Sour & Spicy at Sungai Ara

My Fussies have always mentioned about the sour and spicy that is located Sg. Ara. The shop is located at Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim whereby it's at the opened area that is just opposite SRJK (C) Chong Cheng崇正小学. They're actually famous for the Sour and Spicy Rice Vermicelli Soup that is served with slices of fried fish meat. The name is given from the taste of the soup that is sour from the plum and it's also spicy from the chili. As its name, this means that the sourness and spiciness must to the extent that they're both strong that they're completing the tastes of each other. Well, the girls like the taste here that it triggers my curiosity to have a try!

Undoubtedly that I've ordered the Sour and Spicy Rice Vermicelli Soup with Fried Fish鱼肉酸辣米粉汤. A lot of lemongrass and with plenty of mashed green chili, it took me some minutes till I've managed to fish out these non-eatable herbs. To my satisfaction, the soup really tastes very sour and spicy and it does contain a nice aroma of the lemongrass. The taste is very refreshing that it has stimulated my hunger to finish the whole bowl of soup completely. For me, the fish meat is just an additional bonus whereby it doesn't contain any taste of the soil yet it's not really too delicious.

Another dish from my childhood memory is the Fried Rice Vermicelli with Canned Pork罐头猪肉炒米粉. This is a very simple dish that can be easily prepared with rice vermicelli, fresh vegetable and the canned pork that you can find in any shopping malls. This is a delicious dish due to the nice aroma and the strong taste of the thick soy sauce and the fatty pork meat.

I'll definitely visit the restaurant again and this time, it's definitely for the Fried Rice Vermicelli with Canned Pork. These are not only the dishes that they're serving here, you can still ask for other selections.

Kedai Kopi Ho Ping, Small yet Complete

A dinner gathering to achieve my target for food blogging of year 2013, we're heading towards Kedai Kopi Ho Ping和平茶餐室 that is located at Kampung Malabar日本新路. The girls are recommending the place for their delicious and special Loh Bak. The coffee shop indeed looks very small with limited number of tables and seats yet it's providing various choices of food.

A must to try on my request, we've ordered the Loh Bak卤肉. Of course, we've as well asked additionally some Fried Prawn虾煎 and Taiwanese Pork Sausages台湾香肠. The Loh Bak here is kind of special because it's made from whole piece of pork meat instead of the minced pork. The pork slice is succulent and it's not hard that I've expected. Besides, the chili sauce is very special because it's spicy and with a little sourness at the end of tongue even though it seems to be slight watery. The name of the dish is given that the pork roll must be served together with the starchy sauce卤汁 as well. I'm not fancy over starchy sauce with pork meat but it's at least nice that it's not too gluey. I find the Loh Bak to be very special because it doesn't contain the aroma and sweetness of the 5 spices that I've known of commonly. I didn't manage to capture a good image on the Fried Prawn but it does taste good for the crispiness and the saltiness.

Another recommendation is the Pork Meat Porridge猪肉粥 that you can ask for purely meat or with pork intestines. If you're not a porridge lover, you can ask for rice vermicelli米粉 or just the soup itself with the mixture of pork's spare parts猪什汤. The soup looks a little brownish and it's very tasty from the saltiness of the preserved cabbage. Furthermore, the minced pork is very juicy and it doesn't contain any awful pork's smell. The best news is that I don't feel thirsty even I've finished the whole bowl of the soup whereby the deliciousness is indeed an enjoyment. Please note that this is a DIY dish that you can ask for your favourite ingredients, just as I'm not having any pork intestines in my porridge as I dislike the taste. According to Su, the business has been very good that they're having 3 cooks here.

A strategic location, you can order the Beef Noodle牛肉云吞面汤 from the stall that is located in front of the Kafe Dua Dua Satu Lapan2218茶餐室. Simply the Wantan Noodle and sliced beef inside the thick broth, I love it whereby I've really enjoyed the tenderness of the beef. The meat is not chewy and it's indeed very juicy that it's just melting in my mouth. Not only the meat, but I like the tasty soup as well.

I've to say it, you must try out these dishes at Kedai Kopi Ho Ping. I don't know if there's any restaurants or stalls that are serving better dishes than here, but I know that they're one of the best that I've tasted so far.

Handmade... A Little Piece of Penang

Have you ever heard about Gartien.com or 小田佳园 in Penang? Well, I've never known about it until I've discovered the Handmade Pineapple Cake手工鳳梨酥 through the market sales that is located at Straits Quay. Some test samples and Attila has decided to carry one box for home...

Look at the box and the nice packaging that how the pineapple cake is wrapped, each of the them is alike a sweet souvenir. Reading through the official website, I've just realized that this little piece is really handmade locally including the pineapple that is planted at Nibong Tebal. Tearing the pineapple cake, you'll see the texture of the real pineapple. I find the pineapple tastes a little bit more sour than sweet while the skin is slightly thick than I'm expecting. The uneven pastry skin is indeed making the pineapple cake to taste a little powdery in the mouth. It doesn't taste too bad but it's just not better than others I've tasted before. Moreover, Attila is unhappy for the food preservative that is contained inside every single wrapper. It may not be deathly but I believe there's still a risk to the health.

