Ah Fu Satay (阿褔沙爹) & Other Food in Tan Ching Hing Restaurant @ Kluang [Malaysia]

Said to be a must try from a friend who checked with his fellow countrymen, i was confused with Ah Fu Satay's address as the one given was different from the one published online!

Whatever the case, both were quite near to each other and i will be appending the correct address (the one online was right) at the end of this post for reference.

Initially expecting just satay, i was caught off guard by the other food stalls in the non-air-conditioned coffee shop that served a pretty good variety comprising of barbecued seafood, crab dishes, deep fried chicken feet etc.

If i had known earlier, i might just eat lesser at dinner so that i can indulge in a super big crab that cost RM 80 (less than S$30). Oh well, maybe i should bring my mum here next time since she is literally a crab fan!

Now, the satay stall that was bigger than the name of the coffee shop itself; from the background published on the menu, it was mentioned that the store was established in 1991 under a different name and in 2003, the son of the founder took over and revised the recipe that proved to be popular with the Chinese masses.

And in 2006, he bought over a land, built a coffee shop and invited other stalls to join in! As we know by now, it's a favourite for the locals and even at 9.30 pm; the placed was packed with customers!

For Singaporeans, it's a deal to get a stick of satay here as it only cost about 30 cents whereas the average price of one stick can set us back by an astronomical 70 cents (about RM 2.10) back home.

I wouldn't be satisfied with just satay and my eyes sparkled when i saw hotplate oysters on one of the stall fronts! Think my tummy can squeeze in a bit more after that filling meal in Kluang's famous star restaurant.

Fried Chicken Wings - Alrighty, i couldn't resist the fried chicken wings too but i am mindful and went with the minimal of 2 pieces.

Served scalding hot from the frying oil, the batter was crispy yet not thick enough to overwhelm the taste. Meat was fresh and i believe it's perfect to have them with a mug of ice cold beer!

Hotplate Oyster - our usual fried oyster on a hot plate, this was sizzling when place on our table and as you could probably guess from the picture, there's more egg than starch.

I dig eggs and this would do great for the egg lover in me although i would rather go with something with a more intensive oyster flavour in it. For RM 11, we got like 7 large oysters.

Satay - we waited more than 30 minutes for this plate of satay sticks; 10 sticks of pork, 5 sticks of mutton and 5 sticks of chicken!

Portion was definitely meatier than satay sold in most Singapore stalls and i couldn't wait to bite into each of them to enjoy the satisfaction of my teeth slowly sinking into the meat. Sadly, i didn't quite like the marination which contained more spices than sugar whereas Singapore's version tends to be on the sweeter side.

It's a matter of personal preference and i bet there will be many others who prefer the "spice' taste. In addition, i like my pork satay to have segments of slightly charred fat that dripped with sinful goodness.

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Location

PTB 1015, Jalan Sekolah Chong Hwa,

86000 Kluang, Johor, Malaysia

Google Map

Check out my google map for my Kluang trip and look for "Restoran Tan Ching Hing" under Day One

Operating Hours

6.30 pm to Midnight

Drink Menu

As above. Do note that with the exception of canned drinks, you may have to wait a long time for your beverage during peak hour!

Pricing

Fried Chicken Wing - RM 3.20 each

Hotplate Oysters - RM 11.00

Pork Satay - RM 0.80 a stick

Chicken Satay - RM 0.80 a stick

Mutton Satay - RM 0.90 a stick

To read more about our short 2-day, 1-night road trip to Kluang, click here!

Silo Observatory - Panorama on Ground and Up In the Sky @ Lake Toya [Hokkaido, Japan]

I was thinking of giving Lake Toya Silo Observatory a miss as blog reviews didn't mention anything beyond soaking in the panoramic view of Lake Toya. However, it's along the way from Otaru and i guess stopping for just half an hour wouldn't be too much if hassle for us.

There wasn't any admission fee and once you cut across the big souvenir shop in the building, the scenic view of Lake Toya would be right in front of you!

Picture taking with stuffed Ezo brown bears! Wild bears do roam around in Hokkaido and it's quite common to see such stuffed bears. I personally find it sad though, think about it; what if a fellow bear chances upon them unwittingly at night.

As usual, this signboard was a hit with tourists and there were busloads of them in our visit. It's a pity that the lake appeared to have a hazy veil covering it and pictures didn't manage to capture its beauty.

Now you know what i meant. Right in the middle of the picture, you would find a cluster of buildings; that's where most tourists, like us, would stay for the night.

