Makansutra, Plaza Damas (Floggers' Meet) Part 3

The main event of the floggers' meet took place last Saturday at Makansutra in Plaza Damas. I had earlier met up with Rasa Malaysia for a round of karaoke in Subang Jaya(where some members of the BSGs also joined us). The BSGs attempted to "kidnap" us to go to La La Chong instead after the session but we managed to escape by driving at neck breaking speed; it was a car chase scene that would have fit right in the movies of our local Gerak Khas! Ha ha ha...We manage to arrive at Makansutra safely (followed by two members of BSGs since they were right on our tail). Nahhh... the car chase never happened and the abduction idea was easily thwarted by directing the BSGs' attention to their jug of beer instead. LOL...

Arriving at Makansutra, we were greeted by Audrey, the dinner organizer. Fat Boy Bakes was already there as he made good on his promise of delivering us his Tiramisu cake. However he could not stay for dinner as he had to make good on another promise to his wife!

Here're the dishes served that night, the group of us took photos again (of course!) but angles on food shots are limited since there were quite a number of us. The food paparazzi (like Lyrical Lemongrass said!) struck again!

Mieng Kam - Hot stuff!

Asian Tapas - (L to R, clockwise) :
Pie Tee was really nice and tasty.
Kerabu Sotong (sourish spicy squid salad) was nice and really hot too,
this was a bit on the sweet side.
Fried Wontons had generous fillings and went well with the Thai chilli sauce.
Pomelo Salad - a first for me, liked it a lot.

The yummy and crispy Mango Chicken.

Tasty Sutra Prawn Curry - this was good!
Thai Seafood Tomyam - Average; notice mine has no fish as I don't like fish.

Homemade tofu with garlicky sauce was lovely - crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. A delight to bite into.
We also had wine that night, courtesy of few floggers. I brought Maker's Table.

All in all, 8 other great floggers (whom I've not met before except for some that Friday night) were present for that evening.

1) Teckiee of Eat First, Think Later
She is a very sweet girl who needed my protection most of the night as there was an abduction planned to ferry her away to Pangkor! The key word that started it all was Koong Pieah...and everything else after that was very much like "Fatal Attraction". Hee Hee hee....Seems, I'm now her Tai Kar Cheh!

2) BY of Rasa Malaysia
Having exchange comments after comments about gorgeous Daniel Henney on the blog, we had no problems striking up a conversation when we first met face to face; still touching on Daniel Henney and other yummy dishes!

3) Audrey of Audrey Cooks
My first encounter with her. She was most gracious and pretty cool, dealing with the disorder all around her! Ha ha ha...And she looks every bit of the part of a great cook!

4) Boo_licious of Masak-Masak
Finally met up with the legend on Friday and again here in Makansutra. Thanks for the concern about me driving around (vision hasn't really been the same since my retina detachment surgery). It was also from her blog that I learnt how to take food photographs from. So, it was an honour to have met up with her.

5) Jackson from Living in Food Heaven
As much as he's shy in a way, he warms up quickly too. Quick enough to ask if he can park at my house when he goes to SS2! LOL...Funny guy!

6) UnkaLeong of Books@Me
On a CNY break here from Thailand, this young man didn't have enough sleep when he arrived for dinner! Ha ha ha...Nice guy who has the same kind of humour that I have. Wish you all the best in your relationship (now that you have met her parents, it's on to the next level!).

7) Babe KL of Babe In the City KL (together with Dude KL Sr and Dude KL Jr)
She remained most calm and put to order of some of the disorder around :o) Thanks for serving up the Tiramisu and for putting up the pics in Flickr in lightning speed. Dude Sr was the strong and silent type, offering his insights now and then whereas Dude Jr showed us his aspirations to be a professional photographer.

8) Tonixe of Back Street Gluttons and fellow member
Finally found out how he manages to get his creative juices flowing when he writes in his blog. Ha ha ha....Just like how I need to decipher some of his comments, I still needed to decipher what he really meant when he spoke to me face to face. LOL...Duets and all, still very much a mystery! ;o)

Special mention to :-

Lyrical Lemongrass - Nice to have met up with you and having a laugh over that tale! You share my humour too! (or at least I think so? Don't you? *nervously giggles* hee hee...)
Fat Boy Bakes : Thanks for the wonderful Tiramisu and for the lovely compliment that I look much better in person! Well, I guess it's pretty unanimous that you be the organizer of the next floggers' meet to ensure that you will be present!

