The Wok Cafe@ The Strand, Kota Damansara

Have always liked those restaurants with a special theme like this place here at The Wok Cafe. It seems that this is a branch of a famous Hot Wok restaurant in Penang Island. And it is featured as Best Restaurant by Tatler Magazine in 1998 and 2004.

Plates, Saucers, Cups and Kebayas

The interior decoration is really unique and special as they have a lot of olden days antiques on display, wooden furniture, antique bangles, plates and even kebayas!

Antiques

In my opinion really unique as the doors even have wooden panels with words inscribed on them. Sorry don't know what it means because I am illiterate :p

Olden Day Door Panels

At one corner, there is a pair of familiar looking pair of boots. Bright yellow and made from PVC and a Gurmit Singh's signature on it! As Phua Chu Kang ;) They even had Rosie's and Henty Thia's signature too on the wall.

Yellow Boots

Cencaluk omelette was excellent. My first time eating cencaluk and it was really good. All I ever knew was that cencaluk is a type of fermented prawn paste and never knew it could taste this good. The omelette was nice and fluffy.

Cencaluk Omelette

Sambal sotong was just ok for me. Probably because I don't really like the sambal that comes with it. A little salty in my opinion but the squid was fresh.

Sambal Sotong

Assam curry fish was pretty fragrant and gravy was really nice and thick as they don't skimp on the ingredients. Pretty tasty and good :)

Asam Fish

Paku Sambal was just alright. The chili paste a little too much and salty as it is also fried with dried shrimps. Would go well with rice but not eaten by its own. I sure miss the Midin that I had in Sarawak last time as the shoots are more tender.

Paku Sambal

Tried the Sago Nangka which was really good! The nangka or jack fruit is really sweet and provides a refreshing taste to the coconut milk soup. On another occassion, we tried the Cendol but it wasn't really good. So for desserts, do go for the Sago Nangka ;)

This place is definitely in my books for some good Nyonya food :)

Address:

26, Jalan PJU 5/21

The Strand

Kota Damansara

Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03 -6142 7388

The Beatles - Let It Be

Restoran Home Cooking @ Sungai Way

One hot Sunday, a good friend wanted to recommend me a good char siew (barbequed pork) place in Sungai Way. Luck was not with us as they do not serve it during lunch. Only during dinner time. However, they have other offerings instead which was really good.

Steamed Chicken was one of their signature dish. They only use free range chicken. I don't normally eat steamed chicken as I have always preferred it roasted or fried but rarely steamed but ones here were good. The chicken flesh was smooth and it is served with ginger paste which was really good. Even the chili sauce that goes with it is also very good.

Steamed Chicken

Curry Fish is also one of their signature dish. They use the red snapper fish pieces in this dish and came with generous amounts of brinjals, beancurd puff and french beans. Taste wise it is just ok. Prefer the curry fish head in Pangkor Seafood Village Restaurant in Taman Megah anytime. The version here contains coconut milk.

Curry Fish

The Stir Fried Sweet Potato Leaves was really good. We couldn't get enough of it. The "wok hei" is there and there were plenty of sliced garlic in there.

Stir Fried Sweet Potato Leaves

A plus point about this place that it is cooling even with the hot weather outside, not air conditioned but natural greenery and shade. It is located near the famous Ah Sang Bak Kut Teh. You can actually park at the Indian temple parking area and walk over which takes about five minutes. The total bill came to about nearly RM60 in total which is pretty affordable considering what we had. Well, barbequed pork next time ;)

Address:

555, Jalan SS9a/2 ,

Sungai Way,

47300 Petaling Jaya,

Selangor

Opening Hours:

Lunch 1200 pm - 230 pm

Dinner 600 pm - 930 pm

Snapshots of 2010

Was going through my old pictures and some just made me smile. Especially thinking about the good times of family and friends. It's really fast how time passes by. Here are my snapshots of 2010. A little too late but better late than never ;)

Participated in a treasure hunt for the first time from Bukit Jalil TPM all the way to Pangkor Island. It's not so much like a treasure hunt but more like a amazing race kind of thing.

Sunset

Visited the Aquaria KLCC with mum. Saw sharks, all kinds of fishes, reptiles and amphibians. Was fascinated with the silly look of mudskippers. They look like they are singing :p

Frogs - easy to capture cause they don't move :p

Visited the National Art Gallery for the first time with good friends.

An Artistic Wall Piece

Went to the beautiful Bako National park after the Rainforest Music Festival in 2010. Was glad that we went there instead of my suggestion of going for kayaking.

Wild Orchids

Got certified as an Open Water Diver in Tenggol Island on 12 June 2010 :) Saw blue spotted rays, baby barracudas and turtles.

Tenggol Island Map

Participated in sea cleanup drive organised by Berjaya and flanked byProject Aware. Redang Island Beach Cleanup from 24 to 26th September 2010. Divers were in charge of picking up Crown of Thorns and became more aware of our ocean's fragile ecosystems.

