Category Archives: Location: Bangsar

Chawan, Bangsar Baru

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Like most double-income married couples with no kids, our Saturday mornings are spent at home, with breakfast either on the patio or in front of the TV, while the part-time maid cleans the house.  Our usual argument would be about who had to stay at home.  “I wanna go to the gym.”  “No way, dude.  Last week, I took care of the maid.  It’s your turn.”  “But I stayed with her for four weeks in a row last month when you said you had to work weekends at the office.”  “That doesn’t count.  Work’s work.  Work doesn’t equal play.  3 Work weekends off = 1 Gym weekend off.  I have 2 more work weekends to redeem.” 

Never argue with a woman.  Especially if she knows how to count with her fingers.  Especially if she has all twelve of them.

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Breakfast on a Saturday morning with half of the Just Heavenly duo is such a pleasure.  Part of the pleasure is in escaping the responsibilities of staying at home on a sunny Saturday morning, and the other part is in hearing Nigel’s loud booming laughter reverberate through the cafe.

Chawan had just opened a few days earlier (at time of writing, it has been open for over 2 weeks), and we were curious to try this place having seen it being used as a meeting point for the last BN team campaigning for the losing candidate.  I like the interior -grey walls and bare stones encased in galvanised wire netting, surrounded by steel and cement structures.  Situated at a corner lot, the idea of keeping the cafe open with lots of air is a great one as it appears more welcoming.  So one inhales the fumes from the passing vehicles along the busy Bangsar stretch, but at least the illusion of wind is there, albeit a manufactured one.

Food is typically Malaysian fare.  The nasi lemak bungkus served before 11am is great despite its RM3 pricetag for a simple packet without any frills.  The nasi kunyit served with thick chicken curry is delicious, but it would be better if they served it with more curry.  Nigel doused the Ipoh koay teow in soy sauce before he ate it.  Soy sauce is the boon for many types of food to make the food more palateable.  It tasted fine after the special treatment, of course, but I probably wouldn’t try it the next time.  The rice dishes looked a lot more tastier.  I liked the keropok lekor, but it was a teensy bit too soft.  Do try the mango juice….thick and pulpy.  There is also an amazing variety of local coffees; the Kemaman coffee is one of their bestsellers.  At the end of the day, flavours were good, but there were little deficiencies in other areas – texture, quantity, value-for-money.  There were also some initial teething problems which I hope they have sorted out.  Waiting half an hour for a packet of nasi lemak bungkus just doesn’t cut it.  Judging by the crowds that throng this place, I suppose they’ve improved.  Having said that, I thought the staff who served us were great.  They were all friendly, courteous and knowledgeable, and these traits go a long way.  Would I go to Chawan again?  Without a doubt.

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As for my Saturday mornings in the near future, I shall be putting in my share of work when the hubby goes off to Austria for the Euro 2008 finals while I’m stuck at home taking care of the maid. It’s a fair world after all.

Also see masak-masak.

Chawan (at the former Devi’s Corner), Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar (opposite Bangsar Village). Open daily from 8am till late.

Food pictures:

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Nasi lemak bungkus

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Nasi kunyit with chicken curry

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Ipoh koay teow

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Keropok lekor

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Interior

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Customers at Chawan

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Three Exquisite Gems

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1.

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When my Makan Club members are hungry for non-halal nasi lemak, we normally visit the stall at San Peng (off Jalan Loke Yew). I’ve blogged about this nasi lemak before, where there is almost a ritual as people queue up for their fragrant nasi lemak and lup cheong/pork innards/luncheon meat fix.  What is undoubtedly the most popular item at the nasi lemak stall is the chicken curry, where huge pieces of chicken are ladled out onto steaming santan-y rice.

This same chicken curry, rich with santan but not very pedas, is the key ingredient for the neighbouring stall selling chee cheong fun (rice noodle rolls) and accompanying pieces of fried foo chuk, fish balls and other yong tau foo bits.  Whilst the CCF is just ordinary, the curry (which is thicker and richer than normal) pushes this dish a notch higher.  A really great supper option.

CCF stall
Opposite San Peng Flats
Jalan San Peng
Off Jalan Loke Yew, KL.

Open 9.30pm till late (about 2am)
Closed Sundays.

2.  

