Fong Chum Seafood

Sometimes, it really makes me wonder if the novelty of a certain place (and how FAR it is) adds on to the expectation of the food there. I mean, I always get so excited when someone tells me of this super 'ulu kampung' place and the good food they serve there and how not many people know of it.

Indirectly, it's less commercial.......

And....... less commercial = more attention to food quality + flavor

And this time round, those sky-high expectations did not come plummeting down- you know how when something is given so much hype and you have this, like, super-over-the-top expectations of it?

Well, as soon as I sucked on the first prawn head within my reach, I was smiling like an idiot.

IT. WAS. THAT. GOOD.

Like, really good...

Steamed Tiger Prawns in Rice Wine

Mad love for the prawns. A definite 'Jizz In The Pants' category. Superbly fresh and done in perfect simplicity of ginger slices, shitake mushrooms, *Wolfberries, egg white, rice wine and a sprinkle of chopped spring onions. The soup was 'fantabulously' flavorful and the prawns still retained its slight bounciness.

And I don't know 'bout you, but I'm a BIG fan of prawn head! So high in cholesterol but oh, so tasty!

*Wolfberry is the small red thing you see floating around in the soup. A kind of Chinese herb and very popular in Chinese dishes as it gives a sweet taste (aka 'Kei Chi' in Chinese).

Steamed Crab in Rice Wine

This was another gorgeous dish. I can't remember the last time I had such fresh crabs! The flesh was tender and slightly chewy. Though the ingredients used to flavor the crabs were almost the same as the prawns, but you'll be surprised to know that they don't taste the same!

The prawns' soup was slightly more salty and the one for the crabs were sweeter and should I say, more 'crabby'?

Oh oh!! And checkout those BEAUTIFUL crab roe!

Beautiful Crab Roe
(though picture quality is not so beautiful)

Steamed Lala in Rice Wine

You all must be wondering why we ordered all the sea creatures to be cooked in the same way with the same ingredients. Well, those that went for the meal that day prefer having their seafood steamed and cooked in the most simple method to savor the freshness of the seafood.

This includes ME.

It's not that I don't like buttered prawns, stir-fry lala or sweet and sour crab. I still eat them and I still enjoy their flavor but my favorite has still got to be steamed or baked! The individual flavors of each sea creature is more significant that way.

At least that's how I feel.

The lala was good too. Tender and not overly chewy. Oh! And not to forget, it's not sticky too. Had a very bad experience not too long ago eating lala that has this sticky, slimy substance to it. Puikk!

Ok..now to give a bit of variety to the 'all-steamed seafood' dishes...

Fei Zhou Fish with Crunchy Choy Poh
(Tilapia Fish with Crunchy Pickled Vegetable)

A very unique combination. Have never tried this anywhere before. Really liked how they deep-fried the choy poh to be super crunchy and combined with its salty-ness, is so appetizing with warm white rice! The fish was really fresh too.

Fish Head Curry

Can't remember what fish was used. This dish was not bad. Not one of my favorites for the day as the fish head had parts that were a bit too 'slimy' (the jelly-like stuff on all fish heads) for my liking. Nevertheless, the curry was scrumptious and good with rice too.

Deep-fried Salad Mantis Prawn

This was really quite good. I always thought that deep-fried stuff go really well with thick creamy sauce. The pineapple added inside really helped give an edge of brightness to the dish with it's sourness, making the dish less filling in a way.

And for dessert,

The Selangor Sweet or "Yan Kee" Pineapples

Apparently, these pineapples are only found around Klang area. Not sure when the season starts or end, but it's on season now. Super sweet and juicy! There are a few fruit stalls selling them on the way to and fro from the restaurant.

My One True Love

DURIANS! GLORIOUS GLORIOUS DURIANS! I'm a H-U-G-E fan/addict of this 'smelly', pungent fruit. Though I was stuffed to the brim, still had to wallop a few seeds of these.

Durian goes down a different passageway ok. So, no such thing as too full for durians.

Langsat

Not a big fan of Langsat. Tried one and it was not bad. Tastes like....... an ordinary Langsat? Not much to comment about.

