Makan makan Escapade

Hello Hello Hello... (Note: Malaysians - especially the Chinese enjoy saying a lot of words 3 times. I have no idea why - must be auspicious.)

Welcome to another foodie session by the Puchong Yogis. Last Sunday, we spent the day pretty much eating our way through and I will introduce the 3 places that we've tried. The yogis in our little collective 'makan' session are : Uncle Stephen, Aunty Mei, Uncle Richard, Mummy Florence, Daddy Winston, Uncle Adrian, Uncle Robin, Aunty Diana, Dianne, Megan, Nicole and moi.

The first stop we went is Chawan in Bangsar. It is located at Jalan Telawi 3, opposite of Bangsar Village I. The setup is a typical 'kopitiam' alfresco style which is the current trend for Malaysians to 'yam cha' in. For those who don't know, kopitiam is a Chinese word meaning coffee shop. Back in the olden days where our daddies's daddies use to hang out with other daddies's daddies, they would sit together in a shop to drink coffee and talk (men's version of gossip). This hanging out leads on to the modern version of what us youth would call 'yam cha'. Yam cha can take place anywhere as long as you can have a drink and sit down. But, I digress. Us yogis met up at the designated place for brunch to sample local delicacies with a twist.

We all arrived at different timings - very typical Malaysians but we are proud of it. And like typical Malaysian foodies, after we've gotten comfortable, we started ordering food. Chawan is popular for its Nasi Lemak with Chicken/Beef Rendang, Lontong with Chicken/Beef/Sotong (squid) Sambal (chilli paste), Roti Bakar (toasted bread with stuff inside) and so on. We all focused on its specialties and weren't disappointed. From here on, it's all from my own personal experience and should not be taken as the final word in reviewing the places we went. I took Nasi Lemak with Ayam Goreng Berempah (marinated fried chicken) and it was a pretty big portion. A full bowl of coconut rice served with whole fried chicken thigh, kang kung vegetable (the "pro" name is Ipomoea aquatica and I don't know the normal layman term for it), anchovies, peanuts, cucumber, half a boiled egg and sambal. I enjoyed it and the sambal was spicy enough to give a 'kick' and the chicken was crispy outside and tender inside. For drinks, Chawan caters to a wide range of coffee from different areas in Malaysia. I took a Chawan Frappe - thinking that this was the Malaysian version of Starbucks - and chose Ipoh coffee to go along with it. It turned out pretty interesting. I thought it would be ice blended with the coffee and the milk with whipped cream (obviously I've been hanging out too much at Starbucks to know how a Frappe is)

After munching through brunch, we all went and walked off the food in Bangsar Village. See, despite having all those food in us, Aunty Mei was plotting for tea after checking out the supermarket. About an hour or so later, we met up again after going our various ways. Uncle Robin and Aunty Diana had to go, leaving the rest of us to decide on the next food outlet.

After much debate, we finally decided on Marmalade in Bangsar Village II. It is located on the 1st floor next to Sole Lovely. Marmalade is a healthy Western restaurant which serves delicious food. The food ranges from breakfast all the way to dinner and many go there to sample its

flavourful cakes and healthy drinks. Not losing out, we also tried on its famous Carrot Cake which was moist, not too sweet and gives off an almost melt-in-the mouth effect. Marmalade's servings are fairly big and the cake slice was enough to go round for us who was still feeling full from our Chawan galore. The drinks served were big too and we tried their healthy fruit juices. I took one called Day Starter and I'll admit, it certainly 'started' my day in a very wide awake manner. A combination of banana, strawberries and oranges, it was refreshing although sour which means there was barely any artificial sugar added - hence healthy. But despite its sourness, it had this addictive effect which made you want to keep on sipping it - although probably with one eye squinting slightly.

We sat there for a couple of hours of collective talking and laughing. Stories were swapped and jokes were cracked. I think we were a pretty attractive bunch to the other patrons in Marmalade as the 'hahas' were non-stop. Soon, dinner was brought up as our food have been pretty much digested. A restaurant located also in Bangsar was mentioned and the agreement was made. Uncle Robin and Aunty Diana was recalled back for another eating round.

