Time for some guilty pleasures! Moments with a group of my best buddies here when I’m so far away from home. We often meet up a few times for gatherings annually, as some of our kakis aren’t residing in KL or Malaysia.
Dim Sum in the morning!

So we headed down to DJ for some morning DimSum… who could miss sucha bright yellow corner of a building along the street?

I especially liked the yam cakes, egg tarts and the broth. Chee Cheong Fun tasted alright too! And the yellow Dim Sum is yummy, I love it but can never seem to remember its Chinese name.

What really surprised me was the price. There were 8 of us and we ate till our hearts' content but guess how much our bill was? Our bill was affirmatively RM123.40 only!

Good food for a good price. Jin Xuan is the place to go!

When the family comes down to visit me, many a time I’ve been asked by my mom or grandma :

“Jess, where should we all go eat today?”
Only to frown upon my answer :
“Ermm. idk anything. Chilis or Sushi Zanmai?”
Sometimes, my whole motley crew of a family would appreciate nothing but Chinese food. Yeah, they occasionally prefer those oriental delights of which I don’t know much about. Neither do I know where to take them to, should they opt for Chinese cuisines.

But with invitations courtesy of CK, Mr. Robert Yeoh and chef-son Mervyn, I know just exactly where to bring my family to now.. and so do you! Behold the glorious Penang Hawker Food and Nyonya cuisine!

Now seriously, everyone can get a taste of original Penang food in The Wok Cafe. It’s actually a sister outlet to Hot Wok in Penang itself. There’s no wonder why it tastes like the same real shiznit. The ingredients and recipes are sourced from the island itself… travelling chefs yo.

The traditional Kiam Chye Boey Soup.
A powerful combo of salty preserved veggies, tomatoes and duck.
Apart from tasting the food, I couldn’t help but to dart my eyes across the room. The interior is really one deserving a standing ovation. It’s so intricately built with fine carvings, authentic Chinese-themed furniture and oriental antiques on display that it’s really hard not to think of the place as an ancient eatery from the early dynasties.

I immediately took a fancy to how the entire place was set as well. With neatly placed round tables and bamboo-looking chairs, I envisioned a sense of familiarity – a typical home of a Chinese family. (or a Petronas ad LOL)

Those dim spotlights which hung low from the ceiling above gave a very warm and cosy ambience. The bowls were of course, decorated with some very unique Mandarin designs imprinted on it.

CK also introduced me to this dish called Inche Kabin. It’s this Nyonya-style fried marinaded chicken drummets, of which my tastebuds initially mistook as Pandan Chicken.

It tasted wonderful. By the looks of it, I was expecting the usual dry and deep fried chicken drummets but no. The moment I took a bite, I knew I wanted a 2nd one. The flesh was relatively tender, the skin was crispy and the mix of spicyish-tangy-wow-idk-how-to-describe-it flavour was just fabulous!

There were so many people in the house and more lining up outside during lunch hour! As I observed, The Wok Cafe’s customers were made up of mostly Chinese families or working adults in groups of 2-8 people. Or other food-lovers likes us!

This one’s my favorite. Ima huge fan of mangoes! And this one is an awesome blend of Cendol and Mango bits. Goodness me. The fragrant coconut milk a.k.a santan and the way they did it with the mangoes was rad! I’m certainly coming back for this one.

Oh yes.. here’s The Wok Cafe’s version of Ice-Kacang!

That signature bowl of shredded ice, kidney beans, coconut milk, sago and many more makes their ice-kacang one of the favorite desserts to end a complete meal.

The relaunch of Eurodeli in Damansara Kim churned my stomach in preparation for a wholesome meal of German goodness. Did a lil research on German food and found that its most common and staple form of meat is pork and beef.

Completely different from its whitewashed and immaculate exterior, it was very cosy and dimly lit on the inside. Come in with me and let’s check the place out

It’s this really cosy eatery set in very rustic interior. Ample space for many tables yet doesn’t make the place too crowded. It’s decorated with huge canvas oil paintings hung on the walls, which are all for sale!

Eurodeli had to refill their stock of food so many times. Guess that already proves how good the food tastes. I’m actually wowed at how incredible people’s appetite can be.

Look, it’s German food we’re talking about. Solid meat in all varieties spelling a mean feat of carbs. More filling than anything, if I were to say so myself.

