Damansara Palace Restaurant, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

2nd January 2008 was grand-uncle's 77th birthday and to celebrate, he treated us to a 9-course dinner at Damansara Palace Restaurant. The menu was lavish, with some of my favourite food (Prawns! Cod fish! Shanghai pancakes!). We got our own private dining room (for a party of 13) with a karaoke set, and I got to select all the old songs that I am inclined toward (Arthur's Theme, Stardust, Surfer Girl, Southern Nights, New Kid In Town....I could go on!).

The menu.

The feast started with the 4 seasons combo.......

.......which consisted of the very delicious salted egg yolk, oyster and prawn deep fried parcel. The way the salted egg yolk melts in the mouth, contrasting with the crunchy texture of the parcel's (beancurd?) skin was just luxuriant.

The 2nd item in the 4 seasons combo was crunchy squid and jelly fish with a slightly sweet-sour taste, sprinkled with sesame seeds.

3rd item was beancurd balls in oyster sauce.

4th on the 4 seasons combo was the stir fried snow peas and celery with scallops.

The sharksfin soup was very rich with ingredients, I could see chunks of prawn and crab meat along with the sharksfin. Taste-wise, the soup had just the right consistency, not too starchy nor too watery.

This was pure indulgence. Steamed, uber fresh cod fish (3 big slabs!) in soya sauce. Loved its rich, buttery taste and smooth texture, glides on the tongue like silk.

The Palace roasted chicken was actually pei pa chicken, with very crispy skin to be eaten with a sprinkling of salt and 5-spice powder. This tasted great as well, not too dry like what some restaurants tend to serve.

I took the chicken head, since it was, well, served! Was feeling adventurous (watched an episode too many of Bizarre Foods) and actually nibbled on the chicken comb which tasted alot like keropok (crackers). I stopped with the comb....no chicken face for me, thank you very much!

This dish was my favourite. Pan fried prawns with Thai sauce. The sauce was creamy, sweet, sour and slightly spicy, and had bits of cashew nuts mixed in. Greedy me feasted on 3 huge prawns, everyone was extra generous to the prawn queen.

Braised siew pak choy with abalone mushrooms and beancurd sheets. Good, crunchy and the bean curd sheets were very filling.

Longevity noodles....tasted rather like wantan mee with slices of pork. Pretty good, too bad I was stuffed to the max at that point and couldn't get much down.

Shanghai pancakes with tausar (red bean) filling. Light and fluffy.

And a sweet dessert drink to wash it all down. Longan with sea coconut.

Grand-uncle had a birthday cake from Secret Recipe called Chocolate Indulgence. We sang the birthday song, wishes were made, photos taken, the cake cut.

And I ended up with a generous piece of heaven. There was not much cake (as in flour) in this, it was 90% cream! Vanilla flavoured cream (the yellow parts) and chocolate flavoured cream layers came together to form this "cake". I LOVE it!! It was like eating ice cream, so rich and meltingly, sinfully good.

Damansara Palace Restaurant

1st & 2nd Floor,

Plot A, Persiaran Surian,

Jalan PJU 3/31,

47410 Petaling Jaya,

Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Tel: 03-78015055

Fax: 03-78015581

Email: info@dpalace.com.my

From the LDP, turn left into the road that leads to Mutiara Damansara. Go straight, go through the underpass, go pass the Pelangi Damansara Apartments till you see a Shell petrol station on your left. Damansara Palace will be on your right. The restaurant is just before the Palm Springs Damansara Apartments.

Our rating system for overall satisfaction with what we eat and where we eat....

1-bam = don't even bother
2-bam = good enough to fill the tummy
3-bam = a very good restaurant in its category
4-bam = excellent cooking, worth a detour
5-bam = exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

We would give this restaurant a 3-bam rating.

Kheng Heong Hainan Cuisine Restaurant (2nd Post), Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur

With the whole family down in KL for our marriage registration, going out for dinner meant we could order larger varieties and try out more new dishes. We were keen to share our discovery and so the 6 of us went to our current favourite, Kheng Heong Restaurant which serves really great food at very affordable prices (prices below are for portions meant for 6 people).

Top view of the Nyonya style steamed garoupa (At RM20.00/fish, it was a steal). It is scattered with bits of petai and pineapple, the sauce itself has a tangy, slightly sourish-sweet taste. Being a petai lover, I was busy scouring for all the petai bits.

