Wai Sek Kai SS2 (SS2 Food Court) @ SS2, Petaling Jaya

Wai Sek Kai SS2 as it is fondly known, is a food court that has been around for ages in SS2, Petaling Jaya. I have always avoided heading here, especially if I am driving, as the traffic along this stretch of SS2 is horrendous almost everyday right till midnight. Today, since my parents were down for the Deepavali holidays and as it was almost quite late at night and not having wanted to venture far into the city, moreover I was not too sure where else would be open at this hour, I decided to bring them here for dinner. Surprisingly, the roads were quite deserted today and there were so many parking bays available. Usually one would have to go in circles for almost an hour to find a parking bay. I guess, many city dwellers must have headed out of the city for the long weekend. 

Entrance to the Food Court

Spoilt For Choices

There are two food courts in this area, one is this Wai Sek Kai and the other which is on the other end of this SS2 square is a food court catering specifically for Halal food. This one serves only non halal dishes. There are almost a hundred stalls here serving a number of dishes, some being more famous than the other. I did some homework before heading here and jotted down the stall numbers for these famous stalls and decided to stick by them. This place opens from 5 pm daily and is supposed to be open until midnight but from my observation today, most of them run out of food by around 11 pm, some even earlier and therefore it is best to come here rather early to be able to get a better selection of choices. Drinks are sold by a number of stalls and they would usually approach you at your table to get the orders. For food, you have to walk up to the stalls, place your orders and mention your table number and the dishes would be then sent over to your table. Having known what my parents usually like to have, I told them to guard the fort and went out looking for the stalls based on my homework done.

Stall 52

Penang Prawn Mee @ RM 5.00

Penang Prawn Mee is one of my dad's favourite dishes. It took them roughly around 10 minutes to deliver the dish. The dish came with a good amount of noodles, fish cakes, prawns, shredded chicken and some fried onion garnishing it. I was told by my father that the dish was quite good and based on the recommendations, I would rate this dish at 8.8/10 .

Yong Tau Foo & Chee Cheong Fun Stall

Chee Cheong Fun @ RM 3.00

The above Chee Cheong Fun came from the first stall selling this item from the main entrance which would be on the left as you walk in. For the amount chosen, the price is quite reasonable. The preparation was also good. I would rate this dish at 8.5/10 .

Stall No. 8

Char Kuey Teow with extra Lap Cheong @ RM 6.00

Closer Look at the Dish

This stall came highly recommended and being a Char Kuey Teow lover, I decided that I must try it out. He sells a number of different Fried Noodle dishes and they all seem to be selling quite well. In fact, he was loaded with orders that it took them almost 30 minutes to send over my order. I had asked for extra Chinese Sausage and it came exactly as I had ordered. The CKT was really good, loaded with cockles & prawns and the Wok Hei was up to the mark. The spices were rightly balanced and truly it was a treat. I would rate this CKT at 9.5/10 .

Stall 55....famous for Grilled Fish

Grilled Stingray Penang Style @ RM 9.00

This Stall number 55 seems to be very famous for their Grilled Fish and this is based on the crowd that were lining up to place orders compared to the other Grilled Fish stalls. I had ordered two dishes from them and they only sent the first dish after 40 minutes. The first one to arrive was the above Grilled Stingray Penang Style. The price of RM 9.00 was a tad high for the size of the cut. The preparation was good but I was not impressed. Some parts were slightly charred and it was quite dry and lacked the juice from the fish. Even their dip sauce was not up to the mark and was rather watery for me. I would rate this dish at 7/10 .

Indonesian Style Grilled Fish @ RM 17.00

This is the Indonesian Style Grilled Fish. It comes grilled (though it looked more deep fried to me) with some spicy chili paste on the top. I found this much better compared to the earlier dish yet, the price of RM 17.00 for this fish seems expensive. The Fish was crispy which is good and the chili paste given went quite well with the fish. The only setback was the limited amount of the Chili Paste so much so when you turn the fish around, there is no more Chili Paste and you would only have to eat it with the dip sauce which was very watery. They should have given more of the Chili Paste or poured a layer just above the leaf before placing the fish and then another layer on the fish which would have been ideal. Otherwise, it was a good dish. I would rate this dish at 8.7/10 .

