Friend recommended a place (Restaurant Loong Yuen) not far from Mid Valley for nice seafood – crabs (our favorite!). Unfortunately, going after work meant the dreaded peak traffic time of (6pm to 8pm). iPhone 4’s zoom isn’t that great but you can roughly tell the amount of vehicles trying to get out of the area from the photo above. We waited till 8pm so as to avoid the crush and in the end the cab fare turned out to be RM 9.20 only (it would normally be 1.5 times to double during peak traffic due to high waiting time in jams).

Crab Bee Hoon was very good and the salted egg and deep fried crab was also delicious. Forgot to take photos of second dish as was busy enjoying the meal! Also snapped this picture of the crab hammer which we seldom see nowadays .. only for true crab eaters! 

Loong Yuan Seafood Restaurant
No. 79, Rukun Empat, Happy Garden.
Off Jalan Kuchai Lama, 58200 Kuala Lumpur.
Call +60 3 7982 3486 for reservations.

And yes, call ahead if you want to eat crabs (which we did thanks for friend’s advice). Cindy from the restaurant was very attentive (as were all the other staff) which made us feel right at home. She suggested 3 crabs (not all dishes allows just 1 crab) cooked in two ways which came up to about 2kg. Total bill was RM 120+ which was quite reasonable considering Crab Party in Singapore was about SGD 100+ last time we went there.

If you don’t drive, you’ll definitely want to spare 10-15 minutes wait time to call a cab before leaving. The place is definitely not easily accessible without driving. Highly recommended to give a try while you’re in KL or near the area.

地点 ： 宏茂桥 (Ang Mo Kio)

豪乡海鲜小厨
BLK 158 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4
1． 双味鱼 / 2 Taste Fish S$25 (Crispy Fried Fish with special oyster sauce, and Water Boiled Fish with Assa sauce)
2． 金沙虾婆 / Golden Sands Crayfish S$18 (made with goat milk powder)
3． 沙皮鸡 / Sha Pi Chicken S$16 (each day only has 20 Sha Pi Chicken for sale)

甘家庄
BLK 202, Ang Mo Kio Ave 3
1． 东坡肉 / Dong Po Meat S$12 (pork cooked for 3 hours with special sauce and spring onion and ginger)
2． 金瓜奶王虾球 / Golden Pumkin Crispy Prawn Balls S$14 (Pumpkin sauce made with Mashed Pumpkin which has been steamed for 3 hours, butter, evaporated milk and curry leaves)
3． 金针菇豆腐 / Mushrooms with Tofu S$8.

Sources:
http://www.makansutra.com/forums/singapore/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17075&p=268941
http://8.mediacorptv.sg/programmesdetail.aspx?iid=MDC090903-0000007

Do The World A Flavour

Again I laboured almost the whole day in preparation – going to the market, cleaning house and preparing dinner, in our haste to eat while the food is still hot, we forgot to snap photos of the food, which was REALLY a pity as sad to say, that was the first time I cooked a meal for my parent(s) ever. I mean a full meal and not just a dish, which I hardly cook anyway while I was living with them before marriage. So on hindsight, I really should kick myself…

But anyway, I cooked garlic prawns, steamed snapper steak, yong tau foo soup (many ingredients) and a braised duck (nah, bought from market, wanted to do thai-styled chicken initially). Also wanted to fry Dou Miao but gave it up as there were already too much food for 6 persons – My pa, 2 sisters, nephew (who doesn’t count as he had his own porridge), Mic and I.

Ok lah, review for the food is “not bad”, “quite good”. Haha. I am satisfied with the results myself. Hee hee.

Luckily, Mic had thought to take the camera out when we came to cutting the cake. Mum was in time to join us for cake, thanks to a cousin who went to pick up our mothers.

Left: Oreo Cheesecake from Baker’s Inn – March’s flavour, courtesy from Sis

Right: Pa and Ma in lovers gear (coincidentally)

Left: As usual, any birthday celebrations all seem and felt like the kid’s birthday party. Look at Max’s cheeky face!

Right: Max: Yum yum!

