PARENTS DAY SPECIAL SET MENU @ DRAGON-i

I'm always an advertisement-victim, easily caught by words like "PROMOTIONS", "SPECIAL OFFER", "ONLY LAST FOR ... DAYS", etc. Since Dragon-i is currently doing a PROMOTION on Parents Day SPECIAL Set Menu, how can I miss that!?

COLD SPICY CHICKEN IN SICHUAN STYLE (四川口水鸡)
Well, when it is firstly served on our table, it doesn't look like chicken at all. This is because it is perfectly placed into a half-bowl shape, & it looks like tofu. On top of it, has been sprinkled with a generous amount of sesame seeds. Although I'm not a big fan of Chinese cold dish, but this taste really good, which is out of my expectation.


Since we can choose 2 out of 5 cold dishes, hence this SMOKED BEAN CURD SKIN STUFFED WITH MUSHROOM (烟熏香素鹅) will be our 2nd choice. I'm amazed by this dish, it's really yummy!!! The taste isn't too heavy, not too salty, just nice!!! The bean curd skin is nicely fried, but it is not too oily, acceptable. The mushroom, surprisingly, can be easily chewed. I'm definitely happy with my choices of cold dishes!! ^.^






DOUBLE BOILED SUPERIOR CHICKEN SOUP WITH FRESH GINSENG & CONCH MEAT (真参真意鲍螺汤)
This is the 'main character' in this set menu. The main purpose to order this set, so it has to be good in order to be the main attraction. Fortunately it is not a disappointment. I like this soup because it is really healthy, herbal but doesn't taste/smell bitter, it tastes superb!!! The meat & ginseng is edible, dip with some soy sauce will generally taste better.


SAUTEED SEA PRAWN IN SICHUAN STYLE (双腾干烧鲜明虾)
I can only describe this dish in ONE word, BRAVO!!! As per my previous post, I made it clear that "I am a prawn-freak", "I love prawns", but in one condition, the prawns must be fresh!!! Not only these prawns are fresh, but the sichuan-ness taste is delicious!!! A little sour, a little sweet, a little spicy, evenly. I'm so into it, ended up with two prawns on my plate (such a greedy food-lover, LoL).


DEEP-FRIED AROMATIC CRISPY HALF CHICKEN (当红蒜香脆皮鸡)
This dish can be considered as a traditional Chinese deep fried chicken, due to the salt+pepper dipping, which we can now only be able to taste in old-school Chinese restaurant. The chicken itself without any sauce/powder dipping is great. However, when it is dipped with the salt+pepper, it becomes more salty. Personally, I don't mind salty food, but my parents do not favour it. Therefore, I suggest to those who do not fancy salt, just don't dip onto any sauce/powder...

BRAISED RED TILAPIA WITH BROWN SAUCE (恩深如海泥罗红)
I find this dish ordinary. It's a deep fried tilapia swimming in brown sauce. The sauce is ordinary, the fish is quite fresh. However, it is sprinkled with a fair amount of preserved turnips ('chai poh' in Hokkien) which has enhanced the freshness of the fish. A bonus point to 'chai poh'!!!



BRAISED BLACK MUSHROOM, WINTER BAMBOO SHOOT & VEGETABLE (美满双冬扒时菜)
I'm a vege-person, but I am fascinated by this dish. The mushroom is so soft, & it has absorbed all the sauce into it, makes it extra tasty. Moreover, the usual smelly taste of improperly-washed-mushroom does not exist, showing that the mushroom is well cleaned & the sauce has fixed the bad smell of the mushroom. Besides that, I'm not used to eating bamboo shoots because of the taste & texture, but these bamboo shoots & the sauce are perfectly matched. On the other hand, the vegetable is too big!!! Advisably to cut them into smaller pieces/slices.

LONGEVITY BUN WITH RED BEAN PASTE (敬母万寿蟠桃包)
It's so cute!!! I like buns alot, especially traditional Chinese buns. This is because it is always hot & soft, & the fillings are very tasty!!! In addition, the peach shape of this bun is so adorable!!! I would suggest to peel off the skin of the bun before eating, to prevent the consumption of the colouring on the surface of the bun.



DOUBLE BOILED OSMANTHUS FRAGRANS WOLFBERRY & ALOE VERA (桂花杞子芦荟蜜)
This is very special because of the osmanthus fragrans(桂花). It is a popular ingredient when making Chinese desserts, dumplings & liquor. As this dish has added wolfberry, it makes this dessert sweeter & healthier. This is because wolfberry is very nutritious, good for our liver as well as eyes. Moreover, by consuming aloe vera, it's good for our digestive system & beautifies our skin. Good for ladies!!!


