malay

Ayam Gepuk Pak Gembus, USJ 21 – the viral spicy chicken!

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Ayam-Gepuk

I was pleased to see this new F&B outlet opposite my condo. Ayam Gepuk Pak Gembus is the famous Indonesian chain of fiery chicken where they use up to 100 cili padi to make their spicy chicken coating. Their main Malaysian branch in Gombak went viral recently and in a testament to scalability, they’ve rapidly opened smaller outlets around Klang Valley. This is an official branch, not a copycat. I love spicy food and I’ve always wanted to try this infernal creation.

Ayam-Gepuk-Pak-Gembus-USJ21

The menu is very streamlined – there’s only one item on offer here but 4 sets from RM 7.90 to RM 10.90. The cheapest one just has ¼ chicken + rice + RO water while the most expensive one throws in tofu, tempeh, chicken liver, chicken stomach, and fried cabbage. Their fried cabbage is insane so I highly recommend the RM 10.90 set. You can get free refills of rice, RO water and unlimited chillis.

Ayam-Pak-Gembus

Their ayam gepuk is the main draw and I had mine with 35 bird eye chillis. The chillis are pounded and mixed with oil and other aromatics before being spread on the ¼ chicken. They don’t use very spicy chillis – these are more flavorful than spicy. It’s a salty and umami rub that goes very well with rice. It burned my lips for an hour after though. I enjoyed the chicken and their delicious fried cabbage. The latter had crispy edges and a distinct taste of char that I love!

However, be warned that they do not have the capacity to deal with large crowds. Each dish is prepared individually and they only have one prep station so it takes ages for food to come out. There was a long queue to order and pay at the cashier too. The chickens are also tiny, but Malay poultry tend to be on the smaller side for some reason. It’s worth a try though!

Top 5 delicious lunch options around KL Sentral

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June-Tee

I want to preface this controversial listing by saying these are my personal favorites. I work in Menara 1 Sentrum beside nu sentral mall in Brickfields. I’ve been to most of the popular lunch options around here like Peter Pork, Money Corner, Sin Kee Restaurant. None of those made my top 5 list. I like the Western food stall at Money Corner and Peter Pork’s pork noodle are decent but I usually prefer eating rice during lunch.

#1 Husen Cafe

Husen-Cafe

I’ll eat here at least once a week. The dish I always order is onion chicken – a tomato sambal chicken with intense onion sauce. Husen Cafe serves chicken quarters, so you can either have a breast (white meat) portion or a thigh (dark meat) portion. I usually go for the breast as it’s easier to eat and the portions are a lot bigger. This is ¼ chicken and the chickens they use are huge! It’s more than enough for even the biggest eaters.

Onion-Chicken

It’s reasonably priced compared to other similar places. This whole shebang just cost me RM 10.

Husen-Chicken

Best paired with okra (ladies fingers) or onion raita (raw onions with yoghurt). Don’t forget their papadom! The owner will waive the RM 0.30 for iced water too if you’re a regular.

#2 Pu Xian Wei Restaurant

Pu-Xian-Wei

This is my go to lunch spot. We call it “China chap fan” coz it’s run by Mainland China Chinese. The food they serve are tweaked to PRC palates, so it has different flavors from what local Chinese are used to. It’s delicious! Google’s SEM (paid search) team is in the same building as my office and they have teams from all over the world based in Malaysia. I met a Vietnamese girl taking the LRT who’s on a 1 year contract and found out they have a free cafeteria inside their office. You always see people from Korea, Japan, Russia, and all other nations in the lifts.

China-Chap-Fan

The reason I shared that anecdote is coz you’ll often see the teams from Singapore, China and Taiwan wearing their distinctive Google plain blue/red lanyard in the China chap fan. They’ll come and eat here despite having free food at their workplace. That’s the best endorsement this chap fan place can hope for. It passes the taste test of Mainland Chinese people. It’s so good they’re willing to pay good money when they could have a free lunch.

Chap-Fan-China

I find them a little expensive at first but the Mainland Chinese lady calculating how much your plate costs will give you steep discounts once you’re a regular. Or maybe she just likes my face. Haha.

