It’s been 2 good ol’ years since I drop by New Formosa (read my first visit HERE), so when Daniel and CK asked me where to go for dinner, I suggested this place to them.

We love this simple dish of stir-fried bittergourd with salted egg, chopped chillies, spring onion and topped with a handful of crispy, fried whitebaits. We didn’t detect any presence of the salted egg yolks in the dish though, it appears that they only uses the egg white part but it was good nevertheless.

The carnivores need their meat, hence the spare ribs were ordered and cooked with sweet sour pineapple sauce. The sauce was slightly spicy and appetising, however the spare ribs were too tough to my liking. The two of them loved it though.

We were impressed with the Deep Fried Sesame Chicken as the batter was light, thin, not greasy and envelopes the juicy, piping hot chicken cutlets beneath. Lipsmackingly delicious and highly recommended.

Their Butter Eel was good during my previous visit, so I decided to order it again this time. The dish did not disappoint us; the eel were fresh and succulent. The presence of curry leaves lend a faint but aromatic curry flavour to the dish.

The guys wanted something light for dessert after the heavy, carnivorous meal so they opted for multi-flavoured mua chee (plain, coffee and pandan-flavoured). I was actually drooling over the deep fried yam with caramel (or was it malt?) but oh well, there’s always next time.

New Formosa Restaurant
46, Jalan SS2/24,
47300 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor.

Business Hour: 12pm – 3pm and 6pm – 11pm.
Tel: 03-7875 1894, 03-7875 7478
Email: formosa@streamyx.com

Citygal texted me few weeks ago, asking whether I’m interested going for Thai food review at Bandar Sri Damansara. I agreed to it cos it’s been a while since I last had any Thai delicacies.

The restaurant is tucked in one corner inside Sri Damansara Club, which maybe misleading for some people who think that the restaurant is not open for public. In fact, the restaurant is open to the public, so you don’t need to be a member of the club to enter the club’s compound.

As the meal were being prepared, we were quickly being introduced to Rachel, William and the rest of the group who made it to the dinner.

The appetizer, being deep fried spring rolls arrived first (RM 8 for small, 13 for large). They were pretty normal stuff with yambean (sengkuang) filling but I think the skin was a bit too hard.

The Claypot Glass Noodle with Prawns (RM 15 for small, 22 for large) arrived with its full glory. They uses medium-sized prawns for the dish, which are really fresh, springy and sweet. The glass noodle absorbed most of the essence from the prawns, surprisingly not soggy nor too dry (else they will clump together) and has a nice bite to it.

The deep fried garoupa (RM 35) presented in a very Chinese-like style, with the sweet sour sauce poured all over the fish. Again, the skin of the fish was rather hard but still crispy and the flesh were firm and fresh. We mopped the sauce clean with the fish and rice too!

CK enjoyed the Deep Fried Chicken Wings with Thai Herbs (RM 12 for small, 18 for large). I have to agree with him; the wings were fried to perfection, which retain the succulent, juicy meat and yet, the skin was crispy. The combination of sweet basil leaves, chopped lemongrass, garlic and dried chillies infused the dish with an aromatic, drool-inducing fragrance.

Tomyam soup is a must when having Thai meal (RM 18 for small, 28 for large). Phai Lin did a good job in delivering the authentic taste of Tomyam; spicy, sour, not too thick and slightly sweet from the seafood.

Other than the Stir-fried Mixed Vegetable (RM 11 for small, 17 for large), we also had my favourite Mango Salad (RM 9.50 for small, 15 for large). The shredded young mangoes were just nice, not too sour and mixed with peanuts, chopped cili padi, some dried chillies, julienned carrot, onion, lime juice and a dash of fish sauce.

When we thought the dinner has come to an end, we were surprised when the waiter placed this Raw Prawn Salad (RM 12 for small, 22 for large) on the table. While most of us were rather skeptical to devour it (especially me since I don’t take sashimi), William, Simon and yours truly decided to give it a try. Eaten together with garlic and grinded mint leaves, the prawns were again, really fresh but the more I munch on it, the more stuff seem to be filling up my mouth which prompt me to swallow it as soon as possible. Maybe I’m still not used to raw seafood.

