Lunch at Raj Banana Leaf

It was a Sunday and we decided to meet up with my Bro-in-law for lunch. We were feeling hungry and felt the need for some heavy food but not over indulging. We met up in Bangsar and being a Sunday, parking was relatively easy as compared to other days. Raj Banana Leaf was on our mind and we headed over there. When we arrived, it was already packed with diners but were lucky to find an empty table. Service was quite prompt and polite as the waiter immediately came to take our order and served us within a few minutes. As I mentioned, we didn't want to over indulge so we opted for vegetarian banana leaf rice. I could see many interesting and tempting dishes on display at the food counter but we decided to stick to our order. Below are some photos of the vegetarian banana leaf meal that we had.

The vegetarian meal with four vege, acar, papaddam and rasam

A closer look at the food

Pic was taken before adding acar and papaddam

My favourite iced syrup

We ordered capati too

A view of the restaurant

Some curries at the food counter

Another view of the restaurant

I was told that they had very good meat dishes such as chicken and mutton varuval, fresh fried meat or fish, fish curry and many others. All sounds very tempting for me but I'm on a diet at the moment so probably will try those lovely dishes when I'm off my diet. I would say that for meat eaters, this place serves some good stuff. The curries served here are slightly mild as compared with other places probably because it also caters to tourists who might find curries too spicy for them. Overall, I must say it is quite a good place to go for lunch.

Teochew Duck Rice

We were invited the other day to try Teochew Duck Rice. At the mention of duck rice, one would always think of roasted duck as found in most places. However, this place serves a different kind of duck rice which most Teochew folks love and as we had not tried it, we went along.
This restaurant is situated in PJ New town facing the MBPJ tower and quite easy to locate and it starts business early evening till night. When we arrived, the place was packed with diners but were lucky to find an empty table. We placed our order at the stall where the lady boss was dishing out the orders for their customers and soon, the food was served to us.
The food was something different from what I anticipated but being the first time, we gave it a try. The oily rice was quite good and aromatic. Here are some photos of what we ordered.

A serving of stewed duck

A plate of stewed inards

Teochew Hum Choy more like Kai Choy

Oily and aromatic rice

Front view of the stall

Some stewed stuff

Side view of the stall

More stewed stuff

When we were almost finishing our meal, I saw more customers coming in. Judging from what I saw, I think there are quite a lot of Teochew folks in KL/PJ or maybe they just love Teochew food.

Have some fresh coconut water

I was in the vicinity of Section 17 in Petaling Jaya after having lunch and as I was driving by, I saw this stall by the roadside. I drive by this road often and today, being a hot day, I decided to stop and get myself a coconut drink.
There were a lot of customers waiting in line to order and I was lucky I didn't have to wait long. This guy was super efficient and worked fast to serve his customers even though he was the only one manning the stall. First, he takes the order, then he chooses the coconuts by hitting each one lightly. This ay, he will know if the coconut has enough or lots of water. He chops off the top, takes a couple of swings sideways at the coconut, and exposes the open top and pours the water on to a container. He then splits the coconut with a couple of swings and scoops out the tender flesh into the container and packs it for the customer. It just took a minute to do all that and I'm impressed at his efficiency.  Here are some photos of him at his stall.

The coconut stall

Scooping out the coconut flesh

Pouring out the coconut water

Another look at scooping the flesh

He has a special scoop to do it

If you happen to be in the vicinity of Section 17, do drop by at his stall for some really good coconut water. It is located on Jalan 17/22 facing the Happy Mansion apartments and should be very easy to locate.

Hameediyah Restaurant

I have always been a fan of this restaurant since the days when I used to visit Penang often and when I heard that they were opening a branch in the Klang Valley, I was elated. They are famous for their old school kind of Nasi Kandar and their murtabak, things which I love.
They took up a place in Nexis, Sunway Damansara and I watched it from the time they were setting up the place. You can clearly see the restaurant from the main road as they have a wall painted with murals of their main restaurant in Penang. Now, with the opening of the new MRT station just in front of their restaurant, business has grown even more.
I first went to this outlet in Sunway Damansara on a Sunday as its is easier to find parking. The staff were very friendly and efficient and they came to take our order. If you want to have rice, then you have to go to their food counter where you can select what you want. People were already waiting in line to order their rice dishes. After selecting, the man will add the gravy/curry of your choice or you can have 'kuah campur' which allows him to mix the curries on your rice, which he does very well. A little of this and that and you will have a awesome plate of rice. I have some pics of their food choices below and I must say they all tasted good.

