Miku Restaurant – Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi

2011 Follow Me Foodie Favourites & Yearblog

Happy New Year! Welcome to my Follow Me Foodie Favourites & Best of 2011! This is a recap and yearbook/yearblog of the BEST Follow Me Foodie (FMF) Food and FMF Foodie Moments in 2011.

I wrote a Follow Me Foodie Favourites & Best of 2010, so I decided to do another one this year. I don’t even know where to start. It’s been a crazy year, and I’m so grateful for everything that has happened with this blog. I’ve loved every minute of it (even the parts where it hurt to laugh because I was so full) and I’m so happy to have shared these delicious moments with you. Thank you for following me foodie and cheers to another year of gastronomic indulgence!

NOTE: IT’S NOT NECESSARILY “THE BEST“, BECAUSE FOOD IS PERSONAL AND I CAN ONLY DISCOVER SO MUCH IN A YEAR. THESE ARE JUST SOME WORTH MENTIONING IN MY BOOKS… OR BLOG? BLOG. IT’S MORE OF A 2011 RECAP/SUMMARY. ALL EXPERIENCES ARE FROM 2011 ONLY.

Top 20 BEST ASIAN/FUSION Restaurant Dishes & Food in Vancouver:

Suika – Beef Short Rib

Being in Vancouver, we’re spoiled by great Asian/Asian Fusion cuisine, so I decided to make it a separate category. Vancouver dominates and excels when it comes to Asian/Asian fusion cuisine.

Listed in no particular order. Based on the menu item, not the restaurant.

1. Suika – Beef Short Rib

2. Aki Japanese Restaurant – Black Cod (Sable Fish)

3. Pho Tam – House Special Pho

4. Wing Kee – Fresh Steamed Scallops with Vermicelli and Garlic

5. Dan Japanese – Tuna Chili Sashimi

6. Wang’s Beef Noodle House – Beef Brisket Noodle

7. Kirin Seafood Restaurant – Black Cod Braised with Squash and Roasted Pork Belly

8. Jade Seafood Restaurant – Steamed Mushroom Dumpling

9. Rainflower Restaurant – Pan Fried Tiger Prawns with Basil

10. Tokyo Joe’s Sushi Factory – Volcano Roll

11. Empire Chinese Cuisine – Alaskan King Crab Dinner – 4 ways

12. Red Star Seafood – Dungeness Crab with Wild Rice

13. Motomachi Shokudo – Bamboo-Charcoal Dark Miso Ramen

14. Tokachi Japanese – Tuna Gomaae

15. Empire Chinese Cuisine – Deep Fried Alaskan King Crab Knuckles

16. Ichiro Japanese – Dragon Roll

17. Delicious Cuisine – Deep Fried Shrimp with Salted Egg Yolk

18. Hapa Izakaya (Kistilano) – Salmon Shooter

19. Suhang Restaurant – Steamed Soup Buns with Pork Filling (XLB)

20. Jade Seafood Restaurant – Jade Smoked Grandpa Chicken

Honorary Mentions from 2010 list: Miku Restaurant – Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, Top Gun J & C Restaurant – Baked BBQ Pork Bun, Hakkaido Ramen Santouka – Toroniku Shio Ramen

See “Follow Me Foodie Best of 2010 Asian/Fusion Dishes” here.

See the full “Follow Me Foodie Best of 2011″ here.

“We are noodle folk. Broth runs through our veins.”
—Mr. Ping

Enter to win 2 tickets to the advanced screening of Kung Fu Panda 2!

Ticket details (valid one night only):

Date: Tuesday May 24
Time: 7pm
Theater: SilveryCity Metropolis (Metrotown Mall)

How to enter:

1. Send the following tweet: “I entered to win Kung Fu Panda 2 tickets on @followmefoodie‘s contest! What’s your favourite Asian Noodle? http://goo.gl/TKYPt“
2. Comment on this post with your favourite noodle dish in Vancouver.

Contest ends Sunday May 22 at midnight. Thank you and good luck!

And remember to visit Follow Me Foodie Facebook Page!

The Noodle Series – 20 Asian Noodle Dishes

In celebration of Kung Fu Panda 2 I’m featuring Mr. Ping’s favourite food! NOODLES! Here are some delicious noodles that come to mind for me. They’re not all necessarily my favourite or the “best”, but it showcases a variety. This is only within the Asian noodle category too. There are so many more choices and these 20 noodle dishes just touch the surface! Now how big of a noodle fan are YOU?!

The Vietnamese Noodle

Pho Tam – House Special Beef – Combination of Beef and Rice Noodle in Soup

The Beijing Noodle

Beijing Cuisine – Tossed Mung Clear Noodles in Sauce, Sesame Paste & Shredded Meat

The Chinese Noodles

Michigan Noodle Shop – Traditional Wonton Noodle Soup

Michigan Noodle Shop – Lo-Mein with Shredded Pork in spicy Brown Sauce

Rainflower – Hometown Style Pan Fried Silver Needle Noodle

Rainflower – Scrambled Egg & Scallop Fried Rice Noodle

The Thai Noodle

Khunnai Chang Madame Elephant Thai Cuisine – Pad Thai

The Japanese Noodles

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka -  Toroniku Shio Ramen

Miku Restaurant – Soba Pepperoncino

Aki Japanese Restaurant – Nabeyaki Udon

The Taiwanese Noodle

Wang’s Beef Noodle House – Beef Brisket Noodle

The Shanghainese Noodles

Northern Delicacy – “Dan Dan” or “Tan Tan” Noodles in Black Sesame Soup

Northern Delicacy – Shredded Chicken with Glass Noodle

The Malaysian Noodle

Seri Malaysia – Mee Goreng Mamak

The Singaporean (Malaysian) Noodle

Bo Laksa King – Laksa

The Korean Noodles

Jang Mo Jib – Jab Che or Jap Chee  (Potato Noodles)

