Meet Uncle Lim! Yes, the face behind Uncle Lim’s Kitchen at Pangkor Laut Resort. He’s staff no 001 at Pangkor Laut Resort. From what I heard, he’s been working as a personal cook for Tan Sri for many years way before the resort was built. So when they decided to build a Chinese restaurant at Pangkor Laut Resort, Tan Sri named it after Mr Lim, offering Nyonya and Hock Chew, home-cooked style  cuisines.

We decided to try out the food at Uncle Lim’s Kitchen on our first evening at Pangkor Laut Resort. I was expecting a down-to-earth, Malaysian-style ‘kopitiam-inspired’ food but holy cow, our dinner costed us RM713+ for just 3 persons! Thank goodness they were all packaged! I think that the price of their F&B outlets are exhorbitantly high even for non-Malaysian guests.  The Nyonya Assam Prawns costed RM65 and there were only 3 pieces of prawns, that means only one for each person! Seafood may be cheap at Pangkor but the perceived value attached to the YTL brand is certainly high! Service was excellent and we really enjoyed the attentive service of the waiters.

The dining experience at Pangkor Laut Resort was a culinary adventure to look forward to.  My favourite has got to be the daily breakfast at Feast Village. This is the breakfast worth waking up for!  I’m already missing the waffles, drizzled with cherries and dark chocolate sauce, sipping my latte with a view overlooking the sun-drenched sea.  Hei, even roti jala tasted better with the ocean breeze!

This is my other favourite hang out spot at Pangkor Laut Resort. Royal Bay Beach Club is strategically built in between the infinity pool and tennis court, and next to the gym, which makes it one of the most popular places for guests to grab a bite after a workout. We ate here twice and it was a cool chill out place after a day out under the sweltering heat. 

 It is always a joy to watch your food being prepared with such great enthusiasm. Even more interesting when it becomes an art in motion…..

……. and voila!! Our yummylicious desserts! I had the Rum & Raisin Ice-Cream over a bed of chopped dragon fruits and I scream ‘good’! The hazelnut & caramel parfait is also a note-worthy mention although I find it a little too heavy after a sumptious dinner. If you prefer something healthier, try the vanilla yogurt cake. Comparing against the earlier two desserts, the vanilla yogurt cake came short of being almost tasteless but my mom loved it!

Now, I have to make plans to visit Tanjong Jara soon!

Introducing Subak!

“Built on the fringes of the natural virgin jungles of Bukit Lanjan, Subak is a sanctuary that promises diners a culinary journey of fine food and personalised service.”

It came as such a surprise that all these while, there is such a beautiful venue 10 minutes away from where I live, and I didn’t even know about it! Thanks to Desmond who was going over for a site recce and treated us to dinner. I fell head over heels in love with this place. It’s cozy, rather private and not too humid. It makes a good venue of choice for private functions.

The menu is not extensive but it has a good mix of Western and Asian dishes. Desmond ordered the Ala Subak’s Soto Ayam (RM12). A rather generous portion for a soup.

I tried the Subak’s NZ Lamb Shank Masala (RM40). The lamb shank was a disappointment. You know how sometimes you can’t finish your food,  so you keep it overnight and then the next day when you reheat the meat, it becomes a little tough, chewy and dry. The meat tasted like that. The Masala sauce, however, was really yummy especially when paired with the sweet potato mash. I felt the Masala could do with a little more spiciness.

Bernard had Barbecued Beef Ribs. It was ggooodd… the ribs were succulent, tender and tasty!

Subak is a great place to unwind if you’re looking for a quick escape from the daily rush. Just beware of the mosquitoes and remind the staffs to light the mosquito coils.

Where to eat: Subak, Lot 3213, Jalan Pencala Indah, Bukit Lanjan, 60000, Kuala Lumpur.

HALAL

An up-market village, if I may say so. In simple, sleek black wood interior with touches of gold-coloured finishing that are accentuated by clever lighting, this restaurant carries the best concept among all the other food outlets at 1Borneo Hypermall. It was enough to tempt us to walk in even though the restaurant was deprived of bustling customers one would expect from every Penang-themed F&B outlets.

Alas! Penangites would probably cry foul, stomp their feet and bang the tables demanding for refund and removal of the word ‘Penang’ if they ever do take a bite at this food joint, which serves food that is no where close to the distinct flavours of Penang.

We were hungry, tired and desperate for good food. So imagine our frustration when we had to wait more than 20 minutes for our food and drinks even though the restaurant only had three tables of customers of which customers at the other two tables were already eating when we sat down. The halal Lobak was pretty alright except for the sweet sauce that they drizzled over the meat which totally killed the appetiser. The deep-fried bean sprouts with carrots and spring onion was rather oily and tasteless. You must take it with the dry satay sauce.

Every other dish was averagely bad including the relatively easy dish, Sweet & Sour Fish. It reminded me of the instant sweet & sour sauce so generously used for all the sweet & sour meals at a Chinese takeaway shop in UK where I used to work when I was a student. Price wise, they have set menus starting from RM29.90 onwards. I’ve read of rave reviews on other franchise outlets in Klang Valley. I must try them out one of these days. It can’t be all that bad, can it?