#3 Royale Nasi Lemak

Nasi-Lemak-Royale

My guilty pleasure. I’ve stopped going after getting explosive diarrhea twice in a row but you should be fine if you stick to the popular meats like their freshly fried chicken. The ayam masak hitam and ayam masak merah can be a bit dodgy at times. Those are made with fried chicken so it’s often cooked with the previous day’s fried chicken that’s been sitting unsold during off peak hours under a heat lamp in ideal bacteria breeding temperatures.

Royale-Nasi

Nasi lemak in the Northern states mean nasi kandar, so don’t be surprised when you don’t get santan flavored rice. The rice at Royale is scented with pandan though. It’s exactly like nasi kandar where you choose the dishes you want and finish it off with kuah campur. Their curries are delicious!

Royale-Pile

I always get their fish egg curry and sotong egg curry too. My dish usually comes up to RM 14-18 so it’s not a cheap place.

#4 Gu Zao Seafood Restaurant

Gu-Zao

This is the best fish restaurant I’ve been to. Their forte is seafood, although they also serve other proteins like chicken and pork. Most people go here for their Deep Fried Threadfin (RM 18) which is a whole ma yao served with delicious soy sauce. Their lunch sets come with rice and a side of vegetables for free. They’ve also recently started giving away free soup with sizable chunks of daikon radish inside. It’s noisy due to the acoustics but there’s air conditioning and the lady who owns the shop is very nice.

Fried-Threadfin

I also recommend their Asam Tilapia and Taucu Tilapia (both RM 17). They’re both equally good, though the edge goes to the fermented soy beancurd one. I usually order tilapia instead of the threadfin coz there’s a lot more meat and its RM 1 cheaper. The tilapia here is more delicious than dedicated seafood restaurants who charge twice this price!

Fish-Shop

Their 3-egg steamed Chinese omelet with salted egg, century egg and normal egg is delicious too. The prices are higher than the surrounding F&B outlets but it’s air conditioned and the fish is amazing.

#5 Singh Chapati House

Singh-Chapati-House

I said I usually prefer rice but I also enjoy a good meal of chapati. The chapatis at Singh are freshly made and hot from the plate. It’s quite packed during lunch and the huge number of Indians eating here is a testament to their authenticity and taste. You serve yourself from the bain maries outside and tell your waiter how many chapatis you want. It’s kinda like a chap fan stall where you pick the curries you like and it’s calculated when you sit down.

Chapati

It’s quite expensive – each small piece of chicken is RM 3, but the taste is spot on. They use a lot of spices in their curries so there are wonderfully complex layers of flavors. Expect to pay around RM 16-18 per pax here for lunch.

Singh-Chapati

Did I miss out on your favorite? Let me know in the comments! I’ll try it if it’s within a 10 minute walk of KL Sentral.

Sama-Sama Hotels Ramadan Buffet 2018

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Sama-Sama-Buffet

I was intrigued when I got an invitation to a Ramadan buffet preview at Sama Sama Hotel in KLIA. It’s actually not very far for me since I live in USJ. Driving to KLIA is closer for me than going to KL city center. Plus, I hear durian is also served in this buffet! I don’t need another reason to go.

Stalls

The Ramadan buffet is setup in themed islands instead of a row of dishes as is the norm in other buffets. There’s a Malaysian food island, an Indonesian food one, another dedicated to ice cream and cendol etc.

Food

This breaks up the line of people queuing into more manageable columns but popular stations like the durian, satay and drinks islands still has a formidable line.

Indoors

They also have indoors seating…

Outdoors

…as well as outdoors. The atas word for this is porte-cochere. Or so I read.

Prawns

I particularly enjoyed the food from this buffet as I’m a huge fan of regional flavours. I had two heaping plates of food! You may be surprised to hear that I liked the different styles of cooked chicken from this region with rice the most.

Lemang

I also had the grilled lamb with mint sauce but I found myself going back to the comforting familiar flavors more.

Durian-Stall

I also took advantage of the durian stall located outside the hall. I must have queued up three times to stuff myself with creamy durian.

Durian

I ate so much durian I was hard pressed to try all the other desserts.