In Korea (but available in Vancouver) – Stir Fried Korean Rice Cake Noodles with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki)

Celadon Fine Korean (whistler, BC) – Chilled Pink Angel Hair Noodles

The Szechuan Noodle

Sichuan Da Ping Guo Restaurant – Sichuan Glass Noodle with Soy Nuts

The Persian Noodle (Dessert)

The Apron – Faloodeh

Restaurant: Prawn Noodle Shop
Cuisine: Malaysian/Singaporean
Last visited: April 12, 2010
Location: (2 locations) Central, Hong Kong
Address:
MTR: Central Station or Sheung Wan Station
Shop 201, 2/F, Grand Millennium Plaza, No. 181 Queen’s Road Central, Sheung Wan
上環皇后大道中181號新紀元廣場2樓201號舖
Price Range:$36-60HKD/person about $5-8CAD/person

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3.5
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Popular/famous for laksa
• Busy/long lines at lunch hours
• Limited menu – just soup noodle bowls
• Offers 3 kinds of broth – 2 spicy, 1 non-spicy
• Clean and comfortable
• Quick, casual
• Attracts business crowd at lunch
• Popular to locals
• Afternoon tea set available
• Good for individual dining
• Menu in English and Chinese
• Budget friendly/cheap eaats
• Seats 50
• Cash only
• No service charge

**Recommendations: Spicy Prawn Soup with Seafood Noodle, Spicy Curry Laksa Seafood Noodle, Calamansi Juice

Prawn Noodle Shop is a Malaysian and Singaporean restaurnt in Central, Hong Kong. They specialize in home made soup noodle bowls and actually only serve just that. Since it’s located in the business district the line ups are long and the restuarant is packed during lunch times. They actually have another location in Wan Chai since they have created such a strong following.

The bowls are perfect for individual servings so it’s a great place to grab a quick casual bite. It’s low maintenance and reliable especially with such a focused menu. It’s a simple place with a simple menu. You chose from 3 soup bases (2 which are spicy), the noodles, and then you select the toppings. It’s almost like a ramen place in Vancouver.

It’s very popular to locals and although it is known as a Malaysian restaurant, I found it more Chinese Malaysian. The food is good, but not authentic Malaysian. I would come back for the food, but it also wasn’t the highlight of my dining adventures in Asia.

On the table:

**Calamansi Juice – 4/6

• Hot $12HKD – about $1.60CAD Cold $14HKD – about $1.80CAD
• I ordered this hot.
• This is a very typical drink served in Malaysia and Singapore.
• Calamansi is a Filipino fruit. It’s an acidic orange and it looks and tastes like mini limes.
• It tastes like a hot lime juice and it’s very aromatic and slightly sweetened with a simple sugar syrup.

**Spicy Prawn Soup - 4.5/6

• Prawn with fish cake noodle $35HKD about $4.60CAD
• You get to chose your noodles and I chose buckewheat noodle because they had ran out of mung bean noodles, which are those clear round thin noodles.

• It’s spicy, but bearable. The broth is actually delicious. It has a very shrimpy flavour and it almost seems slightly tomato based.

• They simmer it in lots of dried shrimp and shrimp shells so it has a wonderful seafood broth and it’s very flavourful. It’s savoury, sweet, spicy, and slightly tangy. You can see the dried shrimps and chili flakes in the soup too.
• I’m not sure if this is traditional Malaysian broth, but I think it’s original to the restaurant.
• They served it with different kinds of fish cakes. Fish cakes are almost like fishballs but in patty form.

**Spicy Curry Laksa - 4/6

• With sliced chicken noodle $42 HKD – about $5.80CAD
• This is another spicy soup noodle bowl. I ordered this one with vermiceilli noodles.
• It was very different than the traditional laksa I tried in Singapore from Terry Katong Laksa. This laksa was more Cantonese Malaysian style laksa.

• It had quite a strong curry flavour, but it could have used more herbs like the one from Bo Laksa King in Vancouver, BC. I could definitely taste coconut milk and lemongrass in the broth though and it was very tasty.
• The broth was sweet, nutty, creamy and good, although I’ve also had better. I found it spicier and richer than the spicy prawn soup.
• It was more similar to the laksa’s I’ve tried in Vancouver. It came with half a boiled egg, bean sprouts, deep fried tofu puffs and sliced chicken.
• The chicken they use is dark meat with the skin on because that’s how the majority of Chinese people like it.
• If I’m going for curry noodles in Hong Kong then I would rather go for Kau Kee’s beef brisket noodle soup bowl.

Restaurant: Nanyang Old Coffee
Cuisine: Breakfast/Lunch/Coffee/Cafe
Last visited: April 26, 2010
Location: A few locations
Address:
Chinatown, Singapore
268 South Bridge Road (End of Smith)
Price Range: $0.90 – $3 SGD – about $0.50 – $2 CAD

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 6
Service: 5
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 5.5
Additional comments:

• Established in September 2007
• Specializes in authentic Singaporean coffee
• Best kopi/Singaporean coffee
• Great for quick traditional Singaporean breakfast
• Great for coffee break/snack
• Husband and wife operation
• Very casual
• Made upon order
• Free admission for mini coffee museum in backroom
• Very popular for locals and tourists
• Budget-friendly/cheap eats
• Local Singaporean snacks available
• Starting to franchise
• Winner of 2009 “Promising Franchisor Award”

**Recommendations: Singaporean coffee aka “Kopi”, Kaya Butter Toast, Half Boiled Egg

I am so glad that I stumbled upon this cafe while walking aimlessly around Chinatown in Singapore. If you travel to Singapore this is not to be missed! This is the best Singaporean coffee I’ve ever had. It is authentic and traditional Singaporean coffee made upon order and it’s truly amazing.

The owner is known as the “Kopi Master”  – this is the art of ‘pulling’ the coffee which takes several years to learn and perfect. I’m not sure what the purpose is but he pours the kopi at an elevated level repeatedly from one long spouted pot to another.

