Sate Boss

I want to eat satay, the man declared.

We walked along the food stalls at Premier 101. The first satay stall (nearer to the Choice Premier Supermarket) was still closed at 6 p.m. The second stall was called Sate Boss. It was in operations already .... behind the stall, I glimpsed four youngsters seated around a square plastic tables and playing with their smartphones. We walked past the stall and walked further down the alley, and there was another satay stall just outside The Best Corner, operated by a Chinese vendor. 

The man decided to turn back to Sate Boss. 

Chicken and beef satay, RM0.70 per stick; the rice cubes were RM.60 per block

The peanut sauce

I'd say that the man made the correct decision .... because the satay was very good. The meat was tastily marinated and grilled - resulting them being very flavourful and tender. The peanut sauce was of orange hue and so it was rather spicy. I liked that the peanuts were not too finely ground, so it had a bit of texture. The sauce also had a good consistency, The man tucked into the satays happily ... 

In retrospect, I did not tell the man that I did not like the satay sold by the Chinese vendor; had he decided on eating there just now, I would have protested vehemently. Lol. But he made the right decision in choosing Sate Boss. Next time, the man wanted to try the lamb satay ... :P

A Good Meal Catered By New Chef's Delicious ....

Last night, I attended the Hokkien Association dinner ... I'm not really sure what kind of dinner is it as everything was in Mandarin .... Lol. I'm not even Hokkien, but I attended because my aunt had excess of tickets to give away.

The dinner was held at the Association of Churches building at Jalan Stampin Timur, where there was a huge hall. And the sit-down dinner was catered by New Chef's Delicious. The food was good, and I enjoyed myself very much.

Dish 1 : Buttered cuttlefish, seasoned jellyfish, steamed dumplings and deep-fried wantons.

My favourite item on this plate was the buttered cuttlefish .... I liked it because of the rich buttery taste brought about by the sauce, but actually, the battered cuttlefish had turned soggy after being drenched in the sauce for too long. Mom liked the deep-fried wantons ... but I did not like the use of coriander in the compact filling; the jelly fish was alright, but I did not like the steamed dumplings which I felt were tasteless. 

Dish 2 : Seafood soup

The soup was tasty as well! I loved the balance between the broth and the ingredients used, so that I knew that I was eating shredded mushrooms, sea cucumber, fish maw, shredded ham ... and I could taste the sweetness of the crab meat used to. 

Dish 3 : Braised noodles

This noodle dish tasted great too; there were shredded chicken, mushrooms and mustard greens to accompany it, the sauce was of good consistency, but did not hold the noodles as it could have been; perhaps another beaten egg added to the sauce would do wonders ... 

Dish 4 : Braised Pork with Steamed Buns

The pork was tender and very flavourful, its sauce on the sweet side; tuck a slice in between a steamed bun .... divine ..... it was really enjoyable. I ate 2 buns! 

Dish 5 : Thai-style Fish

The fish was really crispy, and the sauce was really a bit too sweet. Its saving grace was the sour pickled mango, the refreshing cucumbers, 

Dish 6 : Mixed vegetables 

This vegetables were not overcooked, and lightly flavoured; what I did not like was the clump of deep-fried "Mamee" noodles ... that's so unrefined!

Dish 7 : Steamed chicken with herbs and fish maw

I loved the soft and tender meat of the chicken, and the very umami soup which was flavoured with herbs ...... the dish could be served a bit hotter though, it was mere lukewarm.

 Dish 8 : Mochi dessert 

The mochi was a welcoming dessert after so much of the savoury food! There was a thin layer of  pastry, wrapped with red bean paste .... there was a strip of yellow paste in the centre but no one could tell what it was  .. That's because the flavours did not really come through amidst the red bean paste. The fake sakura leaf wrapping the pastry was interesting ... lol .... 

I had actually dreaded the dinner because of this .... but this one was better than expected. :)) 

Spicy Noodles No More

I was at Jade Pot Tea House at Jalan Song Thian Cheok for lunch. I ordered this bowl of spicy noodles .... and it will be the very first and last I order here.

My bowl of noodles .... 

 Here .... take a closer look .... 

The noodles actually tasted quite good; but I did not liked that it was merely topped with preserved vegetables and COUNTABLE bits of minced pork! It was ATROCIOUS to pay RM7.00 for this. Compare this to the spicy noodles at Life Cafe where there was generous servings of mince!! Sigh.

A pot of peppermint tea, RM4.50 

The peppermint tea was alright, but not even as enjoyable as the Twinnings Peppermint Tea which I could make for myself at home.

So in conclusion .... I'm no more coming to this place :))

Happy Retirement Mr. C

The thing about my current school is that there are many veteran teachers around. Some of them have been in the school since the 70's .... and a large number of them the 80's! They're a really fun group of people to talk to .... because they can tell you so many stories about the school and the students! They also possess great sense of humour, never failing to crack some jokes, bringing lots of cheer into the staff room.

One of their favourite daily topics is their retirement. Lol.  It is not uncommon to hear of them counting down to the D-day. And so everyone knows that Mr. R has only a few more months to go. After Mr. R goes, Ms. M will follow suit early next year ... and then Mr. P ... Mr. L and Mr. W both have got 3 years to go .... while Mr. F has another 5 years. Lol. They get very happy and excited talking about the day they exit the system ..... and I can only listen with envy. For I've got donkeys of years to go .... before I can even think about retiring.

