Societea @ Kuchai Lama

As soon as I received an SMS from T to meet up for dinner (and as usual, she left it to me to make the decision of where to have our meal) what do you think was the first thing that I did ? well, get online to check out some makan places -of course ! back in the old days ( before google , before blogging , before ….)  we will probably be meeting at the same old cafe and ordering from the same tired old menu…Well, we might not be necessarily enjoying better food, but I guess you get a  few hits and misses ( as in life)

Societea’s tagline —Fragrant flower teas, flower inspired dessert and simple good food-that’s us, a little neighbourhood makan-place that’s great to relax with a cuppa and hang out with some cool friends ….i am not a cool gal, so I sincerely hope T is

I do not drink usually tea after lunch, as there is this phobia that I will not be able to sleep if I did ( things I worry about, tsk tsk tsk) but dining at a place with a name like Societea- how could you not drink tea ? Do not fret. Tell the waiter/waitress what you want and they will recommend a suitable brew for you. We wanted something calming, relaxing and a good night sleep and  they recommended  the combination of lavender and chamomile.

When the pot of lavender and chamomile tea (RM6.80/pot) arrived , it smelled like stepping  into a spa , you know those aromatherapy thingy -  the little candle flickering away beneath the pretty terracotta pot thingy. I was a bit skeptical of drinking this stuff . Anyway, be brave, try something new ….took a sip, the strong aroma of lavender filled my senses and then after that ( especially after the tea has been diluted with the next re-fill of hot water and the aroma was a bit toned down). … hey, it was rather nice and soothing ..

 

For food, T ordered the Alfredo (RM15.90)  – Creamy spaghetti with pieces of chicken, T who likes cheesy creamy sauce, enjoyed this very much.

 

The waiter recommended Chicken Maryland (RM16.90) Tender chicken piece deep fried in breadcrumbs was not too bad, what I enjoyed most was actually the fried banana that came with this dish, generous amount of fries on the side

 

Societea offers free wi fi, a nice cozy environment, you can sit here for hours as they refill your pot of tea again and again and again……you can chat your problems away or enjoy your favourite book

 Overall – a pleasant experience- I will return when I find more cool people to hang out with

12, Jalan Kuchai maju 1

Off Jalan Kuchai Lama

Kuchai Entrepreneurs park

58200 KL

Tel : 79821822

www.societea.com.my

***Latest update 12th Feb 2011 - walked passed Societea and had a shock of my life….It has now been converted to serving Economy Rice, no more tea drinking and spagetti liao… Please take note !************

Restaurant Chen Fatt 曾發酒家@ Seri Kembangan , Serdang

At long last….back to the subject of food in Malaysia..

 We heard that Chen Fatt had been around for ages ( some said even back in 1940s, wow…)  and very popular amongst the folks back then – and even now lah  , so, we decide to drop in for lunch and see what this Hakka restaurant is all about. Firstly, parking in Seri Kembangan is atrocious – regardless of the hours. We had to park at an alley somewhere and walked under the hot hot ( did I say hot ?) sun before stepping into a non descriptive looking coffee shop kinda environment…

 We asked the waitress for the  house specialty and she suggested the house specialty tofu, ok, we’ll try that, and for vege, we ordered French beans with dried prawns and pineapple ribs.

Pineapple ribs (RM13)  – the deep fried ribs were covered with delicious thick gravy which was sweetish and with some slight spicy undertones. The ribs weren’t fat nor lean  , just nice to have the tender texture . Good !!

 

French beans with dried prawns ( RM13), French beans with bits of dried prawns and garlic – stir fried just right to be cooked and yet have still have that fresh crunchy sweetness . Good

 

House specialty Tofu (RM13) – when the dish arrived we stared at each other ..hmm..weird kinda way for preparing  tofu but anyway..we took a deep breath and scooped generous portions of this soupy thingy  into the smaller bowls and was very very impressed. This was like sharkfin soup ( minus the guilt) , with that familiar taste of crabmeat sweetness plus a whiff of  Chinese wine. The tofu was ground into a broth and in the ‘soup’ were also bits of crab meat, prawns and mushroom.  After the meal, we had a chit chat with the owner and told her we enjoyed the tofu very much and she mentioned that the regulars told her that, they prefer this tofu dish to the sharkfin soup served at 5 star restaurant !!

 

There are also seats upstairs ( airconditioned) , I guess this will be where the grander dinners will take place.

 Hours : 11am-2:30 pm, 5 : 30- 10: 30pm ( off on alternate Thursday)

Location :

Restaurant Chan Fatt

No 1487-B Jalan Besar

Seri Kembangan

43300 Selango

Tel : 89486673

( Chen Fatt is at the main road of Seri Kembangan –the same row as CIMB , probably less than 10 doors away . It will be in between CIMB and Serdang market)

Nha Hang 18 @ Binh Doung , Vietnam

After visiting a particularly difficult customer, everyone cheered up when we drove into the compound of Nha Hang 18 for lunch. There were a few individual ‘huts’ with attap roof where you can dine in private , but all of these were  taken, so we had to settle for a bigger hut with a  ‘common’ eating place

The first dish that arrived was a plateful of steamed /boiled vegetable that  came  with a pungent smelling sauce which was later explained as fish sauce plus sugar. My thought process was ‘huh ? eating at a restaurant, and we are having steamed vege ?’ but surprise surprise- this was kinda good, I didn’t know that steamed/boiled vege can taste so good one ler, the ladies fingers were deliciously tender and sweet, cabbages, lettuce and the best kick was from the tiny bittergourds, there were sooooo bitter and one can’t help but cringed while bitting into it. The sauce went really well with the vege.  

Pork ribs cooked with some kinda sauce, the pork ribs were deep fried so that they were a bit crunchy but yet the meat were not dry or tough, I can’t make out the gravy though – a bit oyster sauce maybe, with a bit of chili and fish sauce most probably   but bottom line was – it was delicious

 

Fried rice – rice with bits of corn, carrots, spring onions etc – this was kinda dry, rather bland really.

 

Vegetable soup – I think I had vegetable soup for lunch almost everyday, must be a Vietnamese thing, but no complaints

 

Hot plate tofu – don’t let this dish deceive you, inside the foil compartment, underneath the 3 different types of mushroom , slices of capsicum and prawns…were some Japanese tofu- the mushrooms were the decoy, I guess. This dish came with some crispy noodles , the idea being – fill  your bowl with some crispy noodles, scoop the mushrooms ( plus tofu- if you can find them) and gravy into said bowl and let the gravy soften the noodles. This was not bad.

If you would like to read more about Nha Hang, you can visit their website by clicking   here , the location map and contact is here  

After lunch, I was whisked to the airport …and look what I found in my knapsack

 

 Err…as if I didn’t know that was in my knapsack lah, said banana was nicked from the breakfast buffet spread