Backlog from three months ago....
When I am back in Malaysia, the one thing I try do is spend as much time as I can with my mum. And the last time I was home for winter break, I went out with mum so so often and of course when I am out with mum I will tend to voice out all of my food cravings or new restaurants I would like to try. Because my mum is just awesome like that! She goes with me to wherever I want to! :D
First stop was back to my hometown, Raub for a short day visit. Whenever we are back in Raub, the one thing we never fail to do is eat @ Restaurant Ah Fatt. This place is practically our family's go to restaurant in Raub.
The one place that has housed sooo many of my cousin's weddings, birthdays, CNY meals and casual lunches or dinners. The one restaurant in town that serves homely meals with a very reasonable price. Or maybe it is because I have grown up with this place, whenever we eat somewhere else it always tends to taste different and as tho nothing in Raub taste quite on par with Ah Fatt's food :D
We of course, OF COURSE have to have Yam Ring Kung Po Chicken! SO GOOD! I have ate growing up and nothing screams chinese food to me like this!
Steamed Patin fish. Steam fish or any whole fish dishes are also a family tradition for me. I don't eat steam fish here in Melbourne but when I am back in Malaysia, I try to eat as much as I can because I simply can't find fish dishes like this here that tastes like the ones at home...
OMG Ah Fatt's Seafood Pot (Hoi Sin Pou!) This is just too good! HAVE to have it when I am eating there :D
Added on vege dishes. Especially the lotus root with macadamia! That dish is one of my ultimate favourite vege dish at any restaurant!
Kam Foong Chicken! Basically it is chicken skin with a thin layer of chicken meat and a thicker layer of fish paste under the meat! THIS IS AMAZEBALLS! And I think this dish is only in Raub? Don't quote me on that but I am somewhat certain. Because no where else does this dish as good as this place!
A table filled with yummylicious hometown flavour!
Lunch was my cousin sister's treat. But it still counts as food with mum because mum was there! If not these pictures will never see the light of day!
I hardly go back to Raub anymore. But the one thing I will always miss is the food. And the places with memories I grew up with when I was a kid. Because when I was a kid I spent most of my childhood in Raub as my mum needs to work and so, every school holidays, I spend it in Raub.
Memories of the crazy amount of scars I have on my knees, my body from "heroic" cycling fun, of our crazy fun childhood growing up playing "masak masak" at the back lanes with old pots and whatever leaves we could find. We even found a rock that if you smash on it hard enough, you'll get powdery residue that is identical to Milo powder. Memories of my late aunty. The one thing Raub brings me back to is the times I had with my late aunt. In her office, her house and of her smile :)
Second, dim sum time!
Siu Mai! :) Dim sum is always better in Malaysia in my opinion!
Tai Zi Gow! Scallop and prawn dumplings! Har gow isn't my favourite but tai zi gow is a whole new other story because scallops are soooo my thing! :D
Cheong Fun! Dim sum has to be complete with some stuffed cheong fun! But the cheong fun has to be silky smooth and paper thin. But this was a tad bit thick. Still tasted ok... But I have had better.
Crispy Fu Chuk! One of my go to fried dim sums :)
This was some cheese thingy. Can't remember what it was. But I am pretty sure it is solely because of the word "cheese" that attracted me to order it :D
Fried carrot cake! YUM YUMM! But this will never beat the awesome ones in SS13 pasar malam! I am not sure if the guy is still there or not but his was definitely one of the best I have had!
Pan fried dumplings. Wo Tip :)
Wu Kok! My favourite!!! Yam puffs basically! SO awesome! :P
Another favourite! Nin gou! Or nian gao :) Fried and sandwiched in between some yam! OMG!! My absolute FAV!!
Yet another favourite, Lau Sar Bao! OOOOO YUMS! But this wasn't "lau sar-ey" enough hahah!
If you can't already tell who did all the ordering, I did :D Everything were my favs. And we also had a plate of Yin Yong (wat tan hor/kong foo chow/combination egg noodles). A little bit too much for three pax :D But it's okay! I whacked up most of it HEHEHE
Dim sum lunch was @ Grand Millennium Hotel, KL.
#OOTD and #LOTD ☺︎
Third stop, Japanese lunch! With mum and grandma :)
Sashimi salad! YUM YUMM!
Edamame! Another YUMS!
Mum and grandma shared their chicken teriyaki lunch set.
Soft Shell Crab Handroll for meeee! :D
Hotate Mentaiyaki for me and mum! OMG THIS IS THE BOMB DOT COM! If any of you haven't tried this, PLEASE DO! IF you like scallops and mushrooms and mayonnaise, TRY IT! You will definitely be mind blown! :D
A salmon trio. Ikura(salmon roe), normal salmon and salmon belly sashimi! AWESOME!
