, it was already packed with people and still there were people flocking in to have their breakfast while very few finished their meal and was leaving. I decided to go for this pork noodles at this stall where I ordered kuey teow and meehoon noodles. For drinks I ordered kopi peng from the main tenant. Since it was crowded and there were no table that's empty, I decided to share a table with another lone person who's sitting outside. Though the outside seating has no shade, the day was quite cloudy and the breeze was cool like in spring so sitting outside wasn't much of a problem that day.

Not long after I sat down, the food and drinks came and I was very pleased with the cheap pricing. The pork noodles was unusually clearer than other pork noodles and though the soup was clear in it's taste too, the many ingredients in it made up for it very much. They use cabbage as the vegetables and interestingly, the pork that they give feels also quite clear and clean. It provided me with a very nice meal and I must say the coffee wasn't that bad as well. It wasn't all sugar water like how most kopitiam serve their coffee but this one was thick and rich in it's coffee taste as well, the way I like it. With that kind of price, if it weren't so far away from my home, I'd be a regular in eating here. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
The pork noodle is only RM6 while the kopi peng is just RM2.10. Quite a steal I would say.

Final Verdict:
8/10. I'd definitely would like to come here to eat again. It's the neighborhood after the Mines Shopping Mall on the left.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Petit Mary Pattisserie, Taman Teh Teng Seng, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Address:
 83, Jalan Langsat, Taman Teh Teng Seng, 31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 9am - 8pm.

Time Visited:
11:13am, Wednesday (Public Holiday)

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Mary Breakfast (set)
Public holiday. Wesak day to be exact. Not working much on this day, I decided to take a spontaneous trip down to Ipoh on this day. 2 of my colleagues asked why didn't I say earlier? Else they would've joined me. LOL. Yeah, right. Like that 2 family men has time to accompany this lone soul down to Ipoh. I shall ask you guys the next time around but then again, if it's just a local trip, it's most likely short notice so you guys won't be able to go too. LOL.

After dilly dallying a bit in the morning, I finally departed from Klang Valley towards my hometown in Ipoh. Once arrived at the cafe, it was just almost lunchtime which was perfect for me. From the outside of this cafe, it says nothing that it's a cafe. The giveaway was more of it's looks and an open sign hanging by the gate. This place looks like some part of a palace, Englishmen style. As I walked in, I'm pretty sure I was in the right place with a person greeting me by the door. The guy explained to me that ordering of food takes place downstairs while the seating is upstairs. This place is a Mandarin-centric place where people talk and order mostly in Mandarin. A little queer for me because I'm so used to Ipoh being a place where they just mainly speak Cantonese. Since I didn't make any stops on my way here, I decided to head upstairs to the toilet first before descending back down the stairs to take a look at the menu. This place seems a little cramp downstairs which I guess it's why they don't have seatings downstairs. However, I'm just wondering what happens if you're coming with older folks who has bad knees? Guess they would have to slowly make their way up the stairs. There's a Breakfast set menu which reads available from 9am - 12pm and that comes with coffee or tea and since I've been on a long journey all the way here, I thought of giving the Mary Breakfast a try instead of just the croissant which was what I was thinking of ordering at the beginning.

I made my way up the stairs and chose a table to sit down at. Being a cafe that doesn't have any signboard but is a house of it's own, it looks pretty popular. By the time I was halfway through my breakfast, it had already turned into a full house of customers. This place just didn't do much alteration from it's original house design. You still see the layout like a house where there's just the front of the house and the back of the house as places to sit and eat. One thing I always see the staff struggling with is that they have to find where the patron who has ordered is sitting. You see, once you've ordered, you're given a number and you're to display that on your table so they know the food belongs to you. But without a camera to monitor the upstairs on where you had sat down, the waiter will always go to the front of the house all the way to see if there's a number around before heading back to the back of the house to continue finding the number. But I guess it's merely a minor inconvenience. In this cafe, there's also a fake fireplace to spruce up the ambiance which I hardly see these things around. I remember seeing one at one of the hotels in Europe.

Anyway, the Mary Breakfast came and I was surprised by the number of items they gave to me. The guy put the plate of breakfast on my table and then the coffee, and as he was about to turn and leave, he said this belongs to you too, right? And put a basket of bread with butter down. I was surprised. This is definitely way worth eating if you want bang for your buck because with that amount of food given, you're definitely gonna be full finishing the whole thing. I can imagine some girls saying unable to finish the whole thing. LOL. So what I think all in for just RM18, that's considered cheap in my books. Taste-wise, well, it's just your regular tasting breakfast. Nothing superb nor out of the ordinary for it. As you can see in the picture, besides the 2 croissants and coffee, the breakfast platter consists of baked beans, a sausage, hash brown, ham (I think it's turkey ham), some salad on the side and scrambled eggs. I just wish the salad and it's dressing were separated because it did interfere with the taste of the eggs. It gets soaked in it's sauce and didn't really go well with it. But eating the whole thing got me quite full and as I mentioned before, it's very well worth your money. I wonder if cafes around Ipoh is all this cheap in price. The coffee leans towards more of Italian coffee where it's bitter through and through and so I needed to sweeten up it's taste by adding the provided sugar sachets. Though I don't normally drink coffee with sugar, I just couldn't with this and needed the sugar.

