chinese

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice

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Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice steamed

Chicken rice is a deceptively simple dish but it’s one of those things that’s hard to do right. I’ve had horrendous chicken rice – rubbery and tasteless – and really orgasmic chicken rice.

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice is one of the latter.

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice Kelana Jaya

It’s been dubbed the best chicken rice in Petaling Jaya, and while I will not make that claim, it certainly is the best chicken rice in Kelana Jaya. It’s located near SS6 just after the KJ LRT station.

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice owner

It’s quite famous in its own right; I’ve visited this place numerous times since I used to work really close.

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken stall

I had cravings for chicken rice during the long weekend so I went to revisit this wonderful chicken rice place…twice in two days. I ate Β½ a chicken and two plates of rice on the first day. That was how much I missed it. I was STUFFED but satiated, until I woke up the next day and felt like going again. >.<

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice meal

This time I ordered Β½ a chicken and a plate of rice. The best thing about the chicken here is the melt-in-your-mouth texture and exquisite taste. It’s so tender the breast meat (almost) passes off as thigh and drumsticks!

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice eat

The juiciness of the chicken is preserved so every bite you take squirts the essence of chicken into your taste buds, saturating it as you chew on the soft and slippery chicken meat.

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice sauce

The rice is fragrant and the chilli sauce + ginger they serve with the chicken is mouth-watering.

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice essence

However, the proper way to eat it (well, the way I eat it anyway) is to salvage the sauce mixed with chicken essence that pools at the bottom of the plate and drizzle it on a prime, tender piece of chicken before eating it with some spring onions.

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken

Heavenly!

Kee Kee Bentong Life Chicken

Oh, and we saw a stray chicken running around the place. What are the chances of that? Heh!

Cubes @ Jaya One

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cubes jaya one

Cubes is billed as a Chinese cuisine / wine bar. Mr. Ang had us over for dinner courtesy of Eiling and it was good to have some Chinese food and single malt for a change. 

cubes pork

I’m not going to go into the dish names or prices since most of the stuff we had was off the menu so here’s a description of the dinner: 

cubes duck

This is probably the best duck I’ve ever eaten. It’s served Peking Duck style. 

cubes soft shell crab

Soft shelled crab! 

cubes soft shell crab bun

Best wrapped in a warm man tou (Chinese soft bun) and served with a bed of lettuce and sweet pineapple. I like the sesame seed hints on the crab. 

cubes pork knuckle

The next dish is roasted pork knuckle. You just can’t argue with the porcine goodness. It’s tender and melt-in-your-mouth. 

cubes pork belly

Just when you thought you’ve fulfilled your pig quota for the month, here’s the three layered pork belly with special sauce. This is the best dish of the night – tender, juicy and flavorful. The texture is exquisite with crunchy nuts on top contrasted with soft pork belly. 

cubes prawn

It just can’t get any better than this right? Wrong! Here come the huge prawns! 

cubes chicken

The chicken is almost an anti-climax after all that good food. 

cubes bbq pork

…but wait, pork awaits! There’s no such thing as too much pork! BBQ pork, done really well so it’s all juicy. Mmm… 

cubes veggies

It was a veritable pig out but there was an obligatory vegetable dish just to fulfill the FDA requirements. I like Cubes, but most of the stuff served that night isn’t available on the menu. You can always ask the owner though, I’m sure he can whip something up. πŸ™‚

Menglembu Honey Chicken and Mini Wantan Mee

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wonderful honey chicken menglembu

Menglembu is a town in Perak that’s famous for their peanuts. You know those peanuts with a huge ass thumbs up sign imprinted on the front that’s everywhere during Chinese New Year? Yep, those came from none other than Menglembu, Ipoh.

menglembu wonderful honey chicken

It’s also famous for their honey chicken so we stopped by Wonderful Honey Chicken on our way back from Penang. It looks like a simple roadside stall but the pure industry that goes on in the small shop lot behind the kitchen is nothing short of amazing.

menglembu honey chicken

Unfortunately, their honey roasted chicken was sold out (!!!) so we had to settle for fried chicken, char siew and “paper wrapped chicken” instead.

menglembu char siew

The char siew is made with the same sauce (e.g. honey) so if you close your eyes while eating the fried chicken dipped into the sauce and concentrate really, really hard, you can sort of imagine what the famous roasted honey chicken tastes like. >.<

paper wrapped chicken

*sour grapes*

Ching Bau Liang

The coffee shop by the roadside near Wonderful Honey Chicken serves a refreshing bowl of tong sui called Ching Bau Liang, complete with a quail egg! Do check it out if you’re ever in Wai Sek Gai (which is apparently what this entire food street is called).

menglembu wantan mee stall

Menglembu is also famous for their miniature wantan mee and the stall does a very brisk business late at night. We had to wait for about 30 minutes or so to get our chance at the ridiculously small portion of wantan mee.

