The Malaysian Food Review

I am a big fan of prawn mee. Previously I used to think that Mee Yoke Lim, which is available all over PJ is the best, but that was until I tasted the Taman Paramount prawn mee. Eager to find something even better, I have been searching high and low for prawn mee specialists.

I found one that I thought had potential to beat Paramount. It is located along Jalan Pahang, directly opposite this big weird shopping complex that houses a weird cinema and a weird supermarket. It is on the side of the road that is heading towards Bulatan Pahang. There were quite a few prawn mee stalls there, so I had to choose carefully.

You will first have to order at the stall located outside the shop, and then go into the shop and take a seat. If I am not mistaken the shop is air-conditioned.

The food doesn’t take long to arrive. I ordered a large prawn mee with pork ribs, because I am greedy. The food actually looked quite presentable, and it even came on a porcelain bowl, so as to not cause me cancer. I thought that was very kind of them.

The food tasted reasonably good. It was slightly different from most other prawn mees that I have eaten. The soup had more of a seafood taste, and thus making it taste more authentic. The noodles tasted like any other noodles. But the soup was quite unique.

My lunch partner ordered a small bowl, and I was quite surprised by how small it was. I think I would need 3 of those to fill up.

All in all, it was a pretty decent bowl of prawn mee, and is quite nice especially if you feel like having something different. Please bear in mind that I am not a big seafood person, so maybe those who can’t live without seafood will like it more than I did. But I think a 7/10 will be fair. The whole meal came up to around RM12 for the 2 bowls above with 2 drinks.

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I rarely venture out to Cheras to whet my appetite. It just always seems a bit too far to go grab a quick lunch, and a bit too out of the way to go have dinner.

Even then, it was a surprise to my colleagues that I’d never heard of the famous Ong Kee Big Bun. “It’s THIS BIG!” he said, stretching his hands out to give me an idea of its size, which made me imagine it to be the size of a football.. “Inside you got chicken, pork, eggs, and some veggies.. come we go try it today”. So off we went.

Along the way he told me the story of how the pau maker came up with this oversized treat. Apparently some dude approached this simple pau maker and commended him on the quality of his paus, then asked him to create a big pau, as big as Amy Yip’s breasts! Amy Yip is some actress who was um… ‘blessed’ with a pair of enormous tits. Here’s a pic of her because I KNOW you all want it… courtesy of Wikipedia.

Ok back to the paus.

Above is the lineup of paus available at this stall, which sits just beside the main road. The prices are hard to read because Mr. Ong Kee has updated them with a pen over the years. I think it’s quite obvious that he’s very proud of his Big Bun creation.

These are the bamboo baskets where the big buns are made. I never knew paus were pink in colour before being cooked.

 Here is Ong Kee’s standard issue pau and loh mai kai display cabinet.

 

Back at the office, we unwrapped the big bun, to the wonderment and awe of bystanders in the pantry. The guy who held the pau in this picture was practically drooling all over it.

 

 The inside of the pau appeared to be exactly as my colleague described. Chicken, pork, eggs, and sengkuang (jicama).

 Personally, I didn’t think much of it, as it didn’t taste very good. The chicken was also still attached to the bones, which made it annoying to eat. Between 3 people, we couldn’t finish the bloody thing. I would therefore classify it as a novelty pau. It’s interesting to look at, and represents good value at RM4.50, but it tastewise it falters badly. But if you’re low on funds and really really hungry, go for it.

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Aloha, Tongue of Fury here with another great recommendation on where to eat in Penang. I know most people say the food at Gurney Drive is not great, but I stumbled upon something unique and it involves a lot of chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is M Tucky Fried Chicken, I think they blocked out the ‘c’ due to copyright reasons, but I’m not sure. I know its a cliche to have a name like Mc’something’ or ’something’tucky but I know this other place in Bali that serves the best burgers I’ve ever tasted, they are called McWilliams, with an upside down McDonalds sign, but don’t let the name fool you, the burgers are awesome!

Anyway, back to the review, M Tucky serves chicken, a whole lot of chicken: meat, sausage, nuggets, balls (not testicles),  skin and even bishop’s nose (for those of you who don’t know what a bishop’s nose is, it is actually a more polite way of saying chicken ass/bottom/butt/backside/rear/buns). 

 

The food is served in a somewhat Lok Lok-ish style, you choose what you want and the dude will re-fry the chicken for you so that it will be crunchy and warm when served. I decided to go for the chicken skin as I was already eating a crappy bowl of Prawn Noodles and a plate of Char Kuey Teow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I know Chicken Skin is not actually Malaysian Food, but where else can you find a place that serves this? If anyone knows do drop us a note.

I paid 3 bucks for this interesting item, which I thought was quite pricey. The thing about chicken skin for me, once I start, I can’t stop, almost similar to the way I eat peanuts, kuaci, Miao Miao Cheese Rings and Loacker Wafers. The skin once crunchy and tasty and as I was biting away I can’t help but imagine how good this will go with a mug of beer (pub owners take note).

It is a simple dish but boy was it a satisfying one. I felt like having more after I’ve finished, but decided agaisnt it knowing how detrimental it could be for my health.

Final Verdict (Poor/Fair/Good/Very Good/Excellent/Outstanding):
Taste: Excellent
Ambience: Very Good (Gurney drive is quite nice)
Price: Reasonable
Rating: 8/10

Ok, that’s all the time I have for now, till the next time, don’t burn those tongues with hot soup!

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