Well, going to Fong Chum proved to be a fruitful experience. Simple, fast and freshness-guaranteed. The only problem is directing others to get to the place. Tried Googling it to see if others have reviewed it before but to no avail!

Couldn't even get the exact address. All I know is that it's called Jalan Kapar Setia 20. So, try typing that into your GPS. If that fails too, you can call me or e-mail me and I'll try my best to give you the directions.

But to make it simpler, why don't you just take me there along and you won't have trouble looking for it?

Big Fat Bird-ie

Been passing by Big Fat Bird a couple of times as it's in my office area. Had a few lunch plans to eat there but it always got canceled. Finally got to try it one fine day with my 'wannabe-goth' girlfriend.

(Just a moment of thought: It'll be super funny to see an emo goth person grabbing a bite here! HAHA!)


Wanna see my 'goth' girlfriend?

.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

TA-DAAA!!!

Hence the word 'wannabe' attached on her forehead.
Love her to bits tho' =)

You wouldn't miss this place in the area as it's the ONLY charming thing here (except for another cafe). Believe me. The rest of the shops are just boring-looking, square-and-white office blocks or mamaks.

I loved the little 'birdie' mascot they have. The place is simple; white and clean and rather adorable.




I like how they have the bookshelves there. Gave it such a home-ly feel. One more thing I like:

Floor-to-ceiling chalkboard!

We heard that the place is popular with their sandwiches. And so, we ordered:

Turkey Ham Sandwich

Well, we definitely had much higher expectations for their sandwiches there. Afterall, that's what they're most popular for, right? For one, it looks like some sandwich made by Mummy at home.

(Wait. I think Mum's sandwiches looked better. At least they don't have brown, dead-looking veges in between!)

The lettuce looked kinda dead and they specially dedicated a whole layer in-between just for the veges. Eeeww...??

Makes one think that the 3rd slice of bread is there just to make the whole sandwich look bigger. This is called......CHEATING!

The sandwich tasted like any other ham sandwich would have tasted. Nothing special, nothing spectacularly different.

Lamb Goulash
Hungarian style tangy lamb stew with vegetables, sour cream and spaghetti

This dish was not too shabby. Lamb was rather tender and gravy was tasty enough. Would have preferred to have it with toasted bread though.

The food at Big Fat Bird is not exactly FANTASTIC...it's alright. Not too bad for an 'office hour' mealtime.

Wouldn't mind grabbing something to drink and have a long-winded chat with the girls there as it's a dainty little quiet place.




Big Fat Bird Cafe

Unit G11, Block C,
Tropicana City Business Park,
47400, Petaling Jaya.

Opening hours: Weekdays- 8am-6pm, Saturdays- 8am-3pm, Sundays- Open for events only

www.bigfatbird.com

Male Portraits Have Never Been This Yummy

My daily grind aka beloved office, together with Canon Malaysia organized a Male Portraits Workshop not too long ago at Concorde Hotel, KL. Was asked to emcee for the event just the day before. The horror!

Though with eyes as wide as saucer plates and mouth gaping open like a dead fish when boss told me, I guess it's a better job than being one of the 'behind-the-scenes' people carrying heavy stuff. HAHA!

Feedback from participants were more than satisfactory and the one thing everyone has to say, "It was more like a makan spree than a photography workshop!" The itinerary went like this:

8.30am - Breakfast
10.15am - Break (2nd round of breakfast)
12.30pm - Buffet Lunch
till 2.30pm
3.30pm - Tea (with chicken wings, thin-crust pizza, sausage rolls & an
assortment of Danish pastries)
5.15pm - END

Quite a mouthful that day, in between emcee-ing and chomping food down. Mmmm..LOVES!

Supposedly the 'highlight' of the day...

Cold, boiled prawns. My fav! Good thing it was fresh too!

Otak-otak stuffed in crab shells... really good!

Some duck thing which was REALLY yummy.....

Jelly fish

Didn't really love the desserts 'cept one or two. But they were all really pretty-looking......

Cherries simmered in dark red wine. Loved this.....

Couldn't believe the amount of food I gulped down that day. Could have been the jittery nerves?

Oh well... it was a good event nonetheless. Good job to all volunteers, participants, sponsors & of course, our beloved office.

