D'lite Kopitiam and "BadAss"@Ampang Park

Once a while, we would walk across Intermark to Ampang Park for lunch. BTW, food in both areas suck. D'lite kopitiam in Ampang Park, however, serves quite good food, but very good coffee (which is a strong motivation) but due to the limited space in the shop, patrons constantly need to rush their meals as others waiting will stare cock at you and make you uncomfortable. It is almost always packed at lunch time which is one deterrence for us as we usually eat in a group of at least 5 or more.

Those who are working nearby, do give a shot on their assam laksa and curry laksa. Not too bad for the price you pay (RM 6.90) but the coffee is good! RM 3.20 (a little pricey)

This RR's car plate caught my attention. Bad Ass. Behind this RR, parked 2 more RRs. I managed to take note of the stickers on the car.

Apparently these are government owned cars. Few fiery thoughts came in my mind:

a) Do government servants need such lavish expensive cars to carry out their daily duties? No. Public money can be spend on MANY MORE useful things! Grr!
b) Government cars with such car plates. Setting "good" example eh?
c) Road tax was renewed until 2016. More public money wasted. I'm quite sure this car will be traded in for even more lavish cars in due time.

Bloody shyt!

Home cooked versus outdoors

Which do you prefer?

Spicy fried maggigoreng ayam by a talented indon lady? Or...

Demona's humble tomato puree chicken with mushrooms?

Ah Weng Koh Hainan Tea

Empty Street. Messy sideways and weird late owls.
It is 4.30am at Puduraya and Dogma has just arrived from Singapore..
Waiting... and waiting for Demona to pick him up..

Waiting... and waiting..

6.55am...Demona arrived and off we go for a tummies growling search for FOOD!

Demona brought me to the the Imbi Market for a old school Hainanese breakfast...
The shop was really "vintage" with smoked up walls and ceilings and rows of old Sharp toaster lining by the wall, churning out the good ol' toast made from traditional Indian bread.

I was pleasantly surprised there is already a healthy crowd at this wee hour of 7am on a Saturday morning... in KL...
Iced Coffee: Whao... very fragrant local coffee. A thick coffee aroma fills up the air. The coffee is strong without being excessively sweet. I like it very much..!!! It really beats those Old town coffee/starbucks/yakun/coffee beans hands down..
River of spilled coffee..


Golden Kaya Butter Toast: Check out the major slab of butter in between the beautifully toasted golden bread. The kaya was thick with intense nose of caramel sweetness. MMM MMM MMMM!!!

This is definitely old school breakfast joint! Family crowd, smelly air, noisy atmosphere. Brother Ah Weng even reserved some tables by placing a special VIP label or Tommy label on them. I'm not surprised why there are so many regulars at this joint. Fantastic coffee and great toast!

PS: Dogma had a bad tummy this morning and he went to the public loo to relieve himself. OK. the loo was really bad. The air was filled up with smell of dead chicken, blooody intestines from the nearby butcher/hawkers that you could hardly smell your own POOOP. However, nilch appetite was lost and Dogma continue to mop up the toast/coffee and many more meals that morning! Truly Malaysian 2008!

New Hollywood Restaurant@Ipoh

Demona: This is one of the famous landmarks for breakfast in Ipoh, since many years back. This place looks like any other chinese kopitiams, but it is actually a halal place. No pork is served here. Hence, you see a mixture of racial crowds happily eating here. Chinese, Indians, Malays, Mat Sallehs. You can get Char Kuey Teow, Laksa, Curry Mee, Loh Baks, Wan Tan Mee, or any food you normally see in a purely chinese kopitiam here.



Demona: I ordered a cup of hot coffee and toast bread with kaya and butter spread. The toast was crunchy and its kaya and butter was nicely coated! The best toast still went to Sin Loong Yong though. The coffee was delicious! Very "KAU" but not too sweet!



Demona: One of my bosses, who is a malay ordered the "Loh Bak". It is basically a mixture of deep fried fishcake, fishballs, meatballs, tofu etc. They tasted really home made, with very strong fishy and meaty aroma and taste. YUMMY!



Demona: This was another plate of fried tofu. Excellent tofu! The inner texture was extremely smooth, with a crunchy deep fried skin layer on the outside.



Demona: This was the sauce given to dip with the "Loh Bak"s. A delicious complement to them!

Verdict: Homely place for a hearty breakfast meal. This is one of the places that gave me the feeling of "Malaysians as One", no racial segregation, no judgmental stares. Cheap place for great foodie too!

