Chilling Out At Uncle Chilli's, PJ Hilton

Even as far back as 1993 or 94, when most food bloggers were still in pre-school, or primary at best, I was already hanging out in Uncle Chilli's in PJ Hilton, mainly because there weren't as many establishments to hang out in, unlike these days. The youth of today have it good. And back then, the drinks at Uncle Chilli's were EXORBITANTLY priced. I think a Graveyard or AK47 costed 1/10th of our average salary, so yeah, it was quite easy to drink yourself dry....literally.

Fast forward.... [its quite shocking, kids these days don't know what a cassette is!]....17 years later. My waist has increased, hairline decreased, eyesight going, cholesterol rising, ....and 4 kids later, I revisit Uncle Chilli's on the invite of Fratmustard and the Qguides. Well, I have to say the place does NOT look the same. They must have refurbished it many times over. I was almost the latest to arrive, but 550ml Jar Of Faith, the FFK queen, was even later. Heck, she didnt even show. Can't blame the poor lass la, she had meeting and couldn't escape. Clients from Hades.

Actually, I was expecting just finger food with cocktails. I know when Frat issues an invite, there will be booze, so I knew tonight's gonna be a good night. Despite having to break my WEEKDAY VOW OF TEMPERANCE.









Has everyone met Frat? He lives in Illy.



Caesar Salad. Contrary to popular belief, it is not named after Julius (Caesar), but after some chef called Caesar Cardini. Go and check the internet la, if you don't believe me. But yeah, the salad was good, and really, no complaints here. Would've preferred a poached egg instead of a hardboiled one. And would've preferred another kind of bacon, instead of turkey, but given the restrictions, I'd say it was palatable.



Nothing intoxicates more like the glorious fragrance of a single malt whiskey. In this case, Glenfiddich 12 Years.


Crab bisque. Very nice, easily my favourite dish for the night. Very prawny, without being fishy or marine, ("sang" in cantonese), though I would have preferred it less salty. I realise my saltiness index is lower than most people. Our soups at home are usually salt free or if at all, just a dash. A lovely hearty soup, which I could have regularly.

For the mains, we were given a choice of Burger, Black Cod or Lamb Shank.


The burger came with a fried egg. I LOVE burgers with fried egg. However, sadly, or happily actually, that wasn't my dish. Alexandra of Fried Chillies had that as her mains. Unfortunately, the patty was overcooked. We have informed the chef.


My black cod was good. Usually not a cod fan, I find that as I get older, one gets closer and closer to Cod. Loved the scented saffron broth that came along with it.



Another mains with a fried egg for embellishment.


Braised lamb shank. The meat was tender, and actually, the runny yolk did make the shank more delectable.


Another burger for sampling. This one is a chicken burger.


Ah, the runny yolk flowing down the crevices of the lamb shank like lava down Mt Vesuvius.



Warm chocolate and amarulla pudding, with Macadamia Nut ice cream and penaut butter crunch.

No complaints here either. Loved the ice cream.

I have never really thought of Uncle Chilli's as a food place. The pricing is SURPRISINGLY reasonable for a hotel, with the burgers hovering around the RM20 range, and I think most mains are in the RM30 range. It's good to know though, that you can probably have a reasonably priced steak here.

Thanks Frat and Lisa of Qguides for the invite, and to the PJ Hilton gals for their hospitality.

Warung Cafe, A Brilliant Discovery By Le Couple Toy

Every now and then, you make a discovery that makes you want to spread the good news. To be honest, when ToyBoy invited me for lunch, at midvalley megamall on a Saturday, the week before Chinese New Year, images of being stuck in a 2 hour crawl in the carpark, suffocating from CO fumes (that's Carbon Monoxide, for those of you who've given back your Chemistry to your teachers), conjured in my mind, and short of giving an excuse that I was having morning sickness, I reluctantly hauled myself there.

Warung Cafe is easy enough to find, its in the North Court, opposite FOS kids, and just at the entrance to the footbridge to the Komuter, and Northpoint. It's a small food court set up, and very pleasant, cosy, and bright (in the day time). The gregarious and my new idol owner, Sue, was there at the table, where Logan was already tucking into a bowl of delectable looking mee rebus all by himself. Thamby of course would add another delectable adjective before Logan's name.