We adjourned to Restaurant Chef Low located at No. 4, Lorong Ara Kiri 3, Lucky Garden, Bangsar (thank you name card for the address =P). This a Chinese restaurant that serves very good and unique Chinese food that you usually don't find in other Chinese restaurants. We ordered 6 dishes as follows:

Special Claypot Beehoon with Seafood - this dish is brimming with seafood and somehow with minced pork meat as well. Served in a claypot (hence the name), the dish portion was for 3 persons but it was enough for everyone to have a full bowl and more to spare for those who wanted 2nd helping. The taste was excellent and everyone drained their bowls.

Fish Paste with Hong Kong Noodles - As it name suggest, the plate was loaded with pieces of fish paste. It was crunchy with a good bite to it and the taste was not overpowering or fishy. The noodles were different from the ones we normally eat. It is whitish in colour and isn't soggy.

Crispy Pork in Sweet Sauce - The Chinese version of American bacon! But in sweet sauce. =P Absolutely delicious and once you start, you can't stop. Which was obviously what happened as the quantity dwindled to bits and pieces very quickly. Small

pieces of pork, deep fried until crunchy then quickly tossed in the sweet sauce along with a dash of cili padi (bird's eye chilli) to give it that mild spicy taste.

Kai-lan in 2 Styles - Kai-lan or Chinese broccoli/kale is cooked in 2 ways. The leaves were cut off and chopped into fine shreds then deep fried until crispy and eaten together with deep fried shredded dried scallops. The other style is that the stems are sauteed with garlic and served.

Roasted Chicken with Crackers - Half a chicken along with it's bishop nose was served and the flavour was well infused into the chicken meat. The skin wasn't too fatty and had a slight crunch to it.

Stir Fry Clams with Ginger and Spring Onions - It was a flavourful dish as well and the ginger taste was well infused into the dish.

The food was in abundance and our tummies were well satisfied. Certainly a restaurant to recommend and go over and over again.

After dinner, we parted ways with a big grin on our faces and extra pounds on our bodies. I wonder if our next collective gathering would ever be an exercise one? Who knows... but do stay tuned for more food adventures! (and maybe a random attempt to work off the delicious added pounds!)

By Wenesia, Author

Flower Drum Fine Chinese Cuisine

Hi there,

Well this is our first eating posting about fine meals. We hope you like it and remember that this posting is the personal experience of the author and not intended as a column for food critics or the like.

We recently had the opportunity to dine at this restaurant which was much talked about and had a newspaper article written about it recently with rave reviews. The restaurant is located at No. 239, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur. It is besides the Esso petrol station as you enter the traffic lights into Jalan Bukit Bintang after the Indonesian embassy. It’s a white colored building with lots of car park space. A jockey service is available but you don't have to use it if you prefer parking the car yourself. They can be contacted at telephone 603-21422625.


We did not have any starters and jump straight into the main meal. The first dish was chicken chop cooked in pamelo sauce. It’s an interesting dish, something we have not tried before. The pork shop was tenderly done and the sauce was sweet yet with a tinge of tangy after taste.

We then had Peking duck dish which was prepared typically in two variations. The first style was to eat the crispy duck skin which was sliced off by the waitress delicately and wrapped in something like a small “popiah” skin with sweet sauce in it. The remaining duck meat was diced and stir fried with some vegetables except for the drum stick.

The two legs were served to us on plates (ok, not everyone on the table go to try it) and surprisingly the meat turned out to be tasty and tender. Normally, the meat tastes blend for this type of dish. Nevertheless, we savored it quickly (I used my hands; fine dining or not, it was just too troublesome for me to shave of the meat from the bone with a fork and knife without it flying everywhere).

Next, we had prawns cooked in red wine and hawthorns. If you are wondering what are hawthorns, do you remember in your school days when you used to buy those circular red colored disk about 20 cents in size that taste sweet and a bit sour in a red and white paper packing made from China, well hawthorns is the fruit the sweets are made off. So, it’s no surprise that this dish taste sweet and a little sour

We had another recommended dish which was crab meat cooked with egg white. This dish is also interesting and sure a hit for those who are just too lazy to eat crabs with the shell. The egg white enhances the taste of the crab meat.

For vegetables, we had broccoli in thick sauce with mushrooms.

As with any fine dining restaurant, the ambience was comfortable and since we had our dinner on a week day so the place was roomy and not crowded.

That’s it. Another eating place documented and many more to come.
Bon Appétit.
By Stephen, Author