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Unexpected taste combos at Gu Yue Tien

By Eu Hooi Khaw NOV 8 — Frankie Woo’s brain must be always ticking overtime as he invents and mulls over new flavours and textures in his food at Gu Yue Tien. Maybe that’s why this chef/owner is so thin — all his energy is consumed doing this. It’s amazing what he can turn out. Take the Freshwater Eel with Avocado Mousse, for instance. ... Read More...

A steakhouse? Dish is so much more

By Eu Hooi Khaw NOV 1 — The first time we were at Dish in Dua Annexe, Kuala Lumpur, we were stuffed after sharing a Lobster Omelette with a Cognac-infused lobster bisque sauce, and the Roasted Juicy Bone Marrow with capers parsley salsa and toasted baguette. The Lobster Omelette is like a full main course, but surprisingly it’s on the starter menu. It’s a soft, fluffy omelette with chopped lobster inside, and drenched with a lobster bisque. I would have enjoyed this more separately. Give me the omelette or the bisque (I loved the heady complexity of this). The two together were impossibly rich. There w... Read More...

Evil on a plate

By Alexandra Wong OCT 31 — I haven’t eaten a whole lot of Hokkien mee. In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that I realised Hokkien mee in KL and Hokkien mee in Penang are two very different animals. Up north, you get a bowl of egg and rice noodles steeped in a fragrant briny stock made from both fresh shrimp and dried prawns. Wikipedia goes on to add, “it is garnished with prawns, fish cake, leafy greens, pork ribs, squid, crisp deep-fried shallots, spring onions and fresh lime served with sliced red chilli, light soy sauce and sambal.” Order the same thing in Kuala Lumpur and you get “a dish of thick yellow noo... Read More...

Canton-i love you!

By Eu Hooi Khaw OCT 24 — Each time my sister comes to KL from Perth, we would eat at least twice at Canton-i before she heads home. We love the Hong Kong wantan noodles there, which are fine and a little crunchy (not too much, else you will have wires in your mouth!). We would have these “kon-loh” or with soup, and we would definitely have the prawn wantan, some roast pork and “char siu”, and egg tarts. We like it that the egg tarts always come first, the light pastry flaking off as we take bites of the smooth custard filling. What’s wrong with having dessert first when it sweetens your ex... Read More...

Meet a Japanese culinary master

By Eu Hooi Khaw OCT 17 — When I was told Japanese chef Tetsuya Yanagida was now at the Benkay Japanese Restaurant at the Nikko Kuala Lumpur, I was eager to go there. I’ve always had a good meal when Tetsuya is at the helm, and that goes for the places where he has worked in. These include Zipangu at the Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur, which he turned into an award-winning Japanese fine-dining restaurant, and Mizu (in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur) where I had some great meals. His food is always about something new and I like that a lot. I still remember his braised wagyu cheek at Zipangu... Read More...

My favourite Ipoh food (and no, I’m not talking about bean sprouts chicken)

By Alexandra WongOCT 10 — "So what's good there, Nga Choy Kai?" I hear this cliche so often that it makes me want to tear my hair out in frustration. Yes, people I meet for the first time say this out of a genuine desire to establish a common ground — I am not blaming them — but heck, there's so much more to Ipoh than just bean sprouts chicken! At the risk of inundating the stunned listener with TMI (Too Much Information, not The Malaysian Insider), I always ensue with a random list of my favourite foods in my hometown (and you'll notice Nga Choy Kai conspicuously missing): 1. Kap liew Kedai Makanan dan Minuman Desa Indah 3 Persiaran Desa Rishah 1, Taman Desa Rishah, Ipoh Tel: 05-281-0668 Opens 11am-4pm (Tues-Sat), 8.30am-4pm (Sun), Monday Closed "Kap liew" is that umbrella moniker for an Ipoh delicacy: vegetables and beancurd sheets stuffed with fish and either blanched or deep-fried, which the customer picks up ("... Read More...

Much more than just a bread shop

By Eu Hooi Khaw OCT 10 — Bread always makes me happy; whether I’m eating it, or breathing in its aroma as it’s baking. But when was the last time you sank your teeth into some really good bread? Something always falls short: it’s too soft and cottony, too sweet or too greasy. Since The Bread Shop opened in Damansara Heights, it’s been creating a buzz, mainly because the owners are dedicated to bread, the wonderful ones that they remember from childhood, or from studying and travelling abroad. Walk in and breads — huge loafs — ba... Read More...

Paying homage to the humble bitter gourd

By Eu Hooi Khaw OCT 3 — I think it’s brilliant that there is a restaurant in Petaling Jaya that focuses almost entirely on bitter gourd. The menu has to be seen to be believed. It’s in small print, with hardly any spacing in between the lines, so as to cram more dishes in. Possibly after eating bitter gourd at Restoran Fu Kua, your eyesight will improve as well. We had four bitter gourd dishes, and a drink of bitter gourd and kedondong with sour plum. I could feel my blood sugar going instantly down, which I promptly brought up on arriving home,... Read More...

It’s called Grandmama’s and absolutely yummy

By Eu Hooi Khaw SEPT 26 — I love fish head noodles but I often eat it with sweat pouring down my face whether at the “shack” in Damansara Kim or at Loong Foong in Paramount Garden in Petaling Jaya. They are places well known for these noodles. Now I’ve found a cool place to have the fish head noodles — at Grandmama’s at the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. I like it that there’s a tick on the menu on this item to denote the chef’s recommendation. It did not disappoint: the soup was the finest I’ve ever had. It was naturally sweet from the fish stock, with salted vege... Read More...

Fancy some pork? Check out Cristang!

By Eu Hooi KhawSEPT 19 — Featuring pork on your menu seems to be a surefire recipe for success in a restaurant. Let it be in any form, whether in a pork patty, bacon bones or Chinese sausage, you’ve struck gold. At least that’s the case at Cristang Restaurant in Petaling Jaya, which has a rather enthusiastic owner — Gerald Oei — waxing lyrical about Portuguese pork dishes cooked according to recipes from his great grandpa and other family members. Take his Pork Rib Ambila, for instance. He has taken it one step further by cooking it with bacon ribs in a curry that’s be... Read More...

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