menglembu wantan mee

I wouldn’t say there’s anything special about their wantan mee, it’s probably the Lilliputian serving size that provides most of the appeal. The side order of wantans we had that night was a bit off too.

menglembu wantan aunty

However, I do like the aunty manning the store, who did an impromptu kung fu pose for me. πŸ˜‰

Klang Bak Kut Teh

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klang bak kut teh

I know…who the hell goes to Klang to eat BKT at an eating establishment inside a mall instead of sweating it out like a man in some authentic looking (preferably run down) and well loved coffee shop?

klang bak kut teh cynthia

The new port coolies of course!

klang bak kut teh claudine

Although our line of work has more to do with computer ports than harbor ports, nothing beats a bak kut teh breakfast!

klang bak kut teh pork leg

The pork knuckles with enough fat to make 20 whales clutch their hearts with their flippers and float belly up.

klang bak kut teh pork ribs

The meaty pork ribs that just slides off the bone…

klang bak kut teh dishes

There’s nothing like the hustle and bustle of salt-of-the-earth hardworking men chowing down on bak kut teh before their daily honest backbreaking toil.

klang bak kut teh pork knuckles

Please excuse my wanton exhibition of the flavorful pork knuckles that squirts out its juicy secrets as you bite through the layer of fat into the meat, bursting into a million taste bud orgasms in your mouth.

klang bak kut teh aftermath

It’s too good! I’m going to go off and…er, lift some heavy objects or something now.

Shark Fin Noodle

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shark fin noodle stall

This has gotta be one of the more decadent dishes you can afford to eat every day. Weighing in at a relatively easy-on-the-wallet price tag of RM 5.50, it’s practically a steal! This Shark Fin Noodles is located at Ming Tien food court, and I feel obliged to proclaim the goodness of this particular dish to all and sunder.

shark fin noodle owner

The Shark’s Fin Noodle stall serves up shark fin soup and shark fin noodles. Imagine noodles dumped into shark’s fin soup and you’ll have an idea about what this dish is all about. It’s almost criminal that most places do not serve this – it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that chucking some good ol’ noodles into leftover shark fin soup would make a tasty dish.

shark fin noodle setup

Granted, at the price you’re forking out (RM 5.50) you shouldn’t expect prime fin from a 3,000 kg shark inside your dish…my agaration tells me that there’s only a sliver (or two) of real shark fin inside the dish.

shark fin noodle

However, the texture is authentic enough, and the crab sticks and other miscellaneous ingredients coupled with the starchy and vinegar-ish soup fabricates a more-than-passable approximation of shark’s fins soup (with noodles).

shark fin noodles macro

I am actually quite intrigued about shark’s fin noodles. It’s almost a no-brainer to create something like this. Leftover soup? No worries! Just reheat and dump in some noodles for a meal. It’s the first time I’ve sampled this dish and it has already engendered a craving, nay, a hunger for shark fin noodles with a healthy dash of vinegar.

shark fin noodles ppc

It’s a bargain at RM 5.50!

shark fin noodles end

Ming Tien food court has a lot of great stalls and they open until 3 AM…perfect for washing down your alcohol with some solid food. πŸ˜‰

Thong Kee @ PJ Old Town, beside the “smelly market”

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Thong Kee area

I’ve always believed that the best and most delicious food is found in the dirtiest of places. It’s a Malaysian thing. Heh! The places with great food aren’t really big on hygiene. Jennifer and Wye Meng told us about this awesome dai chow place beside the “smelly PJ Old Town main pasar” and we all headed down for lunch.

Thong Kee pasar

It was better than I expected – overflowing rubbish bins, the smell of pork and fish from the main wet market, flies buzzing around. I was very pleased…the ambience is unbeatable! πŸ˜‰

Thong Kee stall

The stall you want is called Thong Kee – just look #47. Thong Kee is very popular, so look out for the teeming mass of hungry customers congregating there.

Thong Kee cendol

Wye Meng told us that the stall beside Thong Kee serves up a mean bowl of cendol. I ordered mine with extra gula melaka and fu yoh, it really is something wicked on a hot afternoon. It’s one of the best cendol I’ve had.

She’s quite familiar with this place so she ordered all the signature dishes:

Thong Kee hokkien

This is 福建米 (fuk kin mai) otherwise known as Hokkien style fried bee hoon.

Thong Kee hokkien dish

The rice vermicelli doesn’t look like rice vermicelli at all, but it more than makes up for it with the amount of seafood present. It’s an aquatic celebration! I ate quite a few marine species and pronounce it good!

Thong Kee wat tan hor

This is ζ»‘θ›‹ζ²³ (wat tan hor). It’s kwong fu style fried kueh tiaw. I obviously didn’t write the Chinese characters – those were kindly furnished by Wye Meng. I can’t write Chinese.

