Fried Carrot Cake @ Imbi Market

I almost didn't order this because one of the customers told me that the curry wantan mee is 5 Star whereas the Fried Carrot Cake (commonly known as Char Koay Kak in Hokkien in Penang) is only 4 Star. But I guess deep inside I had a craving for Koay Kak. The koay kak is fried to be slightly black or burnt. There was a lot of chair poh fried together adding to the fragrance and flavours. I think I have finally found a spot for my favourite koay kak without going back to Penang.

An Viet

We were here at Gardens Mall to visit the Mid Valley International Food exhibition and as usual, I felt the urge to find somewhere special for brunch. I did not want to eat such a heavy meal as I predicted we were going to eat snacks all the way later. I settled on An Viet, which looks like a new restaurant that substitutes MBC at Gardens Mall LG floor.

There is a BIG PHILOSOPHY here : Food too good to waste just eat it! The objective of An Viet is to educate people to eat their food and reduce food wastage globally. We rarely see such a noble cause pursued by a restaurant. In line with this philosophy, customers can customize the carbohydrate portions.

For rice vermicelli or noodles, there are choices of 80g, 100g, 120g, 140g, 160 g.

As for rice, the portion choices are 120g, 160g or 200g.

There are also no extra charges for choosing more but there are for wasting food. So we can actually take the chance to save money if we are light eaters which we happened to be that day.

The place is quite hot and stuffy. I wonder why the a/c does not seem to reach this area. There are many mini small wooden tables around. The side wall is decorated with Vietnamese paintings etc. Sorry I did not snap a photo as we were too hungry to dig in. I also lost the receipt so I cannot update the price. All I can say is that you can get very reasonably priced food with great taste together.

I have always had a knack for Vietnamese or Japanese food which are healthy and not oily.

I ordered the Spring Roll I seem to have a craving for since the previous times I wanted to order it at the Vietnamese Hawker stall in Kuchai Lama, they ran out of it.

Vietnamese Rice Roll (RM 8.90) 

The key for good quality rice rolls are soft rice roll paper texture and secondly, the fresh and raw vegetables used as ingredients such as shredded carrots, cucumber, prawns, vermicelli, mint leaves and salad vegetables. When dipped into the small saucer of sweet sauce, it brings one of memory of Vietnam.

Beef Pho (Spicy) 

The clear soup with some chilli oil on top was a delight. The thin beef slices does wonders to the soul, and a warm welcome for the morning, if your tummy feel like being Asian for the moment. We chose the 140g noodles which turned out to be too little for the two of us as the noodle portion are so little even for that amount so I highly recommend to order 160g for two light eaters. After all, pho does not fill the stomach easily.

Special Vietnamese Coffee (RM 8.90) 

The weird thing about this is that there was a raw egg added. This mere description makes me cringe and almost not order if not for the convincing from the waitress who told me this is quite tasty. I was like, ok for the sake of my non-paid review and also an experience, let's give this a try. It turned out to be the best Vietnamese coffee and black coffee I have ever tried. It seems that the egg has done the job of enhancing the coffee taste, it's like bringing out the best out of the coffee. From then on, I would like to opine that perhaps it would have been better if they did not reveal the secret ingredient of the egg for fear of scaring away customers and that would give an opportunity for more people to try it and then reveal the egg ingredient after that. Sounds cruel? Yah, but that's life! Life is an adventure! There is not a hint of bitterness inside too. It was the most perfect coffee and all the other coffee I had at the food fair later was pure nonsense or simply incomparable!

Details: Address: Lot LG 203B, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra

Fatty Chong : Fried Yee Mee and Sizzling Tofu

As per mentioned earlier, whenever I am in a rush, this is THE PLACE due to the reasonable price, tasty food and near distance.

Today is the first in a long time that I left office at 6.30 pm and reached home at 7.40 pm after a very terrible traffic jam near assunta roundabout and the mosque nearby. It was because I was feeling that I was on the way to getting sick due to overload of blogging marathon last night till about 1.30 am! Can you believe it that I wrote 17 food reviews in a span of 3 days (not the whole days, duh!) and then got sick? Crazy? Haha for sure!

