Mak Jah Mee Udang @ Wangsa Maju

Mee Udang is another type of delicacy that can be found famous in certain states of Malaysia. Having tasted one of the best and famous ones in Penang, we craved to have more of this dish.  For us, the key to a good bowl of mee udang is the freshness and the size of the prawn used and most importantly the taste of the soup. 

The famous Mee Udang Mak Jah from Kuala Sepetang Perak has recently opened their first branch in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur. Longing for a bowl of Mee Udang goodness, we paid the restaurant a visit!

Entrance of the shop, with a unique signage of two giant prawns. Operational hours: 11.30am to 10pm. (But if there are many customers, they would wait till the last one leaves)  

The seating inside the shop. All the wall décor are in black and white pictures of their shop in Kampung Menteri, Kuala Sepetang Perak. There are plenty of tables in place to cater to the mass crowd. It was pretty pack during the time of our visit and each table was close to one another.

The outside (covered) seatings. Customers of the shop are mostly from the Malay demographic.

Mee Udang Special Mak Jah. RM 12. With 6 medium size prawns. There is a big different in term of taste of the gravy for mee udang Mak Jah than the one tasted in Penang. (Though it had a little bit too much celery in it) This version of mee udang is a little bit spicy with a tinge of sweetness (Mrs Foodpacker, being a fan of spicy food, simply favored this one better) However, the size of the prawns are only medium here. Mr Foodpacker slurped to the last drop despite the overwhelming heat!

This is how the prawns look like after being skilfully peeled off by Mr Foodpacker ;) His face was literally dripping with sweat after he was done with this one!

Nasi Goreng Udang Special. RM 12. With 7 medium size prawns. The fried rice consists of fried anchovies and celery served with a puddle of mee udang soup (right at the back in the picture). The fried rice taste just fine. The let down of this dish was that, the prawns were tasteless, and we suspected that they had precook the prawns and then mixed it with the fried rice after. This could have been a nice dish if only they cook the prawns together with the rice, so that the sweet taste of the prawn can be embedded into the rice, which is what was missing in this one.

All the prawns we dug out from down under the land of fried rice XD

Udang Goreng Kunyit. RM 13. With 7 medium size prawns. This was the highlight of our visit. The prawns were well marinated with turmeric and salt, then fried with celery. Try taking of the shell and mixing it with the ingredients in the bowl for a tasty explosion of flavours! Rather salty if consume on its own, it is best to be eaten with plain rice to soften down the taste of the salt and turmeric.

Telur Dadar. RM 1.50. You might need this additional dish to go with your plain rice and Udang Goreng Kunyit. Simply fluffy.

Dishing it out: For a fan of mee udang around KL/Klang valley area, you should definitely give this one a try. You don't have to go all the way North to find a good plate of Mee Udang anymore! (Thought the taste differs in a way that it tastes more spicy down South, but a little sweet up North. Different states in Malaysia prefer different taste perhaps) Also we love the fact that they set a fixed price for their prawn dishes instead of using the price per gram pricing like the ones in Penang. This way one does not have to worry about how much a bowl of mee udang might cost them when the bill hits! =P

Coming back for more value: ABSOLUTELY YES for the mee udang and udang goreng kunyit.
Crowd: YES
Cleanliness: MODERATE (chairs and table are slightly dirty and not well wiped)
Service: GOOD
Category: HALAL/PORK-FREE

GPS Coordinates: N03.197008, E101.740576


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If you'd like to know the COMPLETE ADDRESS of the restaurant, please click on the "Location" tab below. (After Facebook comments and right before Blogger comments, its in between!)

Tel: 012 2931 101

..and that's our "DISH" of the day!!!!!

Seremban 2 Seafood Steamboat & BBQ @ Seremban 2

Here is a post about another veteran shop in Seremban. Mr Foodpacker and his family have been customers of this restaurant for years. It is one of the first established steamboat joint to ever hit the town of Seremban (Pork-free for the very least) Long ago before Jusco Seremban 2 was even built, the land used to be a driving range. Directly opposite it was where this humble steamboat restaurant used to be. Mr Foodpacker could still remember the countless visits he and his family has paid this shop, most of the time, after his father was done playing golf. But that was ofcourse, a very long time ago.. it has now relocated to a new 2-storey building located not far from its original spot.

Prices are as follow:
Adults = RM20
Seniors (Aged 55 and above) = RM16
Children (Aged 5 to 10) = RM7

Its own gated building. Used to be attached to the side of Seremban 2 sales office. Operational hours: 6pm to 11pm daily.

An open environment that allows the free movement of smoke (from the steamboat, not your cigarette! FYI they don't allow smoking here. Talk about Southern "family" hospitality! Way to go Serembanians!) They also provide an indoor air conditioned seating, but they are mostly used only for functions. As you can see, the tables are far apart from one another (unlike other steamboat restaurants in KL) which provides you with extra comfortability to roam around and get your food.

All-you-can-eat buffet. Ranging from grilled items (meat and seafood) to steambot items. In our experience, it is single handedly the longest strech of food in a steamboat buffet we've ever seen. (Not sure if this shop is too generous, or other shops are too stingy..) Like they have advertised - "120++ varieties of food to choose from!" Click picture to enlarge.

