KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

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Despite reading/hearing good reviews about this “little thai shack from Ampang”, it was until now that we make it a point to drop by. Foodies are all about exploring new flavors and ended up with a protruding belly isn’t it?

From its humble beginnings as a little shack, it has expanded and the place this place is bursting at the seams. We were thinking that the food must be really good so when the food started to arrive rapidly and in a large glut all at once, we soon to realized that we might have a teensy bit too much.

Fiery Flame

Victims in Lines

To cure the hungry pangs, chakoi (deep fried crullers) with pandan kaya dippings were ordered. The chakois were fresh and crispy but the watery and overly sweet pandan kaya never live up to our expectations.

N & J Fried Rice (RM 12), being the best dish of the night is light and fluffy in texture with a vibrant yellow hue. Not to forget the general sprinkling of succulent shrimps too. We were served with some peanut chili dipping that goes really well with the seafood too. Some greens to make us feel better for taking so much of cholesterol laden food – kangkung (RM 9) sautéed with fragrant sweet shallots and piquant shrimp paste. It is that good that we licked the plate clean.

The lala cooked with basil and chili is one of the main favorites. The blatant use of fresh herbs brought out the sweetness of the fat juicy lalas. Some might frowned at the strong flavour of basil leaf though, KampungBoy was one of them. (RM 20 for 2)

Barbecued Squid was one of the most rubbery plates of squid that we have ever masticated through. Other than giving a good jaw exercise, it was bland and dry to the palate. (RM 28 for 2)

Grilled Stingray came wrapping under aluminum foil fared better compare to the other barbequed/grilled seafood. The thick chili paste has complemented the fish strips pretty well. (RM 24 for 2)

We exclaimed when the barbequed crabs (RM 92.40 for 4) comes, the huge fat mud crabs were so kissed by the fiery flame that they charred in a perfect dark brown hue. However, It is such a waste that we don’t get to taste the exquisitely delicate flavour and sweet moist meat of the mud crabs. I guess grilling the mud crabs under charcoal fire has reduced its juiciness, resulting in a rather dry meat.  

Having travel a great distance just to sample N & J’s barbequed seafood, we were fairly disappointed with substandard quality of the seafood. With only certain dishes that make extra miles worth while, there is still more misses than hits in the menu.

Address:
Lot 27363, Jalan Cahaya 1,
Taman Cahaya,
Ampang, Selangor
(From KL and along Jalan Ampang, turn right at the traffic light after Ampang Point towards Kg Pandan. The stall is 1km down on the left near a block of flats.)
Tel : 03 4251 1807

To celebrate a friend’s birthday, a group of us make our move to NZX @ Ara Damansara. Tucked in at a rather obscure place (to me, who has never been to Ara Damansara), most fine it quite a hassle to get here. Calls from friends asking for directions keep coming in and it was until one hour later that everyone was here. Instead of being grumpy and angry, our friends who arrived late were pretty amused by the first sight that greeted them – an apartment like restaurant.

Each section of the restaurant is decorated to resemble the different spaces like bedroom, bathroom, courtyard, etc. Most of the décor pieces are available for sales. One can choose from the closets full of clothes, portrait frames, key chains, to the potted plants, the canopy bed drape and the hanging crystal chandelier.

Full House is particularly the most crowded place in NZX, one reason for that is almost certainly its relaxed atmosphere and wallet friendly meals. Did I tell you that the menu with comic strips was exceptionally cute too? Unlike the extensive drinks list, main courses are limited where we were left with only 5 to 6 items each on the Asian Menu and Western Menu.

Location Map (Credits to SaiMatKong)

I tend to think that most themed restaurants would rely on hype and glitz rather than good food. It comes to my surprise when the food was by no means a dreadful meal, but much of it was mediocre and acceptable, with more rooms for improvement. Full House is exceptionally relaxed and convivial. It creates the perfect atmosphere for any individual to sit, read a book, meet new people, have some coffee or simply hang out.

Do you still remember these baoz? It was once widely circulated via emails that we can only stare at it. The good news is the franchise that created a baoz craze in Taiwan is now at Pavillion KL and Time Square KL!

One can choose from their royal delicacy series, chocolate series, crispy series, snowflake series and steamer series (RM 2.50 to RM 3.50). To make my selection easier, I choose two “3 in a pack” box set. There are champion box (12 best selling baoz) and half dozen box (diamond box, platinum box and sweet heart box) too.