Anyway, today I ordered the dish that I saw some customer ordering, that was the stir fried yee mee (RM 11) with a lot of black soy sauce and some lettuce and slices of pork. I removed all the pork out as well as the minced pork on top of my Sizzling Tofu.




Do you know two big dishes here cost merely RM 23? Believe it or not is up to you. And the dishes are served in 5 minutes!

Sizzling Tofu (RM 12) 

The Japanese tofu is so soft and when eaten with the sizzling egg was amazing. If you like sizzling food, you should give this a try. The result is ultimate smoothness of tofu blended very well with non salty sauce and egg. Usually people like to add in too much dark soy sauce for the sizzling plate but thank god they do not do it here.

Details:
Address: Fatty Chong Restaurant, 39-41, Jalan Sri Sentosa, Taman Sri Sentosa Jalan Klang Lama, KL 

Fatty Chong Restaurant

Nowadays, ever since we discovered this incredible place, we always come here whenever I have a lot of work to rush at home. The speed of cooking, the reasonable price and the amazing taste are the combination of reasons. Can you believe it that I had the below curry and 2 vegetables for merely RM 40 and RM 3 for 2 rice and RM 5 for 3 herbal drinks? It is even cheaper than the nearby kopitiam that is stuffy with very long duration of cooking taken.

Fish Head Curry (RM 25)

The portion was so big with so many ingredients such as ladies fingers, tofu pok, fish head etc. The curry is also thick enough to satisfy my fussy palate and managed to score very high in me. The best part is that all this great taste is attainable at less than RM 30, much cheaper compared to a diluted version in a supposedly famous Fish Head place in Puchong.

Paku-Pakis

My top favourite vegetables are definitely Paku-Pakis / Midin except that they always put in too much salt.

Tofu with Pumpkin Sauce

Though the portions are smaller, the tofu are super soft and delicious. It is swimming in pumpkin sauce, a delight to even pumpkin-haters like me! I dislike eating steamed pumpkin or pumpkin in its original form but discovered I am ok with it in soup or sauce or deep-fried tempura-style.

Details:
Address: Fatty Chong Restaurant, 39-41, Jalan Sri Sentosa, Taman Sri Sentosa Jalan Klang Lama, KL 

Farmer's Street

I passed by this cafe so many times every time I come to Tropicana City Mall. This time round, there was a weekday lunch promotion which came with orange juice and a plate of fresh fruits of 2 slices of orange, 3 slices of green apples and 3 balls of watermelon.

From the name, my mum initially thought that this is like MBC selling fruits and vegetables but soon learnt that that was just a name and nothing to do with what they sell.

I ordered the Lam Mee Noodles Lunch Set which is so delicious. It consists of shredded chicken meat, big prawns, fishcake and half a hard-boiled egg. The Lam Mee was quite tasty using fat noodles ala hokkien mee and reminds me of Lameeya Lam Mee. The noodles tasted so good with the best original Malaccan or Nyonya style sambal belacan. 

The other item we ordered was the Nyonya Plate which does not come in a set. It is well worth the RM 20 price tag of deep fried chicken drumstick. The ikan bilis with sambal and onions were amazing and not too salty. The long beans and carrot and cucumber acar reminds me of the one I have in Penang. There are also a few pieces of keropok served together. This is the star dish. 

Details: 

Address: L1-57, 1st Floor, Tropicana City Mall, No. 3, Jalan SS20/27, Petaling Jaya 47400 PJ Selangor, 

Tel ;03-7733 2822

Tokyo Kitchen at One City USJ

I thought I did not want to eat at Tokyo Kitchen because I have a habit that once i have dined at a particular restaurant even the branch, I would not pay a second visit unless you have a lot of varieties. This time round, we just finished watching Star Wars : The Force Awakens at One City on 28 Dec 2015, as the other mainstream mall cinemas may not have a good seat for this blockbuster. Since we were still full from our late lunch of duck rice, but I have still a little hunger pang, we opted for a small set.

