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The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Scrumptious Korean @ Arisu Korean Restaurant (Tsim Sha Tsui), Hong Kong

It had been a long time since we last ate Korean food, and hubby had a hankering for it. We were in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday, and a quick internet search for good Korean food in the area yielded Arisu, which apparently got a special mention in the 2013 Michelin Guide. It is located in a little side street seemingly popular with the locals in search for a good bite that is more affordable than what is available at the nearby touristy shopping areas.

A relatively spacious dining room...:

... with an aquarium full of crabs near the entrance. I must admit that it didn't immediately occur to me that the crabs weren't for consumption:

The decor was rather average and nothing to speak of, but it was clean and the tables weren't too close together. The service also was nothing to speak of, but we got attended to just fine (although our tea cups weren't refilled when emptied). A few of the waitstaff were Korean, probably working on a minimal wage, but they weren't too grumpy or sloppy in their work. There were two menus given to us: the full a-la-carte menu and the more affordable lunch menu. Many of the dishes in the lunch menu were almost half the price of the same dishes in the full menu, and the serving sizes were no different. The food was quite cheap in general, and the quality was decent. I do prefer Myung Ga which was a bit more pricey with smaller serving sizes but the service and atmosphere was nicer and the food was a bit better.

It is not a Korean meal if banchan was not served. It didn't seem that banchan is refillable at this restaurant:

The boy wanted Fried Rice with Seafood and Vegetables from the lunch menu (HK$55). Tasty but a bit too salty for my liking. Short-grain rice was used, which was a bit of a novelty from the usual long-grained fried rice done elsewhere in HK:

The standard dish I always order when trying out a new Korean place, Dolsot Bibimbap (hot stone pot rice, HK$55 from the lunch menu). This was served with raw beef slices which gets cooked by the hot stone pot as you stir the rice. I especially liked the crispy burnt rice at the bottom:

Seafood Ddeokbokki (HK$100 from the a-la-carte menu). It had been over two years since we last ate this delightful spicy rice cake dish, and hubby was seriously missing it. Deliciously chewy with a bold spicy sauce:

Another Korean staple that we always order, Haemul Pajeon (seafood pancake, aka Chijimi, HK$100). A generous portion, slightly greasy but delicious. Hubby thought it was a little undercooked but I thought it was just right:

Arisu is a solid choice for good affordable Korean food in Tsim Sha Tsui. We left with very full bellies but only a small dent in the wallet.

Arisu Korean Restaurant
3rd Floor, H8,
8 Hau Fook Street
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel. +852 2369 8008

Monday 25 February 2013

Shanghainese @ Dragon-i Restaurant @ 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya (Malaysia)

We were shown great hospitality and kindness by my aunt and uncle whom we stayed with when we were in Malaysia two weeks ago for my family's annual reunion on Chinese New Year's eve. They were extremely busy themselves, with the usual new year's preparations and opening their house for New Year's lunch; yet they took the time to bring us out to 1 Utama, a large shopping centre nearby their house, to get some shopping done. While we were there, my relatives brought us to lunch at Dragon-i, a Shanghainese restaurant headed by a Chinese chef based in Hong Kong. Dragon-i seemed to be a popular choice for the festive season as it was operating full-house with a 30-minute wait for a table.


Dragon-i has a fairly large dining area with a stylish Oriental decor complete with red lanterns and lamps hanging from the ceiling. Service was pretty good, and the menu contained a good selection of dishes to suit all tastebuds. Prices were reasonable for the quality offered, although my relatives complained about the smallish serving sizes. I thought that it wasn't a bad thing because it meant that we could try a wide variety of food. The food were well-prepared with good quality ingredients. The following dishes were plenty for seven adults and one child, but my aunt still fretted that she didn't order enough food.

Fried Rice with Prawns and Pickled Vegetables - the 4-year-old's choice for lunch. It was yummy for fried rice:

Xiao Long Bao, the famous Shanghainese soup dumplings. The dumpling wasn't too hot, so the soup enclosed inside didn't burn the tongue. A delicious starter:

A plate of Stir-fried Kailan with garlic, for that all-important vegetable intake:

Sweet and Spicy Prawns - juicy and crunchy, the way prawns should be. The sauce was only mildly spicy:

Claypot Tofu - good taste and fresh ingredients:

Pepper Beef with Leeks - tender meat and the sauce wasn't too salty or peppery. I loved the silky leeks:

Red-Braised Pork Belly - full-flavoured with a tender melt-in-your-mouth texture. An indulgent fatty treat:

The soft, pillowy mantou (steamed bread) that came with the pork belly:

Salted Egg Yolk Fried Prawns - another indulgent treat that isn't good for the heart or the waistline. Hubby wasn't a fan of it (he doesn't like salted duck eggs) but the boy loved it:

I was rather pleased with our meal at Dragon-i Restaurant, with the quality and price comparable to the Chinese restaurants here in Hong Kong. This is a good food choice for shoppers at the 1 Utama mall.

