Curry Noodles, Segambut

Jane told me that there's a very popular curry noodles in Taman Sri Sinar and one unexpectedly visit to a friend staying nearby led us to this place.

The shop just opened for dinner- it does dinner only and I was rather surprised that at 5 plus in the afternoon and there were patrons already. Yes, we were passing by and it's way too early for dinner, but since this was recommended, I might as well try it :p

Ordering was easy, I had the curry noodles though there were other noodles available too (such as clear soup and prawn noodles)

The piping hot bowl of noodles was served in a matter of minutes..

Their curry noodles was served in a thin curry soup and topped with a few spoons of thick curry 'sauce'. Stir in a generous amount of sambal and the curry noodles was very addictive. The bowl was laden with bean curd puffs, fish cakes, bloodied cockles, fishballs and beansprouts. The ingredients were very fresh and complemented the curry soup well.

Honestly, I thought I wont enjoy the curry noodles; it was such a hot day, the ventilation in the shop was not that good and it was stuffy sitting in there. And the idea of slurping down spicy, hot curry noodles dont really add to a happy eating experience. Although this curry noodles was not mind blowingly good, it somehow was able to satiate and please us.

There's no sign board to this shop, this is how it looks like..

The best landmark I could find was this Wisma located just a few shops away..

Curry noodles shop is located at Jalan 20/38A, Taman Sri Sinar, Segambut, KL.

Woo Pin Fish Head Noodles, Taman Danau Desa

Gary and Candy has been, for the longest time, trying to get me to try the fish head noodles at Woo Pin. Somehow, I was very busy for many, many weekends...and finally the sun, stars and moon aligned and wahlah, here I am at Woo Pin :p

It was saturday brunch time and Woo Pin was packed, packed, packed! The number of people waiting for tables was rather intimidating, but surprisingly, we got our tables quite quickly. But since it was so crowded, we had to wait a while for our hot bowls of goodness..

And 30 mins later, here's my fish head noodles..

When it comes to fish head noodles, what the pull factor for you? The soup, the fish or the type of noodles used? For me, it's the soup, and I definitely feel that this was Woo Pin's selling point. There's subtle differences to fish head noodles soup; some are skewed towards sourness, some strong with wine and others, extremely milky. Woo Pin's version was milky- no wonder the kids were slurping down the soup like there's no tomorrow. The milkiness was very aromatic, the distinct flavour of milk gave a lingering fragrance in the mouth. The noodles were served with 4 large chunks of fish(head) meat which Candy said was much less as they used to served about 6 pieces of fish meat.

We shared a bowl of yut wat with spinach..

Quite nice but rather fishy. Mask it with the ultra yummy chilli sauce if you cant stand the fishiness. The yut wat (fish paste) was compact and full of fish flavour, gives a good bite.

Woo Pin Fish Head Noodles is located at A37, Plaza Danau 2, Jalan 109F, Taman Danau Desa, 58100 KL. This is how it looks like, dont be confused with all the sign boards, Woo Pin's signboard is the green banner. Available from 730am- 10 pm. Closed on Mondays.

International Cuisine, Shanghai, Part 1

Shanghai, being one of the regional hubs for Asia, has it's fair share of tempting international cuisine and Alfred (our host) recommended some of his favourites to us...

Japanese: Kagen teppanyaki

I believe Kagen played a Big part in contributing to Alfred's 10kg in weight gain since he came to Shanghai to work :p. This was our first dinner in Shanghai, which was unexpected- I was thinking of Chinese food throughout my stay there..

Kagen is tucked in a quiet, chic area of Shanghai, reminiscence of Bangsar. What's their specialty? Teppanyaki buffet.

We were ushered to a room, seats about 10 customers per room, facing the teppanyaki table. Just get the menu and order away. Only one item were limited to one plate per table- the sashimi- other than that, we were given free reign to order anything under the teppanyaki menu..

Some starters..The sashimi was very fresh. Shishamo was pickled, so it was sourish and sweet, a first for me to try such a method of cooking for shishamo, but lovely nonetheless. The unagi on cucumber was nice and the deep fried baby octopus tentacles was delicious.

For RM110, I must say that this buffet was good value for money..

We had multiple orders of plump scallops, juicy jumbo tiger prawns and sirloins..Cooked to perfection, each item was oozing with juices. Absolutely lurved the scallops and prawns. Simply divine.

The teppanyaki chicken came unexpected scrumptious, crisp skin and tender, luscious meat. The Saba fish was delish as it was browned just to my liking :). The beef wrap was wonderful too, we had it with enoki wrapped or foie gras. And some tricks to entertain the guest, the teppanyaki master asked us to sit back and suddenly the stacked onions on the teppanyaki table were set on fire in our darkened room. Huge ball of fire rose up to the ceiling. Such drama..

