where and what to eat lah?

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Started after World War II in 1945, this pre-merdeka Restoran Soong Kee is well-known for their famous Beef Ball Noodles. Located at the intersections of Jalan Tun H.S. Lee and Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin (across RHB Bank), this area is perpetually traffic jam with no proper parking spots. For convenience sake, there is another outlet located at Lot 10 Hutong.


Still, this is like one of THE place to be when it comes to beef ball noodles. The famous springy thin Hakka noodles topped with finely minced pork cooked with the requisite family's secret concoction of herbs and spices (RM 5 for small, RM 6 for big).


Mixing the minced pork sauce and noodles together for a sinfully delicious and satisfying meal.


Bouncy and springy Beef Balls (RM 6 for small, RM 10 for big), with texture similar to fish balls.


A good beef ball noodle normally comes with a great chili sauce.


Generous bowl of beef consomme filled with mixed beef slices, tripe and tendon (RM 6 for small, RM 10 for big). Everything was so tender!

Surprises were endless at Restoran Soong Kee as we were given free gelato to try from a small freezer kiosk located inside the restaurant.


JezRipe Fresh Fruit Gelato is locally made from 100% fresh fruits, low sugar content and doesn't contain any dairy ingredients. We used to stock up on our favorite flavors like Coconut, Durian and Strawberries when it was still RM 3/cup. It shot up to RM 4 and we stopped buying it!


We loveeeee coconut ice-cream and can hardly find it here; it's a must-eat whenever we traveled to Bangkok. JezRipe's coconut gelato is decently smooth with a real and rich coconut flavor. This was our temporary fix for coconut ice-cream cravings.

The strawberries flavor is pretty good too, it's a little sourish and sweetish at the same time with bits of strawberries in it.


For durian lovers, the durian flavor is strong and rich - we couldn't resist not having another cup while driving back home!

Verdict: Parking and traffic jam can be a nightmare, it's best to go late or during Saturday evening. The other main attraction here is the Loa Yau Kee Porridge stall located right outside the restaurant.


Address:
86, Jalan Tun H.S. Lee,
50000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 017-2727 507
Business Hours: Opens from Mon - Sat 11am - 10:30pm. Closed on Sunday and Public Holiday.
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.147325, 101.696701
Map:

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Sinpo Woori Mandoo (신보우리만두) is a restaurant started off as a family store in a small neighborhood at Sinpo, Incheon in 1971. In the past forty years it has become one of Korea's staple mandoo / mandu (dumpling) chains. Now, this popular restaurant chain is available throughout Korea and the outlet we went was strategically located at Dongdaemun. Since Dongdaemun is a shopping district that never sleeps, the outlet here practically opens 24 hours. And here we are, 3am in the morning!


Like any other Korean restaurants, every meal includes from 2 to 6 banchan (side dishes) that form part of the meal or compliment the main dishes. The most important is of course kimchi, and Koreans do not consider a meal complete without kimchi. Everyone's kimchi tastes different even though it is fundamentally the same. The kimchi here was one of our favorite, it was well-flavored with the right degree of spicy and sour taste.


Gogi Mandoo / Pork and Vegetables Dumpling (KRW 3,500 / RM 9.98), eight pieces of Sinpo Woori Mandoo famous handmade dumplings served with a dipping sauce made from soy sauce and vinegar. The minced fillings are usually pork, tofu, clear vermicelli noodles and various vegetables such as onions, spring onions, cabbages and leeks.


Korean mandoo tasted slightly different from the Chinese jiaozi (dumpling), it was lighter and less meaty. The Chinese jiaozi are usually meat-centric, while Korean mandoo tend to pile on the veggies.


Kimchi Mandoo / Pork, Vegetables and Kimchi Dumpling (KRW 3,500 / RM 9.98), it tasted very much similar to gogi mandoo except for the little bit of spicy and sour taste. It wasn't too bad but the kimchi flavor wasn't strong enough to stand on its own.


Mandoo Kalgooksoo / Knife Cut Noodles Soup with Pork Dumplings (KRW 5,000 / RM 14.25), thick knife-cut noodles cooked in a clear seasoned soup with seaweed and pork dumplings. The soup was tasty and the hand knife-cut noodles were just right. It had the right texture and chewy consistency - deeply satisfying and hearty!


