Krathong Thai @ Seri Petaling

I think Seri Petaling would be my next regular food haunt, there are so many eateries here..but it’s so difficult to get a parking spot …so how ? Maybe I should consider walking to Sri Petaling, not that it is not possible…it is not that far…might only take 2 hours or so, think of the calories I could have burnt ! Wahh…but nevermind, I think I will just learn to be more patient and ronda-ronda a few more times in my little old car to look for a free parking spot.

With my parking woes settled, let us talk about food..

The aesthetic value of Krathong Thai is great  : with its wooden construction including the nostalgic inducing attap roofThe verandah

After soaking in the kampong house atmosphere, we studied the menu..there were 9 versions of the Thai salad/ Kerabu  including : kerabu  minced chicken or beef , kerabu chicken feet, sotong, prawn, seafood, four angle bean, mango , brinjal and tang hoon . the prices are RM14 for Small and RM24 for the big portions. 8 types of soup including 5 types of tomyam, assam mixed vegetable soup, beancurd soup with glass noodles: for the S portion , the price ranges from RM 14 to RM24 . Seafood dishes included sotong, prawns , fish and soft shell crabs. For the meat section, there are a variety of beef and chicken dishes. Vegetables include stir fried kailan, long beans or petai  with prawns or chicken and chili belacan. There are also tofu and omelet to choose from. The last page of the menu is a section named ‘our must have corner’ , interestingly out of the 11 entry, 5 of them were blanked out…what happened to these must-haves ?

After a few minutes of calculation  (we had  RM50 worth of vouchers to spend), we decided to go for 2 pieces of fish in otak-otak style- these were RM5/piece, brinjal kerabu ( I have never had the brinjal version of a kerabu before) , kangkong fried with chili  belacan (RM8) , Green chicken curry, Tamarind juice (RM3) plus two plates of rice, please..But alas, luck was not on our side  1- they ran out of kangkong, 2- they no longer sell the fish in otak2 style and 3- they ran out of brinjal kerabu 4. they run out of Tamarind juice too. Apa macam ini macam !! They have seafood otak2 in aluminum foil though-ok, we will take that, replaced brinjal with mango kerabu and let’s have taugeh with salted fish then, problem solved, mai phrean lai ( nevermind)

While waiting , we admire the wooden interior of the restaurantAnd then..we waited..and waited and waited…it was a long wait…not helped that we were already half starved when we stepped into Krathong Thai..finally, after close to 25 minutes..the mango salad arrived. The waitress told us kindly, don’t complain about the long wait, only the other day they had people waiting an hour for food, eh ! Was that supposed to cheer us up ka ?Mango salad ( RM14) – the mango shreds were drenched in some funny tasting sauce. I like my mango salad sharp, acid and wake-me-up flavours . Not some iffy neither here nor there tasting sauce, for me  this dish missed the mark. Green chicken curry (RM16), this had chicken pieces plus brinjal and long bean in it. This came piping hot which was nice. Taste-wise not too bad but could be better if the curry was a bit richer.

Seafood otak-otak ( RM16) – this dish redeemed the anguish caused by the mango salad. The aluminum package was filled with squid, mussels, prawns and fish meat- and all of them very fresh. This had the right blend of flavours, aromatic and rich . Wonderful.Taugeh ( beansprouts) with salted fish (RM8) : succulent crispy taugeh, fried just right that they were no longer green but yet not overcooked so that the crispiness of the taugeh was retained. Tastewise not too bad , Carmen had a few encounter with the salted fish but I didn’t get a bite at all…mai phrean lai..

Overall, an ok makan experience and hope that they can improve the waiting time for food to be served.

Open daily except for the Seri Petaling pasar malam day ( i think they said Tues)

Location :

D1, D2, Glass City,

Jalan Radin Tengah,

Bandar Seri Petaling

57000 KL

Tel : 8932 9908

Look for Bank Islam which is at a junction , when Bank Islam is directly in front of you, make a left turn, you will see Kings and Caring Pharmacy on your left, Krathong Thai will be on your right, there are ample parking space.

Meng Kee明记家乡小食 @ Jalan Klang Lama

Chunny received a summon/sms from Myin that she was back in KL and would like to meet up for dinner. Chunny and myself ran through our database of promotional vouchers at hand but nothing  seemed to caught Myin’s fancy. Then Chunny suggested Meng Kee at Old Klang Road- then the rest was history…

We headed down Old Klang Road, we arrived at Meng Kee at ~ 7:15pm and the place was packed to the brim, apart from us, there were other people waiting for a table too. The easiest landmark for Meng Kee :  Tesco- Scott Garden which is located directly across the road.

Meng Kee is a non-airconditioned restaurant just by the road side along Old Klang Road

We waited a few minutes to be seated and we are ready to order, and guess what, some of the ‘speciality’ like la-la was already sold out, apa macam ini macam one ! We settled for the steamed fish head, pork ribs in soya bean paste and stir fried ‘wong dai miu’. The kitchen was churning out the dishes in fast and furious mode

Steamed fish head in mashed ginger (RM27) – there were tons of ginger but they weren’t overly hot , the simple combination of ginger, soya sauce and some chili and spring onion complimented the fish very well- the fish was fresh and sweet..ah..this was good..