Ice-Kacang

I did have several helpings of ice kacang though. They also have various local flavored ice cream which I found delicious! They even have traditional iced lollies in a tube! Nostalgic.

Dates

They have different types of dates for you to break your fast too.

Band

Live band playing melodic classics. This is perfect at a Ramadan buffet where people wait to break fast and tend to sit longer. Entertainment is always good.

Sugarcane

There’s also a variety of local drinks from freshly squeezed sugarcane to asam boi.

Apam-Balik

I loved the apam balik station too.

Apam

Yum!

Cake

These awesome photos are taken by Joyce. I don’t have the kind of creative eye to pull off shots like this.

Kueh

Sama-Sama Hotel KL International Airport is running this Selera Warisan Nusantara (Malay Archipelago Cuisine) themed Ramadan buffet throughout the puasa month from 6 pm – 10 pm. It’s RM 135 nett per person on weekdays and RM 99 nett per person on weekends. I’m not sure why it’s cheaper on weekends but I know when I’ll go! You can also get a RM 95 nett per person early bird price if you book before 7th May 2018.

Tudia! Crabby Fatty Char Kueh Teow @ The Food Bank, Kota Damansara

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Tudia Crab Char Kueh Teow

The Food Bank is a collection of Malay hawker stalls in The Strand, Kota Damansara. I eat here quite often since it’s just opposite my condo and the halal options here are limited. Tudia! Char Kueh Tiaw is one of the stalls I frequent. It’s from Penang but it’s not Chinese style CKT – this is Malay style CKT with gravy. They also have a premium option with crab!

Tudia CKT

I like eating Malay style char kueh teow. The first time I came across it was when I started working in KL and frequented the Malay stall behind my office. I thought the gravy was simply mouth-watering! I have had kueh teow ketam in a lot of places since I also love eating crab. Tudia charges RM 6 for their kueh teow but the crab version goes for RM 15 – RM 25!

Deep Fried Crab

Tudia! crab char kueh teow is made by deep frying the flower crab. That’s quite unusual since most places just steam it. I thought it’ll come out greasy or overcooked due to the way it’s prepared but it’s actually quite good. The flower crab is huge too – the claws overflowed from the plate and they gave me a separate one to eat from. Haha.

Crabby Fatty (RM 23)

Crabby Fatty

The price fluctuate according to season, it was RM 23 yesterday. The kueh teow here is awesome! I love the sweet gravy that floods everything. I think it’s made with a combination of peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce and sambal. It’s very savory and sweet and makes you want more. There’s also an egg in addition to the deep fried crab. It’s yummy but not very filling. I had to order a ikan keli penyet (also called nasi lalapan in Sarawak) to fill up.

Tudia HB

There’s quite a lot of meat in the flower crab and I had fun picking at the shell. There was a Chinese couple who just got off work beside me who ordered the dish after seeing me eat it. The bomb ass sauce goes very well with the crab too. This is a problem in other crab kueh teow places since you don’t have gravy to eat with the crab. It’s a little expensive and you should probably go when you’re not wearing a white shirt but it’s delicious!

Restaurant Padang Sari Ratu Prima

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Ikan Berdiri

I was shopping with my better half over the weekend when we saw Sari Ratu Prima. I know that place, I told her. They had just opened up a huge branch opposite my condo in Kota Damansara earlier in the year and it’s just about the only decent halal food (not counting mamaks) in my area. My dear isn’t keen on Malay food but I come here quite often.

Sari Ratu Prima

Technically, Nasi Padang is Indonesian food and the Sari Ratu Prima brand comes from West Sumatra. I would call them a higher end halal eatery, with air conditioned comfort and the prices to match. The people are friendly and the best part is that the dishes come out all hot. Unlike chap fan or nasi kandar, the protein and vegetables are either reheated or cooked to order, making it a lot more delicious.

Restaurant Padang

I come here for their deep fried fish. I used to work with government ministries a lot, and had a client who was really into “ikan berdiri”. It means “fish that stands up” in Malay and basically he wants it fried whole in a certain way that makes it defy gravity. Sari Ratu Prima does this quite well. There are a lot of other dishes which you can pick from as well.

