Sweet Inn

Sweet Inn is quite an unusual name for a Chinese restaurant. To me, it is a little silly. It is a brand new makan place in Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya located on Jalan SS20/10 on the same road and not too far from the even sillier name - Extra Super Tanker.

This restaurant is operated by Ah Lian, who was from Chyniis and earlier from Green View. She together with the chef apparently broke away from Chyniis and started Sweet Inn. My experience in Chyniis had been great. With the same chef guy, I entered Sweet Inn with certain not-unjustified expectations.

There were nine of us for dinner that evening. SP was buying for our old friends from down under. The restaurant was rather small - just one shop lot. It was brightly lighted up, but unlike Chyniis' contemporary setting, it had a rather typical Chinese decor - with red table cloths, plastic cutleries, a large mirror and some oddball pictures on the wall.

The menu selection was pre-ordered. We were allocated a large table at the back of the shop. Service was prompt but the food was agonisingly slow.

The first dish arrived not long after we settled down. It was only to be expected since SP had long earlier called Ah Lian to order the dishes. It was simmering pork belly in a hot pot with dry chillis in a thick sauce. It was very aromatic and tasted quite good. But the portion was rather small.

Then it was the sea cucumber stir fried with spring onion and ginger (姜蔥海参). To me it was a 2T (TWO T - Total Waste Of Time). Sea cucumber is such an expensive commodity nowadays. It is relished more for its texture than its taste. In the dish, the sea cumber was sliced into thin pieces and then stir fried with spring onion, ginger and slices of carrot. In the process, the sea cucumber became mushy, almost melting into a mess. There was no semblance of sea cucumber. It was like eating spring onion and ginger stir fried in flour paste.

Rice was served. Nine of us picked on these two small dishes and then we waited and waited and waited. For nearly 45 minutes (no exaggeration), nothing else arrive at the table. Our rice bowls were nearly empty in anticipation of the next dish. Fortunately, the company was fantastic and our conversation made our wait a little more bearable. Even then, we finally lost our patience and summoned Ah Lian. "Oh, the dishes did not come?" she said, "Let me check the kitchen."

Perhaps with her intervention, things then began to move. The first to do so was this lamb chop. It was pan fried rack of lamb. The meat was very well marinated. The flavour was rich and aromatic. I found the meat a little tough. It was not amazingly great. The plate was absolutely just meat. There was no garnish or accompaniment. Some salad or greens would probably had given the dish a little more variety and flavour.

This crab was cooked with tong fun (冬粉) or glass noodles. It easily was the best dish of the night. The crabs were big, fresh and full. The meat was firm and sweet. The noodles absorbed the flavour of the crabs and was wonderfully delicious.

The chicken was cooked in 2 ways. Half of it was deep fried to a crisp. Nothing extraordinary, but it was tasty.

The other half was similarly deep fried and then stirred in a sweet grape sauce. Some halves of grapes lingered with the meat. It was original, perhaps even innovative; but I think I liked the former better.

The vege dish was pak choy (白菜) stir fried in yam sauce, flavoured with some dried shrimps. 

We didn't quite had enough. So two noodle dishes were ordered to supplement. They were very very ordinary. 

Dessert was equally mundane. Cold sea coconut and the usual stuff.

Sweet Inn is a break-away from Chyniis at the SSTwo Mall. The chef is from there. So how did it compare to the mother-ship - in taste, originality and innovation? To me, there was no comparison. Sweet Inn was no where near Chyniis. Perhaps one chef does not make a good restaurant. And the place was not cheap. The meal that evening costed nearly 600 bucks! My perception of Sweet Inn is that of an ordinary restaurant where one goes for an ordinary (not a special) meal. But the prices there were by no means ordinary. It was like a small time player charging big time money. 

Kampung Baiduri

I met up with some good old friends for lunch. People from mat-saleh land... what do they miss most? I think banana leaf is probably at the top of the list. So we arranged to meet in an Indian restaurant in PJ. I told Eddy to go to the Krishna Curry House in Jalan 222. Somehow, there was a miscommunication and we ended up at the Kampung Baiduri instead.