Dragon-i (1 Utama)
Lot S313A, 2nd Floor Highstreet
1 Utama Shopping Centre
1 Lebuh Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel. +60 3 7725 8822

Friday 22 February 2013

Malaysian favourites @ Madam Kwan's (KLCC), Kuala Lumpur

One of the things we always do whenever we are in Malaysia is to eat up on all our favourite Malaysian dishes, and there are many of them. Back home in Perth, there are many good Malaysian restaurants, so it was easy to satisfy our Malaysian food cravings when we were still living in Australia; however, since we moved overseas about seven years ago, we haven't had much opportunity to indulge in good Malaysian food both in Japan and Hong Kong. Although we are blessed with a good Singaporean restaurant conveniently located in the mall downstairs from our HK apartment, there are still some of our favourite dishes missing, and the flavour and spiciness are catered to Hongkongers' tastebuds. For this year's Chinese new year reunion, my Perthite parents and all three of my Sydneysider sisters and their families also flew to Malaysia for the occasion. While most of our family members were staying outside of the city centre, my shopping-loving younger sister chose to be located in the heart of the city near the KLCC. I couldn't resist spending a day in the city, so I dragged hubby and son along with me and we hopped on the LRT for KLCC. Shopping with my sis is so much more fun than with hubby or by myself, and there were a few things I needed to get (unlike most females, I only shop when I need to). Somehow my sis and I also managed to convince our parents, another sister and her family to come out to the city to have a family dinner, and we all enjoyed a delicious dinner at the very popular Madam Kwan's.

That's hubby and the boy seated outside, waiting for our table:

When my sis and I were scouting out for potential restaurants inside the Suria KLCC, it was at the neither-lunch-nor-dinner time of around 4pm, yet Madam Kwan's was buzzing and full with a fairly short queue of hungry diners waiting for a table. We asked if we could make dinner reservations, but we were told that the restaurant didn't accept bookings, that it operated on a first-come-first-served basis. When we came back a couple of hours later, we didn't have to wait very long because a large group had just finished their meal, which freed up two large tables for our group of 10.

Full house:

Madam Kwan's interior decor was fairly sleek and chic, making it a comfortable choice for foreigners and locals alike to try out a variety of hawker favourites. The service we received was attentive and we found it quite easy to get the attention of waitstaff (our table was near the front bar and the door to kitchen), but service slowed right down towards the end of the meal when we made our second orders. We were informed that the kitchen puts second orders on lower priority, so diners should take note to order enough in the first round, or be prepared to wait. The menu was quite extensive and full of Malaysian specialties, and we found almost all of our favourite dishes in it. All the dishes we ordered were delicious too - not a small feat for a restaurant offering a large menu. The food was more expensive than at any local hawker centre, but the setting was a whole lot more comfortable - an invaluable quality when dining out with young children. It's still far cheaper than the Malaysian food available overseas in Australia, US and HK. Due to a few of us having dietary restrictions - my son has a few allergies, my older sister is gluten-intolerant, and my younger sister's boyfriend is on paleo diet due to severe IBS issues - we decided to only share within our sub-family groups. The following dishes are what we ordered for us and my parents to share.

Nasi Lemak, one of hubby's favourite Malaysian food. The name literally means "fatty rice", and refers to the rice that had been soaked and steamed in coconut cream. Served with sambal ikan bilis (anchovies), cucumber, chicken curry, half of a boiled egg and dried shrimp floss, this was a hit with our 4-year-old boy:

Three servings of Madam Kwan's Fried Chicken Drumsticks were ordered - two went to my sister's boyfriend and one to our boy. Many thumbs ups for this dish:

Beef Rendang, the way it should be - utterly tender and rich in spices and coconut milk:

Claypot Tofu with Seafood - a tasty way to get our daily intake of vegetables. The silken tasty egg tofu type was used here, which was simply lovely:

Sambal Lady's Fingers - a good one for those who like spicy and okras:

Sambal Kangkung - my all-time favourite leafy green!:

Char Kuey Teow, stirfried flat rice noodles - another of hubby's all-time favourite. Delicious and not too greasy:

Cendol - an ice-based dessert made with coconut milk, green pandan jelly, and delicious gula melaka (palm sugar, aka jaggery) served on the side to add to taste. Nice and refreshing:

