KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

Just next to Maybank at Petaling Jaya’s Seapark (SS21) is where you’ll find one of the best nasi lemaks in PJ. Some call this place “Maybank Nasi Lemak” because of it’s close proximity to Maybank. The nasi lemak (RM 4.50) stall draws a big crowd every day of the week.

Not only that everything on this plate worked together but individually it was all spot on! The sambal isn’t too spicy and has just the right tinge of sweetness. Though not very “lemak-y”, the rice is fluffy and warm. The fried chicken who everyone keeps raving about has crispy, crackly skin and the meat is juicy and tender. The portion was huge too! Even the telur mata kerbau (sunny side up) was pan fried to perfection I love to poke the runny egg yoke and give everything a good stir!

Maybank Nasi Lemak
Jalan 21/11b,
46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.109920, 101.622301
Located next to Maybank and opposite Seapark wet market.

Sushi Tei is one of those Japanese restaurants that offers good quality Japanese food that is light on the wallet. When we were still staying around the PJ/Damansara area, we always make it a point to drop by Sushi Tei for a light lunch/simple dinner after we are done with our groceries shopping at Carrefour, Tropicana City Mall.

So we were absolutely delighted when Sushi Tei invited us over in conjunction with their new menu launch (ends 31st March 2011).

new menu items are marked with asterisk ‘*’ sign.

Edamame (RM 4.80). We love edamame – steamed with a bit of salt, it is a great snack loaded with tons of health benefit.

Wakame Salad (RM 11.80). This light, refreshing salad possesses just the right amount of crunchy seaweed, greens and tangy sauce.

Kani Avocado Salad (RM 14.80). In my little humble opinion, I would say that this salad has it all. Sweet succulent kani (crab sticks), creamy avocado, briny tobiko and fresh, crisp greens.

Sashimi Moriawase (Hamachi, Salmon, Tai) – thick cut, fresh but not to the extend of literally melt in your mouth; considering the price that they are charging.

*Deep Fried Shirauo (whitebait fish). Deep fried to perfection, these little fishes were really addictive! I snacked on fried little fish like french fries!

Tempura Moriawase (RM 13.80). Probably my least favourite of the night; I found the batter a little too greasy for my liking.

Takoyaki Balls (RM 8.30). Filled with a generous amount of ingredients, the takoyaki balls were nothing out of the ball but they tasted pretty decent.

Assorted Sushis

*Crunchy Tuna Roll (RM 18.00). The creamy texture of the tuna combined with light mayonnaise, and its tart flavor combined with seaweed, nicely contrast with the crisp batter.

Kani to Salmon & Avocado Maki, serve with yogurt sauce.

Dynamic Roll

*Volcano Maki (RM 7.80). The maki in melted cheese roll topped with seaweed and tobiko tasted really good. The myriad of texture and the taste was an eruption of flavor!

Teriyaki Salmon. This is such a crowd pleaser; the teriyaki marinade gave the salmon a wonderful kick of flavor. Our only gripe was that the fish was slightly charred.

Teppanyaki Chicken (RM 16.80). The juicy, boneless chicken cubes weretoo mild for my taste bud.

Meat Gyoza (RM 9.80). The gyozas were well executed – crisp on the outside, hot and juicy on the inside.

Yuzu Ice Cream (RM 7.00)

Goma Ice Cream (RM 7.00)

Shio Ice Cream (RM 8.00)

Chocolate Wafer (RM 7.50)

Pino (original, RM 8.00)

We ended our meal with some ice creams and sweet pastries. My favourite has to be the Shio ice cream (salt flavored ice cream). The ice cream combines the classic sweet, creamy ice cream with a little zing of saltiness for a pleasing combination of flavors. You got to try it to fully appreciate the great flavor!
Judging from the crowd that they draw each night, many share the same opinion that Sushi Tei is extremely popular with its consistent quality and affordable pricing. It is definitely a place worth revisiting again, and again.

Sushi Tei
Lot G-16, Ground Floor
Tropicana City Mall
3, Jalan SS20/27
47400 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.130757,101.626421
Tel:03-7728 4299

Valentine’s Day is here again! Guys, if you are under immense pressure to pick a romantic spot for that special occasion, fret not! Japanese is never a bad choice when it comes to impress your date. This Valentine’s, enjoy a very romantic Love Bento at Nagomi Japanese Restaurant. The atmosphere and the ambiance of the interiors will surely enchant your date.