Gulai Kambing (RM 13.65)

Gulai Kambing

This is Indonesian style mutton curry and the priciest meat on their menu. I didn’t even realize that I had such expensive taste. Haha. All kidding aside, mutton always costs more than chicken or beef. There are quite a lot of bone-in pieces so it’s great value. I like their gulai too – it’s mild and creamy, not overly spicy. I think my dear can eat this if she liked the flavor combinations more.

Sayur Kailan (RM 5.50)

Sayur Kailan

This is supposed to be RM 5.50 but I got it for free. I’m not exactly sure how that works, but if you order above a certain price for 1 pax, the workers have some kind of leeway to deduct the lowest priced item (usually a vegetable) from your total. They do charge full price for rice though (RM 2.20). It comes in a pyramid shape like a famous Kota Kinabalu chicken rice shop.

Jus Durian (RM 8.90)

Jus Durian

This is a very creamy milkshake made with vanilla ice cream and durian flesh. It’s quite good and I like to order it whenever I come to Sari Ratu Prima. They also have an avocado fruit juice called Jus Alpokat for RM 10.50. However, you can get the avocado juice for free in their RM 12.90 weekday lunch deal (told you they have strange pricing) so I recommend doing this instead.

Ikan Nila Goreng (RM 25)

Ikan Nila Goreng

This is a whole fish deep fried until crispy. The nila fish has little bones to speak of so you don’t have to worry about getting any stuck to your throat. It’s also served piping hot since it’s cooked to order. I love the fish here. Their sauce is excellent too – it’s a mixture of sweet soy sauce and sambal and it goes very well with the fried fish. This is what I usually come for.

Nasi Padang

Sari Ratu Prima also has a RM 12.90 weekday lunch deal where you can get a few items + a drink which is quite good value. The bill came up to RM 55.20 when I ate here last but the fish made up 1/2 of the total. The reason everything tastes so good here is coz they follow the “cukup rasa” philosophy – all the dishes are overspiced and oversalted, including the fried fish. I had a sodium headache so bad that I had to go to sleep after the meal! It was still worth it though. smirk

15 Best Stalls from Bazaar Ramadan in Klang Valley 2016 (KL & PJ)

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Bazaar-Ramadan

I’ve always looked forward to Ramadan. It’s the time when families and individuals have the chance to showcase their food to the public. These are people who don’t have restaurants, cafes or stalls – just regular folks cooking and selling their food at Ramadan bazaars across the country. I like the idea of trying out random people’s cooking and I’ve been eating at Bazaar Ramadan almost every day. Here are my favorites:

Bubur Lambuk

Bubur Lambuk

This is a classic Ramadan specialty. It’s usually given away to the poor in mosques, but obviously this is a more premium version. The porridge is full of root vegetables like yam and the shredded chicken and fried anchovies they put on top is awesome. It’s RM 4 for a small tub at Bubur Lambuk Subang at the Subang 2 Ramadan Bazaar.

Putu Piring Zainab Gula Melaka

Crowd

This is one of my favorite putu pirings around. Check out the massive queue which forms up around it!

Putu Piring

The putu piring is a steamed confection made on the spot. It’s RM 0.60 per piece and it’s really good.

Nasi Kerabu

Blue Rice

The distinctively blue rice in nasi kerabu comes from butterfly pea flowers. This stall in Subang serves it with a relatively large fried fish and superbly hot chilli sauce. The amount of chillies they put in here would shock most people. The woman who runs it is from Kelantan and has a suitably authentic level of spiciness in her chilli paste.

Nasi Kerabu

I like her crunchy ulam (raw vegetables and herbs) too.

Pak Ya Popia Power

Popia Power

This is the famous stall at the Bazaar Ramadan in TTDI. They have three (3) kinds of popiah – popia basah, popia goreng and popia sira madu. It’s RM 5 for 5 pieces. I like their popia basah (wet popia) and popia sira madu (honey glazed popia). The first one is made with regular popiah skin and the latter is fried and drizzled with a honey glaze. The popia goreng (fried popia) is decent too but these two are the best.