Other than that, they have many selections of uncooked items such as noodles (even Udon! T_T y u so kind), eggs, corn and fresh vegetables. For cooked items, they have fried rice, fried beehoon, some wantons and not mistaken, we even spotted some big oysters! Also, did we forget to mention? The drinks are free!!!!!!!! (Where in the heck people give free drinks in a steamboat restaurant??!!! highly rare and unlikely we say!) They come in flavors of concentrated orange, rose syrup and chinese tea. This is the first shop where we saw a huge self service ice compartment too. You can either put in your glass or even in those small classic buckets which we always see at a steamboat shops.

Some highlights of the shop.. Quail eggs (telur burung puyuh) In 2 variant we might add, normal and not sure what the other one was but if we took a wild guess, it might be tea eggs. If you are a fan of quail eggs, you MUST come here. Only a real fan would know how expensive these things are and how difficult it is to find them as a part of a buffet! (No kidding) Most of the other steamboat restaurants we went to, either did not provide them or provide the unpeeled version of them so you would have to take the shell off yourself. (Trust us, it is a very tidy process and we stopped after peeling off just 10 of them)

Another item that other steamboat restaurants don't normally serve.. Lamb (if you can spot it, most top rack on the right below the bar. Others are selections of chicken from blackpepper to curry and wings) Its unlimited baby! So go ahead and take any amount you want! Don't worry, they will refill them if it's empty. =D

A small sample of what we took.. garlic chicken, prawn, wings and Mrs Foodpacker's favourite, sliced fish! (Best cooked in pot, instead of grill. Not sure what type of fish it is but it has all been white in colour XD)

The necessities needed for a Masterchef. On left: Butter for grilling. On right: fragrance sauce, pepper and soy sauce (kicap) for porridge. 

You have the choice to pick the soup you want. Either it is a half-half or one full pot of chicken soup and/or tomyam soup (No extra charge) Let the feast begin! A friendly tip: Always grease the grill pan with butter first to make sure the food doesn't stick. But you have to be careful not to put in too much butter as it will create a small pool at the corners of the grill (seen in bottom left picture) that tends to explode and pops small amounts of hot oil at you. Also do pay attention at Mrs Foodpacker's fish grilling artistry on the bottom right picture ;)

A perfectly cooked chicken wings and a not so perfect chicken cube.. Both are our favorite "greasy" dish from this restaurant haha Goes well with fried rice too!

And ofcourse Mr Foodpacker's and ALL of his brothers childhood favourite.. Lamb lamb lamb lamb lambbbbb! (Yup, they normally take 5-6 plates full of lamb all to themselves) There's nothing much we can say about it.. (besides most are attached to bones) It tastes freaking awesome! The marinate used on the lamb makes us speechless, it doesn't matter how you cook it as long as you have it on the grill for 5 minutes, it comes off from the plate tasting perfect! This is truly the main benefactor of why Mr Foodpacker and his family revisited this restaurant many times when he was small and it still tastes as tasty as how it used to be even after all these years.

This is the fun and easy part of the visit. Do REQUEST for a porridge together with your soup as it is part of the deal! (No extra charges. But if you do not want to have porridge, the charges will still REMAIN the same. Adults = RM20 etc) This is a new addition to the menu and our first thought on this was, "This is the most value for money steamboat restaurant we've ever been to! =D" You can't get a good deal such as this anywhere else!

The end result. A tasty looking thick porridge with quail egg and many delicious ingredients inside. =P~ *slurpp* A few tips to make a fantastic porridge Mr & Mrs Foodpacker style: 

1)Dump in any ingredients you like especially chicken cubes, spinach, golden mushroom and most importantly an excessive amount of quail eggs!!! P/S: take lots of green veggie, it will melt and taste good in the porridge later ;)

2)Add in the right amount of fragrance sauce, pepper and soy sauce to your liking. Fragrance sauce is the key here, so put a lot of them!

3)Don't adjust the level of the fire (just leave it as it is) and close the lid. BUT remember to open it up and steer every 5 minutes (very important so the rice doesn't stick and burn at the bottom. it will affect the whole taste of the porridge) 

4)After approximately 30minutes, off the fire, open the lid and leave the porridge to dry for 5minutes to achieve its most desired level of thickness.

5)Everything will be mushy and blend together nicely now. So scoop it into your bowl and enjoy! =)

Polar ice cream. Our favourite is durian flavor! As it reminded us most of the "roti ais krim" we used to order from the ice cream man as kids.

Dishing it out: Personally, we think that this is the best value-for-money and the most complete steamboat restaurant out there. RM20 for Steamboat, BBQ and Porridge + free drinks + lamb + peeled quail eggs + udon + oysters? A similar shop in Klang/KL would normally cost around RM25 offering less items and no drinks. Heck we've been to a steamboat restaurant that charges us for the amount of utensils we use! Some even charge for tissues! But at S2 Steamboat and BBQ, rest assured there are NO HIDDEN CHARGES. However, if you'd like to drink something else than the fixed selection of free drinks, you can order a big jug of fresh juice that costs RM10 to share with everyone =D

p/s: If this shop was to operate in KL, it would immediately run out of business as it'd be swarmed with customers.