This week, on his 60th birthday, Mr. C retired. His last day was Wednesday. But today, a group of us staff decided to give him a treat. We went to the Hornbill Restaurant at The Sarawak Club for lunch! This was what we had ....

Dish 1 : Hot and cold combination sailed to the table in a boat! Loved the presentation! Erm .... every time I went out with my colleagues, the food came in boats? Lol .... Here and Here ... 

Mussels in a tomato-based sauce, and Callifornia rolls 

My platter which made up of a mussel, a chicken meatball, jellyfish salad, a deep-fried roll of sorts, and a California roll .... 

I actually did not find any particular item which really stand out in taste in the boat .... hmn ..... if I had to pick a favourite item, hmn .... it would have to be the mussel then. 

Dish 2 : Hot and sour soup
Palatable, not too spicy, good consistency

Dish 3 : Fish cooked in 3 different ways .... 

There's the deep-fried heads and tails, and then the fillet wrapped with mushroom and carrot strips, and more fillet stir-fried with vegetables like peas, celery, mushrooms and carrot. The white fillet felt  luscious to the palate, but tastewise, was quite bland. 

Dish 4 : Mango Duck
Lettuce square, topped with shredded roasted duck meat salad, mango and finally a crispy square of duck skin .... tasted good! 

Dish 5 : Lamb shoulder
Tender lamb pieces .... quite big pieces too, in a delicate herbal sauce ..... 

Dish 6 : Buttered prawns ....
I loved these succulent prawns, coated with the aromatic butter sauce ... 

Dish 7 : Mixed vegetables platter
I loved the lotus root ..... and that's about what I had from this platter .... 

Dish 8 : Fruit platter 

Beautiful colours! I did not eat the dragon fruit, but my friends said they weren't sweet; the mangoes were real sour .... but we loved the sweet pomelos! 

The food was pre-ordered by my colleague, I hadn't seen the menu so I didn't know exactly what they were called ..... so sorry about that. :P

Happy retirement, Mr. C ..... We'll miss you! Do drop by and visit the rest of us once in a while. ;))

Mee Suah @ Foochow Cafe

What's best to eat at the Foochow Cafe? Of course, I'd choose to have the Foochow Mee Suah with red wine.

 Red coloured chicken soup

The bowl was huge and I let out a gasp as it was set before me. It was filled near to the brim of the bowl, hiding the fine wheat noodles, the chicken and poached egg too ... 

After a few slurps of the soup, you can finally see the other stuff .... 

Love :
1) The portion was generous. There were 2 large pieces of chicken in the soup, lots of noodles.
2) The noodles were not overcooked and were fine and smooth.
3) The soup was served piping hot.

Not so love :
1) The soup had added flavouring - meaning that there were lots of msg used. I was thirsty for a long time after lunch.
2) There wasn't enough red rice wine, even though the chicken and soup looked red.

Verdict :
Homecooked mee suah is still the best!

Price :
Not sure, as I did not pay for it. :P

Foochow Cafe is located behind ABC Food Court at Jalan Chan Bee Kiew.

Homemade Bakkwa

Every Chinese New Year, many households serve a dried savoury-sweet meat which is known as rou gan (肉 干) in Mandarin and bakkwa in Hokkien. My family also refers to it as bakpoh. There are many brands that are synonymous with bakkwa in Malaysia, the most well-known would be Oloiya (我来也) and Bee Cheng Hiang (美诊香). Come Chinese New Year, people have been known to queue for hours just to purchase them, even though they don't come in cheap.

Of late, I've seen many bakkwa recipes online, and nope, I haven't made my own. But I bought some homemade ones from my colleague. She made them herself, and sold them for RM77 per kg. I bought half a kilogramme.

Homemade Bakkwa 

These pieces of dried meat are free from msg and any forms of preservatives - not really sweet and not so savoury either. So unfortunately, eating them weren't as satisfying as the glistening, sweet and burnt ones from the shops. And though tender and soft,  the homemade version somewhat lacked that chewy texture that I liked.

And so my half a kilogramme of bakkwa sat in the fridge .... perhaps I could use it for cooking fried rice .... or muffins .... or .........

Cafe Cafe Jalan Song

Day 10 of CNY. I'm a bit under the weather this weekend .... cold and sore throat, probably from consuming too much of CNY goodies. So greedy of me. Lol. Yesterday, I was drugged and in bed the whole day, but today, I am up and about. I feel better .... though not fully recovered yet.

After church and it's back to Cafe Cafe for lunch, but this time at the branch at Jalan Song. Cafe Cafe is known for its huge portions of food ..... so we did not order much.

 Hot tea, RM6.00 each

The man opted for green tea, and I had the lemon grass tea.

Grilled Lamb Chop With Mint Vinaigrette, RM28.00 

3 reasonably large pieces of lamb, marinated with herbs and grilled ..... The man and I both thought the meat was a tad salty. It was nicer when dipped into the mint vinaigrette, to offset the saltiness. The broccoli was fine, but the potato salad was lacking of taste. I think I prefer Wakakakaka's lamb chop which both looked and tasted more pleasant.

The interiors of the shop was modern, classy and elegant. It was a bit dim inside, and during this festive season, was decorated with bright red lanterns. The lunch crowd was surely large on a Sunday .... Nice place to hang out, though. :))