'jeff lee kitchen' can be MY kitchen anytime.....

I have discovered my favourite thing in Sungai Buloh! .. and no way i'm talking about my boss (who lives there). I have found Jeff Lee Kitchen! and have fallen in love with this fella.

Thank God we made early reservations so we were immediately seated. What instantly caught my eye were the hanging ducks and chicken in the kitchen. Wonder if Jeff Lee is one of the cooks banging away the woks in the kitchen.

 Just a simple typical looking coffee shop, but you can find the most traditional home-cooked style Chinese cooking here. The variety of dishes are aplenty - you name it, very likely they've got it.

Here's what we ended up ordering, after going back and forth with the choice of dishes - all of which are worth ordering. Really. Just check out my grading of the dishes below in parenthesis.

1. A must try is their signature noodle (very much like the springy wan tan mee) topped with tasty rich mince meat. (8/10)

 2. There's no resisting a crispy skin roast duck with meat so tender, dipping it in sweet lemony sauce just spells d-i-v-i-n-e...  (8/10)

 3. Stir fried bitter gourd with salted egg  - i've only just started learning how to enjoy this bitter veg and i found this dish quite a refreshing one. Especially since they steamed the salted egg first. (7/10)

 4. Deep fried Mantis Prawn in Thai Sauce - absolutely addictive. Eat first, show remorse later. =P (7/10)

 5. A unique twist to our vege dish is this recommended 'Paku-Pakis' Cold Thai Salad. The perfect blend of sweet, sour, spicy and tangy, i could eat this everyday! (10/10!) Kinda got the impression from the lady boss that this may not be a dish that's available everyday. So good luck.

 6. Crispy Thai-style Tofu with a side of pickled ginger (looking very orangy) and century egg. Nothing that much to shout about this dish but just because they made it 'thai-style', i'm giving this a 6/10.

 7. I saved the best to show you last .... (drumroll).................their Claypot Pork Innards Porridge (we Chinese call it 'Chee Chap Chok'). This much you see here is actually a 3-persons portion. Generous ingredients without the saltiness of the porridge. Simply gorgeous. (8/10)

 I'm gonna up it to a 8.5/10 grading because when eaten together with this mix of minced meat and dry shrimp, it completes the formula for a flavoursome porridge. yummmmmeh.

Each of the above dishes were priced between RM 10 - RM 15, except for the half duck which was RM 24.
All in all, a reasonable RM 112 for 6 pax.

 I ate till my belly felt like it was gonna explode, and yet my brain still wanted to try more of their other dishes. Mann....what a glutton i was. *shy*

I would love to have a second, third, etc...date with Jeff Lee sometime soon. I've heard their Hainanese Chicken ('pak cham kai') is not bad too.

Finding this place (on GPS) is simple and parking's not a problem as there's a huge car park space opposite the shop, which coincidentally is also located between a wet market and football field. I came here on a weekend and there were hoards of foreign workers loitering around the area, watching ongoing football matches.

I think the bigger challenge here is remembering to make early reservations by calling them at 03-6156 1817. They have 3 booking sessions for dinner (6pm, 7.30pm and 8.30pm).

Otherwise, take the risk as a walk-in and join the waiting crowd.

birthday : jin at jung won

My last meal at a Korean restaurant was years ago, so yeah, i was pretty excited when i got a chance to dine at Jung Won on Jalan Ampang Hilir. Thanks to Jin who wanted to go Korean for her birthday dinner. Also thanks to Derek for suggesting this place to us.  

 It's the first 'outdoor' Korean restaurant that i heard of, with lots of parking space and easily spotted too - beside Sayfol International School. Having an outdoor concept's great, so you don't end up smelling like a piece of barbecued meat yourself.

 We were the first ones there so we got the option of sitting on the floor or on chairs, in which we conveniently chose the latter.

 Right in front of us was this cute little well-kept garden.

 A very pleased-looking birthday gal with a very 'prosperous'-looking me and dear.

 This is like an audition for a toothpaste ad.

 Drinks generally start from RM 3 with the cheapest (and the only refillable one) being hot green tea.
While i opted for their Ginger Tea (yes, i'm a SUCKER for anything ginger-y!), the recommended Iced Citron Tea actually had a more unique taste. It sucks though that the drinks came in such small glasses. I had to resort to a ration of small sips just to make my tea last till end of dinner. ;(

 And now for our list of orders, to start of with....Oxtail Soup (RM 30) which was very good and peppery. Goes damn well with rice.

 This is Sam Kyeh Tang (Ginseng Chicken Soup) at RM 30. I couldn't really taste the ginseng in it, so i rate it just mediocre.

 A Jin favourite - Dol Sot Bi Bim Bab (Mixed Rice with Wild Vegetable in Hot Stone) - RM 25.
Don't get me wrong, i love the idea of runny egg yolks mixed with rice, but for some reason, I didn't quite know how to enjoy this particular concoction. Could it be because of those tiny sesame seeds sitting comfortably on the yolk?

