Lot 10 Hutong @ Lot 10, Kuala Lumpur

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 8.5
  
• Price (1-10): 7.5
  
• Environment (1-10): 7.5

24 December 2010: Lot 10 Hutong is located at lower ground floor of Lot 10, Kuala Lumpur. It serves some of the famous hawker food in KL. The highlight of Lot 10 Hutong is that some of the stalls are hand-picked by Tan Sri Francis Yeoh.

When taking the escalator down to lower ground floor of Lot 10 where Lot 10 Hutong is located, there's a wood-carved signage showing Lot 10 Hutong in Chinese. It is written by "Chai Lan", the Hong Kong famous food critic.


First of all, we ordered the famous Petaling Street Kim Liam Kee Hokkien fried mee (RM8.90++). It's fried to perfection where the sauce is well absorbed into the noodles and it's neither too dry nor too oily. However, I think it's a bit too expensive for this type of hawker food. I think the rental in Lot 10 Hutong is quite high. I would rather go to Petaling Street to eat the real hawker food at the price of hawker food. Anyway, if you are look for a more comfortable dining environment to eat hawker food, this is the place.


Next, we tried Klang famous Mo Sang Kor bak kut teh. We ordered a set (RM15.20++) which includes a small bowl of bak kut teh with meat (quite a lot of meat), rice and chinese tea. We chose lean meat with minimum fat. Although the meat is lean, it's still very tender and the bak kut teh is well absorbed into the meat. The bak kut teh itself is very tasty as well.


While I was waiting for food, a trolley selling herbal drinks passed by me. Without asking the price, I ordered a Guai Ling Gou and Lo Hon Guo herbal tea, which cost RM10 in total... They taste quite ok but not worth the money. I should have asked how much is it first before buying. My mistake...


In conclusion, I think Tan Sri Francis Yeoh has taken very good initiative to group all the famous hawker food under one roof. However, I think it's a bit too expensive. Besides, the layout of the food court is like a maze. Some stalls are hidden at corners which you can hardly notice.



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Hisago Japanese Restaurant @ Straits Quay, Penang

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 7
  
• Price (1-10): 6.5
• Environment (1-10): 8.5

18 December 2010: Hisago Japanese Restaurant is located in Straits Quay, Penang. Straits Quay is a new retail mall in Penang opened end of November 2010. A quay of wharf is a structure on the shore of a harbour where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths, and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.

My 'Penangite' friends introduced me to this new hangout place. We went there for a gathering dinner. Since most of us were very hungry at the time we arrived at Straits Quay, we decided to eat in the restaurant nearest to our parking lot, Hisago Japanese Restaurant. Too bad that we were a bit late and all window seats were occupied. If we were lucky enough to get window seats, we will be able to see the breath-taking view of the quay. However, despite the view, Hisago offers quiet and comfortable environment for small group of friends to hangout and chit-chat.

We could see that Hisago is still new because the proper menu is not ready yet. We were given a temporary menu where the names of dishes are in Japanese, some were without English description.


After a brief Q&A session with the waitress, we decided to order a few ala carte dishes and share among 4 of us. Here's what we ordered...

• Kimuchi Kaisen Nabe (RM24++) -> Seafood kimchi soup. Quite tasty and appetizing. Worth a try.
• Salmon Teppanyaki (RM28++) -> Average. A bit too plain.
• Tori Yuzu Shio Yaki (RM20++) -> Grilled chicken. Quite tasty with juicy chicken meat. Slightly too salty, yet recommended.
• Ika Sugata Yaki (RM18++) -> Grilled squid. Tasteless. Not recommended.

Generally, the portion of the food served here is quite small. We ended up having second meal at Secret Recipe less than 1 hour after the meal. The rice is RM3++ per bowl and green tea (bottomless) is RM2++ per glass.

Here's the location of Hisago Japanese Restaurant:
3E-1-1, Straits Quay, Sri Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Tokong, 10470 Penang.


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Kafe Siam @ Sungai Petani, Kedah

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 7
  
• Price (1-10): -
  
• Environment (1-10): 7.5
  

17 December 2010: I attended my cousin's wedding dinner at Kafe Siam in Sungai Petani. Kafe Siam is a double-storey, air conditioned restaurant that serves Chinese and Thai food. Here's what we had...

I did not manage to snap the photo of the prawn because I was forced to sing on the stage together with around 10 other cousins. I also missed the dessert, which is ice-cream potong by Kochabi.

In general, the food served there are quite nice but most of them are too salty. For your information, my tolerance level for saltiness is definitely above average.

Here's the location and contact of Kafe Siam:
Address: No. 291-293, Lorong 9, Taman Bandar Baru, 08000, Sungai Petani, Kedah.
Tel: 04-4418332



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GoGung Korean Restaurant @ The Gardens, Midvalley City

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 6.5
• Price (1-10): 6
• Environment (1-10): 8.5

15 December 2010: We went to GoGung Korean Restaurant for a colleague's birthday lunch celebration. Since he likes Korean food, we decided to give GoGung a try despite some review on how expensive is the charges. It is managed by Koryo-Won and is located in The Gardens Mall, Midvalley City. It offers quiet and comfortable ambience, which is suitable for gathering in small group.

Fortunately, GoGung offers set lunch, which is generally much cheaper than ala carte. Here's the menu for set lunch...

Here's what we had...

