where and what to eat lah?

Pin It Tweet

Restoran Hong La Qiao (红辣椒) - literally means red chili, is one of the first restaurant in Malaysia serving Sichuan dishes and Sichuan hot pot. Located in Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah in Pudu for almost a decade, Restoran Hong La Qiao was first started by Mr. Li Ying Ping with chefs hailed from all over China.


Sichuan cuisine is famed for bold flavors, particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting from liberal use of garlic and chili peppers, as well as the unique flavour of the Sichuan peppercorn.


While Sichuan food is indeed spicy, that is only part of the story, as you see when you taste a fabulous cold dish like the famous spicy chicken (RM 10). This spicy chicken cold dish was done nicely, it wasn't just spicy but flavorful while retained the tenderness and juiciness of the meat as well.

Boiled shredded eel in spicy sauce (RM 26), wasn't as spicy numbing and flavorful as expected, it was just okay. At least the eel was fresh and chewy.


Spicy fried shredded potatoes (RM 20), heck expensive for potatoes but it was rather tasty! Instead of cooking it with vinegar sauce, each tantalizing crunchy strands were delicately covered with a layer of salted egg yolk. It was truly appetizing!


Braised minced pork balls in "Jang Nan" style (RM 20), or better known as the "lion's head", a casserole dish consists of large pork meatballs stewed with vegetables. The name derives from the shape of the meatball which is supposed to resemble the head of the lion and the vegetables, which is supposed to resemble the lion's mane. It was my first lion's head-to-head encounter and these over-sized meatballs were actually pretty delicious!


Stir fried French bean with minced meat (RM 18), a simple yet tasty dish - expensive though.

Verdict: Thought that this was a rip off tourists "black" restaurant, but I was wrong! Quality of the food here is pretty authentic and good, albeit some are expensive. Nevertheless, I'll definitely be back to try out their popular ma la steamboat.


Address:
No. 53, 55,
Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah,
Off Jalan Pudu,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2141 8078, 03-2141 0078
Business Hours: Opens daily from 10:30am to 10pm
Halal: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.1406, 101.71086
Map:

View Eat Lah Food Map in a larger map

Pin It Tweet

With a catchy name like Char Siew Zhai, I was instantly attracted to give it a try. The first time I went there was a couple of months ago, and I've been there four times since. One of the unique selling point of this place is the way the noodles are prepared. The guy making the noodles does put on quite a performance. Here's a promo video about Char Siew Zhai Wantan Mee.


His graceful dance of noodles blanching begins by boiling the noodles and going through the quick bath of cold water to create the springy texture. The pinnacle moment arrives when he flips the noodles high up into the air, backwards, forwards repeatedly until the excessive moisture is well drained. By looking at the walls and ceilings, you can tell mishaps do happened during this process. I'll just hope that mine does not touch the ceiling.


My high throwing 'flying' wantan mee (RM 2), well I guess the whole flying thing does work a little, the noodles were indeed springy and flavorful. The texture of the noodles was slightly different and it wasn't bad at all. Anyway, I'd still prefer Sg. Besi wantan mee's texture better.


Charcoal grilled char siew (bbq pork) and siew yoke (roast pork) for two (RM 7). The char siew was sticky, caramelized sweet, tender, slightly burnt and well marbled - just the way I like it. The siew yoke was pretty good too with the crispy crunchy golden-orange crackling skins and just-fatty-enough layers of succulent cuts. However, I wouldn't dare to say that their char siew was the best because of such high standards set by the other legendary char siew sellers such as Meng Kee, FSF and SFS.


Since it was my fourth visits, I can safely conclude that early morning till lunch is the best time to come for their char siew, while it is still all juicy and hot off from the grill. Unlike others popular fast-selling char siew places, it's hard to catch when they will replenish it, so never come late or you might end up with cold dry yucky char siew.


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.

Verdict: Decent food with great entertainment at an affordable price. A plate of wantan mee with decent portions of char siew for only RM 4. The catch is to go at the right time, early morning to lunch for fresh off the grill char siew.


Address:
No. 5, Jalan 20/13,
Paramount Garden,
46300 Petaling Jaya

Sunway Mas (Aman Suria)
No 37-1, Jalan PJU 1/3F,
Sunway Mas Commercial Centre,
47301, Petaling Jaya

SS2, Petaling Jaya
No 14, Jalan SS2/66,
47300 Petaling Jaya,
Tel: 012-628 1348
Business Hours: Opens daily from 8am till 10pm
Halal: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.106074, 101.625418
Map:

View Eat Lah Food Map in a larger map

Pin It Tweet

Restoran BBQ Kong Meng is isolated deep within Cheras in Taman Maju Jaya (nearby to Taman Shamelin Perkasa). Still, it is always packed during the lunch time. It was only 12:30 noon and it was already crowded till the queue extended out to the hot street. Service was really bad, my queue got cut just because I didn't have enough people to fill a table, I was pissed and eventually gave up waiting! However, I was still curious, so I went back a month later. I'm smarter this time, it was only 11:30 morning and service was much better due to a smaller crowd.


For all the hassles, it is only for one reason - "quack quack". Kong Meng's famous roast ducks take pride in their crispy skins and tender meat. Before serving, each roast duck is carefully bathed in hot cooking oil to give the skin a shiny crispy glaze.


Kong Meng sells mainly roast ducks with other side dishes such as siew yoke (roast pork belly), char siew (barbeque pork), cold dish sliced pork knuckles, stir fried mushrooms and vegetables.


The essence of the dipping sauce extracted from the roast duck gave a pleasant herbal fragrance and it complemented well with the tangy chili sauce.


Half portion of roast duck (RM 27), crispy skin that 'almost' melts-in-your-mouth coupled with nice tender meat with a hint of Chinese herbal spices. Good thing there wasn't much fats underneath the skin, it was probably drained out from the slow roasting process - my type of low fat diet!

A cold dish made of thinly sliced marinated pork knuckles (RM 10) served with a light sourish soy sauce. It was rare, cold and a recommended dish, unfortunately, it wasn't my cup of tea.


Featured by Axian from the "Taste with Jason 阿贤人情味" Astro show. Ever since it was aired over the TV, it gets crowded, price went up and service degrades. *sigh*


Verdict: Roast duck was good but not the best I've had (will write on that soon). Go early to avoid getting bad service treatment and long waits.


Address:
No. 11, Lorong Bunga Melati 2A,
Taman Maju Jaya, Cheras,
56100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-9282 4818, 03-9283 4231, 016-213 1818
Business Hours: Opens daily from 11am till it runs out (call to check).
Halal: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.128608, 101.743641
Map:

View Eat Lah Food Map in a larger map