After awhile of resting I departed from here to my next destination nearby.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM18. Just RM18 all in. This includes the 6% GST. A very much worth breakfast set for that price. Highly recommend if you're looking for something cheap that's a cafe.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Well, price-wise I would say is excellent but taste-wise will need to be better if you want it to be memorable for it's taste as well. Ambiance, not bad. Homely.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

BreadFruits, Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
No. 17, Jalan 26/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, Wilayah Persekutuan, 50480 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 8:30am until 9pm

Time Visited:
Sunday, 12:30pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Yellow Mellow Cheese Omelette & Wild Honey Latte
After spending my time preparing for my upcoming Korea trip with my family, I head on over to BreadFruits in Sri Hartamas to try their food there. I have to say, at times like this if even such non-simple things that would literally delight anybody who has such things to look forward to is something I find kind of apathetic to and am just bored to my bones and still thinks that life is not worth living, why do I even bother continuing on? Why the stupid stipulated time I have set for myself?

Anyway, this place looks packed on the inside though I have to say, this place seems quite small. But there's still some places to sit and dine at. They have some fruits and stuff on display for purchase and can be made into juices for you there as well. However, I chose to sit outside instead of with the cool air-cond breeze on the inside. When I was there, I approached the counter and one of the staff said,"Yes?" I asked for the menu and she pointed to me where it is so I helped myself to it and start glancing through it. Mind you, this place is a full service restaurant so you can actually just sit yourself down or have them show you an available table and they will bring the menu to you. But with the amount of people there and how busy the staff looked like, I decided to not wait for service and helped myself to the menu instead. After deciding, I told one of the waiters my order and he pointed me to a vacant place inside but I told him I wanted to sit outside.

Surprisingly, outside was a lot more quieter than the inside. I guess the small place had the diners chatter bounced and echo off the walls. Over on the outside, it wasn't really that hot but there are construction nearby which you can hear low humming sounds of machinery and what they're doing and also the traffic from this busy area from a distance, but it was definitely much more quieter than the inside that day. This area here has always been known for it's lack of parking and so I parked a little further having seen a shady place at the main road.

It didn't really take long till my omelette arrives in all it's vibrant colors as I await for my latte to come along. About few minutes later it started to come and it's time to chow down. The Yellow Mellow Cheese Omelette has bacon in it and mushrooms and of course cheese while at the side there, they put some rocket leaves and a toasted bread with some butter on top. To start off, the bread was good even by eating by itself and slathering the butter over it increases it's viability. Rocket leaves though weren't looking so great and a bit shabby yet tasted pleasing enough and on to the main star. The perfectly cooked omelette contains mostly the mushrooms being the most prominent among all the ingredients and the cheese provide some gooey gummy feeling. The bits of bacon were a clever and ingenious addition into the omelette as it provided some salty bits and as a person who loves bacon, it certainly went well with the omelette and cheese, The wild honey latte is exactly what you think the taste would be with the honey providing a peculiar sweetness to an already quite mild coffee. Nevertheless, it was enough to satisfy me and I left for my next course of action after enjoying the cup of coffee.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM38.15. RM13 for the latte and RM23 for the omelette. 6% GST is charged here.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Well, it has it's upside on it's dishes and some good enough beverages, but the ambient just left a little claustrophobic inside and that's where I preferred the outdoors.

Saturday, April 29, 2017

Tang City Food Court, City Centre, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
21-27, Jalan Hang Lekir, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 6am - 10pm (Most likely)

Time Visited:
10am, Sunday Morning

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Roasted Pork and Chicken Rice and Kopi Peng (Iced Coffee)
I didn't realized that I've been here before until I stepped inside. After going inside the food court, only then did all the memories started flooding back.

I remembered this used to be my alternative lunch location. The place that I most frequent which only did I remember after stepping in here was the wan tan mee (noodles) located beside this food court which is just an alleyway. Whenever the wan tan mee stall is closed, I would go in here as an alternative. The guy who mans the wan tan mee stall in the alleyway runs the stall with his wife. The guy is really hot tempered and sometimes has his temper flaring while his wife who bears the brunt just tolerates it. But the guy merely scolds when he's under pressure. Never once did he lay his hands on her. But somehow, the guy always treats me really nicely and with respect, even when he's under pressure and am angry. Whenever he's that way, he may scold his wife and some customers who irritates him, but to me, he'll just keep quiet and will just acknowledge what I say, most of the time with a nod. And he's Wan Tan Mee is cheap since he's just operating in an alleyway. LOL. He's the last stall in the alleyway. There's also one more stall before him which is most closest to the main road walkway of the Petaling Street tourists. I guess that's why I became a regular customer of his when I was working nearby there. Since he's stall is further in the alleyway, most people will not manage to see it. Well, he don't open on Sundays so this day, he wasn't open. I wonder if he's still operating there?

Anyway, I walked in Tang City Food Court full of nostalgia with a tear trickling down my cheek when I remembered about the Wan Tan Mee fella in the side alleyway. Over here at Tang City Food Court, nothings changed. Everythings just the same as I can remember even the stalls. The price has increased and it's still dearer than market price. Well, that's what you get from eateries around the city centre.