A table of japanesey goodness! I am sure I ordered some Cha Soba as well! But it was of course too much for us but I did most of the cleaning up. Because Japanese food are like my weakness. Full to the brimmed also will always have space for Japanese food! :D
I was always under the impression that Zen in Pyramid is way too expensive than what it should be. But after being here for the second time, I must say that they aren't that expensive actually. And pretty much on par with the other slightly (just ever so slightly) up there in price and quality Japanese restaurant around in KL.
We used to always go to Sushi Zanmai because it was cheap and good. But now, it is cheap but not good anymore. The standard and quality have dropped so much! I would go to Zen any day if it was a choice between them both.
Up next, high tea with the aunties @ Starhill Gallery's Tea Salon. It was fancy and very "atas" feeling :) Drinking tea or coffee surrounded by all these branded boutiques? That's atas to me. I have yet to try TWG which is pretty much similar if not more expensive because I just can't justify paying so much for tea when I am even a cheap tea drinker haha!
But this outing was with mum's school friends so it's alright :)
As I have said, I am no tea drinker. Not so much a coffee drinker either. And so, I opted for the less sophisticated looking drink, Iced Mocha with whipped cream on the top! :) And mum's friend ordered for me this cake because all I said was I wanted something chocolatey. And boy, this cake was amazing (didn't expect to be eating something like this in Malaysia)! Reminded me of something I would normally get here in Melbourne at Chez Dre or something. I am not exactly sure what sorta cake it was but I pretty sure it's like a chocolate mousse with ganache or something along those lines :)
Food that mum tapaoed or bought for me!
Asam laksa! God knows how long I have been craving for a yummy and good bowl of asam laksa. We just never do go asam laksa here in Melbourne at all!
Komugi Japanese cheesecakes! OH MY GOD this is so so good! I have been reunited with my love for Japanese cheesecakes! These kind were the exact same kind that made me fell in love with Japanese cheesecakes specifically Hokkaido cheesecakes in the first place. SO GOOD!! Definitely having more the next time I am home! Good thing, in Malaysia once a chain store pops up, it is everywhere and so, it is soooo convenient to get these because it is everywhere! :D
Tapaoed burgers from myBurgerLab! Happened to be in the Seapark area one day and it was at like 5pm where there is no queue at all and it has been a while since we had it. So... why not tapao home for dinner right???!! But as you can see things went a little flattened being in the box and all. Even tapaoed some Portobello fries. Basically just Portobello Mushrooms cute into fries shapes and deep fried in a tempura like batter.
I think this was Chicken Rendang? A special of the month or something along those lines. It was mum's and grandma's cause they were sharing. It was pretty good! There's some diced mangoes in it as well :)
I ordered my usual. The Beautiful Mess. There's a beef patty, an egg, cheddar cheese and fried portobello mushrooms. Second time having this, in fact it is only my second time having the myBurgerLab burgers. Of course it tasted alot better when I had it in the shop because as this was tapaoed, the bun got a little soggy already. But still good! :)
My aunt who lives nearby takes care of our dinner. She cooks and bring them over for us for dinner. And one night it was Yong Tau Fu! Homemade YTF is always the best!!! All of these are my favourite favourite! Chilli, brinjal/eggplant and yau char kwai!! Especially the yau char kwai! My ultimate favourite! And especially dipped in mayonnaise. OMG SO GOOD! I always request my aunty to cook YTF for me at least once whenever I am home and I'll always request for yau char kwai without fail :D
Chocolate Durian Cake! The boyfriend has always been mentioning about this cake to me saying how awesome it is. And so, I have passed down the thoughts to mum from the bf. Whenever we pass by Just Heavenly I'll tell mum that this is the cake Teck Wei kept on mentioning. And one day she happened to be in BSC for a business meeting and she tapaoed this back for me! Of course it was awesome! Like seriously something you would never have thought of but so good! :D
Next up, ramen! OMG I love ramen!! And no ramen in Melbourne ever compares to the ones in Malaysia! I haven't tried them in Japan or maybe I have but I don't remember so can't compare. But the ones in Malaysia is just so much better than the ones here! I am talking about proper ramen places and not those that you get in typical Japanese restaurants in Malaysia because those will always never be as good.
Menya Musashi! Supposedly the best in KL! And it was reallyyyyy awesome! The broth was super yummy and the noodles were springy and nice :D
To me, the first rule of an authentic bowl of ramen is, it has to have the flavoured egg! HAVE TO! And because I have heard so much about this place, my expectations were up there and it did not disappoint at all! :D
One day, me and mum decided to join my cousin sis and her daughter/my niece for a movie session. We watched The Fault in Our Stars and it was mehhhhhhh.... Just because I read the book before watching the show, it was just somehow not as good. To begin with, I didn't think the book was really awesome anyways. This was the one book that I read before watching the show and now I do understand how other people feel whenever they read a book and it's converted into a movie. The movie tends to always skip so much things!
