klyeoh's Profile
Singapore: Tiong Bahru Bakery - Anyone been?
30 pax long at 8am?!! Singaporeans are so "kiasu"!
Sorry, makanputra - next time then, when all the euphoria dies down.
Yogyakarta
Just be careful when choosing street eats in Indonesia, GordonS. BTW, you can MBok Berek restaurants on the way back to Jogja from Borobudur, whereas Ny Suharti is the one along the route to the Prambanan Temple.
You can find one of the Gramedia bookshop branches at Malioboro Mall (the most modern mall in Jogja) on Malioboro Road - you can get the guide book there. And in case you want a break from Indonesian street eats, you can drop by J Co Donuts at the mall (same quality as Krispy Kreme), Starbucks or even Breadtalk bakery from Singapore (with its famous custard-filled buns with meat-floss topping).
Pics of Malioboro Mall, and one of the food stalls at the local handicraft market just a short jaunt down Malioboro Rd from the mall, which also has several well-patronised food stalls. Enjoy your trip!
Yogyakarta
There's also a wealth of eating recs on the Indonesian language websites, e.g. the one below entitled "7 Tempat Makan Paling Top di Jogja" ('The 7 Top Eating Places in Jogja')
http://tujuhpedia.com/7-tempat-makan-paling-top-di-jogja/
They are:
1.Sate Sapi Lapangan Karang, Kotagede - Beef sate. Been around since 1948 but at this location since 1955. Grilled beef skewers, served with a choice of thick peanut sauce, or a coconut-creme-scented vegetable stew.
2. Sate Goreng Ringin, Kronggahan - Mutton sate (been operating since 1978).
3. SGPC Bu Wiryo, Selokan Mataram - a one-plate meal consisting of steamed rice with various vegetable & meat dishes (pecel) with chilli/condiments.
4. Gado-gado Teteg - a warm vegetables/tofu/tempe salad with spicy peanut-chilli sauce, topped with rice-prawn crisps. Done well, gado-gado will have a wonderful blend of different flavors & textures.
5. Bakmi Kadin - a must-visit for any culinary visitor to Jogja. It offers 2 types of noodles: fried or braised. Started in 1947, now run by the third-generation of the founding family.
6. Bakmi Pak Pele. Apparently, this popular noodle stall gotits name from its owner-cook, Pak Suhardiman, who was nicknamed Pak Pele due to his resemblance to the legendary Brazilian soccer player. Various types of noodles, all cooked over charcoal-fired stoves which imparts a fragrantr aroma to the noodle dishes.
7. Bebek Goreng Cak Koting - Crisp-fried duck. Cak Koting is located outside Mataram cinema. For diners with an aversion towards duck, one can choose crisp-fried chicken, pigeon, innards/organs, or fish.
From the detailed description in the article, I believe the dishes are very much tailored towards the local (Central Javanese) palate with no concession for outsiders' tastes. Try them if you're feeling adventurous, or just want to taste what locals *really* eat :-)
Singapore: Tiong Bahru Bakery - Anyone been?
Back in Singapore this weekend - Sat morning brunch?
Kuala Lumpur - 100% Authentic Penang Fried Koay Teow ... Found!
ROFL! Well, penang_rojak, I was back there again last night - to try the duck's egg version this time. The cook was different from the one pictured above. This other guy has a round face which looked almost like Genghiz Khan/Kublai Khan's portraits. If he did not speak Hokkien to me (in a sing-song Penang lilt like yours), I could have sworn he was a Mongolian or Manchurian person, rather than Malaysian/Penang-Chinese.
Back to the fried koay teow - last night's version was drier than the one i had last week, the clams were smaller (which quickly dried up from over-frying) but the 100% Penang aroma/taste were retained. Am very impressed indeed.
Not sure if this round-faced guy is actually related to the skinny guy - although the stall is called Chua Brothers, they looked too different.
Yogyakarta
huiray - it's actually symptomatic of the way Indonesians think and behave: very little regard for discipline or method/procedure. In Yogya/Jogja/Djogja's case, everyone has his/her own way to spell or pronounce thename, but everyone will also know that they're all referring to that same city :-D
Yogyakarta
huiray - seems like the newer spelling is Yogyakarta, offcially, although Jogjakarta is still very often used in place names, etc., there.
