Jinjang Fish Head - Taman Bukit Bintang, Kepong

Will there be any good things coming out of Jinjang. Much maligned and look down on, the only way to strike back is through a belly blow. Much pampered Malaysians are a discerning lot when it comes to food. Will Jinjang Fish Head hack it?

It is situated in the centre of 2 long rows of shophouses fronting the main road in Tmn Bkt Bintang in what I dubbed as the the kindergarten, daycare, tuition and food lane. I have never seen so many of them in one cluster.

This was the third restoran I have patronised and there are more to come. The 1st was Teow Chow Seafood which is the most popular going by the crowd. The 2nd was Litt Heong. For Map go to Teow Chow Seafood post. Address: 49, Jalan 3/36.

Jinjang Fish Head specialises in Tongsan Fish Head (Carp) and it comes in different tastes and flavours. I estimated the fish was more than 1.5kg and they use the tip of the mouth to the mid-section. The fish was cut into half symmetrically along the bones.

They were generous with ginger: pungent, slightly bitter and spicy. But then the ginger paste was overly sweet as though syrup was added. I prefer soy sauce and salt to add a savoury touch and finish to bring the best out of the fresh water fish. The other downside was the meat from mid-section was a bit rough and flaky and it is expected for a fish that weighs more than 600g (1 kati). On the bright side they still have a few more styles to try.

Steamed Tongsan Fish Head with Ginger Paste. RM20.

The Mongolian Pork Trotter: the skin came crisp, meat was tender generally but the surface portions slightly overdone. No problem the marination was good and chewing it released the meaty flavours enhanced by the earlier soak. Check out the bone! It had just one and its thin and small translating into tonnes of meat. Above average! What more can I ask? Maybe, a better sauce. It was a tad too creamy for my liking. Generally a creamy sauce causes one to lose eating momentum as the 'jelat' feeling sets in quickly. It is also not good for business as there will be no 2nd orders. The generous dosage of black pepper was good and gave a spicy aroma and earthy smell: a good complement to the dish. RM22.I left the best to last: Steam Egg. Just RM6. Big plate though a shallow one. Smooth as the best tau foo fah. No holes inside and not one bubble was found on the surface. It is a s smooth as the chef can get. Nice simple good quality soy sauce. Only problem was the fried onion. Limp and lost its oomph through oxidation.

Stadt - German Cuisine and Bistro in Kepong

There are no half measures as far as food is concern. Actually only when we are really hungry. Tonight we ordered the largest possible portions available. However, did Stadt measure up to our expectations?

Located in a corner lot behind Carrefour, it is quite a busy square even at night. I can imagine the rental to be at 5 figures. Small nuclear families were having their meals when we arrived at 9:15pm. I guess not being a weekend the dinner crowd were gone. Most likely the night denizens will be in for their German beer and talking sweet nothings though the beer is in the vicinity of RM26 (excl. tax).

The restaurant look jaded through wear. The wait staff were enthusiastic and helpful and food came in a jiffy even though it was stated that a minimum of 25 minutes is needed to grill them.

Seafood Soup with a strong tomato base, was above average. The sour awakened the senses and the herbs aroused the taste buds. The seafood made up of shrimps and squid were just passengers.

This was the almighty German Knuckle glazed with honey and sprinkled with pepper with smoked bacon and BBQ sauce. The meat was tender and the skin roasted to perfection till it was light and crisp! This is the first time in 5-6 outings that I have the perfect combination of crisp skin and all tender meat. But alas there were 3 downsides. 1) Where were the knuckles? It was just meat attached to the tibia and fibula only. 2) The sauce was inferior in taste compared to those 'tai chow' that offered Knuckle Roast. 3) The honey kind of sweetened the meat somewhat rendering a should be savoury dish a tad sweet for my liking. Despite these, I was satisfied as the essence of the roast are the crisp skin and tender meat. The next time I will ordered the non-honey glazed variety.The smoked bacon, a side-kick to the knuckle was pretty to look but ordinary in taste. My complaint may not be valid. Its not salty enough!Combo Sausages. A combination of strangers to me sausage-wise: Neuberger, Turinger, Vienna and Smoked Garlic. We have foot-long sausages served in different western joints. But try to line these up end-to-end it may end up to be a three-footer. It was stated that this plate will serve two.

Being used to sausages with a high flour content these were different. Rough the be exact. It was meatier with very little fat too. But palate-wise I still prefer the smoother version due to the addition of flour. Sausages should be grilled not pan-fried and over a perfect charcoal fire. It is up to the master to coax the best out of the sausages.

