food review

RM 4 chap fan – will cause food poisoning

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ss2 chap fan stall

There’s this place in SS2 that serves chap fan and since I was there, I decided to go for it. Note that the chap fan has:

Curry chicken drumlet
Lots of pork ribs
Even more pork belly
A fried egg

ss2 chap fan selections

Now, this is pretty cheap considering that I’m used to paying RM 10 for chap fun at my favorite outlet in SS6. However, the pork belly here leaves me wanting (it does not have the liberal hand that shakes the MSG, salt and starch from the good chef at SS6). All photos taken with the Sony Cyber-shot TX-5. I had food poisoning after that to boot.

ss2 chap fan

Anyway, I will be going to Melbourne tomorrow night. It’s technically Saturday since the flight is at 1 am but for all intents and purposes, it’s Friday night. As usual, I’m flying by the seat of my pants – haven’t packed, don’t have accommodation (fell through due to parental visit), but hey, what’s an adventure if not going to Australia with just my meagre savings without a place to stay?

Yup, if you said IT’S AN ADVENTURE, you’ll be 110% correct. 😉

Yangshuo beer fish

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yangshuo beer fish restaurant

Yangshuo is famous for beer fish – a local specialty that is cooked with lots of chillis, garlic, peppers and of course BEER! The fish is called Li River fish (another must-try if you go to Guilin) although I don’t know exactly what type of fish that is.

yangshuo view

I went to a rather touristy place to sample this awesome dish so I can’t vouch for the authenticity of it. The view is great though and we were each given a RMB 50 coupon to dine on. I was the only person traveling alone in that Li River cruise tour and this girl Kiko who was there with her mom and dad was kind enough to wave me over to share their table.

chinese menu

WHY DO THE MENUS ONLY HAVE CHINESE CHARACTERS?

yangshuo tofu

I left the ordering to them since I can’t read anything but I managed to order beer fish and beer to go along with it (it’s the perfect combo). It is obvious I didn’t do the ordering coz here you have tofu. REAL TOFU. As in the kind that comes without anything to somewhat mask the inherent tastelessness of tofu.

yangshuo shoots chicken

This is a vegetable dish cooked with chicken. It consists primarily of shoots and it’s not too bad but I’m not a huge fan of vegetables.

yangshuo local fern

Now this is an interesting one – it’s a local fern gathered in Yangshuo by the locals. It tasted bitter but I found it quite interesting and ate quite a bit of this. I think the fact that it’s indigenous to Yangshuo made me go against my vegetable principals.

kiko

This is Kiko. She’s with an MNC and was based in Malaysia for a bit.

yangshuo beer fish

I always leave the best for the last so here I present to you the famous Yangshuo Beer Fish!

yangshuo tea

You can actually taste the malt and hops from the beer fish and it surprisingly adds a lot to the taste of the tender and succulent Li River fish. The gravy was so good I drizzled it over my rice, which apparently is not compliant with the etiquette of Chinese dining, along with my propensity for sticking my chopsticks into the rice bowl. smirk

beer fish

I can’t remember how much the bill was but we had to top up about RMB 100 (about RM 50). I offered to pay since I was the only one who ordered beer (although Kiko and her dad drank it too) but they won’t have anything to do with that. I had to literally force my Yuan into the hands of the waitress, to the protests of the family and a lot of back and forth before I escorted the waitress away with my Yuan.

yangshuo beer fish end

That’s Chinese culture for you. Heh! Anyway, the family is not from around here too – they’re visiting from Guangzhou and their family was kind enough to ask me to visit anytime and they’ll be my tour guide (and a place to stay). w00t! I’ll be going after my Melbourne trip. 🙂

Pangkor Curry Fish Head Restaurant

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Pangkor Curry Fish Head Restaurant

Pangkor Curry Fish Head Restaurant is not located in Pangkor but it sure seems like it. It’s nestled somewhere deep within the recesses of Subang and is Aud‘s regular stomping grounds. The proprietor there even knows her coz her family eats there so often.

