Oriental Cravings

Oriental Cravings, located in the Rainforest section, is a semi open-air, al fresco-styled dining restaurant that combines the old kopitiam charm with contemporary minimalist aesthetics. Service is informal and speedy. The ambience is simple, accentuated by retro decoratives like charming vintage lamps, old family photographs, floral Malaccan Nyonya tiles, and vintage collectibles reminiscent of the days of old Malaya.

This was probably my tenth visit to this eatery after many months of not visiting it, and finally remembered to photograph some of the items offered by this non-halal restaurant.

Charcoal-roasted Segamat coffee with milk and ice was nice but nothing exceptional. There used to be another drink item, 'cham' (coffee-milk tea mix), which I found was a lot nicer and satisfying.

Charcoal-roasted Segamat coffee was a better choice as it was slightly more fragrant but might not appeal to non-coffee lovers.

Toast bread with butter and kaya was mediocre. The fragrant kaya (coconut-egg jam), however, was sufficiently sweet (though I would have preferred it to be smoother in texture), and that blended well with the saltish butter. Often referred as yin-yang by the Chinese, such simple snack, more often than not, gives very satisfying pleasure as one enjoys it with coffee, or tea :)

One of its signatures, the roast pork curry laksa that I had came with thick soup and few pieces of siew yuk (roast pork), and tasty red chillie-shrimp sambal paste. Priced at RM13.90 per bowl, though quite a generous portion, the laksa was only mediocre. The taste was not at all impressive, and definitely not a match to some of the laksa sold by hawkers in the northern states, namely Perak and Penang.

Stewed pork in black soy sauce with rice looked adn smelled really good when it was served up. The lean-fat pork chunks were soft and tender, and pork lovers would relish feasting on them with the tasty and fragrant gravy.

Another signature item, the rice wine chicken mee suah (wheat flour vermicelli) came steaming hot, and the chinese rice wine fragrance crept up our nostrils. The generous use of chinese rice wine in the soup rendered the soup rich with alcohol without an overpowering taste.

Generally, the pricing of the dishes are pricey for the standard and quality with exception to a few items such as the above. This eatery can be a once-a-while option on the list of places for eating out.

Oriental Cravings

359, Ground Floor (Rainforest section, New Wing)
1-Utama Shopping Centre
Lebuh Bandar Utama
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel: 603-7727 2581/7726 3801
Business Hrs: 10am-10pm Daily
(Non-halal)

Restoran Meng Kee Char Siew

My second visit to this almost perpectually packed place saw the char siew (BBQ pork) sold off at 1pm, with a few pieces still hooked up, which were already booked by diners. Good thing the five of us ordered two portions of the meat that got us all salivating. Amazingly packed especially during lunch, Meng Kee Char Siew Restoran buzzed with white and blue collar workers, mainly from the Hicom Glenmarie area.

Yummy char siew with fragrant, sweetish, chargrilled and crispy outer layer, soft inside with fats that melted in the mouth. My friend, Jason and I dislike the taste and texture of fats to the extent of feeling nauseous and sick in the stomach, yet we both are able to vouch that these wonderful char siew came with fats that did not elicit those uncomfortable effects. :) Haha, I supposed we both could be 'char siew tasters' . Any char siew that pass our QC would be superb char siew!

These dark looking pork sausages were fragrant and really good, with slight sweetish taste. Skeptical at first because they looked like liver sausages, I took a small slice and placed it into my mouth with fingers crossed. Anticipated to spit it out as soon as I find the funky liver taste, it was surprising to actually find myself chewing it delightfully.

The roast chicken was also good with tender, smooth-textured flesh. Now this is what we call good chicken rice :)

Fresh and crunchy bean sprouts served with light soy sauce, oil and fragrant crispy fried onions was a common item on most of the tables at the restaurant.

Items on most tables


Packed during lunch


Char siew station

Restoran Meng Kee Char Siew King (明记叉烧王)

20, Jalan Pekedai U1/36 (Ground)

Hicom Glenmarie Industrial Park

Shah Alam

Tel No: 019 - 379 3629

Business Hrs: Mon-Sat

Closed on Sundays

(Non Halal)

MOF の Japanese Sweets

Having last stepped into Pavillion KL few months back, I was in town recently and decided to pop over to check if there were any new outlets or boutiques that had opened since my last visit. Yes, there were, and two new additions happened to be in the Gourmet Emporium. One was a dessert station, MOF.

MOF の Japanese Desserts is a simple looking glass station (similar to の) surrounded by two wall panels. Its ceiling is adorned by Japanese art, and fully-blown up coloured photographs of the delicacies and desserts offered on its walls. The use of dark red colour and with wooden tables and chairs and comfy sofas give the place a relaxing and unpretentious setting.

MOF or Ministry of Food in full, offers an wide range of desserts, both hot and cold. Generally priced quite reasonably, Adrian and I decided to try these colourful, mouth-watering sweet treats. he ordered the Abekawa, a hot hot dessert of oven-baked mochi served with sweet red bean paste. A signature number priced at RM11, the mochi had fragrant,crusty outer layer with soft, chewy inside. Bland on its own, they went so well with the sweet red bean paste with added fragrance by the soy powder.

