Sunday, November 16, 2008

Serenity and Surrender at Serendah

We've been talking about going to Sekeping Serendah almost 4 months ago, when Unkaleong first told us about this place, over a champagne brunch/tea. The fact that it was fully booked every weekend only piqued our interest and curiosity even more. The photos on the website looked charming. A weekend getaway, less than an hour from KL, with a waterfall, pool, etc, with good friends, good food and good booze, what more could a person want.

Finally, we decided to book a Fri & Sat since all the Sat & Sund combos were fully booked. Thus began our road trip on Friday morning. Hairy Berry had come back a day earlier from the republic to join us on our sojourn..... AWOL thought she was going for a Tatler shoot, and came with heavy mascara, hair done, and fake eyelashes, that made Aisywara Rai look like she's had her eye lashes singed. Actually, AWOL had gone for a photo shoot with some chick magazine that morning, as a representative of FAMOUS FEMALE BLOGGERS. We are in awe to be in the company of such luminaries. [muttering a silent prayer of thanksgiving to the Almighty for giving me such an honor]..... The Deaf One appeared sans make up, .... I finally understood its importance in a woman's life, and the younger set trickled in.

An earlier conversation with the walking food guide, Boolicious, revealed that I should try Lan Je in Rawang for its steamed Tilapia. However, Rawang town has changed so much, and I believe the new road completely bypasses the old town. So we didnt find it. In any case it was too early. We finally settled on this restaurant in Serendah town. Serendah town itself is literally those towns where one blink and you'll miss it.


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In untried, untested waters, one really just orders and hopes for the best. But I guess in order for a place to survive in the middle of nowhere, they'd have to be pretty decent.

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Our hokkien mee was good, lots of lard, but as Hairy said, not enough Wok Hei. Flavour was good, and we were famished, so no complaints there.

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The beansprouts and salted fish was also good. Lots of big chunks of salted fish. However, being almost half way to Ipoh, I was kinda hoping that it would be those plump taugeh on steroids kinda beansprouts that you get in Ipoh. Nevertheless, it was good.

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Wild boar curry. Yummy! The perfect companion to a bowl of rice. The boar was surprisingly tender, and the curry sauce very delectable.


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The Lala fried with ginger and shallots. You almost needed a microscope to find them, but the taste was nice and sweet. Actually, I reckon these things are sweeter when they are smaller.

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Finally, the Tilapia done Thai style. A lovely assam sauce, with generous helpings of okra and brinjal. Lovely. The only problem with all these foods if you were on a low carb diet, as they scream out for rice. Total damage was RM118!!! Amazing hor. Where to find in KL?!

While waiting for the food, our two famous food bloggers spied with their little eyes, (one with fake eyelashes and mascara), the barfi stall across the road. Quite honestly, up to that point, I had no idea what Barfi was. Apparently its quite a famous place, this one, and has been featured in some AFC program.


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All of the sweets above are way too sweet for me. I dunno their names, but if you wait long enough for Hairy Berry's post, which he reckons will be up in two month's time, I am sure he'll be listing them in detail. One bite of that barfi and I was bouncing off the walls with the sugar overload.

After weaving our way through some tiny rural roads, we found ourselves at our destination.

For city slickers, actually this place might be a bit of a challenge. It's very zen, and minimalist. No air cond in the glass sheds, etc. Got hot water though. Two large double beds upstairs. So unless you're into ahem, swinging and watching, it is a rather chaste affair.

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Our teatime picnic, consisting of Foie Gras pate from Singapore, gourmet biscuits, flourless chocolate cakes, cold cuts, sandwiches (with wholemeal bread, eugh), cheeses, orange poppy seed cake, capsicums and tomatoes in olive oil, oh, and lots of Macallan.

The other highlight was the waterfall nearby. Amazing that such a sight exists less than an hour away from KL. Local kids having a field day, somersaulting, and plunging into the deep pool. Ah, the carefree days of youth.


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I love this picture.

