Yut Kee Restaurant, Jalan Kamunting, Kuala Lumpur

The first time we visited Yut Kee was few weeks before they closed down at their old pre-war shoplot. Yes, we have so many opportunities of going over but we never did. For one, having used to working in KL for so many years, when it comes to weekend, I would rather not drive to downtown KL at all for anything and stay within PJ or Bangsar instead.

Fortunately and hurray for me, hubby was in an adventurous mood this morning and decided to have breakfast there. It's obvious that I accepted it because it's so rare to see him agreeing to drive to KL for eating, shopping or sight-seeing.

We waze our way there to their new place, which is only about one road away from their old vacated place.

  
The place is still as crowded as before. However, we were glad that we didn't have to wait long at all and got a place to seat. They are well-known for sharing tables with other eaters, just like Hong Kong. 

You can't possibly miss the building as it's painted bright red and they still retained the old nostalgic, pre-war look interior with some decorations on the wall. Even the chairs and tables were retained to keep the look. At their front cashier, I noticed this old safe, which I simply must take. It's so antique ! 

This time, we ordered their famous chicken chop and roti babi. Roti babi looks simple but as you cut the bread, inside filling contained lots of shredded onions with pieces of crab meat and meat. 

Chicken chop was well-cooked and balanced flavour. They serve other food too and even on weekdays, lunch crowd here is crazy too as the offices are nearby.

Roti Babi RM9

Chicken Chop RM9.50

Add: No.1, Jalan Kamunting, 50300 Kuala Lumpur

Peng Yuan Hokkien Mee, Jalan 222, Petaling Jaya

We are fortunate that there are some good "hokkien mee" around our area. We've been to the popular Ah Wah Hokkien Mee, Restoran Millennium Eighty Six and Restaurant Mei Yen. 

I've to say Ah Wa's is nice but a little overrated. We prefer the one at Restoran Millennium Eighty Six as he likes the black hokkien mee there whereas I prefer the cantonese kuey teow.

Since we wanted to try other new restaurant, it took us some time to think where else we have not covered around our area. Ultimately, I remembered at the other end of Ah Wah, there is a hokkien mee that opens at night too.

There's less crowd here at Peng Yuan Hokkien Mee compared to Ah Wah and less waiting time for the food. 

We ordered cantonese yee mee and hokkien mee hoon, cooked for one person. The cantonese sauce was flavoured well with good amount of eggs. Yee mee wasn't as crunchy as we thought. As for the Hokkien mee hoon, I put this as my favourite so far. Reason is other than its lard, I'm one of the rarer few that insists to have my Hokkien mee hoon dry, means really dry with hardly any wetness of sauce in it. It's so hard to find "kon lou" or really dry dish in KL. People here tend to prefer their noodles wet, which I dislike tremendously. You might as well order the dish in soup then. What's the point of having it dry when it's not dry. 

Cantonese Yee Mee RM7

Hokken Mee Hoon RM 7

We all have our own taste and preference but this is definitely one of my favourite stalls other than Millennium Eighty Six.

Add: Restoran Mei Keng, No.42, Jalan 14/48, Petaling Jaya.

Robata Monkey, Jaya One, Petaling Jaya

Being a Friday night, I had wanted to go all the way to Hartamas for dinner. Unfortunately, it rained that evening and I dreaded the jam. While we waited for the rain to slow down, we were thinking of an alternative place to have Japanese food. 

There are a few nearby our area and Robata Monkey came to our mind. We have visited almost all the restaurants in Jaya One, but sometimes, due to wrong timing or budget, we never step in to Robata. Since hubby was feeling a little splurgy, we went ahead with our option.

It was kind of a late dinner for us, almost 9pm and thankfully, it wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. We easily gotten a seat immediately and proceed to look at the menu. First impression of their service, fast and prompt and attentive. 

We were served with an appetizer, for a start, while we wait for our food to come. It is flaky and a little meaty, with sweet flavouring, which both of us loved.

Soon, our first dish arrived, which was the fresh, barbecued Irish Premium Oysters. You have no idea how much I miss my oysters. I love the texture that it was slightly cooked and still able to taste the juiciness of the oyster and the smell of barbecue. You have the option of squeezing a hint of lemon to give it the oomph flavour, which balanced out the palette. 

Yaki Kaki (Irish Premium) RM25

Our next dish was Mini Shake Ikura Don. It's a very small, simple dish, yet the salmon and roe were fresh and rice was cooked perfectly.

