where and what to eat lah?

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It was my first time stepping into Hanazen and expecting it to be very much like any other popular authentic fine Japanese restaurants around.


Lets start with the salmon yamakake (RM 13). Yamakake refers to a popular way of eating yamaimo, a type of yam cultivated in Japan. Personally, I felt that yamakake is not meant for everyone, it was bland, pulpy with sticky texture, in another word: yucky! It was cold and tasteless without the added shoyu and wasabi. Such a unique out-of-the-world mind blowing taste! By the way, it is hard to find yamakake anywhere else.


5 precious pieces of toro sake (RM 25). The slices are covered in these whitish lines of fat that make this a much sought after portion of the fish, hence the pricier tag that comes with it. It was fresh, bouncy and rich in flavor.


DIY sukiyaki hot pot with beef slices, vegetables and eaten with a raw egg dip (RM 30).


Part of the sukiyaki, a plate of fresh beef slices.


The soup is cooked in a soy sauce, sugar, and mirin broth was overly sweet for me. Surprisingly, the longer it cooked, the more kao (sweeter) it became.


Ochazuke combines two quintessentially Japanese ingredients, plain white rice and green tea. It is the toppings that makes it flavorful, common toppings include seaweed, furikake, sesame seeds, wasabi and a selection of main toppings; either mentaiko, ikura, ume, sake or unagi.


Ikura ochazuke (RM 16), it was okay but a little bland for me. As a Malaysian, I think I'll still prefer my curry rice more.


Definitely a great comfort food to have when you are sick and not feeling well.


Yakitori (skewered chicken, RM 9) and skewered hotate (scallops, RM 12). Flavorful, sweet and perfectly grilled.

Sake teriyaki (RM 16), perfectly grilled salmon fillet marinated with the sweet teriyaki sauce.

Verdict: My overall experience wasn't that impressive, maybe I'm not Japanese enough to truly appreciate it. Furthermore, the price is on the high-end, anytime I'd prefer either Rakuzen, Sushi Tei or Sushi Zanmai.


Address:
Hanazen
43-G, Block C,
Jaya One,
72A, Jalan Universiti, Section 13,
46200, Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7954 8000
Business Hours: Opens daily from 12pm - 3pm and 6pm - 11pm
Pork Free: Yes
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.117858, 101.635814
Map:

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The famous Sg. Besi Wan Tan Mee stall never fails to attract the crowds, especially for the late diners from the wee hours. I used to eat here occasionally after work during my working days in KL. This stall is just next to a car accessories shop located off the Sungai Besi highway leading from KL to Seremban, just after the Nichii Fashion City and BHPetrol station.


There are a great variety of wan tan mee to choose from, such as char siew wan tan, chicken slice, ginger duck, curry wild boar, mushroom chicken leg, Hakka stewed pork and etc. Yet, despite all the choices available, I am only faithful and loyal for their curry wild boar wan tan mee, only that and nothing else.


Other than the usual green pickled chillies, they have the dried shrimps spicy sambal.


Curry wild boar wan tan mee (RM 4.50), rich thick flavorful curry poured over the springy egg noodles with perfectly cooked tender wild boar meat. This luxurious dish is absolutely divine!


Out of my morbid sense of curiosity, I abandoned my usual curry wild boar wan tan mee in favor of the usual char siew wan tan mee (RM 4.50). As expected, the char siew wasn't one of the best, but it wasn't one of the worst either. Luckily, the springy texture of the noodles saved the day.

A bowl of sui kow (dumplings) soup (RM 6), six pieces of sui kow wrapped with decent amount of fillings which consist of prawns, pork and water chestnut.


Just like any other sui kow except for the premium price, RM 1 per piece.

Verdict: A good place to stop by for late night supper, even though it is a little more expensive than most popular wan tan mee stalls, but the curry wild boar wan tan mee is well worth it!


Address:
190H, Jalan 2 1/2 Miles Sg. Besi,
55200, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-9222 8177
Business Hours: Opens daily from 6pm - 3am
Halal: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.122556, 101.708947
Map:

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I have been a regular customer of Jalan Imbi's Ampang Yong Tow Foo for many years. Ideally located in the heart of Jalan Imbi (at the side of Honda showroom), this stretch of hawker stalls only opens at night for dinner until late night. This assembly of hawker stalls is difficult to miss as it is always bustling with people every night.


The varieties are pretty standard ranging from stuffed white beancurd, stuffed chili, stuffed bittergourd, stuffed lady's finger, stuffed aubergines, stuffed tau pok (fried beancurd skin), fried sui kow, etc.

Select your own freshly stuffed pieces of homemade yong tau foo and they are usually served in soups. For the size of each yong tau foo and the amount of fish paste used, it is still reasonably priced at RM 0.80 per piece (used to be RM 0.70!).


Their fried sui kow (dumplings) is the best-selling and one of my favorites among the many yong tau foo stalls around. Freshly fried till perfect crispy texture with bouncy tasty generous fish paste filling in it. Dip the freshly fried sui kow into the soup allowing it to absorb into it and accompanied it with sauces (sweet and chili sauce) - perfect! I got to admit they don't wrap the neatest looking sui kow but it is hard to resist after the first bite.


My standard selection of yong tau foo here usually consists of 70% fried sui kow and 30% for the other assortments. The rest of it are just decently good (nothing still beats the bestest softest smoothest stuffed white beancurd from Kuantan which I had many years back, almost as smooth as tau fu fah!), nothing special except for the decent RM 0.80 price per piece.

Verdict: Cheap, good and convenient! Their fried sui kow is a must-have!


Address:
Ampang Yong Tow Foo,
Jalan Imbi,
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 016-221 2549
Business Hours: Opens daily from 6pm - 10pm except Tuesday
Halal: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.145733, 101.715202
Map:

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