Nanyang Old Coffee is a husband and wife operation and they are truly dedicated to the art of real Singaporean coffee. They even have a free admission mini coffee museum at the back of their store. It’s super cute, basically just a back room, and they have locals and tourists coming in just to try their famous Singaporean coffee. No joke, I would even consider franchising it in Vancouver.

If you’re looking for a traditional Singaporean breakfast or snack then come here! Coffee, kaya toast, half boiled egg or “runny eggs” is as local as you can get! The prices are incredibly cheap too – that breakfast as a set meal is $2.80 SGD which is about $1.90 CAD.

Traditional Singaporean coffee or as they call “kopi” is so different – I’m confident that this is the best place for it too.

How to order Kopi/Coffee? (From museum)

Kopi O - Coffee with sugar
Kopi – Coffee with condensed milk
Kopi C - Coffee with additional of evaporated milk
Kopi Siew Tai – Coffee less sweet
Kopi Ga Tai – Coffee more sweet

On the table:

**Kopi or Singaporean coffee – 6/6

• Kopi (Coffee with condensed milk) $.90 SGD – about $0.50 CAD
• Freshly roasted, ground, and brewed.
• I don’t even drink coffee that much although I do like it. I just try to limit my caffeine intake… but this is THE BEST coffee EVER.
• Singaporean coffee is totally different than any other coffee. This is authentic kopi made by the best.
• Even the cup is a traditional coffee cup.  The green floral print and porcelain acts as insulation and keeps the coffee warmer for longer.

Those are the delicious coffee beans! I tried buying a box but they ran out of retail stock

• The coffee beans are Robusta and they’re toasted with sugar and butter so they have this wonderfully sweet flavour. The beans are coated in basically a caramel sugar and it’s actually their way of naturally packaging the freshness.
• Nanyang Old Coffee also blends their beans with Arabica Beans to give it extra aromatic notes and a smooth taste.
• It’s creamy, strong, bold, rich and the most aromatic coffee ever with a nutty and sweet flavour that’s almost like malted chocolate!
• It is naturally sweetened but the condensed milk gives it an extra creamy richness and added sweetness. It’s the most traditional way of ordering it.

This is what I learned from a poster in the Nanyang Old Coffee mini coffee museum.

This is the wife making the Kaya Butter Toast. She’s super generous with the ingredients and she double toasts the bread. It’s the perfect recipe for the best Kaya Toast in Singapore.

**Kaya Butter Toast – 6/6

• Singapore traditional coconut jam with butter toast $1.20 SGD – $0.60 CAD
• The recipe is so simple and it’s so easy to make, but for some reason I can’t make it like SHE does!
• This is Kaya Toast – the most traditional Singaporean breakfast or snack for locals and it’s commonly eaten with “runny eggs” or half boiled poached eggs. (This was breakfast #2 so I passed on the eggs)

• She toasts the bread (without butter) once, spreads the toast with a thick layer of top quality Kaya (coconut jam) and puts it in the oven to toast for again.
• She adds thin slices of butter as soon as it comes out of the toaster and just before serving. It melts perfectly and is so delicious!
• It’s crustless and has a very crispy outside and very tender and soft inside.
• Kaya is coconut jam and it has a wonderful flavour. It’s made with coconut milk, eggs,  sugar and sometimes Pandan (citrus pine herb). It’s sweet, aromatic and almost like a caramelized coconut puree paste. YUM!

In the coffee museum: A traditional coffee barista wore pants without pockets to prevent them from pocketing sales.

In the coffee museum: In the olden days they poured the coffee onto the saucer to cool it down… how polite right?! =p… I can’t even imagine doing that nowadays.

Back then if you turned the cup over on the saucer it meant you would pay the bill on another day. Coffee was a luxury item so workers could only afford to pay the bill after they received their wages.

In the coffee museum: Empty condensed milk cans were recycled as take away containers or cups. (I’d be so scared to cut my lip on that edge)

Restaurant: Bukit Timah Market (Chinatown) & Hawker Food Centre (Hawker’s Centre)
Cuisine: Singaporean
Last visited: April 25, 2010
Location: Singapore
Address: 335 Smith Street, Chinatown Complex
Take the MRT to Chinatown or Outram Park stations.
Price Range: $3-6 SGD (about $2-4.50CAD)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: n/a – multiple stalls
Service: n/a
Ambiance: 1 (but it is what it is!… and there’s no air con)
Overall: 5
Additional comments:

• 2nd floor, open air
• Best place for authentic Singaporean food
• One of the best and most famous and popular Hawker Centres
• Almost like a food court
• Several hawker stalls located in Singapore
• Lots of stalls
• Very popular to locals – 99% local
• Extremely casual
• Budget-friendly
• CHEAP eats!
• Busy during lunch/peak hours
• Offers a variety of stalls
• Self-serve, tray service
• No air conditioning

**Recommendations: Ann-Chin stall: Popiah Roll, Terry Katong Laksa stall: Laksa, Terry Nonya Otah, Fried Kway Teow, Hoe Kee: Hainanese Chicken Rice, Yishun 921 Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee: Rice Cakes aka Chwee Keuh, Sugar cane juice

A Hawker Centre is a MUST TRY in Singapore. It’s THE best place to get authentic and traditional Singaporean food and it’s dirt cheap too. A hawker centre is an open air place where several food stalls gather to sell different Singaporean specialties at a cheap price. It reminds me of a ghetto food court, or a hole in the wall food court, or street side vendors except undercover… you get the point.

The food is clean too because health inspectors check them often and they have ‘letter grades’ representing cleanliness that they have to post publicly at their stalls.

It’s about 99% locals and the food is really good! The best part is that I can sample everything under one roof and it will only cost me a few dollars. It was a culinary tour of traditional Singaporean cuisine.