Overall it still taste a bit odd to my unrefined tongue in relation to sausages. Still it was a good meal. Maybe my next meal would be the German Pork Chop. A slab of meat is better than a tube of processed meat. My take.Other POV - Vkeong.

Address:
2, Jalan Metro Perdana 8,
Taman Usahawan Kepong,
Kepong Utara, 52100 KL
Tel: 03-62501016

Ka Ka Bak Kut Teh - Kepong

Being deprived of food from the overwhelmingly Chinesey Old Klang Road has being a lost to me. But then moving from the south to the north of the city has its bright side. I am quite near to Kepong. Just 10+ minutes away at night.

I found out that along the Kepong main road in yet another densely populated Chinese area there are tonnes of food available. I missed Choy Choy BKT in Old Kland Road. Only till it met its match in Ka Ka. In fact more than its match as there are more than 10 different types here and it stays open till the wee hours of the morning.

The food is of reasonable portion and each individual claypot cost just about RM9 to 10. It comes with lots of sauce or soup. We arrived at 10:30 pm and left at 11:15 pm. Supper groups came and went. I counted 10+ tables occupied on arrival and remained so as I left.

Al fresco dinning was enjoyable in the cool of the night.

Get the sauce plates ready and load it up with chilies and garlic and drizzled it with either light or dark soy sauces.

Pork knuckle/tendons with mix meat and innards. I can't believe the price at RM10, as the portion was big and had lots of meat. The soup was earthy and on the dull side. But then traditional is usually dull but yet has its fan base.

I like full-bodied soy sauce braised pig whatever. The trotter with its sinewy tendons, gelatinous thick hide and little lean meat found their release in the heat of the claypot. Top class pot but a tad salty but then this usually need plain rice for a good pairing.The kidney with wine was a bit of a letdown even though high quality peppery and pungent ginger was used to spicy it up. The wine was barely noticeable and the soup was lighter than I like. And then the kidney was overdone.A really satisfying meal. For other POV and Map check out KY Speaks and VKeong.

Restoran Lit Heong - Bukit Sri Bintang, Kepong

Seeing double. Two lots but separated by an alley. This anomaly resulted most certainly by the need for expansion even though there was no adjoining lot available! Business must be good. The shop on the right is air-con and serves all kind of porridge from the super expensive Sang Har to the usual accompaniment for this very likable and delicious Chinese meal that can be had anytime and anywhere. But tonight we went for 'tai chow'.

Their specialty - Lala in Superior Soup, Tom Yam Prawns in Young Coconut, Grouper Fish Head Curry and Crabs Galore in done in many different ways. My son was bored with crabs and curry dishes after the many curry fish head meals and the the 65 minutes wait for crabs at De Foodland.

I must say that I passed Lit Heong (adjacent to Desa Parkcity) many times and was not impressed by their outward appearances. We arrived at about 7:3opm and the place was 2/3 full. We were seated al fresco. That explained that I have to use the flash feature from my Nokia E90 which I am reluctant to use for close-up for obvious reasons.

My verdict on the food: Fresh, Reasonable Price, Big Portion and Super Fast Service (5 minutes with the fish served at 10 minutes). Total Bill: RM78 (plus drinks).

Chinese Carp Tail with Ginger Sauce. Fresh and with no muddy smell, a less than 1 kg fish was used. Filleted and one sided was served to us. The meat was from just below the stomach right to the tail. This was what I wanted. I am tired of 'tai chow' arbitrarily serving the stomach portion without my permission. The ginger paste was light and the salt level was pleasant to the tongue. Really refreshing as the white meat interacted with the sauces producing a steamed fish that I believed any Cantonese connoisseur will be proud of.The Lala in Superior Soup was a tad salty and the wine was not discernible. But the soup was tasty with little MSG. We enjoyed this thoroughly despite the less than 100% effort put in as the lala was super fresh! Butter-Fried Prawns were cooked to perfection. The meat just nice and firm. I was very happy as superior sea prawns with thin shell were served. The condiments and curry leaves that was came together was wiped off the plate. The only complain - the prawns size varies from below average to big.Bayam Stir-Fried with Garlic to round up our dinner. Big portion. Having cooked bayam before I knew how much was needed to get that much on our plate. It was quality bayam (small plants) and the leaves came out soft and tender but was not mushy though a bit lumpy. I could have mopped up the half soup half gravy at the bottom but could not due to my over-indulgence of the superior soup from the lala dish.

For more info like map, address and phone nos click here.

Restoran Mei Sei Ka - Kg. Bukit Tinggi, Bentong

We started out with this Solo papayas. Very sweet, firm and fragrant, compliments of the chef.