Abekawa

I had the Macha Imo, literally means green tea potato, which was soft, fine Hokkaido milk gelato served with green tea sauce, red bean paste and air-flown Japanese sweet potatoes. Also a signature dessert priced at RM11, this number came with instructions on how to enjoy. When we saw it, we thought perhaps we might have seemed 'ignorant' that they felt compelled to 'teach' us how to savour it. One is to scoop a bit of everything in the bowl - the cold gelato, the red bean paste and the warm sweet potatoes - and enjoy!

Macha Imo with instructions to enjoy

At the back of the menu, to our delight, we discovered that there was no added artificial flavourings or colourings, preservatives, chemicals or MSG (as Ramen and other Japanese food are served in other MOF outlets) in any of the items offered by MOF. :)

Dessert and ice cream (or gelato) lovers, make your way to MOF at Pavillion KL. You'd be enchanted by the treats just as we were! Sluurrpp!! :)

http://www.ministryoffood.com.sg/desserts.aspx

Gourmet Emporium

Level 1, Pavillion

168, Jalan Bukit Bintang

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Restoran Famous Seremban Favourites

It was after my chiropractic session in Sunwaymas Commercial Centre in Dataran Prima, and we decided for lunch at this kopitiam (coffeeshop) further down the road from the clinic. The restaurant name was kind of lengthy, the place looked bare and cluttered at the same time.

Only one stall located at the main entrance. That was where one can order its famous char siew (BBQ pork). It was almost two in the afternoon, and char siew was running out. We managed to order some of that and siew yuk for two. Adrian had them with rice whilst I had Hakka Mee.

The char siew, available in quantity of small, medium, large and extra large for the price of RM5, RM10, RM15 and RM20 respectively, was good. Bit crispy on the outside, it was sweet and fragrant, with fats melted in our mouth. Too bad we could not order more. We would make it a point to go early the next round.

The siew yuk was not that good as they were bland and fragrantless. Then again, the restaurant is famous for the former and not the latter. I would say it's the best in PJ that I had, not considering the Meng Kee restaurant in Glenmarie Shah Alam.

Priced at RM3.50 for small and RM4.00 for large, the Hakka Mee was plain looking noodles topped with minced pork and some spring onions. This version was without the dark soy sauce, hence it was light but tasty.

Restoran Famous Seremban Favourites
80-1, Ground Floor
Jalan PJU 1/3B
Sunwaymas Commercial Centre (Aman Suria)
47301 Petaling Jaya
Business Hrs: 7.30am-4.30pm daily
Call 017-279 8582 (to check if still got stock)
Closed on Tuesdays

Coca Restaurant

Coca Restaurant has always been famous for its steamboat. Tried that couple of time many years ago. The last was back in year 2003. Wow, now that I recalled, it has indeed been a long time, and honestly can not really recall how it tasted like. Apart from steamboat, Coca offers other Asian cuisine including Thai. being my favourite cuisine, Adrian and I decided to try out the dishes for dinner.

Yum Mut Muang according to the menu was supposedly sour mango with peanuts, dried shrimps and spicy lime sauce but it turned out to be shredded sweet sour mango with cashew nuts, sliced onions in rojak sauce. Priced at RM15.80, it was mediocre and very localised to Malaysian tastebuds, and was not at all like any authentic Thai mango salad.

Tod Munn Pla, the thai fish cakes were good. For six pieces at RM12.80, they came with chillie sauce with chopped onions and cucumber and pounded peanuts.

Kui Teow Pad Thai was fried pad thai noodles with eggs, beancurds, minced chicken and served with prawns, grounded chillie, white sugar and pounded peanuts. Priced at RM14.90, this fried noodles was supposed to taste sweetish, hence the given white sugar.

Tom Yum Kung Kam Kam was vermicelli in Coca special tom yum soup served with four pieces of fresh large prawns, mushrooms and tomato wedges. Gravy was a lot thicker than the clear tom yum soup. This RM16.80-bowl-of-noodles was one of Coca's signatures, which I found reasonably tasty with the right level of spiciness, but it was not impressive. The fresh prawns however did some compensation.

For RM12.90, the Roselle flower juice was quite an interesting refreshing drink. Came with three pieces of the flowers, which were crunchy, the drink was sweet, salty with tinge of sourness. It was not something Adrian would enjoy as he disliked sour drinks (even just a tinge of it), so he settled for some hot chinese tea.

Roselle flower

The spoon that came with the Roselle flower juice was actually a long stainless steel piece with one end a spoon and the other a fork.

The restaurant in the weekends was packed with families and large groups of friends. The sound proofing was not good, hence it got a little too noisy to our liking. That was partially because we a were seated about 15 feet from a group of 10-12 friends getting together and they were unaware the volume they were making. Much to our dismay, we had to put up with almost every word in their conversations.

Simple Asian concept with minimal decors, the restaurant uses wooden tables and chairs, and a carved wooden panel separating the dining area from the main entrance of glass panels. Only a few tables can be seen as one enters the front.

CoCa Restaurant

Lot G38&F40
1 Utama Shopping Centre (Old Wing)
Bandar Utama, PJ
Tel: 603-7727 3180
Fax: 603-7728 2151