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Spend a weekend over in KL to attend my bro’s graduation. We stayed at Nova Hotel which was somewhere behind Jalan Bukit Bintang and right next to it was this coffee shop. Dad said the displayed chickens looked nice so we popped by Alor Kopitiam for a quick lunch.

Beansprouts was 6/10. Served with light soya sauce, I think it would taste better if a few more dashes of sesame oil were added to this dish. Bean sprout is one of my favorite vegetable and I think bean sprouts taste better without salted fish! Yup no salted fish here and I liked the generous topping of crispy mini fried garlic cubes.

As I thought about the garlic, I realised how much I love plants from the onion family which includes the onion, shallot, leek, and chive. Hard not to love them. Their pungent yet spicy flavour always manages to mellow and sweeten any dish.

Chicken was 7/10. I was looking forward to a nice, slick texture but it was more firm than tender. Flavour-wise, it was decent and not so oily. Better than your average but I prefer my steam white chicken chilled with skin that is slick enough to slip down my throat. That said, this is one dish that finds many different tastes and palates. You may think otherwise on how the perfect chicken should taste like for a chicken rice dish so feel free to tell me what you think or drop a link to your favourite stall! I’m keen to check them out!

(:

The next dish is the star of Meng Kee Char Siu.

Char siu was 9/10! I loved it! You must visit this stall if you’re a fan of charred, savory, and sticky uber-sweet perfection char siu! The slices of meat were not lean but I can live with not being healthy for lunch that day. How could you resist chewy roasted pork with a super-sweet sticky outer crust? Well the meat is not your conventional tender char siu because it had a good bite and slight crisp to it. Apparently leaving the meat longer at high heat may charred the meat but makes it chewier. That explains why the cha siu was darker than those found elsewhere.

We ordered just these 3 dishes. The rice was below-par because there was a missing glossy texture to it. I’m so picky today! I don’t know why!

I think Chuck (I’ve changed Jack’s name after that dumb Jack Neo fiasco) takes pretty decent photos. Anyway lunch was RM58 for five! Kinda atrocious right? To think we were dining in a normal-looking coffee shop. Good thing the portions were not miserable and the char siu was good. I like my char siu hard, charred and sweet. You?

Meng Kee Char Siu
Alor Kopitiam
(next to Nova Hotel)
Jalan Alor
Kuala Lumpur
Closed on Sundays

Well, the KL trip was a very short one so I didn’t had much time to catch up with friends. Am grateful that sweetie-pie Marcky who wished he was pork and dainty Joanne who can’t wait to kill some Mat Rempits took me out for yummylicious supper. Unfortunately we didn’t took much pictures because most street food places in Malaysia are dark and romantic at night. Just fyi, we had beef balls somewhere near Jalan Alor again and then Chickuteh! Both were good!

Yes Marcky, I will be coming back for more of such dining escapades!

Was wondering where to bring JB pig-outers for dinner after a heavy brunch at Ah Soon Bak Kut Teh and mid-afternoon dessert at La Gourmet. Want to get something that can tempt our pampered taste buds that were kept busy all day. Thus, decided to get some sweet and sour asam fish and soupy drunken chicken from Jie Sheng. This place was recommended by dad.

We were there on a Saturday evening and it was almost full house; prepare to wait if there’s a crowd. Over here, the chef take his own sweet time to prepare his goodies. But it is worth the wait. Anyway time passes quickly when we were chatting about what to eat next and if we should go for durian ice cream dessert after dinner. Gluttons!

After about 20 minutes, we could smell our first dish coming. Behold, the Chinese drunken chicken! We ordered the medium sized one that cost RM14.

As we ladled the chicken pieces and soup we were enthralled by the extremely fragrant smell of Chinese rice wine but guess what. It tasted even better. The chicken meat was tender, moist and We could taste the rice wine and a slight hint of Chinese herbs, ginger and sesame oil which really gets the taste buds going. I particularly like the sweet wolf berries.

Absolutely superb. I could have this for dinner everyday. It was rich and really delicious. Ah no wonder this dish is considered a health-building soup. We felt so ’strong’ after slurping the soup that we can stomach anything and continue the food hunt!

Next, the Asam fish! We loved it! The fish was so soft, silky and was slathered with asam gravy that was distinctively sweet, spicy and sour. For those who can’t take spicy stuff, you’ll be pleased to know that the spiciness was not to the extent of numbing the tongue. I would say that the asam is more sourish than spicy.

Not wanting to overeat and waste food, we ordered a small serving of the asam fish at first but we finished the entire serving in less than 10 minutes because it was damn good. So to satisfy our cravings, we ordered the asam fish again. This time, we got the medium sized serving with 3-4 large piece of fish. That’s the one you see below.

It was served with eggplants, long bean and fried tofu skin. After soaking the fried crispy fried tofu skin into the tangy gravy, you’ll get a soft and rubbery crumpled sheet. The tart sourish flavor of the asam gravy really accentuated the golden fried flavor of the tofu. Another side dish that were meant to match this dish is the papadum, a thin crispy wafer that taste like a cracker. We dipped it into the asam gravy and it’s amazingly tasty. By the way, if you have no patience to pick out fish bones, no worries. It’s 90% flesh.

