Melaka Road Trip (Part 4)

Ending the day at Jonker Street....

So confusing wan. =_=

What I found out: Jonker street is not really Jonker Street - its name (now) is Jalan Hang Jebat.
(Sheesh - how different is that??)

Anyway, we ended our day trip by checking out the famous Jonker Street night market:
Still early...
(The Market's Opening Hours: Fri to Sun and Public Holidays, 6pm to 12midnight)

Whilst some of shophouses in that area close early (boooo...), there are still quite a few left for you to browse through, as well as an array of market stalls in the street - selling anything from souveniers to bags to clothes (we even spotted a lingerie stall!):
A funny tshirt that we saw...
There was also a stage at one end of the road where they regularly have performances (I think it was supposed to be some sort of singing and lion dance performance the night we were there, but we didn't stick around long enough to find out):
Small crowd waiting for the performance to start...
Of course, as with any other night market in Malaysia, there was a wide array of shops and stalls serving food.
(Anything from noodles to satay to biscuits, etc)

Unfortunately, we were all still kinda full from all the eating throughout the day.... but with the warm and humid weather, we couldn't resist trying out the ice cool sherbert from this stall, modestly named Perfect Ice:
So many flavours...
There was quite a variety of fresh fruit flavours (priced around RM3? per cup, sorry no receipt!) and the friendly sherbert stall uncle explained that he makes them freshly everyday. He even told us we could mix and match flavours if we wanted:
(Since we were having trouble deciding which to choose)
Scoops of yummy icey sherbert...
Here's my lovely (crazy eyed) model Jo-lyn presenting our sherberts - Berry (the purpleish sherbet) and Lychee mixed with Passion Fruit (the orange sherbert):
MINE ALL MINE...
Yummy. :) :)

Ok.
Truthfully, the Berry sherbert was a little too sweet (I almost bounced off the walls later from a sugar high)... but the Lychee-Passionfruit was perfect (sweet against slightly sour) and they were both incredibly refreshing.

Obviously with such an array of different flavors (there's even a DURIAN sherbert - ewwww.....), there will be some that you like and some that you won't... Still, if I'm ever in the area again, this is definintely on my "To Eat" list - want to try out the other sherberts. :)
(Hmmm... if only he would come up with an alcoholic margarita sherbert... )


So, it's: Market stall selling a yummy array of fruity sherberts at affordable price BUT beware! some flavours may be too sweet.....

Summary Information:
Perfect Ice sherbert stall @ Jalan Hang Jebat, Melaka

Opening Hours: (Fri - Sun) 6pm till late
Phone: -
Address: Somewhere on Jalan Hang Jebat (aka. Jonker Street), Melaka

SHOULD BE HALAL

MAP:

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THE REST OF THE SET - J'S MELAKA 2010 POSTS:
- Melaka 2010, Part 1
- Melaka 2010, Part 2
- Melaka 2010, Part 3
- OR go to J's Main Travel Page for more options. :)


TAGS: Food, Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, Restaurant Review, Cuti-Cuti Malaysia, Road Trip, Jonker Street, Jalan Hang Jebat, Night Market, Perfect Ice, Fruit Sherberts, Melaka, Malacca, KL, Kuala Lumpur

Hutong @ Lot 10, Bukit Bintang, KL

Food court with a difference....

The Lot 10 shopping center situated in the KL "Golden Triangle" retail haven, has definitely seen better days...
(It used to be THE high class shopping center, before being overtaken by newer places like KLCC and Pavilion)
The very green Lot 10...
However, recently it has received renewed attention, as YTL has revamped the Lot 10 food court into the Hutong Gourmet Heritage Village - featuring 26 stalls handpicked by Tan Sri Dr Francis Yeoh... purportedly the 'best of the best' Malaysian street food that has survived at least 20 years*.
(*Although strangely, there are a few "odd" stalls there selling Thai, Western and German food...)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mini language lesson:
HUTONG

Hutongs, (simplified Chinese: 胡同; traditional Chinese: 衚衕; pinyin: hútòng) are a type of narrow streets or alleys, most commonly associated with Beijing, China.
(So sayeth Wikipedia anyway...)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, you can go to this increasingly popular new food court through 2 entrances:
- In the main shopping centre:
Down the escalator...
OR
- the secret side entrance! (from the outside):
Outside entrance...
Inside, the food court is modern and slightly psychedelic in its design... and also, the stalls are arranged quite confusingly as the format is not very linear - many twist and turns and hidden corners:
Inside the food court...
Warning:
Don't be fooled - I got there relatively early that day (around 11am) so it looks quite empty.... but as it's hard to find a non-Halal food court in this area (and also due to all the media coverage it's been getting), Hutong is usually very packed, and the food can run out if you're late (as many of the stall owners will pre-prepare their secret recipe soups/ etc daily and deliver limited batches to their stall in Lot 10).