I remembered back in the 1970s when it was spelt Djogjakarta!
Yogyakarta
Great, now you can try the good restaurants in Jogja & report back. I only hit the tip of the iceberg where dining options in Jogja/Yogya is concerned as my trip there last year was mainly to visit the Borobudur and Prambanan sites.
Jalan Malioboro in the city centre is a teeming, lively spot for night-eats. I only managed to try the "ayam soto" there for breakfast:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/814793
No visit to Yogyakarta is complete without trying the Indonesian-style fried chicken where it was invented. Read Robyn Eckhardt's definitive article on MBok Berek on the Wall Street Journal here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124591041672752227.html
I had a great dinner at MBok Berek last year:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/814718
Mind you - MBok Berek does not serve "nasi gudeg", but you can find that at Ayam Goreng Ny. Suharti, Jalan Laksda Adisucipto No. 208. Tel: (0274) 484522. Ayam Goreng Ny Suharti also serves awesome fried chicken, and has branches in Jakarta, Surabaya, etc.
I depended very much upon a good food guide I bought there entitled "Monggo Mampir - Megudap Rasa Secara Jogja" which you can pick-up from any of the large Gramedia bookstores in town. It listed down "Tempat Makan Legendaris di Jogja" or 'Legendary Eating Places in Jogja'.
Per Monggo Mampir, for sate options in the city centre, the top-rated places are:
1. Sate Pak Kromo, Jl. Suryotomo No. 3. Tel: (0274) 561105
2. Sate Podomoro, Jl. Mataram No. 11. Tel: (0274) 582037
3. Sate Pak Amat, Jl. Pekapalan No. 5, Tel: (0274) 380723
4. Sate Pak Dakir, Jl HOS Cokroaminoto 75. Tel: (0274) 618066
5. Sate Pak Parno, Jl. Depan Pasar Lempuyangan. No tel number.
For gudeg options:
1. Gudeg Bu Djuminten, Jl. Asem Gede 14, Kranggan. Tel: (0274) 561151
2. Gudeg Kebon Dalem, Jl. P Mangkubumi (di sebelah selatan Tugu or 'south of the Tugu monument'). No tel number.
3. Gudeg Pawon, Jl. Janturan No. 38, Warungboto. Tel: 085228470264
4. Gudeg Permata, Jl. Gajah Mada (di samping Bioskop Permata or 'next to Permata cinema'). Tel: (0274) 553853
5. Gudeg Sedhem, Jl HOS Cokroaminoto (di sebelah utara SMU 1). Tel: (0274) 6188000.
Other must-eats there include "bakso" (meatballs, usually served in soups with/without noodles), "soto" (chicken soup) and "martabak" (meat-filled pancakes). It will be great if you can read Indonesian, as Monggo Mampir did not just list down the eateries, but also detailed the history of the food items, and the stories of the famous stalls and the cooks behind those eateries. The author is Syafaruddin Murbawono (Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2009). Nice photos as well.
Definitive list of best Asian restaurants in London
Front page news on the Sun Malaysia papers today - Awana Chelsea will close down and turned into a sushi bar by its new owners. It's been bleeding £££ since Day 1:
"According to the Auditor-General's report tabled last year, Pempena's venture of opening a Malaysian restaurant in London brought "dismal results", raking in only £13,000 in 2007, far behind its annual target of £520,692."
For full article, read here:
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/391974
Manila Chinese Food
Thanks for the update, dazed2. I've been exposed to Filipino cuisine since 1975, when one of my father's classmates & oldest friends served as an envoy in Australia's embassy in Manila. Today, I have 2 cousins with Filipino spouses, so we continue to have opportunities every now & then to savor Filipino delicacies both in Singapore, and also during the occasional holiday in the Philippines.
In Singapore with family for 5 days
Yet Con only accepts cash. The others will accept credit cards :-)
In Singapore with family for 5 days
City Hall MRT. Get off and walk thru the Raffles City shopping centre. Cross the road at the other end and walk thru Raffles Hotel to Seah Street - ask any folks along the way, they'll be happy to point you in the right direction, or get your hotel concierge to print out a Google map for you.
