Homecooked Food in Kajang

Finally went home in July after years of absence. My younger sis showed how much she missed me, by cooking up delicious food. Actually, this is my conjecture only. Haha! Truth is, she has always been the better cook since, I don't know... forever, I think. At the moment, she is the only family member that cooks on a daily basis. Eternally grateful to her for being there with and for our elderly parents.

Here's a collection of the good stuffs I had for that few days when I was at home recently.

Day One (Dinner)

fried rice

radish pork ribs soup

The grains of the fried rice were well defined, and texture of the rice was good. Diced french beans and carrots gave it a crunchy texture and some colour. Of course, must have egg. Pair this with a hearty bowl of soup. Chunky radish and carrots as the base, meaty flavours from the pork ribs and a tad of umami-ness from the dried oysters. Throw in one or two honey dates for the natural sweetness.

We have some homegrown chili padi, so cut chilies was a must for my meals.

Day 2 (Breakfast)

Penang-styled char kway teow with clams

Impressive plate that had legit awesome flavours. The generous amount of small clams and chinese sausage provided savoury-sweetness to the plate. Kway teow was bouncy and each strand was well coated with the dark sauce. Sprouts were juicy and the chives 韭菜) added authenticity to the plate. My sis said she use special sauce and sambal meant for ckt for this.

Day 2 (Dinner)

three dishes (三菜)

brinjal petai in bean sauce

turmeric baked drumlets and wings

steamed white pomfret in soy sauce

All these dishes actually made me wanted to have more rice. But, need to control... 

Day 3 (Breakfast)

chicken feet wanton noodles with char siew

Day 3 (Dinner)

stir fried lettuce with garlic

simple panfried fish

Hakka zhar yoke with black fungus (客家黑木耳炸肉) 

This meal was double wow! The zhar yoke was lovely as the pork belly was tender and so easy to (over)eat. No funky porky smell. The black fungus is one of my favourite foods and it pairs well with the zhar yoke (Cantonese) or zhar bak (Mandarin).

Panfried fish is a simple delicacy that I had always enjoyed. Just rub some salt all over the fish and panfry each side till cook. Take extra care for the head and usually need to baste it for it to be a little bit crunchy. The drizzle lightly with soy sauce and drop some chopped spring onions to garnish. Pour over a bit of the hot oil over the spring onions.

My sis said we have some white chili padi and asked if I'd like to try. Ok, although I've never heard of it before.

white chili padi

Turned out that it was not exactly white, just a very very pale shade of green. But it was indeed more spicy and more fragrant than the normal birds eye chili. Hmm, 1.5 times more spicy I'd say.

Day 4 (Breakfast)

Taiwanese-styled breakfast of shou zhua bing (手抓并)

I think my sis missed travelling and this breakfast was reminiscent of Taipei. Home version means you could add more greens (shredded lettuce) and a thicker piece of spam. Yums!

Thank you sis!

6ixty 7even Restaurant & Bar @ 67 Neil Road

Went back with a group of friends as promised. Read more on our previous visit here. This time round, we opted for the upstairs dining experience.

table for six

Got ourselves a bottle of red, while some of us were having cocktails to start.

cheers~

Fries and wine, why not? Our small bowl of truffle fries were so delectable as it was served piping hot. Yums!

Truffle fries with gruyere cheese and truffle aioli @$15

Korean Yangyeom Style Crispy Chicken Karaage @$14

Pan Roasted Foiegras, Caramelised Granny Smith Apples, Mulled Wine Raisins, Feuille de Brick @$26

Loved the chicken karaage as it was well fried and not too tiny to bite. The foie gras was a tad challenging to be shared amongst so many of us, haha! 

Kurobuta Pork Chop Bone In, 250g @$42

For mains, we ordered the pork chop, chicken roulade and braised beef cheek. Everyone loved the mash that came with the roulade because it was so naturally sweet. The beef cheek was the standout dish for it was so flavourful and tender. Hits all the right spots. Loved the pork chop as well but it was just 250g. Limited edition but was good enough for everyone to have a taste.