Thanks to the management of the Nagomi group, it is a privilege for us to be among the first group who sample Nagomi Love Bento, a romantic treats specially crafted for you lovebirds this Valentine’s. The food review session brought us to Nagomi Menara Hap Seng. Little did I know that Nagomi has turned into a full fledged Japanese restaurant, instead of a shabu shabu specialty restaurant. The menu has also undergone a revamp and whilst old favourites remain, there are some new dishes which are well worth trying.

For only RM99++, Nagomi Love Bento is teemed with seafood dishes and other delicacies, including traditional sashimis and with some romantic twist.

The ladies adore the heart shape sushi roll and rose shape sashimis very much. They just looked too cute to be eaten! The guys can’t stop sing praises over the grilled king prawn with cheese and white sauce, soft shell crab salad and suziki senbei. And our sweet ending – rich and decadent chocolate brownies with hazelnut ice cream tasted really good!

Portions were way too big for the ladies; most of us can’t even finish the whole bento. Couple can actually share a love bento and order something else, probably from the ala-carte menu.

Love Sushi Roll (Love Shape Sushi with Strawberry & Avocado)

Rose Shape Sashimi (Combination of Salmon & Tuna Sashimi topping with Tobiko)

Suzuki Senbei (Home-made Seabass Crispy Cracker)

Soba Soft Shell Crab Salada (Soft Shell Crab Salada serve with Buckwheat Noodle)

King Prawn with White Sauce (Grilled King Prawn with White Sauce)

Chocolate Cheese Brownie

Nagomi Valentine Lover’s Bento will be available from 11th of February until the 14th of February at both Nagomi Jaya 33 and Nagomi Menara Hap Seng

Please call for Reservation:

Nagomi @ Jaya33
PG-02B, Ground Floor, Jaya33
3, Jalan Semangat, Section 13,
46200 Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-79562330

Nagomi @ Menara Hap Seng
Suite 1-19, 1st Floor, The Podium,
Menara Hap Seng (formerly Mui Plaza)
Jalan P. Ramlee,
50250 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel:03-21416332

Private Kitchen, Speakeasy, Underground Dining, Home Cafe……Call it whatever you like, because these terms generally refer to a restaurant-like setting tucked away in some neighborhood housing area or apartments. Reservation is almost mandatory due to limited seating capacity. Advertising is usually by word of mouth; coming from friends and families who have been largely impressed by the food quality. And in most of the time, the chef will decide what to cook for you, based on the best of the market for that day.

That’s a really intriguing idea. And it is already taking place around the world especially in HK, where rentals are exorbitantly priced. Restaurateurs found a new way to market for their food. And here in Malaysia, private kitchen is something that I’ve never known of until my colleague introduces me to Huck’s Cafe, a home cafe located in a beautifully crafted two-storey corner lot at Jalan Gasing.

The house is beautifully converted to a cafe like setting, with beautiful garden and Balinese theme man made pond.
Continue Reading

I’m going to blog about one of my favourite wantan mee stall at Restoran Okay, SS2. The appealing nature of the noodles is its crunchy and springy texture. As we stood by and observed, the noodles were blanched for a while and plunged into cold water to ensure a firm and springy texture.

The noodles were tossed and mixed with the soy sauce gravy which is slightly different from the ones sold elsewhere. The gravy was darker and a bit starchy but it was delicious, nonetheless.

The wantans were slightly bigger and they never skimp on the meat fillings. We also like the huge siu kow filled with minced prawn and water chestnuts that gave some really crunchy and springy bite to it.

I will not proclaim it as the best wantan noodles ever, but it is decent enough to warrant multiple visits after you have tried it.

Hoong Kee wantan noodles stall is opened from 11am till 6-7pm. We also frequent the Fatty Duck stall which is open at night.

Restoran Okay
Jalan SS2/10, Petaling Jaya
(same row as KAYU)

Pho (pronounced fuh) refers to Vietnamese national soup.

Hoa means harmony in Vietnamese.

Pho Hoa is essentially a family style restaurant that takes pride in their pho and affordable prices.Do you know that Pho Hoa is also the largest Vietnamese restaurant chain in North America but not Vietnam?

Thanks to Richard, we were given the opportunities to sample some Vietnamese favourite such as pho and spring rolls at Pho Hoa. The restaurant’s setting is simple; with murals illustrating the life of a typical Vietnamese and colourful lanterns hanging down the wall.
Continue Reading

A year ago, Ken from foodpoi told us, “You must try this stall call Ah Khai at Section 20! Their char siew is simply divine! Ah Khai, the Bangla look alike stall owner used to work in Hong Kong to master the technique of roasting.”

A month ago, David from Nuffnang told us the same thing. He described the char siew as fork tender with crispy burnt bits, and its cut into large chunky pieces.

