Fish & Noodle House, Damansara Kim

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Jason

My colleagues like this place when it comes to fish noodle, especially my HR manager. We’ve been here few times for lunch and so far, we were pretty satisfy with their food.

The place is rather small, guess there were only about 10 – 15 square tables. During lunch time, you might need to wait for a vacant table especially during peak hour.

The menu is simple; there were a few types of fish-based noodles served with either fish head, fish slices, fish paste and salmon, fried or poached, some rice and side dishes.

Fried fish slices noodles with milk (RM 9.50) came with milky white broth, 3 pieces of thick fried fish slices, some tomatoes, preserved vegetables, julienne ginger and spring onions. The broth has a light flavour of wine but no trace of sour-ness though. Not sure what type of fish meat they use but the boneless fish meat were firm and fresh.

I had the traditional version (without milk, also RM 9.50) as somehow, I don’t think that milk goes well with noodles.

We also like their Pan Fried Salmon cubes (RM 13.50 for nine), although usually charred at the edges, the salmon is fresh and the meat flaky. Nice to go with the noodles.

Fish & Noodle House
77, Jalan SS 20/11,
Damansara Kim, 47400
Petaling Jaya.

Business Hour: 8am – 4pm daily, closed on 1st & 3rd Mondays.

Links:

The Good Food of Kuching, Part One

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Jason

When Kuching is mentioned, most foodie would associate it with Kolok mee and Sarawak laksa. In Malay, “Kuching” means “cat”, therefore Kuching is always being called as The City of Cats. Aside from the name, we found that the sky here is amazingly bright and blue, with interesting clouds formation hovering above.

As this was our first time stepping on the Borneo land, we were lucky enough to have Danny to bring us around. He was kind enough to purposely fly back from Singapore to meet up with us and bring us to various places around Kuching and Santubong. But inside my mind, all I could think was just about food, food, and food. Honestly, I made a list of food that I wish to try out in Kuching, which includes:

Sarawak laksa
Kolo/kolok mee
Mi sapi
Manok pansoh (chicken cooked in bamboo)
Nasik aruk (oil-less fried rice)
Mi tomato

Out of the 6, I managed to try half of them. Quite an achievement-lah, right? 🙂

Behold, the legendary kolo mee of Sarawak! Unbeknownst to us, Danny brought us to one of the oldest place serving kolo mee in Kuching (I’ve verified this info with Scott, another Kuching-bred lad) on that beautiful Saturday morning for breakfast. We left the ordering task to him and without have to wait long, bowls of glorious kolo mee were presented before us. At first glance, it looked like plain instant noodle topped with minced pork, barbequed pork slices and chopped scallions. We gave it a good toss and then only realized the secret to a good kolo mee lies in the lardy oil and the seasoning used. The texture of the noodle was nice – thin with a slight bite. The barbequed pork slices however, are too dry for my liking but the texture of the noodle made up for it. Seriously, good stuff here.

Another version of the kolo mee, added with barbequed pork marinade, hence the reddish hue of the noodle. I found this version is slightly sweeter than the original but still tastes good nonetheless.

Danny initially ordered plain kuey teow for a vegetarian friend of us, but then we were surprised when this came. Same condiments used but the noodle was substituted with kuey teow. Although slippery smooth, it has a thicker texture compared to Ipoh’s version. The use of barbequed pork marinade gave the noodle a very interesting colour.

I’m missing the kolo mee badly already. 😦

Sin Lian Shin
No. 182, Jalan Green,
91350 Kuching, Sarawak.
Phone: 082-240 726

Funky Villa, e@Curve

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Jason

I have noticed the recent opening of Funky Villa at e@Curve (formerly known as Cineleisure). The signboard says they serve authentic Thai cuisine but this place has always slipped my mind whenever we’re debating on where to eat after gym. Thanks to KBCY and Natalie, we finally drop by for lunch one weekend afternoon.

The place lived up to its name, with vibrant colours decked almost every nooks and corners of the bistro/pub-like establishment. While I’ve been to numerous Thai restaurants with traditional or formal set ups, I don’t remember I’ve been to any restaurants such as this.

We sampled some of their set lunches, as well as their a la carte items, courtesy of Natalie, the Communication Manager of Funky Villa. Their set lunch priced from RM9.90 – RM17.90, which includes starter, main course and bottomless lemongrass drink and available daily from 12pm – 3pm. From top left, clockwise: Vegetable Spring Rolls + Green Curry Chicken & Rice (RM11.90), Pad Thai Seafood Noodle + Tom Yam Gung (RM17.90), Thai Herb Fried Rice with Seafood + Pomelo Salad (RM13.90) and Tom Yam Seafood Noodle + Golden Prawn Pan Cake (RM16.90). All the food mentioned above are delectable especially the Pad Thai and Thai Herb Fried Rice. However, I find that the green curry lacked the spiciness.

For starters, we had this rather unique Hard-boiled Eggs Wrapped in Fish Cake (RM13+ for 4) and Pomelo Salad with Chicken, Shrimp & Cashew Nuts (RM15+). Both whet our appetite in an instant; the juicy pomelo sacs drenched in tangy dressing is gorgeous, slightly different from Kinnaree’s version, which has less dressing but spicier while Funky Villa’s is more sour-ish. The cute eggs, wrapped in fried fish paste (that makes up the fish cake layer) and topped with onion and chilli were scrumptious but usually aren’t available in most Thai restaurants.

Cat Fish Mango Salad (RM22+). Eventhough delicious, the fish floss were too finely minced, hence I couldn’t taste any fish in it. The mango salad fares better.

Tom Kha Seafood (RM22+) looked plain at first, but actually it’s a sour and spicy soup with coconut milk base. The Tom Yam Gung (RM23+) on the other hand, had young coconut pulps added to it, lending the soup a refreshing twist. However, I personally felt that both of them would be better if they’re spicier.

Squid in Salted Egg Yolk (RM17+) was pretty ordinary, we couldn’t detect any salted egg yolk in it.

Homok or Thai Steam Otak Otak in Coconut (RM23+) is rather special – fish fillets were steamed in hollowed coconut with basil and red curry spices. The fish is redolent with grated coconut and red curry spices, yummy stuff.

For dessert, we had 3 types. You can have two of the famous Thai desserts with Twin Dessert Special (RM16.90+) that comes with Mango Sticky Rice and Tub Tim Krob or Red Rubies in coconut milk with jackfruit and vanilla ice cream. The fusion Red Rubies works well, I love the sweet ice cream pairing with the slightly salty coconut milk.

If you prefer something different, try the Cantaloupe (rockmelon) with Sago in Coconut Milk and Shaved Ice (RM7.90+). A very refreshing and light dessert but the coarsely shaved ice might be an irritation to some people who likes finely shaved ice.

And here comes Funky Rita! (RM55+ for 750ml). It is certainly fun and a bit quirky to have few people sharing the giant cocktail (they girls even posed with it as some sort of trophy!)