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Village Park Restaurant, Malaysia
This post is long overdue! I was in Malaysia last year in December for my cousin’s wedding. We weren’t there for long, we were in Kuala Lumpur (‘KL’) for four days, three nights. It’s been a very long time since I went to KL, we didn’t really want to do the tourist-y stuff as we have done that before. All I wanted to do was spend some time with family and EAT! I love Malaysian food, nasi lemak, es campur, kueh – I wanted to eat it all. However, due to family commitments, I didn’t get a chance to eat a lot of Malaysian food! No worries, Malaysia is not that far from Hong Kong, so I am pretty sure we will be back again sometimes soon!
We ate a lot of Chinese food, Chinese banquets mainly. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant where we went first night we were in KL. However, food was excellent, I especially loved the four hot and cold dishes combination, the chicken and fish were pretty tasty. But the dessert – red bean ‘pan cake’ was soooo good!
We had brunch at Village Park Restaurant in Malaysia – winner of the best nasi lemak in klang valley in 2010!
We left all the ordering to my cousin-in-law’s parents and they ordered superbly! The base, just the rice – nasi lemak with chili sauce and some peanuts. Loved the fragrant rice which was cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf.
The fried chicken was seriously one of the best fried chickens I have had. The crispy and thin skin, the tender meat, it was fantastic! We ordered several plates of this, partially because I ate a ½ on my own! It was THAT good!
The sotong (squid) curry was spicy which really gave it that nice kick! Really enjoyed the sotong here.
Tempeh – fermented soy beans which was deep fried was nice.
The spicy eggplant I utterly enjoyed!
Fried pork floss was crunchy but seriously sinful – pretty sure I ate half a plate on my own!
The fish curry complemented the nasi lemak well.
Last but not least, vegetables… I didn’t have a lot of this as I wanted more of the chicken and the fish curry.
It was an EXCELLENT meal, it was like nasi padang in Indonesia – so many choices I didn’t know where to start. Highlights would have to be the fried chicken, the fried pork floss and fish curry!
I couldn’t resist in getting es cincau (grass jelly) with milk. It definitely went down well, especially with all the spicy food.
‘The Mother’ managed to get his seafood laksa fix – he said it wasn’t too bad, thinks they are better places though. Think we had this in a shopping mall and I am sure the laksa on the side street would be infinitely better.
These fancy popsicles I love! I really wanted to try the durian one but they sold out so ended up getting the watermelon which was deliciously refreshing – especially on a hot day.
Managed to eat es campur at Little Penang Kafe – it wasn’t too bad but I have to say I still prefer the es campur in Indonesia.
The rojak was a also excellent – had to make sure that they didn’t put any nuts. Fresh fruits, oh how I miss good rojak. The other items on the menu looked pretty good but we were having another banquet that evening so didn’t want to eat too much.
And of course a Chinese banquet for the wedding.
Many thanks for inviting us to your special day dear cousin. Hope you had a fabulous time, we certainly did! Here’s to a long and happy marriage! So happy for you guys and can’t wait to catch up again!
Lots of love xx
GA’s ratings: 8 / 10
Village Park Restaurant Malaysia
5, Jalan Ss21/37, Damansara Utama,
4700 Petaling Jaya, Selangor D.E
Ph: +60 3 7710 7860
Jackie M Masterclass, Sydney
I have seen posts and pictures of the Jackie M class, if I was in Sydney I would have loved to attend. Learn her secrets on the BEST Char Kway Teow (“CKT”) in Sydney and of course, pandan crepes and roti. Thankfully, my favourite Uncle was invited and he was kind enough to write a post and share some of the photos that he took. I certainly wouldn’t mind having some CKT right now. Here’s what Uncle had to say about the class…..
Where does the time go! I can’t believe 2012 has zoomed by and it’s less than 3 weeks before we roll into yet, another new year. With all the xmas goodies, long lunches (no one has invited me yet) and dinners (see previous point), I know I will be rolling into 2013 for sure (hint, hint!).
Step back into the weekend just gone past, I was fortunate enough to be a guest of Jackie M’s ‘Street Food 1’ masterclass. I had the option to choose from other classes, but I could not go past the one that taught you how to make Lala’s favourite stir fried rice noodle: CKT. We’ve tried lots of CKT here in Sydney. And yeah, I know everyone has different expectation of what a good CKT should be like, but we (Lala, Boo and I) have found Jackie M’s to be the one we rate most highly. So when the opportunity came up to learn from Sydney’s best, I could not say no.
