Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Bukit Tinggi BBQ Restaurant, And Happy Deepavali



I love to go a wandering, along the mountain track, and as I go I lub to sing, my Ciki on my back. Valerie, Valeroo, Valle hahahhahahppy diwali, valeri, valeri, my Ciki on my back.

It's Deepavali, and what better way to celebrate, in true Malaysian style, but to go out and stuff our faces, although we were not invited to any open houses. Well, if no house is open to you, then we open our own.....

All the way from Bolehwood.......




Yeah, so, further to my previous post, and wishing for a woodfire oven, and wondering where to get supply of firewood, well, apparently even in this equatorial heat, people do stock up firewood. Perhaps for those cold monsoon nights, when TNB grids blackout.



Alilfatmonkey, with his surprisingly impressive knowledge of High Hill and its surrounds, (the one in Pahang, not Klang), brought us, ie, me, the ahpa, Cumi & Ciki, the fellow monkeys, to a delightful little getaway, nestled in the luscious verdant virgin tropical rainforests, in the sleepy town of Bukit Tinggi for a delightful lunch.


A rather odd name, for what is basically a Chinese restaurant. I've learnt that these days, a name doesn't belie the contents. Hakka Republic is anything BUT hakka, and KFC is anything BUT chicken. As in real chicken.

The first thing that hits you is the LARVERLLY interior decor of the place. Upside down umbrellas line the ceiling of the place, rows and rows of used wine bottles, ....all lend a certain rustic charm. The surrounding gardens are all well vegetated, with passion fruit, vegetables, ....land as fertile as a roman catholic woman not allowed to use contraception.





OOOh, competition time. Guess who's silhouette this is???? The prize, well, a clap from me. (A clap, not "THE clap")


Lately, we have been rediscovering our chinaman roots, and have been taking to drinking beer with ice cubes. JC Jacobsen would turn in his grave.


This snapshot is of particular significance, coz apparently it is the basis of an upcoming competition on Ciki's blog.


Monkey had forewarned us that food will take forever to arrive, and that the chef, his uncle, was exceedingly grumpy. So we brought along our monopoly sets, knitting needles and wool, expecting to kill time, but LO AND BEHOLD, within 10 minutes, voila, nourishment time.


Wu Li Wu Li something something rice. Now, I tell you, if I never believed in the old adage, don't judge a book by its cover, I am a believer now, yeah, hallelujah. AMAZING!!!! So simple, but SOOOO GOOOD. Bits of crispy pork, in a lovely broth that is both tasty and healthy. Vegetables galore, peppers, pumpkin, like a chinese paella so to speak. I could eat this very often. Such comfort food. And only RM12.





Their signature salt baked tilapia, from both angles. Tilapia is kinda hit and miss sometimes, with that muddy taste, though I notice that quality all around seems to be getting better, as I think restaurants these days let the tilapias have a spa holiday in clean waters for about a week before doing them in. Lovely firm sweet flesh, falling off the bone. And stuffed in the fish is a lot of other goodies too, like onions, garlic, etc, which the very stern manager "instructed" us to eat.


This is another amazing dish. Hoi Sin pou. Seafood pot. Trust the Chinks to be so ingenious. A multi layered steamer, whcih collects the juices from the steamed seafood, which is made into a FABULOUS vegetable and mushroom soup. The seafood was amazingly fresh, although there was no sea in sight. Hallo, we're in the middle of the hinterland, .....did they have a secret wardrobe like in Narnia, that opened out to the blue ocean for fresh seafood? The prawns were sweet, and springy, cooked perfectly. The crabs, though a bit of a pain to eat, were also very sweet and fresh. AND THE LALAS!, oooh lala. Plump (monkey spelt his PLUM) and succulent...
RM80 for that pot of goodness. Well, not cheap, but worth it.


Fantastic Rack of Lamb!!!! Who'd have thought. Previously the purview of the mat sallehs, this fler in the jungles of Malaysia can do it so well, and with homemade fresh mint sauce too. It was seriously good. Tender, not lamby, and the skin, caramelised and crispy. Almost as good as pig. RM80 .... a bit steep la.


Ah, the Peking Duck of Seafood. Ie, they use the soup for another dish, just like they use the duck meat for another dish. Aren't my analogies brilliant. The vegetables were fresh, but I think they added too much salt to the soup. Natural flavour would have been perfect.