Murtabak Maggi

Murtabak Maggi

I first had this in 2008 when I came to KL to work the second time. This is from Bazaar Ramadan Kelana Jaya, where my first office used to be. They make the murtabak with Maggi instant noodles and stuff lots of meat and vegetables inside. It’s just RM 3 for a heart shaped piece.

Maggi

It best eaten when hot, these things taste horrible when they’re cold.

Maggi Murtabak

They give you a generous pack of chilli sauce to put on top too.

Puding Karamel Original

Puding Karamel

This is a creme caramel from the SS6 bazaar. It’s RM 3 per slice or RM 5 for two. The quality varies wildly – sometimes it’s delicious and other days the pudding is overcooked and egg-like while the caramel tastes burnt.

Creme Caramel

I guess that’s one of the things about home cooks. When it’s good, it’s great.

Lompang Labu

Lompang Labu

This unusual dessert is made from pumpkins. There are 10 pieces in a pack for RM 5, together with some desiccated coconut. I found it at TTDI. It’s surprisingly good!

Nasi Briyani Johor

Briyani

There is a well known nasi briyani gam stall in TTDI that used to be good. However, I feel that their quality has dropped in the past few years and the other two competitors have surpassed the original. Rahimah Catering serves a pretty good version of lamb biryani for RM 13 at the very end of the TTDI bazaar Ramadan. There’s one in the middle that serves up awesome bone-in lamb shank biryani for RM 20 – RM 22 (depending on size) too.

Lai Chee Kang

Lai Chee Kang

It’s RM 5 for a small container or RM 10 for a big bag. The TTDI Lai Chee Kang stall says it has 28 ingredients. I was dubious. I thought it’ll be 20 different types and colors of jelly. I was mistaken.

Laici Kang

This is legit. I dug and ate dates. Saw some barley. Cincau. Peanuts. Snow fungus. The best thing inside was nutmeg, they had lots of that too! Truly epic.

Nasi Tomato

Nasi Tomato

My favorite one is at the Kota Damansara Bazaar Ramadan. It’s only RM 5 for the Nasi Tomato Ayam Merah (tomato rice with red chicken). The owner of the stall is the wife of a police officer that lives in the low cost flats opposite AEON BIG in Sunway Giza. The first time I had it, I thought she had accidentally dropped a whole fucking bowl of salt into the chicken.

Salty Chicken

I told my better half about this amazingly salty chicken I had and promptly had diarrhea the next day. Haha. I’m sure it’s unrelated though as I’ve had it many times since without incident. I asked the lady about the shockingly salty chicken and she told me she does it on purpose coz her husband likes it that way. That’s why she only gives you a small amount of gravy coz the amount of sodium in there is enough to kill a small horse. It’s the saltiest thing I’ve ever had…and the best! smirk

Ikan Bakar Special

Ikan Bakar Special

There are many smoked/grilled fish stalls in bazaar Ramadan all over the country and most of them sell pretty much the same thing. The one in TTDI just has a wider selection than most and you’ll spot it by the epic lines which form up to buy a catfish or a skate. The prices vary according to what you get but it’s quite competitive.

Nasi Ganja Omak Den

Nasi Ganja

The guys who runs this stall offers free drinks with your meal. They only sell one dish – nasi ganja omak den, and they do it well. The chicken is fried on the spot and you can choose the cut you want. The rice is spiced and they serve an Indian style gravy to go with it. I love the heavily spiced chicken and it’s good value for just RM 6.50 inclusive of the drink of the day (usually air sirih or air somboi).

Spiced Chicken

The word “ganja” is the local term for cannabis. There’s none in here of course and the etymology of the name is somewhat stupid, it’s meant as a testament to it’s “addictiveness”, never mind that THC/CBD isn’t physically addictive.

Nasi Ambeng

Nasi Ambeng

Nasi ambeng is a dish of white rice topped with fried coconut flesh so it tastes like coconut rice. They also put fried bee hoon, salted fish, and vegetables as sides. The main protein is usually chicken cooked in soy sauce. I was home late one day and chanced across this dodgy stall at Kota Damansara with two young boys manning a small booth with about 10 servings to sell. I took a chance and ordered one and it was delicious!