Their words kept repeating in my mind but we are always occupied during the weekends. It wasn’t until last last Saturday that we made a detour to Restoran Simon’s Delight for Ah Khai Char Siew instead of going to our favourite breakfast haunt at O&S.
Continue Reading

While everyone was partying the night away as they usher in the new year of 2010, we headed to Lala Chong for some rockin’ Chinese-style seafood. I believe Lala Chong needs no further introduction as they have made a name in the local dining scene as the famous seafood restaurant opposite Terminal 3 of Subang Airport.

Little did we know that they have expanded to Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara, just a little further down from our perennial favourite – Pantai Seafood Restaurant. Good for PJ folks like us!

We started off with the famous pucuk paku tossed with chunks of canned tuna, chili and garlic (RM10). Weird combination but it was really delicious!

Continue Reading

To my dearest Christine,

It’s your birthday and I’m thinking how glad I am that you were born. You are a good friend who’s there to provide support when times are tough, and you bring positive vibe and happiness to everyone.

Happy Birthday darling! I wish you another great year from the bottom of my heart.

Love,
Citygal

We celebrated Christine’s birthday last week with lots of presents, a simple dinner at Cristang and a lot of cam-whoring afterwards. Please do not read on if you are here for pictures of food worth drooling over because this post is flooded with vain pictures of *ahem* some female floggers *ahem*.

Continue Reading

Tim Pan Kor Kor, a new addition to the already happening row of shop lot in SS2 besides KTZ (reviews here & here), Sanbanto & A Little Dim Sum Place.  We were there with the sweet duo, Christine and Chris on a relatively quiet weekday night but the place was crowded. A good sign that the food must be good? Apparently not.

We tried their signature Mango Hor Fun on our previous visit to their Kepong outlet, so we settled for Mango Cheong Fun (RM instead. Enticing? The “fun” is actually some coconut flavored jelly that gave a nice and bouncy bite, a nice contrast to the juicy and meltingly soft flesh of those mango cubes.
Continue Reading

Welcome to Buonasera, your friendly neighbourbood restaurant. Please let us usher you.

Haha. We were seated at such an awkward place while waiting for a vacant table but we were OK with that. This shows how busy is the restaurant on a Saturday night (always a good sign). Nonetheless we waited seemingly patiently until we were finally called.

We started off with Minestrone soup (RM11.90), a thick Italian soup with whatever vegetables in season. I wasn’t too impressed because it has a lumpy texture rather than a smooth consistency. It’s just me because kampungboy begs to differ.

Prosciutto melon (RM28.90). You can’t go wrong with thin dry-cured ham and sweet, ripe melon wedges. A match made in heaven!

Pork snitzel parmigiana (RM27.90). Snitzel means a cutlet without bones; which make eating a bliss. Topped with Italian tomato sauce, it is a unique combination that makes you yearn for more.

Italian pork sausages (RM26.90). Again, you can’t go wrong with good quality gourmet sausages. It has a hearty flavour with a bacony flavour mixed with spices. Delicious!

However, Buoasera’s signature Free Range Rosemary Chicken (RM27.90) causes disappointment. The piece of chicken came out too dry and they’ve overdone the salt.

After a while, the chef came out from the kicthen and mingles with his guests. He used to work with Pizza Uno, and now he is running some pastas and desserts classes at the Cooking House.

We were filled to the brim but after much persuasion from Chef Enzo, we are having THREE desserts to end the meal. The first dessert was Mixed berry zabaglione (RM16.90), a mixed berry sorbet drizzled with some Italian egg custard made of egg yolks, sugar and Marsala wine. This is a very attractive looking dessert and is absolutely delicious!

Dessert No. 2 – Sticky Date Pudding (RM14.90) is to die for! Served with a very rich and sinful butterscotch sauce, this is not a dessert for dieters.

Last but not least, the tiramisu (14.90) was decent but personally I like more assertive mascarpone and a bit more alcohol.

With only some minor quirks here and there, Buonasera is still a decent place to go for some authentic home cooked Italian food. The pork dishes fare better and the desserts are to die for!

Buonasera
42, Jalan SS 2/66
Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel No: 03-7877 8586
(non halal. same row as Nam Heong and Hoppy Duck)

Map to Bazaar Ramadhan Jalan SS6/1, Kelana Jaya (click to enlarge)

Ah, the long weekend was great for a well deserved break! We met up with the gang (Chris, Christine, Ivy, Wen Ching), drove up to Klang for dinner (and bumped into James!), celebrated our fifth year together and make it a point to visit one of the bazaars around Klang Valley. We have always love the Bazaar Ramadhan at Kelana Jaya for the bewildering array of stalls selling delicious food.

Continue Reading