Singaporean cuisine is influenced by a combination of authentic Chinese cuisines so a lot of dishes I’ve tried before but from Chinese restaurants. The Singaporean version is different than the Chinese version. Some dishes I tried in Malaysia, however Singapore and Malaysia will continue to debate who started what first… all I know is that I have a good sample of how each country can interpret the same dish.

I had a relative who is a local in Singapore bring me around so I tried the right stuff at the right place! These are must try traditional Singaporean dishes.

On the table:

Stall: Yishun 921 Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
Menu Item: Rice Cakes aka Chwee Keuh

**Rice Cakes aka Chwee Keuh – 4/6

• About $1SGD – $0.75CAD
• It was nice and salty with a crunchy pickled vegetable topping.
• The brown stuff on top was a stir fry of finely minced preserved radish, fried garlic and soy sauce. It had a sweet chili sauce on the side.
• These rice cakes are very soft, creamy, sticky and VERY oily. They’re surprisingly not chewy but they just melt in your mouth like puree.
• Almost every local was eating one, so I had to try it.
• There is something similar but totally different in Malaysia called Ketupat – which I tried at Devi’s Corner in Malaysia. I liked the Singaporean Chwee Keuh better.

Stall: #02-194 Terry Katong Laksa
Menu Item: Laksa, Nonya Otah

**Laksa – 5/6

• $3SGD/bowl – about $2CAD/bowl
• The laksa here has no MSG, no added sugar, no evaporated milk, no pork and no lard
• This is a traditional Singaporean laksa with a recipe from the 1950′s. Very different than what I see in Vancouver, BC.
• The toppings are cockles (salt water clams), prawns, fish cakes, very little slices of tofu puffs, bean sprouts and minced Laksa leaves. It comes with a spoonful of salty and spicy chili sauce on the side.

• The cockles taste like raw baby oysters. It was really interesting to have them in there – I can’t decide if I like them though.

• The noodles are thin and round and remind me of “lai fun” or Chinese rice noodles. They’re also cut up really short (how it’s supposed to be) and it’s supposed to absorb the soup that is almost like a gravy more than a soup.

• In the end almost all the gravy is absorbed by the noodles.
• It’s delicious gravy! It was very creamy and tastes like Thai Peanut curry sauce. It’s very peanutty and almost like a peanut coconut sauce as well. It’s sweet and salty but not that herby in flavour.

**Nonya Otah (Otek Otek)

• $.50SGD or $.40/stick for 5+ (about $0.38CAD)

• It’s a traditional Malaysian/Singaporean (debatable) fish mousse or fish cake.
• It’s a snack/appetizer usually served with bread or white rice or along side a salad.
• It’s minced white fish, red curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, chili, lime and eggs made into a cake and steamed or grilled in a banana leaf.
• In this case it was grilled, but they grilled it a bit too long so it was a bit flat and wrinkly rather than fluffy.
• It’s called “Otek Otek” in Malaysia and it was my first time trying it there. I loved it there as well – I liked the texture of that one better.

Stall: Ling C____? (I cut off the name on accident)
Menu Item: Fried Kway Teow/Char Kway Teow

**Fried Kway Teow or “Char Kway Teow” – 4/6

• Small $2.50 Large $3SGD – about Small: $1.90CAD Large $2.25CAD
• Lots of stalls offer it, but this is THE man to buy fried kway teow from. He has the longest line of locals in the whole Hawker’s Centre so I knew it was a sure bet. That wok is never at rest.
• Char Kway Teow is fried rice cake strips… basically fried flat rice noodles.

• A traditional Singaporean char way teow is fried with dark soy sauce, chili, tamarind sauce, prawns, bean sprouts, egg, pork lard, and cockles (salt-water clams).
• It reminds me of the popular fried rice noodle with beef slices you find at Chinese restaurants in Vancouver.

• Fried noodles in Singapore and Malaysia are all made with dark soy sauce and they’re a lot more saucy and wet than the Cantonese version.
• It was like a wet pile of slop and the noodles were very soft – almost mushy. This is how they like it in Singapore though – that’s authentic… just not for me.
• Besides the added cockles (which taste like raw baby oysters) and the slight tang in flavour another difference is that they use 2 different kinds of noodles – flat rice noodles and round chow mien noodles. They did this in Malaysia at Madam Kwan’s too.

• Another big difference is the pork lard! They actually have little pieces of crispy pork lard they fry into it. It’s almost like crackling on roasted pig or thick cut bacon.
• I’m not a big fan of stuff like this so I thought chewing on a piece of salty grease fat was gross. It was SO oily!! The noodles were oily enough already! Everyone else loves this part though… so it’s just me.

Stall: Hoe Kee Hainanese Chicken Mee
Menu Item: Hainanese Chicken set

**Hainanese Chicken Set – 6/6

• This is THE guy to buy Hainanese Chicken from. He has the longest line for this particular item and he’s famous for it.
• I’ve tried several in Vancouver, BC but this is the Singaporean version. It’s originates from Hainan, China but is commonly associated with Malaysian/Singaporean cuisine.

• This is perhaps the best Hainanese Chicken I’ve had.
• The chicken was small, but the meat was so slippery and well marinated probably because of the size too.

• The rice is cooked in chicken oil and fat so it’s very flavourful, but not oily. It’s made like that in Vancouver places as well.

• In Singapore the traditional way is to pour this sweet thick really really dark soy sauce on top. They really like sauce there!

Stall: 02-168 CMY Satay
Menu Item: Satay Sticks

I really wanted to try their satay sticks and went back 2 days in a row but the first time their satay cook was off duty and the second time he had a day off. I was SO mad! Instead I tried this…

Satay Bee Hoon… which ended up looking like this… ?

Satay Bee Hoon – 2.5/6

• $3SGD – about $2.50CAD
• See what I mean! They LOVE sauce in Singapore!! Just like in Malaysia! See the noodles in Malaysia. Everything is just soaked and drenched with sauce. Mind you I DO love sauce, but this is a bit much and it was really bland sauce which is disappointing.

