There are only two options, either the dry or soup pan mee. To enjoy the complete satisfaction of Chili Pan Mee, order the dry one. It will come with fried shallots, anchovies, minced meat and a whole poached egg on a bed of noodles.The chilli paste was stored in a separate container, so that you could control the level of spiciness you want your noodles to be. Just look at the chilli flakes – fiery red and shiny from the chilli oil, one can tell that it’s not going to be easy on the tummy!You know you’ve got a good bowl of chilli pan mee when the poached egg is perfect, the golden yolk flows into the noodles and coats them evenly, and the chilli flakes give the noodles a bright red sheen with bits of minced meat attached. The first bite of the chilli pan mee is the most satisfying one – after all the work of tossing and mixing, the excessive salivating due to the absolutely glorious aroma of chilli and shallots – came the ecstasy of firing up your senses with spicy chilli and bouncy noodles. Oh yes, Kin Kin did live up to its expectations. The noodles were exceptionally firm and chewy, while the chilli paste was spicy, spicy, spicy! But with a hint of aroma apparently from the addition of tea leaves within. It’s really different from the other chilli pan mee I’ve tasted before.We also tried the Soup Pan Mee for the fun of it. It came in a big bowl also with a poached egg and anchovies! On top of that, there were slices of pork fillet and vegetables within. Of course, eating this after the chilli pan mee, I felt it to be a little too bland. My palate was already accustomed to the tasty and spicy chilli so I can’t be a good judge.It’s a bowl of noodles that’s worth sweating for! Literally!

One thing I dislike about buffets is the crowds. And the fast-disappearing food from the buffet line. Living in a predominantly kiasu land, it’s not common to find buffet tables to be nearly empty almost as soon as they’re served. Thankfully, I did not face this problem with Nagomi. Every time I went to the buffet line, the food was always at least half-full and the crowd was not that alarming. I always had time to leisurely walk around, observe each dish, decide whether I should choose one or the other, before moving on. What’s the rushOne thing that captivated me was the fresh mini lobsters that were still swimming in the tray filled with water! A few of them even managed to escape the tray, onto the table. When I tried to take a couple of them onto my plate, they started crawling and fell on the floor. Apart from the lobsters, most of the other seafood offered were fresh, notably the fish slices, prawns and bamboo clams. The crayfish and crab were marvellous for the miso soup. I added them in at the beginning before anything else and they made the soup so much sweeter and delicious.Apart from the raw food spread, there was also a section dedicated to Sushi and Sashimi. Yes, Salmon Sashimi to be exact – they are offered only from 8 to 9pm daily, signaled by the ring of the bell. Of course, the main star of shabu-shabu is the thinly sliced meat. There were 4 choices to choose from: chicken, lamb, beef and duck. Duck It was my first time. Although I found the meat to be a little on the tough side, the aroma was unmistakable, and it was thankfully, fresh. My favourite had to be the lamb and beef slices though, just swish-swish for about 10 seconds in the bubbling soup, and they would be tender and juicy.I enjoyed the Goma sauce the most especially with the sliced meat. For seafood, I preferred to eat them on their own or with spicy chilli sauce.Even though the selection was not that extensive, the seafood and meat slices were definitely of top quality. This is the case where quality triumphed over quality, and I certainly have no complaints.

Paragon Thai Food Village is a gorgeous restaurant we accidentally passed by while we were driving around Cheras one night. The colourful and brightly-lit place was too attractive to ignore, so we gathered a few of our buddies and returned a week later to try their food.The Mango Salad came in a pretty generous portion of shredded green mango on a bed of lettuce. Don’t underestimate this plate of salad though, it was superbly sour and spicy! Just perfect as an appetizer dish.The Tom Yam Seafood was served piping hot with burning charcoal within the fire pot. The soup was light but packed a punch! The first sip really sent me back to my senses with an explosively hot and fiery flavour. Within the soup, we found pieces of shrimps, fish fillets and calamari rings in addition to mushrooms and tomatoes. They certainly did not skimp on the ingredients. The more I drank this soup, the more addicted I was to it.If you think the Tom Yam soup was spicy, you haven’t tried the Thai Steamed Fish! The spiciness of this dish was a notch above the soup and it’s not for the faint-hearted. Each time I took a sip of the sour and spicy broth, I could feel it trickling down my throat all the way to my stomach, giving me a tingling hot sensation. It’s THAT spicy. On top of that, the fish we had was very fresh! Each piece was firm, smooth and flaky, you could tell even from the picture.The pandan chicken was nicely fried until it was tender and juicy inside, but I thought it could do with little more marinade to give it the extra flavour.Surprisingly, the Kangkung Belacan was quite a big portion, more than enough to feed 4 of us! As with most of the other dishes we ordered, this was also spicy and savoury, perfect to go with the fragrant white rice. The hint of belacan was distinct and the addition of chilli made this all the more appetizing.I won’t say that this is the best Thai food that I’ve ever tasted, but their food is mostly above average while their pricing is quite pocket-friendly. But more than everything else, the ambience made us feel like we’re out of the country.