From top left: Crispy Taro Baoz, Tri Star Squid Roll, Sweet and Sour Fish Bao, Curry Mutton Steam Baoz, Onion Baoz, Crispy Sesame Baoz

The tri star squid roll and sweet sour fish baoz are among my favourite while most of it tasted like any other ordinary baos. With reheating make easy and possible, it does make a perfect gift to family and friends. However, a non bao fanatic like me will not join in the queue just for a baoz or two.

With added modernity to traditonal baos, I’m seeing that these gorgeous looking baoz will soon take over Malaysians’ heart and beat the current donuts craze.

Mr Baoz
1.52.00 (Next to Food Republic),
Pavillion,
Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur.

There is no better time for us to titillate taste buds than by touring the various bazaars Ramadan over the country this weekend. So, here we go again, another long pictorial post on the wide array of mouth watering local delicacies available at bazaar Ramadan Bangsar (infront of the mosque and aneka selera Bangsar). This time around, we arrived at the bazaar as early as 4pm to avoid the crowds and queues.

Again, we would love to feature few of the famous stalls here. The first one would be the Portuguese style seafood that Boolicious has featured in her Ramadan post before. Selling at RM 5 per serving, the stir fry squid is very good; the fiery red gravy added a spicy aroma to this dish.

An enticing stall – Raja Murtabak with nothing but murtabaks in sight can be found as you walk along the bazaar. One can choose from biasa (RM2.50), special (RM5.00) or raja (double the size, with extra minced meat and cheese – RM 10.00).

Towards the end of the bazaar is an Indian Rojak stalls managed by a bunch of friendly chatty guys. Assorted fried stuffs are spread across the long table for customers to pick and the guys will cut it into smaller slices. Sometimes, freebies (courtesy of the boss) are thrown into your basket without you realizing.  The fried stuff that we bought came with a big packet of rojak sauce with cucumbers and onions.

The jumbo size prawn fritters are out of the world delicious!  It is selling at only RM 1.50.

This Kelantanese stall has a good scene of folks in the mission. Judging by the number of customers who queue under the hot sun just for a taste of it, we kiasuly bought a packet of nasi dagang and nasi kerabu. To my surprise, the nasi dagang is as good as the one from Kampung Ladang. The rice, steamed together with coconut milk is aromatic, pairs perfectly with the tuna gulai darat.

The first sight that greeted us – Ayam Percik stall.

Sarawak Café came out with something new, rojala – a hybrid of roti jala and murtabak. If you were to ask the verdict, it was too bland for our liking.

Thirst Quenchers Anyone?

There’s quite a number of Ikan Bakar Portugis stall around but our favourite remains as the previous stall with stir fry squid.

Stir Fry Kerang

Kueh Jongkong

Savory Kueh with Chicken and Chili.

Kuih Bakar

Towards the end of the bazaar is the nasi lemak kukus stall that sells piping hot nasi lemak with various dishes.

 Chocolate Cake (RM 2 per slice)

 Have a good weekend everyone!

Chris, Christine, WenChing and EeSiong are leaving to the cooling breezy climates of UK soon. To throw them a farewell dinner, AiWei thought it might be nice to have a meet up before they go. Venue is Xenri, the cozy little Japanese restaurant where SugarBean’s write up on it is being published on The Star Sunday Metro last week.

Upon entering, we were greeted with the burnished warmth of bamboo plants, wood lacquered floor, elegant brown tables that will calm your senses

The interior of this Japanese restaurant offers visitors to dine in calm surroundings with the serene sound of flowing water. We also enjoyed the easy listening and relaxing music.

The menu is comprehensive, encompassing both traditional as well as modern Japanese cuisine as well as the essential down to earth cuisine such as the teppanyaki sets and sushi. Do try our some of their house specialty if you are fully loaded on the pocket, as it comes with a slightly hefty price tag.

Let’s go through our food, shall we?

