Food Explorer & Home Chef
To mark the holy month of Ramadan, EQ’s Citarasa Nipah offers a dizzying selection of food, extending the hospitality to include dishes from the neighbouring South-East Asian region too. Executive chef Hafizzul Hashim displayed his prowess at cooking up an amazing range so much so that …
Here’s the thing about wines bars. While many may have a pretty decent selection of wines and some even offer top notch vintages, food, however, is often relegated to being no more than just a side attraction, with just small bites or the predictable cheese …
I tried to look nonchalant as Ginny rattled off the Thai dishes in the menu, in case I was the only ignoramus who didn’t know that Meat & Sea was a Thai restaurant. Turns out I wasn’t the only one taken by surprise as my fellow foodies and I initially expected a Western surf and turf joint, given the resto name.
What a the gastronomic delight this turned out to be. In fact, I’m almost reluctant to share about this place as it’s probably gonna get swamped once it’s discovered by the masses: the food is well above average, homestyle Thai dishes with a gamut of new and old world wines to choose from. Sure, you would definitely want to bring the family for a weekend meal here, but it’s also the kind of place that you would feel right at home, chilling with friends with a good bottle of wine and great Thai small bites.
The kitchen is the domain of chef Chutikan Parnphan from Kanchanaburi, fondly known as chef Amy who lends her own twist to the dishes, using 100% Thai ingredients procured from a small producer. Shy and reticent, she prefers to let her cooking do the talking, and it says heaps about her skills.
Take, for instance, her version of Tom Yam Talay (RM27/M), laden with prawns, squid and mussels and accentuated with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and galangal, served in an individual pretty Le Creuset pot. (There are also larger sharing portions available.) If you were expecting a fiery spicy potion, then you might be disappointed as this has a more mellow flavour, a fine balance of the four spicy, sour, salty and sweet flavour notes. At the first slurp, your tongue is enticed to find out more; a different note is revealed with each sip. Rather than a sharp spicy soup that burns your insides as it goes down the tract, this version would be likened to a slow cruise down the Chao Phraya, urging you to take in the sights and sounds along the way. I really enjoyed this addictive broth.
Another personal favourite was the Red Curry Beef using Australian beef (RMRM27), no less. Again, this is not your traditional red massamam curry, but a complicated concoction of herbs and spices (some which I’ve never heard of before) carefully blended and cooked without santan. The taste cannot be defined with just one word as it is multi-layered and with every piece you eat, the more you appreciate this dish.
For starters we had Moo Ping (Pork Satay), Kor Moo Yang (Grilled Pork Neck), Som Tom Isan (Papaya Salad with baby crab) plus a sampling of the Khao Ka Moo (braised pork leg). You cannot go wrong with delish Pork Satay (RM18)- I can eat this any time, all day long; Som Tom Isan (RM16) is an acquired taste, leaving a strong stench of the sea in your mouth – Isan food fans will be happy as it’s not commonly found but it’s not for everyone; the grilled pork neck (RM18) and braised pork leg were tasty though I would have preferred some fat to lubricate the lean meat.
Not on the menu but specially churned out for us was the Deep fried sea bass in crispy perfection, with tons of condiments such as cashew nuts, chillies, cut lime, shallots, ginger and other stuff piled on. We finished every last morsel down to the crunchy fish head so that speaks tons for this fish. Other dishes we also tried were crab omelette, pad kra pao and veggie with pork. Needless to say, we had a lot of food!
Elevating the whole meal to another level was the pairing of Viognier and Alsace Riesling. Owner David Chew is ‘da man’ when it comes to wines, having years of experience as a restaurateur and wine bar owner. If he happens to be around when you’re dining there, make friends and ask him to suggest some good vino to go with your Thai meal.
Prices are reasonable – set lunches are available at RM19, and if you don’t see a particular dish you like in the menu, ask chef Amy, she might just whip it up for you (with ample notice, of course) – yeah, it’s that kind of a great, homey restaurant.
Add: 1, Plaza Prismaville, Jalan 19/70a, Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 012-800 4833
With a name like Ultime (pronounced as oul-tim), an obvious play on the word ‘ultimate’, this newly opened restaurant is poised to be the next crowd puller in KL city. Officially opened to the public since early March, Ultime boasts a full fledge kitchen capable …
Last year, many may have missed out on special occasions such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries, graduation ceremonies, or even just gatherings with friends. Guinness wants to give everyone a chance to celebrate the missed occasions this St. Patrick’s month. For 31 days in a row, …
Aiming to bring the Indonesian street food closer to Malaysians, Tetangga Kita claims to use authentic ingredients and recipes imported from Indonesia to come up with their version of Martabak.
If you haven’t already noticed, it’s called Martabak, and not murtabak as we know it here. A common streetfood and pasar malam snack, the ones sold here usually has peanuts, corn, coconut and/or red bean, and better known as ‘man chien kuih’ in Hokkien or ‘tai kau meen’ in Cantonese. It usually comes as a super thin crispy version or the thicker version which has a texture that’s almost kuih like.
Tetangga Kita offers two options, Martabak Manis and Martabak Telor translated as sweet martabak and savoury martabak respectively. Yeah, I know, their translations are a little different from our Malay, but stick with me here …
For Martabak Manis, there’s the thicker version which comes in a variety of flavours or the crispy thin version which has a nice crunchy taste. Some of the specialities on Tetangga Kita’s menu include the Jagung Keju (Tebal), Lotus Biscoff (Tebal) and Sapi, which is the crispy egg martabak with beef tenderloin, onions and leek.