Thong Kee wat tan hor dish

The wat tan hor is starchy and they’re quite generous with the seafood too. Marine treasures abound inside the dish – everything from cuttlefish to prawns. Wat tan hor does not have a “taste” per se – it’s a rather plain dish, but it’s good to balance out the two salty dishes. I also like how they cracked a raw egg into the wat tan hor. Authentic!

Thong Kee pai guat

This is ζŽ’ιͺ¨η‚†η”Ÿι’ (pai guat man sang meen) – stew pork rib fried with wantan noodles. It’s called Specialty Sang Mee on the menu and it’s their flagship dish.

Thong Kee pai guat dish

The cook is magnanimous with the pork ribs – just look at the CHUNKS of pork ribs in the dish. The noodles is done well, chewy and slurp-ilicious! I like the gravy too. Mmm…salty. Two thumbs up for this one; it’s the best dish at the place!

Thong Kee end

The food was so good that I ate four (4) plates…and it nearly sent me into a post-lunch coma. I would definitely go again; it’s seriously first-rate hawker style food. Thanks to Jennifer and Wye Meng for buying us lunch. Next one on me! πŸ™‚

Awesome pork chap fan @ SS 6

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chinese stall ss6

Allow me to wax lyrical about my favorite pork lunch. Restaurant New Yew Sang Seafood is a dai chow place that magically transforms itself into a chap fun (mixed rice) place in the day. It has a rather unassuming façade, but dishes up hearty meals for the office workers around these parts.

chinese snake

The crowd here during lunch is formidable – the tables and chairs snakes lazily out the front of the restaurant and runs along the side and all the way down, illegally infringing on the sidewalk of the other business establishments as a testament to their popularity.

chinese crowd

The place isn’t really optimal for eating though – the corrugated tin roof causes major heat retention in the afternoon sun and the place is always so packed it’s hard to even find a seat. There are two mixed rice places here – one is Malay and the other Chinese. Needless to say the Malay one doesn’t serve pork.

chinese stall

I usually come here if I want to take away. The pork has been calling me the entire week – this is the fourth consecutive day I’ve eaten here. I would eat here at night too, except they don’t open at night.

chinese owner

The owner with ready packed rice in Styrofoam boxes for easier distribution.

What’s so special about the chap fan over here? It’s just chap fan right? Yeah, when it boils (haha) down to that, I can’t exactly put my finger on why I like this place. It has an impressive repertoire of dishes with enough variety that you can go for a fortnight without having to eat the same dish twice. That’s not the reason though – I always get the same stuff every day. If I was forced to cough up a reason, I’ll say it’s the pork.

chinese left

The left flank of food.

I’m particularly fond of the stewed pork over here. It’s unashamedly swine: loud, brash and full of fat. It’s like there’s a neon sign saying PIG over it.This is not a place which believes in taking off the skin and fat before serving pork – the huge chunks of lard and chewy skin is not discarded, but celebrated. Totally unapologetic. I like.

chinese front

Center.

I always take one huge steamed chicken drumstick in soy sauce – it tastes like the “Asian marinated chicken” I used to get in Countdown (a chain of grocery stores in NZ) to microwave before eating. I think you’re supposed to take one piece (each drumstick is conveniently chopped into three bite sized pieces) so perhaps this is why my rice tends to rack up a bill on the high side.

chinese right

The right flank – the pork is here.

I also like the tomato cooked with eggs and starch, producing that distinctive look. I’ve never been a big fan of this when I was a kid, but it was the best (as in palatable) dish that the cook in rehab could come out with. You can’t exactly go wrong with a couple of tomatoes, an egg and starch.

chinese tapau

It usually costs RM 7 for my pork extravaganza…and it’s worth every penny (or sen).


View SS 6 Pork chap fun in a larger map

Guaranteed to send you into a post-lunch coma. πŸ˜‰

Seafood Noodles @ SS4, Petaling Jaya

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seafood noodle ss4

I am told there’s an undiscovered gem serving awesome Hoi Seen Meen (Seafood Noodles) in SS4, Petaling Jaya. A couple of us went there for lunch. The unassuming place is either called B & Best Restaurant or Restauran Rasa Sayang. I don’t really know which really, since there are two signboards.

seafood noodle stall

The trick is to peek in and find this stall. It’s conveniently labeled Seafood Porridge & Noodle for those of us who have problems with Chinese comprehension. I’m told it serves both clear and spicy broth. There are reports that you can opt to add in abalone as well, but be prepared to fork over the cash for that. I think its RM 68 for abalone. Not that hoi seen noodles are cheap, it’ll set you back at least RM 12 (not RM 11 as the sign says).

seafood noodles fishcake

You can order a side of fish cake (RM 7) to go with your seafood extravaganza. Might as well do the full Monty right?