Kodak moment

Tags: Birthday, Family

The result of the hard labouring in the kitchen over the Valentine’s Day dinner.

Tags: Valentine’sDay, Food

This is the year that I reached my milestone age – an age not that old yet, but not young anymore either; an age that I have associated with a special significance (’cause it is a milestone?) somehow. But yet, due to lack of time, it has took me almost 2 months to pen it down.

I always thought I should celebrate it with a Bang! But due to a shallow pocket and general laziness and busy-ness, one can hardly find the time to plan a memorable or unique way of celebration. Initially I thought to organise the run-of-mill chalet and BBQ thingy. When Mic knew about it, he was less than lukewarm about the idea. He rather spend the money to celebrate my birthday at his favourite ‘holiday’ site of Sentosa.

We decided on Siloso Beach Resort’s Roof Garden Terrace suite (with spa pool) as it looks quite good. I did not expect it to be cheap but the hefty price tag is still more than what I expected. But then I convinced myself that I’m worth it, after all, it’s a really special occasion.

As we get closer to the Day, I started to tell Mic out right what I want to do at Sentosa and wondering if I’m killing my surprise again. I think I did not get a cake from Mic for the past 2 years so I specifically told him I want a cake but I think I forgot to stress that I want it at 12am. When I reached home on the night before my birthday, I was rather disappointed that he was busy playing his computer games to pay me much attention. I decided not to jump the gun and wait and see with a book in bed, however I can’t help being a bit angry as well. Self-inflicted agony as usual.

Finally 12am rolled around. He came into the room and kissed me Happy Birthday. I responded with a pout. He took one look at me and said, “Orh, angry…” then went out to watch his TV.

!!!!!! @#$%&*#@$

Never mind… 我忍

Meekly, I went to him and asked, “Dear…where’s my cake?”

“Don’t have,” he replied, eyes still glued to the TV.

“Hmph!” I stormed off into the room and went to bed, wiping away tears of frustration and disappointment. Actually knowing Mic, I knew he should have prepared something for me the next day when we go to Sentosa and I know my surprise would be sweeter without expectations but I just want my cake at midnight and eat it too (pun intended).

The next morning, I woke before Mic and it wasn’t till I brushed my teeth and returned to the bed again that I noticed a present on my bed stand! Inside was a 4-sided photoframe with a Happy Birthday message, our itinerary in Sentosa, and a picture of cute sugar cows sitting on pretty cupcakes.

Later I learned that he did not get me XX (corresponding to age) cow cupcakes as I initially thought (oooh, how sweet would that be!). The picture was just something he picked up from the internet. But I did get my cake – nice chocolate cake from Bakerzin at Vivocity, that we cut and ate beside the spa pool (“It’s boring to have the cake at home,” Mic said in his defence). But I’m happy as I got my cake after all, hee hee. After all, it’s the thought and effort that counts.

We went to Fish Reflexology, something that I specifically requested as the last time we were there was a very interesting experience. I’m someone who has a very low threshold of pain and ticklishness so I was like stifling my shrieks and withdrawing my legs when the fishes are eating away at my skin or when the reflexologist is working on my legs. Hiak Hiak.

Next, dinner is on the itinerary. Mic had made reservations at a new and nice Japanese (fine-dining) restaurant, Santaro Japanese Restaurant at Amara Sanctuary Resort Singapore. My generous hubby decided to spoil me with the most expensive set dinner on the menu. The 10 course set dinner menu was not fixed but decided by the chef, therefore we are not too sure either what we had.

1) The first course was a tuna, ham and crabsmeat salad that was refreshing to the tastebud.

2) Next was something which I don’t eat but is one of Mic’s favourite food – oyster. Luckily, the oyster, though, presented in its shell, had been cooked. I absolutely cannot take the taste of raw oyster. The oyster was lightly grilled and so well marinated such that there is no smell and it tasted really really good. I guess it is the first time that I could stomach oyster.

