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.

Simply Serendah

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In the town of Serendah, there is a tiny shop with a handpainted sign proclaiming its sweet treats within. Palkova, it says in Tamil lettering.  Barfi.  I grew up eating this, a solidified milk and sugar confection, and so the extreme sweetness doesn’t bother me.  The barfi here doesn’t have the anticipated rich buttery softness, but it is still good, and I can see why the shop carries the name of this Indian sweet.  The rest of the sweets, however, are a bit of a letdown.

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And across the universe, which, in Serendah’s context, is the main road between Rawang and Ulu Yam, there is a coffee shop which sells Chinese mixed rice, but if you so require, food can be prepared upon ordering as well.  The hokkien mee is delicious, and despite lacking the desired charred taste, it contains the much coveted crunchy pork lard bits.  Wild boar meat is available as well, and the dish is cooked in a thick curry, perfect with rice.  The meat is tender, but the curry a little too spicy.  The tilapia fish is cooked Thai style in a spicy sour sauce with brinjal, ladies fingers and tomatoes.  A road trip always whets our appetite.

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Who says dreams are in black and white? I dreamt in green, an hour away from the cacophony of sounds that is KL, where there stands a glass house with windows that open out to a forest awash in green, where in the night time it clothes itself in shimmery moonlight and where the morning after begs an encore from crickets and creatures and a gurgling brook, singing triumphant amidst the slumbering humans.

A perfect setting for nine friends who one day pledged in a drunken stupor, over Prosecco, at one of Fatboybakes’ legendary parties, that Sekeping Serendah would be as good a place as Monaco for a weekend retreat.  

Punjabi Sweets Shop
Main Road, Serendah (after police station coming from Rawang)

Restoran Everyday
Main Road, Serendah (next to 7-11, opposite Punjabi Sweets Shop)

Sekeping Serendah (website HERE)

Choong Foong Seafood Restaurant, Kampung Subang

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1.

Headlines: Blogger and friends detained for crashing wedding dinner

Yes, Yang Arif, we crashed a wedding dinner.  No, Yang Arif, we weren’t aware that there was a wedding going.  Yes, Yang Arif, we saw the school buses and cars parked outside the restaurant.  And the wedding entourage, yes.   Yes, Yang Arif, I’ll get new prescriptions for my glasses.

Use a different entrance, Yang Arif?  But the Bride and Groom and their parents were smiling at us.  I know, Yang Arif, we shouldn’t have walked through the wedding arch, especially since we were wearing just shorts and T-shirts, but in our defense, the other guests weren’t quite GQ material either.  Sorry, Yang Arif, no laughing matter indeed.

Yes, Yang Arif, we walked the entire length of the restaurant in our shorts.  How many people saw us in our shorts?  I reckon about 400 people.  No, Yang Arif, I wasn’t sniggering. *cough*

Yes, Yang Arif, we cheered on the karaoke singers at the wedding dinner.  I agree, Yang Arif, they should never have come up with a Hokkien rendition of My Heart Will Go On.  Yes, Yang Arif, we did toast the bridal couple.  It was the only polite thing to do.  Yes, Yang Arif, we were still in our shorts.

Yes, Yang Arif, we’ll accept the charges.

Guilty.

Sentence:  Blogger and friends to listen to 150 hours of bad Hokkien karaoke. 

2.

It’s scary how brides these days squeeze themselves into tight bodices until they look like segmented insects.  Then again, society can be quite judgemental.  I can’t imagine how I’d be able to become half my size if I were to go through that rigmarole again, short of slicing my fat off bit by bit and cooking curry with it.

We did crash a wedding dinner.  How were we to know that someone would pick Hari Raya to celebrate a union?  Having said that, we still had good fun.  After all, entertainment was free, albeit off-tune.  And a good laugh is always better than talking about current affairs these days.

Of course, we ordered our own food.   

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Steamed crabs

The ultimate test, where there is no way to mask a bad crab.  Steamed, with its flesh still juicy and sweet, in egg white and garnished with spring onions and parsley.  Our favourite that night.

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Fish

A two-in-one.  Tilapia, part steamed in soy sauce, and part fried in a black pepper sauce.  Both styles of cooking resulted in very firm chunks of flesh, still moist, and tasting very fresh.

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Salted egg yolk squid

Another favourite, the squid was cooked to perfection with a nice bite, in a crisp batter of salted egg yolk that clung to the flesh.  The curry leaf added a bit of spice to the dish.  We should have ordered a double portion.  It was that good.

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Sweet and sour crabs

The crabs were delicious, cooked in a sweet and sour sauce which we mopped up with the fried buns (below).  I’ve seen better fried buns before…these didn’t have the nice crisp exterior, nor did they tear up well, but they were ok. 

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Fried buns

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Oh, we had vegetables too.

The food at Choong Foong is reasonably priced. The crabs, about 2 kgs cost us RM96, while the fish cost us RM28. The delicious squid dish was just RM12. The food fed 5 people.  I’ve tried several other dishes on different occasions.  The food will definitely not disappoint.

Getting to Choong Foong may be a little more difficult.  The easiest directions I can think of would be from Shah Alam.  Imagine driving past Bukit Jelutong towards the Guthrie Corridor Expressway.  Instead of taking the tolled way (right fork), head towards the left fork where the signboards say Bukit Jelutong.  Once you reach the traffic light, take a right turn then do an immediate left.  This will take you on the old road towards Sungai Buloh.  Go straight past the first traffic light, and at the 2nd traffic light (Monterez Golf Club), take a right turn.  Go straight until the end of the road, and at that T-junction, take a left.  Choong Foong is on your left, probably about 200-300 metres down that road.  It is a huge single-storey warehouse-looking structure with a large carpark which can quite easily park a whole kampungful of cars and several buses.

There’s another way via the Subang airport, but I can’t for the life of me remember how to get there.

Yes, Yang Arif, I apologise. I promise to pay more attention next time.

Choong Foong Seafood Restaurant
No. 8, Lorong 1D, Kampung Subang
40150 Shah Alam.

Tel: 78463253, 78462482, 78461081.