Sup Gearbox

Cow Offal

This stall in TTDI serves only cow offal. There are plenty of offcuts for sale – tongue, tripe, heart, lungs etc. You can have it with rice, in kueh tiaw or in a soup. I prefer it in a soup. It’s one of the best sup gearbox I’ve had. You’re supposed to suck the marrow out of the large bone.

Nasi Burung Puyuh

Quail

I love quail. I usually get it at Shah Alam but the one at TTDI is decent too (and a lot nearer to me). It’s RM 5 per quail or RM 7 if you want rice to go with it. I recommend the rice pack, their chicken rice is delicious!

Nasi Burung Puyuh

The lady will give you a tasty broth to go with the rice too, nicely packed in a plastic bag to go.

Bazaar Ramadan 2016

The biggest Bazaar Ramadan in Klang Valley is probably the bazaar in Shah Alam Stadium but TTDI and Kelana Jaya is pretty big too. I would say TTDI has more choice than SS6 but even the small ones in Subang 2 and Kota Damansara has something to offer. The stalls are all about bringing home cooked food from families as a purchasable option before Hari Raya and that’s the part I love the most about this month. It sure was good eating, too bad we only have a couple more days before it ends!

Mee Ketam KL @ Seksyen 7, Shah Alam

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Mee Ketam KL

Mee Ketam KL is one of the most popular crab noodle places in town. The original outlet is located in Seksyen 7, Shah Alam but they have one in Jalan Dato Keramat, KL too. I had a phase where I was really into crab noodles – I had crab noodles in Sibu, Maggi Ketam and crab beehoon in Sunway Giza and crab kueh teow in Wangsa Maju. It was beautiful. I got my better half and drove down to Mee Ketam KL to check it out.

Mee Ketam Kuala Lumpur

Unfortunately, this place doesn’t open until quite late. I believe they start at 11 pm or 12 pm which is quite unusual, but on the other hand, they stay open until midnight too. There were heaps of university students around since the campus is right beside. Mee Ketam KL is quite popular with the student crowd due to their very affordable prices for flower crabs.

Mee Ketam

The signature Mee Ketam KL is served with flower crabs for RM 9.50. You can swap in mud crabs for a base price of RM 5 (for the noodles) and RM 6.50/100 gram (for the mud crabs). Udang galah (big head prawn) is priced at RM 9/100 g. They also serve cooked crabs with rice for the same price. You can choose from various methods of cooking including curry, buttermilk, red sauce etc.

Mud Crabs

My dear wanted to try their ketam nipah masak cili (mud crabs cooked with chilli) which was recommended. The owner came out with a selection of fresh mud crabs on ice cubes and you’re supposed to select the one you like to be weighed on the spot with a portable machine. I got the second largest one for 600 grams, which cost RM 39. I saw a lot of people eating this same dish with rice, even though they’re known for noodles.

Mee Kari Ketam (RM 9.50)

Mee Kari Ketam

This is their flagship dish. It’s a whole flower crab on top of their curry noodles. Mee Ketam KL uses thick yellow egg noodles and it goes quite well with the crab. The curry broth is very mild and more like a soup. I could detect lots of roe and random crab bits inside the curry though which is a huge plus point – it made the noodles all the more awesome. It was decent but not very strong flavored, to my disappointment.

Ketam Nipah Masak Cili (RM 39)

Ketam Masak Cili

My dear had this one and it comes with rice. OMG! If my dish was bland, this would be the polar opposite. The chilli sauce is fiery! The thick, starchy sauce is translucent, which makes you think it’s mild, but it’s filled with Thai bird eye chillis. It was salty, spicy and sweet at the same time. I couldn’t stop eating my better half’s sauce. It was the best crab I’ve had in my entire life!

Crab Picks

We had brought along our own crab pick for this visit. I first saw them when I was eating King crab and snow crab in Busan, Korea. It was really good for picking at the flesh and when we saw them in Hokkaido during our Japan trip earlier this year, we got a whole bunch of them to use. I gave a set to her parents too and this was the first time we had the chance to use these magnificent crab picks. Haha.

