Arena Food Court @ AEON AU2

Arena Food Court @ AEON AU2

No.6 Jalan Taman Setiawangsa

AU2 Taman Keramat

54200 Kuala Lumpur

(Coordinates: E101° 45' 2.8" N3° 10' 38.7")

Brendan’s been regularly busting his prepaid data plan and we thought we’d pay the local Umobile office a visit to discuss alternatives. The nearest office is located at AEON AU2, and since it was already lunchtime we decided to try their food court. We’ve always enjoyed AEON (what was formerly known as Jusco)’s food courts, and think that their Rawang and Taman Maluri outlets serve some amazing dishes at pretty reasonable prices.

familiar feeling

spacious and clean

Cat tried their ¹Sotong Set; Brendan ordered the Sizzling Lamb Chop while I had a hankering for ²Nasi Lemak.

¹spicy barbequed squid served with white rice and slices of cucumber and fresh cilantro leaves

²fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and screwpine leaves, typically served with cucumber slices, small fried anchovies, roasted peanuts, hardboiled egg and hot spicy sauce (sambal)

Cat and Brendan came to this stall

Cat ordered this...

... and got this

Brendan ordered this...

... and got a charred piece of mutton

I got my nasi lemak here...

... and fared a little better

Truth be told, the dishes were pretty average and did not meet our expectations (we thoroughly enjoyed our Rawang and Taman Maluri visits). Furthermore, although being an AEON food court we gather the pricing differs from branch to branch, since the total including a round of Coca-Cola for everyone came to a spend thrifty RM40.29 (with 6% tax).

Since this outlet caters to a lot of senior executives and ex-pats attached to the national petroleum company living in the vicinity AEON has seen it fit to personalize their price scale to fit these affluent people, eh? We won’t be coming here anytime soon then.

Restoran Phuket Seafood (Again!)

Restoran Phuket Seafood

Jalan 12/144A Taman Bukit Cheras

56000 Kuala Lumpur

(Coordinates: N3° 4' 14.5" E101° 44' 56.5")

As is always the case we had actually meant to have dinner at Tumes Café (29 Jalan Damai Niaga, Alam Damai 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Coordinates: E101° 44' 14.25" N3° 4' 28.00") but as luck would have it the place was closed. Being closed on a Saturday night means only one thing: it’s closed for good.

Oh well, since we were in the vicinity we decided to give our new-found favourite Tom Yam shop a go. Like we mentioned earlier, there are a myriad of stalls and restaurants claiming to serve 'Thai' Tom Yam in the Klang Valley. Out of these only a handful are the the genuine article, and since the proprietress and her kitchen staff hails from Patani, Southern Thailand, Phuket Seafood Corner is one of them.

our new-found favourite

fascinatingly neon-lit

we're back for more good food

Being creatures of habit (read: unimaginative) we inadvertently ordered the exact same dishes we had the last time around, which was (bar one beef dish): ¹Tom Yam Campur, ²Sup Ekor, ³Kerabu Sotong and ⁴Telur Dadar for each of us.

¹Hot and sour Thai soup, with broth made of stock and fresh ingredients such as lemongrass; kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce, and crushed chili peppers

²Malaysian styled slow cooked Oxtail Soup using a fragrant combination of dried spices and fresh herbs such as garlic, cilantro, cumin, coriander, chilies, and ginger

³Thai Squid Salad - blanched squid with kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, chili, coriander and cumin seeds and fish sauce served on a bed of cucumber and tomato

⁴Omelette with a smattering of salt

we're glad to be back

ice shavings!

my oxtail soup

Brendan's mixed tom yam

Cat's sotong kerabu

beware: really spicy condiment!

omelettes sitting pretty in a row

we love this rice pot

kŏr hâi jà-rern aa-hăan

As always, we enjoyed every single dish and had no complains whatsoever. And the damage? This restaurant will not cost you an arm and a leg since the total including a round of Iced Lemon Tea for Cat and Brendan and ABC (Ice Shavings) for moi came to a respectable RM32. My (not-so) little sister will be coming in with her husband from Abu Dhabi next week and she has specifically requested that we take them here.

Beef King Noodles (Revisited)

Beef King Noodles

No. 1 Jalan Brunei Selatan

Off Jalan Pudu

55100 Kuala Lumpur

(Coordinates: E101° 42' 42.3" N3° 8' 15.2)

Brendan had a St. John's ambulance meeting earlier this morning and right after picking him up from school we headed to Pudu. We’ve been here before but that was a pretty while back and the beef noodles soup here is worth a second visit. This beef noodle stall is located within a restaurant with a signage that says Restoran Yong Tau Foo Best Bean Food (confusing, I know!), and is hidden behind a large tree. Parking can be a b*itch during peak hours, even more so during the weekends.

hello again!

 Restoran Yong Tau Foo Best Bean Food

hard at work

the price list

it's always a pleasure to see you, Uncle!

We finally resorted to parking at Pudu Plaza some distance away and hiking back here. As always we were served by an old hunched uncle who looked like he didn’t have a care in the world (with that big old smile he always seem to have). Brendan and I were hungry so we opted for the large bowl while Cat conservatively ordered the small one.

need we say more?