After stuffing ourselves stupid at lunch, Monkey brought us to this secret hideaway that he discovered. Isn't it gorgeous. I had to restrain myself from breaking out into song....specifically, THE HEEELLLS ARE ALIVE, WITH THE SOUND OF MUZZZZZIKKKK.....


Our secret holiday home. Want to know where it is, ask monkey.


The garden of eden is dotted with all kinds of strange foliage. Can anyone identify this fruit? Is it HAW?


Monkeys on their pseudo holiday. Bad enough we were trespassing, go and soak feet into people's pool some more.


Cumi was trying to make his own rainbows.

He even walks on water! Wow, this is paradise.


An amazing range of flora and fauna. Check out the Rouge Dragonfly.


Ah, nothing warms the entrails of an AhPa than to see such happy children, leaping with joy!

After the stopover at the Good Widow, we adjourned to the quaint hamlet of Bukit Tinggie which is hustling and bustling with activity. I am sure I used to traverse this road in my distant youth, when I followed my dad to Kuantan for Ching Ming on the old road, in the days before touch and go and PLUS concessionaires. It's amazing that it is still such a hive of activity.


Roselle fruit. Supposed to make good jams, and extract. Bought a kilo. Must try to make.


Thick FAT bananas, in such glorious hues of red.


As if we hadn't eaten enough, we decided to have the famous thinly sliced sweet and sour pork for dessert.

Well, FINALLY I had been included in those epic Cumi&Ciki ronda ronda Malaysia food trails. I have finally lived. What a fun day it was, and I cant wait to do it again!!!! Where to next!


36 comments:

Babe_KL said...

gosh such a great place you have there, i so want to go

Ciki said...

competition coming up.. watch this space... :P

Ciki said...

eh, munkey's uncle really looks like him hor? at first i thot he was joking.. then i saw the similarities.. uncanny.

Unknown said...

Haha! Where's the BBQ food? LOL...

Wah. Walking on water leh!

HairyBerry said...

i guess i missed not only the food but the fun part as well! sigh...i wanna follow y'all on the next road trip! i wanna be in c&c's jalan2 malaysia trails. i wanna live!

btw, lurve that Good Widow name. like a hill to climb before reaching alaska liddat. nice. haha.

Ciki said...

nic, true.. but it was munkey who was the STAR la.. he knew this place at the back of his hand.. both janda baik as well as bkt tinggi!

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

haha wat a happy ah PA you must be..got so many grown up kids taking care of u hor..

Rebecca Saw said...

Ohhh..a day out with the kids..the OTHER bunch of kids.
*hmm..sounds a bit wrong..*

UnkaLeong said...

I thought they were seven kids? *ROFL* Larvely place and pics!

Bangsar-bAbE said...

The lamb looks damn good lar...steep price, but from the way you described it, it must have been worth it!

J said...

BOOOO... Tak ajak pun? (Never invite wan?)
:( :( :(

Who's Saying said...

I tot I taw some KOI!! :-)

thule a.k.a leo said...

too bad I don't eat lamb... so the rack of lambs were devoured by my wife and her brother last time... sigh!!!

next time u go to bukit tinggi... inform me :) I don't mind being a monkey.. lol!

soyabeanmilk said...

its called, the enderong house, tanarimba.com.my

=)

-jade-

J2Kfm said...

oooh.. now i'm antipating THE competition. hmmm ....
round Msia hunting for the MOST secluded food ah?

qwazymonkey said...

Ahem. the prodigal son speaks:

1. Soli my England no good. Didn't inherited that genes from you.

2. Isn't that secret hideaway yours? Thought I was gonna inherit it while Ciki gets the pool and Cumi the fruit trees? Don't tell me you've written us off.

3. Helo! I don't have grumpy uncles ok. I just call him uncle, cos he's grumpy liddat

4. Your post is just hilarious lah! Such a wonderful way to end a crazy day. Next best thing to a home-cooked meal.

qwazymonkey said...

P/S: Lucky my post went up first. It would have been overshadowed by your wits and wonderful pictures!

Paranoid Android said...

Chis! This is what I missed, for selling my soul to the devil, and for a few lousy bucks! I want the time machine! I would have been intimidated if Uncle Diva popped out from his room.

Must do this again. Purlease! *begs and wags tail*

Bobby said...