• Bulgogi (RM25 per set)-> according to my colleague, the beef slices taste great.
• Dengjang Chigye (RM20 per set) -> according to my colleague, it is basically seafood in miso soup, which taste quite alright but the so-called seafood consists of only 5 small clams and a few tiny shrimps.
• Dolsot Bibimbab (RM20 per set) -> a mixture of minced meat, seaweed, vegetables, egg and rice. Fortunately, the birthday boy seems to enjoy this a lot.
• Seafood Udong (RM18 per set) -> this is what I had, udon mee in seafood soup. Before I comment on this, I would like to state that I'm not a Korean food lover. To be exact, I'm in fact a Korean food 'hater'. Back to the food... it's seriously tasteless. I won't pay for this again even if it's offered the price as low as RM5.

• Side Dishes -> I don't like these but the birthday boy enjoys them a lot. According to the birthday boy, the mushrooms are very juicy...
• Pajeon -> fried pancake with some vegetables. It's the best food I had here so far. Very crispy when it's still hot but it gets soft and oily once it cools down. It comes with the lunch set. If you would like to order it as ala carte, it costs RM30 for the size of a regular pizza.
• Bento Set (RM25) -> a typical Korean bento set with rice, meat and side dishes.

In conclusion, GoGung failed to change my perception towards Korean food. I will try to avoid it if I have a choice.

Warning: Green tea here costs RM8 per glass. It's advisable to order plain water instead. It's FOC.

Here's the location of GoGung Korean Restaurant:
Lot T-212, 3rd Floor, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.


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Restoran Kin Kin (Chilli Pan Mee) @ Pandan Indah

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 8
• Price (1-10): 8
• Environment (1-10): 7.5

11 December 2010: Kin Kin is famous for its chilli pan mee. In fact it’s actually famous for its home-made dried chilli. It’s a branch for the famous chilli pan mee in Chow Kit area. I visit this place once a month in average, especially when I need an air-conditioned and economical place to have my lunch during hot and sunny afternoon. Each bowl of pan mee costs around RM5-RM6.

A few newspaper and magazine have published articles on Kin Kin Chilli Pan Mee, as shown below:

Here’s what we had…

• Chilli - This is essential at Kin Kin. Chilli flakes fried with some additional flavouring. It plays an important role in making the pan mee taste better. Without this, those are just ordinary pan mee you can find anywhere.
• Dry Pan Mee - served with an egg (nicely done, to be mixed with pan mee later), anchovies, spring onions, etc… It’s meant to be mixed with their chilli flakes, and ends up become the famous chilli pan mee.
• Pan Mee (teared) with soup - Ordinary pan mee soup, tastes ok. The teared pan mee is a bit too thick and too big piece. I prefer smaller pieces that can fit nicely into my mouth

Here’s the location of Kin Kin Chilli Pan Mee @ Pandan Indah:
Address: No. 6G, Jalan Perubatan 4, Off Jalan Pandan Ilmu, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.


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Chong Ko Hakka Noodle @ Pandan Indah

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 8.5
• Price (1-10): 8.5
• Environment (1-10): 7

7 December 2010: Chong Ko’s hakka noodle originates from an old restaurant in Kuala Lipis, Pahang more than 50 years ago. The cooking technique of the hand-made noodle is inherited from 3 generations earlier.


I have been a regular customer in Chong Ko Hakka Noddle in Pandah Indah since 2-3 years ago. I eat there at least once in a fortnight.

The signature dish here is original hakka noddle, mixed with braised chicken stock and sprinkled with minced meat. The hakka noodle there is very springy and solid. Many people like to add a lot of the special home-made chilli sauce into their original hakka noodle until it looks really red, like curry noodle. There are two types of hakka noddle, the normal and fine ones. I personally prefer the normal type.

You can find the list of available dishes here from the order form below:


My favourite is curry chicken hakka noodle. It is served with curry chicken meat by default but you can opt to replace it with fish balls or pork balls without additional charge. I would like to highly recommend the pork balls. The fish balls are just ok, I don’t really like it. The curry there is thick and tasty. However, it’s recommended to go in the morning if you would like to try their curry because towards lunch time, the curry is not that thick anymore. I suspect they mix water into their curry when the curry is finishing. Here’s the curry hakka noodle (with pork and fish balls) we had…


Here’s the location and contact of Chong Ko Hakka Noodle @ Pandan Indah:
Address: No. 5G, Jalan Perubatan 2, Taman Pandan Indah, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-4280 3150
Opening Hours: 9.00am - 5.30pm daily (Closed on Monday)


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Fei Chooi Fish Head Restaurant @ Pandan Indah

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 6.5
• Price (1-10): 7
• Environment (1-10): 7

4 December 2010: I came across this Fei Chooi Fish Head Restaurant some time ago. Since my dad is a fish head lover, we decided to give this place a try. It is a corner shop, quiet spacious and good air-ventilation. Prior to ordering, we were thinking if they serve grouper fish head. However, to our disappointment, they only serve 1 type of fish head, which is 松鱼头. I’m not sure what’s it called in English.

Here’s what we had…

• Steamed fish head (清蒸松鱼头) (RM24) -> The fish itself is tasteless, but the texture is ok, quite fresh. The alcoholic taste in the sauce doesn’t go well with the fish. I don’t really enjoy this dish. It’s kind of disappointment.
• Pork ribs (梅子排骨) (RM8) -> Average taste, nothing special, very bony. I can hardly find big piece of meat.
• Beancurd with dried-shrimps (虾米豆腐) (RM5) -> Average, the shrimps are crispy but not tasty enough.
• Stir-fried kangkung (清炒蕹菜) (RM9) -> The best dish of the meal. What a joke. The kangkung is young, goes well with the garlic and chili padi.

In conclusion, this restaurant serves average dishes at reasonable price. I don’t think I will go again.

Here’s the location and contact:
Address: 55G, Jalan Pandan Indah 4/6B, Pandan Indah, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-4296 6184


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