One of the highlights in my visit to Hutong was the famous Campbell Popiah:
Popiah making in progress...
I tried the classic popiah (RM 2.30+ each) and the egg skin popiah (RM 2.70+ each):
The Popiahs! (Classic on the left, egg skin on the left)...
Not only was the old popiah man wonderfully friendly (He talked to me about his original stall, and how "Tan Sri loved to eat there all the time..." while I waited for my popiah..., but the cute little popiahs were delicious! :)

Popiah, oh popiah - Moist without being soggy, tasty without being overpowering/ fake. :) :)
(I preferred the classic one though.... The simple popiah skin didn't distract from the tasty filling)

My parents went for the also very famous Soong Kee Beef Noodles.
Pictured here, the Beef Noodles set - one bowl of noodles, vegetables, small soup with beef balls+slices+etc and a cup of Chinese tea (RM 7.50+) and an extra side of soup with beef balls+slices+etc (RM 5+):
Tray full of beefy goodness...
The Famous balls:
Boing boing...
Mmmmmmm.... :D
The soup was a wee bit too salty for my tastebuds but overall it was a good meal with the springy noodles, tender beef slices and bouncey beef meatballs. :)

For my main, (after wandering around for about 5 minutes!) I chose the Assam Laksa (RM 6.90+):
Assam Laksa...
Laksa up close:
Slurp...
It didn't knock my socks off (was a tad too sour) but overall, not bad - smooth soup (not the thick, chunky type), sour, slightly spicy and with a fair amount of fish meat and fresh veges.

There is almost a mind boggling array of food available in Hutong, like Seremban Siew Pao, Hokkien Mee, Bak Kut Teh, Porridge, Chicken Rice etc, all from famous stalls across Malaysia:
Temptation awaits...
Admittedly, the prices are expensive (if you compare to the original stalls), and apparently some of the "outstation stalls" don't measure up... but still, I love this place!
:)

I mean, what's not to love? - Other than being a fantastic way to maintain our Malaysian food heritage, I think an extra ringgit or two is really a small price to pay to have so many delicious types of Malaysian food under one roof, and in a comfy, clean environment.

So, it's: Delicious array of famous Malaysian food stalls under one roof! :) BUT prices are higher than original stalls (although still affordable by KL standards), can be very hard to find a table during peak hours and surrounding area can get quite jammed during week day peak hours.....

Summary Information:
Hutong Gourmet Heritage Village @ Lot 10, KL

Opening Hours: (approx.) 11am till 10pm
Phone: -
Address: Basement, Lot 10 Shopping Centre, Bukit Bintang, KL

NOT ENTIRELY HALAL*
(*A few stalls do not serve pork)

OTHER REVIEWS:
- Masak-Masak
- Lots of Cravings
- the nomad Gourmand
- Eat Drink KL
- A lil' fat monkey


TAGS: Food, Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, Restaurant Review, Lot 10 Shopping Centre, Bukit Bintang, Famous Local Hawker Food, Hutong Gourmet Heritage Village, Food Court, KL, Kuala Lumpur

No Ghosts Allowed!

Ghostbusters(?) on a happy Friday....

Spotted in Bukit Bintang (a few weeks back):
*sings "Who's afraid of that ghost? Da da da da da dah... dadadadadaDAH...."*
I have no idea who put that up there or why, but it definitely brightened up my day. :)
(Nice way to cheer up during a traffic jam!)

Happy Friday!


Hugs,
J

PS/ I actually sent this in for the Star newspaper thumbnails contest, hoping to win RM50... but I guess it's not special enough. BLEH. *pout*

TAGS: Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Personal

Melaka Road Trip (Part 3)

I finally tried out the famous Malaccan Satay Celup! :)....