DOUBLE BOILED BIRD'S NEST WITH GINSENG (兹润泡参炖燕窝)
I assume most women love drinking/eating bird's nest soup, due to it's well-known benefit, a "tool to beautify" (美容)!!! Apart from this, the Chinese believes that bird's nest soup is rich in nutrients, provides lots of benefits to our body. Personally, I can't resist bird's nest soup, & my mum knows that. She "sacrifices" her portion of bird's nest soup to me, I'm so touched!!! Thanks, mum!!! The taste of ginseng is too strong, not my liking. However, I appreciate this bird's nest soup so much & I ended up finishing it, all because of my mum...


SUMMARY:
This promotion will end at 30th June 2009. A 4 pax set menu costs RM198++ on weekdays & RM228++ on weekends. In spite of that, a 8 pax set menu costs RM388++ on weekdays & RM438++ on weekends. If you are financially sound, try to be generous to your parents once a while. Bring them over for dinner. Create the bond between each other. Show some love. I love you, daddy & mummy!!!

Star-rating: 6/10*

Mee Bon Coffee Shop (米文包饺茶室/Kedai Kopi Mee Bon)

Today, I would like to get you guys into a more traditional Chinese food, dim sum. Not in a 5 star hotel, whereas it is situated at a shop along Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur. The shop does not look fascinating by itself, but the crowd/the queue of eaters do catch some attention. It has a history for more than 60 years. However, my reason to dine is not because of the crowd or the long queue or the history, it is a bond between Me & MeeBon (not Me & Marley!!!). This is because I have been eating the 'char siu pau' from this coffee shop since childhood. It has been accompanying me for more than 20 years. Not only their 'char siu pau', but also, their 'loh mai kai'...







'LOH MAI KAI' (糯米鸡)
This sticky glutinous rice steamed with chicken slices is one of the most famous dim sum that most eaters will order, so am I. I love 'loh mai kai' alot, especially the one in Mee Bon. May be it is because I'm used to their taste, & the taste suits me. [Price: ($) / Worthiness: good]



PRAWN 'CHEONG FUN' (猪肠粉)
This 'chi cheung fun' is quite unpredictable!!! What makes me say so is because the rice flour skin may differ each time I went. Sometimes it is perfect, sometimes it is too thick!!! In spite of that, the prawns are not constantly fresh. The chili is not bad. Hopefully, they can control their quality, even though it is during peak hours!!! [Price: ($) / Worthiness: Fair]


VARIOUS STEAMED DIM SUM
There are various types of dim sum to be chosen of. I personally would suggest 'siu mai' (烧卖) and 'yong ai gua' (酿茄子/brinjals). However, most of the dim sums which come with prawns are not fresh. The main reason which I have discovered is either the supply of prawns are not fresh or the shop keepers have kept the prawns for too long before making dim sum. Hence, causes all their dim sums which use prawns as the main ingredients, mostly taste weaker than those which acre made by pork or fish paste. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of choices. [Price: ($) each / Worthiness: fair]

SUMMARY:
A place which serves traditional dim sum with lots of choices in a reasonable price. Most importantly, their dipping sauce (a sweet black sauce) is very special, you cannot get it in any where else, but Mee Bon (I have heard from my mum that Mee Bon has a branch in Manjarala Kepong which is not named Mee Bon, I have to check it out 1st ^.^). Most of the places which sell dim sum are over-priced their food, but not Mee Bon. This is a place worth going, if you are not picky, or you have a heart for traditional dim sum kopitiam!!! LoL...

Address:
No. 491 Batu 3, Jalan Ipoh, 51200 Kuala Lumpur.

Star-rating: 3/10*

PriceTags / Worthiness Comments

PRICE
($): Below RM10
$: RM10 - RM19
$$: RM20 - RM29
$$$: RM30 - RM39
$$$$: RM40 - RM49
$$$$$: RM50 - RM100 [Price will be stated]
<$$$$$>: Above RM100 [Price will be stated]

WORTHINESS
It depends on my taste bud as well as my own fancy!!!

DAORAE KOREAN BBQ

The Korean trend hit us in Malaysia around year 2000, & this 'heat-wave' has not ended. On the other hand, it becomes so 'hot' as not only you can find Korean restaurants in Ampang or Desa Sri Hartamas like old days, but now you can easily pop into a restaurant selling Korean food in almost anywhere.
Daorae restaurant branches 5 different places, it makes it more reachable. It's a good move, but most importantly they have to serve good food instead of mushroom-ing the branches.
I've been to this restaurant a few times, as their taste suits me. So today, I would like to concentrate mainly on barbeque first.

To go with our BBQ, we are served with some lettuce, garlic (later to be put into the BBQ tray), some special sauces differ according to the meat you order. I've tried 2 types of meat & a seafood, personally I like the seafood dipping sauce, it's like tartar sauce, yummy!