Although there are some hit and misses, it does satisfy my craving on Thai food for the meantime. Kudos to the proprietor and chefs on the effort to maintain the authentic Thai flavour and quality in their food and doesn’t tweak much of the properties to suit local taste. If you’re within the vicinity, do give Phai Lin a try.

Phai Lin Thai & Chinese Restaurant
Sri Damansara Club Berhad,
Lot 23304, Persiaran Perdana,
Bandar Sri Damansara,
52200 Kuala Lumpur.

Web: www.phailinrestaurant.com

Read about Simon, William and WorldWindow’s opinion here, here and here.

*continue from here.

It was our last day in Guang Zhou. Since we can’t wander far from our hostel as we need to check out at 12pm (flight was at around 7 though), we decided to drop by Shamian Island again to have a better look of the architectures and as well as the locals’ morning activities. We saw plenty of senior citizens exercising, doing yoga, cycling and playing badminton. CK remembered about the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes but it was closed, so we couldn’t visit the historical structure which was build by the French in 1892.

After stopping by Starbucks for breakfast, we went back to pack up and dragged our luggages (and feet) to Teem Plaza which is located at Tianhe area. Our initial plan was to walk a bit and perhaps some last minute shopping (finally see some branded stuff like AX in Guang Zhou!), then hop over to the next nearest mall but then we spent too long in the CD shop… and it was already quite late when we’re done, so we cancel the initial plan and hunt for lunch in Teem Plaza instead.

On the top floor where all eateries are concentrated at, we spotted this place called Good View Cafe giving out discount (can’t remember exactly how much but it was pretty high) after 2pm, so we actually waited there till 2pm!

The siu mai (15 Yuan) were juicy and meaty; egg tarts (12 Yuan) were flaky with melt-in-the mouth crust and wobbly custard but a tad small in size; rice rolls were too soft to handle the chunky filling and pretty normal to us (12 Yuan). Char siu sou (char siu puff, 10 Yuan) were pretty good with piping hot filling; Sam Si fried noodles (12 Yuan) were rather normal chives, beansprouts, luncheon meat and egg; char siu chan bao (10 Yuan) was excellent, similar like the char siu sou but it’s the fluffy bun paired with the sweet and hot char siu filling that we like and finally, durian crepe (18 Yuan) that packs a punch for dessert! The crepe was stuffed to the brim with pungent and fresh durian flesh… really, really good stuff.

With a stuffed tummy, we headed to the airport, queued up to check-in, wander around, went to the washroom few times (the food were digested by this time), just to found out that our flight delayed for 40 minutes. So, we repeated the processes above few more times.

So, that eventually marked the end of our first China trip. We love the food and public transport (Metro, not the bus!) but not the dusty environment. But we’ll be back again, in August, that’s it. This time to Guilin!

Read the other posts on Guang Zhou here:

• Day 1
• Day 2, Part 1
• Day 2, Part 2
• Day 3, Part 1
• Day 3, Part 2

I promised J2Kfm last Sunday that I would post something about Port Dickson before he travels there for seminar this coming Wednesday.

Me and another few friends made a trip there few months ago (think it was in April, which Songkran festival was around the corner) and stayed at this Bayu Beach Resort (if not mistaken). We planned to cook ourselves in the resort as one of us were vegetarian, so we brought all sort of ingredients along! But when we first arrived, we were literally hungry and tired, so we hunt for something to bite along the Jalan Pantai and ended up at Bangi Kopitiam. Apparently, Bangi Kopitiam was started by Hamzah Mohd. Taib or Kid, an ex-member of the local Malay band Search in October 2006.

Can’t remember who ordered these but don’t you think the presentation were a bit messy?

The Mee Siam looked rather promising with a big dollop of sambal but the noodles were rather dry.