 Hawaiian Roll (King Prawn Mango Roll – RM 28)

 Teppanyaki Seafood (Salmon, king prawn, scallop and vegetable teppanyaki and garlic fried rice and salad – RM 40)

 Tempura Zen (Seafood and vegetables tempura and salmon sashimi and rice – RM 40)

 Xenri Bento (Grilled mackerel, selected sashimi and soft shell crab tempura with braised vegetables, chawan mushi, miso soup, rice and strawberries – RM 42)

 Tempura Soba (RM 26)

 Chicken/Beef Sukiyaki Zen (Chicken/beef hotpot, vegetables and selected seafood and vegetables tempura with chawan mushi and rice – RM 42)

 Unagi Zen (Grilled eel and selected seafood and vegetables tempura with chawan mushi and rice – RM 40)

Xenri is a great place to experience good Japanese food, in a seemingly Japanese atmosphere. Be it food, service or ambiance, it was all great Not so great thing would be the great hole burnt on our pocket but it was all worth it.

As for Chris, Christine, WenChing and EeSiong, I wish you all very much success in the coming year. I hope our paths cross again and thank you for wonderful part of my life. May your journey be blessed. Hugs.

Restaurant Xenri
No. 20, Wisma Elken,
Jalan 1/147C, Batu 5,
Jalan Kelang Lama,
58200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 77838118
(directly across Pearl Point Shopping Mall)

Located next to the poolside at the fifth floor of Hotel Imperial is a hidden little Italian cottage that combines exceptional Italian fare with a relaxed and elegant atmosphere.

According to Doris, the director of communication, Italian food is deemed to be wholesome and hearty as opposed to the general perception of Italian food equates fine dining. This is why Villa Danieli is all about warm and comfortable ambiance, with large murals on top, medieval torches hanging from the walls emitting dim light, large glass bottles filled with olives oils and a welcoming entrance, just like a typical Italian cottage. The patio seating is also great, complete with a magnificent view of KL Tower.

Villa Danieli offers a traditional Italian menu featuring old-world favorites and family recipes as well as a wide selection of wood oven baked pizzas. The menu caused much deliberation so for easy reason; we went for their three courses set dinner at RM 125 nett that night.

Primi

Yellow lentil soup with grilled garlic bread. A classic soup as such is a real ‘warmer-upper’ in a rainy day.

Spledini of sea scallop and tuna with marinated onions, lemon and baby spinach. The lightly seared sea scallops are especially juicy, plump and insanely sweet!

Roasted egg plant “parmigiana” with tomato and strawberry coulis is presented in such a way that it looked like it had come from Italy itself.

Secondi

Herbs sea bass “cartoccio” with spinach and mussel sauce. It was baked in parchment paper and presented to us in its original state. A lift on the paper reveals what the chef has whipped up for us. I thought they did a nice job on this one, the spinach and mussel sauce pairs perfectly with the sea bass.

Grilled beef fillet with purple potato and béarnaise sauce. Béarnaise sauce made of clarified butter, egg yolks, tarragon, shallots added some sweetness to the tender moist beef.

Rigatoni amatriciana with beef bacon, braised onions, tomato sauce and pecorino cheese. It is a delicious blend of tomatoes, white wine, and beef bacon with some hearty home made pasta.

Apple strudel with vanilla lavender sauce. The colour and presentation again was amazing. It was delicious too, with crispy layers of phyllo dough filled with freshly sliced apples combined with vanilla lavender sauce.

Almond parfait with chocolate sauce. After polishing off our mains, the almond parfait came shortly. The parfait’s texture was like nothing else – thick and creamy yet light and ultra smooth.

Salami bitter chocolate with berries compote. Salami what? Yes, you heard it right – chocolate salami, name as such because it has the same cylindrical shape as a salami. The accompanying berries compote gave a lighter kind of tang to the rich bitter chocolate salami.

Some wine and conversation before plunging ahead to your main meal? Go for the wine buffet at RM 45++ for free flow red and white.

Overall Villa Danieli is one of those authentic Italian restaurants that set itself apart from the rest. The food is always great, the wine selection is nice and the staff are very helpful and knowledgeable when it comes to recommending wine to pair with your food choices. It does come in a slightly hefty price tag but fret not because the set dinner at RM 125 nett is an excellent value for money.

