Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

Large chunks of pork. Minimal serving of soup. Slightly oiled rice. A plate of ‘Yau Char Gwai’. And Chinese tea. If this doesn’t scream KLANG, then I don’t know what else will.

When push comes to shove, I guess it’s really passion that drives me through. The tumultuous journey of transition plus a few other tribulations in life sapped my energy like mad. If

Suddenly, it felt like everything’s going in the opposite direction. I almost lost track of things I wanted to share with you guys, the new places in town (okay, maybe not so new but I haven’t been blog-surfing for months now) that I enlisted to try and the travel stories floating inside my cranium (not done with Saigon yet, while Manila was 3 months back!).

Nevertheless, if I am slow in replying your comments, e-mails or messages on Facebook, I apologize. I have to thank good old Maxis for the inefficiency in setting up Internet at my home.

Enough whining … let’s pork out today. Read on and drool. You know this could be a great weekend breakfast plan. Read the rest of this entry »

Bagan Hailam Seafood Restaurant – A nostalgic throwback to the olden times with dining tables lit by tungsten light bulbs and arranged on a wooden platform hovering over the Klang river and docked ships …

Happy holidays fellow Malaysians. A privilege to be a Malaysian; relishing in the avalanche of public holidays within the first two months of 2013; leading to the most anticipated festive season for the Chinese folks; the Lunar New Year on Feb 10th.

Have you started the preparations yet? Or are you still impervious to the creeping elements of reds or the at-times-annoying tunes blaring over the airwaves and malls? The sea of red lanterns and ornaments (just realized what’s a pussy willow recently … yup, I’m dumb) decked out in plain sight at souvenir shops around PJ had me slightly excited.

I’ll do a post on CNY foodstuff that I like when I’m back in Ipoh. For today? Capitalize on the holiday and here’s a post on Bagan Hailam Seafood restaurant in Port Klang; about half an hour away from PJ. Let’s dine under the stars ….. Read the rest of this entry »

Short of being labelled as one lackadaisical review, let’s enjoy the food shots pumped with captions this terrific (or terrible, but let’s be positive, ya?) Tuesday evening, and spread your loving arms to welcome the month of October!

Fresh seafood tightly-wrapped in banana leaves and grilled without much seasoning, or any gravy. The cooking style used at Medan Muara Ikan Bakar might be unconventional; especially if you’re expecting your ‘ikan pari’ (sting ray) or any other fish to be smothered in a thick, devilish red and spicy sambal sauce.

Fresh catches laid out to your visual delight, sending pulses of signals to the gluttony segment of the brain. Don’t expect anything less than the freshest seafood at Tanjung Harapan, Port Klang.

Medan Muara Ikan Bakar @ Tanjung Harapan, Port Klang. About 40km from Petaling Jaya. But felt almost like a world’s apart. Full story after the jump.

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The Star Metro started a marathon of 10 highly-regarded kopitiams across the country yesterday; featuring a story about this almost unheard of Hainanese coffee shop bestowed with close to half a century’s worth of legacy in Taman Eng Ann of Klang.

You must have noticed my fascination with Hainanese style of coffee stall (the recently retold story of Ah Weng Kor in Imbi kept my faith in check); a casual joint routinely featuring the breakfast ensemble of thickly brewed coffee, tea or Hainanese Tea which in its essence should be renamed to ‘cham’ and not forgetting the half-boiled eggs with runny yolks to envelop the toasted breads sandwiching a cold slab of butter and ‘kaya’ with.

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Fried Porridge (RM12/USD4) – Just when you can’t have the best of both worlds, ie; eating healthy food (porridge) yet not bland and character-less, try “Bubur Goreng”.

I know. I should not have gone all out and walloped everything in sight when nursing a sore throat, terrible cough and giddiness.

But then again, that’s just the rebellious nature in me.

To lessen the guilt, so to speak, I have decided to go against all my principles and went all out to hunt for porridge for dinner. And knowing me, you would have laughed at the thought of dear Motormouth seated obediently on a stool while scooping plain old, boring porridge into his dropped jaw; wet towel on the forehead and thermometer under his tongue.

Heck, I can’t imagine the atrocity of it all myself. *shudder*

And hence, off I ventured to territories unchartered; this residential area named Berkeley garden in Klang for something unlike the version of a poor man’s food laden with sinful bits of fried pork lard, cubes of mushy yam and tofu, and fine strips of dried cuttlefish …..  Read the rest of this entry »

Klang-style of Hokkien claypot Bak Kut Teh – A pot full brimming with pork of all cuts, you can have literally the whole pig in there, save the ears (never heard of, but not impossible) and tail.

Another feather in the cap, please? Not rounding off this best-of series of Klang bak kut teh YET, but this new addition to the list is a hidden gem begging to be shared.

Although I have heard about this BKT (“bak kut teh” for short) place at the very prominent Hokkien Association building in Klang for awhile now, somehow the commercialization effect (re-branded as Yeoh’s Bah Kut Teh, complete with a website – www.bahkutteh.com) got me skeptical and giving this a miss.

You know lah … even when Mo Sang Kor and Pao Xiang expanded beyond their capacity, the QC dropped to impossible lows, and I only visit Mo Sang Kor’s Pandamaran branch, no other.

So how did this fare against the likes of Seng Huat, Mo Sang Kor and Teluk Pulai? Read on for the meaty insight …. Read the rest of this entry »

Hainanese Chicken Chop – At RM7.50/USD2.30 per portion; this is a throwback to the glory days; the colonial times when our ancestors were great cooks, whipping up lip-smacking dishes in the kitchens in the British residences.

Sin Kok Thye, or New Cathay could possibly pass off as another run-of-the-mill coffee shop in a part of Klang town that has obviously seen better days. Port Klang on a Sunday is deserted; you don’t even see the ‘foreign army‘ scrambling around, making ends meet at the main gateway by sea into Malaysia. Just before you reach the port, you will bear witness to rows of slightly dilapidated shophouses; in no way a haven for food hunters.

But wait, then there’s the almost century old Sin Kok Thye on Jalan Kem in Port Klang. A corner lot at the end of a row of double-storey shops facing a flyover (still operational?); a pork-free establishment reminiscence of the other Hainanese coffee shops like Yut Sun of Taiping and Yut Loy of Kuala Kangsar. Read on to find out more about the Hainanese cuisine served at this charming coffee shop ….. Read the rest of this entry »