KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

I know you guys love this; so here you go.

NOTE:

SEE = sightseeing

EAT = dining options

STAY = accomodation of the night

BOLD = recommended

non BOLD = not recommended

IDR 10,000 = RM 3.65

I’ve got a lot of emails asking about the driver Mr. Bagus, so I’ll share my opinions here. You can reach him at <gelo82181@yahoo.com>

The Good:

Mr. Bagus is very accommodating; just tell him where you want to go and he’s willing to bring you there. He will never persuade or push us to visit those touristy shopping places where he’ll probably get a fair share of comission. The rate that he charged (IDR 300,000/day/car) is quite reasonable because we engaged him for a full day, i.e. 10am to 10pm (depends on our itinerary).

The Bad

Mr. Bagus is not a very professional tour guide in the sense that he never walk us through the touristy destination and explain to us the historic value/the story behind it.

So I’ll leave it for you guys to judge? Another point to keep in mind – it is better to plan your own itinerary and ask for the driver’s opinion because most of the tourist spots are scattered around the island.

p/s: Don’t be surprised if you see a Mr. Bagus that looks very different from our driver.The whole Bagus family runs the tour hiring services so they might send just anyone from the family. Our driver was Gutstut Bagus.

Day 1

Arrival 6.50pm – EAT: Seafood at Jimbaran Bay (Lia’s Cafe) – SEE: Jalan Legian, Kuta – STAY: Tune Hotel, Jalan Kahyangan Suci (Off Jalan Pantai Kuta)

Day 2

SEE: Ground Zero Memorial & Pantai Kuta – EAT: Warung Made, Jalan Raya Pantai Kuta – SEE: Nusa Dua Beach – SEE: Tirtha Bali Chapel, Uluwatu – SEE: Uluwatu Temple (Pura Uluwatu) – EAT: Pork Ribs @ Naughty Nuri’s Warung & Grill, Ubud – STAY: Tegal Sari, Ubud

Day3

EAT: Babi Guling @ Ibu Oka, Ubud - SHOP: Pasar Ubud - SEE: Pura Taman Ayun, Mengwi – EAT: Kopi Luwak @ Yoga Plantation – SEE: Pura Ulu Danu @ Bratan Lake, Bedugul – SEE: Tanah Lot – EAT: Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner’s) – STAY: Green Field, Ubud

DAY 4

SHOP: Sukawati – SEE: Kintamani – Mount Batur + Lake Batur – SEE: Pura Tirta Empul, Tampaksiring – SEE: Tegalalang – Depart: 9.20pm

DAY 1

Got our tickets for RM 80 from the Air Asia sales a year ago.

We hired Mr. Bagus as our driver and he charged RPH 300,000 per car (Toyota Avanza) per day. He even offered to picked us up on the first day even though we only engaged him for 3 full days.

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*Closed Down

This is a carricature of the Austrian King Emperor Franz Josef I. It depicts the whole of Austrian culture in that one painting. The skis help define winter sports and the entire ski industry in Austria. The ballet shoe depicts the art and culture in Dance/Waltz. The cake sitting on the head represents the fame pastries in Austria such as the Apple Strudel. Violin represents the music industry which reminds me of Austria borned Mozart. Beer is a typical drink of Austria, Edelweiss is Austria’s national flower and the Lederhosen is the national costume of Austria for men.

When it comes to food, the Austrians are as enthusiastic as anybody on earth. In many ways, I think that an understanding of the culture of a country’s food and recipes is an understanding of the country itself. While we do not have the privilege to travel the great distance to Austria (yet), we were lucky to be invited to Karl Beisl, a new, authentic Austrian restaurant in Solaris Mont Kiara.

Opened and manned by Karl, an Austrian guy who resides in Malaysia, Karl Beisl is a beautiful restaurant with high ceilings and gorgeous furniture.

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Typica Cafe, 原来真好 。

Typica Cafe in Shaw Parafe was a place I discovered by chance. We were yearning for coffee after a very filling lunch of Yap Hup Kee’s yong tofu. We walked around aimlessly until I saw a Typica Cafe that seemed to be open and had cute teacups filled with coffee beans at the entrance.