I wasn’t really hungry, so I just had something cooling. I spied on this cendol called Ali Kutty and decided to give it a try. The syrup they uses wasn’t palm sugar but rather special; the first thing that came into my mind was those brown-coloured coconut sweets wrapped in transparent plastic wrappers. The syrup tastes very similar like it and very thick in texture. But other than some red kidney beans and cendol, I don’t remember there were other ingredients they throw in it.

The scramble eggs were done pretty nicely but the half-boiled eggs came almost hard-boiled. The bread were toasted on grill and had the charcoal smoky flavour to it.

Bangi Kopitiam

No. 3 & 4, Di Saujana Walk,
Batu 4, Jalan Pantai,
71009 Port Dickson,
Negeri Sembilan.
More location here.

Also see what other people said about Bangi Kopitiam:

• Zaque Gallery
• Yammylicious

*Continue from here.

After a long, tiring day walk to some of Guangzhou’s attractions, we went back to Dishipu Lu for dinner. We saw this cafe that look like HK char chan teng inside the mall at Changshou Lu Station, decorated in orange hues and decided to give it a try. That was the first time I tried char siew in Guangzhou but unfortunately, the waitress didn’t allow us to take any photos. What a bummer… Anyway, the food were just so so… my char siew came in thick pieces and were rather hard. Talking about double disappointment.

After dinner, we went to the pedestrian shopping street further up of Dishipu Lu, also known as Xia Jiulu/Shang Jiulu (Up Down Nine Street). It’s in one of the oldest part of the city, where the buildings retain elements of both Western and Chinese architecture. It’s a good place to look for discounted clothing. I was rather amazed by the crowd (can’t sense any signs of recession here at all!).

Before we leave the place, we dropped by this place which was recommended by LonelyPlanet called Nanxin (Famous Nanxin Steamed Egg Whites with Milk). The desserts range from 5 Yuan – 12 Yuan while dishes in between 8 Yuan – 15 Yuan. Their specialty, obviously is the Steamed Egg Whites with Milk (shuangpinai) but the weather that night was rather humid and warm, so we opted for something cooling instead.

CK had the Boiled Snow Fungus with Papaya which was quite good. The snow fungus were boiled till tender and big chunks of sweet papaya were given. The sweetness of the syrup was just nice.

I had the chilled Mango and Grass Jelly with Coconut Milk. The grass jelly cubes were rather chunky and a little bitter but the mango cubes balanced out the bitterness of the grass jelly. The combination went rather well with the coconut milk.

Nanxin
47, Dishipu Lu (further up from Lian Xiang Lou)

Business hour: 10am – midnight
Tel: (86) 8138 9904

*to be continued…. last part up next!

*continue from here.

The sun was shining brightly the next day. Lucky for us as we planned to explore the city centre a bit and so, we headed to one of the oldest Chinese restaurant for dim sum breakfast.

I couldn’t recall where did I get the information but there was this particular site recommended a few famous restaurants with reputable history. Founded in 1889, Lin Heong Lau (Lian Xiang Lou) was said to be famous for its tasty dim sum. We took Metro from Fangcun and exited at Chang Shou Lu Station. From the station, head right towards Dishipu Lu.

Having dim sum in Guangzhou is like a char chan teng affair. The waitress will pass you a piece of paper with available items and pricing. All you need to do is tick the items you want, pass it back to the waitress and wait for your food to arrive.

The fried crullers (yau char kuey) were passable; they weren’t greasy with crispy exterior and soft inside. Also notice the size, which were slightly shorter than what we have here.

The char siew sou were good with flaky, light and buttery crust, while the char siew filling was moist and fragrant, with a tinge of sweetish aftertaste. Our only gripe was the size, which was rather small.

Came in two pieces per order instead of three, the egg tarts were bigger though. Same buttery crust as the char siew sou with smooth, eggy custard. CK’s commented that the custard was firmer than those we can get here but still, I think that they were pretty nice.

The deep fried yam cake doesn’t scored high with us as they were too hard and dense. They were a little oily as well. A few bites on this and we were kinda jelak with it. Guess it would be better to avoid carbs-loaded items next time.