So I went for the chicken rice stall that day. This time I called for the roasted pork and chicken. It's still as oily and greasy as before and the roasted pork tasted floury. The rice tasted dry and it's expensive. I should've just went nearby and try the famous porridge stall instead. Can you believe all my years of even working nearby I have never once eaten that famous porridge stall at all? LOL. Because it's usually crowded with people. Anyway, I should've went for it that day since there's place to sit that day though it will be really hot in there. Anyway, the chicken rice wasn't satisfactory but that's the way it has been all these years. The kopi peng may potentially save this place as it's thick and kao enough and much more than other kopitiams. If you want variety, this place offers you many different food of choice but expect a less than average food for an above average pricing. You're better off just going opposite to Lai Foong for the beef noodles. At least that's guaranteed to taste good and satisfactory if you eat beef.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM8 for the Roasted Pork and Chicken Rice and RM2.40 for the Kopi Peng.

Final Verdict:
5/10. The only thing good about this place is the variety they offer. Other than that, if you're willing to spend, go opposite the main road to Lai Foong instead and taste the beef noodles.

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Restoran Golden Kim Wah, Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
Jalan SS 20/10, Damansara Kim, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 6am - 11:30pm, I think

Time Visited:
10:45am, Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Chee Cheong Fun with 4 ingredients to go with it, a stuffed chili, 2 stuffed bean curd and a fried bean curd and Kopi Peng
I'm not sure where to eat while I was in Sungai Buloh because I couldn't spot any Chinese kopitiam when I was there. In fact, inside the kampung area, I don't even see any Chinese at all. Some Indonesians intro me to the morning market way inside the kampung there. Got really lost inside that area with it's awfully narrow roads. LOL. Eventually, I just followed the bigger roads and when I saw a bus coming out and heading towards straight of me, I followed along because since it's a bus, it's bound to take me back to the familiar big roads, right? I was right and it led me towards the road I'm familiar with and so I headed back towards Damansara Perdana but the kopitiams I know there weren't opened today. I guess I could've headed to Kepong but I didn't want to face the jam over there so I ended up back to familiar territory, Damansara Kim.

Though I've been here a lot of times before, I've never tried the kopitiams here before. Today, I decided to head to Restoran Golden Kim Wah. It seems really big so it looks like less people than the other corner's kopitiam but it's just that it's big while the other corner is smaller. After parking my car, I saw a familiar face who seemed to recognize me. After seeing her reaction of knowing me and smiling to me, I knew it was someone I knew and my memory needed a little jog before I remembered it was Rachel. I said hi first and she said hi back and that was that. I didn't talk further because I'm afraid of human interaction with familiar ones. LOL. And she didn't make the effort to talk more anyway so best let sleeping dogs lie. I don't think anyone would wanna talk to me anyway.

So I walked over to Restoran Golden Kim Wah and surprise, surprise, a surprising sight greeted me. The familiar sign of Robert's Char Kuey Teow is there! And when I saw the old man there, I knew that had to be Robert. Hmm, I guess the one in Section 17 isn't really manned by him anymore after all since that was a younger chap over there. This guy fries the char kuey teow full of confidence and style. It's gotta be Robert. I didn't know that he was based in this restaurant. Always thought that it was the Section 17 one. Anyway, the Section 17 one is also very nice.

Well, I didn't eat his Char Kuey Teow though. All I did was went to the Chee Cheong Fun stall instead. A lone aunty mans the stall and while preparing some ingredients, she finally notices me approached at her stall and starts speaking to me. She said that all her ingredients were just freshly made just awhile ago while she continues arranging her ingredients. I told her I wanted Chee Cheong Fun, the curry version and she told me that the curry version is very nice too. And proceeded to hand me a bowl with some tongs and said choose whatever ingredients I 9like. After choosing 4, I decided to stop and gave it to her to prepare and proceeded to sit down.

After quite a long while, it finally came. Couldn't blame her since she's the only person manning her stall and she's still preparing her ingredients. LOL. She was so kind to ask me have I ordered drinks and I said that I have. The 4 ingredients with Chee Cheong Fun costs RM9.50 though. Well, Chee Cheong Fun does costs quite expensive with ingredients though it's not something that can eat really full unless you choose a lot of ingredients but that'll cost you a bomb. LOL. But I do agree with her that her Curry Chee Cheong Fun is really very tasty. It's not that soupy like Ipoh style that I'm used to. Oh no. The curry is actually quite a thick texture and you do feel some heat to it. It's actually spicy. LOL. I love the taste. It's one of the top Chee Cheong Fun I've ever tasted. Definitely a really unique taste. Spicy broth and not so soupy goes well with the Chee Cheong Fun very much and the yong tau fu ingredients were an enhancement to it. Definitely a nice eat if you don't mind the price and am not thinking of a really full meal. LOL.

After my break, I went back straight to work. I feel so tired these days. Got scratches of my car due to my carelessness twice today and I almost fell asleep while driving in the afternoon that day. So darn tired. But I just gotta push on. A few years left to endure and hopefully I'll be gone for good. :)

Total Wallet Damage:
RM2.40 for the Kopi Peng and RM9.50 for the Curry Chee Cheong Fun with 4 ingredients.

Final Verdict:
Well, I love the Chee Cheong Fun so much I'm gonna give it a 7/10.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Restoran Satu Tiga Satu Tiga 1313 茶餐室, Metro Prima, Taman Usahawan (Entrepreneur's Park), Kepong, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
Jalan Metro Perdana 3, Metro Prima, Taman Usahawan (Entrepreneur's Park), Kepong,
56000 Kuala Lumpur (KL)
Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Unsure. 8am - 8pm maybe. Dependent on individual hawker stalls.

