Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysian Food Blog

Omelette cooked on-the-spot, lempeng with sambal ikan bilis, BREAD & BUTTER PUDDING, and hash brown

Range of yoghurt, fruits, cold cuts, etc

So many pastries, how to choose?

Cured beef slices, chicken ham, salami, grilled tomato and peaches (and hash brown, AGAIN)

Jason showed his mean streak … “Grrr …. WHERE’s MY EGGS???”

Cheese Cakes, Chocolate Pies, Fruit Flans = Time for Statins?

Lower right’s egg custard. Good stuff.

All-time favourite dessert, Sago Gula Melaka

Bakerzin’s dessert tapas look-alike? Haha …

The mousse, cream puff, and some random tart

Marshmallows and Biscuit sticks dipped in white and dark chocolate sauce

The desserts section itself warrant a GREAT deal of your attention.

SAYAM? Saya Ayam? Sayur Bayam? =P

Anyway, skip all the KL parts first, and let’s concentrate on my first, virginal and innocent stay for 3 nights at The Zon Regency Hotel, Stulang Laut, Johor Bahru. There are a few pics here and there of my room and the hotel itself, but let’s save those for rainy days (when writer’s/blogger’s block strikes).

Ooohhh… we’re some RED-hot babes oozing from our skins ….

Otak-otak Kempas : Ain’t my black HUMP sexy enough for ya?

We arrived by flight from KLIA at around 4pm, bearing in mind NO meals will be served (boo-hoo) by the hotel management, according to the letter sent to us. After settling down, me, CTO, and Suzy (hehe, sorry, dunno what other nicks to choose from) together with Hairy who hails from Kelantan went down for a walk at the Duty Free Shopping Centre. Though my initial expectation and high hopes for a potential shopaholic’s paradise was dampen by a mediocre shopping complex, with a few liquor stores and a chocolate shop, as well as other cafes/restaurants/clothing stores that did not appeal to me.

Nasi Goreng Cina

Oh well, let’s go for an early dinner! As usual, food speaks the international language of love, and Hairy was dragged (literally) to join us, though he protested because he received news about free meals provided by the hotel.

Hairy : Eh, hotel macam ada serve dinner la, pada pukul 7 nanti, sekarang dah pukul 6, tunggu la sekejap lagi ya? Tentu best makanan yang di’serve’ oleh hotel, kan?

Me, CTO and Suzy : TAK NAK! (Stamping our feets, growling and scratching at poor Hairy …)

Nasi Goreng Kampung + Telur Dadar

Justice prevailed (muahaha) and there we were on our way to satisfy our lust for good food. BTW, one awkward thing is, as the duty free shopping centre is located within the vicinity of the hotel itself, everytime we wanted to walk out or drive away from the hotel, we would have to pass by the stern looking custom officers right in front of the hotel compartment. Yes, they check the car boot and such, to avoid smuggling of duty-free items for sale.

Seafood Tom Yam Soup

A short walk from the hotel is this outlet serving Malay food. In fact, the whole row of shops were populated by such eateries, competiting among each other for customers. Trusting our instincts, we chose the brightest (for taking food pics purposes, thanks to moi), cleanest (at least among the stalls, not comparing with Grade A or B premises), and the one with the most seats filled. Restoran Sayam 2′s (makes me wonder, where is Sayam 1 anyway?) owner maybe a sarcastic chap, naming his restaurant Saya Ayam 2 (too), cracking a joke or 2 (too) and probably did not realise the joke was erm, on YOU? =P

Nasi Daging Merah (REALLY blood-red huh?)

Stop the crapping and on to the food. Johor is famous for its Otak-Otak, but there are 2 versions available. One being the variety from Muar, and another called Otak Otak Kempas which is shown on above. Never a fan of Otak2 since my USM days, due to my tendency to avoid anything smelling of pungent lemongrass, I had my doubts. But these babies, RED-hot ones, if you will, were just too tempting and tasty! Looks may be deceiving, but one bite and I was hooked. They placed the whole basket of Otak2 for us to attack, good business strategy, as none of us could stop at one piece. Sweet, slightly spicy, warm ,and soft, the fish paste is savoury, and devoid of unpleasant fishy smell. Definite must-try if you’re in JB.

The other dishes were good, nothing particularly mind-boggling. The price was reasonable (bear in mind that this hotel IS at the Johor-Singapore border, after all). After the meal, Hairy managed to gobble down some desserts at the hotel’s cafe!!! I skipped those, but oh boy. BAD decision ……

(to be continued ….)

Finally. Finally back from Johor yesterday. A lot to share, heaps to unload, truckloads to comment/condemn/sing praises/throw brickbatz. But there’s alwiz another day for those. Still stuck in KL, for another weekend (not that I’m complaining though), let’s post something completely irrelevant, something I had an hour ago.

Surfing on a dial-up line is really killing me. Really. Wonder what TM does with all those revenues streaming in. Brainwashing users into switching to Streamyx? Kinda pathetic excuse of a “broadband”, but still, surfing’s a breeze, and a blogging is not reduced to a chore. Erm, ‘THANKS, STREAMYX???’ Starting to sound contradictory here. I think I should stop here. For the day.

Wondering what’s the above item? Go figure. It is either an ice cream. Or a piece of frozen kuih. The kind we fondly remembered from ancient Hong Kong drama, where the characters buy them from stalls by the street. Til the next one …. *yawn* ….

3-layered drink called Teh C Special (RM2)

The tea came in a glass, separated into 3 distinctive layers. The top part is the tea, middle part being evaporated milk and the bottom part was a dark black layer. Hmm, initially I assumed it was coffee, but then one sip, and surprise, surprise! It was gula melaka (coconut sugar)! Strange combination but it worked wonders. Being a caffeine addict myself, the smooth, milky tea was up my alley, and one of the better Teh C I’ve tasted.

Chicken Maryland (RM10) … Simply a carnivore’s wet dreams …

Dad ordered Chicken Maryland, batter-fried til crispy, and the meat was juicy, not dry, served with their signature (I supposed) onion sauce. With a slice of ham, a sausage, ONION RINGS, French fries, cucumber slices and toasted butter bread (Whew …), the portion can be slightly intimidating at first. But Dad loves his meat, and in a matter of minutes, whoosh …. empty plate.

Half Cheese Mussels (RM13)

After a long, dreadful (I was salivating at the other’s chicken chops, fish and chips, maryland) wait, my mussels finally arrived! With LOTS of onion rings, fried to perfection, I’d give up my mussels for a few plateful more of the rings, ANYTIME! Not to say the mussels were bad, mind you. Half a dozen were deep-fried in batter, with cheese powder and cheddar, the big, plump, juicy morsels were just great. Moreover they were very fresh and sweet. No sauce required. But the trophy STILL went to the humble ONION RINGS !!!! =)

Location? Pls refer to my first post HERE.