Where to Eat: Penang Village, Lot C308 – C309, Concourse Floor, 1Borneo Hypermall, Jalan Sulaman, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

After reading all the wonderful write ups from foodies around the blogsphere, we were really keen to feast our weekend appetite at this restaurant, a franchise from Indonesia famous for its delicious authentic nasi padang.

There are many outlets in Malaysia and we chose to go to the one nearest to where we live, at Sunway Damansara. The menu indeed left us confused as to what to order, since there was quite an array of selection. We went with the recommended dishes such as the much talked about Dendeng Daging.

As soon as I sank my teeth into the meat, I was some what disappointed. Perhaps I had greater expectations.

The fried Talapia fish (Ikan Nila Goreng) was crunchy  but not crispy, as it was served at room temperature. I always feel that fried dishes should be served fresh right out of the wok. The chilli dips for the chicken and fish were the only saving grace for our lunch.

Ayam Pop was dry and tasteless. We were annoyed during payment because they charged us RM12++ for the chicken when the menu clearly stated RM6++. Apparently, they served us two pieces of chicken because there were three of us, and because we had already consumed the chicken, we can’t argue. We honestly thought that each serving came with two pieces of chicken.

The Ais Teler was the only firm favourite among us. Creamy coconut milk with chunks of avocado and palm seeds, thin slices of fresh coconut and jackfruit, and topped with ruby red sagos that were infused with a light note of rose syrup. Rich and exotic in its taste, it was surprisingly, not as sweet as I had expected it to be. The dessert would probably be the only reason I’ll make a second visit to Restoran Sari Ratu.

Our total bill came up to a whooping RM67.75 including drinks. In my book, it’s definitely not worth the price but maybe I just don’t have deep pockets. As they say, one man’s taste is another man’s poison. So you may differing opinions.

Where to Eat

Sunway Damansara outlet: Restoran Sari Ratu, 47-1, Jalan PJU 5/12, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara

Kelana Jaya outlet: Restoran Sari Ratu, Dataran Glomac, Kelana Jaya

Desa Pandan outlet: Restoran Sari Ratu, No G26-G28, Jalan 4/76C, Desa Pandan, KL

Ampang outlet: No 26, Ampang Waterfront, Taman Kosas, Ampang

Bukit Bintang outlet: Sari Ratu Grand Restaurant, Ground Floor, 42-2, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Bukit Bintang, KL

Other blogs on this:

World Windows

Masak-Masak

HALAL

It’s been four months since I moved out from Taman Desa. I find myself craving for Sri Neela’s nasi lemak.

As my friend Tuck Yew puts it, nasi lemak “POWER”!

I give it 7/10.

What’s your verdict?

NON-HALAL

Considering my occasional obsession to Korean drama series, it’s a surprise I remain apprehensive towards Korean food. Quite possibly due to excessive servings of kimchi and namul by eagerly hospitable Korean hosts during one of my familiarisation trips to South Korea some time ago (they served kimchi for breakfast too!). The men in the entourage were amazed with Korean women who have to prepare so many dishes everyday even in average households and families, while the women (like myself) were rather thankful that as Malaysians, we don’t need to wash as many plates as the Korean women. As ‘polite’ Malaysians, we did our best not to offend our hosts and hostesses by trying  to finish up every meal but we always ended up with at least a quarter to half bowl of leftover rice and dishes that looked untouched (except for hot soup, seafood and meat).

Korean food is really… an acquired taste. Once in a while, it’s nice to have a change of gastronomic experience but too much of an acquired taste brings about a natural tendency to crave for familiar grounds. On the final day of our trip, our lovely tour guide brought us to a halal Indian restaurant at Ikewon. Each one of us had a minimum serving of two bowls of rice and countless refills of naans to go with mouth-watering mutton, beef curries and chicken tandoori!!!

So, when it comes to Korean food, I must admit I’m not very adventurous and would rather stick to the tried and tasted. For that reason, I always return to Nak Won Restaurant.

Koreans really love their vegetables and that is a positive habit I’m still trying to emulate. They are, in fact, known to have one of the best diets in the world, varied and well balanced nutrients that come from healthy cooking preparations using nutritious ingredients. Boiled, blanched, steamed, broiled, grilled or barbecued but rarely deep-fried.

I love Nak Won’s version of stone bowl mixed rice with assorted vegetables and their generous spread of side dishes (banchan). They serve up to 15 side dishes (for 2 pax), with the flexibility of having a second serving for free.

A must-try is their sweet and succulent Marinated BBQ Pork Ribs. Other notable dishes include fermented bean paste soup, kimchi pancake, chilli crab, hot chilli beef stomach soup and BBQ Unagi. Be prepared to budget around RM70 – RM100 per person for a complete meal.

In Korea, after every meal, it is a tradition to pour hot water (sungnyung) into your personal rice bowl/pot, let it sit for a while and drink directly from the bowl. At Nak Won, they serve cold sweetened rice tea. Love it very much!

Restaurant Nak Won

Taman Desa Branch

7-1-1 Jalan 3/109F, Taman Danau Desa, KL

Tel:+603 7987 3004

Ampang Branch

A11-1-1 Jalan Ampang Utama 2/2, Business Ave, Ampang Jaya

Tel: +603 4253 4249