Jason's Food Haven

It's holiday season and I am back home in Ipoh and I'm pretty excited as I can have all my time here food hunting around my hometown. Today I went to the Ipoh downtown or more commonly known as the Ipoh old town in Malaysia - this place has a lot of heritage building and a lot of good food. I had the famous golden noodle from Sin Lean Lee Restaurant today as breakfast. Golden noodle as what the food is loosely called in Chinese is actually the fried flat noodle with the egg - and the presentation of the food makes it look like it is noodle with gold on top. I guess this is why it is called the golden noodle. I can see the similarity between the golden noodle with the char kuey teow in terms of the ingredients - with prawns and cockles, but the famous char kuey teow from the northern region is usually dry where as the golden noodle is the wetter version of the char kuey teow. I like how the golden noodle in Sin Lean Lee Restaurant taste, especially how well the golden ...

I went to several Asian restaurants to have the taste of Asian cuisines during my visit to the United States and one of the Asian food that I have tried is the Thai cuisine from Thai Orchid Restaurant. Well, the Thai Orchid is situated close to Intel, so I actually went to Thai Orchid Restaurant on one of the day where my colleague and I work until late evening and decided to try something that will spice up our day and Thai food seems like a good idea. The outside of the Thai Orchid Restaurant has an old cottage design like most of the buildings in Hillsboro, Oregon with the big restaurant billboard and with plenty of parking space - maybe because we are dining a little bit late. Inside, the Thai Orchid Restaurant was nicely decorated with the Thai look - so you will feel as if you were dining in one of the restaurants in Thailand.

McGrath's Fish House is one of the seafood restaurant in Oregon offering the Northwest original pacific favourite like salmon, halibut, red snapper, razor clams and oysters to catfish and prawns from the Gulf, to live Maine lobster and sea scallops from the East Coast, and even more exotic choices such as mahi mahi, swordfish, yellow fin tuna, sea bass and more. It is a great dining place with some of the best selection of fish and seafood as well as friendly staff. During my last visit to the Cedar Hills Crossing shop, my friends and I waited for about 15 minutes before we were seated by the door person and given the menu. Since I'm a seafood lover, by just looking at the menu itself is already mouth watering and we were really spoilt with the handful selection of seafood. I must say, overall the restaurant looks like an old cottage from fishing village and the wall is scribbled nicely as part of the decoration. It feels cozy in the restau...

In Malaysia, I've been to a number of Japanese restaurants but I don't really see any of the restaurants with the Japanese feel - nor the restaurant is decorated in authentic Japanese theme. The outside of Syun Izakaya looks like any ordinary shops It is an eye opener for me to have a real "Japanese" dining experience at the Syun Izakaya during my last business trip to Oregon, United States. The restaurant really give me the feel that I was having my dinner in Japan, mainly because of the decoration - although I don't recall seeing the conveyer belt fetching sushi around the restaurant. The "Japanese" theme inside Syun Izakaya - something I always see whenever I watch any Japanese movie

Outback Steakhouse is an Australian themed steakhouse restaurant. Although beef and steak items make up a good portion of the menu, the restaurant also offers a variety of chicken, ribs, seafood, and pasta dishes. During my last visit to the United States, I dine at one of the Outback Steakhouse restaurant not too far from where my hotel is with a colleague of mine. Overall, I found that the restaurant is nicely decorated with Australia theme although the lighting is a bit poor as I find that the restaurant is a little bit too dark. The restaurant has very dim lighting It is very normal in the United States for the people to wait to be seated everytime we go to a restaurant and in Outback Steakhouse, we were given a device which is supposedly to vibrate if it is our turn but maybe because both of us went too far, and the device is out of coverage, the device did not really vibrate. Luckily the waitress there is good enough to still sit us when we ask about i...

It's been a while since my last visit to Lou Wong, "the most famous in town specialised in chicken bean sprout and kuetiau" and I must say, the quality of the this famous chicken bean sprout and kuetiau or otherwise known as flat noodle is definitely not the same anymore. I like the chicken bean sprout and kuetiau at the Lou Wong ever since I was a kid, even before I know that Ipoh actually famous for the dish and I only realized about this when I was in university. I can definitely say that the chicken bean sprout and kuetiau in Ipoh taste better than other places in Malaysia, not just because I'm from Ipoh, but because they taste much better, really.

The Apartment Downtown or also known as Malones at the Suria KLCC is an Irish restaurant and bars offering array of pork-free authentic Irish specialties menu. The restaurant is actually very easy to find - it is located at the ground floor of the Suria KLCC, the outlet is at the G48/139 and it is not easy to miss the spot as the outlet is just next to the KLCC park where you can see the water dance show at night. The Apartment Downtown opens daily from 11 am to 10 pm. Well, I went for a vacation in KL last month, coincides with my elder sister's birthday week as well as the holiday season and we decided to have our dinner at the Suria KLCC mall and it was extremely packed that day and most restaurants inside the malls were in fact full, and to our surprise, The Apartment Downtown still able to take in big table, and we ended up having our dinner there.