Mee Ketam KL Us

Mee Ketam KL serves decent curry noodles but I feel that the true standout dish is their ketam masak cili. If you like spicy and flavorful food, you’ll love this dish. It may be somewhat too spicy for people who can’t take peppers though, my dear had a bit of trouble with the dish. The stall is actually quite small, but they have an outdoors seating area of wooden tables. The entire meal, including drinks, was just slightly over RM 50 but if you don’t order mud crabs, this place is actually very affordable.

Kueh Teow Ketam + Satay Tulang @ Rawang Burger Bakar (RBB), Wangsa Maju

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RBB

The last time I was in Wangsa Maju was when I had Pie Face at Wangsa Walk Mall. Wangsa Maju is really far for me, a 30 minute drive in perfect traffic conditions, so I don’t go there often. However, I was driving past last night when I saw this glorious sign – Kueh Teow Ketam! It’s at a place called Rawang Burger Bakar (RBB) and it piqued my curiosity enough for me to find a place to park.

Rawang Burger Bakar

This Malay owned eatery was still open late at night when other dining options have been exhausted. I’m not sure if this is due to Ramadan or if it’s usually open till late but I’m not surprised if it’s the latter. There were a lot of families inside, probably due to the fasting month. RBB is famous for their burgers but it just looked like regular Ramly style burgers with a few more bells and whistles so I had something else instead.

Nasi Ikan Terbang

It was the Kueh Teow Ketam which brought me here anyway. They also have a whole fried tilapia served with fried rice called Nasi Ikan Terbang (Fresh Tilapia) which goes for RM 15. You can have prawns with your kueh teow for the same price or clams (kerang) for RM 8. RBB has a very streamlined menu which emphasizes on their strength – you can have the same flower crab on top of fried rice or fried noodles for the same RM 15.

Kueh Teow Ketam

However, it seems like the signature dish of the place is the Kueh Teow Ketam (RM 15) so that’s what I got. It was really delicious! I used to have this jaw-dropping Malay style kueh teow when I first came over to KL in 2008 behind my office. This tastes similar. They use A LOT of spices and sauces to fry the kueh teow, making it ultra strong tasting. The provided home made concoction of sambal with soy sauce elevates the already salty, spicy and sweet kueh teow to new heights. The flower crab was served whole, and there was quite a lot of meat inside.

Satay Tulang

I also ordered the Satay Tulang (RM 12) coz I thought it was oxtail satay. It turned out to be huge chunks of chicken on a skewer. This took a long time to come, the server apologized for the delay and told me it’s coz the chicken takes a while to grill. The satay comes with nasi impit (boiled rice cakes), raw onions and cucumbers. I asked where the meat is from and was told it’s from everywhere, but especially the back of the chicken. Every single chunk has bones attached. This is an oily treat which isn’t easy to eat – you have to dig in with your fingers to get at all the meat.

RBB Wangsa Maju

I ultimately couldn’t finish the satay tulang coz of the cloying fat but the first two sticks were nice. It’s probably meant for sharing – a guilty pleasure of sorts. I enjoyed the kueh teow ketam though. It seems to be the most popular dish here, all the other customers were eating this too. Rawang Burger Bakar (RBB) looks family owned and the cashier is just a woman by a makeshift table. The meal cost me RM 30.50 with a Milo Tabur (RM 3.50) drink. The people are friendly and if you like strong tasting spicy kueh teow (or as they call it, cukup rasa) you’ll love the food here.

Maggi Ketam Claypot @ Chilli’s Crab Seafood

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Maggi Ketam

Maggi Ketam?!? For real, Restoran Chilli’s Crab Seafood has this unusual dish and it’s not cheap. Maggi is one of the most popular instant noodles around and this place has paired it with a whole mud crab to produce a deluxe variant of Maggi Ketam (Crab Maggi Noodles) in a claypot!

Restoran Chillis Crab Seafood

This is located at Sunway Giza and I’ve seen the poster announcing their “extraordinary and must-try Maggi Ketam” a couple of times. I went there alone last week and had their Maggi Ketam in a claypot. My better half didn’t like the idea of Maggi instant noodles with crab so I embarked upon this culinary adventure myself.

