Happy Family

Shah Alam would probably be the last place I would go to for a Chinese meal. The place we went was very near Setia Alam and close to Klang. I had never been to that part of Shah Alam before and surprisingly, it was very vibrant - very unlike staid Shah Alam. There were several Chinese restaurants in the vicinity. The one we pick was Restoran Happy Family (新乐天海鲜楼). It is located on Jalan Setia Prima L (U13/L). You may not be able to find Jalan U13/L on Google Maps. But Jalan Setia Prima K (U13/K) is findable. L is just adjacent to K.

We were there for a simple commemoration of Mothers' Day. There were 3 mothers in our group. The place was packed when we arrived there. Presumably they were also there for the same reason. We did not get to go into the restaurant. It was full house and we had to settle for a table outside, which was really not that bad. I like outdoor dining. But I did make my way inside for some pictures.

We made our orders and then waited and waited. Fortunately the company was good.

The first dish was a great fish soup. It was the first time I ever had Chinese style fish soup. And it was superb. It came in a big clay pot with large chunks of really fresh fish meat. It was cooked with herbs with dried wolfberries (枸杞) floating on the surface. The soup was so very sweet. It was worthwhile to drive all the way there just for this bowl of soup.

Then it was a herbal chicken, cooked in a paper wrap. It was good. Not extraordinary like the fish soup but still delicious.

The tofu with minced pork was an ordinary dish. The tofu was "home-made". But it tasted like any.

The fresh scallops were stir fried with french beans and plenty of macadamia nuts. I liked this dish. The nuts were crunchy and nice. The dish was mildly cooked and tasted very good.

Next was the butter prawn. It was rather oily and I decided to give this a skip.

Finally it was the pork knuckle braised with some mushrooms and sea cucumber (海參). It looked very appetizing but because of the sinfulness, I did not have very much of it.

It was a sumptuous meal. It might not had been a typical Mothers' Day do, but we enjoyed it all the same. I did not know Shah Alam had such a vibrant Chinese area. And the food there certainly did not disappoint. I heard there are even better makan places in the vicinity. I may be back there, if for any reason, it is for the fish soup again.

Tarbush Lebanese

This is our second visit to a middle-eastern restaurant in recent months. I was there with my wife, my brother and wife, and my sister for something different one Saturday evening. Tarbush (a Turkish hat or Fez) is a Lebanese restaurant located in the basement food court of the newly opened Empire shopping gallery in Subang Jaya. It is one of a chain of restaurants - the other are in KL Bukit Bintang, Starhill Gallery and the Pyramid in Sunway.

The place was very nicely furnished, bright and modern, with a beautiful huge mural on one side of the restaurant.

The menu was interesting. Of course, most of the offerings were alien to us. The waitress who attended to us was rather blur and could hardly understand our queries. Another staff came over to assist and he too was not certain on many things we asked him.

We finally made our choices. We ordered to indulge.

The first dish was the Tarbish salad. It was very nice. It was salad in a yogurt sauce with some crispy I-don't-know-what. But the serving was rather small and insufficient for the 5 of us.

The Lamb Arayes was also very good. It was minced lamb wrapped in a thin bread, served with french fries, tomato and some onions. The bread looked  kind of messy and over done. The taste was very gamy and flavorful. I liked it.

The chicken briyani was quite unlike the nasi briyani that we are so used to. It comprised a bowl of rather soggy briyani nice and a piece of fried chicken bathed in a kind of tomato sauce. Did not look very appetizing. But the rice was surprisingly tasty. I liked the rice but not the chicken.

The Falafel was a plate of 4 chick pea cutlets. It was served with a thick sesame sauce and some salad. The cutlets tasted not unlike the Indian vadai in our mamak shop. It wasn't bad.

The mixed grill was a combination of some kebabs and grilled meat scattered on a rather large plate. There was served with some french fries, some salad and a garlic sauce. It was rather dry and not great.

The spring chicken was an after-thought - an added on. Like the mixed grill, it looked very uninteresting and unappetizing. It was a whole chicken, rather dark and over-grilled. But it tasted OK. The flavor was good but overly salty. Our verdict was mixed - some of us liked it and others did not.

Overall, our experience at the Tarbush was rather disappointing. It definitely was not up to my expectations. But the place was well patronized. When we arrived, the place was already pretty full but there were still some empty tables. By the time we finished our meal, the place was packed and people were outside waiting for their tables.

Would I return? Probably not at their Empire outlet. I went thru their website and their other outlets appear to have a different menu. I may visit their Sunway outlet to give it a try.

A Manhattan waste of time

We went to Subang Parade one weekday evening for dinner and to buy a birthday gift. Deciding what to eat can be such an onerous task at times, and we ended up walking into the Manhattan Fish Market. MFM is a chain restaurant. I am not sure from where they originate. According to their website, their history is traced to New York. They have restaurants  in 5 different countries - Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia but strangely the U.S. is not in the list. In Malaysia they have about 18 outlets in 8 cities.

Their outlet at the Subang Parade is located on the lower ground floor. It shares the same floor with several more popular fast food establishments. It is quite spacious, brightly and nicely furnished, and very conducive to a leisurely meal.