It good to now know the faces instead of just nicks that helm the great food blogs. Here's to more floggers' group activties!

Recaps : -
Part 2
Part 1

Strangers are just friends waiting to happen.
~ Rod McKuen, Looking for a Friend

Meng Kee & Lian Bee Hokkien Mee (Floggers' Meet) Part 2

After the first mini meal at Wong Ah Wah, the eight of us then adjourned further up Jalan Alor to Meng Kee for Grilled Fish. Of course, since floggers do not live by fish alone (especially me!), we also ordered Hor Chien (fried oysters with egg), grilled sotong (squid) and char kway teow (fried flat noodles)! LOL...
We sat at the tables by the roadside, hence the photos taken at this place has a different tinge of colour. Naturally, the photo taking session continued irregardless of poorer lighting conditions (floggers never give up!). We also had another round of drinks with some of us throwing caution to the wind, telling ourselves that we'll deal with our bladders only when the time comes. LOL...

The Hor Chien was slightly different...the egg was not broken up but was in large pieces. I prefer them smaller and covering the oysters.

The Char Kway Teow was okay (my fave is still from Asiacafe)

The grilled stingray - it was okay, let down by the the lack of belacan in the sambal that comes together with this dish as a dip; not pungent enough! For me, chilli plays a very important role. I love spicy food and all sorts of chillies.

Aaaahhh....this sotong dish was the best! The sambal that was used to cook this was thicker and had more belacan, therefore more pungent and potent! The onions and the aromatic curry leaves gave it an added oomph!

Well, the final stop of the hawker food tour was Lian Bee Hokkien Mee at Jalan Cheng Lock. It's located opposite EON bank and further down the same road as S&M Shopping Complex.

Check out the cook in action! Tables are located in the side lane of the building. Might not be the ideal place of dining for certain people who are not used to eating at such locations.

For me, eating at such places is a plus point to the food. Stalls like this especially in the Klang Valley are fast disappearing-this would be what I call Heritage Food! (I'm not talking about the Asian Heritage Row here...that's different style of dining altogether).

Presenting you The Menu! Since it's still Chinese New Year, they have added an air of festivity by hanging Chinese Red Laterns up along the zinc roof that provides shelter from the rain (or maybe some other form of UFOs - Unidentified Falling Objects).

The Hokkien Mee was okay. I felt that it was again better in the old days when I used to lived in KL. Dear ol' dad use to pack this home or we ate here now and then after watching movies in Rex Cinema (good memories). Mmm...what happened to the home made ice cream stall that I use to love (red bean flavour!), it was located at the corner coffee shop opposite Rex (which was turned into White Castle and then....eh, what is it now???)

I prefer the Hokkien Mee Hoon as it did not have the strong taste of the yellow noodles like the Hokkien Mee did (some of you would know what I mean). One can taste the "wok hei", the high flames add to the flavour.

The Pork Meat Soup was nice - sweet. Hopefully it wasn't MSG , I don't recall being thirsty after that though. On the other hand, we only had a small bowl of soup each.

After we were done, it was time to say our goodbyes to one another. The meeting didn't end there for some of us, we had another dinner event to attend the next day!

To be continued - Floggers's Meet at Makansutra

Wong Ah Wah, Jalan Alor (Floggers' Meet) Part 1

When Rasa Malaysia announced that she'll be coming back to Penang/KL, some bloggers decided that we should do a gathering. Of course, a gathering of food bloggers would involve food...and more food. Boo_licious organized a hawker food "tour" on Friday night and Audrey organised a dinner of Thai/Penang fusion food at Makansutra on Saturday night. As a matter of fact, I just came back a couple of hours ago from the dinner (will also blog on that later).

