Food of a Chindian

I am a slightly aerodynamically portly person and I don't think I can ever slim down as I love food too much. Dieting is like torture. That is why I am not in the business of spying. If they caught me and wanted info, all they had to do was deny me dinner. I will be singing like a canary whose vocal cords are connected to a stadium PA system. What's worst is that I have inherited the taste of both cultures and more. I love Chinese food, Indian, Malay, Western, Italian, Japanese, etc. Just food, food, food, etc.

I did have a rather weird and conflicting menu when we were growing up. My mom is a great cook (you may ask whose mom isn't, I can tell you a few and that all mom's cooking are great is a myth). She cooks curry better than any Indian restaurant. So we will be having curry, idaly, sometimes chapati with sweet sour pork, braised chicked with mushroom and herbal soup. As if that is not conflicting enough, sometimes she throws in a pork chop or two just to screw with us. Fingers, chopsticks or forks????

As time progressed, I have learnt to find some really good food around PJ and KL. Here are some restaurants that I like to patronize. These are food and places that I like so if you happen to go there and don't find the food good, that's just a difference in taste. There, glad we got that out of the way. In no particular order:-

1) Bak Kut Teh - all said and done, Klang BKT is the best but I am not going to be able to drive there EVERY single craving. So I settle for the shop at Old Town near the shops that sell all kinds of Chinese religious stuff and plastic containers. Another place worth mentioning is at Kg Jawa (along Kesas to Pulau Indah) where they have dry BKT. I can't remember the coffee shop but if interested I can give directions.

2) Char Siew - My fav is at Jalan Changkat Tungshin, next to Jln Alor. It's a tiny shop where they have honey char siew and chicken rice. To die for!! There is something similar at Glenmarie but it's a poor imitation.

3) Chinese restaurant - I love this place at Bandar Baru Sentul called Lau Heong. Their signature dishes are fried chicken wing (I suspect they put marijuana in the batter, its so addictive), La-la soup (seong tong), curry fish head, banana leaf prawn and squid, stingray with their special sauce and my personal favourite, the fried pork knuckle. Best part is that it is VERY reasonably priced but parking can be a pain.

4) Another Chinese rest - It's called De Maw I think. They have speciality dishes that you will not find elsewhere. Sometimes require booking and it is near PGRM (Gerakan HQ) in Cheras. Quite difficult to go. I can't write it down, gotta drive there and let memory take over.

5) Yet another - Paris is yet another famous chinese rest in PJ. Situated in SS2, it serves your order fast and you have to finish fast and get out. That's because there are tons of folks waiting. Food that is priced reasonably is not easy to find in PJ. Pangkor Curry Fish Head in Tmn Megah opposite Fatty Crab, has a good menu as well with crabs, honey chicken and pretty decent curry fish head.

6) Korean - I developed a taste for Korean food and if you do too should head down to Ampang Jaya where there is a street nicknamed Korean Street but I can't remember the real name. Rest is called Nak Won and it serves really good BBQ marinated beef. Pork and chicken can be missed but also try the Kim Chi soup, Chicken Ginseng soup and Bulgogi. If you like raw beef with raw egg, their UKay is also good. We recently came across another restaurant in Riana Green that is just as good and the pork was well cooked. Only thing is that it is a much smaller restaurant and they don't have a large variety of side dishes.

7) Japanese - I am impartial towards this restaurant at Sri Hartamas. It's the other end of the same row as Finnegans. The decor is wooden with red lanterns. Very good authentic and low priced salmon shashimi. Kampachi at Holiday Villa and Pavilion is also good but pricey.

8) Seafood - I still like Fatty Crab even though the crab has gotten smaller but their sauce, chicken wing and fried rice is still one of the top. Try going to a restaurant in Kg Jawa called Heng Ket. Their grilled crab is a biology lab lesson but taste extremely fresh and sweet. They do have grilled lamb as well and even if you don't like lamb, you will like theirs.

I also enjoy good seafood at Pantai Rest at Kg Kayu Ara. Crab, prawns, pork knuckle, La-La, Scotland clams are just succulent. I highly recommend it!

9) Porky - I cannot live without pork. To me, pork is brain food. So head on down to Taipan (3 doors away from Starbucks) to a restaurant called Meaty House. It serves the best baby back ribs, pork knuckle (see a pattern emerging?), bacon bits soup, ham steak, pork spaghetti, pork lasagne and pork belly.

10) Pasta - Don't even try to go anywhere else before you go to Dave's at 1Utama. It's next to Canton-i. Try the olive oil based spaghetti and you won't go anywhere else. If you have space, get the Cesaer's Salad, pork belly shavings, baby back ribs and.....you got it, pork knuckles!!! Truly excellent pasta and tiramisu.

11) Indian - unfortunately, Indian food is quite standard across the board. Every restaurant will have them, like Malay food. It's just the different types of spices they put it. I am very impartial towards Kanna Curry House in Sec17 and Raju's at Jln Gasing. Occasionally I will head on to Sri Paandi at Sec 5 near Alam Shah school. Brickfields and Leboh Ampang has some good restaurants as well but the 3 above are my favourite.

I do enjoy Kayu as well. I know people say they are expensive and taste very mediocre but I like the plasma TVs.

So there you go. I will work on more western, penang and hawker cuisines as well as some fine dining in my later blogs. Right now, I gotta take some antacids! BURP!!!!