Kelantan Delights, Wisma Consplant, Subang Jaya

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Jason

*Disclaimer: This is an invited review, extended to me by PureGlutton.

I have not been to the east coast of the Peninsular of Malaysia but I heard a lot of good things about their food from J2kfm and WMW. My chance to try out some Kelantanese-Malay cuisine was knocking at my door when PureGlutton extended the invitation to dine at Kelantan Delights to a few of us last month.

As Kelantan and the southern part of Thailand are just next to each other, there are some minor Siamese influence on their cuisine, such as the Sireh Daun Kadok (RM 21.50, picture above) which resembles Thai appetizer Mieng Kam. Their keropok lekor (RM 8.50) – a type of eastern coast of snack made of fish – was rather good with black pepper added for extra flavour.

Typical rice dishes one could find in Kelantan are the famous Nasi Dagang, Nasi Tumpang and Nasi Kerabu – of course we couldn’t leave without trying their Nasi Tumpang (RM 18.00 with fried chicken). Wrapped with banana leaf in a long cone shape, the package also includes sambal, meat floss and curry. The rice were rather moist to our liking but the condiments were great.

Nasi Kerabu Daging Bakar (RM 20.00, top picture) and Nasi Dagang Kerutuk Daging (RM 20.00) were another two rice dishes we sampled. The blue colour is added to the rice with the use of bunga telang (blue pea flower) to give it an interesting blue hue. It is then mixed with a plethora of finely shredded aromatic herbs and served with daging bakar (roasted beef), salted egg and crackers. Nasi Dagang on the other hand, is one of Kelantan’s iconic dish – usually served with gulai ikan tongkol (tuna curry) but here you can opt to have it with beef or chicken.

If you’re a big eater, try Nasi Budu (RM 19.00) which comes with ulam (raw vegetables), fish, gulai kawah and sambal.

Ok, enough about rice for the moment, here are some a la carte dishes. Belut (eel) Cili Kering (RM 24.00) and Tom Yam Udang Kelapa Muda (RM 21.50) are the spicy ones we had, with the latter served in a hollowed coconut “bowl”. We had two types of fish actually – the one showed here is Ikan Siakap Daun Kadok (RM 49.00) and Ikan Siakap Serai (lemongrass, not shown here). The lemongrass version definitely fares better in terms of flavour and aroma in my opinion. Then comes the Puyoh Goreng (RM 23.00) which are essentially fried quails. My first time trying quails, there aren’t much difference to spring chicken except maybe spring chicken has meatier drumsticks?

The only noodle dish (if one could call this a noodle…) we had that night was Laksam (RM 14.00). Yes, Laksam, and no, that wasn’t a typo. It is very much like chee cheong fun except it is served in rolls with thick and milky coconut milk-based gravy with a hint of fish, lots of shredded herbs, dry sambal and hard-boiled egg. Not a dish for everyone as some might find it too heavy to the palate (especially with the thick coconut milk gravy).

For dessert, we had 4 types, with Lopes (RM 7.00), Pulut Durian (RM 9.50), Royal Plate (RM 14.50) and er… Ketupat Sotong (RM 9.50). Yes, even sotong (squid) can be made into dessert as well! Lopes – glutinuous rice cake with shredded coconut and gula melaka (palm sugar) tastes very similar to our onde-onde, while for the Pulut Durian, it has a strong durian aroma but I wish they would serve it without the seeds. Royal Plate essentially has everything that Kelantan has to offer on dessert, which includes akok (slightly burnt pan cakes), jala emas (noodle-look alike), bunga tanjong (yellow beads made of duck egg’s yolks that were very rich and dense) and finally, tahi itik (literally translated as duck’s droppings). Oh yeah, the Ketupat Sotong definitely stole the limelight that night as none of us ever imagine, let alone try it. The roasted squid is stuffed with glutinuous rice and served with a savoury brown gravy. I can’t really describe how it tastes like, perhaps PureGlutton could shed some light on its mystery, hehe.

Kelantan Delights
Ground Floor, East Wing,
Wisma Consplant 1,
No 2, Jalan SS16/4,
47500 Subang Jaya.

Tel : 03-5611 7845
Web: http://www.kelantandelights.com/ver1/main-subang.html
Business hours : 11am – 11pm
For map, click HERE.

Pork Noodles @ Pomander, SS15 Subang Jaya

Posted on September 15, 2009 by Jason

*Notice: They changed the name of this coffee shop to Ooi Noodle House. The pork noodle stall is still in operation.

My first entry after my hard disk incident. Luckily I still keep some of the latest photos in my camera, so I was able to share this delicious pork noodles in Subang Jaya with those who hasn’t heard of this place yet.

My housemate is a big fan of pork. He once worked in Subang area before and raved about this very good pork noodles which was situated near Carrefour. The stall then moved to its current location at SS15 but he doesn’t know where they shifted. Luck smiles on him when he accidentally discovered the stall’s new location on his GPS the other day!

He warned me beforehand that the owner cooks the noodle bowl-by-bowl and not in batches, or multiple pots so it would take up to 45 minutes for our orders to arrive. And true enough, we actually waited for almost 40 minutes for the noodles! A regular bowl of noodles of your choice with minced pork, intestines, pork liver, lean pork, vegetables and a sprinkle of deep fried lard crisps costs RM4.50 and large at RM5.50. The soup was sweet from the long hours from boiling of pork bones and meat, very flavourful. No evidence of MSG as we didn’t feel thirsty after the meal.

