Food Review - Misaki Udon (Kuchai)

Name

Misaki Udon (Halal) - Closed on Wed nights

Food

Japanese Cuisine

Location

Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park

Getting there

It's located at a secluded quieter end corner of the Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park or if you are there on Wed nights, it's at the edge of the Kuchai Pasar Malam. Be aware also that on Wed nights, the night of the Pasar Malam, it won't be open.
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You may need to drive around a couple of times around the commercial area before you can locate it but it isn't hard to do so as the place is brightly lit with a giant bowl of Udon Noodles right in front of the shop.

Parking

As the place is located in an enclave of shops, including various other dining/food shops, there are lots of street parking spaces in front of the shops.

Ambience
Despite its no-frills concept and small space (I think the place can only seat about 25-30 people at a time) I quite like this place as it's also clean & brightly lit. 

I also like the way the placed the cashier together with the kitchen at the back rather than in the front right next to the door like in most places.

Service

The wait staff (I believe they're either Myanmarese or Filipinos) is really responsive and attend to us very quickly every time we dine there. Diners are given the menu and a piece of paper for the items to be written down at your leisure for your order to be taken & processed. Yes, this is a method that's getting more and more popular.

There was once when we were there, the lady boss was also there. She was very young and pretty. I think she was trying to make some changes to the menu & kitchen and after we had our meal, she had the kitchen prepare a couple of Tempura items for us to try out. She told us that these items will soon be part of their new menu.

Presentation

I love how the food is served, although it's nothing special as many other Japanese-themed eateries also use these type of plastic serving bowls - big and generous looking.

So upon food presentation, diners are already made to think that their meals are large-portioned and has great value for money. 

It's not restaurant food but it's not exactly fast food either as we need to wait about 10-15 minutes each time we eat there, regardless of the dining crowd size, but the bright side to that is that you know that the food actually needs to be cooked.

Variety

There are enough choices from both the hot and cold noodles for diners to try on their visits. Diners can also choose either to have their noodles (Soba or Udon) dry or with soup. Plus, there are a number of side items like scallops, baby octopi (octopuses?), jellyfish, Chawan Mushi (Steamed Egg) etc. Diners who want more of the good stuff like seaweed or Fujok (Soya Sheets) can add on as well.

The noodles I usually order is the Dry Cha Cheong (meat sauce) Udon (RM6).

We usually order the deep fried chicken chunks (RM3) and the Marinated scallops (RM4) with our noodles whenever we're there.

Taste 

All the items that we've tried were very flavourful. I have no doubt that all the other items that we have not tried yet would be equally as good.

The deep fried chicken chunks are always piping hot whenever we order them.

Value for Money 

The noodles are very affordable & are good value for money (at RM5-9 per bowl) and considering it is Japanese cuisine, it's fair to even call it cheap.

Overall

Simple & fuss-free. More importantly, clean, affordable & delicious. This is an ideal place for everybody, from families to young couples or a group of friends as there are enough items for people with differing tastes and enough variety to warrant return visits and at prices that are really budget friendly.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Food Review - Tang Pin Kitchen

Name

Tang Pin Kitchen - SS2

Food

Chinese Street Food

Location

SS2/24

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Getting there

If you are coming from the BAT side, just keep heading in the direction of the Durian Stalls at the corner of the traffic lights. Just go slightly further beyond to the 2nd set of traffic lights. It's located at the cluster of shops on the left & diagonally across from the Petron (or what is used to be known as Mobil) Station.

Parking

There are lots of public parking right in front of the shops (provided you can find a vacant lot). Or, you can try  to look for one on the other side of the street (ie: the side with the houses)

Ambience

It's a typical small sized eatery (seating capacity of about 70) catering to the young and young at heart and those who crave the simple Chinese Street Food but would not want to brave the sights, sounds & scents of back-alley ways, uncovered drains and rats.

This place is clean, brightly lit and air-conditioned (inner section).

Presentation

For this type of food, I will say that the presentation is pretty good.The food is served in Chinese-Style decorated plastic bowls and plates.