Moon De Moon Restaurant's name might sound a little bit weird and judging by the name itself one would not know that the shop is famous for Asian food, specifically famous for its dry curry noodle. However, this humble Chinese style kopitiam located quite remotely in the Kampung Simee did not deter some food lovers from going there to enjoy its famous dry curry noodle. I always went there early in the morning on Sunday before the church service, but I heard that the dry curry noodle is selling like hot cake almost every time the shop operates; usually sold out before 11 in the morning. So, to avoid disappointment, it is best to go there early in the morning to get a taste of this tasty dry curry noodle. Presentation wise, the dry curry noodle doesn't seems to look very "dry"; the curry gravy is on the thick side. I don't really see that it is mixed with some thick soy sauce that the dry curry noodle usually has; but then I think this is the specialty of ...

When we were ask what is the famous food that people can get in Klang, usually the first one that come to everyone's mind is the Bak Kut Teh. Not many of us from outside of Klang realized that Klang is also famous for its seafood. Well, finally I got a chance to have the taste of the seafood in Klang when I went for a holiday in the Federal Territory last week. The seafood restaurant is Port Village Seafood Restaurant at Tanjung Harapan, Port Klang. Port Village Seafood Restaurant The idea of having the seafood for dinner at Klang was brought up by my sister's boyfriend when we had our dinner together at the Suria KLCC mall. And so we all met up at my aunt's condo's area and start the journey to the restaurant before six in the evening and we reached the destination just in time for dinner; with not many customers at the Port Village Seafood Restaurant. My first impression of the place? Well, I will be kidding myself if I think that it is full air condition...

If you are thinking of fresh grilled meat like the pork chop or chicken chop, then you should give the grilled pork chop in hot plate at the Wong Kok outlet in Ipoh Parade, which just opened recently. Another of the similar franchise opened a year or two at the De Garden, but I'm specifically mentioning the outlet in Ipoh Parade because the outlet in De Garden doesn't seem to serve very fresh food and cooked food. I ordered the hot plate set of the grilled pork chop in the Italian red sauce and the set comes with a soup, appetizer as well as a cup of drink. Although the price is on the high side, but then again, it comes with all those stuff, so it kinda worth for the price that we are paying. We can choose either the bosch soup or the cream soup and I choose the latter, I had the iced coffee for my drink. The appetizer was the mango pudding. The soup was a bit diluted; while the mango pudding has the mango taste, and it's a bit sticky and slimy; but both were ...

My father has Kim Gary's membership card and this month is his birthday month, so he is entitled to order the free fruit punch complimentary from Kim Gary. Note that this is not any ordinary fruit punch, and you won't be able to order it from the Kim Gary menu, at least I don't see it as of yesterday. The fruit punch consist of mainly the watermelon, as fruit as well as the watermelon juice, with some can fruits like pineapple, Nata de Coco, and pearl all inside the watermelon shell. The food was presented in a luxurious way and the portion can be shared to about four people. If you are Kim Gary's member and so happen to have birthday this month, don't miss out the opportunity to try out the fruit punch. It's free anyway.

Jalan Yau Tet Shin It must be a surprise that I am blogging about a street in Ipoh, but this street is hard to be missed especially to those who stopped by Ipoh. Reason being, the Jalan Yau Tet Shin is famous for its mouthwatering hawker food and it is a must stop by area when someone passes the quiet town of Ipoh. In fact, one can easily see a lot of local tour buses stopping by for the people to dine and pack some of the local favourites confectioneries back home. Famous Lou Wong Chicken Taugeh Ong Kee Restaurant Onn Kee Restaurant - with aircond Prominent figures also dine at Onn Kee The famous giant bean sprout of Ipoh The street will be crowded almost every day when the Ipoh Famous Taugeh-Chicken (taugeh is the Malay word for bean sprout) such as Lou Wong and Onn Kei is open. The two shops previously opened after dinner time until midnight but now the official business hour is from 10a.m onwards, and the most surprising thi...

During one of my visit to the Dragon-i Restaurant, I realized that the Dragon-i Restaurant, which is supposedly to be a Shanghainese restaurant, has the menu consists of a lot of Szechuanese style food. Anyway, since we have so many different type of Szechuanese food to choose from, we've decided to order a Stewed Chicken Szechuan Style - I'm not sure of the exact name displayed in the menu, though. Dragon-i, the restaurant with the tag "A culinary experience unlike any other" really make the the dining experience in any of the Dragon-i restaurants throughout Malaysia special. The same goes to the food that the restaurant served, in this case the Stewed Chicken Szechuan Style. The chicken is served in a claypot and the claypot continue to be heated using a portable gas stove. This is to maintain the aroma of the dish.