Pangkor Curry Fish Head Restaurant interior

I am told this eating establishment offers extremely good curry fish head. The place is full of patrons digging into dinner and the four of us managed to find a table in the restaurant. There is an al freso area and an indoor dining section and most of the tables can be seen with the flagship curry fish head.

Pangkor Curry Fish Head Restaurant Spinach with Garlic

This is Spinach with Garlic – which I tried to eat more of, considering I’m not exactly the embodiment of healthy living. It’s RM 8 for a small dish and RM 10 for a large one. I can’t comment much about vegetables, since I never clicked on the Like button on this particular food group ever since I was a kid.

Pangkor Curry Fish Head Restaurant Honey Soy Chicken

Moving on to the meat of the post, this is the Honey Soy Chicken (RM 15, 20, 25 for S, M, L). It is endorsed by Ho Chiak as the sticker on the menu proclaims loudly (if words can talk that is). I found this rather good – the taste and texture is spot on. Sorry I stole all the good bits of the chicken. smirk

Pangkor Curry Fish Head Restaurant Fried Homemade Beancurd with Minced Chicken

The next dish is the Fried Homemade Beancurd with Minced Chicken (RM 10 for small, RM 15 for large). Beancurd to me belongs to the tofu group which I am not particularly fond of either. However, this dish surprised me with the exquisitely tender beancurn contrasted with the lean chicken meat. The gravy does the dish much justice too. I used Gourmet Mode on my Sony Cyber-shot TX-5 to take all the photos in this post.

Pangkor Curry Fish Head dish

Now this is the highlight of the meal – Curry Grouper Fish Head! It’s also bears the prominent lips, teeth and tongue logo of Ho Chiak and I stand here as witness that this is really good curry fish head.

There is no santan (coconut milk) added to the curry fish head – it’s cooked the Proper Way (TM). The price ranges from RM 28 – RM 75 depending on the portion. I liked the tender and succulent fish but the best part about this tai chow place’s signature dish is the curry sauce.

Pangkor Curry Fish Head

You can practically eat a plate of steamed rice with the curry alone – the medley of spices produces an opus of epicurean delight on your taste buds!

Pangkor Curry Fish Head Restaurant can be a little hard to find so I’m going to list down the GPS coordinates:

N 03º 04′ 40.5″
E 101º 35′ 18.8″

I saved it so I can come here to eat the curry fish head again. You know the best thing about Pangkor Curry Fish Head Restaurant? It’s not only fucking good but it’s halal to boot!

Pizza Hut Fish King Pizza

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pizza hut king fish pizza launch

Do you see what I see?

pizza hut king fish pizza official launch

Seafood lovers rejoice! Pizza Hut officially launched the Fish King Pizza on the 5th of May. Six of us descended to their Kota Damansara outlet to get a first taste of their latest offering on the very same day.

pizza hut king fish pizza aud

This is Aud attempting to emulate the guy in the ad. Pretty accurate pose. smirk

pizza hut king fish pizza

The Pizza Hut Fish King Pizza (RM 32.90 a la carte for a Regular sized pizza) comes with 8 breaded and deep fried Alaskan Pollock Fish Fingers on every slice. The fish fingers are tender and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside – just like what a good fish and chip shop would produce!

pizza hut king fish pizza lemon

I love the presentation too – there are wedges of lemon neatly arranged smack dab in the middle of the pizza for you to squeeze on the fish sticks. The fish sticks are made from specially imported Alaskan Pollock which is a type of cod.

fish

Spot the Alaskan Pollock!

(Don’t waste too much time on it – there is none coz that photo was taken in Sabah, not Alaska, but here’s a photo I nicked from Wikipedia)

alaskan pollock

It dubbed the “largest remaining source of palatable fish in the world” (don’t play play) and looks like this – you can read more about the Alaska Pollock here.