The only problem I had was with the chop-sticks and spoons. It looks as though the restaurant staff had neglected to properly clean them as there are stains on almost ALL of them. I literally had to go through almost 20 chop-sticks before I found a pair that I could tolerate. Same thing with the spoons.

Taste

The food is tasty, although I cannot say if it's free from taste enhancements. But honestly, these days, most people don't really care as long as the food tastes good. And I must say the food here tastes good =)

Service

Strangely, having a very Chinese image & Branding, there wasn't a single Chinese Staff member at the restaurant at all. I had difficulty getting my order processed because they could not really understand me when I spoke English or Chinese. I had to use my hands a lot and point.

However, having said that, they are quite responsive to customers.

Variety

I have to say, despite a relatively simple menu (only 4 pages) but it was pretty good. It had enough choices that had enough variation to warrant a subsequent visit. For example, as a main item, there are items from Fish Noodles to Fried Porridge to Curry Mee.

And for add-ons, they items are pretty varied too. For instance, they have Hock Chew Balls (Fish Balls stuffed with pork) to Yam Cake and fried Chue Cheong Fun.

As for the drinks, they offer the usual suspects from the Tong Sui range - Black Glutinous Rice (Hak Lor Mai) to Barley Fu Chok and the standard Coffee, Tea, Soya Milk, etc.

Value For Money

The prices are pretty reasonable and can be even compared with street stall prices. But here, you have a fairly nice place to sit down for some Chinese styled Tapas with friends or family without causing a dent to your wallet.

Overall
Above average fare at very affordable prices but in a clean and cozy environment. I think that's a winning combination that explains why the place is usually packed, especially on weekends.

Give it a try, it may even bring you back some nostalgia of the good times from that small town you grew up in.

Food Review - Petaling Street Noodles

NamePetaling Street Noodles
Food
Assam Laksa, Curry Noodles, Clear Soup Noodles
LocationPetaling Street (China Town) – adjacent to the fame Madras Lane

Getting there
Located in one of the side lanes tucked in the middle of the famous Petaling Street Night Market, diagonally across from the Swiss Inn Hotel.

ParkingParking spaces at the night market vicinity is scarce but there are many parking lots in either the buildings or open car-parks of the surrounding areas,

ServiceThe stall is manned by several elderly ladies and from time to time, an elderly man who I assume to be the spouse to one of them. The ladies are quick with their service even though they are elderly and serve approximately 15 tables that are usually packed.

AmbienceThe place has been around for much longer than many of you who may be reading this and hence the ambience reflects the age. For a place that old, although not under direct sunlight but exposed as it is, one can expect the place to be pretty run down and is not a place to be bringing your foreign guests for a meal unless they are fairly adventurous.

“Clean” would not be a good word to describe the place as it has not been well maintained and one would not be surprised if a cat sized rat were seen to be running around. However, I HAVE SEEN foreigners eating there and they had to take pictures of their culinary adventure there (elements of Fear Factor?)!

TasteAdmittedly, the way the whole place looks doesn’t really encourage or entice you to eat there but if you were to close your eyes and smell the food, you’d be pleasantly surprised. Trust your olfactory senses because the food really is good!

Each table comes with 2 metal containers – one has the prawn paste (for the Assam Laksa) and the other has the sambal/chili paste (for the other noodles).
Presentation
Served in the standard pasar malam* hawker colored 6” bowls.

* Night Market

VarietyThe serve Assam Laksa, Curry Noodles, Clear Soup Noodles and Dry Noodles. Customers may choose from all the varieties of noodles from the standard Yellow Mee, Mee Hoon, Kuey Teow to the less common Loh Shue Fun & Lai Fun. Customers have the option to customize their order with additional items like:
- Fu Jok
- Fish Balls
- Pork Balls
- Fish chunks (from the Assam Laksa)

Value for MoneyAt only RM4 per small bowl and RM4.50 for large, the food here is really good value.

OverallGet your tissues ready for a face full of sweat after a satisfying meal! Good tasty food at good prices if you don’t mind sitting at a table at a side lane of an old street.