The menu, as expected, is almost totally fish and seafood. We ordered the seafood chowder for starter. It did not turn out as I had expected. It looked kind of orange-ish in colour. It was quite unlike the chowder that I have tasted elsewhere. I tasted tomato in the soup. This is the first time I had chowder cooked with tomato. The chowder was light and watery. It should had been rich and thick. I did not quite enjoy it.

The Manhattan caesar salad was OK, not exceptional. It was topped with some pieces of eggs and croutons. But  I felt that greens did not have enough grated Parmesan on them.

The fried country mushrooms was good - perhaps the best dish we had that evening. It was mushrooms, deep fried, and served with a mayo sauce. The mushrooms were crispy and were pleasing on the palate.

We ordered 2 dishes to share for entrees. First was the grilled New Zealand ling cod fillet. It was served with a garlic butter sauce and french fries. I couldn't tell if the fish was totally fresh. There was no trace of any fishy smell. But the meat was quite bland and was not tasty as fish should be. There was no sweetness in the meat. And it was rather dry. I rate it as less than ordinary.

The other entree was what they call the 'Flaming Platter for One'. It was a mix platter of fish and prawns. I asked the waitress what the flaming meant. She uttered a reply which I could not understand. It turned out they actually flamed the dish at the table with a blow torch. It was puff of fire and the prawns were seared.

The sight was quite spectacular but the dish was not. The fish, like the NZ ling cod, was bland and tasteless. The prawns was not bad. They had a cheese sauce flamed into it.

I found the whole makan experience rather dry. All the dishes were quite devoid of moisture. Fortunately the iced lemon teas were bottomless. We had 3 refills.

I did not enjoy the meal. The fish were quite tasteless. It was not fishy or rotten, but they definitely did not have the fresh flavor of fish.  And they were not cheap. For the same money, I would have got a much much better seafood meal from our local seafood restaurants. I considered the experience a complete waste of time.

Sisters curry mee 2

We finally made it to Bandar Puteri Puchong for more sisters' curry mee. Just to recap...


On 21-Mar-2010, I blogged about my favorite curry mee in SEA Park, PJ. The curry laksa stall is operated by 2 sisters. The son of one of the sisters opened a restaurant in Puchong selling the same curry laksa. I had been curious about this makan place and wanted to know how the son matches up to his mother.

We were cruising around Bandar Puteri Puchong one evening looking for another makan place when my wife spotted the shop. We went there the following Saturday for brunch.

The name of the shop is Restoran Sister Curry Laksa SEA Park (姐妹咖哩麵家). It is located on Jalan Puteri 2/6 in Bandar Puteri Puchong. There was quite a good crowd when we arrived there at about 10am. The place was pleasantly green and comfortably air-conditioned. Like all new style makan places, there was a outer section for smokers.

Even the menu was green. It basically offered the same curry and beef soup noodles as the SEA Park parent stall with additional side dishes, snacks, rice and vegetables. And like a good son, a picture of the mother and aunt was featured in the menu.

I ordered the same as I did in SEA Park. My bowl of curry mee looked very much like what I had in SEA Park - with chicken, see hum (cockles 鲜蚶), tau fu pok (豆腐卜) and some long beans. However with one sip of the curry, I could tell that the mother's cooking was superior. The curry was very much like his mother's - aromatic and not too much santan (coconut milk). But it was not the same. The mother reigned. Still it was not a bad bowl of curry noodle and I enjoyed it too. My only complaint was that the noodles were rather cold. It would had been better if it was served hot.

The beef soup was comparable. I don't think I could tell the difference between the beef soup there and the mother's. It was with the same beef, tripe and tendons, plus some beef meat balls which were not available in SEA Park. It tasted with the same deliciousness. Even the price, at RM10, was the same.

My wife had a bowl of curry without noodles. It was actually the same as my bowl with all the ingredients sans the noodles.

We also had a plate of taugeh (bean sprouts). It was very ordinary but adding to our bowls of curry, it made our meal a lot more pleasant.

Our drinks were hot coffee and iced lemon tea.

The place is really not a bad place for a nice curry laksa meal. It can justifiably boast on its 20 years of curry laksa legacy, albeit the mother's.

However the next time I have the craving of curry mee, I will most likely head towards SEA Park. It is much nearer and it is the original.

Awesome Butter Cake

My wife makes an awesome butter cake which I never have enough. Forget about Black Forest, Tiramisu and and all the other fancifuls. This is simple, authentic and absolutely my favorite. The recipe is so very easy.

The ingredients are:

A normal block of salted butter which strangely is always sold in the market at 227 gms.

190 gm of self raising flour.

170 gm of sugar.

5 eggs.

2 teaspoons each of milk, water and brandy. It did seemed odd to me on the small quantity. But that is the recipe and apparently they provide just the right moisture for the cake.

The butter is cut into smaller pieces and mixed with the sugar...

... until it is like so.

The eggs are next to be added and further mixed.

Then the flour.

Finally the milk, water and brandy.

The mixture is poured into a butter greased baking tray.

And baked in the oven at 180 degrees C for 40 minutes.

Your effort will look like this.

I wish you could smell it here. The aroma of the freshly baked is heavenly. The cake is delicious, fluffy and of just the right moisture.

Try it and enjoy.