Birthday Dinner at the S.Wine Wine and Dine at Publika, Kuala Lumpur

I have my birthday dinner at S.Wine Wine and Dine at Publika last few weeks and I must say, this place is definitely a must for pork lover. S.Wine mainstay is swine, and is highlighted basically on everything on the menu. Finding the place is not that difficult; although it is hidden inside Ben's Independent Grocer.

We've ordered the pork satay to share out but I don't really like it except for the first one because of the fat pork meat. Having said that, I think most pork lover will find the pork satay special because of the pork satay was grilled to perfection and then served together with the homemade pineapple peanut sauce.

D' Cruises Snow Steak at the Cruises Steak House

It is very rare that franchise chain is available in Ipoh before the capital city, but it seems that the Cruises Steak House which I assume originally from Penang has had more than ten branches in the Northern region and there is already some plan to expand to the Central region to the Southern region.

Nevertheless, the Cruises Steak House at the Aeon Klebang mall offer respectable steak and it's no wonder that the place seems to be full house during the dinner time, and a vast contrast compare to some of the other food outlet within the mall. The price of the food is reasonable; considering the environment and the quality of it. My parents especially my father likes the food that he ordered, on both occasion that we have been there.

Heng Heng Tom Yam Mee Restaurant

My colleagues told me that there is a tom yum restaurant in Bukit Mertajam which serves very spicy tom yum noodles and we have been talking about going there for supper for quite some time and last week finally, I got the chance to go there to taste this spicy tom yum noodles that they have been talking about.

Heng Heng Tom Yam Mee Restaurant is located at Lebuh Nangka 1, Bukit Mertajam and it is about thirty minutes drive from where I work. We went there for late dinner after work last Wednesday. There was not many people around by the time we reach there, but more customers are coming to Heng Heng after 10, so I supposed they are coming for supper.

We ordered 2 bowls of to yum noodle, one with egg and one without, and a bowl of tom yum porridge; and I'm surprise that kuey teow soup is served here as well. Like Joo Heng, we are supposed to select our sides such as fishball, crab meat balls or abalone slices just like how we do for fishball noodle in Ipoh. And also like Joo Heng, the tom yum here is also without kaffir lime leaves and celery although I did see some mentha leaves on top of the bowl of porridge - which make me conclude that the tom yum style in Penang area is totally different with Ipoh or even Kuala Lumpur.

Heng Heng tom yum noodles - without egg

Heng Heng tom yum porridge

Assam Laksa and Siam Laksa at Kim Laksa, Balik Pulau, Penang

While on the way back to Ipoh from Penang after my sister convocation ceremony, my father decided to stop by Balik Pulau to try out the famous laksa there. We know that Kim Laksa is one of the famous one, so we stop by Kim Laksa which is located in one of the old corner shop at Balik Pulau.

Each of us ordered the Assam Laksa and since I read that Siam Laksa is a must in Foursquare, we decided to order a bowl to try out. It doesn't take long before our food is served despite the full house crowd, as it is a small shop and have within ten tables.

Assam Laksa

The Assam Laksa is served with the spoon of sweet prawn paste (har kau) like what most assam laksa at the northern region is served compare to the one in my hometown. The laksa consists of rice noodle (lai fun) and spicy (but not so spicy) sweet and sour soup with a lot of minced fish mixed with mint  leaves and onions to give it the sour taste while mixing the sweet prawn paste will give the original Assam Laksa taste. Honestly if you ask me about the taste of the laksa, I would say that the Assam Laksa here is so-so only.

Siam Laksa (Laksa Lemak)

The Siam Laksa is the laksa lemak that we usually ordered elsewhere. While most part of the laksa is about the same as the assam laksa, the soup is slightly yellowish orange in color, most likely due to the coconut milk paste.

Overall, the taste of the laksa that we had considered above average and the price is within the acceptable range; but the portion is on the small side. If one is thinking to go Balik Pulau for the laksa, I would say there are better laksa elsewhere and there is no need to drive so far just to taste the laksa, unless you have nothing else to do but to go for food hunting.