PORK BBQ (JU-MUL-LUK) (NON-HALAL)
Usually during barbeque session, people love ordering either pork or beef due to the juiciness of these 2 types of meat. The fats in these meat, after being barbequed, it become tender & juicy. Since I'm not a beef eater, I've chosen pork instead. The meat is so fresh. Trust me, it's really fresh, & I don't even bother about the marination amymore!!! Unfortunately, the waiter who helped us barbeque over-cooked it, the pork lost it's tenderness, but it is still juicy. After being wrapped with lettuce, fresh green shallots, garlic, & the special sauce, it became so tasty!!! [Price:$$ / Worthiness: Fair]

MARINATED CHICKEN BBQ (DAK-GLA-BI)
I love this BBQ, because I love chicken!!! It's well marinated & it's very very tender & succulent, better than pork. The reason why it is so tender is because the part served is drumstick, very generous of them (in Asian country, drumstick meat is usually more expensive than breast meat). Therefore, this is the best choice for white meat eater. My mum & my aunt say that the sauce for the chicken BBQ is a little salty. But for me, I'm just loving it!!! [Price: $$ / Worthiness: Better than good]







FRESH GRILLED LARGE PRAWNS (SE-WOO GOO-E)
I'm a prawn-freak, or should I say a seafood-freak. I love to eat prawns, the bigger, the better. But in 1 condition, IT MUST BE FRESH!!! These two yummy-licious HUGE prawns are really fresh!!! I was at an ecstatic status even before eating it!!! My emotion reached the top-of-the-hill when the 1st piece was put into my mouth!!! It's unresistable!!! HELP, GIMME MORE OF THESE PRAWNS!!! If it weren't this pricy, I think I would have already orderd the 2nd, or the 3rd or the 4th... plates. It's worth to splurge once in a while, maybe during new year, CNY, X-mas, birthdays, anniversaries, Independent Day, Dumpling Day, Tong Yuen Day, or EVERYDAY!!! Yum~ Yum~ Moreover, the special sauce for prawns' dipping is so delicious. It's a little sweet & sour & salty, luckily not bitter... XD The total combination of the prawns & sauce is fantastic!!! I personally don't wrap it with the lettuce, it tastes better to me. [Price: RM50 $$$$$ / Worthiness: Bravo!]

SUMMARY:
I have been to quite a number of Korean BBQ restaurants before this. However, this is the place which I will definitely go twice. Due to the services I received, the friendliness of all & the quality of the food, the price is worth paying for. As I have said, no harm splurging once in a while!!

Location:
1. No.17,17-1,17-2,Jalan Metro Perdana 7,Taman Usahawan, Kepong, KL.
2. No.9,1st Floor Plaza Crystal Ville Center,jalan 23/70A, Desa Seri Hartamas, KL.
& others...

Star-rating: 8/10*

Food Lover with Chef Kim

C.A.F.F.E.I.N.E.E.S.

Thanks to my boyfriend, I got to know about this cafe. It's really cozy & laid back. On & off I'll be hanging there either alone or with Hipopo. It's not that easily accessible by non-Ampangers, but it's reachable. In order to hunt for good food, I'm willing to pay for the RM2 DUKE!!!

NASI LEMAK
This is my favourite rice-dish of all. The chicken is extremely awesome! It's destroying my diet plan again & again. I can never resist it. It's so crispy & the taste of it is really special, only CAFFEINEES!!! I went during lunch-time, & this is 1 of their lunch set meals. Affordable price with amazing taste. Comes with a drink as well, hmmm hmmm... [Price: $ / Worthiness: Excellent]


CAFFEINEES BAKED RICE
In the menu, it is stated as 'It's good!'. Well, the chicken is the same as those in the nasi lemak, definitely good!!! However, the rice is not my bowl of rice. A little too hard & dry. But Mr. Hipopo likes it. It really depends on each individual. By the way, their salad as a side dish is really good as well. I assume the salad sauce is homemade, it's superb! The soulishness of the sauce exaggerated your appetite. I love the pineapple cubes in it!!! (Can I have more pineapple cubes in my salad next time??? Please...) [Price: $ / Worthiness: Good]

KAMPUNG FRIED RICE
This will be the 1st runner-up for the rice-dish. It's so hot & spicy but I just can't stop eating!!! I HATE ONIONS, I have no choice but to swollow the onions in this fried rice!!! Because it's cooked til the extent I can't feel the existence of the onions. The chilli padi in it is uncountable, I tucked in like nobody business!!! I have never eaten so much of freshly cut chilli in my life!!! It may sound horrible, but it tastes remarkable!!! The cucumber with chilli sauce, to me, it's a bit weird, but acceptable, but I didn't finish it. The satay-look-alike chicken skewer is yummy-licious. I think it's some lemongrass-herbs marinated chicken. Very good!!! [Price: $ / Worthiness: Better than good]