3) The third dish was one of our all-time favourites – sashimi! We are not too sure what fish it was but the rest of the sashimi set comprised of prawns, cuttlefish and some meat. The prawns were too slimmy for my taste but the rest of the ensemble was great. The fish was firm yet melts in the mouth like butter as described by Mic. The meat item was quite different to me as I have not really tried raw meat before but upon biting into it, there was no raw taste. We wish there were more though as we absolutely love sashimi. Funny how I love sashimi so much now, it was only an acquired taste since 2003. After having finer sashimi, we know that we would never be truely satisfied by normal sashimi again.

4) Next was clear tuna broth served in this cute little cup that looks like a tealight holder. Hahaha. Basically the serving is so small that you could finish it in one mouthful. As it was fine dining, so we sipped it slowly to appreciate its (quite nice) taste. The soup texture was really very clear, no oil whatsoever.

5) The next dish marks the beginning of the ‘main course’. It was quite big! Grilled rock fish lightly grilled and seasoned with salt, served with radish. I think Mic was happy to see the fish as he loves fish.

6) This was both our favourite dish of the evening – Grilled goose liver with steamed turnips. Ooooh lala! Goose liver! And it is not bite-sized but looks like a small pork fillet. The outer layer is grilled to perfection yet the flesh is so tender and so juicy. I still miss it even now.

7) Such a big serving of chawamushi! And there is a big piece of shark’s fin inside. What’s not to like?

I’m usually not a great lover of tempura, but even I can tell that this tempura is so cripsy on the outside yet still soft and moist on the inside. Delicious.

9) Sushi is one other favourite of mine in Japanese cuisine. The variety of sushi served were traditional, professional (ie big piece of sashimi and little rice) and looks good. The fresh scallop was especially yummy.

10) Dessert was quite a non-event as Japanese cuisine is not big on desserts. Expecting green tea ice cream with red beans, it was quite surprising that we were served black sesame ice cream instead. The texture and taste of the ice-cream was quite good.

Thank you, dear, for the wonderful and memorable dinner.

We did not expect to spend such a long time at dinner and thus missed the first Song of The Seas show. Luckily, we were able to trade in our tickets for the second show. I was pretty disappointed with it though. It was too similar to the old musical fountain (free entry) and we still have to pay $6 for each ticket for this show!

After the half an hour show, we went back to the hotel and enjoy the spa pool on our private deck. Time to cut cake (see above)!

After the eventful day, the next morning was spent lazing around in bed after breakfast. Then all too soon, it was time to go home.

The service at Siloso Beach Resort could be better and I thought the reception seems a little too small and short-staffed to have a queue forming at check-in time. The room was also a bit small and the spa pool was without lights, which would have made night time dips more romantic. But the most important thing is i get to spend my birthday in a memorable way with my dearest.

Once again, Thanks, Darling for the lovely weekend, which we would remember for a long time to come.

The site comes out from our desire to locate the food places near your workplace, home or wherever you are. Gathering reviews from friends and family, we hope to have a repository of locations you can quickly search and find out where to go for your next food adventure.

Do drop us a comment if you’re interested to contribute to our food adventure!

We decided to visit a place just mentioned on tv for its delicious seafood (especially known for its crabs) and so we headed down to 91 Defu Lane 10. The restaurant was hidden amidst rows of industrial buildings. After a little mix up over our reservation, we managed to get a table in the inner section (think it would have been better to open the doors if the air-con isn’t supposed to be on?).

The place looked very nicely renovated and the items on the menu definitely very appealing. We ordered baby backribs, homemade bean-curd in mini-wok, asparagus with scallops and the main crab dishes of crab in vermicelli soup as well as another butter crabs with coconut crumbs.

The wait was about half an hour for the first 3 dishes and we all especially impressed with the baby back ribs that were roasted in honey and pepper sauce.

The crabs arrived another half hour later (apparently the average waiting time is 45 min to 1 hour for crabs) and we tucked into the butter crabs first. It was quite nice especially when you dip the fried man-tou into the butter cream. Everyone also agreed that the crab in vermicelli soup was even more appealing to the taste buds since it was something different and the crab was huge!

With its reasonable price and good food, I’m sure we’ll be back here in the future. Yum yum

The Seafood Paradise Restaurant
91 Defu Lane 10
Swee Hin Building
Singapore 539221
Tel: 64872429