• This is what’s underneath the pile of sauce… there ARE noodles!
• So they were boiled vermicelli noodles and then topped with several ladles of satay sauce.
• The satay sauce was nutty and made with ground peanuts but not very salty at all. It was just soupy and tasted watered down.
• It had cockles (salt water clams AGAIN, just like all the other noodle dishes I had), sliced beef, bean sprouts and green onions.
• It looked like minced pork, but there was none. I wanted ground meat. It looks a lot more flavorful than it was.

Stall: Ann Chin
Menu Item: Popiah Roll

**Popiah Roll- 6/6

• $1.60SGD – about $1.20CAD
• I loved this roll! It was like the Singaporean version of a Vietnamese salad roll, but better!
• She’s the only stall selling them and everything is handmade from the popiah skin to the roll. It’s made upon order, unless you order it deep fried. Deep fried is almost like a Chinese spring roll.

• It’s stuffed with braised cabbage, carrot and onion sautee, a mild curry sauce, lots of fried garlic chips, dried BBQ pork slices, bean sprouts, lettuce, hard boiled egg bits, ground peanuts, and a little hoisin sauce. It’s all wrapped in a soft freshly made crepe that was nice and chewy but very thin.   
• It was packed with so many ingredients and each one was so different! I loved this thing! The texture, flavours, the crunchiness and the sauciness… I want one now!

That’s the cabbage, carrot and onion braise on the right. On the left in the box is the dried soft pork jerky she puts in.

Ho Fun – 2.5/6

• I don’t remember which stall this is from.
• Rice noodle soup with fish balls and fish cakes $3 SGD – about $2.50CAD
• This is a typical Cantonese dish and I think it’s better in Vancouver or Hong Kong.
• They do make ho fun differently in Singapore though.
• The broth has a very strong seafood flavour and the noodles are really soft to the point where you think they’re overcooked.

Pork’s Hock/Knuckle or Pig’s Foot – 2.5/6

• I don’t remember which stall this is from either.
• Another traditional Singaporean dish, but again just not for my liking. I would rather have Bak Kut Teh in Malaysia – that was the best of the best so now nothing will ever compare.
• The meat was fall off the bone tender and it was made really well, but I just don’t like it.
• It was a very fatty with a little bit of lean meat.
• The soy sauce broth it soaks in is nice and salty with a dominant dark soy sauce flavour. Not much garlic flavour and barely any herbal taste.
• I love the cloves of garlic they give you. They’re whole bulbs and they’re very creamy, sweet and tender.

Stall: Fresh Fruit Juice
Menu Item: Sugar Cane juice, Pink Dragon Fruit juice

**Sugar Cane Juice – 6/6

• This is fantastic! It’s so refreshing too. It tastes like Mountain Dew but not carbonated. They put lemon in it as well. It’s sweeter than lemonade but light like lemon tea and floral in flavor. It’s not too sweet at all for being sugar cane.

He makes it from fresh sugar cane.

**Pink Dragon Fruit Juice - 5.5/6

• The pink dragon fruit one is always sweeter than the white one. This one was no exception. I think it might be better in Malaysia though.

Restaurant: Ice Cream Cart
Cuisine: Dessert
Last visited: April 26, 2010
Location: Singapore
Address: On Orchard Road – main street with all the shopping malls
Price Range:

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: n/a
Service: n/a
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: n/a
Additional comments:

• A few ice cream carts on Orchard Road
• A few outside schools
• A few located in Chinatown
• Popular street side/sidewalk dessert or snack

**Recommendations: n/a

There’s a lot of ice cream vendors located randomly on Singapore’s most popular shopping street – Orchard Road. I decided to buy my ice cream sandwich from this ice cream vendor because of the cute husband and wife operation. They work so hard and they’re so old and I just wanted to pick them up and put them in my pocket!

This isn’t the only item he sells. He has other things too, but I ordered this one because it was the most different and the sign said called it the “”pure traditional taste” ice cream sandwich.

On the table:

Singaporean Ice Cream Sandwich – 4/6

• $1 SGD – about $0.60CAD
• It’s literally an ice cream sandwich.
• They also have a variety of frozen cut ice cream (rectangular blocks of ice cream) to chose from. Flavours included Tin Roof brownie, durian, mint chocolate chip etc. The block of ice cream will be sandwiched the same way.
• The bread is a really soft multicoloured Pandan bread that tastes like that Asian egg bread you can buy at T&T Supermarket. It’s a sweeter bread with a very mild citrus pine Pandan flavour and it’s very soft and fluffy.
• The ice cream on top is chocolate, strawberry and sweet corn flavoured ice cream.
• I know SWEET CORN flavour!?… but it was pretty good. It was sweet, not starchy and there were a few frozen corn kernels in it. So random.

• This is how you eat it. You fold it up and the bread sticks to the ice cream so you eat it like a hot dog. It’s pretty damn good!
• The ice cream starts to melt a bit and the bread acts like a sponge and gets really soft and juicy… almost like it was dipped in a milkshake.
• I just don’t like fake strawberry ice cream though – it reminds me of that cheap $1.99 yellow 4 litre bucket of Neopolitan ice cream Asian parents bought for their kids growing up…

Tasty Twist Idea (Credit goes to dad for this one!):

• I like to say my dad invented these ice cream sandwiches first. He’s not a cook AT ALL but he invented these things when I was 3 and it was always my treat.
• My dad’s are better though because he toasts the bread. I know it sounds weird, but try it!
• Ice cream on toast – recipe from my dad. The toast gives it an extra crunch although the ice cream does melt a bit faster. Just think French toast with ice cream. LOVE it.