Their signature 3 layer gula melaka tea. Surprisingly, it is not as sweet as it looks, and tastes magnificent. Seriously, just thinking about it (and the other stuff) makes me wanna hop over to midvalley right now. Anyway, its not a flaming lamborghini, and you are supposed to mix it up before drinking, or you'd end up drinking pure gula melaka. Seemed a pity to destroy the gorgeous strata.


An assortment of nyonya kuehs were also served. All delicious, and I'm not just saying that coz the meal was free. It's quite easy to get awful nyonya kueh, ....just go to most hotel buffets. For some unbeknownst reason, nyonya and malay kuehs at hotel buffets are usually bad.



Gotta give it to Sue for creativity. This is a serunding toast. Much like kaya toast, but laced with yummy serunding. However, the bread does fill you up, so if you are eating other stuff, best to stay away from this, as it will soak up and expand in your stomach, and you wont be able to try the OTHER goodies.



The Petronas Twin Tower rice, this dish is called.



I'm kidding, its nasi tumpang, blogged about eons ago by our definitive queen of the food bloggers, Masak Masak. According to a friend I spoke to over the chink new year break, nasi tumpang is kelantanese and usually comprises leftovers etc. But not THIS nasi tumpang. If it was leftovers, it was glorious leftovers. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!!! Layers of serunding, fluffy rice, chicken curry and more serunding, that would give a geology student an O.


.....like the lass up here ....


Look at that. Glorious layers of goodness.


Tumeric Fried Chicken, ....can't go wrong there. Needs to be eaten when freshly fried. Sue prides the place (she says she is not the owner, her son is, and she is a regular paying customer) with using clean oil, which is true, coz the Fried Chicken tastes so "clean", and freshly fried.


A happy nasi tumpang camper.


Nasi Lemak, which was also yummy. The rice is steamed. The sambal was good. However, by this time, we were, as you can imagine, feeling realllllly stuffed.


To really finish us off, ...Sue fed us with more, Soto Ayam.... I love soto ayam, and there are many versions of it. I do prefer meehoon to nasi impit. But we were really far too full.


Roti Canai, just for variety....like we needed it.





Another piece de resistance, the dried prawn serunding rice. The rice is covered, like a veil over a bride, with a large omelette, and as you lift the veil, oops, omelette, you discover the beauty that lies beneath. (unless you're Jacob and Leah). A spicy complex but delicious "hair bee" ...apparently its toygirl's favourite dish.



The girl and her roti....


And a cool ice kacang to really finish off the job, and exploding our stomachs. Its funny how VASTLY different people's expectations of a good ice kacang are. With corn, without corn, no kidney beans, must have kidney beans, red beans, no red beans, etc etc...the list and permutations are ENDLESS!!!! For me, my favourite combination is Corn, Red Beans (not kidney beans, I HATE those), Leong Fun, (grass jelly) ...and on the ice, generous amount of evaporated milk, gula melaka, dribble of rose syrup, and dash of santan.


I honestly dunno where Frat mustard appeared from, but he disappeared as quickly as he appeared. Was it just an apparition?

Anyway, Sue, (my new idol, I did mention right) is such an entrepreneur. She also owns the Himalayan Herbal chain, which we all visited (like a school field trip), and bought lots of stuff. She also owns Che Che, some girly handbaggy stuff, at which point I went to Carrefour to buy Oreos for baking.

Thanks for organising, ToyCouple, and thanks Sue. I can't wait to bring the kids and friends there. I NEED NASI TUMPANG!!!!

Chinese New Year Again

Finally, my brilliant writing skills have paid off, when I entered the slogan contest in the Queen's blog, awhile back. Of course, I also entered a similar competition in the other Queen's blog, but didn't even get a sniff at the prize.

Today, JUST IN TIME FOR ME TO COOK MY REUNION DINNER, via that wonderful Fed Ex, I received my prize.


And as we approach yet the turn of another Lunar Year, a time for reflection, and making of New Year resolutions, afterall, we are chinks, so we follow the Lunar Year, and not that Auld Lang Syne singing at the stroke of midnight, I can only feel an inordinate sense of gratitude that I am not from China.


As in, I myself am not from China, because my ancestors, hundreds of years ago, had the good sense to become "Pendatangs" in this wonderful Tanah Pusaka. Let the bones be white, but eyes cannot white. Why am I grateful I am not from China? Look at the chaos!


I am sure if I was living in China, I'd ahem, be working in the big cities, like Beijing or Shanghai, afterall, I am a city boy, and one can't expect me to be holed up in my little ancestral village in Hainan Dou. Heck, I could be that guy in the queue, waiting for my train, and ferry (Hainan is an island) to balik kampung.