 We snacked on Kim Chi Jeon (Kim Chi pancake) - RM 25 which was flavourful (not as spicy as expected) but wished the batter was crispier and thinner.

 With those burning coals glowing ever so lovely, how could we resist not ordering the creme de la creme of all Korean cuisines - B.B.Q.!

 We went for 3 kinds of meat - Daki Go Kee (Chicken) - RM 29

 Ju Mulreok (Beef) - RM 60 and best of all,

 Deji Salbee (Pork Ribs) - RM 30. This was by far the best tasting meat when barbecued.

 Best eaten wrapped in a piece of lettuce leave, bit of salad, a piece of garlic and some sauce.

 Let's admit - one of the reasons we all dine Korean is their bottomless order of side dishes. My fave were their kim chi, fried nuts and anchovies, spinach and potato salad! Yum-meh!!

 It turned out to be a very fulfilling meal for all of us. All for a rather reasonable price of RM 312 for 7 of us.

 That's a whole lot of cleaning up of plates of all sizes for the waiters that night. >.<

 The ritual of 'song and cake' before calling it a night.

 The restaurant must have one super fridge as Jin had difficulty cutting into her birthday cake! lol.

 Glad the birthday girl had a great Korean night!

Saeng-il chugha haeyo, Jin!

sekinchan ikan bakar

I just learnt that Sekinchan is a little town near Kuala Selangor. This I HAD to know after dining in one of the Sekinchan Ikan Bakar outlets along Jalan Pahang recently. 

It was an impromptu decision, in fact a vast contrast from our initial plan of having McD take away. LOL.
Sekinchan was just next door so we figured why not. So we got directions from one of those ikan bakar fellas to head to their wide parking space behind the restaurant. First-timers here would most likely be scratching their heads trying to figure out the car park location, so my advice is .. STOP and ASK.

No, they're not using the online ordering concept.

In fact, ordering's pretty simple and straight forward. EVERYTHING will be 'BAKAR'-ed. From the seafood to the vegetables. Head to the seafood counter and select your fish/ squid/ prawns/ clams/ vege...The selected 'victim' is then weighed, price-tagged and labeled with your table no. Head back to your table for further orders.

The price of seafood is seasonal (as expected) so either you ask first or be slaughtered with the prices!

They priced the drinks reasonably well though, perhaps to make up for the pricing of food. :p

The outlet we went to has a huge seating area and is brightly-lit so you'd know if they serve you burnt fish.

Dear is drinking one of their recommended drinks - Apple + Asam Boi. Bet you're already cringing by the name of it.

You might have difficulty selecting the right size of fishes if you come in a small group. Especially if a variety of dishes is what you're looking for. We managed to select a decent piece of pari (RM 8), just the right-sized so we have room to stomach other variety of seafood as well.

A small heap of squid rings...(RM 6)

And a piece of jenak (RM 10). I think they used the same sambal sauce for each dish, which was ohh-kay but not spicy enough.

I've never had my oyster mushrooms (RM 5) cooked this way.

Finally, a must-have to complement our dinner - a variety of sauces and dip.

Overall, quite a hefty price to pay, but then again, when does grilled fish come cheap?

Frankly, i still prefer my mum's version of Ikan Cencaru Sumbat Cili... (salivating)

Another thing i've just learnt (from their official website of course) is they've got 15 outlets in KL and Selangor plus one each in JB and Melaka(!). So, instead of listing it down, here you go.

Worth a try, the most at least once. =)

bUn

Yo peeps, u know i love baking rite?

Boy oh boy, have i got a bun cooking in the oven right this moment! 

=^.^=

All goes well, this little bun's gonna be popping out from the oven in right about ..umm....5 months time!

 I'm guessing the end result's gonna be junior marky...

me can't wait.  ^_^

jac and jed's house warming

Jac and Jed invited us to their lovely cosy crib recently to have a nice Sat lunch. I'm not allowed to disclose the location of the house (:p), so this is all i got to show on the outside.  

Lunch was a simple yet sumptuous 'Nasi Ayam Kukus Berempah' (steamed rice with herbed fried chic) with as much helping to the curry as i want!

 YESSSS!!

 Let's not forget the sate and rice which was just as great!

 Yin Pheng made her famous radish cake which was all soft and starchy in the centre...yummmeh.

 For dessert, what would be better than ice cream of all sorts, shapes and sizes? Nothin'!
Just look at how happy these people are...

I took a little house tour after lunch which i in my opinion, was decorated in simplicity yet full of class. Especially love the wooden flooring on the upper floor.

 A bunch of others filled up the spacious living room to watch some dance competition on tv.

 Jin running away when she caught me taking a picture of Jac's bookshelf which was twice Jin's height.

 Mark showing us how to relax on the sofa with a drink in your hand after a hard day's work at the office.

 The last surprise we got was a lovely home made Tiramisu cake!

 It was a fun afternoon with 16 + 1 (the photographer) boisterous young punks bringing down the house.
Thanks to the great hospitality of Jac and Jed!

As The Terminator put it - 'I'll be Back!' .... (can ar?)