Side view of the Nyonya style steamed garoupa.

Assam seafood in a pot. The taste of this dish is slightly reminiscent of assam laksa, with an almost tea-like aftertaste. It came loaded with squids, prawns, fish fillets and lala, costing only RM18.00.

"4 heavenly king" mixed vegetables fried with sambal belacan (RM12.00). The dish consisted of brinjal, petai, okra and 4-angle (wing) beans. Mom-in-law loved it, as she's always cooking these vegetables at home.

Steamed tofu topped with minced pork and scallions (RM10.00). This yummy dish was lighter compared to the rest of what we ordered, just to clear the palate a little.

We had to let everyone try the delectable boxing chicken (RM12.00 for 10 pieces). Everyone, especially mom-in-law, absolutely loved the chicken which was crispy outside but oh so tender and juicy inside.

The marmite pork ribs (RM18.00) were heavenly. Juicy bits of ribs, deep fried and coated with thick caramelised maltose + marmite sauce, for a sweet, sticky treat. Eldest bro-in-law polished off the last few pieces though we were all completely stuffed by the end of the meal. The very hearthy meal of 6 dishes for the 6 of us cost only RM102.00 (inclusive of rice and Chinese tea in a pot).

This dish we didn't order during this dinner session, but I am including it here anyway as part of the food review for this restaurant. It's the restaurant's trademark chilli fish which featured in a Ho Chak episode on tv. This dish is done using either fish head (for a large portion) or fish tail (for a smaller portion). We chose fish tail as it was only the 2 of us, and it cost only RM14.00 for the big plate you see in the photo above. Fresh water fish was used, but the fish was marinated in a type of orange peel (I think) which gave it a really tangy flavour and got rid of the typical fresh water (muddy) fish taste. At a glance, the dish looks alot like regular kung pao fish, but upon tasting the gravy, it had a really buttery, sweet, orange-lemony and yet savoury spicy curry taste (from the generous helping of chillies and curry leaves) which was very unique. This is definitely a dish that I would order again, and again!

For our previous post on this restaurant, click here.

Our rating system for overall satisfaction with what we eat and where we eat....

1-bam = don't even bother

2-bam = good enough to fill the tummy

3-bam = a very good restaurant in its category

4-bam = excellent cooking, worth a detour

5-bam = exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

We give Kheng Heong a 4-bam rating, we are officially regulars here. The uncle with a cap who takes the food orders knows us pretty well by now.

Restoran Makanan Laut Gee Seng, Bukit Tambun, Simpang Ampat

It was a dark and stormy night when the whole family drove to Bukit Tambun (under Penang state) for dinner. Restoran Makanan Laut Gee Seng is nestled deep inside Bukit Tambun, where the fishing village is. Parking was a problem due to the huge crowd, coupled with the fact that it was a cul-de-sac with not many parking lots. The restaurant itself is right beside the river mouth, elevated on stilts above the waters. It was a dark, rainy night hence we could not enjoy a view of the surroundings and river. Being the seafood queen that I am, it was disappointing that I was down with a stomach flu that night, and I could only manage small bites of the food.

The crowd was unbelievably large, we had to wait for our table. Bukit Tambun has quite a few seafood restaurants, but this one appears to be the original crowd favourite.

While waiting for our table, I had the chance to peruse the exotic lifestock they kept, destined for the wok. Huge horse shoe crabs lay in a basket. They look almost like overgrown ticks....hee hee.

Mud crabs, they have them in sizes ranging from regular to large.

Flower crabs and mantis prawns still alive and well in a tub of water.

Big white prawns.

Assorted seafood......I was eyeing the scallops in shells at the top right hand corner.

Some kind of mollusk (conch?) that is eaten by digging out the flesh using a toothpick.....yeah, it takes quite a bit of skill. It's usually steamed plain, and eaten dipped in chilli sauce.

Mom-in-law and the eldest bro-in-law ordered the food while I was busy photographing lifestock. We had steamed Teochew style siakap fish (RM20.00), with sourish gravy. Needless to say, the fish was uber fresh.

Everyone knows my crab obsession, though mom-in-law doesn't quite fancy the crustaceans (too much trouble for so little meat). She ordered the sweet and sour mud crabs (RM41.00), of which I could only eat a few pieces due to the upset tummy. We had the crabs with fried mantou buns. A spicy version of this dish would have tasted better, but they don't do chilli crabs here.