Getting to Bukit Tinggi is not exactly a walk in the park for many. But then there was good food and Bentong durians esp. the Musang variety. Good things require some exertions. But then it depends also on where is the starting point. Getting there from Melati Utama which is alongside the MRR2 was a breeze. Just a slow 20 minutes drive. We wanted to catch a leisurely lunch there and have lots of time to talk and catch up.

We started at 11:45am. Arriving we were caught out as the shop was closed. Moral of the story - call first. The shutters were down. We were deciding what to do when the owner returned. This was one of the rare days they closed for business. Then Ah Loong recognized my Singaporean friend who has some dealings in the vast Bentong agricultural business. The sky was bright but it was surely shinning and smiling at us. He opened his shop just for us. We apologised for intruding into his private time but by then he has ushered us into his shop.

We ordered what he has and what he recommended. Not exactly the best for food but then we got to be his only guest and received his undivided attention. It was great service. He was chatty and we got along.

This pair of gargantuan and handsome Sang Har were opened up length-wise. It was cooked with egg white and topped up with lots ginger (hopefully Bentong variety) and generous amount of fried garlic bits. There was a lot of bright red liquid in the head area. It was sweet and rich. I dumped the egg white in and mopped it up. Yum. What was missing was some wine but then why complain when we shouldn't be eating there in the first place! 7/10.

Instead of rice we have Toman Fish Mee Hoon. It was of the clear soup type with lots of toman fish pieces together with the head. Unfortunately the fish has quite some bones and slightly fishy. Still it filled our stomachs and the pickled vegetables increased our appetites. We were ready for more. 6/10.

Standard crunchy Baby French Beans with lots of crunchy. It thought these baby beans originated here as I recalled having this dish probably in 1993 when it was 'the' vegetable dish to order. 7/10.

We also have boiled (not double boiled as we need to pre-book) herbal turtle soup. Soft and gelatinous shell and meat with lots of herbs. Very sweet and fragrant. I did not put out the picture as it may offend people. 7.5/10.For desserts we have D24 Durians. One of the best D24 I have eaten as the quality varies from place to place. The skin was brown indicating that this was from higher elevation. Sticky and fleshy with smooth and flawless complexion! 7.5/10.Then the star - Musang Durians. But alas these were lowlands Bentong variety and have green skins. I am sure the highland ones will taste better. What can I say? It has colour, complexion, concentration, carat.... 8/10.

Dettol or Hovid? - Hand Sanitizer and Hand Wash

These 2 Dettol handwash were bought from 2 different shops in Sri Damansara. RM10.85 @ 99 Speedmart (manufactured 6 months ago) and the other from a chain store (not 7-Eleven) at RM13.40. Another shop nearby was selling it at RM12.80.
This Hovid Hand Sanitizer (720ml) was priced @ RM29.90 in Puchong. Sri Damansara has no stock. Only handwash. I have to call my regular pharmacist. I bought 2 for business use.

Parents especially are getting edgy with the local transmission of the H1N1. It is hitting home and I am not sure how it will pan out. I have a friend who can't return to Malaysia as he came in contact with an infected person in Singapore and is under quarantine. In times of crisis I hope the altruistic best in us will surface like cream always rises to the top.

For those who lived through the SARS period in 2003 its deja vu time right now. I was living in Bangkok when the SARS hit Hong Kong and then quickly spread to Vietnam, Singapore and Bangkok. Ironically, in that year, HKG was wooing tourists with the tag line, "Hong Kong will take your breath away." SARS did exactly that.

But who can forget the sacrifices of lung and chest specialist, Dr. Joanna Tse, heroically volunteered to work with the SARS patients. She lived up to her Hippocratic oath despite losing her husband just a year ago to leukemia. She was infected and succumbed to the illness she fought so valiantly against on May 13. When news of her death was reported in the media, it touched a tender nerve in a community already reeling from SARS phobia. That Dr Tse was only 35 and a widow, touched the heartstrings of many a man and woman in the street.

Virologists say that every spring influenza virus has a way of surfacing and this year is no difference except that it is of a more dangerous strain. In 2003 I have to cancel engagements. My son International School came out with a directive that any parent that had gone to countries listed by WHO as SARS-infected cannot return home but will have to stay in a hotel or whatever for a period of I think 7 days. Otherwise the child cannot go to school. But then we co-operated as it was a frightening period. Our co-operation secure each other's safety. Even domestic travel in Thailand was anxiety-filled and many donned face masks making them looked like a penguin. I remembered travelling back to KL and then back to Bangkok in a 300 plus seater Airbus with less than 10 passengers. Yes, I was wearing a 3M mask.