Restaurant: 101 Durian – Famous King of Durian Stand
Cuisine: Fruit
Last visited: April 25, 2010
Location: Chinatown, Singapore
Address: Ground floor of Chinatown Complex Food Centre (Hawker Centre)
335 Smith Street, Chinatown Complex
Take the MRT to Chinatown or Outram Park stations.
Price Range: $5 SGD – about $3.75 CAD

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Durian: 6 (I do NOT like Durian, but this one was amazing)
Service: n/a
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: n/a
Additional comments:

• Most popular durian stand in Singapore
• Famous durian stand
• Popular for tourists and locals
• Serves only durian (sometimes mangosteen)
• Specialty: Mountain Cat Durian
• Fresh, freshly cut
• Imported daily
• Take-away
• Open late (around 10pm)

**Recommendations: Mountain Cat Durian

First off, I do not like durian. I’ve tried it a few occasions when it’s in season and I’m still not a fan. It is something I hope I can appreciate with age… but I haven’t acquired those taste buds yet.

The smell is rancid and it smells like 10 year old garbage. Every time I come near it I have to mask myself… yes I know, it’s immature. But seriously, imagine walking by a landfill – you’d do the same. On the other hand, people that enjoy the fruit consider this smell aromatic… I have yet to become one of these people.

Durian is popularly known in Asia as “the King of fruits”. I’d like to believe it’s because of its pointy thorns that make it resemble a king’s crown, but I really don’t think that’s the reason why. I mean it can’t be because it’s superior in taste, or could it? Well I wouldn’t have believed in its capabilities to “wow” me so quickly, but a bite of durian from this famous stand in Singapore made me a “I only like durian in Singapore” fan.

On the table:

101 Durian is a famous durian stand in Singapore and it’s known for the type of durian they sell – The Mountain Cat Durian. It’s called “Mau Shan Wong” which is translated to “Cat Mountain King”.

The lady tosses the durian and by doing that she can tell if it’s ripe enough to cut and serve. She’s wearing gloves… so no blood bath.

The other staff/family member cuts and packages the durian. You can either eat it at one of their small tables and stools in the front (outside), or you can take it home.

They also have a small mangosteen stand nearby, but it’s not their main focus nor is it always there. I bought a bag and they were also quite sweet.  These are one of my favourite fruits, but too bad they’re about $7/lbs in Vancouver.

**Mountain Cat Durian – 6/6

• $10 SGD – about $6CAD
• This type of durian is known to have a small seed. It’s also known to be the sweetest variety of durian.
• I kid you not that this is the best durian I have ever tried and I actually really liked it. It’s a super fatty fruit and so indulgent.
• It still smells like a**, but it was delicious!! You get over the smell fast when it tastes this good and it really does become “aromatic”.
• It tastes like very creamy and velvety rich cake batter. It was so buttery, rich and thick like custard.
• It was like eating stringy fiberous melted ice cream. So pungent, so sweet and so delicious. I know my description sounds kind of gross, but it wasn’t.
• For durian this is a 6/6, but on a wider scale of fruit it was a 4/6 for me.
• Now I really won’t be able to enjoy another durian unless it’s from 101 Durian. I tried it again in Vancouver to see if my taste buds had “matured” yet… and nope… I still don’t like it at home.
• I think this Mountain Cat Durian was actually imported from Malaysia and I kind of regret not trying one while in Malaysia.

Restaurant: Kedai Ayam Wong Ah Wah
Cuisine: Malaysian/Chinese/Thai/Asian fusion
Last visited: April 26, 2010
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Address:
No 1 Jalan Alor (Off Bukit Bintang)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Price Range:

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Overall:
Additional comments:

• Street side restaurant
• Hole in the wall-ish
• 90+ items (not everything is pictured)
• Indoor/Outdoor seating
• Malaysian-Chinese food
• Chinese-Thai fusion food
• Famous for celebrities
• Popular for locals
• No prices on menu
• Photo menu
• Fast, cheap, good
• Open to 4am

**Recommendations: Grilled stingray, Malaysian Satay Sticks

Never tried but also famous for: Roast Chicken, Chicken Wings, Thai-style bean curd (upon request),  “Fan Shu Yip Chow Fu Yu” (Potato leave stir-fried in fermented bean curd), Assam Tilapia

Kedai Ayam Wong Ah Wah is the most local restaurant on the very touristy Julan Alor – street side dining street. I had locals take me here and it’s at the very end of the strip and it’s not as busy as all the others for that reason. Kedai Ayam Wong Ah Wah is busy with locals and the other restaurants are busy with tourists. It’s the best bet if you are dining in this area – which a great destination to check out when visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

When I say “street side dining” – I mean in the literal sense. It’s a long block of side by side restaurants serving the same “authentic” Malaysian cuisine or Malaysian-Chinese dishes. It reminds me of Rat Alley (popular restaurant street) in Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong.

All the restaurants located here serve “Tai Chow” cuisine which is cooked on the fry food. You order from a photo menu and it’s cooked on a wok and served immediately. It’s cheap, quick, greasy, good, and open almost all day and night with fast service. The food isn’t the best ever, but it’s something to try and unique to Asia. I would still go back to try other dishes from Kedai Ayam Wong Ah Wah. (Man, that is so annoying to type)

Many of the restaurants will have servers standing outside proclaiming that they are the best restaurant in Malaysia – but just head to the end of the strip and look for Kedai Ayam Wong Ah Wah. I came here with locals for a midnight snack.

On the wall of Kedai Ayam Wong Ah Wah – it’s frequented by Malaysian celebrities.

I posted on Malaysian street food – but this is plated hot Malaysian street food “restaurant-style”.

On the table:

This is the seafood grilling or barbequing station in front of the restaurant.

This is the stingray! I know it doesn’t look very clean or safe to eat, but it’s fine… at least I was fine. The grilled squid and the grilled stingray are popular items to try on the whole street – best at Kedai Ayam Wong Ah Wah.

Of course the grilled stingray is a must try since I would never be able to get it easily in Vancouver, BC. And there it is! He bastes it repeatedly with a sweet soy sauce as it’s grilling.