For dinner, we had a barbeque, whereby we paid one of the workers there to do the "hard" work for us lazy bums.

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Contrary to what someone said on Facebook, this is NOT the ipoh gluten with chilli. (chut tai) It's a whole chunk of fresh FOIE GRAS.

A fortuituous meeting with Cuisine Studio Chef Jean Michellast week enabled us to get some caramelised apple when buying the foie gras. It was a marriage made in heaven. Also, since we didnt have a non stick pan, had to use oil so it wasn't as well seared as I'd have hoped. Nevertheless, it was delicious.

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Berkeping Foie Gras Di Sekeping Serendah

The Morning after, saw the girls exercise their culinary skills by preparing Indomie goreng for all of us, and a large omelette with the leftover salad ingredients.

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A lovely weekend by all accounts. Thanks to the young uns for organising.

28 comments:

Rebecca Saw said...

good food, great company and peaceful environment, what more can one ask for eh?
LOL, u sure AWOL not goin to chop ur head for that pic?

Ciki said...

Lan Je is damn shiok! too bad you didn't make it. One fish per person. Cannot share:P

WOW! Don't know which is better, the location or the FOOD?! wa... not scared you sink to the bottom of the river kah eat so much?! teehee.. that waterfall flying dare devil guy.. looks like something my hubs would attempt.. way cool - love that shot too;P

Anonymous said...

That's actually a pretty cool pic of AWOL la. Very candid and befitting her royal status and general all-round luminosity (as luminaries tend to be... luminous lah).

The alliterative addict in me absolutely adores your post title, btw. ;)

fatboybakes said...

LFB, yalar, nice pic right...she looks so culinarily capable...

ciki dear, in my younger days of carefree youth, i might have attempted a dive like that, but you're right, all that food might have made me sink into the sandy bottom.

nomadgourmand, hahah, its actually a very flattering pic ma....

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

sounds like a very dangerous place for drunks..can u guys make damn lot of noise (since its in the middle of the forest?, i mean not the kind of noises that your next door bed neighbour wants to hear la)..

but point noted..bring macallan there..

Anonymous said...

Ohh... nice weekend gateway! The last pic looks delish.

Anonymous said...

"she looks so culinarily capable..."

'Looks' only meh? Hehe. I'm sure she had stirred up quite a storm in Sekeping Serendah...

As for your younger days of carefree youth, haiyo you're still youthful and carefree. :)

Henry Yeo said...

we are enjoying ll's pictures of your carefree youth at the waterfalls.

PS: and the limits of alcohol hangovers.

PureGlutton said...

Mmm...foie gras by the waterfall - what can be more decadent than that eh? ;-) Sounds like a fantastic trip! (have not been to a waterfall in ages!)

fatboybakes said...

pureglutton, echerlly we didnt literally have the foie gras BY the waterfall la... we came back to the retreat to have it. i'd forgotten how invigorating waterfalls are.

henry, yes, but actually it was more exhaustion than a hangover...

LFB, yes, she sliced the pineapple with great aplomb, but didnt know what to do with the sugar and cinnamon we lugged all the way there.... (which she asked us to bring). and her indomie was great too.

jason, nothing like good old fashion eggs hor...

nipples, we were the only ones there, so we made as much noise as we wanted.... not sure if there are other occupants... so the thing to do is to book up the whole place....maybe for your 25th birthday or something....

Anonymous said...

Why picture of butt cheeks so tiny wan?

Salivating just looking at the pics of the food we had. It was a good trip.

J2Kfm said...

wah ... picnic food also got liver ... too much lah.

and ppl eat sandwiches and salads only. hmmm.

hehe, but you're lucky to be surrounded by 'celebrity bloggers' lah. Indomie chef somemore.

fatboybakes said...

j2kfm, i know, not a day goes by that don't thank the good Lord that my path has crossed those of these famous food bloggers...otherwise i'd be lying in my hovel counting the cracks in the ceiling..... snigger.

AWOL, this is child friendly site, that's why the pic of the cheeks are microscopic.