A group of us met up on Friday night (Boo_licious + 2 friends, Rasa Malaysia and hubby, Lyrical Lemongrass, Fat Boy Bakes and myself) at Wong Ah Wah in Jalan Alor.

Nicely decorated, Jalan Alor is a tourist attraction. With lots and lots of restaurants and stalls, it is truly a food haven.

Wong Ah Wah is well known for its Chicken Wings and also serves dishes. The place is usually crowded and you can see the staff in the kitchen area working furiously away! Woks aligned in a row and a big steamer, all are being utilised well.

Working furiously at the grill too, roasting the chicken wings.

As we were going to stop by other food venue(s) after this place, we ordered 4 dishes. Of course with food bloggers, we all whipped out our cameras and started clicking away when the food arrived. The good thing about eating with other food bloggers is that we are usually a patient lot, unlike our other non blogging friends who will be sighing away or asking how much longer they will have to wait till they can eat the dish! LOL...So, I guess a few of us will be blogging about this outing and the one on Saturday too.

The chicken wings were good, but not as good as before when I used to patronize this place more often in the late 80's. You can taste the "smoked" chicken with its slightly burnt and flavourful skin.The simple Brussel Sprouts that was done just right.I do not know how to eat Balitong! It's a snail like delicacy which I have yet to conquer. La la in Chinese Rice Wine soup - pretty good but mild, a tad more wine would be better. (Or was it suppose to be normal??? I forgot!)

To be continued ...Meng Kee Grill Fish and Squid and Hokkien Mee at Jalan Cheng Lock!

This Blog Is Now 1 Year Old!

Well, I'm surprised that this blog has lasted for a year. I had a few blogs here and there but never got past the 3rd post! So, officially, this is the first real blog that I have. Anyway, my friend Jen, is no longer around. She was one of the reasons why I started this blog. I miss Jen, still do. Especially around this time as this would be when the girls will usually gather, during the CNY period. I hope her hubby and son is well, her family too...it's almost coming to be about a year now. The colour Yellow has never been the same for me since then.

I tell my family that I blog as I want to leave some memories behind. Friends have come and gone, some have said their final farewells. When I'm gone, this is always around (unless Blogger's server crashes! LOL). Memories about the food I ate??? Ha ha ha...yeah, that and a bit of my life. Okay, back to happier things....

Happy Birthday to "You Get What You Give..Sometimes...". This is an achievement for me. Ha ha ha.. Hopefully this blog will stick around longer ;o)

Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need.
I need more hellos. ~ Charles M. Schulz

Home Cooked Food

With the current Chinese New Year celebrations, I've been eating home cooked food; courtesy of Czar, my sis in law and mom. Most eateries are closed at least for the first few days anyway. So, eating in was a welcome change for me as I don't get the chance to, most of the time. Anyway, most of these dishes are usually cooked during Chinese New Year. Not much to write about in this post, just photos. Mrs Pitt, will you ever be back here to celebrate Chinese New Year with us? Look at the food that you missed! :o)

From home

Fish maw, abalone and a whole lot of other things soup!
Chicken Feet and Mushrooms
Arrowhead (Ngah Ku) - best eaten as an overnight dish. By then the arrowhead is fully marinated in the sweet red sauce!
Sis in law's Ju Hu Char

From Czar

Czar's Ju Hu Char
Lettuce which you can eat with the Ju Hu Char and Arrowhead
Assorted Mushrooms with Fatt Choy (black sea moss)
Herbal Chicken

Cookies made by Czar

The lovely Pineapple TartAlmond cookies

Czar's first attempt at Shrimp Cookies - It's yummy!


I don't even butter my bread. I consider that cooking. - Katherine Cebrian

The Ming Room, Bangsar Shopping Complex

My fellow associates got together for a pre Chinese New Year dinner celebration at The Ming Room. The place was fully booked and by the time all the tables were filled, we could hardly hear ourselves talk!
Dinner started at about 7.40pm, about 25 minutes late. Charlie's Angels were last to arrive, but it was forgivable as the three of them had to complete a mission to save the world! Hee hee hee...

Cheers! Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting ice breaker! LOL...