Mini Shake Ikura Don RM13

Next dish was Salmon Belly Yaki. We've not tasted good barbecued salmon belly, but somehow, the chef really knows how to do it well that it doesn't get overcooked. You could taste its moisture cooked salmon, that was retained well and its skin was super crispy, with slight burnt. 

Salmon Belly Yaki RM16

As we weren't full yet, we decided to order another dish and our alcohol drink. The last dish took a while, which we didn't mind and they came together with our drink. I like the fact that the servers here were trained on which dish should be out first or come out concurrently. 

This was our first time eating Saba Fish Ichiyaboshi. I'd say this was our main dish highlight  of the night. The saltiness of the fish was well-balanced and its meat was juicy instead of dry. Oh, we like this fish as it has lesser bones than the other fish.

Saba Fish Ichiyaboshi RM45

 Surprisingly, both of us love the sparkling sake. It is sweet with bright, tangy taste and light alcohol. 

Sawa Sawa Sparkling Sake (250ml) RM35

Overall, we had a good dinner and the bill came up to slightly under RM165 for two of us, including mugi tea and water. 

Add: L-12A-G, Palm Square, Jaya One, 72A Jalan University, Petaling Jaya
Opening Hour: 12pm to 12am
Tel: 03-7932 5168

Bean Reserve, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

With so many up-and-coming cafes, it's getting harder to keep track sometimes. Recently, we visited one that is hidden away somewhere in Bangsar. We never thought that there will be one in this unsuspected area.

It's located in a bungalow lot, just opposite an Indian temple. Bungalow is designed in minimalistic look and one could even miss the signboard if you don't look for it carefully.

As you entered the walkway, you will see the dine-in cafe on the right and they even allocate few rooms for small meetings, if you want a change of meeting scenery.

They are known for their soft-serve specialty coffee but we decided to try our regular flat white. It's our own gauge in comparing with other cafes for their beans and flavour. Unfortunately, they don't have a free wifi here. We came so early that there were only few people. 

Flat White RM11

I can't say that I don't like their beans but we all have our own preferences and we are not into the sour taste, after drinking few sips. Still, we would come back again for the soft-serve and affogato.

It's a little easier to find a place to park during weekends when you come early but I reckon with the temple, you won't be able to get a parking space when they have function or festival.

Add: 8, Jalan Lengkok Abdullah, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hour: 9am to 6.30pm

Onigiri Nagatanien Minced Chicken Furikake

Finally, I am attempting to do a Japanese dish after doing so many Korean and Chinese dishes. As I love eating Onigiri and it's one of the easiest dish to make, I think I can make a decent Onigiri. 

Hahaha...my first try at shaping it into a triangle wasn't much a success. A second attempt will be coming soon....

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups of Japanese rice
• Furikake of your choice

Instructions

1. Pour the rice into the rice cooker and cook it.
2. Once done, scoop out some rice, about 300gm onto a big bowl.
3. Pour in the furikake and mix it well before splitting the rice equally into two parts.
4. Make sure you wet both hands before scooping the rice with your hand and shape it into triangle.

Home Cook-Spare Ribs with Corn and Mushrooms

So on one of those days, my hubby asked me if there is any recipe that I made on my own. I told him there is one so far and that's about it. 

Suffice to say, I decided to take up the challenge and try and do some original recipes of my own. This is one of my own recipe that I did on my own from all my past soup experiences.

My instructions will be based on the assumption that you use a gas stove or induction. If you are using a thermopot, like me, once it's boil and the pork ribs are cooked, I will place it back inside the thermopot and let the flavour sits in for about 4-6 hours, knowing thats how my in-laws and hubby like it. I will reheat it again before serving. 

I love putting in red dates and goji berries as it will bring sweet flavour to the soup other than adding salt for its saltiness.

Ingredients

• 1 small cup of goji berries
• 6 pieces of red dates
• 500gm of pork ribs, cut into smaller pieces
• 1 packet of Shiitake mushrooms
• 2 medium sized carrots, sliced 
• 2 firm Chinese tofu
• 1 packet of small corn
• Salt for tasting

Instructions

1. Boil about 1 litre of soup in a big pot.
2. Put all the ingredients except pork ribs.
3. When the water has boiled, throw in the pork ribs and stir it.
4. Add salt according to your liking, while tasting it.
5. Boil for another half hour and it's ready to serve.