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My pre birthday lunch with KampungBoy, Christine, Chris and Ivy was amazing. I am very happy that they did those extra thoughtful gestures to make my birthday meal a memorable one. I am also absolutely delighted by the fact that Xiao Fei Yang is the chosen venue for our rendezvous. I’ve been there twice; all for the love of the comforting and nourishing brew of “má là” 麻辣 hot pot.

A no-frills, but clean and bright restaurant like Xiao Fei Yang gives me a good vibe. Though located at a hideous part of the city with limited parking space, they were doing brisk businesses.

We had the signature yuan yang soup base – Herbal Chicken Soup and Ma La Peppercorn Seed Soup. The mala soup base was heavy, oily with liberal use of pepper that creates a numbing and tingling sensation on the tongue. The herbal soup was ordered to counter the spiciness of the ma la soup. Deemed useless anyway, because our lips were all swollen after that.

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Sanuki Province(讃岐), known as Kagawa Prefecture now, is famous for its Sanuki Udon (wheat noodles). It is said that many Japanese now take day trips to Kagawa just to sample the thick and rather stiff type of udon.

kakiage udon with wakame & egg (RM 9)

We are extremely lucky, because here in KL, we have sanuki udon located conveniently near us. If it wasn’t for the power of blogs, we would not have have known about this hidden gem located in a quiet neighbourhood shoplot in Taman Bukit Desa.

kakiage udon with egg & ebi tempura (RM 10)

The owner, Seiji Fukimoto make his own udon in the shop daily. They were doing brisk business when we were there with Christine, Chris and Ivy on a Friday night. This shows that home made udon is actually well received by patrons in KL.

curry udon with egg (RM

Sanuki Udon features a simple one page menu with 7 types of udon serving style along with some toppings and side dishes to go with it. Patrons will tick with a pencil what they want and pass it to the serving staff.

curry udon with egg & tempura (RM 9)

The noodles with uneven length and width, were fresh and slightly al dente. The cloudy broth of our soupy selection was light and pleasant (made with dashi). The curry udon was hearty, with well cooked potato, carrot and small chicken cubes in it.

dry cha cheong style udon with egg (RM 7)

KampungBoy thought that this dry cha cheong udon was very “Taiwanese”, but he licked the bowl clean anyway. The toppings of kakiage and tempura were crispy with minimal oil staining.

karaage (RM 3)

We also had some crispy, juicy and meaty chicken karaage. They made such a great bar snack.

shiitake yakitori (RM 2)

momo (leg meat) yakitori (RM 3) & kawa (skin) yakitori (RM 2)

Smoky, succulent and tender, these skewered goodies were very addictive too.

green tea (RM 1)

Overall, it was a very warm and satisfying meal. It’s good to know a place that serve simple Japanese food with nice decent serving and won’t burn a hole in the pocket. Total bill for 5 was RM69, not too bad eh?

Restaurant Sanuki Udon
9, Jalan Bukit Desa 5,
Taman Bukit Desa,
Jalan Klang Lama
58100 Kuala Lumpur
( Closed on Mondays )

Tel : 012-241 8131 ( Seiji Fukimoto )

OK. another quick post that I churned out during my lunch break.

We have been exploring the Jalan Ipoh/Jalan Kuching/Sentul area lately. One of the first few things that we did was to look for a decent dining place. Zhen Liew Siang is one of them. There is another Restoran Makanan Laut Lau Heong at Sentul Perdana, but we chose to dine at the one in Sentul Raya because it’s in a closer proximity to our *new* place (bid goodbye to PJ/Damansara).

Zhen Liew Siang is a family run no- frills establishment tucked away in a quieter part of Sentul. The restaurant is usually packed with hungry patrons so it is advisable to go earlier or you can expect to wait up to an hour. We started the meal with Siong Tong Lala.

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It’s official. My favourite mid range Japanese restaurant is Ichiban Boshi.

I’ve been to the outlets in Esplanade Mall (sg), Novena Square (sg), Pavilion KL and Sunway Giza. The interior of the restaurants emanate a bright and airy feel which reminds me of Sushi Zanmai.

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