Jin Xing Hong Kong Roasted Meat

I wished I had discovered this place earlier. This roast meat stall (Jin Xing Hong Kong Cantonese Roasted Meat, Blk 214 Serangoon Ave 4, #01-88) was an excellent find. What I hadn't expected was that this coffee shop was also where the Botak Jones at Serangoon is located and for the first time, the Botaks did not seem to be having the monopoly on the business. Anyway, this was a stall where one could get roasted/barbequed meats, cut in hearty chunks and what I thought to be pretty generous portions. There were those honey glazed roasted ribs as well which was a bonus for me.

The only thing that I thought could have been improved on was the rice which I thought was a little beady & dry. Perhaps the chilli could use a little more heat. Still, I'm willing to overlook those just for their roasts. I'm definitely returning.

Rochor Original Beancurd, Short Street

I've eaten bean curd from this particular shop (2 Short Street) quite a few times and have always thought them to be pretty good. Just without the wow factor that many people seem to be crediting them for. This would be however, the first time that I'm getting the fried dough fritters with them. I've just realized now why they had to have so much of that syrup in the bowls of bean curd. I had always the syrup was excessive because it was too sweet. It was probably intended and great for dipping those fritters. To soak up those greasy strips of fried flour which made them savoury sweet. This made me rethink having bean curd here and I've a feeling that I'll return soon.

Imperial Bak Kut Teh, Circular Road

I thought this bento styled serving from Imperial Bak Kut Teh (90 Circular Road) was quite unique if not gimmicky. On the other hand, the bento boxes did serve to portion the sides that came with their meal sets. These guys apparently used to do delivery of their food and offered discounts for NTU students but it seems that those delivery options are no longer available. The rendition of the soup here had some herbal sweetness and a generous amount of pepper. There wasn't so much of the garlic flavour and in the end, it was just passable for me. The price of these bento were pretty affordable and came with what's in the picture (salted vegetables, tau pok, tau kee and some cut up chewy dough fritters) and a bowl of the pork ribs with soup which was refillable.

The meat on the rib was tender that they slid of the bone quite easily. I would have preferred for them to be bigger. though. The tau kee (dried bean curd sheets) was tasty in that dark sauce.

Sadly they didn't have the large boned prime rib which I like and were also out of those braised intestines.

Miscellaneous roundup in KL

This is just a random bun from the stopover on the coach to KL. It was just mayo slathered with some spicy dried shrimps on top. The weird thing about those dried shrimps was that they felt hollow. It was as if, those shrimps were just shells and I had a morbid thought that was biting into something akin to cockroaches. It sure felt a little unnerving.

Dropping by at Zang Toi West 57th St. Cafe (LGF 032, Lower GF Bukit Bintang Plaza (BB Plaza), tel : (603) 21485563) in Sungei Wang, we saw their signature banana chocolate cake on display and decided to give it a go. The soft dark brown cake came in a pretty large portion with banana in between the layers. There was also a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

After a couple of bites, I realised that most of the chocolate flavour came from the sauce rather than the cake. It was heated up before serving and was pretty good. The bananas were tender and piping hot.

There was also a drink that was a float of ginger tonic and blended green mango juice that was quite refreshing. I was impressed that it wasn't excessively sweet and actually did something for thirst.

Here's a pecan topped cinnamon roll from Cinnabon down at Plaza Low Yat (B.G1, GF Low Yat Plaza, Bukit Bintang, tel : (603) 21483651). It was another one of those international franchised cinnamon roll places. These cinnamon roll shops back home seemed to have disappeared since the days of Saint Cinnamon (does anyone recall them?) which I thought was pretty good when they were fresh. These were pretty similar to those and came in a variety of toppings. Thought it was quite strange that the cheese version came with powdered Parmesan cheese. It was still lukewarm and not too stiff. The pecans were still crunchy as well.

And this would be a strawberry lamington from Starbucks down at the front of Berjaya Times Square. What piqued my curiosity were the big shreds of coconut that coated the cake instead of the usual thin bits. It was just a regular cake as I had expected with some weak strawberry jam in the middle. The coconut was what mattered and redeemed the lamington.

Old Town White Coffee

I dropped by for a cuppa down at Plaza Low Yat (Lot LG-31, LG-32, Lower Ground, Plaza Low Yat, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, tel : 03-2143 1722) and realised that this white coffee wasn't impressive at all. I had asked for the "kao" option which was thicker than the usual brew and while it did taste thicker than the regular coffee, it wasn't fragrant at all. In fact, the thick option from Yat Kun were probably better. I guess this branding was another chain store gimmick trying to brew something out of nothing much.

A couple on the fast track of chow in KL

I'm not big on fast food (not those I've had anyway) and I avoid them unless I get a craving or when alternative options are worse. But I guess there are some times when I do go out and look for some. Especially when I'm out of the country. Here's a 2 piece original chicken from KFC and a Coney Dog from A&W. There isn't A&W back home anymore and the Coney Dog had been some kind of old favourite when I was younger. Nostalgia demanded the duty of a serving.

The original chicken here did not taste as oil soaked and were larger pieces than the shriveled and over-fried looking ones back home. The skin was also crispier. We had a takeaway which stood up pretty well after a few hours when I ate them on the coach back home. The slogan from old man Sanders had always been 11 secret herbs and spices in their birds. The 12th "secret" it seemed, was that KFC in Malaysia uses fresh chicken. Not frozen and hence the difference in taste of the meat. I found them pretty enjoyable.

I recalled the declining years of A&W back home. The dogs were sloppy. There wasn't any effort to heat up the buns, the chili was watery and there were barely any onions. In short, pretty sad. Things were different here. Surprisingly firm and meaty was the mass produced sausage with a decent chili and onions wedged in a heated hot dog bun. The floats were there because of nostalgia. An attempt on my part to resurrect some fragments of childhood. I don't even like floats these days.