After more than 40 years living in PJ, I did not even know this place existed. The reason was probably because it is located in a remote corner of the city - on Jalan 235/51A. To get there, drive along Jalan 222 from the Federal Highway, until you come to a tiny (perhaps the world's smallest) round-about. Go straight (12 o'clock) at the round-about. Not far from the round-about, turn left. The restaurant is there about.

It is really quite a nice mamak place. There is an air-conditioned dining hall and an more relaxing fan-cooled area. They had a good lunch time crowd.

Like all mamak makan places, there was a long food counter. The usual nasi kandar stuffs were on display. They all looked very yummy.

On this day it was the company that mattered more to me than the food. It was a surprise and was really to see Appu again. It had been more than 5 years since we last met.

And the food did not disappoint. The first dish we shared was this mutton curry. It was spicy, gamey and exactly how mutton should be. The curry was rich and flavourful. The serving of meat was generous.

The fried chicken was very well done. Crispy and aromatic.

So was the sotong (squid). In spite of being deep fried, it was not over done and was not rubbery. The squid was soft and succulent, in a crispy batter.

This was beef in a thick, rich kichap sauce. I thought the mutton tasted better.

A lot of Indian restaurants make very nice deep fried bitter gourds. They cut the bitter gourds into thin slices, sun dry and deep fry them to a nice crisp. The bitter gourds in this place were different. They were fresh gourds deep fried in a batter. But I liked it. It tasted good too.

Also, a lot of Indian restaurants murder their vegetables. They over-cook them. The bean sprouts (taugeh) in this place were different. It was refreshing to see taugeh so mercifully spared.

Some ordinary omelet.

Finally the curry fish head. It was the head of a large snapper. This shop trumpets itself as a fish head specialist. Well, I don't know which fish head school they went to. I did not find the fish head curry here spectacular. The fish was reasonably fresh. But the cooking was just ordinary. It was just a head floating in very ordinary curry, with a few miserable and aged okras (ladies fingers). No other vegetables accompany the lonely head.

Oh yes, the rasam. I love rasam and I never fail to order them whenever available. And they are always free - FOC. The rasam here did not disappoint. It was spicy, sour and had the full oomph. You have to stir it and drink it warm to get the kick.

Like all Indian lunches, the meal that day was heavy. We definitely ate too much. The food was OK. Not spectacular. I would perhaps go back again. My next Indian stop - Krishna Curry House....

Belanga

We went to the Empire Gallery in Subang Jaya to look for food. This shopping centre is becoming more and more a foodie place since the kaboom. I believe most people go there not so much to shop but to eat. I have so far done 7 reviews of the makan places in the Empire. This is my 8th and probably not my last. It bespeaks the variety of food here. The place we picked this time was the Belanga.

Belanga is a Malay restaurant chain specialising in peninsular east coast cuisines. The founder is a lady from Kelantan. Besides this restaurant, they also have outlets in the Gardens (Mid Valley Megamall) and the SSTwo Mall. The outlet at the Empire is charming and very well decored in a modern and contemporary ambiance.

Their menu was a selection of mouth-watering Malay fare - various types of nasi (kerabu, dagang, lemak, etc), mee (curry, laksa, soto, bandung, etc), satays, soups, and others. We opted for rice.

Dinner started with our drinks. I went for my normal iced lemon tea. I wished it was bottomless but alas it wasn't. For the beer drinkers - forget it. This is a very Malay place.

The first rice dish we shared was the nasi kerabu. There was a choice of ayam percik, grilled beef tenderloin or grilled fish. We opted for the chicken. I would had gone for the beef tenderloin because the visual of the beef in the menu was so appealing. But my wife is not a beef person. The tomato rice was served with chopped fresh vegetables, some keropok and a thick peanut gravy. We mixed the chopped greens into the rice and gravy. It was delicious. The ayam percik was also very good. But probably because at that late time of the day, it was not entirely freshly roasted. Still we enjoyed it.