Last weekends there is a surprise visitor to our family, hence we had our dinner with him nearby our house at the Ipoh Garden East, in fact, the restaurant is just walking distant from our house, just across the street and then voila - you have reached Crab House. I believe Crab House is in fact quite popular or famous, well, at least among the people around the area. When we go inside the restaurant, all the tables are fully booked, but one of the person in charge in the restaurant give us a table because the customer will only be there after 8 p.m, so we kinda have about an hour and a half. That was actually my second visit to the restaurant, the first was lunch session and even then, it seems packed at that time. So, we ordered the signature chicken dish, vegetable, toufu, lala as well as some crabs - since we are eating at the Crab House, definitely we need to try out the specialty of the house.  The toufu that we ordered is pretty nice, although I do not know what it i...

I blogged about free Espetada set at Nando's during Father's Day month, which is in June (the promotion period actually runs from the 4th of June and throughout June). Well, besides the regular Espetada set, one can actually order the Espetada Rustica set, which is about 10% more expensive. Espetada Rustica - served together with corn-in-the-cob and three bean salad Like the regular Espetada, Espetada Rustica is also served on a skewer holder and the servings are skewered with skewer and this display actually makes the Espetada so special, well, at least to me. Caution though, the skewer is hot - a proof that the servings went through a very thorough grilling process before serving to the customer. Like the regular Espetada, the Espetada Rustica is also comes together with two side dishes, in this case, we ordered the corn-in-the-cob and the three bean salad.

This Father's Day month, Nando's is offering free Espetada set for the Nando's card member with a purchase of two sets of quarter chicken with two sidelines and two cup of bottomless drink. The promotion actually started since June 4th and will end by the end of the month, so hurry, bring your father to enjoy this free Espetada. Although I put the location as Ipoh, but it is actually available at all Nando's outlet throughout the nation; just that I had mine at the Nando's outlet at the Aeon Station 18  in Ipoh. To me, this promotion really worth it as the normal set of Espetada set already cost more than RM30, so which means that if you dine with two person, the three of you should get a free Espetada set, provided you have the Nando's card.

It was definitely an amazing weekend....back Ipoh on Saturday midnight and managed to go for breakfast with my family. We went to Sin Yoon Loong...the white coffee is still the best. Well, I'm a coffee lover and it just feel good to go for breakfast at the Ipoh Old Town...brings back some memories when I was much younger, still naive and innocent.   Some people complained about the crowd but I think it's cool...just need to be patient when looking for parking. Anyway, I'm gonna talk more bout the food and coffee instead of the nostalgic memories. The Iced White Coffee we ordered, though a little too sweet for our everyday consumption, was bold, aromatic and creamy. A caffeine-fix and a half that is bound to kickstart the engines of all of you who need that double shot of espresso to get going in the morning. Talking about Starbucks coffee....it is nothing in comparison to this, and we are talking about a beverage at only RM1.70....you can actually drink about...

The other day, I was curious on one of the restaurants that seem to be crowded on a daily basis, the HomeTown. It is located next to Kenny Rogers along the Jalan Genting Klang road. It is very difficult to find parking for those of you who might be interested. Most people park at the side road and that's what I did.   There are two shop lots, one with air cond and the other without. The place felt a bit cramp though with the tables and chairs arranged closely. Service was pretty good with quite a lot of staff working there. We decided to try the award winning Tom Yam soup and a herbal soup. One thing that is very good about the menu is the variety of offers that we can find there. The Tom Yam soup is amazing and for those of you who love Tom Yam, this is definitely one place you must visit for steamboat.   Instead of serving only one standard steamboat set, there are a few other sets you could choose from and each of them come with different ingredients and pri...

While trying to clean up and review the camera roll in my iPhone 4, I realized that there is this famous place to dine in Kedah which I think worth mentioning in this blog. One of the reason is because almost every time when my mum come over to the northern region with my siblings, we are almost definite to have our dinner in this small town, Serdang. It is just actually about 30 minutes drive from Kulim, where I work. This famous place is called the Fong Ting Siew Restaurant, or Restoran Fong Ting Siew. The restaurant is at 71A, Jalan Raya, Taman Melur, 09800 Serdang, Kedah. GPS coordinate is at 5.20444, 100.61105. I don't really know the official business hour, but we usually reached the restaurant at about 6.30p.m, so I would say that to be on the safe side, start the journey from Kulim or the Bandar Baru toll 6.00p.m. The famous food in this restaurant is definitely the famous fried porridge. I found it hard to believe when I first heard of fried porridge, I mean, how on Ea...

As most of us are growing up and work outstation, we might need to plan some special occasions on and off to accommodate everyone and for this year, we push out the Mother's Day celebration to do it together with my birthday, because it is just a week apart, so that my younger sister can join in the celebration. Anyway, this round we had my birthday as well as Mother's Day celebration at the Healy Mac's Irish Bar and Restaurant at the Greentown Avenue. I will blog about the environment of the place, but in this post, I will blog about one of the dish that we ordered for that day. It is the pork knuckle and the portion served on that day was humungous. The pork knuckle set Presentation wise, the pork knuckle is served together with another plates of side dishes of salad and potatoes - so I would say the portion is humungous. It's very tempting the moment the food is served on the table. The plates are clean in the sense there is no food oil around the p...