where and what to eat lah?

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6 to 10 Grill & Nasi Lemak is located smack in the old PJ - right beneath the humble flats of Happy Mansion Section 17, PJ. It was around for many many years back (since 1992?), and many many food reviews had already laid their testimonies to the shop's fame.


I grew up in the same neighborhood nearby and throughout the years, I noticed how busy it became. Plus, the obvious increase in price, inflation?


Grill pork chop with pineapple sauce (RM 16.50), served with crinkle fries, salad, and drenched in a concoction of pineapple and brown sauce. The gravy blended well with the taste of the pork but the meat was a tad tough and dry. It wasn't the same as before, their pork chops used to bring back some tasty memories when it was more tender and juicier. The price back then during 2006 was RM 12, in 2008 it was RM 14.50 and now, RM 16.50.


Fish and chips with tartar sauce (RM 12.50), at RM 12.50, it was a steal! Freshly made to order and it was pretty decent. The other thing that I really hate about this place is - they charge RM 1 for extra sauces (tartar sauce, black pepper, brown sauce, sambal, etc.)! That's ridiculous, how much more that you want to earn!?


New Zealand grill lamb chop (RM 18.00), seasoned grilled lamb chop served with crinkle fries and salad. The price of this lamb chop back in 2006 was RM 13 only - that's RM 1.25 increment every year!


The only way to recuperate back the inflation is to drench the lamb chop with the mint sauce kau kau!

Nevertheless, the portion was satisfying, taste was okay and the meat was tender enough.


Their signature dish, red wine pork rib with pineapple sauce (RM 32.90), yes it's RM 32.90! And it only cost RM 18 back in 2006 - that's like RM 3.70 increment every year!


Whatever it is, these humongous ribs are a carnivore's delight and it brings out the caveman in us. So cut a meaty portion, add a bit of the grilled pineapple and slather with the sauce, it was heavenly! It was juicy and went well with the pineapple sauce that has a tinge of red wine and pineapple sweetness in it.


These ribs have more fats so they tend to be juicier and tender. Still, it wasn't the way I remembered how they used to be. Apart from being cheaper, I remembered how easily it melted-in-my-mouth. Somehow, something has changed.


Grill dory fish with lemon butter sauce (RM 13.80), this zesty grilled dory fillet is served with crinkle fries and salad. Decently nice and surprisingly, fish dishes here seems to be more economical than the other meats.


How often do you get nasi lemak served with non-halal pork rendang? Their famous nasi lemak is available from RM 8 and goes all the way to RM 15 with choices of either 1, 2 or 3 side dishes. With choices like chicken curry, mutton curry, beef rendang, pork rendang, sambal cuttlefish or dried shrimp with minched pork sambal. I chose the mutton curry and beef rendang nasi lemak served with the usual condiments; peanuts, ikan bilis, hard boiled egg and sambal (RM 11.50). The coconut rice was aromatic and cooked to right fluffy texture, while the sambal had the right spiciness and sweetness. Both the mutton and beef were cooked to a fork-tender texture, very fragrant and spicy!

It was actually really good! But was it worth RM 11.50? Pretty darn sure I can get cheaper nasi lemak with comparable quality. Plus, you can't ask for extra gravy or sambal unless you're willing to fork out RM 1, I'll rather stick to a friendlier nasi lemak joint!

Verdict: The price of food is rising so rapidly...it's frightening! 6 to 10 was once well-known for their tasty yet economical western food but not now. Still, 6 to 10 remains popular and often crowded during dinner time. I guess as long as there is demand, there will always be supply.

May 8, 2011: Sadly, 6 to 10 is moving out from Happy Mansion Sec17 to Aman Suria. Not sure why but it can't be good for the long loyal community in Sec17. Doubt we'll go all the way to Aman Suria but again, I'm sure they have no choice somehow.