Bubur Cha Cha - a warm sweet coconut soup with sweet potatoes, yam and tapioca pearls (or perhaps it was sago?). This is a Nyonya dish, and I remember eating this dish often while I was growing up (my maternal grandmother is Nyonya, whose 88th birthday we also celebrated):

A perennial favourite: Ais Kacang, aka ABC (Air Batu Campur which literally means "mixed ice") - a shaved ice dessert with sweet red beans (this makes up the "kacang" part of the name which is Malay for beans), attap chee (palm seed), sweet corn, grass jelly and nuts under the shaved ice, with a generous drizzle of sweet syrup and condensed milk. Enjoyable, but it got much too sweet after a while:

Our family enjoyed a fantastic meal at Madam Kwan's. During our meal, I noticed that there was always a queue of people waiting outside for a table, and it is clear why this restaurant is so popular. Madam Kwan's is a good choice to try a wide variety of Malaysian dishes in air-conditioned comfort at affordable prices. There are several branches of Madam Kwan's around Kuala Lumpur, and I must take note for the next time we are in Malaysia.

Madam Kwan's
Lot.420/421, Level 4, Suria KLCC
Jalan Ampang
50088, Kuala Lumpur
Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel. +60 3 2026 2297

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Oodles of noodles @ Tang Pin Kitchen, Petaling Jaya (Malaysia)

During our five days in Malaysia, we stayed at one of my auntie's house in PJ. My aunt and uncle took really good care of us, putting us up in their lovely home, driving us around and making sure we were well-fed. One of the places they took us to was a nearby noodle eatery called Tang Pin Kitchen, specialising in handmade fish balls and noodles.


Tang Pin Kitchen is a simple, clean and air-conditioned shop with equally simple but delicious food. Staff were friendly and they spoke English. Ordering from the menu was quite straightforward, and the dishes were affordably priced. My uncle said that the food does not contain MSG, and the fish balls and fish cakes are all handmade. I must say that the fish balls were exceptional, pleasantly bouncy and nicely seasoned. The food came out in a timely manner, and we enjoyed all the dishes we'd ordered.

Hubby ordered a cold Pineapple and Lemon Drink while my relatives enjoyed their hot drinks:

My aunt had Noodles with Fish Cake Slices:

My uncle ordered a bowl of Handmade Fish Ball Soup with Bitter Gourd to share. The bitter gourd was not unpleasantly bitter, and the fish balls were stuffed with ground meat, which was a nice surprise when we bit into them. The soup was very flavourful in spite of it being MSG-free:

Another dish ordered to share: Curry Chee Cheong Fun. When I was a young girl living in Malaysia, I used to eat these slippery rice noodles with a sweet black sauce for breakfast on some weekends after my parents came home from a trip to the wet market. This curry version was an interesting and tasty take on that breakfast favourite:

Hubby chose Fried Fish Noodles and Chee Cheong Fun, which, to our pleasant surprise, had a fair amount of wok hei. Very tasty and rather spicy, the fish noodles had a bouncy bite and a pleasant flavour:

I got the Dry Fish Noodles, which had a generous amount of crispy fried pork lard. It was unhealthy but really did the job of adding oomph to the noodles. The fish noodles reminded me of the fish noodles I had in Hong Kong:

I really enjoyed this meal at Tang Pin Kitchen. It is definitely worth a try if you're in the area and in search for good handmade fish balls and noodles.

Tang Pin Kitchen
No 24, Jalan SS2 2/24
47300, Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel. +60 3 7877 2376

Monday 18 February 2013

Family Reunion @ Wang Chiew Seafood Restaurant, Petaling Jaya (Malaysia)

Gong Xi Fa Cai! It is the 9th day of the Lunar New Year (of the snake), and the Chinese people continue the new year festivities for another six days! We had a fabulous reunion with my immediate and extended family in Malaysia last week, and we also enjoyed short stay in Singapore. We are now back home in Hong Kong, and I really felt that one week away wasn't quite enough. On the eve of the Chinese new year (CNY), as has been the tradition for the past countless years, my family got together for the annual reunion dinner. It's held at a different restaurant every year, and this year we booked three tables at Wang Chiew Seafood Restaurant in SS2 in PJ (near Kuala Lumpur). As far as I know, all of the Chinese restaurants have two seatings for CNY's eve dinner (usually at 6pm and at 8pm), and you must book early at the popular ones (with a paid deposit) to avoid disappointment. I can tell you that many Chinese restaurants were not short of business that night as families gathered for the annual reunion. We had an outdoor seating area, which was a little uncomfortable with the lack of aircon, but we could be as loud and raucous as we wanted to be. I have such fond memories of the fun company and the food.

