Fa-Ying by Rama V @ Paradigm Mall

Ever heard of Rama V? It's supposed to be one of the best Thai restaurants in Klang Valley. I've been there once, for buka puasa, it's good but certainly a splurge as it's fine dining. Plus it's in the middle of Ampang, a little out of the way for us living in the boondocks.

Fa-Ying is the casual dining spin-off at Paradigm Mall serving fusion thai-western on the menu. I thought it was a chinese restaurant to be quite honest.

Clockwise from top: Red Duck Sandwich, Pineapple Krunch Cake and Thai Tea with milk.

I had the red duck sandwich. Truth be told, I was a little dubious when I saw it as I thought it could use more meat. However, it turned out to have a surprisingly strong flavour. The soft bread did not overcome the tender duck meat. There's some veggie in there; salad, some onions and cucumber.

It came with a serving of a tempura fried veggies and papaya salad (som tam). The tempura, while crispy, was just a wee bit oily. Could have been drained a little longer, I think. The som tam was spot on with texture but I personally like my som tam with a kick - spicier and more sour. This was like som tam for beginners.

The Thai Tea with milk was a little weak for me. I've had the one at Rama V and this one doesn't match up. Maybe it was the ice making it watery?

The generous sized Pineapple Krunch cake was incredibly moist with some pineapple pieces in it. I wished that there was more of that delicious caramel glazed walnuts as it gave a lovely crunchy texture and added a much needed contrast. It was yummy but a little sweet for me and probably would've been better shared.

Apologies but I have lost the receipt in an unfortunate incident which involved my cat. But the prices (based on memory, so I do apologise if they are wrong) are roughly RM10 for the drink, RM15-20 for the main, and the cake was RM12-15.

Verdict - I definitely wouldn't mind returning, though I won't be rushing back.

Fay Ying by Rama V
GB-08, Level G,
Paradigm Mall,
No. 1, Jalan SS7/26A,
Petaling Jaya, 47301
T: 03-7451 2933

FB: http://www.facebook.com/faying.com.my

Price - $-$$
Halal meat sources, alcohol served
Open from 11am to 12am daily

Le French Wrap @ Gardens, Midvalley

Trivia - the sandwich is Sailor Mercury's favorite food because you can eat it while reading (or doing other studious things). Yes, I just dropped a Sailor Moon reference in this food blog. Because I can. And because everything Sailor Moon is awesome and I won't hear otherwise.

I happen to like sandwiches myself, and isn't it nice that we have more gourmet choices in Klang Valley now? A nice change from the usual sardine (though I am fan of that too!).

In The Gardens Mall, just opposite of Cold Storage supermarket is Le French Wrap. A friendly teeny tiny deli (I think it only has seats for 10?) that serves wraps and sandwiches.  that has just increased their tables!

The wraps, I guess this is the french twist, are crepes.

However, being my first time at Le French Wrap, I was recommended the bread, which according to my receipt is Pain Viennois (Viennese bread), instead. Baked fresh daily from a french bakery no less. Fuyoh, nice and soft.

I had the lunch set; a sandwich/ wrap with side order, RM17 + RM1 (the additional is upgrading from wrap to sandwich). My sandwich of choice - Le Mediterranean; chicken with sundried tomato cream cheese, crispy romaine and cherry tomatoes, with potato salad served with dill.




And despite having a creamy potato salad side, I felt like I had a very healthy lunch because everything tasted so light and fresh.

There's just one problem.

I had skipped breakfast that day (my bad), and was borderline ravenous. In this situation, my asian stomach would probably have preferred something heavier like nasi or noodles or mee instead of a healthy sandwich.

The Viennese  bread, while certainly not dinky, is narrow like a baguette, therefore smaller in portion than what you'd get at Subway sandwich.

Have I mentioned they have homemade sauces to go with these sandwiches? I had the wasabi mayo.

My sandwich was pleasant enough but once I had it with the wasabi mayo...wah liao! MOON PRISM POWER MAKEUP ~ transform from ordinary school girl to kick ass crime fighter! 

