Rice Cafe, Bangsar

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I’ve mentioned before that I am a seasonal creature with seasonal tastes, but if there is one dish that I’ve loved since 12, it’s Assam Laksa.   When my mum makes it, she boils a huge pot of broth, almost 10 litres for a family of 6, because we enjoy drinking the soup on its own.   In fact, it isn’t uncommon for us to drink several bowls in one day, minus the noodles, as her soup is always thick and flavourful thanks to the abundance of mackerel chunks in it.

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I don’t live with my parents anymore, and I can’t always ask for Assam Laksa on my fortnightly visits home, so I’m pretty pleased that I can get great Assam Laksa right here in KL.  The newly opened Rice Cafe on the other side of Jalan Maarof serves an assortment of local meals from Nasi Dagang to Singapore Fried Bee Hoon.   Despite being new to the restaurant industry, the owners have shown that a lot of hard work and interest in the food that they serve goes a long way.   A wise man once mentioned to me that another eatery that he frequents serves the same kind of dishes, but they don’t taste the same despite having the correct ingredients.  He then concluded that the dishes missed one element.   Love.   Now, you may choose to laugh at him or spit on him, but I do believe that having an interest in 1. food, 2. your restaurant, and 3. the people whom you serve, goes a long way and that love is reflected in the end product.

The Assam Laksa at Rice Cafe has a thick broth and is overflowing with aromatic ingredients – mint leaf, bunga kantan, daun kesum – and has the right amount of tanginess from tamarind and sweetness from har ko (prawn paste).   If you’re not one for Assam Laksa, try the Nasi Lemak which comes with extremely crispy and tasty fried chicken.  The extra special version which Nigel and Frat Mustard ordered came with chicken that was marinated with lemongrass and galangal and served with crispy bits of the same concoction…to die for.  Lisa also seemed pretty pleased with her Singapore Bee Hoon.

The restaurant currently serves local favourites, but will soon venture into chinese dishes as well.

Rice Cafe
Lorong Maarof (If you’re coming from Jalan Bangsar into Jalan Maarof, at the traffic light near McD’s turn right, then make another right turn and you’re there)
Bangsar, KL.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Also check out Fatboybakes and Cumidanciki.

(Note: Thanks, Fatboybakes + Ciki, Nigel + Lisa + Frat for the birthday treat here on two separate occasions…so sweet of you.)

Char Siew at Spring Golden Restaurant, Taman Perindustrian Axis, Shah Alam

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Inspired by I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER (Dionne Warwick)

The moment I wake up
Before I put on my makeup
I say a little pray’r for char siew
While rubbing my tum, now
And wondering what size dress to wear, now
I say a little pray’r for char siew

Forever, and ever, you’ll cause me to fart
My poh lei char siew
Forever, and ever, I love your charred part
Thanks to my friend, Boo
We went there, and lunched there, to eat the babi
My melt-in-my-mouth char siew
You’re more than a heartburn to me

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I think you’re the best, dear
Your glistening meat I want, dear
I say a little prayer for you
At work, it’s like wartime
As everyone waits for break-time
To grab as many chunks of char siew

Forever, and ever, you’ll stay in my heart
And I will love you, char siew
Forever, and ever we never will part
Oh, how I’ll love you
Together, forever, that’s how it must be
To live without you
Would only be heartbreak for me…

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Also available, delicious vinegared pork trotters

Spring Golden Restaurant (click HERE for map)
25, Jalan Sepadu C, 25/C Section 25,
Taman Perindustrian Axis, 40400 Shah Alam.

Tel: 019-337 9319/016-205 0660 (Max Lim)

Also see:
Boolicious
Julian Si

Note:  There is also an outlet at Glenmarie.

Psst.  Thanks, Boo, for loaning me your camera in my time of need! 😛

747 Kopitiam (SFS Kopitiam), Sunway Mas

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1.

“Queue up and you’ll get your food faster,” the lady at the stall said in a low voice.  “If you order and go back to your place, you’ll have to wait longer for your food.”  In Malay, our language of communication – “Awak tunggu sini order ar, awak dapat cipat-cipat lor.  Awak duduk ar, nanti tunggu lama oh…”

I merely nodded, a noob at this ordering game.  Suddenly, the fellas who initially looked like they were surrounding the curry wantan noodles stall fell into line.  Or perhaps it is all about perception and realisation; once I knew about the queue, I saw the queue.  I know, deep stuff.

I turned around and gave a penetrating stare at Bald Eagle who was sitting contentedly at the other end of the kopitiam, studying the sunday newspapers.  The look was, of course, my secret communication tool with my husband after having been together for more than 10 years because hey, married people can communicate by telepathy, okay.  (But sometimes, it isn’t good when you’re trying to lie to him about how much you paid for your Loewe handbag.)  My message sent via our private frequency channel was:  “I’ll be back at the table with two bowls of piping hot curry wantan noodles, with bloody cockles, in less than 5 minutes, sweetie!  Love you love you love you!”

So I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Twenty minutes later, after clearing all of 4 customers in front of me, it was finally my turn.  Without hesitation (because I had been rehearsing my order for the past 20 minutes for lack of anything better to do – had I known better, I’d have brought along a Flavours magazine or something like that to keep me occupied because the gentleman in front of me was definitely not in a chatty mood despite my frequent smiles at him hmmphh),  I blurted out my order.  “Duakariwantanmeemauseehumdengancharsiuarrrrr!”

Going back to our table, Bald Eagle looked at me.  “I thought you had been abducted.”

So much for telepathy. 

2.

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The noodles are egg wantan noodles, stored in dehydrated form and softened when it is ready to be consumed. At first glance, I wonder if the curry is too diluted due to its thinness, but upon drinking it, I realise that the curry is full of flavour and is perfect; any thicker and it would be too cloying. I don’t get the feeling that I’m drinking santan (coconut milk) as the ratio between curry and santan is just nice. The ingredients are generous – lots of cockles, taufu-pok, long beans and char siew.  The char siew is lean, though, as in my haste to give my order, I forget to add the usual “char siew more fat arrrr“.  I don’t like lean char siew.

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Also available at the same stall is char siew wantan noodles. The noodles are soft, but not as springy as I’d like it to be. The char siew is tender and delicious.

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If you’re not ready to wait for the wantan noodles, try the char koay teow at another stall. It is fried well and has a good amount of cockles and prawns but doesn’t have any lup cheong (chinese sausages).

Also check out Cumi&Ciki (in the days when Cumi used to blog hehe) for their take on the curry wantan noodles.

I must thank my Weekend B^*ch © for introducing this place to me.  I was recovering from the flu, and this was, in his opinion, the perfect remedy.  I concur.

747 Kopitiam (SFS Kopitiam)
Jalan PJU 1/3C,
Sunway Mas Commercial Centre.