I love to bake however with me working at Narconon drug rehab facility and being a single mother I have very little time to bake. If anyone has any ideas on quick cookie ideas let me know.

fatboybakes said...

babe, we should organise a trip there hor. which place you referring to ah? apparently that holiday place costs RM3k per night...it has 8 rooms.

ciki, i know, biscuit mold right! look exactly alike.

keropokman, yup, he makes rainbows and walks on water.

fatboybakes said...

hairy berry, yeah, good widow has a certain charm about the name hor. well, there's also dangling dick, stone chisel, etc....fascinating names.

ciki, AGAIN, cis, you make me so happy, thinking got so many comments, turns out half of them are from you!

nipple joe, yup, i was a happy ahpa watching the brood.

fatboybakes said...

TNG, why does that sound wrong?

Unka, 7 kids? you think we're the von trapp family ah?

bangsar babe, i know, RM80 for lamb rack in the middle of nowhere IS a bit steep, but damn good la.

J, blame monkey. he the organiser.

fatboybakes said...

jackal, err...i think it was tilapia.

thule, actually we did mention you when we were there....since you use that road very often. you didnt feel your ears burning ah?

soybean, oooh, thanks. cis, it was meant to be a SECRET, now everyone will be swarming the place. hahaha.

fatboybakes said...

j2kfm, i believe the competition is on ciki's post.

monkey ahboy, cors you inherited my language skills. your post was HEELARIOUS, i cant POSSIBLY overshadow such genius. you da boy!

paranoid, yes yes, we must...i want to try the other restaurants in the area. and its actually quite near, with the DUKE highway and all. like going to klang.

hi karen, email me at fatboybakes@gmail.com and i'll pass you a really easy choc chip cookie recipe.

thule a.k.a leo said...

that's why la... have to inform me OK?? did you save my number last time??? sms me the next time u hit bukit tinggi ok???

Tummythoz said...

Must have been away for too long. Only realised you're d Ahpa at the end of your post. *slap forehead*

FBB said...

tummythoz, yalar, where have u been. hahaha, i seem to be everyone's ahpa these days. cis!

thule, yup, i got your number. will call u the next time. i think a lot of ppl want to go now!

minchow said...

Fwoargh, THIS is Bkt Tinggi, not that French wannabe reputation that we know of. And tilapia is enjoying some kind of a resurgence... I've been stumbling on a lot of posts of late extolling its humble virtues. I think I might start fishing!

qwazymonkey said...

We need to rent a bus the next time we go up! Sei lo

worldwindows said...

Stroll and drool!

Argus Lou said...

Wah, looks like such a fun and relaxing time, not to mention delicious.
May I ask how you made a montage of 9 photos, FBB? (Me very blur, sorry.)

FBB said...

argus dearie, long time no see. would you believe it, all that in the space of 3 hours....looked like a full fledged weekend away hor. montage using picasa la, the collage function. just make sure your collages are in multiples of a grid. ie, 2,4, 3, 6, 9,...

WW, yuppo it was like a stroll in the park, and picnic.

monkey, yup. you can be the tour leader.

550ml, strange you should mention the french village, colmar, as i have a date there in november.

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Love the Yappy Deepavali bling bling around the bamboo plant. Ciki looks indian by virtue of her tan too.

Adrian said...

Honestly, the people who regular here must be either very loyal or fools. The 1 hour 20 minute long wait was complete appalling to me, and when I complained to the staff he simply answered, “Memang like that one lah”. With the prices of this restaurant comparable to those Michelin 3 star restaurants in Hong Kong, I was expecting food that would indeed be from a different kettle of fish(no pun intended). Instead, when the food came it was only ordinary dishes, nothing that really blew me away. More so, the setting of the restaurant was horribly appalling, although the wine glasses on the side might make for some eye candy, the insufficient lighting and inadequate protection from flies and mosquito proved to be disappointing. Truthfully speaking, the food was actually quite good, but not something where you can’t get in a normal restaurant in KL, therefore not worth the 45 minute drive all the way to Bukit Tinggi.

To sum it up, although this restaurant has several good dishes, the appallingly poor service, long wait and poor setting proved to outweigh the quality of food served there.

jade said...

The eatery served their last meal yesterday and by this morning signs were down and moving trucks were picking up equipment, Best Food Truck In LA

Ciki said...

i used to look so hot! cheh! hahaha