The box with 10 pieces of pineapple cakes costs us RM 38. Personally, the price is over-charged because the Taiwanese Pineapple Tart tastes more delicious and it costs me only about RM 3 per piece.

Official Homepage

If You've A Million, Let's Go to Loh Mee

I'm hungry for a lunch. Thanks to my girls' gang to pick me up and here we go to the Million Loh Mee萬能鹵面 that is located at Medan Angsana Bandar Baru or nearby Farlim. Their speciality is the Loh Mee that is served together with Chicken Feet in 5 spices五香鸡脚卤面. Loh Mee is really an Oriental speciality because the soup is coloured with the dark soy sauce that is then being thickened with the egg and starch to create the gluey texture.

Other than a wide selection of noodles such as rice vermicelli, yellow noodle, Koay Teow or instant Maggi noodle, they're as well providing various add-on that ranges from chicken feet, chicken liver, pork meat, pork skin to pork intestines. Recommended in the menu, I've decided to take the Loh Mee. I like the idea of using the containers as storage for the reasons that it's not a wastage for those people that don't consume the chili or the garlic and it's as well a good news for myself as I can add as much as I can... Anyway, I don't really like the Loh Mee here because the soup is too starchy. It's almost not possible for me to mix the noodle with the chili and the garlic properly. Furthermore, it's disgusting that the nails of the chicken feet are not chopped off.

Additionally, we've ordered some side dishes for sharing such as the Loh Bak卤肉, Fried Prawn虾煎 and the Prawn Roll虾卷. I'm wondering if the chef has mixed some blended yam into the Loh Bak because it's very soft and juicy. The taste is quite ordinary except that it's slightly sweet. I find nothing special neither for the Fried Prawn nor for the Prawn Roll because the taste is just acceptable. There's nothing to be amazed by these dishes but they're eatable.

I'm fancy about Loh Mee but here is definitely not my choice again. They claim that they're also specializing in Pork Knuckle in Vinegar猪脚醋 and you may want to try it if. It's more towards an appreciation to my girlfriends Su, Elaine and Phui Yee for accompanying me on that day.

7 Old Houses into the 7 Terraces

An innovative idea to link 7 old houses into a restaurant cum a hotel, this place is called Seven Terraces七间老厝. It's located at Stewart Lane and its kebaya dining room is serving classic Straits and Indo-Chinese cuisine that we commonly know as 'Nyonya' food. Sitting inside the heritage house and to enjoy its beauty, it's just alike turning back the time.

They're currently serving 4-course menu that consists of appetiser, main course, greens or vegetable and a dessert. We're lost as we've no clues about the menu and I'm indeed quite unhappy as I've not received any help or recommendation. By gut feelings, we've decided to take the Pai Tee, Pork Man Tou and the Chao Tom. Pai Tee is a crispy cup that is filled with fried prawn and fresh sliced vegetable such as cucumber, carrot and turnip that is then being served together with sweet chili and coriander sauce. It's delicious because the crispy prawn and the "crunchy" vegetable from its freshness are both going well with the sauce that smells very nice from the chopped coriander leaves. My Man Tou is the stewed pork that is cooked with soy sauce and together with the pickled vegetable being stuffed inside the homemade bun. I like the softness and juiciness of the pork meat but I find the dish to be too salty. The last appetiser is a mixture of minced prawn with herbs and spices being being wrapped onto sugar cane stalk and then grilled. I find the texture of the dish is a little alike fishcake but it's not fishy and the taste is quite delicious.

For main course, Attila has decided to go for their specialty dish of Hong Bak Lamb whereby the prime grade of New Zealand lamb is slowly boiled in the Kurma spices. The complex Kurma sauce matches the strong smell of the lamb while the meat is still juicy and tender even after the long hours of cooking. I've chosen the Grilled Chicken Kapitan whereby the half chicken is cooked inside the mixture of chili, garlic, shallots and candle nuts. The meat is juicy and tender but I find it somehow doesn't absorb the aroma of the chili paste completely. On the other hand, the sauce is very heavy and filling from the thick coconut milk that I've a hard stomach after the dish.

Moving towards the greens, we've taken the Sambal Goreng that is the French beans and Enoki mushrooms being sauteed with belacan coconut cream. I'm quite unhappy because the Enoki mushrooms are being replaced with the small corns without my notification in advanced. The sauce is quite special but I find the dish to be too filling from the coconut milk as well.

I'm impressed the most by their dessert because both the Tang Yuan and the Panna Cotta are very delicious. It's a beautiful dessert whereby the homemade glutinous 'Onde Onde' rice balls that are being stuffed with coconut that is cooked with Malacca palm sugar and then being coloured in blue naturally by the juice of Bunga Telang, is then being served inside the warm coconut broth with some slices of coconut meat. I find the coconut to be slightly too rough but I've indeed enjoyed the thick and smooth coconut milk. This is very delicious dessert that I'm willing to visit here again and again... The Panna Cotta is made from the passion fruit and coconut and  being served together with candied pistachios and poached pineapple. I'm not the fans for Panna Cotta but Attila has indeed loved it so much. He's dying in this soft and jelly-alike dessert.

(Source from Wikipedia on Bunga Telang: Clitoria ternatea)

I'm not really satisfied with the Nyonya food here. My revisit will only be possible, if they're willing to serve only the appetiser and dessert to me. 

Official Homepage