It's amazing how a shop can go from this:
(Still closed)
*lol* Funny signage...
To this:
(OK lah, quite packed but still some tables available)
Onwards! To the sate celup!...
And then THIS:
(WAH, LOOK AT THE LINE)
Apparently the line can be even longer during long weekends...
ALL WITHIN HALF AN HOUR! O_O
*still shocked*

Anyway, we were lucky to get there at juuuust the right time and snapped up one of the last 2 available tables in this simple restaurant:
(Muahaha)
Don't expect elegance...
I had never tried the famous Malaccan Satay Celup (Literal translation: Meat skewers Dipped?) but had heard so much hype about how great it is that I was almost a bit afraid.
(These touristy places hardly ever meet up to the hype!)

Still, I tried to keep an open mind. :)

Anyway, this is how it works:
1) After acquiring a table, a (gruff!) waitress will saunter over and start up the fire for the pot filled with Satay sauce.
(Don't worry - they change to a fresh pot every time, and do not reuse as far as I can tell)
"Kah lieu!" (Add goodies)...
2) She will then add in more chopped peanuts and chilli flakes (you can ask for as much or little as you want) into the sauce:
Mix mix mix...
3) At any time, you can help yourself to the array of skewered meats, seafood, vegetables, etc available in the chiller at the corner:
(RM 0.60 per skewer only!)
Choices, choices...
4) Wait for the Satay sauce to start boiling then pop in the skewers of your choice:
Boiling...
5) Wait impatiently for it to cook, with the fragrant smell of the peanut-ty sauce wafting and teasing your olfactory senses.

6) (When the food is cooked) Eat!:
Attack!...
You can repeat steps 3) to 6) as many times as you want till the shop closes. Note that if you are seated at the front tables, there will be a long line of agitated, hungry people giving you "the look"....
(Haha... We felt the laser-like glares as we ate. Oh well....)

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked the food at Capitol.
:)

It wasn't fantastic but it was pretty darn good**. Generally, the skewers of meat/ seafood were fresh and went well with the sweet+nutty+slightly spicy sauce.
(** To be fair, I'm not sure I would say the same if I had been one of those who had to line up for > half an hour just to get a table)

The waitresses also come by periodically with extra trays of "the good stuff" that you can take if you want. For example, this poor prawn:
Ow...
It was a bit messy to eat but was definitely yummy! :D

My favourite that evening were the stuffed pork balls that we got from the chiller though - SO GOOD.
(Really! Very fragrant and meaty...)
CHOMP...

So, it's: Yummy array of skewered meat/ seafood/ etc at really affordable prices BUT can be quite uncomfortable - hot, noisy, packed (you have to keep your expectations in check please), service is slightly gruff and be ready to wait pretty long for a table!.....

Summary Information:
Capitol Satay Celup @ Lorong Bukit Cina, Melaka

Opening Hours: 5pm till late (Closed on Mondays)
Phone: 06-283 5508/ 012-229 5505
Address: No. 41, Lorong Bukit Cina, Melaka

NOT HALAL

MAP:

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OTHER REVIEWS:
- Amaxing Melaka
- Jason Mumbles
- Perpetual Tockism
- ~Brought up 2 SharE~
- April Cherrie

THE REST OF THE SET - J'S MELAKA 2010 POSTS:
- Melaka 2010, Part 1
- Melaka 2010, Part 2
- Melaka 2010, Part 4
- OR go to J's Main Travel Page for more options. :)


TAGS: Food, Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, Restaurant Review, Cuti-Cuti Malaysia, Road Trip, Lorong Bukit Cina, Capitol Satay Celup, Melaka, Malacca, KL, Kuala Lumpur

Woo Lim Jeong Korean BBQ Restaurant @ Sri Hartamas, KL

Nice Korean BBQ place in Hartamas....

Ok.
So if you hadn't already heard: One of my favourite Korean places in Hartamas (Bonjuk) is dead and gone...
:(

... but I guess when one door closes, another one opens?

Because from this, me and my lunch buddy (and gorgeous Glamazon friend) Karen stumbled across another nice Korean restaurant just a few doors down:
Woo Lim Jeong (with the red signage), upstairs...
Inside, Woo Lim Jeong Korean BBQ Restaurant (which doesn't sound like a very Korean name, horr?) is simple and cosy. Thankfully, it also did not have the usual smokey BBQ fumes as most other Korean BBQ places (but it could be because it was quite empty when we were there):
Inside the restaurant...
There is a mind boggling array of Korean food there, but after flipping around the menu for a bit, we settled on the Pork lunch set (RM 40+ for 2 ppl).