Pandi@Seksyen 11, PJ

Pandi has always been our frequent hangout for lunch in KL. Besides being near our pad, the main draw has always been it's heartwarming, good value, consistent indian food . These guys has several branches in KL, probably we should do a parallel tasting of each branch soon!fFried Bitter Gourd@RM1 per plate: What more could you ask from this chewy fragrant bitter gourd that was fried to perfection. It is in a style different from Raju's, which was fried with the seeds and crunchier. Pandi's bitter gourd is more moist chewy and a heavier fragrance of indian leaves. It is perfect with a mug of ice cold beer!
Fried Eggplant@rm1: Again, another RM1 winner here which was chewy and crunchy at the same time. The fried batter provided the crunch while the sliced, semi dry eggplant gave it a chewy texture. Marvellous! This is what cheap good food is all about!
Homemade Potato Chip@FOC: Demona used her charm and gotten this plate of potato chips free! Thinly sliced and fried till extra crispy, this is definitely in a different style from your Ruffles or Pringle Crisp. Lightly salted and ultra crispy, this is darn good! I wonder how would the market respond to vacuum packed Indian potato chips? Just pack them in a fancy packaging and priced it at half of Ruffles price ( RM11) and you might just hit the jackpot!

PS:I suspect sweet potato might be used in this chips. Anyone care to verify?


Fried Fish Roe@RM4: This was my first time having this. There is no fishy smell here, but it was also lacking in any flavour/taste to really captivate me. The fish roe is basically just a so-so dish but i am always attracted to eggs in all form! On a second note, the chutney of Pandi paled in comparison with Raju's. It did not have the minty, pronounced fragrance of Raju's chutney.

Egg Thosai: A good reliable egg thosai. SImple and pleasurable.
Plain Roti Canai: Lacking in structure and body. I would prefer it to be chewier! The chicken gravy was excellent though, with a good dosage of spices and thick real chicken stock... slurp!

Fried Chicken@RM4: An average fried chicken today which lacks a little in the fiery spice department and a tad dry in the inner meat.

The total bill is 13.10 for 2 of us which was a ultra goood value lunch. Only after we left we realized that they did not charge us for the 2 plates of fried bitter gourd and eggplant. If you are reading this Mr pandi, thank you very much. We shall return to you soon!

Sin Yoon Loong@Ipoh Old Town

Demona: This kopitiam is one of the many yummy eateries in Ipoh which I never fail to visit everytime I'm here for work. There were stories of this place being the originator of the "Old Town White Coffee", and the franchised kopitiams and packeted sachets which we drink, had came from two brothers who got the idea of making this white coffee business big. No relation what-so-ever with this kopitiam.

This story was also told by my boss, who was born and bred in Ipoh decades ago. Anyone has any idea on this?



Demona: The Yin-Yong (Kaya and Butter) toast was sinfully delicious! The butter and kaya was well mixed and coated on the white fluffy bread slices (Old Town uses brown bread), toasted to perfection! Each bite was crunchy crunch! Looking back at this pict made my craving surface again. Each set cost RM 0.70. (Old Town's toast set cost RM 1.10). A MUST TRY!



Demona: I am a self-proclaimed coffee-holic (Besides being a chilli gobbler). I need coffee 24/7. Else, I would be a stoned jelly-fied lady for the rest of the day. The white coffee in this kopitiam beats the one from the franchised Old Town by ten folds! The coffee powder, blended well with right amount of milk added, making the drink creamy, subtly sweet, yet releasing a strong, pungent coffee aroma. Each drink cost RM 1.60. (Old Town's drink cost RM 2.80)



Demona: My boss had always been talking about the excellent Wa Tan Hor found at this kopitiam. My colleagues and I decided to try it that day. We found out that the stall was actually 2 adjacent shops away, and the man was cooking behind the shop, along the alley. My boss, was indeed, very very right!

This was by far one of the best Wa Tan Hors I've ever tasted so far. It was a little steep for Ipoh's food pricing (RM 4.00 per plate), but it was worth every penny. The "Wok Hei" was instilled into the dish, and the gravy was extremely thick, creamy, and you could tell from the pict that the man was very sincere in the amount of eggs added in.



Demona: I dug up the fried fat rice noodles and mixed them thoroughly with the gravy. YUMMY! Even the sambal given was spicy, blending well with the dish. I can't wait to bring Dogma over to try this out! NO REGRETS!

Verdict: Old Town White Coffee can never compete with what this kopitiam had to offer! Then again, people here had been making these dishes for years and years, unlike the foreign workers which you see in the franchised branches. I guess I can't compare an apple to an orange. HMMMM...