KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

Awareness towards healthy eating is growing and I often find myself torn – to be a granola-eating idealist or of just screw it, eat everything? As time goes by, I do realize that the same old universally applicable principles of variety, moderation and balance still work no matter what. So, here I am, alternating from one to another and most importantly, enjoy my food!

However, KampungBoy is very skeptical towards anything “healthy” or “organic”. He can’t stop rolling his eyes inwardly when I suggested lunch at Yogitree. Sigh, men and their carnivorous gluttony.

Tucked at a corner near to Isetan’s departmental store, Yogitree has never failed to caught my eyes. Mismatched furniture in a uniform color tone, chalk blackboard with specials written all over it, gorgeous cake showcase – these items blend in with the entire restaurant’s soothing atmosphere.

Yogitree emphasize on going back to basic cooking and the use of fresh, natural and largely organic ingredients. They also boast daily blackboard specials that will make your mouth water! On another side of the restaurant, there is this yoga specialty shop where yoga fanatics can find themselves busy picking and buying attires and equipments over here.

I spotted some other interesting items with Asian flavors such as hainanese chicken rice (with brown rice and organic chicken, can you imagine?) and nasi lemak where most the expats around us were having. It does make an excuse for a revisit, no?

Here’s some fruit juices to start our day! Simple and unpretentious, the fresh watermelon juice has a clean fresh taste to it.

Here comes the Full English Breakfast (RM 25) that comes with bacon, chicken sausage, organic eggs, organic home made baked beans, mushrooms, toast, fresh juice, coffee or tea. The portion isn’t exactly big, but just nice for a satisfying brunch. I thought the home made chicken sausage is so tasty and would be a great deal less fat than regular sausages. Compared to canned baked beans, our home made baked beans are considerably tangier and the beans are firm. Those baked beans were cooked from scratch and it sounds so intimidating to us (given up hopes to replicate it at home!)

KampungBoy secretly loves it because he stops offering me his food after I took a small bite on everything.

Quiche Lorraine with Bacon (RM 15). Even if it is ridiculously expensive at such small serving portion, I love it to every bit. It was creamy, rich and flavorful with tiny strips of bacons here and there.

Famous for their desserts that use real butter and organic flour, you definitely want to leave room for that wonderful homemade cakes/pies – churned right there! Our Pure Chocolate Truffle Torte (RM 12) is excellent, dense and moist but not cloyingly sweet. KampungBoy ended up having more of it than me!

Cute lil Girl – not for sales

All in all, Yogitree is a very charming, relaxing restaurant with excellent food so go with an empty stomach because you will leave with you belt open. It has totally changed KampungBoy’s perception towards healthy eating too. Healthy food can be as mouthwatering as creamy pasta or a sumptuous pork burger if it is done the right way.

The Yogitree
F-237B, Level 1,
The Gardens, Midvalley City,
Kuala Lumpur.
Contact: 03-2282 6213 | Opening Hours: 10 am –10 pm daily

To celebrate a friend’s birthday, we decided to splurge on some hearty Chinese food. The choice is rather obvious because we chose to meet at Mid Valley, which house the two of the outlets from Crystal Jade Restaurant chain in Malaysia – Amuleto & Crystal Jade Restaurant. Crystal Jade has been expanding. Other than the existing outlets – Crystal Jade Lai Mian at Lot 10 and C-Jade Express in Mid Valley Megamall, we now have Crystal Jade Kitchen & C Jade Meal 3 at Pavilion too.

Each restaurant carries different concept and serves different kind of food. Crystal Jade Restaurant at the Gardens is beautiful and swanky where one will be immediately be struck by the impressive interior upon entry – fitted with wood paneled walls, red velvet chairs, and rows of red terracotta warriors displayed low-key music in the background.

Since the restaurant is fully seated by the time we arrived, the seven of us were led into one of their private dining room with magnificent view overlooking mid valley city.

Feeling rather famished and greedy, we ordered two dinner sets for four. The serving portion is just nice for us to taste a little bit of everything.

Special Four Person Set Meal (RM 208.00)

Roasted Pi Pa Duck in Hot Plate – It is called Pipa Duck because of the resemblance of the butterfly cut to a pipa (Chinese music instrument). The skin is crispy and the meat is very tender and juicy, only to be spoiled by the overly salty gravy.

Double Boiled Watercress Soup – Slow cooked for hours, the hearty watercress soup makes a great tummy warmer.

Three Cup Chicken – Served in a piping hot stone bowl, it is very aromatic, with abundant amount of Thai basil and ginger. The gravy (made of soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil, 1 cup each) is great to be eaten with rice.

