Venoth's Culinary Adventures: June 2015

Monday, 8 June 2015

Karipap Sambal Tanjung Malim @ Tanjung Malim, Perak

We are all familiar with the usually available Curry Puffs but there is this stall in Tanjung Malim that does a twist to it. The specialty here is Curry Puffs that come with a dash of very spicy Sambal and that has made them very famous as it is truly out of this world.

The Stall

Simple Set Up

Located Beside The Balai Bomba

Karipap Sambal as the locals call it is owned and run by an Indian Muslim lady and her stall is located right beside the Balai Bomba in Tanjung Malim. This is along the same stretch as the Medan Selera. She only offers two kinds of Curry Puffs, Curry Puff Sambal and Sardine Puffs. It is a very humble stall and operates very much on the take away concept. No seats available for one to sit down and have them there. After all, these are quickies that can be consumed on the go and so, one does not really need a place to sit and have them. Initially, I used to think that only the locals are familiar with this stall until I met someone recently from Kuala Lumpur who was asking me about her Curry Puffs. The place is usually crowded come tea time. She commences business at around 1 pm and this goes on till around 6 pm or until sold out. Best to go around 3 pm as her Curry Puffs tend to get sold out quite fast. Like everyone else, I too did a take away of 10 Sambal Curry Puffs.

Sambal Curry Puffs @ RM 0.40 each

Bite Size Curry Puffs

I feel that they are correctly priced at 40 cents each as they are very much a bite size snack. Two bites is all it takes to finish one. Since it was just the three of us at home, I got 10 Curry Puffs back for tea. Not a fan of the Sardine Puffs, I decided to just stick with this.

They Are Slit Before Frying

The trick here is that she does not add the Sambal into the Curry Puffs before frying. The usual ingredients are added and she slit's the top to create a pocket to add the Sambal later. Once fried, it expands and comes out like a lovely pocket to tuck the spicy Sambal in.

Spicy Sambal Appears At The Top

It's Naturally Comes Out As Two Sections Of Ingredients

As you can see from the above photo, it is indeed a bite size snack. Once the Curry Puffs have been fried, the Sambal is added and this gives a super 'kick' of flavours to it.The Sambal is also quite thick and that ensures that there is no overflow while eating.

Sweet Potatoes Used

As for the other ingredients, she uses a mix of Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes in a spicy gravy. The starchy taste from the Potatoes, the sweet taste from the Sweet Potatoes and the spicy Sambal gives it a blow of flavours. Very unique preparation and all of us absolutely loved it. I would rate this at 9.7/10 . I have had this many times before but it was the first time for my parents and they too loved it. It can be addictive and before you know it, you would have popped a few into the mouth while watching TV.

If you happen to pass this way, then this should be on your To Do list. A very unique preparation that I have only found here. There may be other places that serve Sambal Curry Puffs but the mix of Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes, that's simply unique to this stall. A highly recommended place!

Address: Located Along Jalan Raja Itam ( Opposite the Mosque and beside the Balai Bomba),

35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1300 - 1800 Daily (Off Days May Not Be Fixed)

Friday, 5 June 2015

Nadia Tomyam @ Tanjung Malim, Perak

Nadia Tomyam is not a new restaurant in Tanjung Malim. It's just a recently re-branded place. Previously, this was known as Shahirah Tomyam and it had recently undergone some branding change. Not sure the reason for this exercise as everything else remains the same, including the stakeholders. This restaurant is located in Taman Bernam Baru which is just along the old trunk road heading to Proton City. I have never tried the food here, even when it was under the old name. Since I was here this evening to collect my laundry (which just happens to be their neighbours), I decided to drop by for some early dinner.

Nadia Tomyam in Taman Bernam Baru

Just Two Tables Outdoors

A Sink For Convenience

Indoors

We were here at about 6 pm and the place was already crowded. Seems that this is a Kelantanese establishment, like most other Tomyam places out there. The furniture and fittings were not new, they were the very same old ones. Some of them seemed pretty bad. It would be good if they could spend a little just to improve these minor things. All their staffs were Kelantanese too. Despite being well staffed, service was a little slow. In fact I had a tough time 'catching' their attention and to get them to come over and hand me the menu. After numerous attempts, one girl came over and dropped the menu and this was after approximately 15 minutes of waiting. If I was busy or perhaps had something to attend to after this, then I would have surely walked out heading to another restaurant. Besides dine ins, there were many takeaways and all of their customers seemed like Kelantanese too.