There are two variants of Seafood Noodle that you can order:

seafood noodles spicy

Spicy Soup Seafood Noodle

seafood noodles dry

Dry Seafood Noodle (the Soup Seafood Noodle looks like this too – just imagine the noodles dumped inside the broth)

seafood noodle end

I had the dry seafood noodle since I’m not a big fan of hot, soupy things…especially in the midday sun, where you’re apt to sweat 2 liters just from attacking the broth.


View SS4 Seafood Noodles in a larger map

It should be noted that all dishes are RM 12 and not RM 11 as the sign states. You can micromanage the type of fish you want too: Choose from garoupa, pomfret, or whatever the catch of the day is. It’s pretty good seafood noodles, filled with aquatic goodness!

Bak Chang

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bak chang

It was the Dragon Boat Festival last night…a Chinese celebration of medium-high significance. I just pulled the importance rating straight out of my ass. I honestly don’t know much about Chinese festivals. :p

It’s not as big as Mid Autumn Festival but it’s bigger than the round glutinous rice balls festival. I love it coz I like eating bak chang.

bak zhang

Bak chang is actually a Hokkien term for zhongzi (the proper Mandarin Romanization) and it refers to a very specific type of zhongzi – meat dumplings. It’s usually stuffed with pork, mushrooms and salted egg yolk.

This cache comes from @shshshhmoking (yes, I’m a little obsessed with Twitter right now) who told me it’ll give Sibu’s finest a run for its money. It’s delicious! Thanks! πŸ™‚

Little known fact: I didn’t like eating bak chang when I was a kid. I only started craving for it recently coz I met this girl last year who’s a bit of a traditionalist. She’s the one who got me started on eating rice in the afternoon (as in dai chow, k?) during my lunch break. Mornings too. LOL!

Teow Chew Meng @ Sunway Mas

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teow chew meng

Teow Chew Meng is a Teo Chew eating establishment located at Sunway Mas. I would not be surprised if the proprietor’s name is Meng and people call him Teow Chew Meng, but that’s not the case. The owner goes by the name Steven and there are photos of him adorning the entrance of the place with various local and regional celebrities like Jack Neo (the Singapore director).

meng octopus

The boiled octopus (RM 12) came highly recommended so we ordered that for the appetizer. It’s just boiled baby octopus but involves no small amount of effort and skills to make it come out slightly crunchy (!). It pairs well with the spicy peanut sauce served alongside it. It’s nothing to write home about though – perhaps a lot of that has to do with being overshadowed by the superb Shark’s Fin Mee Sua Tow.

meng apple beancurd

We also ordered the Apple Beancurd (RM 10) which is an unusual combination of deep fried tofu with sauce and prawns. There are finely shredded green apples topping this dish and the texture and taste contrast between the tofu, chilli sauce, green apples and prawns gives a tantalizingly palate-confusing yet delicious experience.

meng salted egg

The other side dish we ordered is the Seafood Roll (RM 10) which is stuffed with prawns, fish, vegetables and salted egg. It’s another one of the house specialties, the salted egg yolk is supposed to add another dimension to this classic (and usually meat stuffed) dish. Teow Chew Meng is a big fan of substituting meat with seafood. The salted egg is like a surprise in the seafood roll – there’s a burst of flavor on your palate when you bite into it, which increases your appetite exponentially. πŸ™‚

meng shark fin

The flagship dish of Teow Chew Meng is their excellent Shark Fin’s Mee Sua Tow. It’s similar to their popular Mee Sua Tow (all aquatic creatures are intact) except this version includes an added premium ingredient – Shark’s Fin. The strands of shark’s fin are sprinkled liberally on top of the dish. It costs about RM 11 per person, which is actually quite cheap considering a bowl for four (4) allows everyone second helpings with leftovers to boot.

meng mee sua tow

Teow Chew Meng does not skimp on the seafood either – marine biologists would have a field day identifying the large chunks of fish, clams, squid, prawns, oysters, crab sticks, fish maw, and cuttlefish inside. I love the mee sua over here. It has the consistency of porridge (not congee, porridge) but the starch and abundance of seafood and gravy makes it go down really well. It’s slippery in a good way.

meng shark fin mee sua tow

The Shark’s Fin Mee Sua Tow tastes great with seafood. This is the distinguishing feature of Teow Chew Meng – they use various creatures of the deep which unleashes (not infuse, it literally lets loose) a plethora of delicious seafood flavors into the mee sua. Nom nom nom. I ate three helpings.


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Teow Chew Meng is located at Aman Suria and it’s surprisingly free from the usual office lunch crowd. I think we were the only ones there. Parking can be a problem during lunch, so car pool if you plan to go. The bill came up to about RM 160 for 9 people. I highly recommend going in a group and getting the Shark’s Fin Mee Sua Tow.

You’ll thank me for it, it’s awesome! Just thinking back makes me drool…

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