HairyBerry said...

yeah, i was told that Lan Jie is kinda good...maybe we should go to rawang just for Lan Jie hor? hehe...

your pan-seared foie gras was really good lar. as for the whole trip, it was fantastic lar.

ok lar, maybe i shd break the first-in-first-out tradition and bring forward the sekeping serendah post before the steam is lost..hehe...

Anonymous said...

i miss the foie gras already. when can we repeat this ah?

Tummythoz said...

Wow. Impressive place with even more impressive food. LL's pic will do very well for a fun cooking class.
Really have to get more info on this place.

Argus Lou said...

Phwah! Gra in the middle of a forest? Not bad, eh?

That picture of coconut candy reminded me of the bout of mouth ulcers I had right about after I ate half a tray of coconut candy I made in the throes of homesickness two winters ago. Must make it again soon. ;P Right after I try making burfi. (I like the burfi in that vegetarian Indian restaurant along Jln Maarof, a block from McD's. Plain and vanilla ones are best.)

Argus Lou said...

P.S. Whose butt-cheek am I supposed to look for with my trusty magnifying glass, ah?

daphne said...

foie gras huh.. nice!

Indian sweets are often too sweet for me too.. i often wonder how much sugar they put in there!!!!

fatboybakes said...

daphne, yeah, first the pate then pan seared. sigh, why are all these things bad for health. yeah, i cant take indian sweets...

argus, locate with your magnifying glass first, and try to identify them...sorry, def do not share the enthusiasm for burfi...buffy the vampire slayer maybe la.

tummythoz, yahor, so motherly laidat...learn to cook indomie like mama...

chuishia, you're such a good organiser...hint hint...

hairy berry, i was having withdrawal symptoms on saturday. by sunday, the whole thing was like a distant (green) dream.....and when i saw AWOL's collages, some of it was def a dream....coz i dont remember any of those scenes!

yes yes let's do lan jie and get that hawt babe ciki to come along

Anonymous said...

I'm with Daphne and you --- I do find them a tad too much even for my sweet tooth but it's nice just to sneak in a bite or two, no? The diet can always wait, I tell myself... :p

Anonymous said...

Pity we didn't meet before I left Rawang. Lan jie is good but very crowded. Her tilapia never has the muddy taste. And the swat-fly neighbouring rest serves the same thing but cannot quite match lan jie, so don't bother even if you have to wait in queue. And yes, the fish is so small, it's a fish per person. As for style of prep, there is only spicy and non-spicy.

Anonymous said...

Chart thai!! Haven't had that for ages!! It makes a fantastic vegetarian choy keok, when you have to omit the leftover roast meats.

jasmine said...

hehe, sounds like the 2 nepalese caretakers are still reeling from your group's departure... but heck it sounded like such a fun getaway. and oh that foie gras.. *salivates*

Argus Lou said...

FBB, did you know I once spoke to Sarah Michelle Gellar at a round-table interview in Tokyo while she was filming 'The Grudge'?

You're two degrees to Ms Buffy the Burfi Slayer!

(So off-topic, hor?) ;-)

fatboybakes said...

argie, oooh, my claim to fame u are. sadly,i never followed that series.

jasmine, ur serendah bbq oso very the gourmet hor, got proscuitto and all....

gfad, u from rawang ah? wahhhh, talk about contrasts hor, from rawang to the glitz and glamour of abu dhabi, where a beemer 5 series is as common as our myvis!!! bow bow bow......yeah, i havent had good chat tai in years......

LFB, echerlly i very over sweet averse one, despite my size. all my cake recipes i automatically HALF the prescribed quantity...

Anonymous said...

And thank goodness that you do --- the date-and-oatmeal squares you made for me last Ramadan was just note-perfect... You factored in the natural sweetness of the dates and all. I rue the fact that 'kurang manis' at our local mamak is still way too manis for me. :P

Carmen Hong said...

Stumbled upon this post as I was looking up the glass 'house' in Rawang. Looks like a fun outing! :) Definitely going to make a trip there.