Serdang Home Cook Restaurant沙登小厨美食馆@ Serdang

I had a light breakfast ( not because I wanted to, just that it was raining and I was lazy to go for a drive, and hence had to make do with some Digestives and …and and…) , which lead to being hungry at an earlier hour than usual.

We were the first customer at Serdang Home Cook Restaurant ( it was  12 pm) and were ushered into the air conditioned area by a friendly waitress. We  spent a few minutes reading the newspaper clippings plastered on the wall – smiling politicians giving their thumbs up for  the food  and the recommended dishes.

We decided to go for their specialty : lotus leaf  fish (荷叶马友鱼) and  bittergourd with salted egg.

 The waitress came by our table and said that she will give us a complimentary bowl of soup ( which was chicken feet and peanut)  and in the same breath, mentioned that the  chicken feet and the peanut is not very soft as the soup had just being boiling for 1.5 hours. Anyway, I would never say no to free soup ( and for that matter, any freebies )

The soup tasted just like homecooked soup , which meant it was pretty ok, and not overly salty or oily.

 

When the Lotus leaf  fish arrived at our table, we were wondering should we make some calls and get more people at  the table to help us finish the fish as it seemed an overly big fish for 2 persons. The fish, deep fried and drenched with gravy came wrapped in a piece of lotus leaf. I find the meat a bit dry and ‘rough’ ( fish used :- Kurau) , the thick gravy was not too bad,  it was heavy with the flavour of belacan ( prawn paste) plus some  sourness and had generous amount of onions. It was ok although  I prefer the assam fish at Choon Sun .

 

 Bittergourd with salted egg, I was a bit surprised that the dish looked  so dry but after biting into the first slice of gourd…oh la la…this was superb, first phase  : tongue taste salted egg and Umm…yummy..the distinctive taste of salted egg and the sandy texture of the salted egg coat, after biting passed the surface , the second phase – the bitter of the guord ozzes out and surpassed the taste of the salted egg …what a wonderful dish.

 

 The damage : fish ( 600g) RM24, bitter gourd with salted egg – RM8, rice RM 1 / bowl.

 Overall : an enjoyable meal, price was reasonable , I would like to return and try out the other dishes ( and re-order the butter gourd with salted egg)

When we passed the restaurant later that night, the place was very crowded and even the  tables set up outside the restaurant ( non airconditioned) were all taken up

Note : the restaurant also offers set lunches ( from mon – fri) which range from RM29.90 ( soup + 3 dishes ( fish+ meat +vege)) for 2-3 pax, RM49.90 (soup + 4 dishes  + fruits)   for 3 -5 pax, RM69.90 (soup + 5 dishes  + fruits )  for  6-8 pax and RM89.90 (soup + 5 dishes  + fruits) for 8 – 10 pax

 

 Business hours : 11:30am -2;30pm, 5:30pm – 1.00 am

Close on Tues every alternate week.

Serdang Home Cook Restaurant

PT 219, Jalan SK 6/1,

43000 Seri Kembangan, Serdang

Tel : 8945 7066 h/p 012 363 7066

 

Location :

Chynna @ KL Hilton, Brickfields

I don’t normally look forward to these meetings, but when at the end of the day I get fed- well, meetings aren’t too bad after all (yes, I am a pig)

I dined once at Chynna and was impressed with the rich decoration , the food and of course the bill.We did a last minute reservation and manage to get a private room, once we stepped into the private room, everyone Ohhhhh and ahhhhs over the posh decoration, nice heavy thick burgundy curtains, the lantern ( which was hanged pretty low) above our table, the  crockery …everything about the room spelled opulent  ( and expensive)

Almost everyone wanted to’take’ the beautiful crockery home

Once we were seated (where most of us were  trying not to make it too obvious that we do not want to sit next to Da Boss), the serving of tea begin, the waiter came around the table with a pot with a long sprout and ceremoniously poured 8 treasure(八宝茶) into our cups , we commented that in China they do some acrobatics while serving tea and  only then did our friend ( who was from Qingdao) did some elaborate  movement of swinging the teapot over his head, around his body etc before pouring the tea into our cups ( identity of the  pumpkinheads were withheld)

I didn’t get a chance to view the menu, so the names mentioned here will be basic without the flowery language . First up – Beijing duck, the duck was carved at the side table ,

 

and each of us were served 3 small pieces, and  each piece had different toppings, the meat was a bit cold,  with the slightly oily layer beneath the crispy layer, nothing to shout about.

We wondered where was the rest of the duck, and was told that they will serve this to us in a pancake. I find the  pancake a bit heavy and floury, and after taking a bite, I tasted more flour than duck. The sauce was tasty though.

 

 Next up was the soup – this was served in a ceramic pot , the ingredients include : old cucumber, dried scallops, dried oyster, sharkfin, chicken,  dried octopus. This was delicious with layers of taste from the different ingredients, you could taste the goodness and richness of the soup with each sip . The portion was a bit too large though ( I think this was more maybe even more than 3 small bowls) and although it was tasty, it still took  a bit of an effort to finish. ( I guess people will complain about everything and anything, small serving –complain, big serving, also complain, bahhh ! hamburg )

 

Salmon with inoki mushroom – the dish was beautifully presented. Although the distinct taste of salmon was still retained. I find the salmon a bit over cooked-  the meat was overly dry- the sauce that was dribbled over salmon was like the chili sauce for chicken rice, which was a weird combination..someone bit into the chili padi and had to gulp down beer very quickly..or maybe that was just an excuse to have  more beer…The inoki mushroom- tempura style was a bit wet and not as crunchy as I would expect of a tempura style thingy

 

Duck feet  with dried abalone and shitake mushroom ( I guess this would have a more glamorous name than this) ..the duck claw was yummylicious, . The sauce was just nice and the claw was cooked to perfection .  the skin was smooth, moist and came off easily, the abalone was soft and chewy- the shitake mushroom was soft, juicy, succulent with the gravy..major yum !! the Mat Sallehs braved the horror of ‘HUH, what ? duck feet …errr…are you sure this is safe to be eaten , don’t they walk with these ..? ‘ and took a few bites of the kaki, and I think it wasn’t as bad as they thought.