Invitation from FoodStreet

Set Dinner (Promotion Valid till 31 December 2008)
Available daily from 6.30pm – 10.30pm.
RM125++ per person
Inclusive of free parking

Wine Buffet
Flowing freely on Monday and Tuesday evenings.
RM45++ per personVilla Danieli
Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Wilayah Persekutuan
Tel : 0327179922

It’s that time of the year again. The weather is not doing us any good for the past few days but fortunately Sunday evening was all bright and sunny so we stopped by TTDI. The stalls have not changed much compared to last year’s. For your information, there are four MUST TRY in the bazaar – Popiah Power, Nasi Briyani Johor, Ayam Percik and Pulut Udang. How to spot these famous stalls? The wonderful aroma will lead you to the stalls with perpetual queue. Let’s feast your eyes with these delicacies from Bazaar Ramadhan at TTDI, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 3.

TGIF! I’m going to do a short post on Restaurant Well Cook Gourmet here. A friend who lives and stays at Subang Jaya all his life brought us here on his birthday last year. It is a no frill restaurant with minimal design and decor with an emphasis on their zhu chao (??).

Pattaya Fried Rice

Seafood Tom Yam

Yin Yeong (deep fried vermicelli and hor fun)

Singapore Fried Mee Hoon

Nasi Lemak

Stir Fried Tong Fun

Albeit being flavourful, the wok hei of some stir fried item here is pretty lack luster. Fortunately, the fried laksa stands out as the best item. The usual lai fun, is stir fried with the usual garnish of pineapple, diced cucumber, peppermint leaves, onions, cube chicken instead of fish slices and sour sauce, giving it a slight spicy and tangy taste. The food here is pretty decent and reasonably priced (ranges from rm 4.5 to rm 6.0). I will definitely return to this restaurant again for the fried laksa whenever I’m around Subang Jaya.

Restaurant Well Cook Gourmet
74, Jalan SS 14/2
Subang Jaya
Opens from 12 noon to 9pm.

*One Utama outlet has been closed*

Card made with love – do not laugh!

26^th August 2008, marks our fourth year of seeing each other. There isn’t any other better way than to celebrate our love with a porky lardy splendor dinner. So not romantic I would say, but who cares?

No, we did not make it to the “nose to tail eating” place tucked along Changkat Bukit Bintang as it rained cats and dogs that night. Hence, KampungBoy conveniently turned into One Utama’s parking, conveniently led me to the ground floor of new wing and conveniently walked me into a quiet corner of J & R. Such coincidence that the table is reserved too!

We were seated in the dark mahogany wood chairs and tables that match their hardwood floors perfectly. The lighting is dimmed, making if perfect to spark some dinner conversation between us. For those looking to imbibe, the adjacent bar featuring a brick wall holding rows after rows of alcohols is good enough.

The waiter recommended the sizzling hot plate series that comes with fries, corn on cob, poached asparagus, sundried tomato and choice of black pepper or onion gravy. After perusing the menu, it was unanimously decided that we would skip the appetizers or “starters” as the menu notes to make rooms for our feasts.

For drinks, we started off with the fizzy Grapetizer Grape (RM10.50++), a pure grape juice drink with added carbonation. Other than that, I had J&R Ice Cream Blended Coffee (RM 12.50++), a delicious blend of Lavazza coffee with smooth gelato of your preferred flavor (oreo, vanilla or chocolate).

KampungBoy’s eyes opened wide when his order of mixed platter of caramelized ribs, dynamite chili, chorizo, pork belly & streaky bacon (RM 38++) arrived. One bite into dynamite chili and chorizo, you’ll totally forget about all the substandard sausages out there. It incorporates the texture of quality pork and the fantastic flavor of spices. The tenderness and smoky flavor of the caramelized ribs and streaky bacons more than justifies the extra mile I’ll have to run at the track. Nothing to shout about the pork belly which was a tad too dry though.

A closer look

A closer lookPork Chop (RM 23++). What I am getting is a piece of dry, chewy, chalky tasting slabs of what resembles meat. Pork chops tend to dry out and overcooking is a huge kitchen mistake. I do hope that the chef could take note of this.

With more hits than misses in our order, more than reasonable price range, sweet and attentive services, there aren’t any excuses not to revisit.

Sweet ending – ice cream cake from Baskin & Robbins

Time has passed so fast. There have been many ups and downs but I do think that this makes us truly appreciate the good times. I would never have imagined my life to be the way it is and I am so glad I am as in love as I hoped I would be. Happy fourth anniversary and I’m looking forward to as many more as we can possibly have.