There were more than you can possibly imagine, housed in this cosy cottage of Eurodeli. We were treated to delights of Canapés, Salmon, Liver Sausage, Ham & Cheese, Cold Cuts & Salami, Potato Salad and Cucumber Salad… and that’s only the beginning!

What really made us all exalt the Gods of Gastronomy on that day were these fine slices of meat. I haven’t had this much solid meat in a long long time.

Bow down to the glory of Roast Pork Knuckles, Kassler Ham, Roast Pork Belly with Skin, Farmer Sausage, Emmenthaler Sausage and my all-time fave, the Freshly Baked Meat Loaf.

Hmm.. I was never inclined to vegetarian food but this is just to die for. Call me nuts, but I reckon real men (and women wtf) eat meat. Any form of meat, be it beef, chicken, lamb and the like.

I’m that girl you know whose momma had to force veggies down her throat. Popeye never had much of an impact on me… pfft, bloody propaganda!

It was all until I was invited to a food tasting session in Yishensu, a vegetarion connoisseur located in Klang.

This is the kinda place you’d go to for family meals or occasions. Chinese banquet food never tasted this good. Especially if it’s vegetarian! That, coming from me – the carnivorous author of yours.

The setting of the place itself was very well organized, with neat ivory-white tableclothes and upholstery for each table. Upon entering Yishensu, you’ll be spasmodically nodding in approval.

We got there early and was chatting with Ken and his friends prior to our gluttony. I do remember making a tactful remark that vegetarian food wasn’t my cup of tea. That was of course, before I had a bite of what was in store for us.

To start off any other Chinese course meal, the (wiki it!) Poon Choi was being served to us. There was a whopping 12 ingredients in that wholesome dish itself! To name a few, abalones, shark’s fin, mushrooms, prawns, yams, monkey mushrooms were aplenty. I reckon it’s recommended as an 8 pax meal.

When the next meal came, I was taken on a ride down memory lane once again. The Curry Chicken Bread Bowl made me reminisce the times during my BRATs days, organized by The Star Newspaper.

The Chef came to tear it apart for us to dig in later. Watch as he deftly makes incisions into that huge bread that bore gastronomic wonder.

Tocky and I couldn’t have enough of that. The ‘chicken’ was so tender and tasted almost like the real deal. Andrew and Ken was also eating as though the sky was falling.

Then came the most sinful dish of all – Nestum Prawns. I used to have it quite often back in Penang.

I will punish myself for eating so much of the curry chicken + potato bread bowl and nestum prawns with downing pure veggies.

There was thankfully, something else that would not instigate my guilty conscience. It was the bean curd. I like how it’s named – the Golden Brick Beancurd.
But trust me, once you sink your teeth in it, the word ‘brick’ has completely no relevance.

Anything glazed with honey perks my senses. When this dish came, I rubbed my hands together with glee. Whoooopeedoooo!

So much flavour, goes best with a fluffy plain bun

With an excellent alternative to our meat-laden everyday diets, today’s lunch was fabulous without a doubt. We then went home with our happy tummies, grinning as we anticipate more.

All I thought of the incandescent yellow van by the roadside was well, nuthin’ but an ordinary burger stall. But, what could explain the flock of people surrounding it in SS15? There’s gotta be something beyond that thought.
What could it possibly be?

And here I stand, to find out.
What makes it THIS yummy?

Zoey and I watched, as they began from scratch. Slicing the burger, frying the patties, did some mumbo jumbo with the egg, threw in those veggies …
Generously spreading the black pepper chicken sauce and button mushrooms all over the insides

It’s so good that friendship is sacrificed for utter greed. What ever happened to sharing is caring? Poor Tocky.
By the time he hung up on his cellphone, half his burger had disappeared into the stomachs of Rebecca and Jeff

Owells, there’s plenty enough to go around! For the whole motley crew, that is. We prolly sky-rocketed their business for the night a lil bit. But hey, for a famous burger store that existed since 1997, I’m pretty convinced they didn’t need our help for extra profit.

Good food has to come with good customer service to wrap up a good experience and a review. This big yellow burger van certainly proved its worth.

Thumbs up to the chef & crew!
You’ll be sure as hell to see us for round #2, #3, #4, #5 and so on. Oh and, they close at 4.30am. *ponders* Hmm.. now I know where to head down for supper after a night out. Mental note successful!