Time Visited:
10am on a Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Teh Peng, Hakka Mee
One fine Sunday, I was roaming around the area of Kepong when I stumbled upon what seems to me is like a Kopitiam heaven. In this square around this place, there are 3 very large kopitiam shops and Restoran Satu Tiga Satu Tiga 1313 茶餐室 is one of them. The seating inside was quite moderate but due to their many customers flocking to them, they even put up chairs and tables opposite of their shop under big trees. It's buzzing with people and even though there's a lot of chairs and tables, it looks like it's almost full house.

I'm not sure where the name 1313 comes from but I think it may be related to it's address because I saw a similar name on the other kopitiam. LOL. So out of the three major kopitiam, I chose this one to eat at. There were quite a number of hawker stalls peddling their food to the consumers but it's not as much as SS2's Chow Yang and Restoran Tropikiri where their packed with very limited space for them. LOL. Yet, counting the seats that they setup under the big tree, I would say this rivals the number of seating place to Chow Yang's and looking at that humongous crowd that was eating here during peak time 10am, the crowd too rival's Chow Yang's.

I decided to go for the Hakka Mee at one of the stalls which I picked at random. By the way, the Teh Peng was quite fragrant and has a fragrant taste to it. I noticed they use the blue marigold condense milk to make their drinks and the pricing is average like any other kopitiam with the teh peng at RM2.20. But as for the Hakka Mee, it only costs RM6. Sure it's small in size but RM6 is considered quite cheap nowadays. However, taste-wise was just okay. It was a bit too oily for me and even though it's a small plate, I find the oily feeling overwhelming.

But it serves the purpose as my breakfast and I went on my merry way soon after. A word of warning in this area though. It's very hard to find parking and people even park on the side of the road which narrows the roads considerably. Ah, what people do for their breakfast. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
Altogether RM8.20 with the beverage at RM2.20 and the noodles at RM6.

Final Verdict:
6/10. I call this place Kopitiam heaven because you have the 3 major big kopitiam to choose from and there's loads of people flocking to this place like bees flocking to honey.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

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.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

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.

Friday, March 10, 2017

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.

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Restoran Zhing Kong, City Centre, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
90-92, Jalan Hang Kasturi, City Centre, 50050 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Not sure but according to Google,
Daily, 6:30am - 5pm

Time Visited:
10am, Friday morning

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
2 sets of Steamed bread and Kopi O' Ais (Coffee without milk with Ice)
This place used to be my regular haunt for my morning breakfast back then when I was working along Jalan Tun H.S.Lee. It's just directly opposite (or you can say as beside) the Pasar Seni LRT station. As you exit it walking towards Central Market, it will be on the right, corner shop. I used to after alighting from the LRT and tagging in at office, I would go back down to this restaurant to have my toast bread and Iced Tea. It was a daily habit that I undertook until I don't even need to order. All I do is just sit right down and they will bring me my food and drinks. LOL. :)

But today, I walked down memory lane again and decided to visit this place once more since I was in that area. The difference this time around is I need to find a parking place. As I walked back in this shop and started to sit down, I saw all those familiar faces still manning their respective stalls after so many years. It's only those foreigner drink workers that are different now. There's also that spastic kid who's still there who is the daughter to one of the stall owners. Nothing but old hats here when I visited which most are familiar to some of the shopkeepers while the some odd ones are just those that are awaiting for their college class, a construction worker taking a break and also taxi drivers.

This time around, I ordered steamed bread instead along with coffee without milk. The old lady still mans the liquor area where she sits behind the counter where loads of alcohol are displayed but I rarely seen purchased. Out at the distance, there's a big sign indicating toilet key with a key tied with string and attached to a sort of bowl for people who want to use the women's toilet. I remembered once there was an incident where someone's been in the toilet for far too long and so they used the key to open up the door. But that was the men's toilet though. Or was there a women's toilet back then? I don't recall there having any since I've never used their toilet before when I was working around here since it's so near to my office.

I also remember an old lady who sometimes frequent here to eat (or rather drink). She's this old lady so sell tissues to people around this area and she would use that money to drink Guinness here. She also has this old wives' tales custom and uses Guinness to dab a little around her face. Those old Chinese tales say that when you apply Guinness to your skin and when you bathe an infant in Guinness, the skin will become supple and youthful. And that old lady does that which sends her reeking with alcohol as she walks past. LOL.

My order came quite fast and although it's not much to look at, the taste was not bad. Though the steamed bread may seem droopy, yet the loads of butter that they apply on it is what I fancy. I do love a very buttery tasting bread. As for the coffee without milk, it too was not too shabby. It perks me up with it's sugary caffeine and was the right taste to my requirement. I finish the lot and went on my merry way to continue my work.

Total Wallet Damage:
I can't really recall. I think it's RM5.60 for the whole lot. Something like that.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Brings back memories of me having my breakfast here daily and this shop has stood the test of time with many old timers patronizing this place as well as some college kids from the college nearby and also the office workers around. At least this one's still here while the other place where I used to always frequent for breakfast in Section 17 PJ has closed down. At least How Yekee is still surviving there and thriving.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

103 Coffee Workshop, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
103, Jalan Radin Bagus, Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri:
11:00 am - 11:00 pm
Sat:
10:00 am - 11:00 pm
Sun:
10:00 am - 10:00 pm

Time Visited:
12pm, Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Latte and Daimanzoku
I once wanted to step foot at 103 Coffee Workshop but then decided against it and went to 5.1 Cafe Gallery instead. But this time around, I made the effort to visit there.