Deep Fried Prawn with Butter and Cereal – The shells of the prawn can be eaten as it’s fried to crisp! The prawns were fresh, firm to the bite and sweet, which was well-complemented by slight sweetness of the cereal.

Steamed Egg Plant with Shrimp – A simple dish as such as done perfectly. The delicate and silky egg plant has soaked up the delicious gravy, and the flavor permeate the dish.

Fried Rice in Assorted Grain in Hot Stone – The fried rice is lack of a hint of wok hei to make it tasty. The guys, who were skeptical towards anything organic, do not enjoy the assorted grain.

Almond Cream – The Chinese almond dessert is smooth and milky, giving a perfect ending to our meal.  

Premium Four Person Set Meal (RM 318.00)

Crystal Jade Roasted Duck – The roasted duck is nothing to shout about with its not so crispy skin and lean meat.

Braised Sharkfin with Seafood and Bamboo Pith – it was flavourful and rich, with spot on taste. Bamboo pith provided the crunch in this sweetish-savoury soup.

Pan Fried Stuffed Vegetables in Hot Stone – Most of the stuffing were very generous and it was quite a delight eating the fresh and bouncy fish paste by itself.

Steamed Soon Hock in Preserved Vegetables – Fresh from the tank, the meat is lean and moist with a mild flavor. The topping of preserved vegetable make it promisingly delicious.

Braised Seasonal Vegetables with Assorted Mushroom and Shrimp Roe – The vegetables are cooked just nice with a nice crunch, while the assorted mushroom and shrimp roe make the dish “glam”.

Birthday Noodles – A symbol of longevity in Chinese culture, it is a must for us to order the birthday noodles for the birthday boy. The noodles are awful though, mushy in texture and bland in taste.

Chinese Herbal Jelly with Mango & Pamelo – The jelly has a mild herbal taste but thank god that the mango puree and pamelo are added to make it palatable.

The Auditors

Happy Birthday to Jeff! Wishing you all the best on your future undertakings!

The total bill comes close to RM 600++. With most of the food is tasty (but not earth-shattering) and excellent services, this is a great place to take guests, visitors or a date, or just a fine restaurant to choose when you have a craving for Chinese food. Just be ready to spend a fortune!

Crystal Jade Restaurant
Lot T 210
3rd Floor
The Gardens
Mid Valley City
Kuala Lumpur
Tel No: 03 – 2283 3129
(Non Halal)

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!

This is a very dated post where my ex colleagues had a little get-together few months back. Spurred by all the positive reviews on Fong Lye that I’ve read , I suggested dinner here.

The menu is quite extensive, one can choose from snacks, noodles, rice or the standard set meals that comes with a platter of three appetisers, a bowl of rice with minced pork and a small bowl of soup which varies from day to day.

My oolong milk tea tastes exactly like oolong tea + milk tea. One needs a little bit of acquiring when it comes to this Taiwanese drink.

Jasmine tea in cute porcelain teapot set, and the refills of hot water is unlimited.

A standard set meal.

Platter of appetizers.

Soup of the day.

Served in a flat wok over small fire, the three cup chicken set arrives piping hot. It sure does smell aromatic, with the basil leave and soy sauce. However, my ex colleague can’t even bring herself to whip everything off as the slightly burned sauce was bitter.

The chef recommendation item, Fried Fish Fillet with Tomato and Fried Egg is one of the best things that we have come across that night. Slightly tangy and sweet, it is a very appetizing dish.

My other ex colleague reckons that her Taiwanese Fried Chicken was OK but nothing fantastic.

Taiwan rou yuan/meat ball (RM 5.80) is hidden beneath the thick layer of sticky dough, just like how they served it in Taiwan. It must be eaten hot; else the dough layer would gets disgustingly gummy.

The taiwan coconut milk toast (RM 3.90) with some great aroma of coconut is dipped in rich layers of butter and milk and sautéed until crisp and brown.

The sweet potato balls (RM 4.80) are nothing like my favorite stall at Petaling Street. Instead of having a crispy outer layer and mushy soft content, it was chewy and airy. With more misses than hits in our order, we can’t seem to understand what’s the hype about Fong Lye? Guess the golden formula of perpetual long queue + good crowd = good food is not always true and can’t be applied at all time. Any reasons to return? It has to be their attentive services and comfy ambiance and toasts.J
Fong Lye Taiwan Restaurant
Lot T208
3rd Floor
The Gardens
Mid Valley City
Kuala LumpurTel No: 03- 2282 8699
(Non Halal. Open daily till 10pm.)

“Hi guys, can do me a favor? I need a Mandarin-English translator as I’m doing an interview with a China chinese chef from Oriental Spoon.”