Nakji Dupbab / Rice with Octopus and Vegetables in Sweet Spicy Sauce (KRW 6,000 / RM 17.10), rice in heated stone pot served with stir-fried octopus and vegetables in spicy sauce.

Mixed everything evenly and ended up with a bowl of red fiery hot rice. It was spicy, sweet and hot all at the same time. We have pretty high spicy tolerance but this dish was beyond us! It was both torture and pleasure.

Verdict: Sinpo Woori Mandoo may look like a fast food restaurant with its simple interior but the food here is made fresh, reasonably good and affordable.


Address:
18-37, Euljiro 6-ga,
Dongdaemun, Jung-gu,
Seoul, South Korea
Other Known Outlets:
Insadong, Myeongdong, COEX, etc.
Tel: 02-2263 7501
Business Hours: Opens daily 24 hours
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 37.567726, 127.007658
Map:

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While Hong Kong style char chan teng (茶餐厅) and kopitiams have won the hearts of many young patrons, while I, personally not a fan of such sprawling trends. Not because I'm not young anymore, but more of paying a premium price for decent or most of the time, lousy foods. At least, not until I found out about Tsim Tung Restaurant, located at Pandan Indah and established since 2004 as part of the member of Restoran Oversea Group.


Like your typical cafes with simple designs and mediocre service by all the young workers that don't really care much. Surprisingly, instead of having young hippy crowd, the patrons seems to be mainly consist of adults and family people. I was here once many years back and didn't return ever since till I've heard that it has changed for the better. Let's see...


Water cress honey with lemon in a jug (RM 5.20), refreshing drink for the warm weather.


Original bubble milk tea (RM 4.50), rather disappointing. Too much ice and the pearls were like the frozen kind.


The only reason why I'm back at Tsim Tung is for the Japanese style pork rib with soup noodle (RM 9.80), or known as soft bone pork cartilage noodle (猪软骨面). Two pieces of long hours stewed till absolutely tender soft bone pork cartilage that are fully absorbed with flavors - it was divine biting into it!


You can tell it was cooked for long hours when the soft bone literally melts in your mouth like a gel form. Not to mention for the ladies, it is packed with collagen. The soup was clear yet tasteful and complemented well with the noodles and the flavorful pork pieces.


Japanese style pork rib rice (RM 9.20), equally nice with the extra gravy for the rice except for...it only came in one miserable piece?!? The noodles version has two of these though, better value for money!


Hot and spicy pork dices fried rice (RM 9.50), it was seductively kissed with wok hei that it was simply a dream to eat it.


Fish fillet with rice noodle in fresh tomato soup (RM 8.90), a refreshing combination of light flavors that ranges from sweet to tangy sourish, the soup was actually quite addictive.


Pork chop burger in Macau style (RM 6.50), it wasn't great overall but the fries were a different story.

Cheese baked pork chop with fried rice (RM 12.90), a typical HK-style cheese baked dish with lightly fried rice, fried pork chops, tomato-based sauce and cheese.


The portions were actually quite generous and big.


A bowl of fries, I know I know...weird isn't it. But this fries somehow reminded me of the fries I had in the Burger King from UK. Served piping hot and crispy golden brown with a buttery layer on the outside, not bad at all for cheap fries.


Hong Kong polo bun slabbed with kaya and a slice of frozen butter (RM 2), a little small and nothing fancy but at least it was served warm.


XO sauce seafood fried rice (RM 11.90), filled with wok hei and fresh succulent prawns. The "fried department" seems to be a safe choice apart from my favorite soft bone pork cartilage noodle.


Grilled pork chops with jumbo hot dog in red wine sauce (RM 19.80), not one of the best pork chop but hey, I'm not complaining for the price I've paid for and the huge portions enough for a ravenous tummy.

Verdict: By far, this is one the few cafe-like restaurant that I'm willing to return back, especially for the soft bone pork cartilage noodle! Overall, Tsim Tung has improved over the years in offering edible yet tasty HK-style food with a great value for money.


Address:
22-28, Jalan Pandan Indah 4/6,
Pandan Indah,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-4295 1896
Business Hours: Opens daily from 11am - 1am
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.130360, 101.755403
Map:

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