Assam prawns (RM24.00), my perennial favourite. The prawns were springy with freshness, coated in thick caramelised assam sauce. Mom-in-law's version tastes better, though!

Homemade deep-fried seafood tofu (RM7.00). I forgot to take a snapshot until only 2 pieces were left!

Kangkung belacan with prawns (RM6.00). On a good day, I can whack tons of this.


The total bill came up to RM106.60 for the 6 of us, which wasn't too bad, considering the amount of seafood we had.



Restoran Makanan Laut Gee Seng
#860, Bagan Bukit Tambun,
14110 Simpang Ampat,
Penang.
Tel: 04-5887220



Coming from Ipoh toward Penang on the North-South Expressway, exit at the Bukit Tambun tol plaza. Turn right after the tol plaza and go straight all the way. Just keep going straight pass a row of seafood restaurants (on both sides of the road), drive straight on and you will pass rows of pre-war shophouses. The road will lead you to a quaint fishing village where the road narrows considerably. Gee Seng is the shoplot on your right, by the river. Though it's a public road, the restaurant has workers who help guide you where to park (it's so crowded that double parking is a norm), and parking costs RM1.00.




Our rating system for overall satisfaction with what we eat and where we eat....

1-bam = don't even bother
2-bam = good enough to fill the tummy
3-bam = a very good restaurant in its category
4-bam = excellent cooking, worth a detour
5-bam = exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey


We would give Gee Seng a 3-bam rating. We heard that the oysters there were really fresh, will maybe try them (if tummy permits) on our next trip.

We got hitched (registered)!

31st December 2007.

My gerbera bouquet.

The "just married" photo (at JPN).

Prima Coffee Shop, Taiping

Prima Coffee Shop is one of the more popular kopitiams in Taiping selling assorted hawker favourites. We go there for quick lunches.


Ambra juice, tastes somewhat like lime juice with assamboi.

White coffee, for which this kopitiam is famous.

I had the seafood porridge, with fish fillets and 3 big prawns. It tasted really good, with a dash of sesame oil and a sprinkling of scallions. They were generous with the fish fillets.

Popiah. We still prefer popiah from Restoran Air Kacang Taiping at Jalan Panggung Wayang. This one was a tad too watery.

Mee rebus, not as good as the one from Larut Matang hawkers' centre.

Pak cham kai from the chicken rice stall.

Prima Coffee Shop

# 21, 23 & 25 Jalan Kota,

34000 Taiping, Perak.

Mobile: 012-5943318 (Teoh Bee Khoon)

Plaza Perbandaran Taiping

By day, the ground floor of this building is a market, selling seafood, vegetables, clothes and dried foodstuff. By night, the wet market portion closes, and more food stalls appear. The 1st floor houses a hawker centre and the 2nd floor has many vcd/dvd shops. Plaza Perbandaran Taiping is located adjacent to Jalan Panggung Wayang, opposite Prima Cakehouse. I come here every time I am back in Taiping just to relive memories of marketing with my mom, and to stock up on the cheap vegetables that I bring back to KL. Nowadays, I go marketing here with mom-in-law as she knows where to get the best bargains since the stall owners know her.

Right at the entrance are the murtabak stalls (there were 2 stalls opened that evening). Murtabaks here used to cost RM2.00 each, but the price has since increased to RM2.50.

Fruits galore!

Assorted kuih are also sold here at night.

Check out the size of the paus.

Apom lady.

My mom loved the soya drink and tofu fa from this stall. My parents would often tapau from this stall when I was a kid. The same guy still runs this stall, he's been operating it a long, long while.

Mom's cooking

Mom-in-law's home-cooked meals are what we look forward to whenever we return to Taiping. Simple, hearthy and whipped up ever so effortlessly by mom, we waste no time in digging in and finishing everything.

Soya sauce, sesame oil and ginger chicken. I love the taste of this and have been trying to figure out how to replicate, simple as it is.

Pan-fried pork fillets with a hint of sesame oil.

Pan-fried senangin fish.

Mom's very proud of this, her specialty; steamed eggs with minced meat. She's mastered the art of getting the egg consistency just right, not too wet nor too dry.

Her nyonya-style caramelised assam (tamarind) sauce-coated prawns are second to none.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!