Hokkien Mee or Har Mee in D'sara Kim

I met up with my old classmate Lee Lian Hoe the other day after so many decades. It was nice meeting up with him as we go back a long way.  He recommended a place in Damansara Kim where we could sit and chat over brunch.
The place we went to was Restoran Golden Kim Wah. I could see there were lots of stalls and you could have a wide choice of hawker food. We decided to try the Hokkien Mee or Har Mee as is commonly called. The man who manages the stall has been at it for many years and I was told that he may retire soon. As the lunchtime crowd was not there yet, we managed to get our order quite fast. The broth used for the noodles was quite tasty and had lots of sliced pork, small prawns, half an egg, fish cake and kangkung.

The hokkien mee with additional chili paste

Before adding the chili paste

The workplace of the stall

Front view of the stall

Front view of the restaurant

The next time I come here, I think I will try out some of the other stalls. The famous Robert CKT is also here and it sure looks good. The best time to come will be for brunch as there is ample parking except during lunchtime.

Claypot Chicken Rice in Pudu

It was a Sunday and my nephew took us for a drive to Pudu to have a look at the market area. As it was slightly past lunchtime, the area was not so jammed with traffic and quite easy to drive around since people had finished with their marketing.
We decided to have lunch and my nephew recommended claypot chicken rice at restaurant along Jalan Yew which was very popular. We managed to get a parking space very near to the restaurant and made our way there. The restaurant was very packed with diners but we were lucky to find an empty table. Service was very prompt as the waiter cleared the table for us and also took our order. The cooking area for the claypot rice was just outside the restaurant and I could see them preparing the claypot rice on charcoal flame which was interesting. When the rice was almost ready, I noticed the cook placed some burning charcoal on top of the cover to give it extra heat and o make sure it was well cooked.
Soon, our lunch was served to us. The aroma of the claypot chicken rice was awesome especially when topped with salted fish with oil. We stirred the rice to mix it well and my first mouthful of the rice was simply delicious. There was a generous serving of chicken in the pot as well as Chinese sausages (lap cheong). I also dug deep into the pot to reach the rice at the base which had a nice crunch. Thats the best part of the rice. Here are some photos I took of our lunch.

The claypot chicken rice with the salt fish

Steamed chicken soup with lotus root and kacang with chicken feet

Soup served in individual bowls

Stir fried glass lettuce with garlic

Food preparation counter outside the restaurant

Preparation of the claypot rice on charcoal flames

Hot charcoal placed on top of the pot for even cooking

This restaurant is situated at the junction of Jalan Yew where the flyover meets Jalan Sg. Besi and is easy to locate. They even have a Facebook page and featured in a Food Channel featuring Ah Xian.

Their Facebook page and Instagram.

Front view of the restaurant

The restaurant featured by Ah Xian

Some other dishes available

I love the food here as they have that old style cooking and taste that is lacking in most restaurants. I will definitely pay another visit here.

Lunch at Canai, Subang Jaya

I had a lunch date yesterday with my old friend and his wife who were back from the US. He had requested for good Indian food and as they were staying in SS 18, I decided to take them to Canai, an Indian restaurant recommended to me by my friend Nov Velan. This restaurant is in SS 14 which is directly opposite SS 18 where my friend is staying.
We met up at his place and later headed over to Canai for lunch. We arrived there around noon which was perfect as the lunchtime crowd had not come in yet and easily got ourselves a nice spot inside. Everything on display looked so good and my friends couldn't resist trying out the food especially their nasi biryani.  Display was very neat and the curries were in claypots while the vegetarian dishes were in trays and easily visible. Here are some photos of the food we ordered.

Front view of the restaurant

Plain biryani

My biryani with some vege and sambar

Mutton Peratal

Chicken Varuval

Chicken curry

Complimentary Payasam

Chicken varuval in claypot

Assorted curries in claypots

Vegetarian section

I did not take photos of a couple more things we had. We all enjoyed our lunch very much and also the service was good. The waiter was very attentive and served us well. I think I will definitely make a second visit to this place.

Breakfast again at SS2 Chow Yang Kopitiam

This kopitiam has become one of my favourite places to have breakfast. I came here the other day and found that they had many stalls inside the kopitiam. This time round, I decided to try out the Penang Hokkien Mee or Har Mee.
This stall is called #JJ Penang Prawn Mee. I ordered a bowl to try out and found that it was very authentic. I always try out the gravy first to ascertain if its good. The folks manning the stall were very friendly and that makes a 'plus' point for me. They were very generous as they even gave me a bowl of extra kangkung to go with my noodles. Judging from the taste, I would definitely recommend this stall to my friends who want to have really good Har Mee.
Besides this stall, there are many other stalls in this kopitiam so we ordered a bit of this and that to add to our breakfast. I noticed that the folks manning their stalls all spoke Hokkien. I believe most of these folks were originally from Penang as the food here is quite Penang style.
We ordered a plate of Lor Bak (a must have if in Penang) and it was very good. Another stall selling popiah caught my eye and couldn't resist ordering two rolls.
There was a stall selling nyonya kueh (Uncle Lim Nyonya Kueh). After breakfast, we ordered some for dessert. I am quite fussy where nyonya kueh is concerned and I found the kueh not very much to my liking. It didn't have the smooth texture like we used to have those days.
Anyway, here are some photos of the things we ordered. There are many more stalls we haven't tried out so perhaps we will the next time round.

Very good Penang Prawn Mee

Front view of the stall

The folks manning the stall

Another view of the stall

A plate of Penang Lor Bak

A closer view of the Lor Bak

I had to have this Popiah

Not to be missed Lum Mee

I love the Penang kind of hawker food and this place fits the bill. I will definitely be coming here again to try some of the other stalls. Parking around this area is easier during the weekends.

Nyonya Lam Meen

I have always loved Lam Meen. Some folks refer to it as 'birthday noodles'. We sometimes cook it at home for certain occasions and it is a bit time consuming as you have to boil the soup to the right consistency and taste.
I have always eaten Lam Meen with the clear soup normally found in Penang and also Ipoh. Over here in the Klang Valley, I found that the Lam Meen sold here is of a dark and thick gravy and this is not to my liking. I prefer the one with clear soup. Anyway, I was in PJ one day around the Chow Yang area in SS.2. and I came across a coffeeshop called SS2 Chow Yang Restaurant. This is quite a big coffeeshop occupying three shoplots. Upon entering, I found that there were many stalls selling all kinds of food but one that caught my eye was the Lam Meen stall. I checked and found that they served the clear soup version. I ordered it and soon it was served to me at RM6 only. The first thing I did was to taste the soup and found it to be quite tasty. Below are some photos of the Lam Meen which I ordered.

My plate of Lam Meen. 

Another view of the Lam Meen with sambal on the side plate

A look at the stall

Another view of the stall

Front view of the coffeeshop

I had the small plate of Lam Meen and the bits of pork crackling (Chee Yau Char) was good. To enhance the taste, there was a plate of sambal given. I was quite happy with it but it would have been better if there were chives (Kow Choy), then it would be perfect. Anyway, this is a good place to go for breakfast if you are in the vicinity.

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.