Kedai Koon Kee Wanton Mee @ Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur

Better known as 冠记 in Cantonese to the locals, Kedai Koon Kee is located in the midst of Kuala Lumpur's most well-known food street, Jalan Petaling (Chinatown). It is well-hidden behind the throngs of stalls that lined the heritage tourist site, infamous for pirated clothes, accessories as well as bootleg movies. Try looking out for the prominent chinese wordings on the tin roof (as seen in below picture.)

Kedai Koon Kee is famous for its Wanton Noodles (RM5.50 for large), served with well-marinated roasted pork, crunchy veggies and wantons with generous amount of fillings. The noodles were slightly undercooked and greasy, but nevertheless possesses the chewy "Q-factor" and delectable.

Besides the noodles, they are also known for their Prawn Dumplings (RM12.00 for 8). Juicy fillings made with minced pork and prawn, wrapped with a thin layer of soft dumpling skin. Oh! And the soup has relatively low MSG too.

Although the restaurant looks tattered and run-down, don't be fooled by its exterior for what awaits is the legendary Koon Kee Wanton Mee.

 

Kedai Koon Kee Wanton Mee

95 Jalan Hang Lekir

Jalan Petaling

Watami Casual Japanese Restaurant @ The Star Vista, Singapore

Bromance buddies and fellow girlfriends had another dinner meet-up recently at The Star Vista, this time round being my second trip to this newly-opened mall at Buona Vista. The shops are pretty much opened for business, so if you have not stepped foot in here, why not plan a dinner outing and chill out with your family or friends? Eateries are in abundance in The Star Vista and they even boast about "The Star Performance Arts Centre" which includes a 5,000 seat auditorium equipped with the state of art technology, outdoor amphitheatre and even a private rooftop garden.

Check out my food review on Itacho Sushi.

After an hour long queue at approximately 8.20pm, only then we were seated into the restaurant. I understand that it was a Friday night and that queues would be more or less unavoidable, but the management could have been better and it is clear that they were shorthanded - seats were empty with used dishes and cutleries from the previous diners piling up on the table.

Kushi Moriawase (S$13.80) - assorted array of finely grilled skewers which consist of chicken thigh meat, two sticks of nankotsu (chicken cartilage) with chicken breast, bacon-wrapped mushroom and spring onions. My favourite amongst all is the nankotsu. Bite into the lightly marinated breast meat and soft crunch of the bone - Yummy! The other various skewers fared normally, as I would prefer them to be slightly more glazed and robust in flavours, such as Shin Kushiya's.

I recommend the Tonpeiyaki (S$8.80), pork belly and cabbage wrapped in omelette-style drizzled with cheese, mayonaise and sweet sauce. The complex combination of so many flavours and textures was just simply mouth-watering and delectable. Anyway, this dish reminded me of tako balls (maybe because of the similar garnishes).

Watami has this deluxe set meal for 4 (S$129.00), which includes a variety of food items, such as appetizers, salads, sashimis and side dishes. For more information, please click here. 

Sashimi Mori 3 - three kinds of assorted sashmi consisting of shrimp, salmon and scallop. The shrimp meat brings along a sweet distinctive taste with a soft chewy crunch, however the salmon and scallop was not fresh with a slightly slimy texture.

Irodori Chirashi Sushi - warm Japanese rice topped up with freshly diced assorted sashimi, seaweed, refreshing cucumber strips and crunchy roes. Personally I do not like the idea of having ginger and wasabi in my sashimi-don, so I took them out. Beautiful combination of colours, flavours and textures.

Chicken Katsu Tamago Toji - chicken cutlet with scrambled egg sauce is delicious as well. The batter was nicely crisped, while the interior remained succulent and juicy with the right amount of fat to meat ratio. Dip into the sweet egg sauce to enjoy a bite of heaven.

Tempura Moriawase - deep fried prawns and assorted vegetables were nicely fried, unlike Itacho's.

Sukiyaki Nabe fared normally, with nothing much to rave about.

Wafu Touban Steak was my favourite amongst the food items. The lightly-seasoned beef was tender with a nice thin layer of fat. I love it when you can DIY the steak and cook it to your preferred doneness. It also comes with two types of sauces - sweet and soy sauce, but one could definitely eat them wholely by itself.

Generally a nice place to have your weekly makan sessions with your family or friends.

Just a friendly tip - arrive early and skip the dinner crowds, you surely do not want to spend an hour queueing up. But if you happened to stuck in the queue, why not get some Taiwanese desserts from next door first?