Address:
BG-1, Block B,
Happy Mansion,
Jalan 17/13,
46400 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7955 4993 / 012-6019 976 (Eric)
Business Hours: Opens every Wednesdays - Sundays from 12pm - 2.30pm and 6:00pm - 10.30pm
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.123214, 101.634596
Map:

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The name Siew Yok! quickly caught my attention when I came across their Facebook page. It was newly opened, and it specializes in siew yok (roast pork) - as a pork lover, I had to unleash the pig in me as it can't say no to such food. Restoran Siew Yok! is located at SS23, Taman Sea (nearby Taman Megah), not too far away from Ming Tien food court and Fatty Crab.


When I first arrived, I already began to like this place, everything seems to be done correctly and thought of - e.g. specializes in siew yok, the use Facebook to reach out, the big red Siew Yok! signage that attracts you in, the clean airy restaurant, and the descriptive pamphlets that educate customers about the value and quality of their ingredients. It's good to know that they'd actually put so much special care into preparing these MSG-less foods.


Having siew yok here is like fine-dining steak, instead of choosing medium-rare, medium-well or well-done, you'll get to choose how your siew yok ends up! It comes in 3 skin textures: the Yellow Gold, Black Gold and Melting Gold - the level of crunchiness decreases from left to right with different textures and tastes. This is really something new to me!


According to them, a standard sized pig yields about 5 - 6kg of pork belly out of which, the most premium section, which has a thickness ranging between 2.5cm to 3.5cm is the most suitable siew yok. This premium section has a streaky pattern of alternating layers of fat and meat which yields superior roast meat. Then, each piece of siew yok is cut to a size that allows optimal enjoyment and satisfaction.


The Yellow Gold (RM 13.50), yellowish full bodied crunch for those who like to munch on a thicker crispy skin texture. The skin has a thick tasty crackle roast while retaining the succulent and juiciness of the pork. Yellow Gold is definitely my favorite!


Dark Gold (RM 13.50), a longer roast blackish gold skin that gives a bitter sweet finish to the siew yok.


Melting Gold (RM 13.50), reddish gold with softer crisp and a melting finish. Indeed, the Melting Gold wasn't as crispy as the rest but each roast variation has its own offerings in terms of skin textures and finishing tastes.


Char siew (bbq pork) comes in 3 flavors too - savory sweet (the classic darker look), sweet (with a hint of premium Chinese wine), and spicy (tangy and sweet Thai style). We had the savory sweet (RM 13.50) char siew, it was sweet, juicy and tender. Some might not like such char siew at all, it is different from the usual caramelized charred skin char siew. Nevertheless, it was refreshingly different, you can picked up the slight hint of Chinese wine used.


You'll need some rice or noodle to go along with those delicious siew yoke. The aromatic fragrant rice steamed with shallot oil (RM 2.50) and served with Chinese cabbage. According to them, they used premium fragrant rice and sunflower oil to prepare the shallot, this is to ensure healthier food and not too greasy. To me, the rice was just plain okay. It wasn't steaming warm enough for me and wasn't as tasty as the yellow chicken rice type.


Egg noodles (RM 3), lightly seasoned and made in-house with no preservatives and coloring. According to them again, they don't use any kan sui (lye-water) which many 'egg' noodle makers add to give noodle its yellow color. Kan sui has an alkaline taste which is why regular 'egg' noodles are drowned in thick black soy sauce to mask that taste. Instead, they've stuck to the tradition by using eggs and their egg noodles are made daily and contain no preservatives. Well, it does taste like home-made for sure and it was too plain for my liking. Usually, I don't enjoy plain rice or noodle, but somehow it combines perfectly with the strong tasting siew yok. Maybe it was meant that way, so it'll amplify the siew yok's taste and wouldn't overshadow it.


Green tea infused noodles (RM 4) served with lots of coriander leaves.


It tasted pretty much like the normal egg noodles, the green tea was very mild and hardly tasted any.

The chili sauce for dipping was gooooood! According to them, it contains no vinegar and hence it is not of a watery consistency. Instead, they use lemon juice for that wonderful citrus flavor that goes very well with the siew yok.


