Sanbanto @ SS2, Petaling Jaya

People & food - that's a combination that works every time. Every weekend, friends meet up, start having some conversation and it always seems to turn towards food. "Yo, where's a good place for lunch/dinner?" and end up trading recommendations. One of these recommendations turned out to be this interesting place - a meat shop cum café/restaurant. This 4 month-old café located in SS2 is a quite interesting place to visit. Customers probably would end up purchasing some fresh prime pork meats after having their meals here.

Here, Mr. Eddie (one of the owners), explained that Sanbanto's tag line "From our Farm to your Table", refers to their 1st class handling of the prok all the way from their pig farm to being served in the restaurant. Theirs is the only pig farm in Malaysia that has ISO food safety management system. Sanbanto's pigs are grown free from growth hormones, which is what most customers prefer nowadays. Furthermore, Sanbanto's farm in Johor utilizes mineral water straight from a well, which ensures that the pigs get the extra nutrients from the mineral water. In addition to that, these pigs also fed on homegrown bacillus (Japanese technology) which gives them a healthier gut system, minimizing diseases and the use of medication or vaccines. Based on these facts, it’s recommended that customers buy their pork meat to try it out themselves.

Enough said about their fresh pork meat and let’s talk about their food. First of all, the Sanbanto Bacon & Cheese Burger. They make their own patty and crunchy straight cut fries. Must say that the bacon taste great and juicy, and not oily (surprisingly). Nice!

Then the Pork Bolognese with Home-made Pappardelle. The pappardelle is freshly hand made and taste good. Maybe some don’t know what Pappardelle is. It’s a large, very broad type fettuccine. Its name is derived from the verb “pappare,” to gobble up. The ones made here are two to three centimetres (¾-1 inch) wide and may have fluted edges. Dried egg pappardelle have straight sides. This traditional noodle, a cousin to the smaller tagliatelle, was traditionally paired with wild boar sauces and rich hare sauces. With Pork Bolognese sauce and some deep fried lard, it blends quite well together.

Carbonara Spaghetti with wild mushrooms and bacon. This is another pasta you should try which is made with a rich creamy carbonara sauce and (lots of) bacon bits inside. Yummy!

Next is the Short Ribs Spaghetti in Brown Sauce and Basil…. The brown sauce and basil spaghetti is tasty but overall is average. The short ribs are great though! The ribs are tender and well marinated and able to maintain the sweetness of the meat. Fantastic!

This dish, the Braised Pork Knuckle served with Garden Greens & Mash Potato. It comes nicely braised and the meat is very very juicy and tender. Unfortunately, it also came with a lot of fat, which one has to discard or else it will pose a hazard to one's health. Still a dish to recommend to patrons who love pork knuckles.

And every weekend, their chef comes out with some weekend special dishes such as this English Roast with Wine Sauce and Egg Yolk served with potato wedges, aubergines, broccoli and carrots. The English roast meat is very good. You should eat it with the wine sauce and some egg yolk (powdered), you get a piece of heaven in your mouth. It’s so good and delicious. Yum yum…..

Overall, the place is cozy and comfy. Don't expect much in terms of decor, as the place doubles up as a shop to sell the meat in the front and a large open kitchen takes up almost half of the space. The whole set up is relatively simple with mirrors on one side, to give an illusion of a bigger space. Here, tables and chairs are also quite limited; hence it’ll be quite difficult to get a table during peak times.

Food Review

Food Type: Western (Non-Halal)
Address: No. 32, SS2/63, Petaling Jaya, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: +603-7876 1728
Price: Average: RM20-25 per pax
Operating Hours: Daily (11.30am-3pm, 6pm-10pm)

Taste Rating: 8.5/10
Ambiance Rating: 6.5/10
Service Rating: 9/10
Value Rating: 8/10

Overall Rating: 8/10

Read more...

Tao Heung Restaurant @ Fu Hua Road, ShenZhen, China

This is another post about Tao Heung, not only they have branches in Hong Kong; they have expanded to most parts of China mainly at the eastern coaster areas. This post will be about their dim sum dishes.

The Mui Choy Porridge with minced pork meat. Overall taste is good (ok oklar)….

Next is the Meat Bun, the bun is very fluffy and soft. The meat is well minced and cook with oyster sauce. Together, you get some really good meat bun….yum yum

When you come to China/Hong Kong, you should try their lettuce. Boil with hot water, then serves with soya sauce; you can taste the freshness of the lettuce. MMMmmmmMM

The Deep Fried Fish ball. As said earlier in the other post, you can get this dish in China/Hong Kong. Blend with vege, herbs and fish paste (then deep fried), the taste is very delicious and the fish ball’s texture is very bouncy.

The Steam Prawn Dumpling, nothing to say about this dish except that the prawn is fresh!

Next dish is the steam beef ball with vegetable. It’s very tender and juicy. So appetizing!

Steam Pork Ribs, also another dish that nothing shout about. A normal tasty steam dish…………….

Finally, the Steam Pork Dumpling (Siew Mai), it’s juicy, tender and tasty. But nothing special about it, you could get it from Malaysia too.

Food Review

Food Type: Chinese (Non-Halal)
Address: Level 1, Yi Jing Zhong Xin City, West of Da Zhong Hua Trading Plaza, Fu Hua Road, Fu Tian District, Shen Zhen, Guang Dong Province, P.R.C.
Tel: +86-755-8280 1180
Price: Average RMB25 per pax
Operating Hours: Daily (8am-11pm)

Taste Rating: 7.5/10
Ambiance Rating: 9/10
Service Rating: 8/10
Value Rating: 9/10

Overall Rating: 8.4/10

Read more...