**Grilled Stingray – 4.5/6

• It’s a pretty big piece and it’s enough to share for 4 people.
• I loved this! The skin is grilled until it’s very crispy and it’s very tasty especially since it’s where all the sauce goes. It’s also served with a sour and spicy sauce made with chili paste and vinegar. It’s a spicy pickled tasting sauce, but works well with the stingray.

• Stingray meat tastes like a cross of black cod and trout. It’s white fish that flakes easily into long strips. It has a mild fish taste and there are no bones except for the big one it’s attached to.
• It has a charred BBQ taste and a nice salty soy flavour from the marinade.
• It’s not the best here, but it is good. Some nicer places will grill the stingray in a banana leaf and that would give it more flavour.
• For my 1st time it’s a 5/6, but on a wide scale of BBQ stingray it’s probably a 4/6.

• Chicken, beef or lamb satay sticks served with Malaysian peanut sauce.
• Satay sticks are a must try in Malaysia. It’s one of the most popular, yet traditional Malaysian street snacks.

• This station is a stand alone station on the street but I think restaurants just order from him. We did – he was right next to us. He constantly fans the grill to keep the cooking temperature right… and to make customers like me hungy…

]]> http://www.followmefoodie.com/2010/06/malaysia-kedai-ayam-wong-ah-wah/feed/ 5 http://www.followmefoodie.com/2010/03/bo-laksa-king/ http://www.followmefoodie.com/2010/03/bo-laksa-king/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:54:00 +0000 Mijune http://mijune.com/2010/03/bo-laksa-king/

Restaurant: Bo Laksa King
Cuisine: Malaysian/Burmese/Singapore/Thai
Last visited: February 16, 2010
Area: Joyce-Collingwood, Vancouver, BC
Address: 4910 Joyce St
Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4.5
Service: 4.5
Ambiance: 1.5
Overall: 4.5
Additional comments:

Additional comments:

• Major hole-in the wall
• Located inside Malaysian grocery store
• Specializes in Malaysian/Burmese food
• Famous for laksa and wraps
• Husband and wife operation
• Good for quick lunches – Malaysian wraps
• Fresh, homemade, made upon order
• Half menu made on site, half from main off site kitchen
• Popular to neighborhood/locals in area
• Seats 2-4
• Cheap eatery – not dirt cheap, but reasonable
• Lunch and dinner service
• Full dinner menu only available online from 6pm – pick-up/delivery only
• Dinner – Pick-up before 8pm
• Delivery charges apply
• Open late
• Catering available

Recommendation: Roti Canai, Laksa, Malaysian style wraps (but I haven’t tried)…also haven’t tried but the Lahpet Thoke (Fermented tea leaf salad) is authentic Burmese food not available anywhere else.

I would have never heard of Bo Laksa king and would have never discovered it on my own. Thanks to Kim (I’m Only Here for the Food) I was able to try this major hole in the wall located in a Malaysian/Asian grocery store. I’m also never in that area so I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to wander around. It’s a total word-of-mouth place and their business depends on this type of advertising.

It’s a husband and wife operation and they’re really nice people. She’s Chinese and he’s Burmese. The recipes are actually very authentic but they also offer a mixture of South East Asian cuisine from Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai and the rare…Burmese! They even have a couple Chinese dishes in there. It’s popular for quick lunches and their full dinner menu is only available online for delivery or pick-up before 8pm. They operate out of the small kitchen in the back of the grocery store and also a main kitchen that is a few blocks away on Victoria. Keep this in mind because the menu is limited if you’re going for dinner and eating in.

Okay so being a major hole in the wall, I have to lower my expectations a bit, however not by much because the food was really good. It’s a hole in the wall with fresh, authentic, homemade, made upon order meals for a good price…what more can you ask for? Overall I was pleasantly surprised. I would go back because I think there’s better then what I had, and I want to try a wrap.

On the table

Burmese Tea – 4/6

• $1.50
• It’s similar to Thai tea but not as strong or sweet. It’s frothy, milky, creamy and a smooth tea.
• It’s still quite sweet though because it’s mixed and shaken with condensed milk.
• The tea is authentic Burmese tea that is steeped and it’s stronger than Chinese tea, but milder than Thai tea.
• It’s made upon order and a pretty large cup for only $1.50

Roti Canai – 5.5/6

• The small is served with beef curry $3.99 Large is served with chicken curry $5.99
• The roti is very hot, fresh and made upon order on a griddle. It’s super fluffy, flakey, soft, stretchy and chewy…but it was a tad oily. We devoured it in seconds though so it didn’t matter. You can watch her toss it and cook it on the spot – it’s almost like watching a pizza dough show.

• The curry is their beef curry sauce. It’s very flavourful and slightly spicy. There are little bits of beef brisket throughout and the sauce has a very strong beef broth flavour. They use lots of spices and herbs in there so it’s very flavourful.
• It’s quite oily too though so you really have to scoop up the sauce or you’re just dipping into oil. It’s good though!

Satay Skewers – 3.5/6

• Choice from marinated chicken, beef, or lamb served with sticky rice, cucumber & spicy peanut sauce. (3 skewers) $3.50
• The satay skewers are made on a griddle rather than a grill…which I’ll let go because they’re working with limited resources being in a grocery store.
• You wouldn’t miss out by not ordering it, but it’s a pretty decent sized appetizer for a $3.50 bargain!
• This chicken is marinated in a curry spice, but I couldn’t really taste it. It was tender and the pieces are big, it wasn’t necessarily anything to rave about.

• The sticky rice is almost like a dessert. The rice is a bit sweet and almost like a giant mochi ball sprinkled with dried coconut flakes.
• The peanut sauce is that authentic creamy Thai peanut butter sauce rather than the chunky Malaysian sauce. I prefer the Malaysian version. Bo Laksa King’s is okay but the fish sauce mixed into the peanut sauce was a bit too tangy for me and I didn’t really like the brand they were using – a bit too rancid in taste.

