Auntie Anne's @ The Mines

As I was going down the escalator at the centre court at KLCC, I could smell a very pleasant aroma - that of baking Auntie Anne's pretzels. 2 ladies behind me squeal at the very tempting and distracting aroma that filled the air.

"Auntie Anne's downstairs. Downstairs," they exclaimed excitedly. I looked down, and saw a long line of people queuing up for pretzels. Darn. I was not going to queue.

Over at The Mines Shopping Mall the other night, we finally got the chance to enjoy our pretzel. We sat down and shared a pretzel among us, as we were still full from dinner. We just wanted to snack.

We had the toasted almond toffee crunch. The pretzel was good enough to eat on its own. But the caramel dip that came with it made it even yummier. ;p

Pretzel

Lemonade

Bro claimed the drinks rock and he loved the passion fruit juice. But sis-in-law and I prefer the lemonade which was tangy and really refreshing. No doubt the drinks were good, but I would prefer my pretzel with a cup of coffee.

The Mines is the only shopping centre in Malaysia with a canal running through it, much like The Venetian Macao, but of course not as glam and glitzy.


Auntie Anne's outlet is right by the canal, so while you enjoy your pretzels, you can feast your eyes on the bum boats that cruise the canal.

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Pasar Malam Favourites

Jalan Ikan Emas at Cheras flats comes alive every Thursday night with its pasar malam or night market. I loved the lights, the sights, the sounds and of course the aroma of cooking food.

At the pasar malam, I have 2 favourite stalls. One is of a white lorry parked at the side of the road. The back of the lorry is modified into a mini kitchen, and there is a stove where the vendor energetically and enthusiastically stir-fries noodles.

A regular order would be a mixture of kueh tiaw and yellow egg noodles, stir-fried with bean sprouts and cockles. You could customise your orders too, as you could ask for only egg noodles or only kueh tiaw. You could ask for your noodles to be extra spicy, and you could ask for the vendor to fry your noodles with eggs.

The vendor stir-frying his noodles with gusto

I ordered a mix of egg noodles and kueh tiaw, extra spicy and with egg. A large serving sold for RM4.70. As there were no customers at the time, I only waited for a few minutes before my order was ready.

At another side of the road was a yong tau foo stall, operated by a Malay couple. This couple had sold yong tau foo for years, as I had started buying from them more than 15 years ago when I first went to college. Back then at the Seri Melaka flats, they sold on Wednesday and Saturday nights, and I recall with fondness the times my friends and I frequent their stall without fail every week.

Much of the stall was taken up by an assortment of bean curd and fish paste products. There were also stuffed vegetables, kangkong, and rice rolls.

Large steel bowls and tongs sat at one corner of the stall, and customers could just grab a bowl and fill it up with their choice of items on display. Then they had to wait as it takes time to blanch the items, cut and pack them. The yong tau foo comes with a packet of sweet brown sauce, and another packet of chilli sauce.

Back in the 90's, there was no system. But now, as business became better, the vendor had to devise a way to sell more efficiently. And hence, the bowls were now numbered. Get a bowl, remember your number, fill it up, and wait for your turn.

When they are ready, your number will be called. Pay for your yong tau foo and go. Business was really great. There were 4 people working at the stall, and yet we had to wait for 15 minutes before ours were ready.

The Yong Tau Foo vendor

Yong Tau Foo items

Back at home, we shared out the goodies as we wanted to eat some of each.

The stir-fried noodles were really tasty - fragrant, spicy, garlicky. After the first forkful, you will surely want more. Real yum. The yong tau foo was a blast from the past, where one mouthful would take me back to my student days ages ago.

A trip to KL for me, would not be complete, without a visit to a pasar malam ;)

Goodies @ Cheras Market

Was at Cheras Market a few mornings and these were some of the stuff I tried. Among all, I loved the vegetable rolls the most.

Vegetable Rolls

It was sold by a man on his motorcycle cart outside the market. He only had 2 items on sale on his cart, that is these vegetable rolls and also stir fried beehoon.

Close-up shot

The rice flour skin was smooth and light, while the filling was tasty. It had shredded jicama, carrot, and was heavily flavoured with dried shrimps. Very nice indeed. The vegetable roll was RM1.70 per piece.

The vegetable rolls were served with a chilli belacan sauce, but to me, they were good enough to eat them on its own.

I also bought Loh Mai Kai from a stall at the market, RM2.50 per bowl. It was not bad too.

Loh Mai Kai

There were many stalls selling nasi lemak here, and I randomly picked a stall to buy from. Nasi lemak biasa costs RM2.00.

Nasi lemak wrapped in newspaper

That morning, I opted to have my Nasi lemak with chicken curry, to which I was charged RM3.50.