Watami Casual Japanese Restaurant

Tel: 6694 3643

Opening Hours
Daily: 11.30am - 10pm

#02-16
1 Vista Exchange Green

The Star Vista

Oblong Ice Cream @ Balmoral Plaza, Singapore

Anyone who understands me knows that I love desserts and good ice-cream (even better if it is hand-made) tops the list. Alright, I mean who doesn't fancy a scoop or two of these delightful creations on a hot humid weather, such as in Singapore?

Nestled quietly at the basement of Balmoral Plaza, Oblong Ice Cream is easy to be missed, but venture inside this humble mall and step into this cosy haven - a place ideal for studying or just chilling out with mates. They also provide a small comic/magazine stand for reading pleasure and also delectable selections of chic music playing softly in the background.

Oblong's uniquely named ice cream (Tarik the Teh is an interesting one) is rich in flavour and has a thick creamy texture. Some of my favourites include Milo, Rum & Raisin and their best-seller - Lychee Martini.

It goes for S$3.00 per scoop with additional 60 cents if you ordered the star flavours.

We also had the Plain Waffle w/ 2 scoops (S$9.00). Rum & Raisin and Chocolate are our choices and boy, they surely do go well with the piping hot waffle. Just a heads up - to ensure only the freshest is served, they make the batter upon ordering. However, the batter was a tad over-mixed and has an overwhelming eggy taste. And.. I would prefer my waffles to be crispier and drizzled with hot fudge though.

Similar to most local ice-cream shops (e.g. Island Creamery), have your photo taken for free and leave an everlasting memory here in Oblong Ice Cream.

Of course there is me and my fellow cellgroup members from Newton Life Youth Ministry (NLYM).

Take a break and slow down the pace of your life. Grab some ice-cream and your favourite comic book. Relax. Oblong Ice Cream is such place to head for.

Oblong Ice Cream

#B1

271 Bukit Timah Road

Balmoral Plaza

Soup Restaurant 三盅两件 @ Clementi Mall, Singapore

With origins tracing back to more than a decade and 15 outlets in local-wide, I am sure that Soup Restaurant or better known as 三盅两件 for the older generations, is not a stranger to most of you. Mama Kook loves their traditional "Chinatown heritage cuisine", especially their Samsui Ginger Chicken, Beggar's Bowl Tofu and Ah Gong Potato Leaves, just to name some. Hence more often than not, we frequent this restaurant for our weekly family dinner.

Soup Restaurant's highly-recommended, signature dish - Samsui Ginger Chicken (S$15.90) is savoury and flavourful. The tender chicken meat  was steamed with simple seasoning and is served boneless for easier consumption. The secret lies with their special ginger sauce, a fragrant but not too over-powering mix which complemented the chicken well. Seemingly less oily than the usual hawker chicken, it proves to be a healtier alternative as well.

One way to savour this dish is to wrap it with fresh crunchy lettuce, topped with a slice of cucumber and generous amount of ginger sauce. As seen below:

We also ordered the Hometown Tofu (S$8.90) - freshly hand-made tofu garnished with greens. The tofu skin is slightly crisp, but the inside remains soft and silky. However, I still prefer their Beggar's Bowl Tofu.

Another speciality, Ah Gong Potato Leaves (S$8.50) - sweet potato leaves sauteed with sambal belachan (spicy shrimp paste). We never failed to order this dish whenever we visited. It also comes in a non-spicy verson - Ah Ma Potato Leaves.

Soup Restaurant only dishes up 30 servings of Hand Chopped Minced Pork w/ Salted Fish (S$8.90) per day. It is tender, flavourful and has just the right amount of saltiness. The addition of chestnuts into the minced mixture provide an irresistible crunch.

Peiyi ordered the Double Boiled Tian Chee Chicken Soup (S$7.90) which helps to detox/cleanse and rejuvenate one's body. It is a tad bland for my liking, I reckon the amount of herbs (especially Tian Chee) used is of small quantities.

Soup Restaurant is generally worth the bucks and is likely to be popular especially among the older generations who lived through the "samsui" era, as the flavours would probably evoke their nostalgic memories. For the younger generations like me, while taking a bite of that succulent Samsui Chicken, try to understand the stories and heritage of our ancestors, and savour a piece of history.

Soup Restaurant 三盅两件

Tel: +65 6659 3688

Opening Hours
Mon - Fri: 11:30 - 14:30
Mon - Fri: 17:30 - 22:00
Sat, Sun & PH: 11:30 - 22:00

3155 Commonwealth Ave West
#03-62/63
The Clementi Mall

Paradise Dynasty @ Ion Orchard, Singapore

Comfortably nestled in a corner of ION Orchard, Paradise Dynasty’s layout was chic – a fusion between a traditional Chinese theme and contemporary styles. Their outdoor seating area also gives those willing to brave the Singapore weather a pleasant view of orchard road.