Here's the pork!:
Harloow delicious piggy slices...
Overall, it was really yummy (fairly tender), slightly sweet and spicy (very appetising) and (unfortunately) went very well with the rice:
Carbs: DIET KILLER...
Fortunately, they serve an array of vegetables at the side as a healthier option:
Take your pick...
See!
You can have a much healthier DIY korean vegetable roll instead. :)
Chomp...
Of course there were also the obligatory array of Korean side dishes:
Choices aplenty...
We found them all quite yummy, and oh, they had 2 soups served too. One thick kimchi tofu soup and another clear one:
The 2 soups...
To cap off the fairly heavy lunch, the restaurant also threw in a refreshing dessert of watermelon slices and a Ribena-ish berry drink:
Washing down the sinful meal...
All in all, yummy! - What a nice lunch! :)

So, it's: Good variety of yummy Korean food, reasonably price lunch sets!, cosy ambience BUT nothing bad to say except that it's THAT area of Hartamas so if you park in the normal area, the risk of getting parked in by inconsiderate ppl is quite high (YO! If you are going to double park, at least make sure you are within earshot/ sight of your car lah!).....

Restaurant Review
Summary Sheet:

Woo Lim Jeong Korean BBQ Restaurant @ Sri Hartamas, KL

8-1 (1st floor), Jalan 25/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, KL

Taste: 7
Ambience : 6
Service : 6
Price** : RM 30++ per person
Parking: Limited ***

** Approximation - 3 course meal, excluding drinks
***For less headache, just park at the open air parking lot just behind Devi's Corner...

Telephone No.: 03-6203 9943
Opening Hours:
(Mon – Sat) 12noon to 2.30pm, 4pm to 10.30pm
(Sun) 6pm to 10.30pm

NOT HALAL

OTHER REVIEWS:
- Feed Me Lah


TAGS:Food, Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, Restaurant Review, Restaurant Reviews, Korean BBQ, Korean Barbeque, Woo Lim Jeong, Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur, KL

Pillo Friday

He/she** was just a bunny, but still....

Goodbye Pillo....
Such a cute rabbit...

Dedicated to Pillo and Jan.

Hugs,
J

** It's a funny story actually. Jan initially named him Princess Pillo but it turned out later that he was male.

TAGS: Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Personal

Melaka Road Trip (Part 2)

Chilling out like tai-tais in a beautiful Malaccan hotel.....

It was Jo-lyn who had heard about this interesting place in Melaka, where an old mansion was restored and made into a boutique** hotel by the YTL group.
(** Of course, boutique is just a nicer way to say "expensive", isn't it? Haha...)

At first I was a bit hesitant, wondering "What could be so special about visiting a hotel?"...

... but I wasn't going to argue with the kind driver+owner of the car I was sitting in - lest she decides it would be more convenient to just dump me at the side of the road somewhere:
Outside the hotel...
Anyway, I'm really glad we went there.
- From the beautiful facade of the hotel ...
(Tastefully restored, maintaining it's old world charm)
- to the friendly smiles of the staff...
(So sincere and warm towards these 3 scruffily dressed girls in tshirts, shorts and flip flops? Rare!),
- and the sophisticated yet cosy ambience inside...
(Felt like we were hanging out in a really nice house, not a hotel)

All in all, the perfect combination! :)
The main lobby area...
There were also some really nice touches placed around the hotel lobby, like a congkak set and this jar of sugary biscuits:
(You can help yourself to as much as you want, within reason I guess....)
Jar of goodies!...
Wah! Felt so nostalgic because hadn't seen/ eaten these type of biscuits since I was a kid!:
Happiness!...
(Generally these type of biscuits don't taste very nice... but they're really cheerful somehow because of the pretty pastel colours so I like them...)

We decided to test out their afternoon tea, so we were ushered into this really nice lounge area at the side, aptly called The Lounge:
Lounging around...
(Warning: There is VERY limited seating in The Lounge. So, if you want to try the afternoon tea or to just have drinks then it may be better if you call ahead to book a spot)

Nice! - The waitresses were dressed beautifully according to the "theme", in colourful Nyonya kebayas:
One of the waitresses...
The afternoon tea is served daily from 3 - 6pm, and for RM 48++ per person you get
- a selection of cakes,
- scones,
- savoury pastries,
- with your choice of a premium of tea.
The tiers of food...
There's actually quite a lot of food in one serving so we decided to share it between the 3 of us, but had to top up $$ for more drinks.

As there are also alcoholic beverages served all day, I chose that instead - here's my classic Margarita (RM28++):
Healthy or boozed up, you can choose...
(Would have been better if it were just a tad sweeter but not bad - got kick!)