There are other stalls selling chee cheong fun (CCF), chicken rice and some pastries such as egg tarts here as well, so you can order something else to munch on while waiting for your noodles to arrive.

Pork noodles @ Restoran Pomander
No. 78, Jalan SS15/4B,
47500 Subang Jaya.

Read also entries from Masak-Masak, BlueePinkk, Lots of Cravings and LessThanTen.

Coca Steamboat, Subang Parade

Posted on November 27, 2008 by Jason

I have heard about Coca Restaurant many years ago while I’m still residing in Ipoh e.g. through promotion leaflet distributed by Jusco. I also still remembers how I used to say, “All these eateries are in KL, it’s not that we can go.” Yeah, Ipoh is seriously deprived of some higher end eateries.

When I shifted here in KL, these memories seems to be sealed somewhere in my brain and it never came across my mind to try these places which once regarded as “too far” until I received an email from Coca’s Marketing Manager, Ms Andrea Chua few weeks back, inviting me over to their Subang outlet for a dinner for two.

Calvin got to tag along and since I’ve read about Coca from other bloggers’ experience, we were not expecting for steamboat. True enough, as soon as we met Andrea, we were told that they have prepared a la carte dishes for us. We got to choose our drinks; I had the Roselle Juice while Calvin opted for fresh coconut. Good to perk up an appetite as the Roselle juice was sourish, yet refreshing and sugar free.

The first appetizer to arrive to our table was the Coca Stuffed Prawns (RM 9.00). The meat of these two large prawns (longer than my palm!) were removed, minced and mixed with onion, mushroom and some other ingredients and stuffed back into the prawns before being deep fried. Lipsmackingly delicious, the stuffing were juicy despite being deep fried and not greasy at all. Definitely a good start to the meal.

Next, was the famous Pandan Chicken (Kai Haw Bai Toey, RM 8.80). We both loved this a lot! Almost as big as my fist, the meat were well marinated, tender, succulent and exudes a lovely pandan fragrance.

We have been informed that Coca encourage healthy eating, hence they substitute coconut milk with yoghurt in their curry-based dishes, such as this Green Curry Chicken with Homemade Fish Balls (Gaeng Kew Wan Loke Chin Pla Kap Nuer Kai, RM 11.80). Overall, the dish looked exactly the same as the original version, only the gravy appeared to be slightly thicker. The chicken meat were, again, very tender and came in big chunks. Served together with aubergines and home made fish balls, I could taste that it was a bit different from the version cooked with coconut milk. If you’re not keen to have it cooked with yoghurt, you still can request them to cook it with coconut milk.

The Steamed Siakap in Thai Style was another hit. Prettily garnished with chopped scallion, cili padi, garlic, coriander, ginger and lime sauce, the flesh were fresh and firm but not overcooked. I just can’t stop to “bathe” the meat with the tangy and spicy lime sauce before putting it into my mouth. Absolutely delish.

Usually come drenched with gravy in Chinese restaurants, the Thai Butter Prawn was prepared the opposite way. The large prawns were prefectly cooked with a savoury butter “crust”, elevated with curry leaves and other spices. We polished the plate clean.

Calvin doesn’t fancy Tom Yam, hence I had all the Seafood Tom Yam (RM 13.80) to myself, except the prawns. Not too oily and brimming with oyster mushroom, squid, onion and large prawns, I just love the taste as soon as the spiciness started to kick in. I even drenched my bowl of rice with it.

The Pattaya BBQ Chicken (Kai Yang Pattaya, RM 11.80) might seem burnt and dry but do not let it fool you. Similar to the Pandan Chicken, the chicken thigh was grilled to perfection; slightly crispy skin while the meat remain tender and juicy. The marinade were sufficient, with a little smoky flavour.

And finally, the last dish of the night. A new item, as claimed by Andrea herself; the Steamed Live Crab with Beer! A gigantic Phillippines crab was chose for this dish, where the crab was steamed with beer, ginger and basil leaves. Do not worry about the alcohol content as alcohol will evaporate once exposed to heat. The crab absorbed much of the beer essence, which was quite refreshing. Definitely something new to try especially if you’re a crustacean fan (hint hint to Precious Pea).

Both of us were literally stuffed but Andrea insist that we must have dessert. One of Thailand’s popular dessert, Red Ruby or Tub Tim Krob (RM 7.50) and Honeydew Sago in Coconut Milk (RM 7.50) were presented before us and we found out that, resistance is futile. I like Coca’s version of Red Ruby as it served with jackfruit and not cloyingly sweet or lemak. The honeydew sago however, was quite lemak as it came with a thick layer of sinful coconut milk.

It was certainly a fun dining experience at Coca. The service was good, polite and friendly, although they might be slow in clearing the table during peak hour. The prices were a bit on the high side but we were amazed by the freshness of the seafood and the vast choice of a la carte dishes available.

Coca is currently running these promotions:

1. Live oyster – RM 32++ for 1/2 dozen. Add another RM 7 for a glass of white wine. Promotion runs till end of December 2008.

2. Steamboat with buffet spread (appetizer and desserts only) at RM 68++ per person on Friday – Sunday.

*We truly thank you, Andrea for the invitation!