The Menu....Still Carries The Old Name

Their Menu

Set Meals

Their Menu

Drinks Menu

As you could see, the menu still carried the old name. The only amendments seen here is the prices. All others were very much the same. They did have some set meals but they were all catering for large groups and it seemed a little on the expensive side as well. Having decided on what to have, we managed to get another girl to get our orders. This is an interesting part. She's probably in her early 20's, sweet looking but she did not wear a smile on her face. In fact, non of the staffs did. The best part was while taking orders, she actually slid her hands into her t-shirt and started scratching her armpit. It was absolutely hilarious to watch that. And that's not like a quick one but probably lasted one long minute or so and she didn't seem to bother. Well, at that time, I was just hoping that the cook doesn't do the same too.

Teh O @ RM 1.00

Sirap Bandung @ RM 2.00

It took them somewhere around 12 minutes from the time of order to get the drinks to be sent over to the table. The problem was with the person preparing the drinks. He was slow, definitely dead slow and if only he was thrown in an Indian Muslim restaurant to just work for a day, I would not be surprised if he just quits at the end of the day. Snail speed it was. The drinks however were nice. The Teh O was decent and I would rate it at 7/10. The Sirap Bandung however was excellent and I would rate this at 9/10 .

White Rice @ RM 1.50 per plate

Finally after a 20 minutes wait, the food arrived. I won't say that it was very long as they had a long order list and so, the timing was just acceptable. White Rice is charged at RM 1.50 per plate and the portions were decent.

Sambal Belacan

The above Sambal Belacan was provided complimentary and this is customary in all Tomyam restaurants. Their preparation was just okay. It mainly lacked Belacan and was a little watery. Not too spicy either. I would rate this at 5/10 .

Telur Dadar @ RM 1.50

This again was just okay. Two main setbacks. One, it was overly greasy. That in itself would give it a pungent taste. Secondly, there were lumps of salt scattered across the egg and that was the killer. Imagine biting a lump of salt and how that would feel like. Otherwise, it was fine. The cook should have been a little more careful with that. I would only rate this at 4/10 .

Kailan Ikan Masin @ RM 4.50

For those who have been following me for a while, I am sure that you would have known by now that I just loved this dish and end up ordering the same every time I head to a Tomyam place. On the other hand, it is also good as I get to taste a particular dish in all the Tomyam places and that becomes my common yardstick across all. Coming back to this preparation, it was good. In fact it definitely is one of the better ones that I have tried in town. The leaves were also fresh and green. It could have been very much better if they had been lavish with the Salted Fish chunks but still, it was a very good preparation and I would rate this at 9.2/10 .

Tomyam Ayam @ RM 4.50

This was also very good and it came loaded with lot's of ingredients. The soup was a tad spicy and is not suitable for those who can't take spicy food. For those who love spicy food, then you'd love this. It had very balanced notes to it and the aftertaste would have just wanted you to have more and more. The portions were also huge. Definitely a dish that I would recommend here and would rate it at 9.6/10 .

Sotong Goreng Kunyit @ RM 5.00

This was also very nice and I would not be wrong if I said that this is the best preparation that I have tried for this dish. Rich with vegetables and spices, it was amazingly good! I would rate this at 9.8/10 .

Overall, I think they generally serve some good food here but it is just the lack of professionalism on the part of their staffs. To cite another example, when one of the girl's brought the food, she just chucked the plates on the table and went off. Not only for us, but every single table. If only that was done in a Banana Leaf Restaurant, that would be taken as a major insult. Perhaps someone should just guide them on these etiquette as not everyone is lenient about these things. Even I am not. Otherwise, it was a good meal.

Address: No. 34, Jalan Bernam Baru 1, Taman Bernam Baru,

35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1700 - 0200 Daily

Thursday, 4 June 2015

Cafe Dim Dim Sum Yee @ Rawang, Selangor

All these years, whenever I wanted to have some good Dim Sum, I would always end up heading to Kuala Lumpur and little did I know that this specialty Dim Sum restaurant had been in existence in Rawang since the year 2011. It was just by chance that I discovered this place today. I was waiting for my connecting train back to Tanjung Malim and since I had some time at my disposal, decided to have dinner in Rawang. When I kept walking to see what is available, I came across this restaurant. This restaurant is located along Jalan Bandar Rawang 12, which is just a four minutes walk from the KTM Komuter station.

The Restaurant in Pusat Bandar Rawang

Interior Of The Restaurant

Clean and Comfortable

Interior Of The Restaurant

The restaurant was not that crowded at this hour as most people would be going for Dim Sum either in the mornings or noon. Nevertheless, the number of customers were still encouraging. Apparently when I checked their Facebook page, it seems that they are massively crowded for breakfast and lunch and on weekends, the tables do spill over to the streets. All their Dim Sum's are handmade and freshness is a guarantee that they give you. That is to say that all their Dim Sum's are only steamed upon order and unlike other restaurants that keep steaming them all day long. Thus, it is practical to expect some waiting time as every order is freshly handled. The cleanliness of the restaurant was also very good.