Crispy Roulade of Farmed Chicken @$28

Signature Connor Stout Braised Beef Cheek @$32

To end our meal, we had the Basque Burnt Cheesecake. It was lovely.

Basque Burnt Cheesecake @$20

Cosmopolitan @$16

Had fun hanging out with the monthly buddies. Cheers and see you again!

Expect to spend about $80 per pax, inclusive of a drink.

6ixty 7even Restaurant & Bar (67 Restaurant)

Address: 67 Neil Rd, Singapore 088898

Website: https://6ixty7even.com.sg/

Contact: 6988 6767 

Business Hours:

Closed on Sundays.

Mon - Sat: 3pm – 10:30pm

Herbivore By Zen Japanese Vegetarian Restaurant @ Fortune Center

This place was recommended by my colleague whom is a vegetarian. Prior to this, I'd usually think of Elemen, if we are looking for a vegetarian restaurant.

The restaurant is inside Fortune Center, and pretty easy to find. The shop was smaller in size than anticipated.

restaurant entrance

almost all tables have a 'Reserved' tag

We were dining on a Saturday evening, and hence reservation is a must. The place was bustling! Trays after trays of food were being sent out from the kitchen and looks like bento was commonly ordered amongst the diners.

order pad

Although we weren't inform of the time limitation when making reservation, there was a small signage inside the restaurant that indicated so. If I remembered correctly, each table was limited to a 75 minutes dining during peak hours.

Ordering was easy via the order pad placed on each table. I ordered a drink and will eat whatever that my colleagues had ordered prior to my arrival (sorry, I was the last to arrive!).

my drink

Tonkatsu bento @$22

Teriyaki Chicken bento @$22

The bento seemed to have the same side dishes and dessert, hence the only difference was in its 'main'. From the bento sets, I prefer the tonkatsu more than the teriyaki chicken. Reason being, there was some herb taste with the teriyaki chicken and I didn't like that.

Other than that, the nicest side dish was the donut looking thingy that tasted almost like a 'squid' ring, Pretty yums.

fried rings (at the back) was yummy

The fresh springroll was rather healthy tasting. Loved that there's a small side dish of salad as well.

fresh and healthy tasting

small salad of lettuce, turnips, radish and cherry tomatoes

The sauce/dressing seemed to be soy/sesame predominantly. There was one small side dish that consisted of beancurd skin and that came with spicy sauce.

hot pot

Not sure which hotpot my colleagues ordered as it looked like the tofu and yasai hotpot, but it came with 'pork belly' and that was an eye opener. Really tasty and the texture was almost similar to the 'real' thing. It amuses me every time! 

However, the most recommended item were the unagi maki and the mushroom cheese.

mushroom cheese

First impression of the mushroom cheese? Wow, it was really a flavour burst! And, by far the most salty amongst the rest of the items that I had tried that night.

Unagi Maki @$14

I liked the unagi maki the best! Balanced flavours and best tasting. Lovely!

closer view of the maki

We spent about $35 per pax for a meal here.

Herbivore

Address: 190 Middle Rd, #01-13/14 Fortune Centre, Singapore 188979

Website: https://www.herbivore.sg/

Contact: +65 6333 1612

Business Hours: 

Daily: 11:30AM–2:30PM, 5–9PM

[Johor] Sunroast 宏達燒臘 @ Yong Peng

This was my first trip home after Covid and am blessed to be accompanied by my travel buddies; Ivan, Hence, Tracy and Shermaine. Was lunch time, and we were in Yong Peng, so headed to this place after a quick search online on what's available to eat.

The shop was pretty spacious and reminded me of Taiwan, somehow.

shop interior

I asked the staff on what is her recommendation and she gave me a bored look and said we should just order what we like. Ok...