 

Prawns with lobak- the prawns  in light batter were deep fried – the gravy was thick and sweet ( maybe a tad too sweet) . lobak was ok..the taste of 5 spice powder was not as prominent as the regular roadside lobak Penang is famous for ..Weird combination for a cantonese restaurant, this is what they call fusion food, I guess ..the lobak had some chili sauce on it ..initially I thought it was keropok lekor..if they did serve this combination, I would be flabbergasted…a scenario like  where Hang Li Po meets Nik Aziz

Black pepper beef with cashew nuts …the beef was succulent, tender and well marinated , ozzing with the taste of black pepper . Very tasty..not sure was it wagyu beef, I never had eaten a cow that was massaged,  and neither have I ever massaged a cow… so , I wouldn’t know..but the crux of the matter was – this was very good.

 

Wantan – I think the wan than in my bowl looks like a goldfish..the filling was fresh, sweet and succulent  prawns and with some minced meat, the broth was tasty .This was yummy , the skin was smooth and soft and just slip through your throat…Although by then  I was up to full tank capacity, this still tasted very good.

 

We were also served noodles with minced meat in bean paste, well marinated  minced meat – sweet-spicy  bean paste gravy , noodles texture was good. Good blend

For dessert we had a choice of sago with ice cream and tau fu far..most of us grabbed the ice cream and left a few disappointed Mat Salleh with the tau fu far , I don’t think they liked the idea of having tofu as a dessert lahh….the taste of vanilla  ice cream wasn’t too prominent, and I would have liked the evaporated milk that the ice cream  was swimming in  to be a bit sweeter to bring out the taste.

 

The damaged came to ~ RM3K + inclusive of 3 rounds of beers which, from passed experience was less than what I was expecting we would have to pay, turns out that this was a set menu, so the pricing were ‘special’

Overall, there were a few outstanding dishes like the black pepper beef , with  the duck feet and wan tharn would come a close second and third , the other dishes were average lah.

Operation hours:
Lunch
Monday to Saturday – 12:00 noon to 2:30 pm
Sunday & Public Holidays – 11:00 am to 2:30pm

Dinner
Daily – 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm

Chynna

Hilton Kuala Lumpur
3 Jalan Stesen Sentral
Kuala Lumpur Sentral
50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: +60 3 2264 2264
Fax: +60 3 2264 2266

Web site: http://www.kl-studio.com

Esquire Kitchen 大人餐廳 @ Old Klang Road

During your birthday month, Jusco’s loyalty card holders will be given a  booklet of vouchers from the various sponsors. Over the years, I find that the content of the booklet are getting less attractive and most of the time the whole booklet in it’s original and unused  form will find it’s way into the recycle bin..yeah la..that is gratitude for you, people give vouchers, want to grumble somemore…

 I was attracted to an ice cream RM3 off voucher , but upon finding out that it was only valid for that particular item that cost – I think it was RM18+ , hey, I have to fork out RM16+ ?? no deal..flip flip flip, Vouchers for rides at a hill resort ..nope, shoes..nope, massage chairs ..nope…ah..30% off the bill for meals at Esquire Kitchen ( only valid  for meals exceeding RM30)..hmm..so if the meal is RM30, then the payable amount is RM21..ehhh..this is reasonable…with that in mind…..To Esquire Kitchen we will go…

Esquire Kitchen offers :

 Shanghai dimsum – fried dumplings, steamed dumplings, Sui Kau etc

Soup – Pork ribs cucumber , lotus root, chicken + groundnut, Sze Chuan hot and spicy etc

Pork, Seafood, beancurd, vegetables, Noodles,

Dessert include : Kwai Leng Kou, Tau Fu Far, Kaya Puff etc

 Esquire Kitchen has some set meals promotion :

 

 Nam Heong also has it’s chicken rice promo:-

For RM14.90nett you get :- meat balls ( 5 pcs); white or roast chicken for 2 pax, Vege ( small) , Free rice for 2 pax.

And to move up a notch, add RM1+, you can change the meat balls for Fook Chow meat balls.

And to further impress your date, add RM5+ – u get asam fish or beancurd

 I was having a cold that day, so avoided ordering dishes with any hint of spiciness, we ordered : beancurd , fish slices with ginger,  a large bowl of lotus root soup and rice.

When the beancurd arrived, it was piping hot..the beancurd texture was nice, a bit of a bite on the outside and soft tofu-ish on the insides..but after a few bites..found that the dish was bland ( or maybe it was my cold ?)

 

 The fish slices with ginger looks promising, lotsa ginger and spring onions – but looks are deceiving, the fish was tasteless and the gravy didn’t taste any different from the beancurd dish ( or maybe it was my cold ?)

 

 The first few sip from the soup bowl was encouraging, this was very tasty..and taste like it was lovingly  cooked over low fire for many hours.. After a few more spoonfuls, found that it was a bit too salty.. ( or maybe it was my cold?)

 

Overall , I must say that this was a bit of a disappointment and my previous experiences of eating at Esquire was definitely better than this. (or maybe it was my cold ?)

Esquire Kitchen

G5, Plaza OUG,

Taman OUG, Jln Klang Lama,

58200 KL

Tel : 7981 1645