Fast forward to the class: I put on my best pair of summer shorts (the one with no holes) and also my cooking boxers (fire-proof and the one with the good elastic still). I figured, if it’s street food, I should really get into my zone. I also put on shoes for a change. Didn’t want to “drop it like it’s hot…” onto my girlie toes. The event was held at the Grace Hotel – a really pretty art deco hotel with a neo-gothic exterior. All that is missing are some gargoyles and it would be really awesome. Not sure if the Graces Bros who originally built it will agree though. Anyway, here are some pics from the day. I made oyster omelette, the KL Hokkien Mee, CKT and also helped out with some of the pandan crepes for the Kuih / Kueh Dadar. Not DADAH. That has a completely different meaning and if you took some into Malaysia, you’d find yourself in big trouble. So take note when asking for ‘dadar’ in Malaysia. You have been warned.
General tips form Jackie:
- Malaysian cooking is not an exact science
- Taste and moderate salt / spice according to your liking: AGAK AGAK (sorta, kinda, approximately, bit of this, bit of that)
Tips for CKT:
- you need heat to char the ‘K-T’ – > Kway Teow…rice noodles.
- don’t scramble the egg into the noodles. fold it in gently once it’s cooked a bit.
Tips for oyster omelette:
- you want to achieve a consistency that is gooey and also crispy
- be vigilant with how much ‘fire’ you have going…you’d need to up it and reduce as needed to cook the components
It was a fun day for everyone. I had entertaining cooking neighbours: my Instagram buddies: theheardoffood, theveryhungrykaterpilla & aloosh, ramenraff who made it fun and also Vani and Iza from Jackie’s team just making sure everyone had everything they needed.
Here’s some photos from the day. Sorry, once my hands got dirty (cos my sous chef was busy running around distracting people…bad boo), there are no step by step photos.
What does Boo think? APPROVED!
If you are lucky enough to live in Sydney, guess what? You can visit Jackie at her restaurant or at one of her many market stalls over the weekend
Jackie M
85 Majors Bay Road
Concord
Ph: 02-9743 0390
Fax: 02-9012 0058
Petaling Street, Haymarket
I first noticed Petaling Street whilst I was in Melbourne last Christmas. We didn’t try but it did look good and when I heard they have opened in Sydney I couldn’t wait to try. There are so many Malaysian restaurant opening the last couple of months, we are really spoilt for choice but are they all good is the question?
There are two levels to Petaling Street, street level, which are kitchen and some seated areas, and downstairs, bigger and more seating area. I was catching up T and suggested this place. Petaling Street can be found on George Street, near China Town, opposite Pasteur. I think from memory, it used to be a Vietnamese Restaurant, but I can’t remember the name of it.
We started with the roti which was served with curry ($10.80). It was definitely disappointing, definitely NOT their speciality. I thought maybe it was pre-packaged, it wasn’t fluffy or crispy or even tasty. Mamak’s roti is infinitely better and Jackie M, definitely better!
Nasi lemak ($8.00) – traditional hawker type coconut flavoured rice served with sambal, peanut, cucumber, egg and ikan ibis. It was good but I think Jackie M’s is still definitely better.
T couldn’t go past the mamak mee goreng ($10.50), large serving of Malaysian hawker spicy egg noodles with prawn, chicken, bean curd and bean shoots. I thought this was ordinary, the sauce was too thick and sickly and albeit spicy was not the best mee goreng I have tasted. I thought the indo mie goreng was DEFINITELY better!
They had a very limited Malaysian dessert menu. They did have a menu for other desserts though – by other I mean more Western. We had waffles which were served with green tea and black sesame ice cream and I have to say… it was good! Could potentially be the highlight of the evening for me!
I have heard that the laksa and CKT is very good here, so would definitely have to try it out. What we ordered wasn’t the best I thought, the roti at $10.80 was definitely expensive and ordinary. The nasi lemak was good but I have definitely had better.
My favourite Malaysian restaurant would still have to be Jackie M! However, in saying that, I am keen to try their Asam Laksa though.
GA’s ratings: 5.5 / 10
Petaling Street
760 George Street
Haymarket 2000
Ph: +61 2 9280 1006
Jackie M, Concord
I’m always on the hunt for good Malaysian restaurants. Jackie M has been on my radar for a while now, not sure why it has taken us this long to go, considering Concord is not that far from my parents place. The restaurant is not open every day, from Thursday to Saturday from 5pm to 10pm. Reservations is highly recommended as the place does get extremely busy.
Everything on the menu sounded wonderful. We started with Nasi Lemak ($15, add $5 for chicken / lamb / beef / dhal) – fragrant coconut rice accompanied with dried anchovy sambal, peanuts, egg, cucumber and acar (mixed vegetable pickle). I have always enjoyed eating nasi lemak, the different accompaniments, and the mixtures here are very good. It was accompanied with coconut rice which was deliciously fragrant and delicious.
We opt for the beef rending, and oh my, it was GOOD! Even Mum was impressed, and I have to say, it was right up there with Mums! The beef was incredibly tender, and the gravy delicious, complete with kerisik, which is toasted coconut for extra flavouring.
Chicken curry ($17) – mild and delicious Malay curry with chicken fillets and potatoes were excellent. Tender chicken fillets, the curry was thick, spicy and absolutely wonderful.
