Hakka Restaurant (客家饭店) @ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Conveniently located opposite the Pavilion shopping complex, this place took a very special place in Mr Kon's heart. He can still remember how good the food tasted, although it was more than 10 years since his last visit.

 

Staring at the almost empty restaurant with plastic chairs on a super hot day can be so so so so unnerving. Thoughts running my mind include :"so little people, food not good ah?" and "bloody weather is killing me, i don't want to get heatstroke!!".

Restaurants with no aircon should be outlawed!!! Excusable only if their prices are super duper cheap!

 

Our worries were unfounded as an aircon section (half filled) was available for people like me. And chairs that looked worthy to be in a restaurant setting!

 

Only captions are available for the pictures! That's the problem when i blogged about a place so long after the visit.

My human 'memory card' has limited space leh.
*30 liao lor*

 

The Good

This ice cold sago dessert was refreshing for the mouth, the throat and the body when the weather was hellish hot!!

The Okay

This stir fried pork with eggs, mushroom and strands of bird nest looked good but tasted okay only nia... You have to wrap it with the lettuce provided but the combination was not that great. Ju Shin Jung was way way way better!

By itself, this simple tofu dish was pretty unique (another nice way of saying it tasted weird). It would however go well with plain rice.

Like what i have always emphasized, prawns can NEVER EVER taste as good as prawns that are shelled. Prawns cooked with oats will be the only exception.

It's just fresh, greenie vegetables with ikan bilis! What would you expect from me? "So fresh until i can feel the dew drops"? Hahaha.

I have tasted much better chicken than this in Malaysia and Singapore.

With such a thick layer of fat, it was initially quite savoury but the salt content of the "mei cai" was a bit too high. Points deducted! The best "mei cai kou rou" i had was from this lunch in Yunnan, near to the world famous Stone Forest.

Sighz.... these contained mostly pork meat and i seriously didn't remember any crab flavour. Well, overall still okay lah. Should be delicious if i wasn't so full.

Some fried noodles. I could easily buy this from any nasi lemak stall in Singapore. Taste wise, marginally (very very slightly) better than those nasi lemak stalls.

The Bad

Visually, this Sea Coconut dessert was appealing but it's the first time i had sea coconut so hard and munchy!! Are they really sea coconut? The sweetness and sourness (from the lemon) of the soup didn't gel up to a distinctive taste as well. 

Although i am a late bloomer for Yong Tau Foo, i can said with full confidence that the hakka style yong tau foo in Hakka Restaurant sucked big time!! The gravy was okay but the tau kee (i think that's the name) and meat balls were too hard.

 

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Quite a disappointment even though Hakka Restaurant was quite renowned in KL. My preference whenever i am in KL will indisputably be Restoran Overseas.

Price

We paid RM 240.46! Sorry hor, cannot remember the price for each dish.

By the way, the above includes 5% service charge and 5% government tax.

 

Location

Thaksin Beef Noodle @ Seah Im Food Centre

Not to be confused with the highly popular ex Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, who continues to create a storm in the top shopping destination in South East Asia! 

To tell the truth, i cannot confirm if there's any relation (direct or otherwise) between them; shy to ask lah! No matter what, the relation is negligible when it comes to food.

Even if you are related to Her Majesty, the Queen of England, a sucky food is nonetheless a SUCKY FOOD!

Coming back to Thaksin Beef Noodle, i am usually a steak or burger person when it comes to beef. Typical Asian dishes with beef are not within the radar of my non-stop cravings.

Hence, it came as a surprise when i realised how good the beef dishes were at Thaksin.

Two pictures first.

The soup was really delicious, comprising the essence of beef and a unique herbal taste. The meat was amazingly Q and tender!

Prefer something dry? You can try their Thai fried kway teow (Pad Thai) with beef, which was refreshing from the usual seafood content.  

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Location

Seah Im Food Centre. Remember my entry HERE? Thaksin Beef Noodle is right beside the Aspirasi Food Stall.

Additional Information

Good thing: It is halal.

Bad thing (for some people): Most of the dishes contain beef.  

Luxury Dog Houses (Random)

European-Style housing with a television, air conditioning, garden and picket fence.......

My gosh, this is the dream house for my dear Rubee lor!

With that in mind, it's time i get my butt going and search around for the perfect accommdation for Rubee. A google search revealed a number of sources, most notably of this company called "La Petite Maison".

Initially, its main focus was on custom made playhouses for young children. Now it has extended to building luxury doghouses too.

A few questions ran through my mind.

Should i have the Mediterranean-style?

Or maybe a lazy pool for my pooch?

Given Rubee's age, he needs something more elderly friendly too!

.

.

.

.

.

I miss a very important point (VIP).

If i remember correctly, i live in a HDB flat with no garden.

Oh, and i don't have US$20,000!

It seems that Rubee loves the rags anyway.

*a valid excuse*

Restoran Oversea (海外天大饭店) @ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A colleague once told me

"If you are ever at Kuala Lumpur, always remember to eat at restoran oversea!"

The existence of this restaurant was not remote to me as I always travel to KL (Kuala Lumpur) and had read of its popularity from Hungrygowhere.com.

