When in the past, you've only heard your mom reminiscing about this 茨厂街 (pronounced as 'chew cheong gai' in Cantonese), there's only one option...time to pay this place a visit! A few years back, my bro, sis and myself (siblings team) made a day trip to this place so this time round, we made sure we are able to stay a few nights there to explore more of that area.
Sis booked us rooms at Geo Hotel, which is just round the corner after exiting from the Pasar Seni LRT. Location was convenient as Petaling Street is just about 5 minutes walk away.
landmark of Petaling Street
For breakfast, you could opt for Hon Kee Porridge 汉记靓粥. This establishment has been around since our parents' time. Lots of tourists could be seen enjoying the smooth cantonese porridge from this stall. If the stall has no seats, just cross the road to the opposite side (near the bank) as those seats there are provisioned for this shop as well.
Hon Kee Porridge @ Petaling Street
Our usual orders would be mixed pork parts porridge (猪什粥) and fish porridge (生鱼粥). Place your orders and be seated. The staff will bring over when it is ready. The fried dough fritters or 'you zhar kwai' (油条) was nicely fried and crispy.
猪什粥 (chu chap juk)
生鱼粥 (sang yu juk)
If you don't fancy porridge, would you like to have some wanton noodles from Koon Kee? This is one of the famous and established stalls in Petaling Street, though lately many had commented about declining standards. Personally, I haven't tried Koon Kee.
Koon Kee
Take a stroll to nearby areas to check out other breakfast options. Perhaps some bak kut teh? If not, then there's also the Tang City Foodcourt to check out as well.
bak kut teh stall
There's also a stall selling dim sum if you like those. Be awed by the size of big pau. When we say big pau, we meant it. I found the siew mai a tad too tough for my liking but perhaps that also meant that it had packed more meat into it?
assorted dim sums
charcoal skin big bao, shang yuk bao, char siew bao
For decent local kopi, I prefer the one at Tang City Foodcourt over the one at 'Cha Wong' (茶王). The kopi at Cha Wong has a higher acidic sharper taste that's more tea-like than kopi-like.
Oooh, because it was Lunar New Year, we chanced upon a lion dance performance at the Guan Di Temple (关帝庙). So lucky of us!
lively lion dance
As you walk along, you will also encounter old hawkers who has been setting up stall at Petaling Street since their younger days. For example, the pancake uncle and the muah chee aunty.
pancake uncle
muah chee aunty
The coconut pancake retails for RM1 per piece and the muah chee is RM5 per box. Prefer the original muah chee as opposed to the multi-flavoured muah chee.
deft hands
years had gone by
Of course, when in Petaling Street, you will be looking for Sei Ngan Zai (四眼仔) or 'four eyed boy' roast duck stall. Hmm, but it is operated by two ladies wor and none of them wear spectacles. Why is it called Sei Ngan Zai? Half a duck for RM28 and one for RM56. Bought half to bring home and it was rather yummy.
Sei Ngan Zai Roast Duck
ate the roast duck with maggi mee
For the young and hip, there's also cafes around this area. The nearest would be Toast & Co. which exists inside the Grocer's Inn, a backpackers' hostel, or Coffee Amo and also Merchants Lane.
If you like old school bakes, there's the well established Fung Wong Biscuit (Confectionary). It was closed for a while and now it has reopened its doors. I do like their bakes especially the salted egg yolk pastry.
Fung Wong Biscuit
If you're thirsty from all the walking, there's Air Mata Kucing (Cat's Tears or Cat Eye Water?) or Kim's Soya Bean shop.
air mata kucing or ling chee kang
Read about previous visit to Petaling Street here.
Yuka and myself weren't feeling that hungry so we decided to eat nearby Fushimi. She brought us to a yakitori place that's operated by a sake brewery. It has its own carpark, so we didn't have to hunt for a parking lot.
Quite a cool shop. Lots of wooden beams, shelves and shelves of sake bottles and sturdy tables.
similar to housewine so this is their 'house' sake
Had my first taste of matcha sake and it was delicious! It is pretty sweet so, guys might not like it. Similar to dessert wine but not as sweet. Very nice and kind of regretted not getting a bottle home! But the otoshi (お通し) was quite horrible. It was just grated radish with soy sauce?! Ugh.
matcha sake ¥440
Didn't order alot and they ran out of chicken hearts. See, this is one of the favourites. The yakitori prices were reasonable and between ¥140 to ¥210 each stick.
tebasaki and pork belly - salted
chicken liver and momo - sauce
For carbs, we had the autumn seasonal kamameshi. It came with pickles and tofu. The flavours are mild and the hot rice was comforting as it had started to drizzle a bit and night time was pretty cold in autumn.
chicken and mushroom kamameshi - autumn limited edition @ ¥950
Interesting place and too bad Yuka can't drink as she's driving. A nice place to enjoy yakitori and sake.
As I was nursing a fractured wrist due to an accident while I was in Kyoto, my landlady Yuka took pity on me and offered to bring me around Kyoto via her car for a day. A chance to explore Kyoto with a local? Yes, please!
Uji is located at the outskirts, so the scenary changes from buildings to farmlands and river.
view from Yuka's car
look, Uji river~
We parked the car and strolled down to the restaurant. Tatsumiya is about 12 minutes walk from Keihan Uji Station or about 15 minutes walk from Uji JR Station. Nearby, is Byodoin, a World Heritage site.
Tatsumiya
The restaurant has wooden sliding doors and one sits on tatami flooring. Yes, one needs to take off shoes before being seated.
counter seats and this is the door where the hostess will enter
Tatsumiya serves traditional Kyoto cuisine and one could opt for Kaiseki as well. We took the lunch bento. I had mine with sashimi while Yuka opted for one with chawanmushi.
