Restoran HW Wan Tan Mee (海威云吞面) @ Mount Austin in JB [Malaysia]

Going to Johor Bahru on a weekend always makes me sad as I know for certain that I will not be able to patronize century wanton mee near KSL City Mall as the home-based eatery only operates on weekdays! 

But there are always alternatives and I don't mind checking out the ones I have never tried before; like the above Restoran HW Wan Tan Mee at Mount Austin. 

To focus on just wantan mee for such a large shop infers the confidence that the owner has for his/her food and needless to say, I had high anticipation for the food! 

With five of us, I guess we would have sufficient stomach space to share the famous spicy muar otak! If we were to get too full, there's always the option to bring home and toast them in the next few days. 

Spicy Muar Otak - now, the highly acclaimed muar otak doesn't taste like the above. Too wet and I don't get to ingest large pieces of real fish meat. A tad spicy, it also lacked the aromatic spices that signified the otaks from muar.

Fried Wantan - a small portion with 12 pieces to be shared. Fried to a crisp, the crust was crunchy without feeling overly heavy and the meat filling was generous with a dash of pepper. Fantastic as a snack and I love having them with the sweet Thai chilli!  

White Sauce Wantan Mee - my small plate of wantan mee! What's the deal with fried beancurd skin nowadays as I recall seeing a lot of them when I last had claypot curry fish tail at Bukit Ho Swee 1961 recently! 

With no chilli, I enjoyed the moisturized, slurpy noodles; while the lard oil coating the noodles was nice, it's not on the same footing as century wanton mee and paled in comparison to Ah Tuck Wanton Noodle. To be fair, the slices of char siew was nicely flavored despite not being sinfully burnt and fatty. 

The wanton dumplings in soup were pretty decent! 

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After reading what I wrote above, would you think I would return to Restoran HW Wan Tan Mee? Maybe I would if there's a craving for wanton mee. Although on second thought, the KL hokkien mee from the nearby Restoran Uncle Pou Wok beckons...

Address

33, Jalan Austin Heights 3, Taman Mount Austin, 

81100 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta'zim, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

White Sauce Wantan Mee (Small) - RM 9.40

Fried Wantan (Small) - RM 9.50

Spicy Muar Otak - RM 16.00 for ten

(Subject to Service Charge and Taxes)

Kogoro Katsu - Premium Pork Loin Set @ EmSphere in Bangkok [Thailand]

When one can't eat seafood in the land of the smiles, one could only deviate to the next favorite; pork! And that fully explained my reason for stepping into Kogoro Katsu! 

Kidding; my eyes were drawn to the above promotional deal; 279 Thai baht for the premium pork loin set that came with unlimited oven baked rice, miso soup, and cabbage! Not that I can eat a lot now that I am middle aged.

5.30pm with an almost empty restaurant. Unbeknownst to some, my family and I usually don't eat during the peak dinner time, preferring off peak hours to beat the crowd, and typically before dinnertime so that we have sufficient time to digest before sleep.

Dilemma; should I add a chawanmushi for 79 baht?

Actually quite expensive; so I guess not. 

Four types of sauces / dressings for you to consider; signature katsu pear sauce, original katsu sauce, Japanese yuzu dressing and Japanese sesame dressing. You know to use "which" for "what"?

Loving you when katsu restaurants gave us sesame seeds and the tool to grind them into finer bits! Those not accustomed to real Japanese katsu meal might be confused; this is important and you need them for the katsu sauce! 

Whatever the case, let me focused on the edamame first. While seemingly not included in the menu, their appearance excited me as my tummy was growling with hunger! Eating them with the katsu sauce for better flavour. 

Iced yuzu shot -  refreshing in the hot and humid Bangkok weather but the air-conditioning in the restaurant was freezing and I thought I would never say this; but I honestly preferred a hot cup of Japanese green tea then! 

Delivery of the meal; sans the pork cutlet! 

The rice pot cover was so cute with its pear holder. 

Waitress came over to loosen the rice. Hm.... I am able enough to do the same job so I wondered if this action was necessary to ensure we do not keep the rice covered for too long in case they burn. 

Now the miso soup was here to warm my tummy and cold body; let's immediately take a sip! Incredibly stomach warming and delicious for my taste buds, there were even tiny pieces of meat in the soup to cater to the hungry carnivore within me. 

Our katsu moisturized with a squeezed lemon wedge! 