Instead, here I am, in Bangsar, the nearest Village being the shopping mall 100m away, and about to go home without having to queue in long queues. Lihatlah dunia!!!!

Thank you my beloved country. (Malaysia laaahhhhh).

And wishing everyone a happy chinese lunar new year, regardless of whether you celebrate or not. Oh, and as for angpows, if you are my friend or acquaintance, and fulfill these THREE criteria, do drop by and collect yours. The criteria are:

1. Unmarried
2. Unemployed
3. Untainted

GONG XI FA CAI

Rama V Fusion Degustation

A few weeks back, I got a very last minute call from the suave and handsome owner of Rama V, Andre, requesting some of us to try out a special menu he had planned for a special occasions. Never one to turn down free food, especially with the prospect of good company, and nice ambience, (incidentally I just checked, ambience and ambiance are both correct), I agreed, although we were to be fed only at 9.30pm. Usually the digestive faculties would be winding down by then, ah, but what the hey.

Andre and the brood.... Monkey Boy, Monkey Girl, and Memoirs of a Chocaholic. Ooh, all start with M.



Jelly Fish Yee Sang. We were the first guests to be served Yee Sang for the year. Wow, what an honor. Also, being the first, I think the cook was not aware that Jellyfish has to be soaked long before serving, because it is preserved in salt. So, while the other stuff was lovely, the jelly fish felt like it had been working in the salt mines of the dead sea. Good thing we were there as guinea oink oinks to point this out.





The lovely blue lotus dumpling, CHOR LADDA, a personal favourite of mine, served together with a glorious crab meat otak otak. The otak otak was very unique, as the texture of the crab meat gave it some body, and it had a nice chewy feel to it. (HOR MOK POO)








Yum Kum Pisek
Another starter, which was a very Thai saladish thing with a couple of succulent prawns. However, most of the condiments are for show, as it can't really be eaten, unless you've the disposition of a Thai Elephant, and can chew through lemongrass and chilli padi. I found the taste palatable, a nice tangy and fiery feel, though my eating compadres felt it was too hot. Wimps.


A special crabmeat and something soup, not usually on the menu. A bit on the sweet side, compared to the Chinese version of something similar.


Kung Non Hae
Prawns in gold net, literally translated. Egg omelette made a bit like roti jala, to give that net like (net as in fishing net, not internet) shape, wrapped around the prawn.





Yam King Ornsai Kung Mankorn
My favourite for the night, and how can it not be. Look at that succulent mother of all prawns, (think District Nine!), with that gloriously crimson roe. River prawn in young ginger and spring onions...basically a chinese method of cooking, but oh so good. The original menu, for the special event, would be lobster. But hey, prawns these size are just one step away from lobsterhood.


Dang the prime lens and bokeh! This picture is to show the prawns err...sprawning. Spawning, I mean.





A leetle scallop with asparagus. By this time, and this hour, we were completely stuffed, so I was grateful the scallop was miniscule. I think for the real deal, they'd give at least two. (scallops).


Pla Pa Ping
Doesnt that just rolll off the tongue. Pla Pa Ping. Saying it is like balancing a ball bearing on your tongue. Deep fried fish fillets. It was a favourite of the others, but I am not a big fan of battered fish. (even though there is no domestic violence involved, like battered spouses).



Nue Yang.
Beef tenderloin. Hmm, is Nue beef in Thai? Sound like Mandarin. Mine was overcooked, but the others were luckier with their pink slivers of tender loin.


Pineapple fried rice, which we unanimously agreed should be struck of the degustation menu for this event, and replaced by noodles instead. It's good on its own right, but somehow, seems a bit plebian after all the other fine dining stuff.






Mmm, this lovely dessert called Salim. There's always room for dessert. It's almost LIKE that tap tim krup thing, but not quite. Strands of glass vermicelli (tong fun) make it very unique. Not overly sweet, it was the perfect end to the great meal.

Anyway, just so you know, Rama V does do customized degustation type menus, as we have seen here, to cater for private functions. Rama V is an ideal venue for parties up to 100 plus pax I think, located on Jln U Thant, in a quaint old bungalow with large spacious grounds.

Great night as usual, thanks Andre. For the other takes on the night's events, check out Chocoholic's Post and AlilfatMonkey.