Next was the nasi dagang. It was a traditional Kelantanese brown rice steamed in coconut milk. There was a choice of curry chicken, rendang beef or ikan tongkol (tuna). Nasi dagang at the east coast is normally eaten with the fish. So we follow the norm and went for the tongkol. The rice was superbly fluffy and aromatic. It was served with some chopped cabbage, pickled cucumber and carrot and an egg. The tuna was a little fishy. I think it was not entirely fresh. Because of this, I thought the nasi kerabu was more enjoyable.

This bowl of oxtail soup was fabulous. It had generous portions of tail that tasted absolutely delicious. There were also potato, carrot, onion and celery - garnished with some fried shallots and spring onion. The celery gave the soup a distinct taste. The spices were adequate and not overpowering. I loved this soup but unfortunately my wife would not have any of it.

This plate was listed as "Spring Rolls" in the menu. It looked and tasted anything but. It was a roll alright - in the kind of translucent rice wrap that are commonly used in Vietnamese cooking. The inside were mostly chopped vegetables that tasted rather bland. There was a small bowl of sweet yellow sauce that did not help in any manner to enhance its flavour. We didn't like it.

The Belanga, much to my surprise, turned out to be a lot better than I had expected. The food was generally good. And the service was friendly too. If you hunger for some east coast makan, I would certainly recommend this place.

Kemunting Lunner

During our last visit to see my parents-in-law in Sungei Petani at the recent Raya break, our niece's boyfriend led us this rustic seafood restaurant for lunch. We drove in a convoy of 3 cars. It took us nearly an hour and we finally arrived at Kedai Makanan Dan Minuman Kemunting Kenneth Ng.

I will not be able to direct you there. Unfortunately I did not have my Garmin to take down the co-ordinates. So the best I can do is to provide the full address - Lot 1331, Kampung Kemunting, Pekan Karangan, Kulim, Kedah. The drive went through some rough roads and ended in a place like this.

But the surrounding scenery was breath-taking. Enjoy some of the snapshots I took.

The restaurant was not much of a place. It was basically a large dingy shed with the barest of amenities.  The place was not crowded. There were some people sitting around idly, perhaps waiting for their food. But the nearby kitchen was a hive of activities.

There was shed by the lake - ideal for a relaxing meal. Unfortunately it was already taken.

Kenneth Ng, the owner himself took our orders. As it turned out, he was a grumpy man. He told us curtly that since we did not make prior reservations, we would have to wait awhile for our meal. Who makes reservations in a place like that? Not as if they were doing a roaring business. When we asked what was good in his menu selection, he tersely replied that everything he cooked was good and made no recommendation. What an attitude!

And indeed, we had to wait for more than an hour before the first dish arrived. In the meantime, we were served mugs of nutmeg juice which was really not the ideal drink for a seafood meal. I would had preferred the simple Chinese tea. But we were not offered the choice. The kids had to buy some prawn crackers to relieve their hunger as it was approaching 3pm by then.

The first dish that finally arrived was this deep fried tilapia. Perhaps it was the hunger, but it tasted wonderfully delicious. The fish was very fresh and was fried to its full glory. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I was munching on the fins and bones. They were delightfully crunchy.

Next was the curried wild boar meat. It was a dry curry. The meat was surprisingly tender. The flavour and aroma of the curry was absolutely superb. I like curried wild boar a lot and have tasted it in many places. This place perhaps serves one of the best.

The patin was huge and steamed in 2 halves. The head was steamed in a clear soya and fish sauce. A very good choice. The fish was expectedly very very fresh. The belly of the fish was heavenly. It was soft and tender, and so very delicious. The patin is one of my favourite fresh water fish.

The tail half was steamed in a chilli and bean sauce. Another wow. The sauce was spicy and rich, and complemented the fish. I enjoyed it absolutely.

These are chicken - young chicks. I can't help but notice that people in the north like to eat premature birds. They were marinated and deep fried. They tasted good. The skins were crispy. The bones were crunching. You could practically eat the total bird - bones and all.

Finally, the green dish...

By the time we finished our meal, it was over 4pm. A meal between breakfast and lunch is called brunch. What do you call a meal between lunch and dinner? Lunner? This was exactly that. I had such a full meal that dinner became unnecessary. Kenneth may be a grumpy man, but he sure cooks a good meal.