CHEERS TO US!

Some Good Ol' Kampung Style at Sambal Hijau

It was one of those days where the metabolic rate shot sky high causing the stomach to rumble more vigorously than usual and the constant growling sounded like a rainstorm was coming.

Super Hungry Mode ON!

Called my reliable 'makan' buddy, Chelle for an escapade to monster-eating paradise.

MISSION: A PLACE OF SCRUMPTIOUS, HEARTY FOOD

Ting! We've got a destination and it was to Sambal Hijau for some good ol' Malay kampung food. But of course, as is always the case when I'm with Chelle, we HAVE to get lost on the way there. And once again, it was the smell of good food that leaves its trail of clues and we managed to find our way. Hip hip hurray!

A party of ikan bakar

Mmmmm...the smell of grilled fish (ikan bakar) was promising to some awesome food ahead. Having this grill stand at the outside part of the restaurant is a good publicity stunt as the delicious, sweet smell of ikan bakar is a definite head-turner! Not hungry also become hungry lah!

Super packed to the max!

There were throngs of people there and we resorted to sharing tables with this nice lady and her young son. Because we both wanted to choose the dishes, Chelle asked the lady to 'chop' our seats for us and she was so nice and obliging to help us! See, we still have nice, friendly people in our country.

Ok, TIME TO FEAST!

A star-jump for variety! Glutton Spirit doing some whoop-whoop-whooping!

Well, I almost did one, star-jump I mean. Can you blame me? Look at the spread in front of our eyes! There were rows and rows of every meat, seafood, curry, vege, innards, plants, shrubs and sauces to choose from. BLOWS THE MIND!

Didn't know where to start. We actually stood still taking it all in for a minute or two until we realized we were blocking the pathway and hungry people were shooting glares at us. Whoops!

So finally after much resistance to just take EVERYTHING, we had:

Pucuk Paku with Coconut Shreddings & Chili

Pucuk Paku is a kind of fern which is edible and normally prepared in masak lemak style (with coconut milk/coconut shreddings or some form of coconut inside). This dish was very fragrant and not too spicy.

Fried Turmeric Chicken & Fried Egg accompanying the Pucuk Paku

Fried chicken was relatively quite good. Always liked how the Malays will use turmeric to season their chicken before deep-frying it. Adds some salty and gingery taste to the common fried chicken.

Can't say much about the egg; tastes like the one Mum/Dad/Ah Neh-at-the-mamak-stall made for us for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Good thing is, it was not soaking in oil.

Beef Tendon in Sweet Curry

Was excited to try this dish as I have this knack for all things innard and jelly-looking. Makes it like a challenge, no? A food conquest more like.

Unfortunately, this dish was......not something we would have gulped down in seconds. Tendon was too soft. You know how when you eat tendons, you'll like it to have that slight bit of crunch when you bite into it? This one felt like biting into konyaku jelly. And the curry was a tad bit too sweet and mild.

Jelak after awhile!

The fish with a gazillion bones.....

We ordered grilled ikan terubuk. The plus points- fresh and very sweet. The down points- SUPER A LOT OF TEENY WEENY TINY BONES! Which made eating it quite a chore and time-consuming. If you spoon out the flesh the size of a teaspoon, you'll probably fine 30 bones in between.

Yup....that's how bony it is. Very sweet though.

Sambal Cockles

Mmmm..this dish was good! Cockles were rather tender (not overcooked like those in char kuey teow) and the sambal was spicy, tangy and full of flavor!

Overall, Sambal Hijau was a nice experience because of its diverse variety of Malay food. The throngs of people, the rows of piping-hot food, the grilled fish stand, the aroma- they all just add to this ambiance of a hearty meal awaiting the one who seeks.

Sambal Hijau & Belacan

And of course, every spoonful and every bite was topped with a bit of extra spicy kick- their famous Sambal Hijau and Belacan. The sambal hijau was sooooooo good (think fragrant, spicy, tangy), I could actually just eat it with a plate of white rice!



Restoran Sambal Hijau
2990, Kampung Sungai Penchala,
Jalan Damamnsara, 60000,
Kuala Lumpur.