Numerous volcano eruptions have been recorded over the years, with the most recent one in 2000 that resulted in a new mountain (which we would visit the next day)!

While i was squinting my eyes to see where exactly our inn was across the lake, i heard a "whop whop" sound that got louder and louder over a few seconds.  Looking out, i found the source; a helicopter!

Together with other curious onlookers, i walked to the heliport.

Thinking it was a heliport for emergencies and also for researchers, you can imagine my surprise when i saw a price list for tourists to view the lake from up in the sky!

Three courses were available with the longest 12-minute crater course costing 20,000 yen each adult! I was tempted but i cannot stomach the thought of having about S$250 flying out of my pocket. Guess i am satisfied with the panorama on hard, solid ground.

Going back to the souvenir shop.

Was craving for Hokkaido milk even though i eventually went with the yogurt drink that was lusciously thick, rich and creamy!

There were many souvenirs from all over Hokkaido that can be found at Silo Observatory, including horse oil, lavender pillows, potato farm products, Shiroi Koibito (白い恋人) biscuits, royce chocolates etc.

I think there are bulk discounts. Check out the above!

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Location

Japan, 〒049-5832 Hokkaido,

Abuta District, Toyako, Naruka, 3−5

Google Map

Check out my google map for Hokkaido and look for "Silo Oberservatory" under Lake Toya (06-07 Aug)

Website

http://www.toyako.biz/english/

For my summarized 8 days, 7 nights itinerary to Hokkaido in summer (including a few days of self-drive); please click here.

Mutton for Lunch @ UK Farm Agro Resort in Kluang [Malaysia]

Tummy was craving for food and I was at the largest goat farm in Malaysia with an attached restaurant that served what I presumed to be the freshest mutton dishes; if you get what I mean. 

It's the same philosophy for people who said that fisherman gets the freshest catch for obvious reasons. Nonetheless, I understand it's a horror thought for vegetarians but I am, unfortunately, a meat eater. :( 

Coming back, the restaurant was open-air, non-air-conditioned with a stage across a green patch of field. As there are accommodations in the farm, the stage was likely built for night entertainment as it's not worth the trouble to drive along a non-lighted road for about 20 minutes just to get out to the main road.

Signature dishes were all mutton/lamb! Hm... lamb is supposed to be the young of sheep whereas kid is the term used to describe the young of a goat. Since the Chinese character for sheep and goat is the same, I am assuming that the lamb chop and lamb shank refers to goat meat which is generally accepted and known as mutton in this part of the world. 

The restaurant is like our typical tze-char restaurant with numerous dishes on their menu and I am sharing only what appeared to be their well-known dishes. If I was with my mom, I would seriously consider the kampong chicken with herbs.

Drink menu! I definitely wouldn't try something as normal as soft drinks! Hello, we were on a farm and we should always try local produce; e.g. fresh goat milk, passion fruit juice. 

Thai Coconut - Joyce was disappointed as it didn't seem like the typical sweet Thai coconut we are accustomed to. It tasted alright; just not as sweet with coconut meat that's tough to scrape.

Fresh Honey Passionfruit Juice - Sour yet shiok to drink on a hot day! I would prefer it to be sweeter and maybe ice- blended for ease of drinking.

Claypot Herbal Mutton Soup - Joyce ordered this although I couldn't understand her rationale as the weather was freakishly hot and mutton is known to be heaty for the body! 

Oh well, it's her choice and I am happy just taking a few sips of the soup and stealing one piece of the mutton for the purpose of this review. 

The meat was extremely tender and didn't taste gamey at all; soup was expectedly nice even though I still hold the belief that it would have tasted way better at night or when the weather was cooling. 

Lamb Chop - my order with a serving of shoestring fries and salad. Aside from steak, I often craved for lamb chop. However, it's not commonly sold at western food stalls and even if I were to find any, the pricing would be too high compared to chicken chop and the cut would be too thin for a satisfying bite. 

This one from UK Farm didn't disappoint; there were quite a few pieces and I love the soft, tender, easy-to-slice texture with just a touch of gaminess! The cut could have been thicker but it wasn't as thin as what I would have gotten in Singapore most of the time. Furthermore, I enjoyed the perfect combination of ingesting the meat with the sweet honey sauce! 

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Location

Within UK Farm

Google Map

Check out my google map (look for UK Farm) as above.

Pricing

Thai Coconut - RM 6.00

Fresh Honey Passionfruit Juice - RM 8.00

Claypot Herbal Mutton Soup - RM 29.68

Lamb Chop - RM 47.70

To read more about our short 2-day, 1-night road trip to Kluang, click here!