Brendan and I...

ordered the large bowl

which was in hindsight too generous in portion

while Cat wisely...

settled for the small bowl

bon appetit

The verdict? While Soong Kee still ranks first in our list of beef noodle soup in the Klang Valley this stall runs a pretty close second. And the damage? Including a round of (what else?) herbal tea this stall will not cost you a pretty penny as it came to a total of RM20, everyday food indeed!

New Hailam Kopitiam

New Hailam Kopitiam

G-61 Jalan Pandan Prima 2

Dataran Pandan Prima

55100 Kuala Lumpur

(Coordinates: E101° 44' 24.6" N3° 8' 31.5")

This will be a very short and sweet post. Why? It’s because I came here on my own. And why is that? That’s because I’ll be meeting up with my car club members here in a while’s time. Since Cat was under the weather (I think she caught whatever Brendan had last weekend) that meant she stayed home to rest and Brendan was in charge of caring for her. Even so, I had a niggling feeling that she would not have come if she were well as she finds no pleasure in idling away hours listening to guys gushing about their cars.

in the general vicinity of Tesco Ampang

you won't miss it

cosy clean interiors

warm and welcoming

I’ve not been here in a long while as I’ve not been participating in the club’s activities much lately, but whenever I come here I’d be sure not to give their Spicy Fried Rice a miss, washed down with a tall glass of freshly squeezed apple juice.

this is what I came here for!

refreshing

The damage? A little steep at RM13 but the Spicy Fried Rice more than made up for it!

Sin Foo Chow Cafe

Sin Foo Chow Cafe

51 Jalan Ipoh

51200 Kuala Lumpur

(Coordinates: E101° 41' 46.7" N3° 10' 9.3")

Kuala Lumpur is the latest city to join World Car-Free Day happening today. We were all ready to participate in the 'effort to reduce the city's carbon footprint'. However a hard night of partying last night left Brenda with the sniffles today, and we had to drive out to a clinic, sigh!

Being a Sunday our usual family clinic was not opened so we headed to the nearest 24 hour locum at Reddy Clinic in Jalan Ipoh. Since Brendan had a pretty bad sore throat he was advised to stay off the spice and we thought we’d give this restaurant a try.

pretty old

one stall served us all

we were not very original, eh?

Dad hard at work

the children preparing our beverages

The restaurant looked really old and we were amazed by the extremely high ceiling. A family run shop, the father took care of the noodle stall while the mother manned the counter; the children in the meantime were in charge of beverages. We were thankful that they had noodled soup and Brendan ordered the ¹Mee Hoon Soup; Cat tried the ²Wantan Mee while I sampled their ³Mee Hoon Curry.

¹string thin rice vermicelli served in a clear  flavourful soup broth made from  pork, then topped with tender globes of sweet fish balls, slices of finely prepared pork and garnished with caramelised golden brown garlic bits and delicately chopped scallions

²egg noodles tossed in oyster sauce, topped with barbecued pork, wontons (dumplings), choy sum (chinese flowering cabbage) and pickled green chilies

³string thin rice vermicelli with spicy curry soup, chili/sambal, coconut milk, and a choice of dried tofu, cockles, prawns, cuttlefish, chicken, egg and mint leaves

Cat's wanton mee

my mee hoon curry

our beverages

Brendan's mee hoon soup

time to put the camera away

Cat enjoyed her Wanton Mee while Brendan could not offer an opinion (stuffed nose and all); I liked the Mee Hoon Curry though it did not compare with my all time favourite. The damage? Including Iced Lemon Tea for Cat and Brendan and Iced Coffee for moi the total came to a pretty paltry RM20, well within the realms of the everyday food for the everyday person.

Pasar Malam Jalan TAR

Pasar Malam Jalan TAR

Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman

City Centre

50100 Kuala Lumpur

(Coordinates: E101° 41' 48" N3° 9' 20.2")

Despite being situated right beside our apartment, we’ve never thought to mention this in our blog, which brings to mind the Malay proverb: “kuman di seberang laut nampak, gajah di depan mata tak nampak” (To behold the note in the eye of one's neighbour, but not the beam in one's own).

The Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman / Jalan Masjid India area has always been close to my heart, for it was here that I spent most of my young adult life. I did my A levels at Stamford College along Jalan Bunus nearby, and this area is ingrained into my psyche. I guess on a subconscious level I’ve always tended to gravitate here, and eventually made my home here.

I remember the time when this ¹Pasar Malam was actually situated along Jalan TAR (from Sogo all the way to the Dataran Merdeka intersection) until the local authorities decided cordoning off the road proved counter-productive to the businesses here.

¹literally means "night market", a street market that opens in the evening and brings together a collection of stalls that usually sell goods such as fruits, vegetables, snacks, toys, clothes, shoes, alarm clocks, and ornaments at cheap or at least reasonable prices

Since Brendan was attending a school do at Royale Bintang, and since we were not in the mood to eat out / cook for just the two of us, Cat and I decided to pay this Pasar Malam a visit. Again, we will not be saying much from this point onwards so we’ll let the pictures paint the words for us…

authentic scenes from Malaysia life

says it all!

I had a hankering for this

hard at work

next time we'll know to stick to the steamed corn cob

honest to goodness merchants

a character that adds colour to the Pasar Malam

we'll try this next time

and this

Cat gravitated to this stall...

... because she salivated...

... at the sight of nasi kerabu!

our spoils of war

fruits of our labour ;-)