In fact, this is a modest description because if you check out their full menu, there’s at least 10 different varieties or more.
We tried out the Kit Kat Green Tea with Cheese (sweet) (RM28) and the savoury Martabak Dendeng (RM26), which is similar to the meaty murtabak sold at the Indian or Indian Muslim restaurants.
Verdict: Opinions were split on the Green Tea – No.2 and I found this a bit too sweet, and too rich/buttery. But No. 1 really liked it.
We unanimously loved the savoury Martabak Dendeng. The outer skin is like roti canai and it’s really crisp (you must eat this fresh to enjoy this), and the filling is a combination of meat, eggs and onion, thereabouts with some slight variations. This even came with the signature ABC chilli sauce, an institution in Indonesia.
It may be a tad pricier than the night market but to be fair, this is a much larger portion and nicely packaged so you pay for the novelty and innovation I guess. I checked out the full piece in the pasar malam and it was RM16. The basic OG version is about the same price at Tetangga as well.
Tetangga Kita has two outlets, one in Hartamas Shopping Centre, Kuala Lumpur and another outlet in Paradigm Mall, Petaling Jaya.
Recently, it came up with a new packaging – “To all our frontliners, Makasih Ya” – to show appreciation for our frontliners during this unprecedented time. In conjunction with the campaign, Tetangga Kita partnered with The Hope Branch, a non-profit organisation (NGO) launched to help vulnerable families, single parents, Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU), marginalised community and B40 during this pandemic, whereby part of proceeds of the total campaign sales was donated to them.
Was meaning to share this recipe ages ago but procrastination got the better of me. And with this MCO/CMCO/RMCO/dunno-what-CO, the days meld into weeks and months, and sometimes, it’s hard to believe that suddenly a month has gone by. Recently, we chopped off the top …
Valentine’s Day is less than one week away. While the past year saw most of us spending more time than we would like apart, this year you might just be able to spend some alone time with your beloved. Life is not a bed of …
Since we can’t meet up and have our traditional Yum Seng and Lo Sang get-togethers due to the pandemic, Tiger brings the ‘Ong’ to the media and trade partners instead, with an innovative Augmented Reality (AR) twist.
The Tiger ONG Box contains everything guests would experience at one of Tiger’s legendary CNY launches – auspicious greetings, delectable Chinese New Year snacks, exciting games and exclusive goodies, and of course, plenty of Tiger Beer! Recipients unboxed the package with a unique Augmented Reality (AR) experience as they watched Roland Bala, Managing Director of Heineken Malaysia Berhad appear on the virtual stage to greet them.
The key feature of Tiger’s CNY campaign – “Bring on the ONG” – is the limited edition Tiger Beer and Tiger Crystal festive cans. For the very first time, Tiger has introduced limited edition festive can designs in Malaysia, with a meaningful message to make the CNY celebration merrier. The collectible cans in auspicious colours of red and gold are available in two sets of Tiger Beer and Tiger Crystal packaging. When combined, the characters on the cans gives the greeting ‘Wang Shi Ru Yi’ which means ‘Be Prosperous As You Wish’, encouraging consumers to look ahead to the coming year with more optimism and hope for more luck.
What’s more, the limited edition designs come to life when scanned with a smartphone. The ‘Wang’ and ‘Ru’ cans will reveal an exclusive AR experience with auspicious greetings to invite more ONG and unlocks a free spin on the Tiger ‘ONG’ Wheel, with great prizes up for grabs!
Consumers will also be able to get hold of these limited edition cans when they purchase one carton of Tiger Beer and one carton of Tiger Crystal at participating off-trade outlets. There are two sets to collect, with two designs in each set. The limited edition cans are available from Jan 16 till Feb 10, 2021 at participating outlets, while stocks last.
Check out https://tigercny.my/ for more details and to experience the AR animation.
“In past years, we normally would greet and meet our media friends and trade partners in person. But given the extraordinary time we live in, this year we decided to do it virtually. Every year we wish for a happy, healthy and prosperous or a lucky Chinese New Year, and this year the desire is stronger than ever. That is why our campaign this year is called ‘Bring on the ONG’. We have great promotions lined up with more than RM1,000,000 worth of prizes to bring more ONG to our consumers. No matter what may happen this year, I say let’s Bring on the ONG!” said Roland Bala, Managing Director of Heineken Malaysia.
From now until Feb 28, 2021, consumers who purchase big bottles of Tiger Beer, Tiger Crystal, Heineken or Guinness at participating restaurants, food courts or coffee shops, can check underneath their bottle caps for the ‘ONG’ characters representing different prizes to be won including ‘ONGsome’ cash Ang Pows and Tiger Ong Lai Bowl Sets.
In addition to the Tiger CNY goodies, Guinness Gold Playing Cards are also available with every purchase of Guinness products worth RM200. Meanwhile, Heineken fans can get an exclusive Heineken Cooler Box with RM250 spent on Heineken or Heineken 0.0.
To redeem, visit https://tigercny.my/ to upload your receipts and once confirmed, the prizes will be delivered straight to your doorsteps. What’s more, with every RM288 spent on HEINEKEN Malaysia products in a single receipt, consumers will get a free spin on the ONG Wheel, with a chance to win even more amazing prizes.
Promotions are only open to non-Muslims aged 21 and above.
From press release
First cafe outing for 2021 at Slow Coffee @The Hubs, SS2 in Petaling Jaya. Hopefully it won’t be the last for some time, as the number of Covid cases are on the rise again. ‘Twas so nice to be out and about with my girlfriend …