So now, I am a little worried because my all time favourite book, Where Rainbows End/Love, Rosie is out in the movies now. And I don't want them to butcher the book! But I just HAVE to go watch because it is after all my most favourite book EVER!
Ok back to the food we had. Went to Dome because frankly, I just love their Mushroom Soup because it is one of the best around town!
Mum had their Chicken Pot Pie.
I had their dinner set that had their Seafood Pasta and their Mushroom Soup but with an entree size. I love their Seafood Pasta and their Mushroom Soup so it was like the best combo. I reckon that these two are the only two things that are good in Dome Malaysia. Well... their Chicken Pot Pie is pretty good too :)
Their Mushroom Soup! YUMS!
Anddd I just had to put in pictures of myself :P
Mum always takes me to my outings with my paternal grandparents. And everytime I am back home, I try my bestest to see as much of my paternal grandfather as possible. But most of the time I rarely do eventho I know how much he looks forward to seeing me. But I do try to make up for it everytime I see him tho.. The main thing and the most important thing is that he is healthy. All that I could ask for actually..
Lunch was at Ben's. Surprisingly the food surprised me. Maybe because in my mind I have always been condemning this place and it's food and so, with the least of expectations comes great return in some form I guess? :) But the Mushroom Soup totally can't make it. It was watery and tasteless...!
I said that the food surprised me mainly because this salad tasted awesome. I am still very much convinced that the food at Ben's is just meh. But this salad was good! It's their Crab and Ebiko salad. Very Japanesey! Maybe that's why I liked it :D
And their deserts were pretty good too! This is their Sticky Date Pudding :)
And their Bread and Butter Pudding :D
A nice end to the meal because the desserts made up for the most part of it I guess..
Next up on the agenda is a meetup with mum's friend's daughter which is a little girl who grew up in Canada and is in Malaysia for her summer holidays with her grandparents. Mum kept mentioning that this little girl reminded her of me when I was young and that she promised to take her out for a meal. And so we did, along with her aunt who brought her to Publika which was where lunch was at, Edo Ichi.
I think shortly you'll be able to tell the pattern in the food I ordered :D
Nigiris with mentaiyako. Tamago, Aburi Salmon and Hotate.
Salmon sashimi is always a much and salmon handroll with some ikura!
Gindara mentaiyaki. Cod Fish with mentaiyako! AWESOME SHIZZ! :)
Hotate mentaiyaki, of course :) But the ones at Zen were much better....
So... can you tell how much I love mentaiyaki/mentaiyako?? It's just TOO GOOD! :D Anything and everything with it just taste better :P
One day, me and mum decided to bring grandma out to Midvalley for a walk. I took grandma shopping with me okay! While mum attended some businessy stuff. Brought popo into Zara with me while I went a little cray on their sale and kept asking popo for her opinion on the clothes. It was good times! Now I miss being home with my family already.... :(
Anyways, because popo loves kuih and her coffee, I brought her to Nyonya Colors and told her that this is the place mum always tapaos kuih for her. After witnessing the price of each piece herself, she went like "wahhh so expensive ah?" You know typical elderly people seeing the price of a piece of kuih being RM1.20 HAHA!
Had my usuals. Literally my ultimate usuals. Iced Lemon Tea with Kuih Bingka and Kuih Kocis. My favourite amongst the Kuih Kocis is the nyonya one! SO GOOD! The other thing I eat a lot when I am back in nyonya kuih!! :P
Last food outing was a Sunday lunch @ Jarrod and Rawlins in AmpWalk, Ampang.
I had their Eggs Benedict but it was a total mehhhhh....... Normal and not up to my standard at all! Like zilch! And not worth the price AT ALL! The one thing I had of their menu that totally disappointed me! Because all the time, whatever I order, it'll be pretty good. This was boring and expensive and normal.........
But this was good!
And this too was nice. Their Carbonara :)
I of course love their Yorkshire Pudding! YUM YUM with them gravy! :DD You only get it n Sunday my friend :)
And mum had their Sunday Mixed Roast. It was alright I guess. The beef was a little rare for me but mum seem to have liked it :)
And lastly, signing off with a picture of my little baobei. OUR little baobei should be more accurate. The little precious in the family.
Look! How cute! That's him trying to do the peace sign! Can't believe how fast he is growing up.. Don't grow up too fast my little dear... Stay as little and as cute and as innocent as you can be my little rascal.
I guess that's all the food expeditions I have had with mum when I was home the last time. Soon, I'll be home again :D
I can't wait to be back again to the warmth of my family ♥
sher xoxo.
