I have always spotted Ah Wang Bak Kut Teh to be crowded with people. Situated just under the flyover next to Tesco in Old Klang Road, it was only minutes from where we stay. Perfect!
As usual, the place was packed to the brim again that night. We had to wait for about 10 minutes for a table to finish and be cleared. Thankfully, the ordering process was prompt and food was served in a jiffy.Since there were 3 of us, we ordered a serving of 3 portions BKT with primarily lean meat. We did the mistake by specifically asking for lean meat in our BKT, because the pot came with ONLY lean meat! But I guess we learnt from mistakes. Apparently, you have to specify clearly what you want in the soup. Luckily I asked for beancurd sheets (fu chuk) during the order or the pot would just be filled with lean pork.Don’t forget to order the Chinese Crullers which go hand-in-hand with the savoury soup. Dip them in for a short while and give it a good bite to experience the burst of flavours, literally.Apart from the BKT, we noticed almost every table ordered fish. Following suit, we asked for recommendation and decided to order the ‘Si Chap Fish’ or translated to soy sauce fish. It was steamed fish topped with a spicy concoction of soy sauce, garlic and chilli among some, so it was spicy and savoury. What was more notable was the freshness of the fish – the flesh was smooth, firm and flaky. This went very well with rice too.The vegetables here were fresh and cheap, priced at only RM5 per plate.The BKT here is flavourful but still lacked of flavour compared to the ones in Klang. Of course, given the big difference in distance, I wouldn’t mind trading off a little in quality for convenience sometimes, especially when it’s a rainy Friday night and traffic is a nightmare. If you love the light and clear version of BKT soup, do give this a try!

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.

It was our maiden visit to Mezze and once we entered, our first impression was that the restaurant reeked of smoke, probably coming from the cigarettes and cigars at the bar area which was just next to the dining area. We asked for a table upstairs instead but were informed that the section upstairs was closed on that night. We had no choice but to switch to a table further in, in the hopes of alleviating the smokey smell.I have heard from a few friends that we had to try the Spaghetti Carbonara if we ever dined in Mezze. What makes it different was the raw egg yolk that it was served with, in a shell. The presentation itself scored some points, even before we started eating. We mixed the whole egg yolk onto the pasta before digging in. Perhaps we shouldn’t have put in the whole yolk because some of us found the pasta to be overly creamy afterwards, almost soggy. I didn’t mind that it was creamy but thought that it lacked flavour. My choice was the Funghi au Truffle pizza, topped with sauteed mushroom, tomato, mozzarella, oregano, rocket and a drizzle of truffle oil. From the looks of it, I’m guessing they have a wood-fired oven, which gave the pizza the occasional charred edges and crispy crust that I love. The crust was sufficiently thin and light, and had the right amount of cheese on top. The addition of mushrooms and a light drizzle of truffle oil gave a subtle earthy taste. Majority of our dining group preferred the Salmon Pizza though, which looked quite similar except that it’s topped with slices of smoked salmon. Again, I loved their thin, light and crispy crust layered with cheese. I also thought the addition of rocket leaves not only made the pizza appear more attractive, it balanced out the savoury and cheesy flavour perfectly.The best dish that we had that night had to go to the Chargrilled Spatchcock Chicken or spring chicken. Our first impression was that the chicken was small – but it was so good! It was skilfully marinated and meticulously grilled to a shiny golden finish that was bursting with flavour in every bite. The skin was crispy and thin with no apparent layer of fats, while the meat remained juicy and tenderly delicious. Although the food at Mezze was rather good, we were pretty turned off at the end of the dinner when the smoky environment became almost unbearable. There was no proper separation between the bar and bistro area, and since the whole place was enclosed and air-conditioned, it meant that the smoke was circulated internally. At one point, a few of us even had watery eyes such that we decided to leave earlier than expected. I really hope something would be done to improve the air ventilation here or at least give diners the option to dine upstairs. I’m sure diners would appreciate this gesture to protect them from second hand smoke.

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!