Pork ribs in soya bean paste (RM16) , the bean paste coated the ribs and I was worried that this will be overly salty but it  wasn’t and they ooze the wonderful fragrant of bean paste with a tinge of sweetness. The ribs were tender and oh so tasty..i want to lick the plate ! Finger licking good and so much more.

Stir fried vegetable -wong dai miu (RM8)  –  one can taste the earthy flavour of the vegetable , it was crispy and cooked just nice.. another enjoyable dish .

The total bill plus 1 plate of rice and drinks came to RM50 which we agreed was rather reasonable…and I can’t stop singing the praises of the food. Go and try la..

Tel : 010-3442011

Blue Med @ MidValley Megamall

While I was looking through the list of the promotional meals daily updates in my inbox- Blue Med was interesting as it was located at Midvalley Megamall and then eh, from the  brief introduction – Blue Med was headed by an Iron Chef, Chef Yasuhiro Sasajima .  I  hadn’t dined in any Iron Chef kitchen before ! Sold….

It was easy to find Blue Med, just look for the fountain that linked Midvalley to The Gardens and beside it, you will see Blue Med. This is said to be a Mediterranean + Italian restaurant

We  find  the selection at Blue Med was rather limited. From the lunch menu- for the  main course : one could opt for 6 choices of pasta with price ranging from RM18 – 24 or 3 choices of 9 inch pizza with price ranging from RM16 – 20 or if you prefer order the main course that include : cutlet of dory fish with carrot  rapees, pan fried sea bass with braise clam and mussel, pan fried salmon with broccoli and cauliflower , rolled chicken with roasted potato or pan fried beef tagliata with grilled vegetables with prices ranging from RM18-38. Sorry ah, no chicken chop Maryland or pork chop with black pepper sauce one- this is Iron Chef you know..don’t play play one..

Our visit was on a Saturday lunch hour, Blue Med had a healthy crowd- almost all the tables were taken up. The kitchen was the open concept style, I was almost expecting to see the chef cursing at the kitchen staff ala Gordon Ramsey style and the  kitchen staff going ‘Yes Chef’ in a chorus..but I guess these people at Blue Med was more civilized than what I saw from  Hell Kitchen lah.

We had RM100 to spend and did a bit of calculations before we order our meal to make sure that we do not exceed the budget. We decided to go for :  Capriciossa salad with eggs, beef bacon, black olives and tuna, and the pan fried sea bass plus the Sasajima’s set  menu for RM50 which include soup, a main course of spaghetti , dessert and tea/coffee. (There was also a RM70 set meal )

For drinks, we asked for plain water

First up was bread plus olive oil seasoned with something ..err…  balsamic vinegar (?)..the oil was light and the warm bread had a wonderful dense yet soft texture. I likeyyy

Capriciossa salad (RM24) –I loved the tuna flakes, the strips of beef bacon and of course the olives , this was delicious

From the Sasajima set menu : Salad of the day with grilled vegetable, grapefruit bubbles and tapenade, the presentation was beautiful, this was the first time ( the suar-par-kau translated to mean monkey from the jungle) that I get  bubbles on my meals and tapenade , the vegetables include yam cubes, mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes and unidentified vegetable ( the long ones you see in the pix below) . Taste wise I won’t say this was outstanding but I was still trying to get over the bubbles.

Soup of the day was potato soup, the plate was soo big and the little cavity containing the soup was err..not soo big. The soup was nice very slight grainy texture albeit a bit oily with pieces of croutons floating  in the soup.

Pan fried sea bass with braise clam and mussel, seaweed flavour ( RM24), the piece of sea bass was supported by clams and mussels atop the seaweed soup/gravy. The fish was fresh and sweet and the soup was like the Chinese seaweed soup which was an interesting combination . This was kind of hard to photograph as the colour of the dish was rather bland.

From the Sasajima set menu , spaghetti tomato sauce with grilled red snapper  and cherry tomato, I was a bit worried about the dish as I am not a fan of tomato sauce with my spaghetti but then ahh..my worries were for nothing as , coating the spaghetti was a light and fresh  tomato sauce which was not thickly overpowering. Iciban !

Next was dessert of the day which was walnut mousse and coffee- this would usually costs RM16 but this was also part of the  Sasajima set menu- another beautiful presentation. There were a large number of walnuts served on top of the dessert, a bit too much for my liking as my liking does  not include walnuts. Taste wise, I would say that this was so-so ( not just because of the walnuts) – I find this a bit bland there were no outstanding flavours that screamed ‘ eat me’.

 

And lastly- coffee…hmmmm…

Overall, a good meal, service was excellent, the staff do not wait to be called but take proactive action, for instance one waiter saw Carmen taking a fork to get some the spaghetti from my plate and immediately , a side plate was delivered to our table. And when dessert came , two spoons were provided.

Location :
Unit 27-G Ground Flr & Unit 27-1 First Flr,
Signature Office,
The Boulevard, Mid Valley City ,
Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur
03-2201 5081