We ordered the Salmon Burger with Curry Udon (RM 29.80)

It was the first time for me to eat Salmon Burger which was not bad. The salmon meat is fresh and tender yet not too oily like the one at Fat Boys or Fat Man or even Tony Romas. There are shredded purple cabbage and cucumber too.

The mini udon with curry  is very clear with beancurd and some seaweed and Japanese fishcake. The curry is just nice, not too thick, a little diluted but most importantly, minus the powdery taste of curry powder.

The soft tofu-like deep fried tofu whereby the deep frying still retained the softness of the tofu, was simply amazing.

I love the salad with non-creamy sauce. I always like Japanese salads because there is no thousand island or mayonaise but sesame sauce or non-fattening Japanese salad dressing.

The Chawanmushi and miso soup are also delicious.

Details:

Address: One City (Lot D-GF-06), Jalan USJ 25/1, 47100 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Tel: +603-5115 0056

TORIDOKI AT SRI HARTAMAS

I for one, have been scouring Sri Hartamas for food and have tried some of the eateries here like Dirty Duck Naughty Babe, the Italian pizza place and another tasty Japanese place. Today, I find myself here in Toridoki, a Japanese franchise from Tokyo, that is a 4-months’ old baby. In Tokyo, there are already 3 branches. I was curious why Malaysia became the first Southeast Asia branch and Kuta Fusuya, the Manager in Toridoki, said that, perhaps there are many races in Malaysia. Kuta has been living in Malaysia for 4 years before becoming the manager here. They have hired a popular local chef, Joe who has made a name for himself in local Japanese restaurants since 1981, that would mean, many years before I was born! I felt compelled to  praise the manager who is so systematic to have given us a printed menu for the first time, something rarely done by most restaurants. The food also came out one by one according to the recommended menu. The menu is changed every few months.

We can choose to sit on normal dining table, counter table or tatami mats right at the back without folding the legs (good news for people who cramp easily like me).

The Chinese name of Toridoki contains the word “chi” (chicken) because this restaurant’s USP lies in chicken. The signature dishes are Yakitori (Japanese grilled chicken satay) and also roasted whole chicken. The official logo is a chicken too.

The Yakitori is done using different parts of the chicken such as chicken breast, gizzard, thigh, wings, liver and every edible part of chicken.

Any order would come with a complimentary appetizer of the day which is subject to change from salads to today’s Potato Salad. The potato salad is quite tasty as it is made from mashed potatoes in a scoop mixed with carrots, onions, and also purple cabbage. The best part is that there was no overload of mayonnaise, the spoiler of any Japanese meal.

Konsai Salad (RM 18)

Next was the Konsai Salad (RM 18) which is root vegetable salad. To me, it is less vegetable except for the cabbage but more on potatoes. Calling all potato lovers out there, this is so for you! It contains orange potato/sweet potato, purple potato, lotus root, pumpkin, broccolis and carrots. On top, is a generous squeeze of mayonnaise on a bowl of carbs. Kota actually helped to grate fresh cheese on the top so you can feel the freshness of everything made here. This dish is unique and please do not order rice due to the heaviness of potatoes.

Nagaimo Garlic Butter (Japanese yam with garlic and butter) (RM 12)

After this heavy meal, we moved to Nagaimo Garlic Butter (Japanese yam with garlic and butter) (RM 12). When I first saw the name, I was wondering whether I would be served just plain butter blended with garlic which was a little silly of me! It turned out to be crispy yam made with Nagaimo Garlic Butter that is pan-fried mountain yam mixed with garlic powder, soya sauce and black pepper. The garlic makes it fragrant. Since I am on a diet and too health conscious, I refrained from eating too much of this. To me, it was nice to dip this in the sweet Toridoki sauce. Later, I had a second bite and felt it tasted a little like radish.