The best part of any CNY's eve reunion dinner in Singapore and Malaysia is the yee sang (aka yusheng, prosperity toss), which literally means "raw fish" in Chinese, but is also a homophone for "increase in abundance". Even the ingredients all have their individual special meanings. All the diners at the table toss the ingredients, and they are expected to do so with plenty of enthusiasm. The higher the toss, the better!

The ingredients for Fatt Choy Yee Sang laid out on a plate - fish, vegetables, a heap of sesame seeds, crackers, and various sauces and seasonings:

All the ingredients added, ready to be tossed:

Let the tossing begin! (Shot is blurry due to taking the photo and tossing at the same time):

The yee sang was really yummy! The crunchy crackers, the fragrance of the sesame seeds, the sour and sweet from the sauces all make very good raw fish salad combination:

On the menu that was selected was "Shark's Fin Soup with Crab Meat", but upon my request, only non-shark ingredients were used. It was delicious:

Grilled Prawns with Soy Sauce - messy to peel, but enjoyable to eat:

Braised Pig's Trotters with Black Moss. The black moss is a type of algae that is known as "fat choy" in Chinese, which is a homophone for the Chinese word for "prosperity". The pork trotters were surprisingly meaty and very tender:

Steamed Red Tail Catfish - firm sweet flesh, but too many bones to manoeuvre around:

This dish is named Mixed Vegetarian on the menu, and consisted of mushrooms and fungus wrapped inside fuzhu (tofu skin). Quite nice for a vegetable dish:

Special order of Fried Rice for our allergic boy, also enjoyed by many:

Dessert was Longan and Lychee Tong Sui - very refreshing especially on a warm and muggy evening after a full meal. I like Asian desserts because they are light and easy to consume after a meal:

It was a successful reunion dinner. Our family's reunion every lunar new year also celebrates my dear grandmother's birthday, and this year she celebrated her 88th birthday with her six (of seven) children, most of her grandchildren, five of her great-grandchildren, and the in-laws. My A Ma looked pretty happy!

Happy 88th, A Ma! May you have many more years and see many more great-grandchildren! (She is called the Queen in our family, a name she readily accepts.)

Wang Chiew Seafood Restaurant
No. 30, Jalan SS2/103
47300, Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +60 3 7722 3662

Thursday 7 February 2013

Yum cha @ Regal On Roe Seafood Restaurant, Northbridge

It is a good day. I have completed the final assessment of my astronomy course, and this is the final post on our trip to Perth. This leaves me free to enjoy our trip to Malaysia and Singapore! I'm quite excited about the upcoming reunion dinner on Saturday (the eve of the new lunar year), as it will be hubby's and son's first one with my extended family in Malaysia, and my first one in a very long time (I can't remember the last one I attended!). Most importantly, my 80-something year-old grandmother will be able to spend time with five of her great-grandchildren, all of whom are from my immediate family and therefore don't reside in Malaysia. It will be a grand occasion!

On the day before we flew back to Hong Kong from Perth, we met up with my family and went for yum cha in Northbridge. We'd intended to go to Northbridge Chinese Restaurant, but alas, it was closed due to the Christmas/New Year holidays. Regal On Roe Seafood Restaurant next door was open for business, and the restaurant probably benefited some from its more popular neighbour's closure that day. Like other Chinese restaurants in Northbridge, Regal On Roe operates on a first-come-first-served basis for dimsum. The service was terse, as expected for a typical (authentic) Chinese restaurant in Australia, but waitstaff was courteous enough and responded to our requests well enough. There weren't any trolleys nor any sheets of paper for dim sum orders; waitstaff would exit the kitchen with trays laden with various dim sum dishes, and make their rounds to each table. We got a few dishes in such a manner, and we ordered a few more.

Siu mai (pork dumplings), lor mai kai (glutinous rice with chicken in lotus leaves), feng zhao ('phoenix claws' aka chicken feet) and beef meatball:

A seafood and coriander dumpling:

Fried rice, specially requested for our allergic boy, but also shared with everyone:

A good version of the dan tat (egg tart) with flaky pastries. Even my MIL (who dislikes eggs) liked the egg tart:

Mango pudding - my sister took one bowl for herself and we had to order another for everyone else to share:

One of my favourite childhood desserts, tau fu fa (tofu pudding). This one was served in a simple sugar syrup, but I think ginger syrup would be an improvement:

The food was decent quality, but more pricey than next door. Northbridge Chinese Restaurant's dim sum is better value-for-money, and the quality is on par with Regal On Roe. Perhaps the dinner menu is worth a try.

Regal On Roe Seafood Restaurant
20 Roe Street
Northbridge WA 6003
Australia

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