“Sure! We would love to!”

In fact, Chef Yu, who was hailed all the way from Guangzhou, China, speaks his mother tongue so accurately and succinctly that will put our “mangonese” (Malaysian Cantonese) into shame. Jason Ipoh Mali has no problem conversing in Cantonese as well. Nevertheless, a beautiful misunderstanding as such has led us to a hidden gem at Sooka Sentral for excellent stuff.

Oriental Spoon that serves halal dim sum and ala carte Chinese cuisine is located at Sooka Sentral, a new lifestyle mall more often known as the stunning giant shark like building that take less than 5 minutes of walking distance from KL Sentral.

Captivating pieces of Chinese décor and solid wood furniture creates a sense of intimacy despite the restaurant’s location at one of the most hustle bustle place in the city. Patrons can choose to be seated in either the private booths that can seat four people comfortably, the round shaped cushioned enclave for a cozy meet or a larger private room that can accommodate bigger groups.

The making of Hedgehog Bun that requires much skills and experiences.

Chef Yu and ‘Sous Chefs’

1. Steamed Siew Mai with Fresh Scallops
2. Yam Dumpling
3. Sesame bun
4. Sharks fin dumpling in superior soup
5. Deep fried lotus roots puff with minced chicken
6. Steamed rice rolls with sweet corn and minced chicken
7. Egg tarts
8. Butter crab and fried mantao
9. Spicy XO sauce Fried rice

* All food above is from ala-carte menu.

Managed under the same brilliant team of Bangsar Seafood Village, I can almost ascertain the quality of food and service. The dim sums are special creations of Chef Yu who has been in the dim sum industry for more than 10 years. The word “halal” is not much of an issue here because everything is so close to the real deal, some even fares better compared to their oink oink counterparts.

I almost can’t believe it when Jade, the sweet PR girl told me that they are doing a dim sum buffet promotion on every Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday for the month of July at RM 18.80++! It is too good to be true, considering ala carte price that ranges from RM 5 to RM 12, it is a very good deal. I’m going to make my reservation anytime soon!

Oriental Spoon
1-5, Sooka Sentral,
Jalan Stesen Sentral 5,
50470, Kuala Lumpur
(opposite the MRCB building)
If you are coming from Brickfields, take the elevated road, which is called Jalan Stesen Sentral 5. Keep to your furthest right as the road curves, and take the first right turn. Sooka Sentral is on your left
Tel: 03 – 2261 3222/ Fax: 03-2780 2055
Opening hours: 7 days a week (11 am – 8pm)
Later opening hours for dinner: Just give them a ring in advance, and they’ll open till 10pm for dinner

In quest for the best fish head curry…

It leads us to non other than Anuar’s Kari Kepala Ikan (Anuar’s fish head curry) that has been in business for more than 30 years. Just around the corner from TMC, this place is always packed to the brim when lunch time rolls around.

Other than the legendary fish head curry, they serves delectable fried chicken, fried ikan cincaru, mutton curry and some stir fry greens as well.

We were tempted to try everything but the boss warned us to limit our orders as today’s fish heads are pretty enormous. Hence, only chickens and fish heads are ordered. The fried chicken is one of the best that I’ve ever had! Perfectly cooked and juicy, the perfectly seasoned meat had actual flavor and a good texture.

The jenahak (snapper) fish head for two was way too big, and it was the smallest head found in the huge pot. The red curry, sourish and spicy, albeit the absent of coconut milk, is very rich and flavorsome. The fish is cooked just right, not too rare with some warm pink centre and the flesh literally falls off the bone, which a lot of FHC places failed miserably.

It seems like Anuar’s shack is the only place that is not hard hitted by inflations. Teh tarik and roti canai is still going for 50 sens just like decades ago, but we were there two weeks before the petrol price hike. Still, it’s really cheap.

For desserts, we went to the sweet appam stall which is just a stone’s throw away from Anuar’s. Sweet pleasures for only RM 1, what more could one ask for? Read our previous review here.

Anuar’s Fish Head Curry
At the corner of Lorong Ara Kiri 3
Lucky Garden
Bangsar
Kuala Lumpur
Open from morning till night. Closed on Sundays.

I’m really a nice, affectionate and caring person because I’m going to share with you guys my favourite appam (hoppers) stall – Om Shakti Chelo @ Lucky Garden Bangsar. Located directly behind TMC supermarket, the stall is not hard to spot at all. Other than appams (plain, white, brown), they offer quite a selection of Indian snacks such as tosai, chapatti, kuih gulung, vadai, etc.