Ko Hyang Korean Country Delights is one of the many Korean restaurants making a prominent mark in our food scene. You’d be happy to know that this restaurant was started by a family (Ms Chung Hee Jung & parents) who originated from Incheon, Korea, with recipes that have been passed down for generations. We were at the branch at 1 Mont Kiara last week for dinner and found the place to be very comfortable and clean. Their open kitchen was also well-maintained, with every step of their food preparation exposed to the public.Hubby ordered the cold version of rice mixed with vegetables, chili paste and chicken, topped with a sunny side up. Give it a good mix and we have a bowl of orangy-red rice that is savoury, slightly spicy and a little bit sweet. Don’t be hindered by the red mixture thinking that it’s very spicy, because it’s not, really.Similar to the Bibimbap, I had the Dol Sot Bibimbap that was served in a hot stone bowl. The ingredients were pretty similar except that I had it with sliced beef instead of chicken. The stone bowl still sizzled when I mixed the combination, emitting an irresistible aroma in the process that had me salivating before I ate. It was definitely a good appetite-stirrer, the process of mixing that is. Between the cold Bibimbap and the one on hot stone, I preferred the latter because there’s always something about piping hot food that makes it taste so much better and comforting to the tummy, don’t you think soKo Hyang is what I would call a fuss-free dining venue where the menu is straightforward, the food is served in a jiffy and the dining environment is clean and unpretentious. It goes without saying that the food must be good too, to keep people coming back frequently, because the country-inspired dishes here make you feel right at home.

From Batu Caves, it took less than 5 minutes to reach the restaurant. It was already past 12pm when we reached, and there were no more tables available! We were put on the waiting list and after about 15 minutes, our turn was up. I’m telling you it was such a difficult thing to be standing there with an empty stomach while watching plates and plates of the Sang Har Mee being served to other tables!Fortunately, service was brisk and our orders came pretty quickly. The first to reach was the very fragrant Sang Har Mee served with hor fun (flat noodles), drenched with a gooey and rich gravy highlighted with prawn roe. It looked just like ‘wat tan hor’ but the gravy made the biggest difference! It must have been the sweetness of the prawns, or the rich and delicate taste of the golden roe, but the combination of it all was nothing less than addictive. I couldn’t stop myself from slurping the savoury and delicious gravy!We also ordered a plate of Steamed Freshwater Prawns to share. The prawns were all sizable with plenty of roe and thick meaty flesh. To be honest, I have had more succulent prawn meat before but this was not bad either – firm and juicy with its natural sweetness. If you’re on the watch out for cholesterol, I suggest you stay away from those roe. Very very sinful! The Deep Fried Pork Belly was coated with nam yue (fermented red bean curd) that gave it a nice reddish and shiny finish that was also savoury and tasty with a hint of wine. Deep fried to perfection, the skin was crackly and crispy while the 3-layer pork was bursting with flavour. Apart from noodles, Pan Heong serves porridge too! We chose the Frog Porridge which came in a huge serving even though we asked for a 2-person portion. It had a very generous amount of frog meat, huge and meaty. I always enjoy eating frog meat due to its silky texture that is unlike any other meat. The porridge was also done very well, tasty and smooth – perfect as comfort food!Overall, I enjoyed the Freshwater Prawn Noodles here very much! The gravy was exceptional, so was the silky smooth hor fun. If not for the location of this restaurant that’s slightly far from town, I would return more often!