It tastes better with lemon!

pizza hut king fish pizza slice

The Fish King Pizza is topped with crab sticks, Mozzarella cheese, roasted capsicums, yellow onions and juicy pineapples, all on a cool lime mayo sauce base. I love the sprinkling of fresh parsley on top of the pizza.

pizza hut king fish pizza eat

Biting into the pizza is simply orgasmic…the initial crunch of the hot fish fingers and the citrus tang of the lemon before the creamy sauce kicks in, with a medley of seafood delights competing for attention on your taste buds. The pineapple in the pizza gives it a sweet aftertaste too. Perfect for our hot Malaysian weather!

pizza hut king fish pizza food

We were given a lot of food, more than we can actually eat, thanks to the hospitality of Winston Lee and Nor Aziani Azizan of Pizza Hut!

pizza hut king fish pizza snap shots

To add to the aquatic theme, we were given a Pizza Hut Fish King Pizza disposable underwater camera which is (stating the obvious) waterproof.

pizza hut king fish pizza real fake

Which one is the real pizza? *feels very tall standing beside Aud*

pizza hut

There are two contests going on – one from Pizza Hut where you stand to win RM 40,000 in cash and prizes by just taking a photo with the Fish King Pizza. Detailed mechanics here.

The other one is for Nuffnang bloggers where you write a blog post titled “Big Fish Moment with Pizza Hut” and share your Fish King Pizza experience for a shot at RM 2,000 in cold, hard cash for the 5 best entries. Join the contest now!

pizza hut king fish pizza us

Hail to the (Fish) King (Pizza), baby!

pizza hut king fish pizza serve

Tonight, we feast! =D

Jothy’s Fish Head Curry Banana Leaf Restaurant

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a.k.a. The Worst Fish Head Curry and Banana Leaf Restaurant in the Known Universe

jothys fish head curry banana leaf rice

Jothy’s Fish Head Curry Banana Leaf Restaurant is located in Api Api Center in KK, Sabah and has a lot of impressive stickers on its front window facade, including one that says “as seen in Lonely Planet”, which was the reason we headed there to eat in the first place. I place a certain amount of trust in the Lonely Planet brand.

jothys interior

The first clue that it might not exactly be the best place to eat when we walked in is the underwhelming crowd in the restaurant. We were the only ones there. I swear I could hear crickets chirping.

jothys banana leaf

Their banana leaf rice seems authentic enough…

jothys banana leaf rice

…but the taste did not live up to expectations. I tried every single one of the side serves and found them severely wanting.

jothys curry fish head

Their flagship signature dish – the curry fish head – was tough, overcooked and dry. It’s certainly not “the freshest fish head from the market”.

jothys curry fish head meat

I don’t know what kind of fish this head came from but finding meat is like looking for a needle in a haystack (or insert other cliched analogy here since there are a lot of fish bones in there).

jothys prawn

The fried prawns were not “succulent” as the menu claimed, but tough. I’m also highly doubtful about the “choice fish eggs fried to perfection” description as our fish roe had the same taste and texture of cardboard (not that I’ve ever eaten cardboard – it’s what I imagine cardboard would taste like).

jothys lonely planet

I find this unforgivable in a place known for it’s abundance of seafood. The bill was exorbitant too – the fish head curry alone was RM 50.

jothys herpes

It’s a tourist trap. Avoid it like a bad case of herpes.

Pin Kee Restaurant

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pin kee restaurant

Yuen Yee suggested this place called Pinky (Tham?) or Binky for dinner. Since she’s the incumbent of Sunway, having made her bones here, we went with her for the famed buttermilk sotong.

pin kee interior

I would vote for this little girl (being 7 years older allows me to say crap like this ;)) if she ever runs in the election.