Having the shredded cabbage with the traditional Japanese sesame dressing. Nothing much to complain about but my mind was so gunning for the meat. In other katsu restaurants, they would usually send in the shredded cabbage first.

Let's go for the meat! Batter was just the right thickness with a light crispiness that easily tore apart, revealing the premium loin that was thick, yet juicy and tender! You know the exhilarated feeling when you chew and it was just perfect for you? That's what I felt that day.

And to enhance the flavour of the katsu, you would definitely need the ground sesame seed with katsu sauce dip! Both katsu sauces were good but I have a stronger affection for the pear one, which was more unique and zesty! Yummy, yummy, yummy.

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Cleaned up in no time! What's there to complain about in my opinion? Air-conditioning was too cold for sure and another thing was the rice; the grains were too wet and I prefer them drier, and fluffier. 

Address

628 Sukhumvit Road, GM Floor, EmSphere,

Khlong Tan, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

Map

As above.

Website

https://www.openlink.co/kogorokatsu

Pricing

Premium Pork Loin Set - 279 Baht

(Subject to Service Charge and Taxes)

Claypot Charcoal Curry Fish Tail from Restaurant Bukit Ho Swee 1961 @ Yishun 664 [Singapore]

I am a rice lover who decides for the longest time ever that I should reduce rice intake as much as possible so that I wouldn't gain too much weight. Problem was there are some food you would die die need plain, white rice, like curry fish! 

So, with the pre-informed decision that we would be having curry fish for dinner, our family arrived happily at Restaurant Bukit Ho Swee 1961, which was more a tze char stall housed in a Yishun's coffee shop. 

Opened about a year ago, it drew crowds for its claypot curry fish, cooked traditionally over charcoals which didn't emit much smoke yet displaying ferocious tongues of scorching hot flames! 

Time was before 6.00pm and we were lucky to secure a seat almost immediately! The thing with anchor tze char stalls in coffee shops; they often have a few large tables reserved solely for their customers and this made it easier for our group of eight.

Menus as above for your reference. My sister had patronized this stall on a few occasions and we shall leave the ordering in her good hands. Let's proceed immediately with my review. 

Superior Shark's Fins - thick and gooey, not much of taste even with pepper and vinegar, and strangely, the consistency turned watery after a while. Nevertheless, I would be better off with fish maw soup.

 

Curry Fish Tail - star of the show, which was prepared only upon your order, and was literally boiling hot to our table, and leaving us wondering if we should let its "anger"simmer down before we start to eat it! p.s. honestly too many pieces of the deep fried beancurd skin!

Video for reference! 

Aside from the beancurd skin and the fish, there were many other ingredients including ladyfingers, french beans, cabbage which would be essential as it soaked in the curry so well, while retaining a good level of crunchiness! 

Eating the curry with plain white rice would be a must! The meat was thick, and the gravy was thick, albeit not coconut-milky and was flavourful with a touch of addictive sourness! Needless to say, I devoured my entire plate of white rice! 

Dried Shrimp French Bean - been a while since I last had French beans and I almost forgot how good they taste! Crunchy with a slightly raw freshness that made them all the more enticing for my taste buds. 

Cereal Sotong - strongly recommended to order this; satisfyingly large pieces of battered sotong that didn't weren't rubbery and the cereals were fried so well; I was literally scooping and mixing them to my rice and fish curry! 

Garlic Fried Pork - very hot when served so eat with caution! Crispy, juicy and sinfully oily, with a layer of very obvious pork fat! Do order if you enjoy pork fats as I do. 

Ginger Kampung Chicken - I like my chicken to be deep-fried or roast. This steamed kind with yellow chicken skin is not exactly my cup of tea. Removing the skin would help and it was not bad. Key thing is to have the meat together with the minced ginger, latter of which was pretty much a flavour enhancer, although a tad too salty on its own.  

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Would I be back? Sure yeah for the curry fish, garlic fried pork and cereal sotong! And maybe the dried shrimp french bean if I am feeling guilty for having an all-meat meal.

Address

664 Yishun Avenue 4, 

#01-283, Singapore 760664

Map

As above.

Pricing

Superior Shark's Fins - S$8.80

Curry Fish Tail - S$35.00

Dried Shrimp French Bean - S$12.00

Cereal Sotong - S$16.00

Garlic Fried Pork - S$14.00

Ginger Kampung Chicken - S$18.00

Plain Rice - S$1.00 

(NETT)