There’s almost always a crowd waiting for their orders to be taken, so please be patient because good food payoff. The lady was always busy spreading circles of thick whitish rice and santan (coconut milk) batter over those small wok like pans. (hence the do-not-mess-with-me face)

Apparently, the white appams (RM 1.20) appear to be the crowd’s favourite. The appam, laced with crispy edges, has a contrasting texture of soft, fluffy, and well risen centre with sweet coconut milk. Other than that, I can taste a delicious and mesmerizing liquor tang because the batter is fermented with dashes of palm toddy. *hiccups*

The brown appam (RM 1.20) was equally good too. The centre is absolutely creamy, with aromatic palm sugar syrup.

Most the the time, we would take away the appams to the dai chou place opposite. The food is cheap and great, with Guinness Stout Pork Ribs slathered with layers of sweet and sticky sauce *hiccups again* and salted egg yolk squid with crispy batter and creamy gravy being our all time favourite.  A  3 dish 1 (free) soup typical chinese dinner costs less than RM 30, cheap no?

Please refer to the map for the exact location.

Well my Korea trip few months back was fun while it lasted; met a lot of nice people along the way so it was great. Guess one of the most prominent aspects of the trip was Korean hospitality. These are the nice people that left us making a vow to spread the word about the how the very fascinating Korea and her people.

We knew that it is a great time to repay their hospitality when ajashi (uncle) made a pit stop at Malaysia to see his son. Victor suggested dinner at Robson Heights, well even the celebrity floggers raved about them, so Robson Heights it is.

The first dish was their signature pork ribs (yat zhi guat) with deliciously sweet and tangy sauce were melt in your mouth tender. Oh my god, we were having a great time gobbling on the fall-off-the-bone ribs. When I mean fall off the bone, they do really fall off with a few shakes.

Deep fried butter squid (Nai Yao Sotong). I like their way of serving where a generous amount of chicken floss was sprinkled on top of the dish. The squids, encased in a light batter were slightly chewy but we enjoyed every bits of it. The texture was the fun part I guess. You can’t go wrong with butter-laden food and high-carb indulgence; nor can anything deep fried taste bad after all.

Herbal chicken was served in a Chinese crock pot within minutes. The chicken was surprisingly moist and tender after long hours of soaking in the herbal concoction.

Steamed Marble Goby (Soon Hok) is the star dish of the night. Fresh from the tank, the meat is lean and moist with a mild flavor. It costs a whopping RM 140 per kg but believe me, it is promisingly delicious.

The obligatory greens – Mixed Vegetables with Macadamia Nuts. Vegetables such as sweet peas, asparagus, arrowheads (nga ku), lotus roots, celeries and deep fried macadamia nuts are stir fry in a smoky soy garlic. The topping of flaky dried squids gives it an extra flavor and texture too. It actually gives eating green the devious way because it feels like munching on some crunchy snack food.

It was an evening filled with laughter, credits to ajashi’s sense of humour. Communication is not a problem over here because he’s not a typical ajashi with monosyllabic English ability; in fact he speaks fluent English.

The total bill? RM 350++. The great deal of time spent talking and catching up with each other? Priceless. (thx Meena!)

Robson Heights Seafood Restaurant
10B, Jalan Permai,
Off Jalan Syed Putra, 50460 KL.
Tel: 03-2274 6216

Time to break away from the mundane Chinese food and indulge on some burning or hot sensation Indian cuisine without burning a hole in our pocket. So here we are at Sri Nirvana Maju on a Sunday noon, parking is hell at Jalan Telawi even though there were ample of parking inside bangsar village where they charge by HOURS.

Very often that we get some soggy and overcooked magi goreng at mamak stalls but their version of Maggi Goreng (RM 4) is cooked to perfection as the noodles are al dente with the right amount of spiciness and ingredients.

Some drinks to sooth the erupting spiciness along your tongue – Teh Ice and Air Kosong

For something more substantial, we opted for the banana leaf rice meal (RM 5.50). Rice and vegetables are a prominent feature where white rice is served on a Yele Sapede (banana leaf) with an assortment of vegetables, pickles, a selection of curry dishes such as Rice Meen Curry (Fish Curry), Koli Curry (Chicken Curry), Dhal (Boiled Lentils)and papadum (Indian Crackers).

During the first visit here with my ex-colleagues, we had the deep fried calamari (RM 18). Lightly seasoned and deep fried to golden brown, it comes with some curry leaves, dried chillies and onion. A squeeze of lime would give it the extra oommpphh.

Chicken Masala (RM 4) is a westernized Indian dish based on baked chicken chunks (chicken tikka) cooked in a curry sauce. It was very well marinated and flavourful but the chicken chunks are a tad too dry.