Laksa – 6/6

• Prawn, chicken, fish ball, tofu puff, egg, sweet bell peppers and bean sprouts. Choose from vermicelli or yellow wheat noodle $7.50
• The authentic way is to have it with vermicelli – so that’s what we ordered it with.

• We got it to go, so the fancy bowl is not how it’s served.
• It’s loaded with tons on topping and that surprised me.

• There are lots of fresh herbs and spices in the broth and it’s really obvious. It had that slow cooked, on the stove all day homecooked flavour. It tasted very authentic with exotic herbs and spices that I’ve never really experienced in laksa before.
• It wasn’t very spicy for me, but just very aromatic! It’s very rich and creamy with the sweetened taste of coconut milk.
• The noodles are al dente! They’re harder then expected, which I like! They were blanched in the soup and packaged in a separate container to ensure they’re not overcooked.

Pad Thai – 3/6

• Thai rice noodle, eggs, shrimps, extra firm tofu, Chinese chives, dried chili peppers, banana flower, bean sprouts, preserved turnip, stir fry in house made traditional tamarind sauce $8.75
• This is a traditional version of Pad Thai and not the Western version where they make it with Ketchup.
• This one is made with Tamarind – just like the one at Tangthai Cuisine of Thailand Restaurant.
  It’s one of their popular items, but I wasn’t crazy about it.

• Overall it was still good with lots of shrimp (6 of them); however I really didn’t like the whole peanuts. I usually love peanuts too, but I want them ground up when I’m having it with Pad Thai.
• It was served with a house made fish sauce…which I didn’t like. By home made I mean adding chilies, jalapeños and some additional spices to a bought fish sauce. It was too tangy and rancid…which is expected…but it was almost overly rancid and off. I love fish sauce too! Maybe it was just the fish sauce brand they’re using?
• It was a tangy and spicy Pad Thai with jalapeño peppers. I thought it need more flavour though…I was relying on the lime and the fish sauce (which wasn’t that good)…and also the peanuts (which weren’t ground up)….so everything was there…but also not there for me…
  I prefer the ground peanuts and fish sauce at Thai Basil.

Restaurant: Prata-Man Singaporean Cuisine Restaurant

Cuisine: Singaporean/Malaysian
Last visited: November 19, 09
Area: Richmond, BC
#180 – 9020 Capstan Way
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4 (if you stick to recommended items)
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2

Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Family owned and operated – Chinese Malaysian
• Very popular to locals
• Popular hole in the wall
• Homemade/home style
• More Chinese-Malaysian, than authentic Malaysian food
• Seats 20
• Busy for lunch
• Quick eat, cheap prices
• Lunch and dinner service
• Eat-in/Take-out (Eat in if you can, paratha bread is better fresh)
• Cheaper price for take-out (I would still prefer to eat in)
• Cash only

**Recommendation: Chicken curry, paratha bread, Hainanese Chicken (Don’t bother exploring their items, these are the ones)

This place is the definition of “hole in the wall” – the location is quite hidden at the end of a small plaza on Cambie. It seats about 20 and everything looks really rundown from inside and out. Even the chefs/cooks are wearing those super thin plastic disposable aprons – the same material they use as table cloths at cheap dim sum places. As much as a dive this place feels and looks it manages to be one of the most popular hole in the walls inRichmond…maybe even THE most popular.

I’ve been here on a few occasions and people often get take-out from here for potluck dinners. I’ve always been pretty impressed by it until I started ordering items that aren’t as popular. Don’t bother exploring the menu. I also got take-out on my last visit there and I’ve never really been disappointed, except on this occasion. So I’m going to base my review taking all my visits there into consideration too.

On the table:

• Beef Rendang 1/6
• This is a very popular Malaysian dish, but the one they make here is not representable of it at all! It’s supposed to be a beef slowly cooked in coconut milk and Malaysian spices until it becomes falling apart tender and absorbs all the liquids and juices it’s cooked in. However they made it into beef brisket curry – beef rending looks and tastes NOTHING like this.
• First, it’s supposed to be a deep reddish brown colour, not yellow.
• I kept thinking maybe they made a mistake with my order. But they told me it would take longer, which it should because it’s slow cooked; however I think it took longer here because nobody orders it. It took 15 min. to make – so I know there was no mistake, it was just not Beef Rendang.
• It had beef brisket, potatoes and curry sauce. Even as a beef brisket and curry it wasn’t that great. The beef brisket was extremely fatty and there was hardly any meat.
• Where to get REAL AUTHENTIC Beef Rendang: Kedah House on 1652 South East Marine Drive, Vancouver (East Van). The best here.

• Paratha Bread 5/6
• I love their paratha bread here, but because I got take-out it wasn’t as good as good. I would really recommend eating in if you can. If you get it to go I’d order it with rice.
• It almost tastes like there’s potatoes in the recipe. It’s fresh and made upon order. It’s very soft with a crispy outside and it pulls apart beautifully. It’s a bit thicker and bigger than what most places will serve.
• It must be eaten with their curries. Yum!

• Tofu Goreng 3/6
• Deep fried tofu with bean sprouts and peanut satay sauce for dipping.

• This is a very popular Malaysian appetizer that Malaysian people would order. The recipe isn’t authentic here.
• Again, better if you eat-in, and again it’s not a poplar item and they do make it better at other places. The best I’ve had it is again at Kedah House.
• The tofu was big pieces, which is good because some places serve it with tiny pieces.
• It’s very crispy, but didn’t have soy sauce or chili sauce. I’m not sure if they serve it differently when you eat-in, but tofu goreng has to be served with chili soy sauce.
• The peanut satay sauce on the other hand was amazing! There was lots of ground peanuts, garlic, ginger and I think some honey to combine it all and sweeten things up. It was very fresh with fresh pureed lemongrass too. It was thick, slightly spicy, sweet, and nutty.