Nevertheless, we ordered the three meats platter, consisting of roast duck, roast pork and char siew. For greens, we ordered the winged beans (四季豆) but was later informed that it was out of stock, so we got the ubiquitous Chinese cabbage (小白菜). For carbs, we got the oil rice (油饭) while Hence chose the noodles. Plus a bowl of seaweed fishballs soup.

The utensils are on the table, together with the sauce. Food was served pretty quickly too.

The 3 meats platter was RM38.80 but was served separately for the duck and the pork.

roast duck

roast pork and char siew

bok choy @RM8.50

fishball soup @RM10

dry noodles @RM4

The noodles fared better than the rice, as it was tossed in light soy sauce with sesame oil fragrance. But of course, a small plate of rice was only RM1.

I liked all the roasted meat. Quite nicely done and not overly seasoned. Duck was pretty tender too!

kopi (small) @RM2

After we left the place, and later that night, it was discovered that the winged beans (RM10) was included in the bill although we didn't get that plate. So do check your bill when you pay.

We spent RM20 per pax for lunch.

Sunroast 宏達燒臘

Address: No 2,Bt 1/4,Jalan Air hitam 83700 Yong Peng, Johor, Malaysia

Website: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063470441391

St. Regis Afternoon Tea @ Brasserie Les Saveurs

Was staying at St. Regis so decided to book the Afternoon Tea at Brasserie Les Saveurs. The price per adult during weekends is $59++ or $52++ during weekdays. Inclusive of one beverage. Top up options are available to change it to floral, sparkling tea or alcoholic drink.

entrance to Brasserie Les Saveurs

high ceiling

Was ushered to the table soonest possible when staff is available attend to guests. We placed our order for the tea and of course, I had to get the St. Regis blend. The tea was nice and amiable. Floral fragrance but not too overpowering.

St. Regis Afternoon Tea

plenty of sweets

I'd like to start with the scones first, lest it turned cold and harden. Two types of scone were brought out; St. Regis scone (which looked like plain scones) and the raisin scone. Not sure why but only one portion of lemon curd, marmalade jam and clotted cream were brought out. Am guessing that it was meant to be shared?

basket of plain and raisin scones (for 2 pax)

lemon curd, strawberry jam and clotted cream

slathered with jam and cream

The scones were alright when eaten warm. The lemon curd and jam were not too sweet.

Kris didn't like her tea after taking a sip and enquired from the staff if this could be changed. The friendly staff immediately acceded to her request without much question. Such stellar service. Lovely.

Besides the 3-tiered cage, there was a separate plate for the savouries.

savoury plate

salmon sandwich with walnuts

brioche

The brioche looked better than it tasted as the bread had hardened by the time we ate it.

sweets

raspberry

rose macaron

For the sweets, my favourites were the macaron and the round raspberry ball. The swiss roll cake was nice too but it was wet to touch, so that was weird. I hope the moisture was from the fresh strawberry...

Just when we thought we were done, there were two more items served to us; quiche and panna cotta. I definitely didn't expect it, so was pleasantly surprised. That's the problem when one doesn't check-out the menu beforehand.

quiche

served hot

The quiche was nicely hot and very eggy/milky. By now, I was feeling rather full. Am amused that the last 2 items were a contrast of hot and cold.

panna cotta

Unfortunately, took one bite of what appeared to be the cherry panna cotta, and both Kris and myself looked at each other. Then we put our teaspoons down. 

The reason why I didn't like it, was the texture of the panna cotta was too dense. Not sure if it was a time off thing or it was meant to be like this.

Overall, the place was nice to have a gathering or a tete-a-tete with your gal friends. Service was good and staff were all rather friendly. Didn't have to wait long for the items to arrive.

Will I go back for Afternoon Tea? Unlikely.

Brasserie Les Saveurs

Address: 29 Tanglin Road, Lobby Level, The St. Regis, 247911

Menu: https://marriottbonvoyasia.com/restaurants-bars/the-st-regis-singapore-brasserie-les-saveurs