I'm ashamed to admit that I have forgotten what this dish called, sigh... Well, I adore this chicken. It's some chicken chop with special mushroom sauce. There are generous amount of mushroom on top of it which is able to be seen!!! No joke! The wedges are nicely deep fried with some curry powder or some herbs powder, I don't know. But the tastes differ twice when I ordered this, due to too much of that powder sprinkled which created bitterness. But all in all, it is good! [Price: $ / Worthiness: Good]


CARIBBEAN CHICKEN FETTUCINE
Surprisingly, this pasta tastes a little spicy but not hot as in really hot. The spiciness is mild. I like fettucine, I like this unique taste, I like the mushrooms in it, but i dislike chicken breast!!! Oh no, it's so chunky!! But I still finished it, no choice... I would suggest them to use chicken ham instead. It will be smoother to be swallowed. [Price: $ / Worthiness: Better than good]


SUMMARY:
Today I will stop right here. I will need part 2 & 3 & 4... etc etc to finish them up because I have been there quite a number of times. Next time, I will go with drinks , desserts only.
Finally, it's a place to hang out by everyone casually. A place for good food without the need of deep pocket!!!

Address:
No. 2, Jalan Excella 2, Taman Ampang Hilir, 55100 KL, Malaysia.

Star-rating: 7/10*

OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE

Old Town White Coffee, I bet 90% of the KL-ians have been to this Kopitiam. This concept-kopitiam mushroomed out of control, the food has been promoted frequently. But are they really good?

To be honest, this is one of the place which is worth hanging out with friends. One of the best yam-cha place. The branches of this kopitiam are located at almost everywhere. You named it, you got it! The price of the food, ain't that bad, but still considered a little pricy for kopitiam-type-of-food.


My all-time-favourite drinks, ENRICH CHOCOLATE & BLACK CURRANT JUICE. It's always refreshing to drink something cold when the weather in our country is always hot. However, the Enrich Chocolate is a little too sweet. I have sweet-tooth, I can take it, but not for long, after a few sips, I can feel the sugar-content, ~.~ . Whilst the Black Currant isn't that bad, refreshing & not too sweet, just nice. [Price: ($) / Worthiness: Good]


Another must-order dish, which is the DOUBLE KAYA & BUTTER TOAST. The bread is so yummy & crispy, & it's filled with slices of frozen butter which melts in your mouth instead of on your hands. It's so good til the extent I will always order this whenever I'm dining in OldTown White Coffee.




NASI LEMAK RENDANG CHICKEN, which comes with rendang chicken (What am I talking??? Obviously there is rendang chicken in a nasi lemak rendang chicken!!! I'm going nuts!!! Fine!). The rendang sauce is very tasty, the level of spiciness is medium, just nice to suit most public. I always ask for more rendang sauce whenever I order this dish. Due to this reason, I will normally order Nasi Lemak Rendang Chicken instead of Nasi Lemak Special. However it depends on which branch you dine-in, this is because some of the branches' rendang sauce are quite oily & the chicken is not fresh [I opined through the chunkiness of the chicken (i.e. not tender!!!)]. All in all, the quality is still there, 90% of the time is good! [Price: ($) / Worthiness: Good]



The HAINANESE CHICKEN CHOP RICE
I love this rice-dish a lot!!! It's so yummy!!! The rice ain't too hard, the sauce isn't too sour, the chicken chop is tender yet crispy. However, this dish is quite filling, that's why it is better to share with someone. That is also why this is one of the best hang out place, chatting & sharing food with each other, building a better relationship with people, hehe... [Price ($) / Worthiness: Good]


IPOH CHICKEN HOR FUN
This is also one of my favourite dish (I can't help it, the food there is just tasty). OK, well, the soup is really nice, sweet & savoury, the chicken is quite tender & the prawns are usually fresh. However, the amount of the flat noodle (hor fun) is so little, why are they so stingy!!! Put more noodles into it!!! It's not enough to serve as a portion of food!!! Nonetheless, I'm still constantly ordering this dish, it's really yummy!!! [Price: ($) / Worthiness: Better than good]


IPOH LUM MEE
Personally, I do not recommend this dish, because it's not 1 of the best among the menu. It tastes bland & it looks dull, but it is not yuck-y, it is just too normal. It's more like ordinary soup based noodle instead of 'lum mee'. [Price: ($) / Worthiness: Fair]




SUMMARY:
I like this place. A very nice place to hang out with anyone. You can even bring a book, have a cup of white coffee & read. You can spend time there alone or with a bunch of friends/family. The price is acceptable, the food is good enough. What else you want more?

Locations:
You should know better than me, because you can find it almost everywhere!!!

Star-rating: 5/10*