End the meal with endless cups of cold and hot sake..Bliss :)

Modern European: M on the Bund
Reading mixed reviews of M on the Bund, I was on the fence on this one. Finally did pop by in the end, we were at the Bund anyways, so heck, might as well have a meal here. We were there for lunch and well, menu was not so extensive, we only had the choice of a healthy, light lunch set or a full, heavy lunch set. As we had a heavy breakfast, all of us decided to have the light lunch..

Started off with a pretty glass of carrot, lemon and parsley juice..

Refreshing and good way to whet our appetite..

Freshly baked bread with creamy butter.

For starters, there's a choice of chicken broth with fresh herbs or a salad of roasted eggplants and tomatoes flavoured with cumin and coriander finished with yogurt. Both had very contrasting flavours- the former was mild and gentle on the palate, very much flavoured liken to chinese chicken soup while the latter was robust and strong and woke up my tastebuds immediately :p. I preferred the latter.
Mains was a choice of :

1) Char grilled baby squid with pilaf of brown rice, marjoram and tomato with lemon wedges..Slightly too charred, the burnt flavour fell into the rice, there were hints of bitterness in some bites. The warm, slight gooey rice was a welcoming sight on a cold winter day. Quite a nice main, but not to shout about.

2) Kuku Ye Sabri- or to simply put it, an iranian herb frittata..Looks pretty, but lacking in flavours. Though it was described to be filled with feta cheese and olives, it just tasted rather bland.

We finished our meal with an extremely moist carrot cake..Good portion to end the meal with a sweet note.

Our lunch costs us approx RM50 per pax- I guess it's real good value for money for the service and the breathtaking view that we got from M of the Huangpu River and Pudong (new shanghai). Food wise, it's just ok.

Kagen Teppanyaki: 28D, Taojiang Lu, Near Heng Shan lu, Shanghai, China.

M on the Bund: 7F, No 5, The Bund (corner of Guangdong Lu), Shanghai, China.

Jaya One Foodcrawl, Part 1

An invite from Ramesh led me to join a large group of bloggers for a food crawl at Jaya One recently. Been ages since I joined a food crawl with bloggers, so why not eh? Met a number of new faces (not all were food bloggers) and a big bunch of food bloggers.

We all congregated at Brisik to begin our crawl..Starters at Brisik consist of satay serai and satagor. The satay serai was very much like satay lilit; Brisik's version was moist and good with the sauce. The satagor, which looks like begedil, was actually a mash of bean curd, potato, mince chicken and veg deep fried. Satagor is a blander and softer version of begedil, which you'll either like or dislike. I find it ok, but would have given my vote for good old begedil.

Kerabu Mangga added some zing to the mild flavoured starters..

The chilli padi was fiery and complemented the sour mango well. The shredded mango was slightly soft, the extra crunch in the kerabu would have been better. Taste wise, it was very appetizing.

We adjourned next to Bar Madrid for some tapas..

It was highly strung compared to Brisik, maybe having so many bloggers visiting the establishment on the same night added the tension. Anyways, we got to try some tapas prepared for us..

The tortilla espanalo was served first..

This was a more lavish version of the spanish omelette, this was filled with ham, cheese and a scattering of herbs. A compact version of an omelette, it was quite nice.

The Jamon Serrano Croquetas was a bane for some of us..

Jess and Mike, whom I had the pleasure to share table with, had a strong dislike for cheese. And this croquette (fried potato balls) was filled to the brim with creamy, cheesy, bechamel like sauce and chopped serrano ham. It had a rather strong porky flavour, which might put some diners off. Else, it's actually a rather yummy treat.

Iberico Confitado was served last..

The Iberico pork was slow cooked till tender and served on baguette. This tapas tasted rather asian, the flavour tasted almost like the pork filling for seremban siew pau :p. Delicious nonetheless, a mouthful of goodness that I enjoyed.

After the starters, we moved on to Divino for some wine..

Dawn was there to greet us almost immediately- we were slightly late and guess she was expecting us. We were brought around the restaurant and also to the adjoining Pristine Wine Shoppe which carries an extensive selection of wines from both Old and New Worlds.
For our night, Dawn had selected 4 wines from New World..

Frm L-R: June Shiraz, Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage, Black Cottage Pinot Noir and Lobster Reef Malborough Sauvignon Blanc

Lobster Reef Malborough Sauvignon Blance 2009: The only white wine for the night, the wine was light in flavour as its a young wine. Easy to drink and would be good with seafood.

Black Cottage Pinot Noir 2008: Slightly spicy, this wine was quite easy on the palate too. This wine is recommended with red meats and pasta.

Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage 2008: I find this rich with strong tannins. Think will suit heavier flavoured food.

Juno Cape Maidens Shiraz 2007: Another spicy based wine, this Shiraz carries hints of nutty flavour too. A deep flavoured wine, this goes well with more intense flavoured dishes (red meats).

Brisik

10-1, Palm Square Jaya One, No 72-A, Jalan Universiti, 46200 PJ.

Bar Madrid

12A-G, Palm Square, Jaya One.

Divino Restaurant

6-1, Palm Square, Jaya One.