Though outside from it's exterior it seemed awfully quiet but once I step into the place, I was taken aback by the sheer number of people there. They were very quick to notice people coming in and they will specially usher you to your table and your seat as soon as they've determined the number of people in your party. So it was easy for me to get a place because I'm shown to an available table. No hassle and they're plenty courteous, helpful and offer good service.

After going through the entire menu which is very thick and full of food items and beverages to choose from, I've decided and signaled for someone to take my order which is not difficult for they have wait staff from one end to the other end and they can easily see each other. I wanted to try their cold brew but they've ran out that day and so I settled for a usual latte. As for my meal, I've made the preference of Daimanzoku, which in Japanese means very satisfied.

The whole restaurant, as I can see, is very well run and has been efficiently optimize. Hence, even the food and drinks that were ordered were quite fast in arriving. The latte came first. No surprises there. Their coffee comes with a nice biscotti and as I recall, their coffee was not bad. Tasteful and a strong coffee taste. The thickness of the caffeine seem to be great in this cup of coffee but yet it's not too bitter.

Pretty soon, my Daimanzoku came. Daimanzoku is a breakfast that comes with Scrambled Eggs, Sauteed Mushrooms, Pork Bacon Wrapped with Cherry Tomato, Pork Sausage, a side of salad and my favorite among them all, a mixture of straight cut fries and sweet potato fries. I have to admit they serve great food here and their standard is way up there. Almost everything in there tasted great, the scrambled eggs, the pork bacon, incredible. The favorite thing of them all as I mentioned earlier, the fries. It was so addictive and very well seasoned to perfection. I savored every last inch of this dish and true to it's name, it really does leave you with a big satisfaction. On top of that, it left me feeling full as well.

I took my time soaking in the environment and they have a steady stream of customers coming in till at times, there's just no more space to accommodate anyone anymore. And yet with that, they also never once hurried me nor made me feel that I'm taking up their precious space. Instead, they were really excellent in their service and friendly. I went over to the counter to pay and started my day of work.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM42.80. 6% GST needed but get this, despite their very good service, they don't charge service charge. Excellent!

Final Verdict:
9/10. This is definitely a place worth visiting again. It has good food, good coffee, good ambiance, good service and they don't charge for service.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Ah Sang Bak Kut Teh, Seri Setia, Sungai (Sg.) Way, Sungai Way New Village, Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
No. 531, Jalan SS9A/12, Seri Setia, Sg. Way, 47300 Sungai Way New Village, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Operating hours :: 7:30am - 2pm
Off day :: Alternate Monday

Time Visited:
Saturday morning, 11:30am.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Bak Kut Teh, of course! Fatty meat with lean meat and all the bells and whistles that come with one claypot bowl. To drink, Chinese Tea Ice.
Just another typical Saturday where I anticipate in starting my work. But with the hot weather creeping in on this day and the lethargy of getting out of the house, I needed some boost of energy to get through the day.

Bak Kut Teh is one of those early traditional Malaysian Chinese dishes that originated from Klang and is said to have been a breakfast meal for the laborers just so that they can have the energy to do their tedious job and last through the entire day. Hence the very heavy type of meal consisting of rice, full of pork meat and the herbal soup that it comes in. And so this was my breakfast meal for that day to help me last through me day hoping that it will bring me the energy I needed to last. LOL.

At Ah Sang Bak Kut Teh, their Bak Kut Teh is the same type as the ones that you find in Klang. Dark herbal broth soup with your pork meat in it that's served in a claypot. Unlike the one at Kelana Jaya which has a clear broth soup that's certainly unique, this is the traditional type. The people who run the place are said to be originated from Klang and they do speak the Hokkien that's from Klang.

As soon as I sat down after being shown to my seat for a party of one, the guy at the counter immediately got up and walked towards me to take my order. He was so quick and efficient that we were done within seconds and within 5 minutes, my order was already at my table! Unfortunately, being just a party of one, the claypot that I was served in was small and since I ordered everything to be in there, you'd only get a little of each since it's such a small pot. LOL. But what I got was the aromatic herbal bak kut teh soup which I think is the main draw to this place. It was a nice thick broth and was very delicious. The meat to me was nothing out of the ordinary. Tender enough but a lot of other Bak Kut Teh places had better meat. It's delicious enough to consume. Rather nice.

Since it was such a small pot, I finished it in quite a fast amount of time. Though it did not make me full enough, it's enough to provide me the sustenance for the day. Press on ahead towards the day!

Total Wallet Damage:
Altogether RM16. Reasonable I guess? Oh well. Since there were no receipt, I don't believe they charge GST.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Though not the best I've tasted, still it holds up. The best thing is their soup which I guess is the main draw.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Sarawak Corner, Restoran Meisek (美食茶餐室), USJ14, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
No. 10 & 12, Jalan USJ 14/1k, 47630 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Unsure. Rough estimation is:
Daily, 7am - 3pm, 6pm - 9pm

Time Visited:
11:45am, Thursday morning, Raya 2nd day.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Laksa.
Though I'm no expert in Laksa (a spicy soup noodle dish), I've heard that the hawker shop Sarawak Corner has quite authentic Sarawak Laksa taste.