As luck had it, i never really had a chance to try it with so many street food stalls available and the lack of travel companions; for Chinese cuisine, it's more worth it (can order more dishes mah) if you have many people sharing!

Until a week ago.

No matter what i am going to say here, please remember that we were super duper full after a food filled day! And as the saying goes, when a person is hungry, every edible thing is delicious.

Which was definitely not the case that day.

Soup

Ms SaNeVa is Cantonese and she die die must have soup in every Chinese meal. Our initial agreement was to have a cheap bowl of soup for her.

Unfortunately, that soup was sold out and we exchanged for another strongly recommended soup by the restaurant's supervisor.

This was sent. A POT of soup fit for 10 persons!!!

Shaking our heads....... we were surprised to find half a chicken, big mushrooms, dried scallops, cabbage and even ham! The taste was so full of flavour with the ingredients complementing each other very well!

We managed to finish it although our stomachs were bursting!!

Vegetables with Macadamia Nuts

Quite a disappointment after what i had in Dian Xiao Er (Singapore). The french beans were overcooked, it's pretty obvious that the nuts were not fresh and overall, the dish was too oily.

Prawns

My memory told me it was supposed to be some butter prawns dish. Those strands could be butter. Other than that, there's nothing butter about this dish.

And seriously, cooked in the same way, prawns can NEVER EVER taste as good as prawns that are shelled. The only exception will be prawns cooked with oats.

BBQ Mix Platter

The reviewers in hungrygowhere.com indicated the char siew and suckling pig as the 'must tries'!

Knowing very well that it can be very scary to order a whole suckling pig plus a big plate of char siew for small group of tourists like us, on the menu was this item called the BBQ platter; a mix of roast duck, jellyfish, roast pork, suckling pig and char siew.

The first two were normal.

The roast pork was one of the best i ever had. Especially so when i heard the unmistakable cackling sound when my teeth sinked into the meat.

Having a bad experience with suckling pig the last round, i am happy that this suckling pig had just the right amount of fats with a well-done crispy skin that tasted all the more better with the bbq sauce available.

A good plate of char siew must be slightly charred. This char siew was too burnt but the caramelized delicious gravy was still very noticeable with a very tender and juicy soft interior!

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I bet you my mom would love the food in this place.

And i will definitely be back!

Price

Soup - RM50.00

Vegetables with Macadamia Nuts - RM16.00

Prawns - RM30.00

BBQ Mix Platter - RM35.00

Location

84-88, Jalan Imbi.

Very near to Times Square

Operation Hours

11:30am - 2:30pm

5:30pm - 10:30pm

Additional Information.

Spread over two levels, it might be disappointing if you do not make any reservations. Look at the board of reservations (shown below) for that night we were dining!

We were so so lucky to dine at Restoran Oversea without any reservation made!

The Bakery @ Genting Highlands, Malaysia

Ever found yourself in Genting Highlands on a chilly, misty morning at around 7am where the only food outlets in operation were the fast food restuarants and some premium coffee shops that charged you similar, if not higher prices than those back in Singapore?

Heck, they even charged RM1 (S$0.43) for one piece of butter in Macdonalds! Maybe I should even be grateful to them for barring me the extra pieces of unhealthy butter on my hotcakes?!?!? 

HELL BLOODY NO!

Here comes the hero to rescue us!

*drummings*

The Bakery at Genting Hotel!

Just look at the following few (non-drink) items at only RM4.80 (roughly S$2) each!! 

Chicken Pie

The signature dish for The Bakery, this chicken pie had very common ingredients like chicken meat, carrots and green peas. 

It was tasty but could be better if it's served piping hot! Hot pastries can be especially welcoming in the colder mornings for the highlands.

Wild Mushroom Quiche

My first quiche (pronounced as Keesh), i found this to be rather refreshing from the normal cake (i know it's not a cake!).

Beancurdy with just the slightest eggy, cheesy taste (not exactly palatable for many people), i especially loved the lightness of this dish and the inclusion of two best-loved ingredients; onions and mushrooms.

Almond Croissant

Flaky on the outside, soft on the inside......

What more to expect?

More almonds!

My favourite still stands with the almond croissants from Toa Payoh Central!!!

Hot Chocolate 

Unlike the NORMAL hot chocolate, you have to do some work here!!

Two sticks of chocolate, one lump of chocolate and one glass of hot milk! Stir and you will get your hot chocolate!

At RM8.70 for a regular, i cannot decide if it's expensive or not.

On one hand, this was an uncommon way of serving.  On the other hand, the drink was not that tasty and i, as the patron, had to do some bloody work!

I prefer the hot chocolate from Krispy Kreme.

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Though my comments may seem pretty negative, i was in fact very satisfied for its quality offerings at a comparatively cheaper pricing.

With an alfresco area that is the perfect place to enjoy your warm pastries and hot chocolate tea, this bakery is going to be THE chill-out place whenever i am in Genting Highlands!

The view from the outdoor seating

My only regret?

Not having enough stomach space to try the wide range of delicious looking desserts!!

Location

Ground Level of Genting Hotel

Additional Information

There's a 10% service charge and 5% government tax!!

There's no wifi!!!

A decent cafe must have WIFI!!!