Their xiu long bao were pretty good as well. Came piping hot with aluminium holder, the skin of the baos were actually quite thin where you can see the silhouette of the colourful ingredients inside the package, but not too thin till it breaks when you pick it up with chopsticks! The broth inside was hot, very flavourful and the pork filling doesn’t have strong porky taste. We love this a lot.

We had some other stuff too like the salted egg bun which were not salty at all, soup wantan and lotus leaf glutinous rice. Too bad their char siew bao were sold out that day.

After stuffing ourselves, we were off to Yuexiu Park, where we can find Five Rams Statue (Wuyang Shixiang), the statue of the five immortals attributed to Guangzhou’s founding and also a famous landmark of Guangzhou. Legend has it that Guangzhou was founded by five immortals who descended from the sky on rams and saved the city from starvation, hence the people built the statue to commemorate their deeds. The park also includes the Ming Dynasty Zhenhai Tower now home to the City Museum with relics dating back to the 15th century. Admission is 5 Yuan for the park.

The Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, located on Dongfeng Zhong Lu was huge! The main building is surrounded by gardens from all four directions and one of the four bronze statues of Sun Yat-Sen is placed in front of the building. All four statues were carved in Japan and funded by Dr. Sun’s good friend, Miyazaki Toten.

Some scenery in Guangzhou city centre. The dogs here are quite tame and pampered; you can see their fur were clean and nicely groomed. Even condos and apartments allow their residents to keep pets here.

The famous street for shopping, Beijing Road is a pedestrian-only promenade. You can get fashion brands like Giordano, Yishion and Samuel & Kevin here and popular with tourists. Those lanterns decorating the trees were sponsored by Giordano. There were also a few glass-protected squares along the street where they displayed the artifacts excavated out from the soil when they built this shopping area.

I was practically exhausted from all the walking but CK insisted we visit the oldest Chinese temple in Guangzhou before going back to hostel. Temple of Bright Filial Piety (Guangxiao Si) on Guangxiao Road is not a very big temple and frankly speaking, I can’t sense anything special from it. For more info on it, you can follow the link above.

Lian Xiang Lou
67, Shipu Road,
Liwan District

Business hour: Daily 6.30am-midnight.
Tel: (86) 8139 1191/8139 8297
Only accept cash and local cards.

*to be continued…

Lately, I have not been writing anything about Ipoh. Let’s us take a short break from Guangzhou today for something more local and nearer to home.

I got meet up with J2Kfm aka Motormouth again few weeks ago in Ipoh for lunch. I’ve been wanting to have curry noodles, so I suggested Yee Fatt. Popularly known to locals as the “MGS (Methodist Girls’ School) Curry Mee”, the place spans two shop lots and located opposite the school, nearby the Jalan Kampar’s (aka Jalan Permaisuri Bainun) roundabout. When I came here two years ago, there was a stall selling roast pork and char siew, but this time, the stall is no where to be found. Instead, more delicacies were available such as lor mai kai.

The curry gravy was aromatic, thick and not too spicy, while the chicken came with the curry were tender and moist. Roast pork, char siew slices, beansprouts and mint leaves complete the ensemble. However, it is recommended to have it immediately when it reach your table as the noodles will soak up the gravy (especially when you order for rice vermicelli). Or else, just request for more gravy.

Old-school, non-pretentious shop interior add a touch of vintage to your meal. Don’t think we can buy those blue porcelain chopsticks holder anymore nowadays.

*Burp!

39, Jalan Kampar (Jalan Permaisuri Bainun)
Ipoh (opposite Methodist Girls’ School)

Tel: 05-242 1043
Closed on Mondays.

More about Yee Fatt at:

• Motormouth From Ipoh
• IpohChai
• FoodLah
• Eating And Running Fat

*continue from here.

After gobbled down half a dozen tarts at KFC, we were back on track. Initially we want to visit another historical site which looked like a small library but it was closed. But that doesn’t really matter to me as I was busy snapping away with my camera, especially those old back lanes.

We then decided to venture out of the city. We took Metro to Chigang Station and changed to public bus no 262 at Xingang Zhonglu. Their public transports are undeniably fast, efficient and punctual but the drivers’ behaviour (both on the road and towards the passengers) somehow… doesn’t up to expectation.