Coming back for more value: ABSOLUTELY YES
Crowd: YES
Cleanliness: CLEAN

Service: VERY GOOD here is another worthy mention. Unlike every other shops, the staffs here are VERY helpful and friendly. They would come to check your table from time to time. Just to make sure your food is not overcooked/burnt, the fire level is alright and that you don't forget to steer the porridge =P You don't even have to do or say anything to them, simply watch them as they go to work!

Category: HALAL/PORK-FREE

GPS Coordinates: N2.695226,E101.914455


View Seremban 2 Steambot and BBQ in a larger map

If you'd like to know the COMPLETE ADDRESS of the restaurant, please click on the "Location" tab below. (After Facebook comments and right before Blogger comments, its in between!)

Tel: 012 266 7293 / 012 776 4065

..and that's our "DISH" of the day!!!!!

Mantra Restaurant and Bar @ Sunway Pyramid

Long have we known this under-rated shop in the midst of all the culinary potential in Sunway Pyramid. It has been there for quite a while, even since before the new wings were opened in the mall. Blessed with a good view overlooking the whole of Sunway Lagoon Theme Park, this shop has an exotic range of Indian cuisines to offer local and foreign visitor. We have never failed to see 1 or 2 groups of Arabics in the restaurant. The major contributor could be because of its strategic location which is right infront of Sunway Hotel's - Sunway Pyramid entrance.

The last-through-the-test-of-time entrance. You can view the artificial ice ring below from here. Operational hours:10am to 10pm daily.

Creamsicle orange juice with ice cream and whipped cream. RM11.90. As good as it sounds, it is nothing compared to the meal you're going to have! The meals are more of a highlight to the restaurant than their drinks.

Naan ki tokri bread basket. RM16. A combo of mixed naan: plain, butter, cheese and garlic. The naan breads were soft when it first came, but like every other normal naan, it is advisable to consume them right away because as time goes by the thickness of the bread will slowly overcome its softness. Personally, we prefer to have cheese + garlic naan in most restaurants we go to.

Tandoori murg half set. RM16.90. Full set RM28.90. Sweet tender tandoori meat! A must have when you go to any mamak stall. In this case, we just had to compare how different the "high end" tandoori taste like. Well, it's pretty much the same =P but the quality can be assured in this one! Everything was well cook and even when sometimes the thickness of the naan bread starts to kick in, the tenderness of these chicken are there to save the day. The freshly cut onions were delightful as well!

Kang kung belachan. RM9.90. Not sure if the foreigners would eat these. But im pretty sure an real Malaysian would! Don't worry, despite its name, it is not spicy at all. A good fresh green to go with rice. Our No. 1 recommended dish!

Cashewnut chilli chicken. RM18.90. THE BEST MEAL OF THIS SHOP and our No. 2 recommended dish! Believe me when we say that, we are not exaggerating! Not only the mixture of colorful vegetables makes this meal very pleasing to the eyes, it is indeed very tasty! Mr Foodpacker could still remember the first time he tried this and the few days that follow when he craved to come back to this restaurant to have another taste. Only set back is, it comes in a pretty small potion and the cashewnuts seem to run out faster than the chicken each time! :(

Garlic tiger prawn. RM29.90. Small to medium sized prawns that goes very well with garlic (there are small cuts of it in the dish) We order them each time we visit the restaurant. Goes very well with rice but if you are going for value for money, you might want to reconsider this.

Steamed seabass. RM39.90. No. 3 recommended dish! How can you refuse entry of such a beautiful thing into your mouth? ;) This was a big fish with a lot of white meat! But the secret to success of this dish is mainly its sauce. A little bit spicy and a tad sour + sweet which moists and flavours the rice you eat it with very well. You will not find any balance of remaining sauce once you are done with this dish!

Dishing it out: Undeniably we have many dishes to recommend from this shop. (We've come back to this shop again and again to order the same thing too!) Not only the eating environment is cozy, the food is great and you will have the privacy you seek when eating. There aren't to many visitors in this shop, the most we've seen was 5-6 groups of people. A perfect situation for you to roam around the shop especially when it offers you a very good view of Sunway Pyramid. Be sure to give their cashewnut chicken a try, you won't regret it =D
p/s: We've also tried and like their butter chicken and mango sticky rice very much. Will try to get their pictures up after our next visit.

Coming back for more value: ABSOLUTELY YES and maybe try a different dish next time, such as their briyani rice and banana leaf rice
Crowd: NO
Cleanliness: CLEAN
Service: GOOD
Category: HALAL/PORK-FREE

GPS Coordinates: N3.07236,E101.606947


View Mantra Restaurant and Bar @ Sunway Pyramid in a larger map

If you'd like to know the COMPLETE ADDRESS of the restaurant, please click on the "Location" tab below. (After Facebook comments and right before Blogger comments, its in between!)

Tel: 03 7492 0488

..and that's our "DISH" of the day!!!!!