Purvis Street is parallel to Seah St, and several little lanes will link up the 2 streets. Probably take you 10 minutes to get there from City Hall MRT, unless you get waylaid by the sights & sounds along the way, which is *very* likely ;-)
When are you planning to go? If it's a weekday, try and go before 12 noon for lunch, or 6 pm for dinner.
Durian <-- King of Fruits!
Heh-heh, don't think I'll part with US$300 for a "rare" durian. It's also not something one can pick off the fruit section even in the upmarket supermarkets in Siam Paragon or Central World Plaza. Apparently, these Nonthaburi Kanyao durians have to be procured directly from the orchard owner - and last year was a "vintage" year of sorts, which caused the price to skyrocket!
I was in Bangkok for the durian season last year, but an aunt organized a trip to the durian orchards in the well-known fruit plantation areas of Chanthaburi instead of Nonthaburi. I think each of the good quality Kanyao we had costed about US$15-US$20 each, and these were already the most expensive ones. Most Monthong or Chanee were priced around US$6 per kilo.
In Thailand, it's also common to have durians with steamed "khao niew" (glutinous rice), flavored with coconut milk and sugar. To-die for!
Petch Sayam - Leytonstone - London
You're right, PhilD.
I think I was hoping for a wave of "Southern Thai", or "Royal Thai" (with their "rhoom", "chor muang", etc) eateries making headway in London's Thai food scene, rather than every new one touting their "Isarn" credentials. It's like the African food scene in the US back in the 90s - every one seemed to be "Ethiopian", to the exclusion of all others.
Durian <-- King of Fruits!
Thai durians have a fainter smell (and taste) compared to Malaysian ones - so, they''re more suitable for those with an aversion to the durian's strong, assertive scent.
For me, Thai durians would satisfy my craving for thick, abundant flesh, but they tend to fall short taste-wise. Since I was a little kid, I haven't found any Thai durians which I really liked yet, despite having tried all the good breeds (Monthong, Chanee & Karnyao) on my annual visits to Bangkok to visit my maternal grandparents' families.
Kuala Lumpur - Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih House @ Berkeley Garden, Klang
It's actually incredible - watching 3 Indonesian women standing over the boiling pots of soup stock manned by this young Chinese chap (whom I understood was the son of the owner/founder of the shop aka Fatty), hand-tearing the noodles.
The soft doughballs were made elsewhere (at home?) and transported to the shop. These women merely stood there over the stoves, stretching, pressing & flatten edges off the doughballs between their thumbs & fingers (they did not press the dough against any surface), then tear off little thin sheets into the boiling stock - no apparatus used: no rolling pins or special pasta roller-machines!! Now *that* took skill!
Kuala Lumpur - Kee Heong Bak Kut Teh @ Taman Eng Ann, Klang
Yes, huiray, Kee Heong's version is the tastiest I'd had so far. And last weekend, we had a claypot which included mushrooms and beancurd sheets/ "foo chuk".
Mike is right about Klang's "bak kut teh" being more stew-like, as the most popular & famous ones in Klang like Kee Heong and Mo Sang Kor offer the stewy versions. So, Klang Valley folks tend to say Klang versions are thicker and drier than KL versions, which uniformly offer soupy, often with thinner soups and much less herbal flavors as well, compared to Klang ones.
But there are also soupy Klang versions nowadays, e.g. the cluster of competing "bak kut teh" outlets in Batu Tiga Lama (just as one enters Klang town from the KL-Klang highway), Yeoh's Bak Kut Teh (at the Hokkien Huay Kuan building), Pao Xiang at middle-class Berkeley Gardens suburb in Klang, and the famous "Under the Bridge bak kut teh" in the old quarter near the Klang Railway Station. Most of these places (with the exception of Pao Xiang & Under the Bridge) serve their "bak kut teh" bubbling hot in huge claypots. If this trend continues, there'll come a day when Klang will have as many soup versions of "bak kut teh" as their traditionally stewy ones.