The journey took about 30 minutes and we finally reach the Xinzhou pier (Xinzhou Matou) in a small village, far away from the city centre. Our destination was Changzhou Island (not to be confused with Cheung Chau in HK or Changzhou city in Jiangsu although their pronounciation are similar in Cantonese), an island located at the mouth of Zhujiang River in East Guangzhou. From the pier, we can see that the village and its surrounding areas are some sort of a ship building or repairing docks, hence the water are quite dirty and polluted (you can see the oil floating on it).

Unfortunately, it started to rain when we reached the island, so we seek shelter at the nearest building which turned out to be the Whampoa Military Academy. Officially opened on 16 June 1924 by Sun Yat-sen and funded by the Soviets, the academy produced many prestigious commanders who fought in many of China’s conflicts in the 20th century. Multiple chambers with drawings of those who persevered or perished in battlefields are on display, with some part of the study rooms, dining hall, dorm and office have been recreated for viewing purpose. We also stopped by the double storey bungalow, where Sun Yat-sen’s stays whenever he came to Changzhou.

We decided to leave early as the weather doesn’t look promising. Back to hostel for good rest.

When night descends, we went out to scout for something light to bite. We actually skipped dinner as we don’t feel like having heavy meal (sounds weird, I know). We decided to stop by this shop at Luju Road, Fangcun, which was not too far away from our hostel and try out the dessert. The crowd seems to be enjoying the food here.

Calvin had the sweet peanut congee (fah sang wu) with glutinous rice balls (tang yuen). The peanut congee was smooth and brimming with peanut aroma, but the tang yuen doesn’t have any filling inside it.

Similar like Hong Kong, most of the dessert menu in Guangzhou are dominated by milk-based beverages. I tried the “Fried” Milk with Chocolate (typo error in the picture) and although it was special, as we can’t find this back in Malaysia, it somehow gave me the feeling that I’m having baby’s milk cereal. Served hot, the milk was sweet, thick like porridge and coarse in texture. Chocolate bits were aplenty in the mixture. Not too bad I would say but still… baby’s milk cereal. Hahaha.

We also ordered some fried sweet potato cakes, which were a bit greasy and unfortunately, soggy as well.

*to be continued…

*continue from Day 1.

The weather was still gloomy the next morning. We left hostel quite late and headed to Fangcun Metro station before grab some breakfast. Our first destination for the day – Peasant Movement Institute, which is located at Zhongshan Road.

All Metro stations in Guang Zhou are located underground and there are 4 lines. There are multiple entrances and exits for one particular station but fret not, as signboards and maps are everywhere inside the station to provide assistance. Their trains are super efficient; punctual and very fast. There was even an LED panel indicating which station you’re heading to above the doors. But taking trains in Guang Zhou can be a headache, as most passengers do not queue up, not even when purchasing ticket.

The Peasant Movement Institute doesn’t look inviting from the outside. It was originally set up from a Confucian temple in the 14th century to train young idealists from all over China. The government had recreate the lecture rooms and dormitories of the young revolutionaries for tourism purpose. Among the famous figures who lectured here was Mao Zedong (a mannequin resembling him was on display in his former office room).

Since it was already near noon by the time we left the place (and the ads on KFC was constantly appearing on trains’ TV), we hoped over to the nearest KFC for lunch (KFC can be easily found here, but not McD). Fast food chains are more expensive in Guang Zhou; for example, a set meal costs around 22 Yuan (about RM 11). If you think the price is almost similar like ours here, think again as fried chicken are not available in set meals (so you can only have burger, a drink and coleslaw for set meals).

Instead of normal soft drinks, they offered fruit punch for set meals.

This fish burger was almost similar to our Alaskan Fish Burger. I didn’t bother to take photo of my chicken tortilla roll with Shanghai sauce by the way… there was nothing special about it.