It was still a holiday for me that day and I had a thought of trying some Sarawak Laksa that day. So I head on over to Subang Jaya, USJ 14 where there's quite a few nice Chinese hawker stall restaurants around and Restoran Mei Sek is one of them around. That shop has occupied even 2 shoplots and had made them connected. There's plenty of variety on hawker eats at this place and even though they occupy 2 shoplots, they're still at full capacity on the day I visited and people were scrambling for a place to sit with some even sharing a table with me. Over at this hawker restaurant, there exist a hawker stall called Sarawak Corner which is quite authentic in their Sarawak noodle dishes and that's my intention of trying out.

In particular, I'm here for the Sarawak Laksa. As I mentioned before, I'm no avid fan of Laksa so I had a little research to see all the laksas I've tried before and what is the difference in Sarawak Laksa. For the Sarawak version of Laksa, the soup-based is more towards Sambal Belacan which contributes towards the crimson color of the broth and it also contains coconut milk in it and sour tamarind. What Sarawak Corner at Restoran Mei Sek put in their dish are shrimps, omelette strips (I must admit, I've never tried laksa with omelette strips before so this probably would be my first Sarawak Laksa dish) and chicken strips. The condiment that was accompanied with my Laksa dish is some sambal belacan and a lime to squeeze over it and the Laksa.

Though the condiment given had a spicy taste to it, the broth simply did not taste that spicy to me. I guess it's cause they do put quite a lot of coconut milk in their broth which is what I'm able to taste. Though a preference towards a more spicier broth for me, it is rather tasty and has a thick texture. The noodles were nice and soft enough but interestingly, there's yellow mee in the mix instead of just rice vermicelli so it's more towards curry laksa in this instance. The omelette strips added some sweetness to the overall dish which is a nice touch. The chicken strips were adequate in portion and went well blending in with the dish. Shrimps were the first thing I consumed finish because I don't really like shrimps. LOL. Due to my need of it being spicier, I need to dab the Sambal Belacan with the noodles and this certainly heightens the taste.

Though there's many customers and they were also frantically preparing dishes, but with their numbering system, they're able to provide me with my meal in quite a quick fashion which I'm well pleased. Next time around, I'm visiting this place again and try the kolo mee and other various foods around here since this place looks so interesting.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM7 for the laksa. I'm excluding the drinks since it's done by the main shop owner but if you must know the price of my Coffee Ice, it's RM2.10.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Not bad in their Sarawak Laksa. Since I've never had one before (yes, it's hard to believe since I'm Malaysian) I can't really say how good it is in comparison with other Sarawak Laksa or those that's at Sarawak itself but based on this alone, I'd say it's pretty nice. I certainly wouldn't mind coming back again to eat though the price of RM7 does put me off a bit.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Brew & Bread, Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
10, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla M 31/M, Kota Kemuning, 40460 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Wed:
8:00 am - 7:00 pm
Fri-Sun:
8:00 am - 7:00 pm

Time Visited:
11:30am, Sunday morning.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Salmon Çilbir and Hot Latte (Sugardaddy)
Brew & Bread. A cafe place at Kota Kemuning which is quite a far area for me to venture just like my previous drive to Kepong. But due to me being in quite a central location, this place is also about a half an hour drive away for me which is quite fine.

When I reach that place, I was surprised that Kota Kemuning was such a bustling area. This was my first time venturing over there. There's plenty of food places to eat and many Chinese flock to that location till it's almost congested like Cheras area. However, due to the vast land area where this cafe is located, there's also plenty of parking abound should you not mind walking a wee bit. And by a wee bit, I mean from the behind row of shophouses.

At first glance, I thought that it was closed since it's signage was big and looks like it occupies the entire shoplot but upon closer inspection, it seems that only the downstairs place is closed. They were open for business upstairs. As I enter through the entrance door, I was shocked to find that the place was almost full house. There were loads of people having their breakfast there and chit chattering away with their family members and friends. Usually, this place has a menu paper laid out at the seating areas but due to the amount of people abound, I sat at the back area overlooking the back alleyway which isn't really a bad view, to be honest. The glorious sunshine beams in and enlighten the place tremendously making it a very cheery place. This place is also a full service cafe so you can just take your seat and the staff will come and take your order. I ordered the Salmon Çilbir which is one of their signature dish and a hot latte. For coffee, they have 2 types where they name it Driver and Sugardaddy. Driver has the words "Comforting, Familiar, Classical and Heavy" written on it while Sugardaddy has the words "Seductive, Wild, Charming and Elegant" associated with it. Really, it actually is just Driver being a single shot with a smaller cup while Sugardaddy is a double shot espresso with a bigger cup. That's just it. I went for double shot.

It took quite a long while for even just my coffee to arrive. I don't really blame them. They do have a lot of people coming through their door when I came and that had kept them occupied with the many orders coming in. It probably took almost close to half an hour before I actually receive my full order which is inclusive of the main I ordered. The coffee that they gave to me was named Finca Limoncillo Yellow Pacamara from the country, Nicaragua and was roasted medium. It mentioned in their tasting note that you'll get Passionfruit, Dried Pineapple, Lemon Tea, and Vanilla in it. I didn't taste any of that though. LOL. I just knew that it was sweeter than a lot of coffee that I've ever drank even though this do not contain syrup. It's very fruity and floral just that it tasted more of berries than those listed. LOL.