Lamb curry (RM 5). Tender pieces of boneless lamb are served in a thick and rich curry concoction. Two thumbs up to the tender chunks and rich curry but it is not something for those who can’t even stomach the smell of lamb meat because the smell is quite heavy.

Sambal Egg (RM 1.50 each)

Another banana leaf rice place that we will definitely drop by again, if only parking is a breeze (sigh).

Restaurant Sri Nirvana Maju
No. 43, Jalan Orkid 2B,
Sec BS2, Bukit Sentosa,
48300 Rawang, Selangor.
Tel: 03-6028 3526

No. 43, Jalan Telawi 3,
Bangsar Baru,
59100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-22878445

To avoid the mall crowds during Christmas Day, we had our dinner at this quaint and quiet little place, Vincenzo. The entrance to the restaurant is a stones paved walkway surrounded by lush greenery of the garden. Lovely!

The nine restaurants housed within the beautiful area served dishes from all around the world. Why not make a little gourmet tour around the world HERE, someday I perhaps.

Vincenzo is one of the chain of restaurant that occupies a two-floor unit along the One Bangsar strip.

I love the soft yellow lighting scheme that complements the modern furnishing, creating a warm and romantic ambience.

They have a built in wine rack to store their wine collection. This is the classy and quiet place to wine.

Complimentary buns comes piping hot. I love these crusty breads, especially the orange coloured pumpkin bun with slight sweetness.

The olive oil bread dippings

Venison flatted grilled with honey blue berry juice RM 58. The venison is tender but not juicy, glad that the blue berry juice washing over the venisons saved the day.

Squid Ink Pasta with Scallop, Smoked Salmon and Prawns RM 48. It was tossed with chilli, garlic and white wine sauce. It was great for me, maybe I was anticipating the worst – fishy smell from the squid ink.

The scallops and prawns are fresh like it’s from the ocean. Only complain is the dish is too oily, I couldn’t belive my eyes to see the amount of oil left when I finished my food.

Belgian Waffles RM 15. The waffle tastes is very similar to Pilbury’s pancake mix (we think lar) and the portion was way too small. Two spoonful is more than enough to get it done I guess?

Please tolerate with our cam whoring picture. It’s Christmas Day ok?

Anyway. it’s the best place for dates or family gathering. The waiters are humourous and attentive, food wise I still prefer Opus Bistro. A tips to my noob guy friends: if you have meet this fantastic girl and you want to win her hearts, bring her here. Haha

Last but not least, ice wine that match with most dessert style.

One Bangsar, 63H Jalan Ara
Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL.
03-22871686.

Yesterday was our second annivessary (dating, not marriage :p), and we had dinner at this cosy little Italian restaurant.

The past two years certainly brings with it a few trials and tribulations, but all in all it’s been quite a wonderful journey.

The smartest choice that I had made is to have KampungBoy by my side.

The menu is simple yet classy.

Gasped! We never knew that Opus Bistro was so famous. Another smart choice that I made.

They have this five layer wine rack with varieties of red/white wine. Too bad that I have wine allergy and would probably ended up with rashes over my neck and back. Kampungboy can’t take any alcoholic drinks either. So we had the same drink on our special day . Sparking Beverage – Aranciata Orange (200ml) RM 10

Complimentary baguette with olive oil.

Spaghetti alla Opus (RM 28) is one of their signature dish, served with mixed seafood with fresh tomato and chardonnay sauce.

Needless to say, al-dente spaghetti is essential. I just hate it when some Italian place serving their customers with soggy pasta.

Baked Duck Breast with Caramelized Balsamic Sauce, served with angel hair pasta and sun dried tomato. (RM 42) The duck breast is so tender and juicy, the caramelized balsamic sauce is sweet and it doesn’t have the sourish taste of vinegar.

..Chef special tiramisu (RM14) as dessert. Sad to say it’s nothing fantastic. The sponge fingers doesn’t taste right so I just scope out all the mascarpone. Maybe we should try their freshly baked cake next time.

Finally a picture of us..I want to clarify something here: Actually my face is smaller than KampungBoy’s. It’s just that I was nearer to the camera lens. You know girls (or maybe just me), they are extremely particular on the matter of chubby or slim face.

This is the kind of map that make your life easier! We are not familiar with Bangsar area, but the map just make our search for Opus Bistro fuss free.

Address: 67, Jalan Bangkung Bukit Bandaraya 59100 KL.
Operating Hours: Mon – Sun 12 pm – 3 pm, 6 pm – 12 am
Tel: 03-20924288