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I discovered these tarts on one of my usual lunch forays in the Kampung Attap area. Located at a cul-de-sac (at a road parallel to the road where Lee’s Frozen Food is situated) Tong Wah Confectionery has traditionally been making mooncakes, but recently decided to embark on the egg tarts business. Currently selling out of their “factory” lot, a tiny makeshift stall has been set up in front of the shop to sell the egg tarts at lunchtime on weekdays. Four different flavours are currently available: plain, corn, almonds and pandan. The pandan looks like it has too much artificial colour while I’m not a big fan of nuts in my egg tarts so I’ve sort of written that off as well. I do like the egg tarts with corn in it, although it could do with more corn as the flavour is quite mild right now, and the plain egg tarts are lovely in a flaky crust. They’re just a little over a ringgit each, an affordable dessert after stuffing on awesomely delicious indian mixed rice (near the Chinese Assembly Hall) or the famous fish head curry just down the road.

Tong Wah Confectionery
92, Jalan Tuba,
Off Jalan Kg Attap, 50460 KL.
Tel: 03-2273 6278

3.

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When I first took a bite of this popular tea-time treat, I didn’t expect to have the out-of-body experience I encountered. Made with just chicken breast, the ratio of chicken to potatoes is 6:1 making this worth the RM3 pricetag. The recipe for this tasty treat comes from the owner’s family.  Obviously, when you use good ingredients, it shows. Just ask those tai-tais queuing up to buy the delicious curry puffs at the cafe at House+Co.

House+Co is temporarily located on the 3rd floor of Bangsar Shopping Centre (next to Actors Studio). They will move back to their original location on the 2nd floor once renovations are completed.

The curry puffs are available at tea-time daily. For other Malaysian treats at House+Co, check out my previous blog post.

Baan Aa-Haan Thai, Bangsar

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We had an afternoon packed with activities and our schedule was very tight.  3.00pm:  Wake up from afternoon siesta.  4.00pm: Get flowers.  4.30pm:  Laundry.  5.00pm: Check venue for party next weekend.  6.30pm: Visit mum and dad.  8.30pm: Dinner with family.

At 4.30pm, as we were driving towards our next destination, the husband spotted a new restaurant at Lorong Kurau, Bangsar.

“Let’s drive past it,” he suggested.

“Okay.”  It would only take an additional minute.

“It’s a Thai restaurant,” he said. “Do you feel like stopping for a quick snack?”

My eyes lit up.  Thankfully, my husband and I are like two peas in a pod (except that I’m not bald and he is) and we’re both adventurous in our food explorations.

It would be a quick one, we decided. 

The menu consisted of typical quick meals like tom yum, chicken rice and salads with an average price of RM5.00 per regular serving.

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We decided to share a Thai chicken rice.   The chicken rice came with a portion of steamed chicken and rice sprinkled with fried garlic.  The rice was good enough to be eaten on its own as it was cooked with chicken stock.  An assortment of sauces were available to go with the various dishes – traditional garlic chilli sauce, green chilli sauce, ginger paste, bean paste with chilli and crushed peanuts, and fish sauce.  Even the accompanying soup was delicious.  We found out later that the flavour came from the generous use of parsley.

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The papaya kerabu came with fried garlic, minced dried shrimps and sliced shallots in a tangy dressing of lime juice.

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I love the paku pakis (fern) kerabu, a refreshing salad made with shallots and a blended prawn paste.  A simple dressing of lime juice and sugar was all that was needed to make this a very delicious meal on its own.

So much for a quick snack.  He loved the meal so much that he requested for extra rice.

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We couldn’t leave the restaurant without sampling a dessert, so we got ourselves a mango pulut (glutinous rice).  Thick santan sauce was poured liberally over the sticky sweet rice and the juicy ripe mango went wonderfully with the rice.  I didn’t photograph the custard pulut, which was essentially glutinous rice served with kaya custard.  The kaya reminded me of the homemade type which I grew up on, eggy and creamy without the kerosene-like taste which I sometimes get when I buy commercially made kaya.

What I like about this place is that I can get a quick and decent meal without breaking the bank.  The location is in the older suburbs of Bangsar near NST, so parking, even though limited, is not impossible to find.  Food Foundry’s second location is along the same stretch of shophouses, but frankly, I’d go to Food Foundry only for the mille crepe cake.  But that’s another post altogether…

We left the restaurant an hour later followed by a very apologetic phonecall to mum for the delay – “Busy…yeah…very busy running around….you know how it is on weekends…..yes, yes, we’ll be there soon…!!”  I hope mum is not reading this or I’ll be sent to my room with no American Idol for a month.

Baan Aa-Haan Thai
No. 15, Lorong Kurau
Bangsar, 59100 KL.

Tel: 03-2282 0991

Open daily except Mondays. 11.30am to 8.30pm.