Berjaya Redang Resort Seafront

Visited Taiwan on a 9 day trip. The Flora Fest coincidently was on going that time. Plus, we tried all kinds of transportation that you can name :)

Hong Kong Flora Exhibit in Taipei Flora Fest

Had Glogg in Sweden :) It's a Christmas drink in cold weather. First time on European soil and also first time seeing snow. Jakun right? :p

Glogg

Had so much food and desserts while having fun chats. Sweets desserts and sweet memories :) And happy hours of course ;)

Came across these interesting slogans along the way :)

These memories are definitely fond memories :)

Hakka Lui Cha @ Oasis Food Court, Midvalley

What is healthy and delicious at the same time? For me, I would answer Lui Cha or literally translated from Cantonese, Thunder Tea. Oasis Food Court in located in the Center Court of Midvalley Megamall of what used to be their IT retail center. Look out for the stall that sells Pan Mee and Lui Cha.

A Bowl of Hearty Goodness

For the price of RM 6.80, you get a nice steaming bowl of mint soup and a bowl of rice with lui cha condiments like cubed beancurd, preserved radish, pounded and fried dried shrimp, sayur manis, peanuts, onions and others which I cannot really tell as everything is mixed together. You can choose to pour the green soup into the bowl of rice or just drink it directly as a soup bowl. Some people fear the strong minty taste in the soup but this one here just have a slight hint of mint.

One phrase sums this: tasty, cheap and healthy!

Address:

Oasis Food Court

S-JA3(A)

Second Floor,

Mid Valley Megamall.

Nathalie Gourmet Studio @ Solaris Dutamas

A friend wanted to try the macaroons and after some googling, finally found a place called Nathalie Gourmet Studio at a new commercial area called Solaris Dutamas. Had tried the ones from Shangri-la before as a gift from the hotel to the company I was working in, I didn't really liked it as I find it a little artificial in taste.

>There are cooking classes conducted in the studio too as I saw two students being briefed. The decorations and all are pretty interesting. A hanging lamp with notes written by people stuck onto them.

Interesting Lamp

A whisk chandelier centerpiece. Saw something similar to this being sold in some kitchen cabinet place before.

Chandelier

Was trying out my creative side, wanted to draw a butterfly, instead my bunny artwork in my latte. In a way, looks like a peace sign.

Bunny

And macaroons! We tried the lemon, caramel, strawberry, vanilla, chocolate and praline. Liked the caramel ones the most. Though it is sweet, it does not have the sickly sweet type of taste. Lemon ones were good too. Vanilla was a little off and the chocolate one was a little too sweet for me. Praline and strawberry ones was alright. There are many more other flavours that they offer, pistachio, sesame, matcha, raspberry, coconut and many many more. Plus, they are so pretty and would look great as a gift as you can pack them in a nice gift box. They are priced at RM4.15 per piece.

Macaroon Platter

Overall, the macaroons here changed my perception on macaroons as I find it a little synthetic the first time I tried. Probably the macaroons here are kept at a controlled temperature of 6 degrees to keep it fresh while the ones from Shangri-la were packed back. Anyhow, I still prefer donuts :p

Address:

Unit A4-1-5,

Solaris Dutamas,

Jalan Dutamas,

50480 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +603 6207 9572

Haeun Khon @ Amcorp Mall

I came across this restaurant when I was working as an office administrator eons ago but was too poor that time to even consider trying it out. Anyhow, recently we ended up there as we wanted to hunt for some cheap books ;) We had to wait for a few minutes for a table and we could see how good business was. Mind you but I noticed that this was the most packed restaurant in the whole of Amcorp mall. They serve Japanese, Chinese and Korean food but I think their mainstream is Korean.

The Kimchi Soup with Chicken (RM15.90) set also known as Kimchi Jiggae was nice, spicy and would qualify as comfort food. It has generous pieces of tofu, vegetables, rice cakes and some slices of chicken in it. The soup is very well flavoured with kimchi.

Kimchi Soup with Chicken

Barbequed Chicken Set (RM14.90) which is also known as Dak Galbi which came with a main of barbequed chicken in some kind of sauce. Was a little apprehensive at first as it look a little like chinese style stir fried chicken. After confirming with the waiter that it is what I ordered, had a bite. Surprisingly, the chicken does taste like barbequed chicken with a pleasant smokey flavour and on the sweet side. Delicious.

Dak Galbi

Each of the sets come with a bowl of rice, clear seaweed soup, three small sides and a small portion of sliced fruit. The sides were some szechuan vegetables, tofu with sauce and kimchi. The food here has been localised and fused with chinese cuisine. This is definitely a more affordable Korean food place compared to other Korean restaurants in town.

Address:

Lot 336 & 363, Amcorp Mall,

No. 18, Persiaran Barat,

Off Jalan Timur ,

46050 Petaling Jaya

Tel: +603-7957 2181