Okay, here’s what we had:

pin kee venison

Black pepper venison

I loved this dish. It has a nice and suitably peppery taste to it (suspect it had a lot to do with the name of the dish).

pin kee kung pow pork

Kung pow pork

It’s pork with dried chillies. I love both. I have no complaints. I am a happy man. 🙂

pin kee mapo tofu

Mapo tofu

It’s tofu. I weep tears when I see tofu. I’m not a big fan of tofu and other Healthy Stuff (TM) to that effect. I had one though.

pin kee veggies

Vegetable with siew yuk (roast pork)

See above. The only redeeming factor is the roast pork fried with the veggies. smirk

pin kee buttermilk squid

Buttermilk sotong

Last but not least (fucking cliched) this dish was pretty good but I would have preferred the calamari (it looks more like calamari than squid to me) to NOT be deep fried before cooking.

pin kee us

L-R: Yuen, Sheng, Kadazan Warrior a.k.a. Karen Mayer, Michelle, Nic, Fresh, me

Conspicuously missing from the photo – Jestina (O Great Leader who guided us to the finale of Left 4 Dead) and Nicholas.

The best part is that is only cost RM 11 per person for dinner!

Frasers Cafe @ Mt Eden

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frasers

Frasers Cafe is a rustic nook in the corner that’s very popular with the locals in Mt. Eden, Auckland. My sister is a huge fan of their breakfast and just before I was due to fly back to Malaysia, she brought me there to check it out.

frasers interior

It reminds me a lot of the little al fresco cafes in Melbourne, with pretty similar choices.

hot chocolate

I went for a nice bowl of hot chocolate with marshmallows on the side. I’m just decadent that way, bowls > mugs any day. 😉

Eggs Benedict with bacon

This is my Eggs Benedict with bacon (NZD 17.90). Just look at the poached egg – pregnant with possibilities (well, egg yolks at any rate), the juicy strips of bacon and the generous topping of warm Hollandaise sauce. It tasted marvelous, with the runny yolk and butter permeating every single bite.

French Toast served with fresh fruit and mixed berry maple compote

My dad went for the healthier option of French Toast served with fresh fruit and mixed berry maple compote (NZD 17.50). It comes with fresh fruits on the side and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. I thought this was pretty good too.

Pancake Stack with banana, crispy bacon, maple syrup and berry compote

This is the Pancake Stack with banana, crispy bacon, maple syrup and berry compote (NZD 17.90) that my sis had for breakfast. I think the home made blackberry and blueberry compote (Google says this means fruit stewed or cooked in syrup) is the best part about this dish. A dab of that on a piece of warm pancake with a slice of bacon tasted divine. Sweet and savory.

Frasers Omelette of potato, capsicum, tomato and mozzarella served with onion jam

Alvin had the more subdued Frasers Omelette of potato, capsicum, tomato and mozzarella served with onion jam (NZD 16.80). The omelet was good but what made this special is the “onion jam” which tasted sweet. Nice!

frasers cafe interior

Frasers is a nice place for a huge cooked breakfast. I recommend you sit inside during autumn so your food doesn’t get cold as soon as it’s served. It can be a bit packed, but service is quick and efficient.

eggs benedict

…now tell me this doesn’t look good. =D

Serious about pies

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pies

No, not poontang pie. The regular, good ol’ down under pies. I’ve been to PAKn’SAVE (which seems to have upstaged Countdown as the premier grocery shopping place in New Zealand) and sampled their wide variety of pies.

paknsave

Bacon and cheese with egg. Shepard’s pie. Pork and apple pie (my favorite – a contrast of sweet and sour, like life). It’s one of those things I’ve missed since I’ve came back from Aussie. A simple pie doused with ketchup on top.

jesters

One of the best places I’ve had pies during my previous week in Auckland is Jesters (who are really serious about pies). They have a wide range (including the pork and apple pie I was talking about – trust me, it tastes better than it sounds).