Sometimes, how some Chinese hawker fare came about is very interesting. Last night, AEC Chinese cable channel featured Axian's Food Adventures, a Malaysian production where this energetic foodie-host goes all over Malaysia looking into origins of famous food items. Last night's 1-hour episode saw him going to Pontian, Johore, to suss out the origins of the famous Pontian wanton noodles, where chilli sauce or tomato sauce were added, instead of soysauce, lard & oyster sauce as dressing.
What he found out was *amazing* - he actually managed to seek out and interview two different wanton noodle sellers who were the *first* folks to sell wanton noodles in Pontian (the oldest one started in 1938). Both explained that they started selling wanton noodles dressed in soysauce, etc. as in Guangdong (where they were from). Their competing wanton noodle stalls were the most famous in Pontian at the time. Then, bottled supplies of soysauce & oyster sauce became very expensive in the aftermath of World War 2, so the guy who owned the oldest wanton noodle stall switched to canned tomato ketchup and also chilli sauce from Singapore, which were cheaper. Surprisingly, his clients took a liking to the tomato/chilli sauce-flavored wanton noodles, and his rival quickly followed suit to switch to tomato/chilli sauce - all these happened in 1947.
Today, Pontian wanton noodles have become famous for its "unique" tomato/chilli sauce dressing which differentiate it from those in Central and Northern Malaysia. Now, many wanton noodle sellers in Singapore only sell chilli sauce or tomato sauce versions of wanton noodles - obviously influenced by the innovative Pontian guys.
In Singapore with family for 5 days
I like Yet Con for its "old world" atmosphere (Singapore coffeeshop circa 1940) and its plethora of a la carte Hainanese dishes (stir-fried fishmaw with Chinese cabbage & seafood, egg foo yong, Hainanese pork chop, or fried tunghoon with cuttlefish) which go well with their chicken rice. Hard to find these elsewhere in Singapore. And it's air-conditioned :-)
Ipoh, Malaysia - Curry Noodles from Xin Quan Fang
Xin Quan Fang was featured in "Food Surprise", hosted by Singapore foodie and founder of Makansutra, KF Seetoh, on the Asian Food Channel this evening. The lady boss of Xin Quan Fang said they'd been selling their curry noodles for 58 years!
In Singapore with family for 5 days
The heat & humidity in Singapore can be quite punishing - and it's even hotter than usual at the moment, with many folks falling sick even.
For fried carrot cake or laksa, but in a comfortable environment on Orchard Road, try the food court at Basement 2 of Takashimaya, Ngee Ann City; or the Food Republic on Level 4 of Wisma Atria.
There's Din Tai Fung at Wisma Atria, as well as Paragon, so no worries about having to take public transport.
For Indonesian, try Pepes at Ngee Ann City - aircon comfort! Indon food is a close substitute for Malay food. But if you're still hankering for the "real" thing, try Warung M Nasir on Killiney Road which is walking distance from the 313 Somerset mall on Orchard. Whilst you're at Killiney Rd, you may also want to try the famous Killiney Rd Kaya Toast at its original location & where the now-famous chain derived its name.
No eating trip to Orchard Road is really complete without having dim sum at Crystal Jade Palace (Ngee Ann City) or Peking duck at Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck restaurant (Paragon).
Tonkichi at Isetan Scotts (Shaw House) serves some of the best tonkatsu in town. It's worth a try.
Singapore doesn't really have good Vietnamese, but if you must try some (and don't mind paying more for it), then go to Annam, which is just behind Isetan Scotts (attached building), facing HSBC & Pacific Plaza on Claymore Hill:
http://www.soshiok.com/critic/article/16363
Do let us know if you'd like any more specificinformation.
London chip shop serving plaice?
Almost like they were two different places! Can it be *that* inconsistent?!
London chip shop serving plaice?
Rock Sole & Plaice?
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/776422
Indonesia Mini Market - Indonesian Home Cooking in Central London
Trust JFores & Limster to continue seeking out new eating options for you guys - all in the true Chowhound spirit.