As for the Salmon Çilbir, it's a dish with a Turkish Poached Egg with Greek Yogurt, Chimichurri Paste, Aleppo Chili Butter and of course the Chargrilled Salmon Steak. What surprises me is that they have fried Mantou (Fried Steamed Bun) as a side with some lettuce on top. I must say I'm impressed with the taste. It does taste quite nice and was done to perfection. Everything from the poached egg to the salmon to the mantou, all done and cooked perfectly. The skin of the salmon was really nice as well and it's just crispy and has a salty taste to it. They've already deboned the salmon and you can rest easy eating it. My only complain would be that the salmon steak was far too small. Oh well. Can't have everything.

As I was leaving, the crowd had died down and the staff had a much more relax time once 12:30pm came about.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM39.20. RM25 for the salmon dish and RM12 for the coffee. 6% GST charged but interestingly, no service charge though they give full service.

Final Verdict:
6.5/10. The food is quite good and so is their coffee. The atmosphere may be a bit noisy and full of people but I guess due to their good coffee, people tend to flock to this place even though they open up only their upstairs area.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Cottle Coffee Malaysia, SS21, Damansara Utama (Uptown), Petaling Jaya (PJ), Malaysia

Address:
15 Jalan SS21/60, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon:
8:30 am - 10:00 pm
Wed-Thu:
8:30 am - 10:00 pm
Fri:
8:30 am - 12:00 am
Sat:
9:00 am - 12:00 am
Sun:
9:00 am - 10:00 pm

Time Visited:
Wednesday (Public Holiday), 10:30am

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Quinoa Salad and Magic
It was a public holiday and I intended to make a little bit of extra side income and then spend the afternoon with a friend but the play part never came at all. So I just drove around whole day to clear my mind until I was more than exhausted.

Anyway, I initially wanted to have breakfast at Village Park but the crowd was too much and so I decided to walk around Uptown a bit. Strolling along, I discovered why there was quite a jam in the area and that was due to a fire that broke out at one of the bookshops and the Firemen had just finished putting out the fire where the entire shoplot both on the upstairs and the downstairs were entirely soaked. There's police over there to poke their noses in to determine what was the cause of the fire. So I walked on further not having a destination in mind. I then came across Cottle Coffee which I remember seeing it once passing by but ended up I went to The Culture Pot instead.

So this time around, I ended up opening it's doors and stepped on in. The place was bright with rays of sunlight penetrating through the place even though the weather was cloudy. It's enough to give an aura of natural sunlight into it. The place was quite cluttered on one side with many things on display and the various types of seating with their tables while the other side sits the counter for ordering and things like that. I went for the quinoa salad and initially thought of Flat White but I spotted something called Magic and asked what was that. The guy who attended to me responded that Magic is actually Ristretto Flat White, ie double shot espresso with milk. So I went for that one instead. After all, that is the coffee I need to help me get me on my feet.

Immediately when I sat down, they instantly brought a glass and a bottle of water for me. Very good service on that. The salad came after followed by the coffee. They were very quick to provide for me as well so I would say their service is excellent. The Quinoa Salad was very pleasant nicely tying it up with the Rocket Leaves and Apples for sweetness. The apple was a delight to munch on and got me addictively sticking some quinoa and nuts onto it's natural juices before plopping it in my mouth. It's such a delight to be had.

The coffee was alright but I'm still reeling from the delightful Hong Kong coffee which I wish the coffee here were as creamy as that. But of course, it's alright. Some moderate coffee taste infused into it with the right temperature having the right amount of milk in it to be deemed as a Flat White.

All in all, it was a wonderful and nice cafe with a relaxing ambiance but the gloomy weather and the non-response from a friend had got me a little under the weather.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM31. RM13 for the coffee, RM18 for the salad. No service charge, no GST. Excellent.

Final Verdict:
7/10.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Urban Coffee Roaster, Hong Mei Building, Tai Kok Tsui, Prince Edward, Hong Kong

Address:
135, Lai Chi Kok Road, Prince Edward, Hong Kong

Opening Hours:
Unsure since it's not listed. But I gather Daily, 10:30am - 7pm (?)

Time Visited:
11:30am, Sunday morning. Hot hot hot hot day.

Attire worn:
Casual. Like a traveler. LOL

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Big Breakfast and Flat White (hot)
Last day at Hong Kong and I barely had any time. The night before I was fresh out of breath from the amount of alcohol consumed not to mentioned still sore from a terrible leg cramp from the first night. I was lazy to move but had to check out by 12pm else the cleaner won't be able to clean up my room for the next guest. LOL. So with my bag and all, I headed off to one cafe destination before heading to the airport and I wanna make it count. I open up my app in search for some beautiful coffee and decided upon Urban Coffee Roaster.

Urban Coffee Roaster was established back in 2014 so it's relatively new and it started with 2 coffee enthusiast in Hong Kong. It's also their own coffee bean brand. There's also another outlet in Tsim Sha Tsui which looks relatively more seats to me from their pictures. Over here at the Prince Edward outlet, it's teeming with many elegant decors. Books galore on the shelves and an old looking antique record player which actually is a common modern player instead of an actual record player. There's a very big wooden appeal to it with 3 of it's staff cramming up behind the coffee bar scuttering around in performing their duties. Filled to the brim with coffee paraphernalia, they skillfully weave their magic by grinding, tamping and pressing coffee for you.