Eaten with these roti canai they were magnificent. Jackie makes her own roti from scratch and I have to say, they are definitely better than Mamak and the best I have eaten thus far! They were fluffy, buttery, and oh so delicious! These roti can be ordered with a selection of dips but we just ordered two serve on its own as we wanted to dip it in our chicken curry and beef rendang.
I have eaten Jackie’s Char Kway Teow ($14, add $4 chicken, add $6 for prawns, calamari, and fishcake) at noodle markets and knew we had to get a serving. I think it is one of the best CKT in Sydney – I love the strong work aroma, it doesn’t get better than this!
My brother, F, loves Wat Tan Hor ($22) – stir fried fresh rice noodles with a runny egg sauce with prawns, scallops and baby bok choy. Again not for everyone but this was also good. Similar to the CKT, it has a very strong wok aroma, the prawns and scallops were big and juicy and the egg sauce a wonderful complement.
We were getting full by this stage but I couldn’t go past the ais campur durian ($9.50), shaved ice with red beans, corn and glass jelly topped with sweetened milk, rose syrup and durian! Hmhmh DURIAN!!!! Ais campur is one of my favourites, and in Indonesia you usually get a long more ‘stuff’ in it, including, coconut jelly, avocado, jackfruit, and many more.
The durian was fragrantly STRONG – which I love! It was fantastic and I couldn’t stop eating it by the mouthful! Definitely could have done with more durian!
We also got Ais Cendol ($7) – shaved ice drink with mung bean noodles, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. It was deliciously sweet, not my favourite drink but a little bit is ok.
Dinner was superb! No complaints from Mum which was good – she was highly impressed and definitely keen to go back to try Jackie’s other dishes! My favourite would have to be the CKT and the roti. I wanted to try the Rojak that evening, but they ran out. Not quite sure why we didn’t order the popiah either, supposed to be the best in Sydney. Nevertheless, another reason to go back!
Thanks Jackie for a lovely meal, Jackie even came out to say hi which was very nice of her! We’ll definitely be back soon!
GA’s ratings: 8 / 10
Jackie M
85 Majors Bay Road
Concord 2137
Ph: +61 2 9743 0390
More More Cha, Darling Harbour
There seems to be a lot of new Malaysian restaurants opening up in Sydney – More More Cha, Nonya (which is oddly above More More Cha) and Petaling Street. I must admit, I have been on the hunt for GOOD Malaysian restaurants in Sydney CBD and can’t wait to try the others. More More Cha is apparently the sister restaurant of Mamak Village in Glebe, which I have yet to go too. It was relatively busy for a Friday night, the restaurant is very spacious, lots of outdoor seating (although if it rains, I think they would lose a lot of customers!).
The menu is vast, lots of delicious Malaysian dishes ranging from appetizers, soup and roti, rice, noodle, seafood, poultry and many more. I left all the ordering to ‘The Mother’, I really couldn’t decide.
‘The Mother’ started with a cold teh tarik ($3.50), it wasn’t really that cold to be honest which was a shame. I do prefer it to be served in a cold metallic glass.
‘The Mother’ loves Kapitan Chicken ($17), traditional Nyonya flavoured chicken curry with potatoes. Large chunks of chicken which were tender, the curry was a little thicker than norm but it wasn’t too bad, it had the right amount of spiciness.
I am not sure why we didn’t get roti as the curry would be perfect with roti.
Kangkong balacan ($14.90), morning glory veggie with sambal balancan. This was a little weird I thought, served with onions, there wasn’t a very strong balancan flavour or taste. It was OK I thought, I have definitely had better.
We also got a serve of the Penang Koay Tewo Kerang ($14.90), Penang very popular dish wok fried rice cake strips with clams, prawns, eggs, chives and crunchy bean sprouts. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of this, but you read correctly, there were clams, not fresh clams though, they were canned. Not a lot of prawns, think there were only four, and it didn’t have a very strong wok smell which was a shame. It was good but have definitely had better.
I couldn’t help but get dessert. Durian panna cotta ($6.90) was calling my name. ‘The Mother’ was rolling his eyes, pulling faces, and saying how I will need to sleep in the spare bedroom as he HATES durian and can’t stand the smell of it.
Fortunately for him, the durian panna cotta was a disappointment. You can’t even smell a hint of durian and lacked that wonderful durian flavour. It was like eating a vanilla panna cotta! VERY very disappointing.
I noticed others having ice kacang and it did look good. I didn’t see the selection of kuih, but keen to see what they have on offer.
Would I go back? Possibly to try their other dishes. The dishes we had were OK, nothing to rave but I’m willing to give it another go.
Service was friendly, they even had a chef performing making roti – he had some impressive skills!
GA’s ratings: 6 / 10
More More Cha
1 Dixon St
Sydney 2000
Ph: +61 402 365 367