No, this has nothing to do with my fantasies of migrating to New Zealand with Jestina. *cough*

Empress Garden Restaurant, Herne Bay, Auckland

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Empress Garden Restaurant

We went for a family dinner before my mom’s operation slated the next day. I wanted to bring her to a nice restaurant but my mom has very Chinese tastes and wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant.

peking duck

My sister recommended Empress Garden – it’s supposed to be the best Peking Duck place in Auckland (which isn’t saying much, trust me) and the sheer volume of patrons requires a reservation in advance. The place was packed!

duck feet

We had an entree of cold boneless duck feet. Tasty, and no pesky bones to get in the way of your enjoyment of animal foot fetish. 😉

peking duck dish

Anyway, about the Peking Duck, which is the headliner for this place, it’s prepared in the usual three-part procedure – the duck skin, the second phase (lots of options here) and the third dish (usually soup).

peking duck prep

I didn’t find the Peking Duck to be particularly authentic – it doesn’t only come with the skin but also some meat (!!!). How liddat?

peking duck eat

We had the sesame pockets for the second course – you put the minced duck meat cooked with chai bo and stuff it into warm pastries.

sesame pockets

Pretty good.

sesame seed filled

The third course is duck soup with vegetables and tofu.

peking duck soup

All three duck dishes comes from the Peking duck – utilized to the fullest, the bone is used to cook the soup.

duck soup

Obligatory dish of veggies – being not a fan of green things (except those you smoke instead of cook). I don’t know what it is, my mom ordered it.

veggies

Also, one last dish of Kung Pow pork. I have serious doubts about this. It looks more like sweet and sour pork instead of Kung Pow pork (no dried chillis) but they cook it with chilli oil instead.

kung pow chicken

The Peking Duck costs NZD 80 alone. The entire bill came up to about NZD 170 which is RM 387 – pretty cheap considering we couldn’t even finish it. >.<

Posted 1:56 PM NZ time

Twinsky Seafood, KK with RM 15 abalone

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twinsky seafood rock fish

Ask anyone* where the best seafood in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah is and they’ll inevitably say “Ocean Seafood”. Don’t. Just don’t.

twinsky seafood

I’ve been there, done that, bought the motherfucking t-shirt and I stand here as witness that it’s a tourist trap.

twinsky seafood tanks

* Now’s probably a good time to say that anyone means hotel personnel.

twinsky fresh seafood

You wanna eat where the locals eat? Are you a traveller or a tourist?

twinsky choose

Ignore me if you’re the latter. However, if you’re a serious traveller, head on over to Twinsky Seafood where there is fresh seafood, much better than all the fancy air conditioned, scented napkins, attentive service restaurants.

twinsky live seafood

Don’t get me wrong, the good people at Twinsky Seafood has damn good service as well and the place is absolutely fucking packed when we went there. We didn’t even go during peak hour – that’s a testament (okay, okay, cutting down on Biblical references now) to how good their food is.

Go on a tour of the establishment and you can pick and choose the marine life that you want to consume.

digging gold

Would appreciate it if you kept the gold prospecting away from the fresh seafood.

rock fish

Aww…poor fish. Sucks to be you.

Alrighty then let’s get to the meat (no pun intended) of the post:

twinsky crabs

Crabs in hot and sour sauce. This is good and you get to choose the crustacean that you want.

twinsky sabah abalone

Sabah Green Abalone. It only costs RM 15 per abalone. (!!!)

sabah abalone

I told you seafood is cheap in KK right? The portions are larger than what you’ll expect in KL and it’s juicy and sweet.

sabah style abalone

Best dish ever.

twinsky sea fish

This is a sea fish that we ordered. Wait ah, lemme get my wallet to see how much it is.

mango appetizer

Chup! I forgot about the delicious pickled papaya appetizer.

twinsky seafood stone fish

Rock fish a.k.a. stone fish. It sounds a bit dodgy as Jerine pointed out (and she swore not to eat it at first) but when it was served…it’s magical. =D

twinsky seafood me

It’s cooked HK style with soy sauce (as all fresh fish should be prepared) and it tasted delicious. It was hard to the touch at the tank, yeah, stating the fucking obvious here, there’s a reason it’s called stone fish but after steaming…it’s the best thing that hits your palate. Smooth, silky with all the right tones.

stone fish

The entire meal costs about RM 250-300 – I don’t have the receipt coz Jerine paid for the meal.

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