WIP - KL

Located in a corner of the Bangsar Shopping Centre is the lounge-restaurant WIP:

The service was really slow at lunch. It took a while before the waitresses realized that we didn't have menus and couldn't order. 

Fish & Chips 

Deep fried battered fish fillet with waffle fries, coleslaw and tartar sauce

The fish was okay, but the batter wasn't as crispy as I would have liked. The weirdest part was that the tartar sauce was sweet. 

Chicken Tikka

The spiced chicken breast was rather dried out from being baked in the oven and while the dryness could have been covered with the mint sauce, I found that the mint sauce was a little to spicy for me to enjoy. 

Garlic Naan with Spinach Dip

I really enjoy naan and I thought it would be nice to try the garlic naan. While it was really good, the accompanying spinach dip was really awful - it was just pureed spinach with spicy stuff. We overpaid 2 ringgits for the stuff (we could have just got normal naan). 

Chicken Makanwala 

 Boneless chicken breast cooked in butter gravy accompanied with chana masala, aloo methi, salad, papadum and naan. 

The butter chicken was really delicious! The sauce was rich, creamy and so amazing with naan. Yum!

The chana masala (chickpeas) was spicy, but the aloo methi (potatoes with Fenugreek leaves) was nice and the papadum was softer and not as crispy. 

Overall: The ambiance was nice, but the service left a lot to be desired in the dining room. The food was okay for the most part. 

Website: http://www.soulsociety.com.my/wip/

Snacks in Kuala Lumpur

Wild Monkey near the Batu Caves

This Chicken Rice was actually the first thing I ate after I arrived in Malaysia. I considered it a snack before going out to eat a late lunch after we arrived in Kuala Lumpur.
OMG It was SO GOOD! The steamed rice was nice and fluffy, the cucumber was crisp and the chicken was meaty, tender and just heavenly...I still drool thinking about this chicken rice.

We went to the market somewhere in Kuala Lumpur and picked up some interesting stuff:

First Laid Chicken Eggs
A chicken's first laid egg is considered a delicacy in Asian countries. It's considered to be full of nutrients and  tastier. The size is generally smaller, but it doesn't have the "egg-y" taste or smell and the yolk is darker.

Rambutans and Jackfruit
Rambutans look like red and hairy lychees on the outside and have the same white flesh around the seed inside, but the taste is totally different. Rambutans are mildy sweet and sour.
Jackfruits usually come in pre-packaged containters since the fruit is actually quite big (see video for how to butcher a jackfruit). The actual flesh is soft and a little fibrous. It tastes like a combination of pineapple and mango and it's very sweet. It does have a pretty long lasting smell although it's not as bad as durian's pungent aroma.
Durian...that's another experience I had. The fruit has a very distinctive odor (you can smell it a mile away) and it's so stinky and awful. If you can get past the smell, the flesh is buttery smooth and really quite tasty. However, the main hurdle to eating it is definitely the smell.

Custard Apple (or Sugar Apple)

The flesh is gummy and soft with a sweet taste like banana and pineapple. Quite yummy and it wasn't hard to get to the fruit inside since the shell was pretty soft (huge contrast compared to the thorny durian or huge jackfruit).

Another popular snack item:

Curry Puffs!

These curry puffs pack a ton of flavour with curried chopped vegetables and potato chunks in a deep fried pastry shell. The non-vegetarian one had a boiled egg inside - Yummy! The egg also absorbed the curry flavour. Delicious! Once you start, it's hard to stop eating them cause they were so good!

In Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown, we saw a stall selling 砂糖夾餅

It's a Chinese snack that originated in Hong Kong made with a waffle base that's folded over to sandwich a combination of sugar, peanuts, sesame and shredded coconut inside. Meanwhile, the outside is like a crispy biscuit. We were surprised to find it in Malaysia, since it's very almost impossible to find it in Hong Kong now. Not a lot of people are continuing the old tradition of making and selling them. (It's also pretty difficult to find eggette or egg waffles in Hong Kong - another dying art).
Website on 砂糖夾餅: http://www.baike.com/wiki/砂糖夹饼

Rotiboy @ 1 Utama

 

The signature Roti Bun was this delectable bun on the right.
It was made fresh from the oven and was warm, fluffy and had a melty light butter inside. The best part was the contrast with the crispy exterior and coffee topping. So delicious!
Website: http://www.rotiboy.com

OldTown White Coffee @ 1 Utama

OldTown White Coffee
The white coffee is a popular drink that originated in the city of Ipoh, Malaysia. According to Wikipedia, the coffee beans are roasted using palm-oil margarine and it's served with condensed milk. Either way, it's delicious! It's not as bitter as North American coffee and it has a great rich taste.


Kaya Toast
I like that they cut off the bread crusts on my toast and they spread a lot of kaya in between. Kaya is a sweet tasty spread made with eggs, sugar, coconut milk and flavoured with pandan leaf.
Website: http://www.oldtown.com.my

Restoran Devi's Corner - KL

August 16, 2013

At night, a hamburger stall sets up for business right next to Devi's Corner.