The bento was served with a brown leaf folded to cover the small dishes. Was pleasantly surprised by the colourful and pretty looking items. The bento was served with seven rolls of Akita rice that has Uji tea leaves on it. I understand that the small dishes in the bento changes in accordance to season.
宇治丸弁当 ¥3800
many many small items in here
There's mushrooms, chestnut, konyaku, fish paste, a slice of duck, juicy brinjal, quail's egg, gingko nut, shishito, snail etc. Interesting eats and one would get quite full at the end of the meal. Allocate at least an hour to an hour and a half to eat all of this.
The sashimi was slow to arrive but it was super fresh. The fish was fatty and firm.
sashimi of squid and hamachi
Very interestingly, there's a mochi wrapped in green leaf in there. This was one of the best mochi that I've eaten!
mochi
By then, I was seriously full. But, there's desserts! There was a grape, pear and matcha chocolate.
desserts
Had an enjoyable lunch and appreciate the company. Special thanks to Shinichi (for treating us lunch though he's not present to join us) and Yuka for introducing a slice of Kyoto.
Again, our instinct of trying out the foodshops near our Inari House paid off well. This time round, we wandered into Kendonya, an udon noodle house. This shop was more spacious as compared to Ramen Hiwamatanoburo which is just a few doors away.
shopfront
counter seats and Chef
Most of the sets came with carb-on-carb, meaning you'll get a bowl of udon and a bowl of rice. Tourist friendly and English menu is available. The shop's bestseller seemed to be their pork cutlet sets. Bucking the norm, we decided to choose something else.
I went with my karaage set (minus the rice) and my friend opted for the udon and oyakodon set. Both are priced below ¥1000.
draft beer
It was rather late at night, close to 830pm when we dined there plus it was drizzling, so there were only one or two tables occupied.
favourite condiments in Kyoto
Mini chicken and egg rice bowl with hot udon @¥860+
Hot udon with karaage set @¥980+
The mini oyakodon here looked good, especially when eaten while it was still hot!
mini 親子丼
The owner had been making udon since his 20's and he ventured out and became his own boss in his thirties. Handmade udon, we loved! The udon served at Kendonya is of the plump and chewy variant. Slurpiliciously good! Because it was a cold day, we chose the hot broth version. Otherwise, one could also have it as chilled udon.
温麦
While the star is the udon, must mention that the karaage was very good too! The menu mentioned that this is different from American-styled fried chicken which made me thought of how to describe the taste of Japanese fried chicken to our foreign friends?
から揚げ
The karaage was well-fried to a crisp skin and still moist and juicy on its insides. The meat was marinated adequately and each bite was thoroughly enjoyed. Though its size is not comparable to the one from its neighbour, I didn't regret ordering this. Plus, fried chicken and ice cold draft beer...need I say more?
Kendonya 手打うどん けんどん屋
Location: Japan, 〒612-0012 Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Fushimi Ward, Fukakusa Ichinotsubocho, 41, パールハイツイナリ1F Website:https://tabelog.com/en/kyoto/A2601/A260601/26003538/ Contact: +81 75-641-1330 Business Hours:
11:00～15:00 (lunch)
17:00～20:30 (dinner)
Close on Wednesdays and one extra day off a month.
Have you tried The Peranakan Yee Sang Istimewa? Istimewa means special, so we asked Chef Raymond on how is the Yee Sang Istimewa differs from the usual. Found out that the secret is in the herbs.
Yee Sang Istimewa 娘惹捞起鱼生 @68 （for 8 pax)
Salmon toppings start from $38 while abalone starts from $88 onwards. Combo toppings are priced at $118 for medium plate.
closer view of the herbs
let the wealth starts pouring in~
huat ah!
As Chef Raymond explains it, the yee shang is still of a much familiar taste of sweet, tangy and appetising with a healthy dose of peranakan herbs. Likeable flavours! The large portion was good enough for 10 pax even!
yee sang istimewa
How about ushering the Year of the Rooster with a bottle of Aves Del Sur Reserva Merlot?
Aves del Sur Reserva Merlot Chile
There are many high tea options available in Singapore, but have you ever experienced a Peranakan High Tea? Best to allocate about 2 hours of leisurely chit-chat and makaning for this! About 12 dishes in total per pax that include both sweet and savoury items.
The Peranakan High Tea @$24/28 (weekday/weekend) per pax (min. 2 pax)
Loved the presentation. From the lace found on the serving tray to the tiffin carrier that housed our delicious mee siam, to the small containers with nanyang-styled motifs.
mee siam and red wine
The mee siam here has strong flavours that we loved. From the sambal that's so shioks, to the super tangy yet sweet sauce. Very appetising and yummy with the merlot.
satay babi pongteh bun
The other savouries that I liked was the satay babi pongteh bun ala kong bak bao. Fatty pork braised in sauce. Just that the bun had slightly hardened by the time we got to this dish.
ngoh hiong and hae bee hiam toast
"So much food!" That was the common exclamation that night.
pineapple tart sampling
loveletters, toast with durian puree
The high tea set comes with a pot of Malaccan coffee/tea. I'd recommend the tea to go along with the sweets like pulut inti kelapa/durian and the pandan chiffon cake.
The Peranakan also offers Lunar New Year cookies for sale (while stocks lasts!). My favourite was the kueh bangkit! CNY Cookies are priced from $18 to $28 per tin.
jemput makan
Many thanks to Chef Raymond Khoo and crew of The Peranakan for your hospitality and warm welcome. Thank you Hence for the invite and fellow foodies for the enjoyable company!
The Peranakan remains open throughout the Lunar New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai!
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