Just when I thought the chili sauce was good enough, the boss offered me their special sauce. It was mind blowing! The citrus tangy sauce with the siew yok was a match made in heaven and it was addictive-ly spicy!


Kai lan (RM 8.50), steamed kai lan with oyster sauce and fried garlic.


Mongol ribs (RM 9), pork ribs wrapped in sweet and tangy Mongolian sauce. Even though the ribs wasn't too tender but it was somewhat addictive - the marination sauce was simply awesome!


Apart from siew yok and char siew, they do have other side dishes like braised pork, beef briskets, roast duck and steamed fish.

Verdict: One of the best and professional looking siew yok I've had in a clean comfortable environment. Well, at least you don't have to go all the way down to Pudu, fight for a table, wait for half an hour and pay a premium for good tasting siew yok. I'll definitely be back for these magnificent siew yok!

Oct 2010: In my second visit, I noticed there is a change in their menu with few more added dishes. There is also an improvement in their egg noodles. It is tastier now since they used the braised pork gravy as the noodle sauce.



Jun 2011: Restoran Siew Yok! has moved to Kota Damansara! Hopefully they'll make it there.

Apr 2012: Found out that they are no longer operating in Kota Damansara anymore. Closed? That's sad.


Old Address:
25 (G/F),
Jalan SS23/15, Taman Sea,
47400 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
New Address:
27-1, Jalan PJU 5/18,
Dataran Sunway,
Kota Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
Tel: 019-212 5866
Business Hours: Opens every Tuesdays - Sundays from 11am - 2pm and 6:30pm - 9.30pm
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.116840, 101.613342
Map:

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Was introduced to a newly open steamboat restaurant in Cheras, Coco Steamboat which is well-hidden along a row of office shop-lots located in Taman Bukit Hijau (nearby Taynton View). Located same row with FUJIHOME office and directly opposite the Caltex and Esso stations along the Jalan Cheras main road.


Despite located within a hidden row of quiet shop-lots and newly opened, Coco Steamboat has already gained a pretty good reputation and often crowded during the dinner time.


What makes Coco Steamboat so special and distinctive was the herbal milk pork knuckle soup base (RM 15.90). Milky colored but without overwhelming the herbal peppery soup that has an entire pork knuckle bone in it, it was awesome!


The usual essential steamboat ingredients (RM 14.80/pax) and most important, they were all fresh and good quality.


The tangy spicy chili sauce for dipping, hardly used any since I didn't want to overpower the freshness of the ingredients and the delicious soup.


Handmade mushroom pork balls (RM 7.90), I liked it! It reminded me of steamboat in Hong Kong that hardly uses any mass-produced processed meat balls, they're all mostly freshly handmade.


Sliced fish (RM 15), even though there were some bones in it but it was very fresh.


Pork slice (RM 9.90), it was fresh and thinly sliced with proportionate fats in it.


Fresh crunchy prawns, you wouldn't want to overcook them!


The soup was milky clear, sweet, slightly pepperish and very tasty. Even the subsequent re-fills were the same milky soup based, unlike some place that uses the clear broth even though they charged you extra for the initial herbal soup based.


Explosive pork balls (RM 7.90), likely to explode after biting into it, gotta be careful!


Explosive impact, mild...with leaky sweet pork broth and minced pork meat stuffing inside.


No complains at all, all the ingredients were indeed fresh and up-to-par.


Dipping the thinly sliced pork meat that melts easily in your mouth!


The finale, cooked yee mee and it wasn't the overly salty type of yee mee.

Verdict: It was a very satisfying meal, the milky soup was unique and tasty, the ingredients were fresh and the price was reasonable. Definitely highly recommended!


Address:
No. 37 Ground Floor,
Jalan 1/119,
Taman Bukit Hijau (within Taynton View),
Cheras 56100,
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-9130 1940 / 019-338 2222 (Jasly Wong)
Business Hours: Opens daily from 6:00pm - 11:00pm (alternate Monday off)
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.085869, 101.741069
Map:

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