Tastewise, the food was just ok lah... but we were too busy chilling out and enjoying the ambience to nitpick on that. :)

What a nice day - hanging out with my darling girl friends, chit-chatting and generally, daydreaming about how nice it would be if we owned a beautiful home like the Majestic mansion....
(With the obligatory robust bank balance and a handsome husband/ boyfriend too, as a bonus. Haha...)

*ta-dah*
Here's the closest you'll see of me putting a proper photo of myself on my blog :)
(See Ciki! No "scary" yellow smiley face pasted on....)
Yo...


So, it's: Gorgeous little hotel (beautifully restored decor/architechture), flawlessly friendly service, nice selection of drinks BUT its a bit expensive! and sad lah, I wish I had RM600 to spare so that I can go check out the rooms there.....

Summary Information:
Afternoon Tea @ Majestic Hotel, Jalan Bunga Raya, Melaka

Opening Hours: (Hotel) 24 hours!.(Afternoon tea) 3 - 6pm daily.
Phone: 06-289 8000
Address: 188, Jalan Bunga Raya, Melaka 75100, Malaysia

Majestic Hotel website

NO PORK SERVED

MAP:

View Larger Map

THE REST OF THE SET - J'S MELAKA 2010 POSTS:
- Melaka 2010, Part 1
- Melaka 2010, Part 3
- Melaka 2010, Part 4
- OR go to J's Main Travel Page for more options. :)


TAGS: Food, Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, Restaurant Review, Cuti-Cuti Malaysia, Road Trip, Jalan Bunga Raya, YTL Majestic Hotel, Melaka, Malacca, KL, Kuala Lumpur

El Meson @ Telawi, Bangsar, KL

Fairly new Spanish restaurant in the Telawi area with porky dishes.... :)

It was a rainy day but luckily we managed to park just in front of the restaurant:
Sings, "Raindrops keep falling on my head..."
We didn't sit inside, but it looks cosy, with lots of wooden surfaces and Spanish touches (eg. Spanish posters):
A peek into El Meson....
We started off with the Albondigas - Pork & beef meatballs (RM 12++), and Pinchos Ternera - Beef skewers (RM 19++):
Meatballs in front, beef skewers at the back....
Both were quite good:
- the meatballs were chunky and tasty, paired well with the tomato based sauce.
- the beef skewers were tender and fairly well marinated.
(Would definitely order the meatballs again)

SooJ ordered the Iberico Pressa - Iberico pork ribs (RM 62++), which is one of the specialities here:
The pork....
Not that it tasted bad (actually, it was tasty and tender, albeit being artery cloggingly rich)... but the serving was a bit small.
(Can't be helped I guess - Iberico is a very expensive type of pork)

I was trying to be healthy that night so I tried the Confit Cod (RM 46++):
The fish....
*drool*
OMG. It took me by surprise how good it was!
(I really wasn't expecting a place specialising in pork to do fish so well!)

No complaints at all - the cod was tender, tasty (rich and cod-dy without being too cod-dy... Erm, does that make sense to you? Haha...) and was a good serving size for the price.

Lastly we had the Creme Brulee (RM 15++):
Creme brulee....
It wasn't fantastic but not bad too, with the (strangely?) slightly cold cream topped with a thin layer of crispy caramelized sugar.

Can't wait to go back to try out the cod again as well as more of the tapas (they have a good selection of cold and hot tapas).
:) :) :)

As a wise man once said: "Closer to Cod. And in Cod we trust"!

Overall: Good selection of Spanish tapas and mains, specialises in pork! (Iberico and lots of special hams), friendly service BUT nothing much bad to say except that it can be a bit tough to find parking in the area during peak hours.

Summary Sheet:

El Meson @ Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar, KL

61-63, Jln Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL

Taste: 7
Ambience : 6
Service : 6
Price** : RM 65/++ per person
Parking: OK

** Approximation - 3 course meal, excluding drinks

Telephone No.: 03-2282 8290
Opening Hours: 8am till late
Parking : OK

NOT HALAL

OTHER REVIEWS:
- The Nomad Gourmand
- KY Speaks
- Pillow Talk with Bangsar-bAbE
- Cumi dan Ciki
- mr & mrs nicktay + 1
- Eat Drink KL


TAGS: Food, Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Spanish, Tapas, Iberico, Bangsar, Jalan Telawi 3, El Meson