Overall this place is great as you get a wonderful variety of food for very reasonable prices. The food is also good but the only setback on normal days that hinders me from coming here more often is the traffic. I just wish that that can be resolved by the city council in the near future. Otherwise, this place definitely comes highly recommended. 

Address: Jalan SS2/62, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Opening Hours: 1700 - 0000 Daily

Restoran Bak Ku Teh @ Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya

Restoran Bak Ku Teh is the newest restaurant that has opened up in Damansara Perdana and coincidentally, today is their first day of business. To reach this place, once inside Damansara Perdana, take the second turn left which would bring you to Friendscino Cafe and Burger Byte and you would be able to see this restaurant on your right. It is located along the same row as Restaurant 8888. 

Restoran Bak Ku Teh in Damansara Perdana

Interior of the Restaurant

I believe that this restaurant is quite famous from it's other two outlets located elsewhere in the Klang Valley as even on their first day of business, they were running on full capacity. It took me a while to get a table and throughout the time that I was there, customers kept flowing in. One, this could be the curiosity to try a new outlet or it could also mean that the food at their other outlets are good. Whichever the answer is, I would surely know by the time I am done with my meal.

The Menu

The Menu was just a simple one sided laminate. The service here was very efficient with the waiters waiting at the entrance, attending to customers needs almost immediately and everyone was moving so fast and it all seemed like a dance to me. When it was my turn to order, I asked them what is good and the lady taking my orders suggested to try their Dry Bak Kut Teh which apparently is their signature dish. I just went with her recommendations and added some sides.

Herbal Tea @ RM 1.00

The Herbal Tea was quite light and seemed a little diluted. I do not blame them should this happen on their first day of business as it takes a while to gauge the amount to prepare on a daily basis. Should this happen after a month, then that's bad. As for today, that's excused and hence I would not rate it.

Oil Rice

The Bak Kut Teh set here comes with the Oil Rice which is how it should be served. Nevertheless, to those that prefer White Rice, that too is available.

Dry Bak Kut Teh @ RM 13.00

Priced at RM 13.00, it does come in a decent portion size which is sufficient for one, even a heavy eater like me. The dish is mixed with lean meat and the 'spare parts'.The gravy was thick and it was well absorbed into the meat. It was slightly on the spicy side and leaves a slight vinegar aftertaste. The dish was very nice, in fact it was one of the best Dry Bak Kut Teh's that I have tried. I would rate this at 9.5/10 .

Onion Oil Tofu @ RM 3.00

Honestly, I do not know why this is called Onion Oil Tofu as that should be the dry soft one which is also there in the menu. To me, this is the standard Fried Tofu found in the Bak Kut Teh Herbal broth. This again met my expectations and I think it is rightly priced at RM 3.00 bearing in mind the quantity given. I would rate this dish at 9.2/10 .

A Bowl Of Dark BKT Soup

This again comes complementary as part of the set. This dark type of soup is not common in the Klang Valley and I was excited when I saw it as I love the dark broth. The broth was just perfect with no flaws and just like the colour, was packed with strong flavours. Customers are not limited to a single bowl and top ups are provided without a penny being charged. I would rate this at 10/10 .

Definitely these guys serve some excellent Bak Kut Teh and I am hoping to come here again soon to try their 'Klang Original Bak Kut Teh', Pork Leg with Vinegar and their Red Wine Chicken. Perhaps that time I would need to come in a larger group as I would be able to taste more variety in a single visit. This place would definitely be one of my favourite BKT restaurants as their food is good, price is reasonable and the service is very efficient. Worth visiting!!!

Address: 12A-1 (Ground Floor, Jalan PJU 8/5C, Damansara Perdana,

                47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1100 - 1500 & 1730 - 2200 Daily

Telephone: +6010 513 3353 (Ah Ming)

Mukha @ Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, Kuala Lumpur

Mukha is a cafe that is located along Lorong Rahim Kajai 13, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail that mainly serves Western Cuisine with a strong Arabic influence. The owners of this place have managed to keep their customers happy so much so, it is mostly full all day long with loyal customers returning and having bookmarked this place as a great place to chill with their friends. 

Mukha in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail

The Indoor Seating Area

This Cafe is divided into two sections, smoking and non smoking. The smoking area is mostly taken up most of the time and you find a lot of youngsters spending time there with  friends. Even today at 6.30 pm, I only managed to find a table inside and that too by 7.30, was filled with customers. The design of the restaurant gives it a rather simple, rustic and comfortable feeling that provides an additional comfort level which draws people to spend more time here. It is not surprising to find college students sitting in groups having discussions and group studies over a light meal or snack.

The Coffee Bar

Menu is on the Blackboard

Menu handwritten on the Blackboard

Menu cards are not provided here. The entire menu is listed on a blackboard which is placed behind the coffee bar. Customers would have to come up to the bar, place their orders, pay for them and then a unique looking wooden cup with a number would be handed over. Once ready, the food would be sent over to your table. They have a limited number of dishes which is good as it keeps it fairly simple. All their dishes are Western but have a strong Middle Eastern influence which makes them rather unique.There is a handful of vegetarian dishes too and that should keep our vegetarian friends happy. 

Wooden Cup with a number sprayed over it

Shahi @ RM 7.00

This is a unique drink called Shahi which is plain Arabic Tea which has been infused with mint leaves. There is no milk added to this but you could sweeten it to taste. Definitely the first time that I am trying this drink and it tasted pretty nice. I would rate this drink at 8.8/10 .

Lamb Sausage (Street Style) @ RM 13.00

A better look

All Set To Go

This Lamb Sausage is wedged in between a French Baguette and is lavishly garnished with relish cooked with Rosemary Herbs and Caramelised Onions. For the price of RM 13.00, I felt that the portion was quite huge. Having two long Lamb Sausages which were roughly 7 inches long was definitely very filling. A simple yet very satisfying dish. I would rate this at 9.3/10 .

Baked Eggs @ RM 13.00

Closer Look At The Eggs

It's Deliciously Soft Inside

Delicious!

The Baked Eggs were fantastic. Hard on the top and once mixed up, they were soft, runny and delicious. It contained Eggs, Roasted Tomatos, Shredded Cheese, sprinkles of Parsley and served with some Frence Baguette. One can also opt to add Mushrooms, Bacon etc for a small fee. Once again, priced at only RM 13.00, this was indeed a huge serving and it was eggylicious! This dish definitely deserves a score of 9.8/10 .

Opening Hours

Based on my visit today, I would say that this is definitely a fantastic place to chill be it alone or with friends. The waiters were friendly, the service was super good, the food excellent and the price is wallet friendly. Combined, all these factors make this a great place. Definitely one that I would strongly recommend!

Address: 15, Lorong Rahim Kajai 13, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur.

Telephone: +603 7732 2248

Website: http://www.mukha.com.my/home/about-us/

Nasi Lemak Hong Leong @ Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, Kuala Lumpur

It has been a long time since I had a good Nasi Lemak and this evening I decided to explore the Nasi Lemak scene in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. TTDI is known to have a number of very good Nasi Lemak stalls located in various spots, often associated with the name of the building closest to them. There are stalls that cater for breakfast and some others cater for tea to dinner. 

Nasi Lemak Hong Leong in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail

The Building Opposite the Stall

The Stall is just beside this TNB Sub-station

Fondly known as Nasi Lemak Hong Leong as it is located on the alley beside Hong Leong Bank in TTDI, this stall operates from 3 pm to 7 pm weekdays. Directly opposite this stall is the Continental Car Service Centre and the TNB Sub-Station that is attached to the office right behind Hong Leong Bank is just beside this stall. They mainly sell Nasi Lemak along with some tea time cakes. In order to ensure that all the items are available, it is advisable to come before 6 pm as they tend to sell out fairly quickly. 

Nasi Lemak + Boiled Egg + Sambal Sotong @ RM 3.00

Here they have a number of items to add on to the Nasi Lemak. To name a few, they have Sambal Udang, Sambal Sotong, Ayam Masak Merah, Fried Chicken, Beef Rendang and many more. Do note that this is a take away concept only as it is a simple stall and there are no tables for customers to sit and dine. I took away two packets. The first is the above which comes with a Boiled Egg and Squid Sambal. The Coconut Milk Rice here is very fragrant and has a rich creamy taste to it. I would rate their rice at 9/10 . The Sambal itself is neither too spicy nor too sweet. It had the right balance just the way I love it to be. Some places make the sambal too sweet or too spicy which is not to my liking. I would rate their Sambal at 9.5/10 . The Sambal Sotong too was prepared well. The Sotong was not overcooked and did not have a rubbery like texture to it. Every bite was crisp. I would rate their Sambal Sotong at 8.5/10 . Overall, for this selection, the price of RM 3.00 is quite decent.

Nasi Lemak + Fried Egg + Ayam Masak Merah @ RM 5.00

Better Look at the dish

As I have mentioned earlier, their rice and Sambal were great. The Fried Egg too was fried well leaving the yolk to be slightly runny which is the best way to have with Nasi Lemak. The Ayam Masak Merah was again very well prepared. The gravy and the chicken were perfect and I would rate it at 9.5/10 .

Overall, I truly love this Nasi Lemak preparation and would strongly recommend it. The 'Kakak' attending to customers too was very friendly and was not stingy with the portions and add ons. Definitely a good place to visit if you are looking for an excellent Nasi Lemak fix. 

Address: Along Lorong Rahim Kajai 13 (Behind Hong Leong Bank), 

                60000 Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

Opening Hours: Monday - Friday 1500 - 1900

                            Closed on Weekends and Public Holidays

RK Restaurant @ Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya

RK Restaurant is one of my favourite Indian Restaurants and it is located in Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara. Previously it was at a different location which was just a mere 100 meters away from it's present location and it had moved to this new place sometime around six months ago. This restaurant specialises in North Indian cuisine and they also offer a handful of South Indian dishes which comes from the states of Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. 

RK Restaurant in Kota Damansara

Endorsement from Jalan Jalan Cari Makan Team

My Brother Checking Out the Menu

Interior of the Restaurant

This is the first time that I am visiting them since they had moved to this new place. Their previous place was much bigger as it was a corner lot and it seems that they were trying to hold on to as many furniture as possible as they have all been arranged so close to each other in this new place. I do not know if they have had any one mentioning this but to me it seemed like a little too crammed. All their workers are from North India and the service levels here have always been excellent. Even when customers are at their corridor, they greet them with the anticipation that you would be visiting their restaurant. Once seated, the menu would be placed in front of you and they would leave you a while to go through it and decide on the dishes.  From the above photos, you could see that there has been numerous write ups on this restaurant in both the local media as well as international magazines. The Jalan Jalan Cari Makan team too had endorsed this restaurant. Do note that this is a Halal restaurant. 

The Menu

The Menu

The  Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

Their menu has a great offering. Just to give some background on this restaurant, the restaurant owner was previously managing a friends restaurant in Dubai for a number of years and with that he had returned to Malaysia and started this restaurant which served typically Indian food with a twist and touch of Arabic Influence and that makes them really special. From my previous dining experience, I know for a fact that they have literally perfected some dishes. Another thing to look out in their menu is a section called 'Hey! Mom's Good Cooking' and these are dishes from the owner's wife's personal recipe collection which are really good and worth trying.

Sweet Lemon Fruit Juice @ RM 5.90

The Lemon Juice was something that my brother had ordered. It was really pure and there was no sugar added. Although the name mentions Sweet Lemon Juice, Lemon being Lemon, was not sweet and it had a sharp tinge of sourness to it. If you are expecting something sweet, then you would not like it but if your expecting something pure, then you'd love it. Me preferring the latter, I would rate the above drink at 9.5/10 .

Hot Indian Bru Coffee @ RM 5.00

I ordered the above Bru Coffee and it was perfectly fixed. I would rate this drink at 9.8/10 .

Butter Naan @ RM 3.50

Before I start commenting about the above dish, let me say something. If you had noted in the cover of their menu earlier, they had mentioned that food would be served in 10 minutes. I have dined here numerous times over the years and that has never happened and it always takes a minimum of 30 to 40 minutes before the first dish arrives. But, I never complain as I find their food to be really marvelous. Now coming back to their Butter Naan, it was good but definitely not the best that I have tried. Nevertheless for the price paid, the size of the Naan was really huge. I would rate their Butter Naan at 8.5/10 .

Potato Kulcha @ RM 5.50

Potato Kulcha is somewhat similar to Aloo Paratha. It is bread stuffed with Potato Masala. Here the preparation was quite good though slightly oily. The bread however was soft and fluffy, just the way it should be. Taste wise, it was pretty good and could be eaten on it's own. I would rate this bread at 9.2/10 .

Yellow Dhal Tadka @ RM 9.90

The Yellow Dhal Tadka was again quite nice. It was typically a thick gravy made from Yellow Dhal and was topped with spices and ghee which brought out a great aroma. For the price paid, the portion size was quite decent and it went very well with the bread. I would rate this preparation at 8.2/10 .

Mutton Keema Masala @ RM 17.90

I have tried this dish here a number of times in the past and it has always been good but today, I was disappointed with it. The ground Mutton was cooked to the right level but the gravy was simply flat in taste. I am not sure if they had only added half the required amount of salt to it but it was really flat. I would only rate this dish at 5/10 .

King Fish Fry - 2 pieces @ RM 13.90

The above preparation was good but I think that the fish was sliced too thin. The marination was good, no doubt about it, but it was not the best. The Fried Fish in Krishna Curry House is much better than this and I have been using that as the yardstick to measure Fried Fish. Nevertheless, it is anytime better than the famous Raju's in Jalan Gasing. As such, I would rate this dish at 8.5/10 .

Tandoori Chicken @ RM 20.90

This is by far the best Tandoori Chicken that I have ever tried and clearly, it has an Arabic touch to it. The Chicken was moist (the way it should be), soft & tender and heavenly juicy. Once again, let me reiterate that this was the best that I have ever tried. It was so good that after having this dish here, I did take away another set of the same. I would rate this dish at 10/10 . A must try dish here!

Cochin Crab Curry @ RM 18.90

This was another excellent preparation. For those who do not know the original taste of this dish, it is not spicy like the Tamil or Jaffnese (Sri Lankan) Crab Curry as it is slightly on the sweet side and it comes thick with coconut milk which may not be preferred by many who are health conscious but would be loved by those food connoisseurs. I loved this dish. They had ensured that the crabs were cut into smaller pieces ensuring that the gravy had seeped into the crabs thus emanating a great taste. I would rate this dish at 9.8/10 .

Overall, I had always been impressed with this place and would highly recommend this place to those that love North Indian food. This restaurant is definitely one of the best North Indian restaurants in Klang Valley where you can get good food at decent prices. The only setback would be their long waiting time, otherwise it is a great place to have a fantastic Indian meal.

Address: No. 42-1, Jalan PJU 5/10, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 

                47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Telephone: +603 6142 1314

Email: rkrestaurant@yahoo.com & Iyyappashekar@yahoo.com

Opening Hours: 1100 - 2200 Daily

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/RK-Restaurant/164553150286740