During our meal there, I tried the Braised Pork La Mian in Signature Pork Bone Soup and it was delightable. The La Mian, vegetables, pork and other ingredients came in adequate proportions and the broth complemented the dish well. The pork, especially, was delectable and was a fine balance between fat and meat.

On the other hand, Thomas had the Sliced Pork La Mian while Douglas ordered the La Mian with Deep Fried Chicken Cutlet. The noodles we had were basically the same La Mian, made fresh on ordering, which were silky and finely cut.

Douglas’ chicken cutlet came on a separate plate which ensured that the crispy pieces were not soaked in the broth and did not lose its texture. The chicken, though a little oily for my taste, stood out because of its flavour. Though I’m not too sure what sauces or marinades they used, the flavour evoked a sort of home-cooked feeling which I rarely experienced at restaurants.

Last but not least, we also tried Paradise Dynasty’s famous “multi-coloured” Signature Dynasty Xiao Long Baos (S$13.80). Apparently, there was an order we were supposed to follow while eating the Xiao Long Baos but since it was our first time trying their signature dish, our inexperience caused us to overlook the order and our zeal in trying out the different coloured Baos resulted in us simply randomly eating those whose colours looked most appealing. Needless to say, the Xiao Long Baos’ special flavours were not apparent to our palates and resulted in a huge anti-climax. Hence, as a warning to future diners, please be reminded to follow the order.

 Great food with better company Jin Kiat (left) and Douglas

Ultimately, what makes Paradise Dynasty a recommendable place to eat is not just their sumptuous food, but also their prices. Located on the top floor of ION Orchard, one would easily mistake the prices in Paradise Dynasty to rival those of the other posh restaurants in its vicinity. However, our meal this time cost us no more than $20 each - a reasonable price for the quality of food and ambience provided. So if you are looking for good food at a more conservative price in Orchard, why not give Paradise Dynasty a try?

Paradise Dynasty

Tel: +65 6509 9118

Opening Hours
Mon - Fri: 11:00 - 22:00
Sat, Sun & PH: 10:00 - 22:00

#04-12

2 Orchard Turn

Ion Orchard

Written and edited by Jin Kiat
Photographs by Thomas Chan

Tioman Island Escapade Itinerary Day 3

This blog entry is a continuation of "Tioman Island Escapade". If you have not checked out the second part of the 3D 2N itinerary, kindly do so by clicking here.

 

0800hr

Gently awaken by the soft sunlight that peeked through the lodge's white curtains, I rubbed my sleepy eyes, dragged myself out of bed and cleaned-up before waking Peiyi up. I opened the door expecting a mess caused by the monkeys again, but everything was peaceful. Looks like the residents have learnt their lesson. The other four friends were more or less awoke and after 10 minutes or so, we were ready for breakfast.

 

0900hr

The weather was beautiful and breezy that day, with gentle waves hitting the shore. Everyone except Peiyi and I went for the last snorkelling session, while the two of us decided to have a romantic stroll along the beach.

 

 

We reached a part of the beach where the dead corals and sea shells covered the sands. We also took the chance to collect some free souvenirs back home.

 

And even found a shell THIS BIG!

 

0930hr

The snorkelling gang finished their fish-googling trip and we headed back to our lodges for a quick bath and to pack-up our baggages.

 

1030hr

Not forgetting to get some souvenirs back home, we went to the duty-free shop located just a minute walk away from the resort. Some ideal souvenirs to bring back are little crafts and trinkets, local snacks, duty-free liquer and cigars (subjected to individual countries; some might impose a tax on the items) or a quirky Tioman T-shirt.

 

Not recommended: I got a dyed batik cloth for Mama Kook, but the colors fade off after a few wash.

1200hr

We checked out of the resort and proceeded to have lunch at the seafood restaurant manned by an old couple. As Tioman depends heavily on imports, this restaurant only serves a variety of home-cooked dishes depending on the imports for that day. We ran out of luck again when they told us crabs weren't available.

 

Although service was slow (can't blame them), food was generally good and the price was pretty reasonable as well. Compared to other restaurants in Paya, I'd ranked this one the best.

 

After a hearty lunch, why not grab some Wall's Magnum ice-cream again?

 

1345hr

The time when we bid farewell to the beautiful island has arrived. Although it rained on the second day, we had absolute fun trying out snorkelling and exploring this beautiful island. What's more? I made two new friends, Soull and Judy!

 

Last group photo at Tioman Island

Our ferry ride was a tad late and only managed to board at about 1430hr.

1900

After another grueling trip back home, we finally crossed the Singapore borders at Woodlands Checkpoint.

Home sweet home.