Teba Age (RM 10) Deep Fried Chicken Wing

No one dine in a chicken-based restaurant without trying the fried chicken which to me, is better than KFC. Kota told me this is KFC. So here comes the Teba Age (RM 10) Deep Fried Chicken Wing which is very crispy and fragrant. In fact, it was so crispy that one can easily break off the chicken wing. It was marinated with Japanese soy-based sauce and also Japanese pepper. Like most Japanese style, there is not much sauce. In fact, the Japanese prefers to have yakitori marinated with sea salt and do not like much sauce. I guess I am the only one who likes my food laden with a lot of sauce.

Sunagimo Ahijyo (RM 18)

Then, comes my favourite dish – Sunagimo Ahijyo (RM 18) which is special as it contains chicken gizzard with 8 kind of vegetables including garlic slices and black pepper. It is served in a hot plate with crispy thin French loaf at the side for dipping in the olive oil. It is meant to be oily to match with sake.

Maruyaki (RM 45)

After that, comes the famous dish of Maruyaki – grilled whole chicken (RM 45). It takes 1 full day of margination of  1 whole chicken with red wine and Bamboo salt because Bamboo Salt is less salty and healthy. We need to order in advance, minimum cooking time of 45 minutes. There is a special grilling machine with special glass to absorb the heat. It takes 1 hour of grilling with 6 burners on top and bottom of the place. The chicken is very fresh as it is ‘daily chicken’ (meaning it comes into the shop daily from the market) and is just below 1 kg, hence the small size. I almost got fooled as I mistaken it for a roasted bird! 3 types of sauces are served together that are Rock Salt, Gara Tare (Japanese spicy spice) and Ponzu (Japanese citron sauce with soya sauce and lemon).  The result? The chicken has crispy skin on the outside, akin to Peking Duck and juicy meat on the inside. I felt that it was a little dry for my liking and would have done better with more moisture inside.

Yakitori-Tsukune (RM 11)

Yakitori is marinated using rock salt and pepper. The different parts of the chicken is grilled using sweet sauce till medium cooked then sweet sauce is added again. I prefer the yakitori than the maruyaki which is drier and less succulent.

Tsukune is my favourite chicken dish here because of its unique combination of chicken thigh, soft bone, chicken breast meat, onion and Japanese perilly leaves (ohba).

Yakitori– Negima (RM 5)

“Negi” means “leek” so naturally this is chicken thigh with leeks grilled to perfection, resulting in tender loving cared chicken.

Yakitori – Toridoki (RM 8)

Toridoki contains chicken thigh wrapped in chicken skin, chicken breast wrapped in chicken skin and a repeat of these. To me, I will still go for Toridoki as I dislike chicken breast.

Tamago (RM 14)

My friend, Ru Xyn was so eager to eat Tamago so finally we ordered this. Compared to the tamago I am used to see in Korea. They are usually cold but to my pleasant surprise, this Tamago is served hot with smoke coming out. It is made fresh whenever customers order it.

Matsu Ni (RM 18)

This is chicken intestines with gizzards and also, ovary that look like chicken balls, were served in a mini pot. When my friend heard there are ovary inside, they dared not touch the meat parts anymore. There are also a few slices of tofu on top.

Cheese Yaki Onigiri (RM 12)

This is actually camembert cheese with grilled rice balls. Frankly, I am not a big fan of rice in big amount so onigiri is small enough with less than the normal amount of rice, of so I believe. There is camembert cheese with very fine chicken slices in the middle of the onigiri. The garnishing is very beautiful whereby the 2 onigiri is arranged like a leave.

I was so full after eating onigiri that I told Kuta not to bring anymore onigiri. He said next dish is dessert and there is “surely extra stomach for dessert.” I chuckled.

Houjicha Pudding (RM 10)

This pudding is made from Houjicha (a certain part of the green tea). The Houjicha green tea leaves are boiled and strained and the juice is used to make the pudding. Gelatine and fresh cream is then added. Finally, caramel is added on top and burnt slightly. According to Chef Joe, Houjicha is good for the stomach as it cleanses it the way green tea does.

This is the leaf that is used to make this pudding: