Kafe Yik Mun: The Famous Tg. Malim Pau @ Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur

This evening I happened to go to Hartamas Shopping Centre to meet a friend and that is when I came to know that Yik Mun Restaurant which is famous for the Pau's in Tanjung Malim also has a branch here. Well, this restaurant and I go a long way for a few reasons. Firstly, Tanjung Malim is my hometown and secondly the present owner who is the son was my classmate from kindergarten all the way to Form 5. As such, I am very familiar with how this restaurant started and revolutionized itself to its present popularity. Coming back to this outlet here in Hartamas Shopping Centre, it is just a small cafe manned by two Indonesian ladies.

Kafe Yik Mun @ Hartamas

 Honestly, looking at the set up of this restaurant I was doubtful. There is no place to cook and it was cramped up. Where is the food prepared as they not only serve the Pau's , but also the Hainanese Style dishes as well. Though this restaurant belongs to my close friend, I would still post a unbiased review.

Interior of the restaurant

Simple Layout

Old Write Ups Being Displayed

Ever since this restaurant in Tanjung Malim acquired Halal status since the late 1980's this restaurant has always been swarmed by customers especially on weekends. Usually, there are no places to sit from morning to late evening. However, here in Hartamas it seems quite quiet. Perhaps not many people know of this outlet in Kuala Lumpur. Coming back to my dining experience here today. I walked in to this cafe and was greeted by the Indonesian lady. Found my table and placed my order. I ordered a Chicken Pau, Hainanese Chicken Chop and Hainanese Coffee.

Hainanese Coffee @ RM 3.50

In a matter of minutes, the coffee arrived. I am very familiar with the coffee taste at the restaurant in Tanjung Malim but here at this outlet, it was terrible. Very diluted and completely unacceptable. Moreover, here they are charging KL price for this coffee at RM 3.50 . Not up to the mark. I would only rate this 2/10 .

Chicken Pau @ RM 2.20

The Filling

When I used to go to this restaurant during my school days, the Pau was only 40 cents but today it has gone up to RM 2.20 . They have four varieties of Pau's i.e. Chicken, Beef, Kaya and Kacang Hitam. Since I ordered another main dish, decided to try my favourite Chicken Pau. The Pau was very good and it tasted the same. I know this is frozen stuff and it is the same there too, however the taste was up to the mark.  I would strongly recommend the Pau's at this outlet.

Hainanese Chicken Chop @ RM 17.90

Well, back there this dish is sold for RM 12.00 and here it is RM 17.90 . This was frozen item reheated. From order to delivery, it was a mere 4 minutes. Absolutely crappy. Not recommended. Many outsiders that come to Tanjung Malim think that this is the best Hainanese Chicken Chop there but it is not. As a local, let me tell you that the best one is Restaurant E&L which is the other end of the same row as Yik Mun. In fact, it is by far the best Hainanese Chicken Chop I have ever tasted. Way ahead of this Chicken Chop in taste. I have done an entry on that restaurant in the past too, I think sometime in August 2012. Now, to rate this Chicken Chop, it would only score 5/10 .

Interesting Combo at Ridiculous Prices

On the whole, this outlet is only good if you would want to try the Pau's. They still maintain the original taste. I would not recommend to try other dishes here as firstly, the price is inflated and secondly, they are all not quite up to the mark. My total bill today came to RM 23.60 for the above items which is very much on the high side, must be Hartamas pricing. Will I come back here? Yes I will, just for the Pau.

Address: G1, Ground Floor, Hartamas Shopping Centre,
                No. 60, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Sri Hartamas,
                50480 Kuala Lumpur.

Opening Hours: 1000 - 2200

Telephone: +603 6203 5738 (Don't try calling as no one would ever answer)

Vishal Food & Catering @ Brickfileds, Kuala Lumpur

I have heard a lot of positive reviews about this restaurant called Vishal Food & Catering in Scott Road and decided to head there for lunch today. It is located on Scott Road, directly adjacent to Kandaswamy Temple and right in front of the Hanuman Temple.

The Entrance to the restaurant

This restaurant is in one of those pre war buildings in Scott Road and it is easy to find. I was told that both their Chicken Briyani as well as the Banana Leaf Meal is good here.

Good Old Fashioned Restaurant

We got our place right next to the entrance. Inside this restaurant, it was pretty dark and ventilation was not too good but then I was waiting eagerly to try the meals here. I was attended by an Indonesian waiter and believe me, he spoke fluent Tamil. I was later informed by the boss that all their workers are trained to speak Tamil as it would be easier to communicate with customers when it comes to ordering these Tamil dishes. Here they serve both White Rice and Par Boil Rice.

Vegetarian Meal @ RM 5.00

The service here is super fast. The basic meal of Rice, Curries, Pappadam, Pickles and three vegetables cost RM 5.00 each. I asked for Fish Curry. Let me tell you the fish curry here was superb and the best I have ever tried in a restaurant. I would rate the Fish Curry at 10/10 . Then the waiter brought a tray of other items to choose from which includes fish, mutton, crab, chicken, goats intestines and many more.

Fried Fish @ RM 5.00

They had options to choose from either the Fried Tenggiri Fish as above or the small fish. I choose the above as it looked very good. The taste 9/10 . It was superb!!!

Mutton Parattal @ RM 6.00

This by far was another excellent dish. It was super spicy and I was profusely sweating while eating it. This is another must order dish here. I would strongly rate this dish 9/10.

Chicken Parattal @ RM 6.00

This was also another good dish but not as good as the Mutton version of it. I would still prefer the mutton over this. I would rate this dish 7/10 .

Chicken Rasam

Here they have two varieties of Rasam. They have the common Rasam as well as Chicken Rasam. I have tried Crab Rasam before and this is the first time I am trying this. It was heavenly. You can ask for refills and they do not charge for the Rasam. It is all included in the RM 5.00 that you pay for the basic meal. I would rate this Chicken Rasam 8.5/10 .

Meal Serving Hours

On the whole, the total bill came to a mere RM 29.00 for two pax including the soft drinks. Just last week, I had almost the same dishes at Raju's in Jalan Gasing and the bill came to RM 53.00 . Taste wise, Raju's was just average. This restaurant is by far the best Banana Leaf Meal I have ever tried!!! I would surely return soon to try their much spoken about Briyani too. All the staffs including the bosses are very friendly and swift in attending to their customers needs.They also do catering for private functions and please find their contact details below.  A highly recommended restaurant!!!

Address:  No. 22, Jalan Scott, Off Jalan Tun Sambanthan,
                 Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel:  +603 2274 0995 
         +603 2274 1995

Opening Hours:  0730 - 2245 Daily

Email: vishalfood@hotmail.com

Restoran 3A Yong Tau Foo & Cheong Fun @ Damansara Utama, Selangor

Every time I go to The Ship in Uptown I pass this restaurant and had always made a mental note to come here someday. Just that it had always been postponed until today. We were here around 7pm and there were just a few customers in the restaurant.

The Restaurant at Damansara Utama

To locate this restaurant is quite easy. It is located in the same row of shop lots as The Ship in Damansara Utama. Once we were in and got our table, we were attended to by the waiter. They seemed to have a huge staff waiting in the restaurant. Perhaps business must be pretty good.

The Menu

As you can see from the above photo, they had quite a number of offerings and it was not limited to Yong Tau Foo and Cheong Fan. As I wanted to try more of the other main dishes as well, we placed minimal items for the Yong Tau Foo and ordered a few more of the dishes.

Interior of the restaurant

As you can see, the interior of the restaurant is quite simple but I like the cleanliness. Well maintained.

Cincau Ice @ RM 2.20

The first drink to arrive was the above Cincau Ice. It was good I should say and was not too sweet. Service here is pretty fast but they keep sending one item at a time which was pretty funny.

Iced Sour Plum @ RM 2.20

This was good...I mean really good!!!

Yong Tau Foo

Fish Balls

Fried Wan Tan & Char Kuih

As for the Yong Tau Foo, we ordered the above items. They include Japan Tofu, Bitter Gourd, Lady's Finger, Wantan, Char Kuih and Fish Balls. This Char Kuih was something new that I am trying here.These items cost RM 1.20 each. They were pretty good. From my previous entries I am sure that you know that I am not lenient with quality but this place truly deserves it. However, the soup was just average. If you gauge the Yong Tau Foo items, then I would rate them 8/10 .

Curry Cheong Fun @ RM 3.00

This dish was okay too but not the best that I have tried. It comes in a single size and cost RM 3.00 . I would rate this 6/10 .

Fried Bean Sprout with Salted Fish @ RM 8.00

The main dishes here come in three sizes i.e. small, medium and large. As it was only two of us, we kept to the small portion size. This dish was nice and the salted fish was of a good quality. It was not the usual small chunks but long strips of the fish was found in the dish. I would rate this dish 8/10 and it was very satisfactory.

Assam Ikan Pari @ RM 10.00

For the above dish, you have a choice between Squid and Stingray and we preferred the stingray for tonight. This is the small portioned dish and it cost RM 10.00 . This was okay and it was really sour. Only setback was that it was a little too oily. The fish was also not too fresh and you get the taste that it's been in the freezer for some time. I would rate this 7/10 .

Black Pepper Chicken @ RM 10.00

This again was another small portioned dish at RM 10.00 . This dish, was excellent. I just loved the way they did it and as you can see, they were lavish with the black pepper. The meat was also good cuts and less bones. I loved the way they fried this. I would surely give this 9/10 .

Us at dinner

On the whole, this restaurant is pretty good. The Yong Tau Foo is of great quality and as for the dishes, it is quite selective and depends on the dish. From what we tried, I would surely recommend the Fried Bean Sprouts with Salted Fish and the Black Pepper Chicken. The total bill for the day came up to RM 46.00 which is reasonable for the number of dishes that we ordered.

Address:  31, Jalan SS 21/56B, Damansara Utama,
                 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: Tuesday - Friday 1100 - 2200
                            Saturday & Sunday 1000 - 2200
                           Monday Closed

Thai Village Restaurant @ Shah Alam, Selangor

Today we did a family gathering in Shah Alam, Selangor and decided to head out for dinner thereafter. I was wondering where would be a good place to head and that is when, I remembered this restaurant which I have been to some years ago. I did a Google search and found their phone number. Called them just to confirm that the restaurant still exists and having spoken, confirmed that it is still around. With that being confirmed, we head out for dinner. This restaurant is located in Seksyen 13, close to Giant Hypermarket and the stadium.

Thai Village Restaurant @ Shah Alam, Selangor

One good thing here is that in the evenings, parking is ample. The restaurant still looks the same as it did then. I doubt they have done any renovations and hope that the food quality is still the same too.This restaurant has been here for the past 13 years and they specialise in Halal Thai food. It is owned by local Malay's and it draws quite a huge Malay crowd.

Opening Hours

The Interior of the Restaurant

Us Going Through The Menu

Accreditation by the Jalan Jalan Cari Makan team

The restaurant decor is quite unique as you can see from the above photographs. The ceiling is covered with egg trays and it definitely looks nice. Once we were at this restaurant, we took our table and were going through the menu. They do have quite a large offering from specialty dishes to even simple ones like Thai Fried Rice and Phad Thai. The waiter was definitely very helpful in assisting with ordering the dishes and their portions as there was seven of us. I wanted to order as many dishes as possible for us to taste but also ensuring that it was not too much for us. This was where the waiter was very helpful indeed. We then finalised the orders and went through the summary once again with the waiter. Service here is a little slow as they have only one cook and during busy times, it could be quite a wait before your dishes arrive. However for us today, we got our drinks in around 15 minutes which is not that fast too. However since there was quite a large group, we had a lot to chat about and did not mind the time.

Jug of Watermelon Juice @ RM 20.00

We did not want to order individual drinks except for another glass of grape juice. The rest of us had this jug of Watermelon Juice which was charged at RM 20.00 . The juice was good except that there was too much  crushed ice inside despite us informing to keep the ice minimal.

Lala Fried With Belacan (Medium Size) @ RM 25.00

The first dish to arrive was the above Lala Fried With Belacan. This was a medium sized dish. This restaurant has most of its dishes divided into three portion sizes, Small, Medium and Large. This dish was surely good. The belacan had seeped in well into the Lala and it was of good quality and taste. A recommended dish here especially if you love Lala. I would rate this dish 9/10 .

Crab Soft Shell Butter (Large) @ RM 60.00

This is one of the must order dishes at this restaurant. It is a huge portion of Soft Shell Butter Crabs. Crabs are expensive nowadays and therefore this dish cost RM 60.00. I just love their Butter Crabs. They are prepared in a excellent manner and is an excellent dish to share with the family. I would rate this dish 8/10 .

Bendi Belacan (Medium) @ RM 15.00

The above is another good dish here. The Bendi was done well, not overcooked and still crispy. The juices were also still maintained and kept intact. It was also priced reasonably I feel. I would rate this dish 7/10 .

Chicken Paprike (Medium) @ RM 25.00

This dish was okay. Not so great but it was not bad either. I would rate it 6/10 .