LOL! I don't think Indonesian food had anything which sounded like "ram" or "nam", but he could be mentioning about "Ayam", meaning chicken, and Indonesians - especially if they're central Javanese - make the BEST fried chicken ("Ayam Goreng") in the world!!
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/814718
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/802981
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/802224
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/804141
Has to be freshly-fried and served hot though, to make sure the crust is ultra-crisp. Don't miss it if they do offer it.
Petch Sayam - Leytonstone - London
Thanks for the reminder, limster. Yes, Thai 101 indeed has a selection of Southern dishes to supplement its Isarn menu.
I'd sure like to try Kaosarn, too, next time.
One aspect of Thai cuisine that I can't find in London are street foods (besides pad Thai, of course) like those one finds in the streets of Bangkok, plusThai-style seafood restaurants:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/832511
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/832514
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/832534
Petch Sayam - Leytonstone - London
Photos of some delicious Southern Thai dishes which I'd come to really like here in KL's Thai restaurants:
- "Khao yam" rice salad, served with various finely-chopped herbs, toaated dessicated coconut, salted duck's egg (the grilled chicken in the photo was an "extra", atypical of the dish);
- Southern Thai "num chin" rice noodles with coconut milk-galangal-fish-flavored gravy, served with Thai basil, pineapple, torch ginger, cucumber.
- Unpolished rice steamed with fenugreek seeds, shallots & coconut milk, served with fish curry
You find these dishes in KL quite easily, where I haven't found any Isarn-style cuisine in all my searching for the last 12 months here! Conversely, none of the dishes here can be found in *any* Thai restaurant in London.
I just wanted to highlight that Thai cuisine is very rich & varied, with regional variations, not just larb, tom yum & grilled meats/sausages with glutinous rice.
Petch Sayam - Leytonstone - London
Well, for a start, look at the most popular Thai spots in London:
- Heron Pub is skewed towards Isarn (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/780882);
- Thai 101 (ร้านร้อยเอ็ด ลอนดอน) is named after Roi Et, a town in Isarn;
The result is that Thai restaurants (in London-speak) is pretty different from Thai restaurants we get in Singapore, which have a more Bangkok/Central Thailand influence. So, you get larb, khao niew & Isarn sausages quite easily in Thai restaurants in London, but not so easy to come by here in Singapore's Thai restaurants. But then, my maternal grandparents were both Bangkokians, so perhaps i have a biasness towards the cooking of Central Thailand.
Conversely, in Malaysia, where I'm currently based, the Thai restaurants are influenced by Southern Thai cuisine, i.e. from Songkhla, Satun, Yala, Narathiwat & Pattani. So, Muslim/Southern Thai dishes I commonly find in KL (e.g. "khao yam" rice salad - my personal fave) are very difficult to find in London.
Kuala Lumpur - Kee Heong Bak Kut Teh @ Taman Eng Ann, Klang
Malaysia's Hokkien-style "bak kut teh" versus Singapore's Teochew-style "bak kut teh"?
The two dishes are so different that I tend to regard them as two totally different types of hawker fare which I'd go for in equal measure. "Last meal"? I'd go for Hainanese chicken rice than "bak kut teh" :-D
Petch Sayam - Leytonstone - London
Fantastic! Another interesting Thai place which I'd like to try next time I'm in London.
Frankly, I was hoping it'll *not* be another Isarn spot - since every other Thai eatery in London seemed to have an Isarn connection (with its larb & glutinous rice & sausages) - and Londoners are beginning to mistakenly regard North-eastern Thai dishes as representative of the cuisine of the whole of Thailand! But then, proliferation of Isarn eating spots is not surprising, as the arid Isarn region is the poorest in Thailand, and its people tend to migrate outwards to eke a living.
In Bangkok itself, the Isarn people are regarded almost like the "Irish" of Thailand.
In the UK, the Isarn people seemed to dominate the Thai restaurant industry, the same way the Sylhetis from Bangladesh predominate the Indian restaurant industry, and the Cantonese did likewise for Chinese restaurants.
Kuala Lumpur - Best South Indian Vegetarian Food in KL from Saravana Bhavan
Not "shaved" stuff, huiray, but crisp "sev" noodles.