The 3 staffs gives off a very chilled and laidback vibe that easily puts me at ease with my very hurried manner. They also took their time in preparing my cup of coffee as well as my food. But then again, Hong Kong has been a place that slowly prepares their food and take pride in it to give you the best that they have. So it was quite a more than my usual time of waiting if I were to compare to Malaysian cafe standards. LOL.

The coffee was placed in a coffee paper cup to my dismay but as soon as I sip through it, the dismay dissipated away to a satisfied happy customer over his creamy Flat White. Though it may not possess the more stringent and strong coffee aroma as Flat White's in Malaysia, it still passes in my book as a Flat White. So far in my limited visits to cafes around Hong Kong, this was the best I had. Mind you, coffee in Hong Kong tend to be a lot more creamier than Malaysia. It's gotta be their milk and their frothing ways. Something which I uniquely adore on Hong Kong cafe coffees.

Next came my Big Breakfast. It certainly looks like a very huge portion with the ingredients all laid on a chopping board that's branded with their name as your eating plate. The Big Breakfast consists of scrambled eggs, mushrooms, 2 types of sausages, bacon, some salad, a tomato and a toast with baked beans. Unfortunately for me, Hong Kong food just don't have a strong enough taste for me. It just felt that they missed the salt and even that was true with the bacon. Nevertheless, it was a filling breakfast and satisfying enough to fill up my tummy.

This certainly is a nice place to have a cup of coffee with a very trendy environment. But there's limited seatings and it's all bar seats up front in the shop. There seems to be some seatings at the back past a door but I didn't investigate to find out what's beyond those doors. I headed off towards the airport in a jiffy as I'm already behind time. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
HK$143. $108 for the Big Breakfast and $35 for the hot Flat White. And like Malaysia, asking for ice with it costs more.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Very much in love with their coffee. Not so much on their food but then again, a lot of Hong Kong food seems to have similar flatness in taste.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Kedai Makanan Jin Man, Taman Taynton View, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
71, Jalan Dato Haji Harun, Taman Taynton View, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Opening Hours:
From the old board displayed, it says 5am - 4pm, Monday closed.

Time Visited:
Sunday morning but no rain is falling, 10:45am-ish.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Fishball Noodles and Iced Coffee
I've heard that this place serve really good fishball noodles and so I purposely made a trip to Cheras and search out this place to try. It wasn't difficult locating this place since it's already been 25 years that they had been operating (or so I'm told) so they're bound to be on the map. In addition to that, they keep up with the times as well and integrate technologies to their advantage. For example, the picture above depicting not to vape in the shop. LOL. Remarkable. Truly kept up with the times. Their ordering system are like those Franchise places like Papparich and Old Town Kopitiam where the guy takes your order, keys it into the system and the rest will get notified on what's being ordered so they can prepare. When you're ready to pay, just go to the counter and tell them your table number. Sheer brilliance. Even though they're something like a kopitiam, yet they upgrade themselves to that level to keep themselves organized.

Okay, I'm truly impressed. Despite wanting to come here earlier, I had woke up late and hence only reached here when it's already past 10am. I was thinking of starting my part time job at 10am, but I have failed to do so due to laziness. LOL. So there I was, the 2 shoplot with a very long signboard hanging above. This place is quite congested with cars but mainly because people tend to park on both sides of the road in order to either visit the houses nearby or visit the shops at the shops around here. I was lucky enough to get a parking even though it's quite limited with many cars around. So far, from what I see, this is the only shop that's teeming with people. And even though it takes up 2 shoplots, they're still very much full of people. When I walked in, I thought that there weren't any place to sit at all but after walking in around the shop, I discovered that there's a few vacant table at the back. An old uncle came over and took my order and of course I ordered their Fishball Noodles (the soup version and not the dry one) and along with that, ordered an Iced Coffee to keep myself awake when I'm gonna do my part time job.

All that order is just keyed in to the system terminal nearby my table and pretty soon, the guys handling the drinks started to put the Iced Coffee on my table. Along with that, my food soon came thereafter. It was a moderate waiting time. I noticed that this place is really buzzing with a lot of people. I bet this is the same case even though I were to come earlier at 8am. Throngs and throngs of people just surge in.

And so it's time for the taste test on the food. I have to say the coffee isn't much. Just those standard kopitiam coffee. In fact, this one was quite yucky, not that good. It's like a spice drink that's very sugary. However, as for the Fishball Noodles, I have a much different vibe. Well, not the noodles per se but the Fish Balls and the Fish Maw that's in it. The Kuey Teow and Mee noodles were just ordinary. Plain and nothing special about it. But as for the Fish Balls and the Fish Maw, my god were those heavenly. The Fish Balls were springy, bouncy and chewy and the fish maw were soft and absorbs the soup beautifully to bring it to life. The texture of both ingredients were marvelous and a delight to chew on. The fish taste on both of those were apparent and nothing like I tasted before. It's been said that they use Ikan Parang (Herrings). It clearly is one of the best Fish Balls and Fish Maws I've tasted so far.

Once I was done with the food, I finished off by paying my meal at the cash register and off I go to start a new adventure.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM11.10. RM8.60 for the Fishball Noodles and RM2.50 for the Coffee. This is inclusive of 6% GST which amounted to 63 sen.

Final Verdict:
8/10. It is indeed one of the best Fishball Noodles in the Klang Valley. I shall return one day to savor their delicious Fish Balls even though it's in Cheras which is far away to me.