We were however, pleasantly surprised by their Portugal tart with blueberry compote. We were actually attracted to the tarts while watching the ads on train TV so we ordered this as dessert. The custard was eggy with buttery and flaky pastry crust. The blueberry compote compliment the tarts nicely.

*to be continued…

18th April 09 – 21st April 09 marked my first ever trip to the mainland China, just shortly before I shifted to my new job in PJ. Overall, the trip was a memorable one; plenty of walking, visiting typical visitor attractions and stuffing ourselves with Chinese food. Also, it was my first time taking flight early in the morning (our flight was at 6 something in the morning if not mistaken), so all I could see outside the window was pitch-black darkness.

We arrived at Guang Zhou’s Baiyun International Airport (Baiyun means “white cloud” in Mandarin) around ten in the morning. We took the shuttle bus to the Metro station (GZ’s LRT station), which will take us to our youth hostel at Fangcun, Liwan District, facing the Pearl River.

The weather was gloomy when we arrived. Can’t really differentiate it’s hazy or cloudy due to the fact that GZ itself is quite polluted when it comes to air quality. We started to wander around the area after checked in and unfortunately, it starts to drizzle. We decided to stop for a lunch at a nearby restaurant.

We had some difficulties trying to understand what they wrote in the menu (Chinese like to give fancy, four-lettered words to their dishes) and luckily, the waitress was friendly enough to explain them to us. And we had….

A bland and plain fu chuk (beancurd sheets, suspected to be steamed) and served with soy sauce, peanuts, ginger and scallions. The soy sauce doesn’t taste like soy sauce as it was not salty at all and the only thing we like were the peanuts. As J2Kfm commented on the picture I uploaded on my Facebook, “OMG, this look like those food you eat when you’re having chickenpox!”

The Stir Fried Lotus Root with Nam Yu (fermented red beancurd) fares better, although it was tad greasy. The lotus roots were thinly sliced, crunchy and not fibrous.

And the winner goes to the Garlic Spare Ribs, which were very fragrant and not greasy. It would be better if the bone is smaller though (which means, more meat to be enjoyed!)

We then went back to hostel and take a much needed rest before hunting for dinner.

When we woke up few hours later, we decided to take the ferry at the pier just in front of our hostel to Shamian Island (shamian means “surface of the sand”), which is located at the other side of the river. It was actually more like a man-made island, surrounded by river. In the 19th century, the British and French set up their warehouses and offices here. Today, the colonial buildings have been turned into hotels, restaurants and shops with restricted traffic are allowed to enter the vicinity. The buildings in the photo above are those you can find in Shamian Island.

We passed by this place called Shanghai & Suzhou Cuisine and decided to give it a try.

The restaurant was small but comfortable nonetheless. We were presented with two appetizers; peanuts with salt and pepper and cucumber with chilli oil and ginger (5 Yuan each). I, of course prefer the peanuts and it was so addictive!

From top left to right; Tung Po pork, Beancurd with Mashed Salted Egg Yolk and Chicken Soup with dumpling. The Tung Po pork (20 Yuan) came in a small pot and every pieces of the layered fatty meat were gelatinous and flavourful. The beancurd, also known as Golden Beancurd in Mandarin (28 Yuan) was my favourite that night. A simple steamed soft beancurd topped with generous mashed salted egg yolks, compliments the plain beancurd very well. We however, doesn’t really like the soup (38 Yuan) as it has a weird taste to it. Nothing to shout about the chicken as well.

We ended the dinner with a dessert (we would like to try more variety but we were stuffed at this point) called Marshmallow Bun with Red Bean filling. It came in three big balls, almost as big as a tennis ball. The outer skin were dusted with something similar to icing sugar but more coarse. The buns were pillow-y soft albeit a bit thick and the red bean filling was just nice, not too sweet. Total bill including rice and tea for two came up to 132 Yuan.

Shanghai & Suzhou Cuisine
(part of the Dining Club group)
37, North Street,
Shamian Island, Guangzhou.

Business hour: 11.00am – 11.00pm

Tel: (86) 20-8121 5201 / (86) 20-8121 5276
Fax: (86) 20-8121 4102

*to be continued…