By the way, it cost just RM33 for a small and medium order of the asam fish.

Besides these 2 specialty dishes, we ordered a plate of stir-fry vegetables (RM6) and claypot beancurd (RM7) with mixed vegetables as sides. These 2 dishes were fine but they were still outshone by the drunken chicken and asam fish.

Surprise surprise. Just when we were about to finish off all the dishes, there was an electric cut in the area. The entire estate was pitched black. Interesting. But we did not dined in darkness. The chef and a few of his customers/workers drove their car and positioned them strategically facing the restaurant. All headlights were turned on and the warm orangy lights lit the entire place with a cosy feel.

Despite the sudden electricity cut, dinner was a cooling and relaxing affair. We spent about RM65 for here which I find reasonable, considering the quality of the fare. Can’t believe we managed to chow down all these even after eating for the entire day.

Jie Sheng Restoran
3, Jalan Permas 10/B
Permas Jaya
81750 Masai Johor
019-7989123
3pm-12am
Closed on Thursdays

Not sure if you know this already. But I still have to say that KFC tastes wayyy better across the causeway! You MUST try this “finger-lickin” delight to taste the difference. The same day we had Ah Piaw Chilli Wanton Mee for supper, we went KFC for tea. Ordered the dinner plate with 3 pieces of pressure-fried pieces of chicken made with the original recipe.

So why KFC tastes wayyy better across the causeway?

The chicken is bigger,  juicier and much more tender. Also, the chicken flesh is so moist that it actually oozes out the herby flavours. I always ask for thigh meat. Most of the time, the service staff will oblige to my request. While most feel that chicken thighs are too fatty to eat, I think that the thigh is the best, most flavourful cut. Chicken breast meat is hopelessly bland and dry.

As for the sides, I like their coleslaw better than most places. A lot of times it’s either too watery or has too much mayo but KFC’s one is just right! The little cup serving of coleslaw is so crunchy and fresh! Shredded cabbage never taste so good elsewhere. BTW is mashed potatoes one of your favorite comfort foods? It’s one of mine so I really enjoyed KFC’s smooth and creamy mashed potatoes with piping hot chicken gravy. The gravy was was nice and thick and coated the top of the mashed potatoes nicely!

We spent just RM12.10 for a “finger-lickin” meal at KFC. Sharing a dinner plate is perfect for tea because we need to leave some space for dinner!

KFC Holiday Plaza
LG 68, LG 113-116, LG 140-145
Jln. Datuk Sulaiman
Johor Bahru
80250 Johor

Last Wednesday baby wanted “comfort food” and we were near Bugis so decided to get chicken rice at the retro restaurant along Purvis Street.

See how lovely the restaurant looks. On the namecard, it was written that Yet Con is ‘air-conditioned’ since 1940. Must had been a very upscale restaurant back then.

Eh this is a very special restaurant for me! This is where the good folks at Hill & Knowlton brought me on my first day at work! Welcome lunch! So nice right? They even have such team stuff for interns. They are a really wonderful team and I really really miss Debs and Joce! HUGSSSS!

Do you know what it says? I can only recognise some words. I think it’s promoting coffee and wine. Lol.

It was not dinner time yet so we managed to miss the crowd.

Ok. Singapore chicken rice 101.
What do you need when you eat chicken rice?
Thick, dark soy sauce, fresh chilli and pounded ginger!
Normally I’ll mix the chilli and ginger together and trickle the black saucy over the rice!

The chicken is Báij? (??) or “white chicken”. I guess they use younger birds because the meat is so tender. Mmm. It also absorbs the dip really well. Also, the soup was so flavoursome! Baby said this is the kind of food that’ll have him licking his lips in anticipation. As for the rice, it is not too oily. Just right. Mr.Ong chowed down 2 bowls of rice in no time.

Also ordered foo young egg (Chinese: ???) or Chinese omelette. That’s what Voal ordered during my welcome lunch! YUMMY. It’s moist and the chef is really generous with the ingredients. It has so many stuff – eggs, vegetables, meat and seafood all mashed up together. TASTY.

The bill was reasonable. About $15/person. We enjoyed the prompt service by all the uncles and aunties at Yet Con. From what I noticed, all of them are like above 50! The old uncle with white hair at the cashier is really adorable. He has an abacus on the counter but he counts with a paper instead. Hehe.

When we left the restaurant was 60% full with people eating steamboat and some stir-fry side dishes. Will definately return to try the steamboat.

Note: pictures were taken with Sony Ericsson W890i, Baby’s hp. It’s 3.2 MP. Looks better than the pics I take with my W880i right? Yup. It’s time to upgrade our phones.

Yet Con Chicken Rice & Rest
25 Purvis Street Singapore 188602
Open from 11am-9.30pm
Tel: 63376819