Nasi lemak with chicken curry

Well, I do like the Nasi lemak as the rice was fragrant with coconut milk, the sambal piquant and spicy. The vendor was generous with the deep fried peanuts and anchovies too! I loved it.

Kyros Kebab

I love the Kyros lamb doner kebab. It has lamb wrapped in Lebanese bread. 2 slices are used for each kebab and the meat is weighed.

Then a medley of fresh julienned vegetables are added onto the meat - such as purple and white cabbage, cucumber, tomato and onion slices.

Kyros special sauce and chilli sauce is used to flavour the kebab. Yum. I just found out from the website that Kyros Kebab has an outlet in Kuching. Perhaps I may go there to check it out. ;p

Soong Kee Beef Noodles

Soong Kee Beef Ball Noodles is apparently very popular in Kuala Lumpur. Its shop is located at Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin, but it has a stall at Hutong Lot 10.

Well, Hutong Lot 10 is a place where you can eat good non-halal food, all under one roof. The fact that Soong Kee has a stall here testifies its solid reputation for dishing out excellent bowls of beef ball noodles. A Chinese newspaper cut out stuck in front of the stall further reinforces this fact.

I stood in front of the stall a long time, trying to make sense of the menu. Finally, I ordered a Small Set B, which consisted of a small bowl of noodles, beef ball soup, a plate of vegetables, and a cup of tea.

Set B

The noodles and mustard greens are blanched and then topped with a mass of blackness, which I could identify as finely minced pork sauce. One had to toss the noodles and the pork mixture well before tucking in. The noodles are springy, and the sauce sweet and savoury. Very nice, indeed.

Noodles

About 3 stalks of mustard greens are blanched and then served in diluted oyster sauce and also topped with the same minced pork mixture as the noodles. The vegetables a real crispy, and it was nice to eat them with the noodles.

Mustard Greens in Oyster Sauce

In the bowl of soup were six beef balls. They were smooth and bouncy, with just a faint taste of beef. Not bad at all. I think that dipping the balls into a tangy blended chilli sauce enhanced its flavour. The soup was really sweet, but I suspect it being laden with loads of MSG.

I do like the Pandan Red Tea, however, as it's really fragrant from the use of screwpine leaves.

Beef ball soup & Pandan Red Tea

Condiments - chilli & light soy sauce

Well, lunch was pretty satisfactory, and left me craving for more Beef Ball Noodles!!

Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen

I had lunch at Popeye's today, the branch at Mid Valley City. It's my first time eating here and I ordered a Chicken Combo. It consisted of 2 pieces of chicken, 2 side dishes, a biscuit, sachet of strawberry jam and a soft drink. It cost me RM10.85, inclusive of taxes.

2 pieces of chicken and a biscuit

I specifically told the girl who took my order that I did not want breast meat. Obviously, my request fell on deaf ears. I would have made a fuss, except that I was not in the mood to be difficult. I always think that if they cannot meet my request, they should tell me so. Choosing to ignore a request is just annoying.

Well, I thought the chicken tasted ordinary - no doubt it was crispy on the outside, but the marinade/seasoning for the chicken seemed plain. I liked the biscuit though. It was crumbly, sweet and buttery. Yum.

Side dishes

I had the Mashed potatoes with Cajun gravy, and Coleslaw, which were both alright.

Overall, Popeye's seems like any ordinary fast food outlet; I'm not impressed, and I can't say that I would want to go back for its fried chicken.

Rotiboy

Well, I never knew Mexican buns were so yum till this year. Call me a suaku or outdated, but I had never been tempted to try one till now. Why? Well, cause I have always found the aroma of the buns baking in the oven to be heady and overpowering.

About two months ago, I was rather sick with all the bread and buns at a local bakery, and so I bought a mexican bun to try. Once I ate it, I was addicted. It was crispy and sweet on the outside, and fluffy, salty and buttery on the inside. Yum. I headed back for more.

Walking from the KLCC LRT station, one could already smell that distinctive aroma of Mexican buns baking in the oven, courtesy of Rotiboy, located right at the edge of Suria KLCC. Business was really good as I could see people queuing up for all sorts of freshly baked buns.

Kuala Lumpur City Centre

I was not so fond of queuing up, unless I really had to. Nonetheless, I lined up for a taste of those Mexican buns a.k.a. Rotiboy buns, still fresh and hot from the oven. It took about 5 minutes before it was my turn at the cashier. Each bun is RM2.00.

My Rotiboy, resting snugly in its paper bag

Close-up shot

Indeed, Rotiboy's signature bun did not disappoint. Crispy, sweet and buttery all at the same time, it made a satisfying teatime treat in the afternoon.