Nasi Beriani set

Sides c/w the beriani

The nasi beriani

Roti Telur Bawang looks exactly like murtabak

Mee Goreng Mamak

Rice with Ayam Goreng Bawang

Rice with Ayam Rose

The awesome Murtabak

Part of their food counter

Price list of their food

There are even more dishes available and I have yet to try them. Maybe I will order something different each time I go there so that I can taste them all. I was told that every Friday, they have offers for selected food at only RM 6.90 for a set which includes a drink.
So if you happen to be in the vicinity or if you crave for some old style Mamak food, just head over to Sunway Damansara. You will love the food here.

Cendol from a mobile van

I am always on the lookout for cendol and wherever I go, I will try to remember their location so that I can locate them when I need to quench my thirst for cendol.
I was driving around Aman Suria and I noticed a mobile van parked along a row of shops under some trees. Hasan Cendol was the name on the van and I decided to give it a try. The guy operating the cendol stall is a nice young man named Khadir and he took over his father's cendol business and speaks good English. He was very friendly and polite and we chatted as he prepared my cendol. Besides cendol, he also sells pasembor (rojak) and mee rojak. I enquired why he did not sell mee rebus and he told me that it was the 'IN' thing now where customers prefered mee rojak to the old mee rebus. Anyway, when my cendol was ready, I took a sip and found that it tasted good. It was the right amount of sweetness and not too 'lemak'. I sat myself down on a stool under the trees and began to enjoy my cendol.

The mobile van in front of the shops

He still uses the old ice vending machine

Some goodies for the pasembor

This is Khadir who operates this stall

My bowl of cendol

Looking at the prices displayed, it looks like its not cheap anymore to have cendol and pasembor. You can easily get a plate of chap fun (mixed rice) or even a bowl of your favourite noodles anywhere. However, for those who still want to have cendol, this stall is easily located in front of a row of shops in Aman Suria facing the NKVE. I have had my fill already.

Restoran Ho Chaz

Sunway Damansara in Kota Damansara is one very busy place as it is a huge commercial area. On a normal working day, traffic is horrendous and getting a parking space is simply crazy. Even if you are lucky enough to get a parking spot, chances are you will find someone double parked behind your car so you will have the inconvenience of trying to find the inconsiderate person to move his/her car. You might however be able to find parking in the shopping complex.
I always try going there on a weekend or public holiday as it is easier to find a parking space. It was on a Sunday that I decided to have brunch there at a restaurant called Ho Chaz. It probably meant Ho Chiak in Hokkien.  This place has quite a number of stalls serving some nice food.
When we arrived, we decided to sit at one of the empty tables laid outside the shop where it is much cooler in the mornings. My friend wanted to have his favourite dry curry noodles with roast pork so he ordered it while I ordered the char koay teow with duck egg. Our drinks arrived quite fast and soon after, the food was served.

Side view of the restaurant

Dry curry noodles with roast pork

The curry version of the noodles

Char Koay Teow with duck egg

The food especially the curry noodles were quite nice and priced at RM7 per serving. The wet version of the curry noodles normally come with taufu pok. I would prefer the Ipoh version of curry noodles as they taste much better.
As for the char koay teow, I would say it tasted reasonably good but I have tasted better ones in and around the Klang Valley. This is also priced at RM7. Not sure if it is the standard pricing of food now.
Anyway, this is one of the reasonably good places to eat if you are in the area.

Senya Japanese Restaurant revisited

Senya is a Japanese restaurant located in Publika and is always crowded with diners. When we went there the other day, we were lucky that there was an empty table available. When we were seated, the waitress gave us a couple of Ipad tablets to choose our food from their menu and place our order. Service is very fast here because the moment we placed our order, the food started arriving.
We ordered quite a number of things from their menu as you can see from the photos. The food here is delicious and fresh especially if you are into seafood.

Front view of Senya

Some Gyoza on hot plate

Prawn tempura

Garlic fried rice

A tofu dish

Fresh salmon sashimi

California rolls

Fresh tuna sashimi

We ordered some of the dishes different from the ones we previously had as posted in my earlier blog post. One of my favourites is the Hokkaido pork but I did not order it this time. For those who enjoy Japanese dining, this is a good place to go to.