Lo Hei To All Good Things! Salmon Yee Sang

The not so shark's fin but Toong Fun (glass noodle) Seafood Soup. Thank goodness it wasn't.

Venison with Spring Onion-I liked this dish, especially the fresh spring onions.

Steamed Patin Hakka Style - not for me, this fish scares me!

Soft shell crab with chilled jelly chicken and jellyfish - The crab was fried just right whereas I found the jellyfish too big a strand. Expecting it to be more refined.

Braised beancurd with dried scallops and vegetables. Mmm....the beancurd was tasty!

Seafood Fried Rice - Tasted average.

Thousand Layer Sponge Custard - Yummy! I love custard.Double boiled snow pear, sea coconut and lemon. The lemon slices made this quite refreshing and different.

As I was the "official" photographer, my associates tolerated me as I took pics of the food as they wanted pics of the food too. After dinner, we went to Coffee Bean as karaoke was ruled out since some of us still had to work the next day. As we sat around talking , the conversation became scary stories session; some were afraid to go home alone after that! Ha ha ha...Great food and great company, it was a lovely gathering. Here's to more! *Hic* .... oops! *Hic* Sorry.... ;o)

Here's wishing all a very Happy Chinese New Year, "GONG XI FA CHAI" and to the rest who aren't celebrating, "Happy Holidays!"

Restoran Hainan Curry Rice, Klang (Non-Halal)

I met up with a friend the other day in Klang and we decided to take a drive around Bukit Tinggi to look for food. The both of us haven't had our lunch yet and it was past 2 pm. As we circled the area, a black signboard with yellow/gold words caught my eye.

Pic was taken when we left - shutters were down as they close to clean up the restaurant and replenish the food from 4pm - 5 pm everyday.

I have not tried Hainan Curry before and decided to give this place a try (there was also a crowd at that time too to pique my interest). We went up to the counter and there wasn't much food left. Luckily for us, one of their best sellers, Hainan Char Siew (BBQ pork) was still available. Mr Boo, the owner, was on hand to give me some food recommendation. We also ordered a serving of spring roll (RM3.00), a small portion of Curry Chicken (RM3.00) and a small plate of cabbage (RM1.00).
The Char Siew was lovely, not exactly BBQ but more like fried. The meat is lean yet it was still tender with a slight crisp. I suppose it's because its meat is thin and it's served thinly sliced too. It's on the sweet side and both of us liked it (we ordered another small portion - RM3.50)! The spring roll was good too, not too meaty.

As for the curry chicken, the gravy was just right in consistency. However, it wasn't spicy as I would have like it to be. Maybe Hainan curry is not suppose to be spicy? The cabbage was nice and sweet. We had asked for a separate bowl of curry gravy (I didn't take a pic of it but it came mixed with a certain type of thick gravy, much like the sauce for Penang lobak). Again, it wasn't spicy but the mixture gave out a unique taste.
Mr Boo then came over and told us that his regular customers normally pour the mixture of sauce and curry gravy all over their plate of rice and ask for more! Hainan Curry Rice in Klang has been in existence for over 3 generations, starting from the market in Port Klang. Mr Boo then went on to say that back in the days of the market, they used to start business at 5.30 in the morning till late lunch! Having opened at this place about 6 months ago, they start at 7.00 am till 4pm. Due to good response, they recently decided to extend their hours for dinner from 5pm to 9pm. During lunch hour, customers are asked to place their orders at the counter where as for dinner, customers will be given menus to order from their tables.
If ever I'm in Klang, I now have another place to go to apart from my Roast Duck! Oh, as I "Googled" Hainan Curry Rice, I found out they have a blog of their own; check out their blog. Some nice pics and you can see the way they eat the rice with the curry gravy just like how Mr Boo described to me. They are at No. 26 Lorong Batu Nilam 3C, Bukit Tinggi, 41200 Klang, located opposite the empty field (for now), contact : 016-2827369.


UPDATED on 28 August 2008 : Was informed that they have relocated nearby :-
15-0,Lorong Batu Nilam 3B, Bandar Bukit Tinggi, 41200 Klang, Selangor Darul Ehsan

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. ~ Doug Larson