Aloha Burger

Grilled Chicken breast with cheese, lettuce, tomato, ham, grilled pineapple and bacon
Mmm grilled pineapple...
It was okay, I've probably had better burgers in Toronto - but it was a nice change from all the Chinese food I've been eating lately.

August 9, 2013

Roti Canai with dal and fish curry sauce
Thin roti with a crispy outside and doughy inside.
 The dal with millet beans and fish curry sauce were rather watery but they were nice.

Roti bomb with dal and fish curry sauce
The roti bomb had lots of butter and sugar melted inside the roti which made it sweet and rather filling. I thought it added a nice richness to the roti.


Iced Milo Drink
Super popular chocolate powdered drink in Malaysia...I wasn't really a fan though.

Teh tarik: We ordered a teh tarik at Devi's Corner and it was so delicious! It was so creamy, sweet and smooth tasting.

Overall: Great fast, cheap and filling breakfast! Devi's Corner had the best teh tarik I've tried so far in Malaysia. (I wish I took a picture)

Restoran Wan Shoon - KL

Another hawker stall (actually a kopitiam since it's mostly Malaysian Chinese food) by day and restaurant by night place:

Except this time, I came for lunch 

Chinese tea and Chicken Soup...with chicken feet.

The broth was good even if the chicken foot was really eerie. 

Roast pork and Soy Sauce Chicken 

OMG the Chicken here is AMAZING - so delicious. If I could import the chicken in Malaysia to Canada, I totally would. What a difference free-range chicken makes in a dish! 

I've had better tasting soy sauce chicken in Toronto, but it's like the basic ingredients are just so much fresher and better that it makes a huge difference in the quality of the dish. 

Banmian

A specialty of Malaysia, banmian is found in a lot of hawker stall areas because it's so simple to make. 

Every stall has their own soup base, but the egg noodles are a staple in all banmian. There were a few places were we saw them making fresh noodles with a pasta maker. 

The soup base was slightly salty from the anchovies and there was tofu, fish and fish balls, green onions and crispy anchovies on top. 

Diced meat and mushroom kway teow 

The broth didn't have the same heavy and salty anchovy taste as the banmian soup (although there were fried anchovies on top). It had a clear broth and most of the flavour came from the toppings rather than the base soup like the banmian. 

Overall: Hawker stalls are awesome! They're cheap, fast and there's so much variety. Where else could you get good chicken rice and banmian cheap and fast?

Restoran Extra Super Tanker - KL

The Petrona Towers at night 

Iberico spare ribs
The Iberico ribs were made with a dry rub of spices and sadly, there wasn't a lot of meat on the ribs, but it was nice.

Pickled mango and papaya to go with the ribs

Salty and tangy flavoured

Left: Stir-fried Spring Onions and Venison
Right: Tofu with Chinese squash
The venison had a nice gamy taste to it and the spring onions maintained a bit of their crispness.
The tofu was yummy.


Super Tanker Prawns in Black soy sauce
The sauce was salty and a little sweet and the prawns were massive:

so much meat!


Chinese spinach
Watery, but tasty.


Roasted Chicken Drumstick
The chicken skin was crispy and the meat was tender, juicy and had good flavour.


Crispy Suckling Pig with Mantou and sauce
Yum! The crispy skin had some meat underneath it and it went well with the mantou. The sauce wasn't the usual sweet hoisin sauce.

Overall: Nice meat-heavy meal and decent service. 

Nyonya Colors @ 1 Utama - KL

Super popular dessert place at 1 Utama...there's always a line up

Malaysian Desserts (Kueh)

Teh Tarik
This drink is a hot Indian milk tea made by "pulling" the tea (it's a method of pouring the tea multiple times to aerate the tea and add froth on top). It's so delicious! But not as good as the one at Devi's Corner

Top: Ondeh Ondeh
Left to Right on the Plate: Kaya, Pulut Tai Tai, Talam, Lapis Pandan (Pandan cake), Talam Keladi (Yam). The two wrapped balls are pictured below.
Ondeh ondeh are pandan coconut balls with a jelly-like texture.
The pulut tai tai has to be eaten with the sweet kaya (jam made with pandan leaves, coconut, egg and sugar) to add flavour. The pulut tai tai is made from the blue pea flower + glutinous rice.
Talam is a coconut tray dessert but it tasted and smelled like boiled egg.
Lapis Pandan is steamed pandan cake with layers of pandan paste.
Talam Keladi was really pretty with a purple layer and a white layer and it was a yam cake. 

Pulut Hitam Kochi and Kochi Nyonya
Pulut hitam kochi is a black glutinous rice ball with shredded and dried coconut wrapped in a leaf and the kochi nyona is made with the blue pea flower and glutinous rice.
The texture of the glutinous rice desserts was more jelly than rice-like. Very interesting..but after being used to Western desserts, I found that these Malaysian desserts were mildly flavoured. 

Sago Ubi and Noodles wrapped in Banana leaf:

Spicy Noodles!

Overall: A very popular dessert place with a lot of really interesting Malaysian desserts.

Website: http://www.nyonyacolors.com