Since 2003 I began to take notice that I was susceptible to new flu strain in each new countries that I travel to. I had to get hit before getting the so-called 'immunity'. Especially bad were the flu I caught in Vietnam and Indonesia. Since then in the last 5 years I took my Northern Hemisphere yearly flu shots around October to take care of this.

Is the world a more dangerous place to live in? No!

With advancements in the pharmaceutical fields and highly ethical and brave companies like Merck which willingly allowed USD200 million to be invested in R & D just to discover a drug (later named Mectizan) to cure river blindness in the sub-Saharan nations knowing pretty well there will be no financial returns. In 1987, Merck donated Mectizan to the people in sub-Saharan Africa which by then cost the firm over USD1 billion. It helped treat over 20 million people. Their motto is, "Medicine is for the people. It is not for profits. The profits will follow."

And on a personal level, there are heroes/heroines like Dr. Joanna Tse whose indomitable spirit not only lifted the entire nation out of their gloom and fear but also in her death inspired them on how to live.

Malaysia is looking for such corporations and individuals. Who will answer the call?

De Foodland Crabs, Bandar Menjalara, Kepong

25 & 27, Jalan 3/62B, Bandar Sri Menjalara. H.P. - 0162331141

How many ways are there to walk (oops wok) the crabs? If it is walking, just one but when it come to wokking, De Foodland Seafood Restaurant has possibly more than 40 ways. I must thank Food 4Tots for the recommending this restaurant.

I would really like to know how many kilograms of crabs are consume every week. This double lot restaurant (plus upstairs and alfresco) could easily fit 50-70 tables. Just 2 rows of shophouse and tucked inside a sleepy a sprawling housing estate. It is very near to Desa Parkcity and not too far from Tmn Sri Sinar, Segambut, Mont Kiara and Sri Damansara. This time I made sure I got the route right following the last misadventure.

The Saturday night was muggy but we managed to get into the air-con section. It was packed to the brim by 8:20 pm when we got our table. Our expectations were heightened seeing the various styles of cooking crabs adorning part of the wall. Salivating somewhat and relishing a good meal we don't mind waiting which comes with a full house restaurant. I predicted the food will arrive in 30 minutes and my son 45 minutes. I am more optimistic due to conditioning from the nature of my work while my son has my darker side. Still both of us were wrong. It took 65 minutes for the crabs to arrive. Crap!

We were warned a minimum of 2 crabs will be served per style of cooking with a combined weight of at least 1.2-1.3 kg. They were calling the shots and we have to take it or leave it. We got their top-seller, Creamy Butter Crab. It looked really creamy so I decided that we get something thin on sauce to complement. Black Stout Crabs it was. That set us back RM117.00 excluding 5% government tax. Other dishes and drinks were not in yet.
Black Stout Crabs. Sticky, thin and sweet caramelized layer of sauce. The crustacean were sectioned and dipped fried lightly before the wok cooking to coat it with the sauce. I found the taste unique and earthy. It's sticky sweetness but not exactly in my list when I am there next. I will go for steamed savoury ones.
The Creamy Butter Crabs were ordered for their creamy sauce as we wanted to have mantou instead of rice. It was really good wiping the creamy sauce off the plate and crabs with the mantou. The creamy and gummy sauce has quick diminishing returns in taste as we got 'jelat' pretty quick. The 1.3 kg worth of crabs were too much for us to eat. The next round I will try meehoon or vermicelli with Fried Crabs. And without the sweet mantou. Kind of not of the right match. Carbs and Crabs!

From eating both plates of crabs I realised that two small sections of the crabs were bruised from one of the legs to the side of the body rendering the meat there soft and soggy. Any bigger damage will spoil my meal.

Read more from kampungboycitygal (Oct 2007) and masak- masak (Nov 2006).

The mantou was not oily with a crispy crust and fluffy dough. Round up the meal with Young French Beans.

Part of De Foodland leaflet.

Sari Ratu (Nasi Padang), Kelana Jaya in Star Metro 14th June 2009

My recent post on Sari Ratu's Nasi Padang was featured in Star Metro on the 14th June 2009. Though it played a subsidiary role to Renita's feature on Padang food under the title "Great bites" it is still as satisfying as having a good meal.

Here is my humble piece in Star Metro given a new title as Pleasant Padang Platter as I don't give titles to my food posts.

My post is found here.

Thank you one and all for this wonderful and meaningful symbiotic relationship.