2023

 New Year Lunch @ Ceki Jalan Sri Bahari - 6^th January 2023

This would be our third visit to Ceki, one of the trio of restaurants located on Sri Bahari Road that serves delicious nyonya cuisine. It would be our first fellowship lunch for the Year 2023. We are so glad to have Raymond Wong and his lovely wife back with us.

As it is our third visit, Ceki did not disappoint. Our last visit was way back in February 2019! Four years on, their assam pedas fish, tau ewe bak and spring rolls were still up to the mark. The assam pedas fish (sour and spicy tamarind fish stew) was their stand-out dish. We also ordered their jiu hu char and Nyonya mixed vegetables. For desserts we tried a sampling of all three - pengat, pulut hitam and gandum.

All in all, it was a good time to catch up. Here’s to a better and healthy 2023!!

 Winn’s @ Jalan Cantonment16^th January 2023

Fresh from our fellowship at Ceki Nyonya Restaurant in early January, we decided to revisit Winn’s Cafe. That’s two Nyonya restaurants in a row. Winn’s has shifted to Pulau Tikus. It is now located in a bungalow house which is much bigger than its former place and now parking shouldn’t be a problem.

We last visited Winn’s Nyonya Flavour in 2019. We decided to try their signature dishes - the nyonyalicious otak-otak, the flavourful perut ikan, the quintessential jiu hu char, and the scrumptious sambal lady’s finger. 

These four dishes get top marks. However, the kapitan chicken did not have the rich aromatic appeal and the special tao yu bak was just decent. 

We also tried the nasi ulam which was beautifully done. Top notch!

In a nutshell, Winn’s is still the place to go for good nyonya cuisine! Somehow, we forgot to order their highly recommended bee koh moi! Perhaps it is an excuse to come back again. Wishing all a Blessed Year of the Rabbit!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

All the dishes were truly of different tastes from our normal chu char as it has the Taiwan twist and flavor. Even so, Raymond opined that it was certainly not authentic “Taiwanese”. 

We capped the lunch with three desserts with the Osmanthus flower: Thang Yuen in Rice Wine and Osmanthus and Osmanthus Jelly. We then walked over to Wells Cafe to try their specialty roasted coffee. Quite a selection from renowned coffee-producing countries like Colombia, Panama, Ethiopia, and Costa Rica.

 To sum it up, Good Food and great Company!

 Note: Osmanthus Alley is closed on Monday and Tuesday.

 Chalawan Thai Restaurant @ Grand Swiss Hotel, Chulia Street 18^th May 2023

Hidden behind the Grand Swiss Hotel is a newly opened authentic Thai Restaurant named Chalawan. Chalawan is actually a fabled “Crocodile King” from Thai mythology and he is distinctly featured in the restaurant’s logo. A big plus for this restaurant is easy parking.

We decided to try the staple Thai favourites. The Tom Yum Goong was easily a stand-out dish with rather strong flavours. Top notch as the Thai chef was quite generous with his spices. Be forewarned though to ask for the mild version as this lady really spices it up.

The Som Som Pae was a nice-size fish cooked ala fried lemongrass fish style with its “special” Thai condiments. Delicious. So are the shrimp cakes and fried pork knuckles. Cha Om Omelet, Baked Shrimp with Vermicelli, and Green Curry with Chicken completed our satisfying lunch orders. RM279 for 7 dishes is quite decent pricing. 

Aroi khrap.

3/6/2023 Xii Chan Restaurant @ Eastern Hotel

Xii Chan Restaurant @ Eastern Hotel, 509, Lebuh Chulia. 3/6/2023

This is one of our Eating Kakis’ rare visits to a Western cuisine joint - Xii Chan, a Chinese-sounding name selling halal Western food! Located at Chulia Street near the Penang Road side, you will need to park at the private car park for the Line Clear customers. Ample parking.

The downside of eating out “Western” is the difficulty in sharing different types of orders. So, we decided on individual set orders. The set lunches come with a complimentary assortment of drinks and homemade mushroom soup. It’s value for money!

The chicken dishes (grilled Chicken Carbonara, Oriental Chicken Chop, and Grilled Black Pepper) were certainly delicious. And the portions are quite big. However, we found the black pepper too overpowering. The Smoked Duck Aglio Olio, Almond Crusted Fish, and Grilled Mushroom Fish were just up to the mark. 

Price-wise, Xii Chan is very reasonable, considering the wonderful ambiance and spacious arrangement it offers. 

You can even buy a RM500 voucher for RM399; allowing you an extra 20 percent discount on all meals on your Birthday month. Cheers!

23/6/2023 An Viet @ Queensbay Mall

Located at the Lower Ground of Queensbay Mall, this newly opened Vietnamese restaurant is packing in patrons with their tantalising viet dishes.

 As it was more of a “personal” rather than a “sharing” menu, we decided on individual orders. There’s a fragrant lemongrass chicken set, inviting rice curry chicken, crispy Vietnamese wonton, and braised coconut pork belly with egg.

Of course, there were orders for standard Vietnamese Pho namely the

beef and brisket, and beef and beefballs noodles. An Viet was generous with their tender beef and brisket. 

Their famous Viet Coffee and Caramel Pudding finished the list.

In general, all individual comments were

favorable although we wished the soup could be piping hot. All in all, it is worth a return to try other dishes. Service was good and the pricing was reasonable.

An Viet certainly serves “một bữa ăn ngon” (a good meal).

15/8/2023 Thara Siam @ Lorong Prangin

Sawadeekap! The Eating Kakis decided to lunch at Thara Siam which was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand recently … meaning it is the “Best Value for Money” restaurant. We shall see …

We opted for their highly recommended Tom Yam Nam Sai Talay (white tomyam) which is a sweet, spicy, and sour white seafood soup. It comes with giant prawns, and squids, among others. Not everyone liked this version of Tom Yam. I guess we are more familiar with the creamy and milky version of coconut milk.

Next, we ordered the Superior 3 Flavour Sauce Golden Pomfret (deep-fried) and the Thai staple Green Curry Chicken (Gaeng Keow Wan Kai). The Golden Pomfret had quite a tough skin while Green Curry came in tantalising thick green curry and chicken thigh. The Green Curry was reasonably priced at RM26.00.

 

Khai Jiao Cha-Om is a Thai-style omelette with acacia leaves was our third dish. Simple and yet delicious! Our two other dishes were Thai Crispy Pork Knuckles (Kha Mu Tod) and Melindjo Leaves with Egg (Pak Liang). The stir-fried Melindjo Leaves in Egg and Glass noodle was a welcome sight. For the record, Cha Om and Melindjo leaves are both very nutritious! 

For dessert, we tried the three Thai favorites: Tub Tim Krob (red ruby dessert), coconut jelly, and mango sticky rice. Just the right desserts to sweeten things up. Thara Siam tops it up with a 15 percent discount for Monday to Wednesday visits, making the entire bill reasonably priced. 

 Thanks Raymond for the treat! We are also delighted to have Ms. Sue (Surjani) as our guest.

As the great Luciano Pavarotti would proudly exclaim, “One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.”