Maggi Ketam Claypot (RM 38.80)

Maggi Crab Noodles

This is one (1) whole mud crab in the region of 500 grams cooked together with 2 packets of Maggi instant noodles in a claypot. You can opt for either Curry flavor or Tom Yam flavor – it really depends on which flavor of Maggi instant noodles you like. I went for the Curry version. I was told that it might be a little too big for a single person but I regularly eat 2-3 packets of Maggi anyway so I thought I could handle it.

Maggi Ketam Claypot

I was right. It was just the right size for a big eater like myself. The novelty of this dish is the pairing of the proletariat Maggi noodles with a luxurious ingredient like crab. The Maggi instant noodles were cooked well and the broth was super thick! I suspect they put it a lot more than just 2 packets of soup powder.

Crab Noodles

The claypot Maggi Crab Noodles also had a whole mud crab inside. You’re given a crab cracker so you can get at the meat. I think the thick soup was perfect since it added flavor to the crab. There’s also a smattering of vegetables and whole chillis inside to spice up the dish so beware if you can’t take spicy food. I think it was pretty decent, but there are cheaper crab noodle places out there.

Crab Claw

This place is very popular though – I saw two Chinese girls sharing a Maggi Ketam Claypot when I was there and that was around 3 pm in the afternoon. I went again over the weekend with my dear and the place was quite packed.

Crab Kam Heong Bee Hoon (RM 38.80)

Crab Bee Hoon

Chilli’s Crab Seafood Restaurant also serves their signature crab with bee hoon. There are 3 such dishes – Crab Singapore Bee Hoon, Crab Kam Heong Bee Hoon and Crab Hokkien Bee Hoon. They’re all cooked in similar styles with one (1) whole crab per dish. My dear went for the Crab Kam Heong Bihun and it’s spicy dry fried rice vermicelli with a whole crab. The rice vermicelli is great and the crab is awesome.

Crab Hokkien Bihun (RM 38.80)

Crab Bihun

This is the other crab-in-a-noodle-dish option. The Hokkien style fried rice vermicelli is slightly wet and the crab essence goes into the gravy, which makes it taste much better than the dry fried options. The prices are standard since the crab size is standard (500 grams per plate) – I just wanted to try all their crab noodle dishes. Haha!

Crab Dinner

I thought the best dish at Chilli’s Crab Seafood is their Maggi Crab Noodles. The Maggi Ketam is like a guilty pleasure, something to indulge in once in a while. I know some people might think it’s not “worth it” and to them I say, do you know how little rice vermicelli costs? It’s the same thing. The prices here are admittedly higher at Mee Ketam KL (review coming up soon) but they only use mud crabs instead of flower crabs for more meat. The meal came up to RM 86.50 for the two of us the time I went with my better half, which is less than the price we usually pay for dinner anyway.

Jombali @ Citta Mall

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Jombali

We were at Citta Mall when we came across this relatively new restaurant. Jombali had taken out a large sign which advertised (of all things) a Michelin inspired dish. smirk

Michelin Inspired

Needless to say, this had nothing to do with Michelin and I have no idea where the whole “inspired by Michelin” bit came in.

Oreo Shake

I ordered an Oreo Shake (RM 8.90) and my better half had a Coconut Shake (RM 8.90). The latter was quite enjoyable, tasted a bit like the Thai counterpart it was meant to emulate but the former wasn’t anything to write home about.

Nasi Goreng 3 Rasa with Ayam Goreng

It was dinnertime so I had the Nasi Goreng 3 Rasa with Ayam Goreng (RM 13.90). This was from their Jomabli Top Sellers menu and the 3 Rasa part means “3 tastes”. It pulled that off quite well – the fried rice was salty, sour (from the tomatoes) and spicy. The portion was GIGANTIC though and I couldn’t finish it although it was good.

Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng Berempah

My dear had the Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng Berempah (RM 10.90) – the chicken is the same but hers is made with rice steamed with santan (coconut milk). It also came in a Supersized portion but the rice wasn’t very hot. I think part of it was due to them trying to serve us both at the same time, a very noble concept but maybe not so suitable for an eatery of their aspirations.

Jombali Citta Mall

Jombali serves up decently priced food and adds to the selection at Citta Mall but we probably won’t be going back again unless we were really hungry.

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