BT Restaurant @ Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Klang

It’s not hard to find some nice restaurants/cafes in Klang. There are plenty of new food joints you can try every day. No joke! This (not-so-new) Chinese restaurant located at Bandar Bukit Tinggi offering modern contemporary Chinese cuisine. Their chef is just only in his mid 20s that likes to explore and do mixture in his style of cooking.

The dish below is Spinach Soup, very delicious soup. You can literally taste the sweetness of the spinach by just drinking the soup only. Nice!

Then the Steam Fish with dried mui choy (it’s a preserved mustard cabbage, this is the salty type). The fish is nicely done at the right time and with the salty mui choy garnished on top of the fish, you can scoop out the gravy and eat it with rice. Yummy!

Another steam dish, the steam pork ribs with mushroom. The meat is juicy and succulent. Overall the dish is tasty.

For dessert of the day, you can get the Water Chestnut with Egg White in paste. It’s serve hot and quite good.

Food Review

Food Type: Chinese (Non-Halal)
Address: No. 9-00-1, Jalan Batu Nilam 1, Bandar Bukit Tinggi, 41200 Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +603-3323 3282
Price: Average RM20 per pax
Operating Hours: Daily (11am-3pm, 6pm-11pm)

Taste Rating: 8/10
Ambiance Rating: 6/10
Service Rating: 7.5/10
Value Rating: 7.5/10

Overall Rating: 7.3/10

Read more...

Tao Heung Restaurant @ Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Chinese are renowned for their appreciation of good food. They frequently dine out at restaurants and demand excellence in cooking and use of high-quality ingredients. Restaurants are also where Chinese regularly gather to mingle and socialise, making them an essential constituent in the famous Chinese ‘yum cha’ culture in Hong Kong.

“Tao Heung" specializes in the hotpot business. It assimilates different culture and maintains its original characteristics at the same time. In order to fulfill different customers' need, "Tao Heung" targets in creative and healthy hot pot food. Looking at their décor, they adopt a new modern Chinese decoration design with comfortable spacing between tables. A little bit of their history, since 1991 and up until now, Tao Heung has built a network of more than 60 restaurants in Hong Kong (50+) and Southern China (10+). These restaurants are at prime locations hence enjoying high customer flows and draw patronage of primarily affluent middle-end diners.

First stop, the Stir-fried Seafood in hot pot. This dish is not quite there yet in a sense that it’s just a so-so dish. However, the freshness of the clam is good indeed.

Next is the Roast Goose, it is a variety of siu mei, or roasted meat dishes, within Cantonese cuisine. It is made by roasting it with seasoning in a charcoal furnace at high temperature. Roasted geese of high quality have crisp skin with juicy and tender meat. Slices of roasted goose are generally served with plum sauce. Here, it’s quite good but a little but cold, that’s all.

Then the mixed vegetables in hot pot, chef stir-fried vegetables like broccoli, Chinese mushroom, needle mushroom, abalone mushroom, tong fen (glass noodle) and prawns. As claimed that they are good with hot pot dishes, no doubt this is delicious and quite a healthy dish.

Without the hot pot, this dish is stir-fried broccoli with scallops. Taste wise is delicious. Yum yum

To the dessert, this is a plum flower with red bean pastry. Top layer is the plum flowers and the layer below is the red bean, giving the sweet and sour taste. It’s unique and tasty.

Lastly, this sweet soup is made with black sesame seeds, it is a form of tong sui, or sweet soup (similar to Western pudding). The main ingredient is crushed black sesame seeds in a flour form. It is boiled with hot water. Sometimes, granulated sugar is added, though the sesame seeds are usually sweet enough by default. It is rumored to help prevent gray hair.

Food Review

Food Type: Chinese (Non-Halal)
Address: 3/F, Carnovon Plaza, 20-20C Carnavon Road, Tsui Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
Tel: +85-2838 3097
Price: Average: HKD120 per pax
Operating Hours: Daily (7am-1am)

Taste Rating: 8/10
Ambiance Rating: 9/10
Service Rating: 7.5/10
Value Rating: 6/10

Overall Rating: 7.6/10

Read more...

Café De Coral @ Hong Kong

Café de Coral is the largest publicly listed Chinese Fast Food restaurant group in the world with over 330 outlets in Asia Pacific region, and over 200 quick service restaurants in North America. Among a total of over 540 outlets, over 120 outlets and 75 outlets are operated under the household name of Café de Coral. The principle business of the Group is the development and management of quick service restaurants chain. Locally here in its Hong Kong headquarter; Café de Coral is the market leader of the fast food sector for over three decades.

Café de Coral's menu is specially designed to meet the tastes and budgets of customers, with over 100 items on their menu list on any one day, and are regularly rotated to maintain variety of choices. Standard menus range from western cuisine to traditional Chinese dishes. New products and seasonal products for each time segment will be introduced regularly.

For this post, it’s all their famous Baked Pork Chop with Rice. The tender samba thick cut pork chop, with the rich and smooth gravy made from the freshest vegetables including Italian tomatoes, celery and onions and a very nice fried rice coated with Grade A beaten eggs add up to this irresistible classic delicacy. Delicious!!!!!!! A must try dish!

Food Review

Food Type: Chinese, Hong Kong (Non-Halal)
Address: Shop 2307, Level 2, Gateway Arcade Harbour City, Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Tel: +85-2141 8407
Price: Average HKD36 per dish (comes with drink)
Operating Hours: Daily (7am-10pm)

Taste Rating: 10/10
Ambiance Rating: 9/10
Service Rating: Nil
Value Rating: 8.5/10

Overall Rating: 9.2/10

Read more...