Tom Yam Merah Seafood (Large) @ RM 40.00

This by far is one of the best Tom Yam Soup that I have ever tried. Here they have two varieties of Tom Yam Soup, the red one and the white one. I have not tried the White Tom Yam Soup but this Red One is surely delicious. It was superb, spicy and had a great balance of taste. I highly recommended dish. I would rate this dish 10/10 .

Yam Basket @ RM 25.00

This dish comes only in a single size, perhaps they only have one mold size in the kitchen. This dish, was not the best Yam Basket that I have ever tried. However, it was not bad for a Halal Yam Basket. I have tried better ones in Halal Chinese Restaurants too. My rating for this dish would only be 5/10 .

Broccoli Mushrooms (Medium) @ RM 25.00

This dish was good. I loved the base sauce and the vegetables were fresh. I would rate this dish 7/10 .

White Rice @ RM 14.00

The white rice was calculated based on seven people and charged at RM 2.00 per person summing it up to RM 14.00 .

Egg Omelette with Crab Meat (Medium) @ RM 15.00

This was another dish that I liked. They had a variety of filling options to chose from and we chose Crab Meat. It was nice and well done. I would rate this dish at 8/10 .

Besides the above dishes, we also ordered another single serving of Thai Fried Rice and a single serving of Phad Thai. One thing that I missed to mention here is that when you arrive, they would usually serve you with a small plate of peanuts and another of crackers. Both of which is charged at RM 2.50 each . The other miscellaneous charges are the Wet Towels etc. On the whole the bill for the day came to RM 292.30 .This restaurant does serve good food on the whole but can be a little pricey. It surely is not a restaurant that we would want to dine in everyday as that would burn a hole in the wallet, however occasionally is fine.

Address:  No. 50,52 & 54, Jalan Renang 13/26, 
                 Seksyen 13, 40150 Shah Alam, Selangor.

Telephone: +6012 519 3062 
                    +603 5511 0232

Opening Hours:  1100 - 1500 & 1730 - 2300 Daily

Famous Rojak SS15 @ Subang Jaya, Selangor

This is an extremely famous stall in SS 15 Subang Jaya which only sells Rojak. It literally is just a road style stall and has a great fan group. On most days even during non peak hours, one would have to wait in a long que of at least 10 people ahead of you. This was some of the information I gathered from reviews on the internet. Having read this, I decided to go check this place out myself since I would be in the vicinity this afternoon.

Que At The Stall

As read, the stall was easy to find. It is located along Jalan SS 15/3B just opposite KFC. Just look for a long que in that area and it is at this stall. I arrived just after 4 pm and yet there were around 15 people ahead of me. The set up is quite simple under a huge tree. There are a few other stalls just beside this but they surely do not have this amount of business. There were not even places for people to sit and eat and everyone just stands at the curb and eat their rojak. I wonder how this would be possible during rainy days.

Simple Menu

Their offerings are limited to the above. It just is simply Rojak and the price varies based on the ingredients. Looking at this que I was definitely interested and eager to try their Rojak.

Busy With Business

This stall is only manned by two Indian Muslim guys. Their work was almost like a production line. Go up to them, mention your order and it follows a strict flow and then finally pick it up at the next station and pay. Simple as that. I was told that during lunch hours, there can be up to forty people waiting in line. As for me today, I ordered their most high end dish which is the Rojak with Squid and Eggs.

The Ingredients

As I placed my order at this first station, he put in the cakes, tofu, squid and eggs here and then passed it over to the next guy.

Busy at work

The next guy then cuts the cucumber, puts it into the dish, pours the peanut gravy and then collects the money.  Very simple operation.

My Rojak + Squid + Eggs @ RM 4.50

Finally got my plate of Rojak and it's time to taste. Well, let me tell you that I have quite a number of Indian Muslim friends who are my childhood friends and many of them have restaurants running for a few generations. Therefore, my benchmark is pretty high in accordance to traditional Indian Muslim standards. I did try this dish and though it is loved by probably most Subang Jaya residents, I would only rate it 5 / 10. Sorry, but that is as far as my acceptance of this dish is.Please do understand that I do not deem this to be bad but it is just not as good as it should be and if so many people out there are crazy of this Rojak, then there surely is many more places for example in Masjid India that you can get much better Rojak at the same price which you surely need to try.

However, if you are in this area, then this could be a decent afternoon snack. Another point to add is that I have also been informed that they have opened two other restaurants and not stalls, selling the same Rojak. One in Shah Alam and the other elsewhere that I am not too sure of as of now.


Address: Along Jalan SS 15/3B (near KFC & opposite a Tyre shop)
                47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1130 - 1930 Daily