The Menu

It seemed like this place is a father and son run show. Maybe this is the scenario in the evenings when the crowd isn't so great and I am quite certain that they would have more help during the day. The moment I walked in to the restaurant, I was greeted by the 'Father' and he then handed the menu over to me. The spread was good and they had a number of unique rice dishes too. He was very supportive in answering all my questions pertaining to the dishes. Once my ordering was done, he filled in a pre printed chit and then went over to the kitchen. I believe that the son must be doing the steaming over there.

Complete Cutlery

Kampong Koh Sauce

Chinese Tea @ RM 0.50

Each table was equipped with the complete set of cutlery. This is an excellent practice as one would not need to go table hopping finding for things when the food is served. Even the saucers were provided with each table. Besides the Kampung Koh Sauce, they also provided the sweet sauce. When it comes to Dim Sum, my preference would always be the Kampung Koh Sauce. It is only when I am having Yong Tau Foo that I would go for the sweet dip sauce. Once again, this is just a matter of personal preference and I am sure that some would love to have their Dim Sum with the sweet dip sauce too and it is just great of them to sufficiently provide all these in advance. I ordered a glass of Chinese Tea and this was priced at fifty cents per glass. They also had other specialty and Herbal drinks but I was contended to just go with this. Now, waiting for the dishes to arrive.

Steamed Fish Balls @ RM 4.30

The wait wasn't too long and it was just a matter of 10 to 15 minutes and the dishes were being sent one by one. The first to arrive was the Steamed Fish Balls. A set comes with three of these. Now, the Fish Balls were just amazing. They were extremely soft and supply and it was just so tasty. Felt as if I was having these at a 5 star hotel. Amazing quality and freshness and I would rate this at 9.8/10 .

Teo Chew Siew Mai @ RM 4.30

This was another excellent preparation. The Siew Mai's were not very small, in fact it took more than a bite or two to completely finish it. As you know, the Teo Chew variety is made from Pork and not Shrimps. Thus is was a little harder but it was juicy and good! I would rate this at 8.8/10 .

Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean @ RM 4.80

As far as this Pai Kuat dish is concerned, this is one of the best preparations that I have tasted. Not the best, but one of the best and worthy of mention. Each rib came with just the right amount of meat attached and it was not rubbery but soft and so juicy. Black Bean had also been added to enhance the taste, and that too at just the right amounts. Not something to overkill the dish. It was just amazing eating it hot and steamy. I would rate this at 9.5/10 .

Char Siew Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun @ RM 4.30

Lavish Amounts Of Char Siew In Each Roll

Dried Shrimp & Chili Flakes

As far as this Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun was concerned, they had both the Char Siew and Shrimp variety and I went for the previous. Just a matter of preference. There were three lengthy rolls that were snipped into two thus giving you six smaller portions. On the sides, some Dried Shrimp with Chili Flakes were also provided and this is to be topped based on your individual preferences. The amount of Char Siew used in the rolls was also very encouraging. Definitely a good preparation and I would rate this at 9/10 .

Char Siew Bao @ RM 1.80

The final one that I tried tonight was their Char Siew Bao. This was not like those machine or factory made ones. It was definitely a handmade one and each Bao, had a three angled fold to give you ease of just breaking them. Just look at that filling. It was just heavenly and the Bao was filled to maximum capacity with no empty pockets. Do note that a tray comes with three Bao's but you can even request for just one like what I did tonight. This is a true winner and I would rate this at 9.8/10 .

Some may feel that the prices are quite steep for Rawang but for me, I would not mind paying for quality. Just imagine going to Kuala Lumpur and having some crap Dim Sum for a much higher price than this. Or let's say going to Dynasty Hotel and having Dim Sum there while paying through your nose. Comparatively, this is definitely an excellent deal. Moreover, this place delivers parallel quality to those upscale places. Of course I am not comparing this place with those restaurants that employ those Hong Kong celebrity Chefs. No, that is definitely not my comparison. But compared to those famous Dim Sum places like in Kampung Baru Sg. Buloh, Ipoh Road or even Cheras, then this is definitely a much better deal. Once again, taste is a matter of individual preference and what is good for me, may not be great for you and vice versa. Therefore, it is always encouraged to go with an open mind.

Address: No. 23, Jalan Bandar Rawang 12, Pusat Bandar Rawang,

48000 Rawang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 0730 - 2100 Daily

Telephone: +6016 337 8989 & +6016 778 8989 ( Best To Call Before Making Your Trip There)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cafe-Dim-Dim-Sum-Yi-at-Rawang/233927073293261?sk=timeline&ref=page_internal