Seriously, a grilled chicken sandwich is nice but that wasabi mayo sauce brings in the naughty that makes you sit up and pay attention. They have other flavours, which hopefully is just as good. Only one way to find out kan?

There are other, healthier (there's that word again) side orders to choose from, like coleslaw, steamed spinach salad or fresh salad. There are also sweet wraps and mille crepe to tempt those with a sugar craving.

You can also make your own sweet or savory wrap/ sandwich starting from RM4. I would definitely like to try the sweet crepes next time. 

Verdict - J'taime! Especially that wasabi mayo sauce.

Le French Wrap
LG, Gardens Mall (Midvalley)
Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
T - +603 7887 8417/18

Le French Wrap FB

Price - $ - $$
Halal meat sources
Open from 10am to 10pm

The Red Cherry @ Jaya One

'

In the very quiet (at least on Sunday evenings) Jaya One lies a store called Pop, which is dubbed a "retail hotel". Basically it's a shop that sublets its space for a minimum of a day, so you'll find a hodge podge of kiosks.

Among these pop up stores is The Red Cherry, which besides selling Legos and children's clothing Gymboree, offers desserts by UnionJac and Cherry On The Cake.

I must confess to having a sweet tooth and after being delightfully surprised how yummy their crunchy cornflake cookies (rm16 for a box) were, I just had to try the macarons.

Have you had a bad macaron? My first one ever was. It was chewy and dry and cloyingly sweet, might as well down a spoonful of sugar la, no other flavor.

But I've been fortunate enough to have tried some really good ones since though I certainly can't call myself an expert. I can, however, tell if I've enjoyed it.

Back to Red Cherry, yes, they have macarons! At Rm4.50, which seems to be the going KL rate. 

I only took 2 flavours, because let's be honest, it feels extravagant to pay that much for an itty bitty cookie in our current economy. 

Pistachio and a special Valentine themed macaron called "Jack & Rose" (as in Titanic).

The pistachio gets a thumbs down for me. It had a nice flavor but was on the chewier side. I'm guessing it might be a little old?

But the "Jack & Rose" gets a thumbs up! Rose with a dark chocolate and raspberry jam filling. I am a sucker for chocolate and raspberry anything, and this one didn't disappoint. However, I did feel that rose is too delicate a flavor to pair with, so it was lost on me although the macaron itself was light and airy. 

Plus those little hearts are a nice touch. It seems that they come up with special edition flavors with matching designs for festive occasions ie a red and gold pineapple spiced macaron for CNY.

Verdict -  hit and miss! But I'd most definitely come back for more (just not pistachio) when the sweet tooth temptation is too great. I'd like to try the lemon poppyseed loaf another day.

The Red Cherry

POP @ The School, 

Jaya One

Jalan Universiti, 

46200 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Website: http://theredcherrystore.blogspot.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/theredcherry

Price - $ (for the food, not retail items)

no pork served

Kedai Makan Jadi Baru Botak @ Restoran Botak

Apologies for the lack of pics for this post, it was a rainy day and we were rushing for cover.

K: One good way to find out good makan places is to ask people. That's what we did. We got a lot of recommendations and one of them was for Kedai Makan Jadi Baru (Botak). 

TJ: With such a name, who wouldn't be intrigued? Is the chef botak? Will you lose your hair from eating there? Dun dun DUUUUUUNNN....

K: Kedai Makan Jadi Baru literally translated is Becomes New Eating Shop. How did Botak comes into the picture? Apparently, the proprietor is bald (botak), so people started to refer to the shop as Botak's. As they say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So, as the place is already well know as Botak's shop, the proprietor included (Botak) in the signage.

High on the recommended list was the fried senangin, fried cuttlefish and asam pedas. My friend who recommended this place said he would always go here everytime he's in JB. Apparently this place is also a favourite of the Johore Sultan. Which Sultan? Now that's one question I forgot to ask.

So when we got here of course we ordered all that plus some otak-otak and stir fried spinach.

TJ: The food here tastes very homemade. All of the dishes felt very simple and humble, but well cooked indeed.

Take the fried senangin for example. It's just fresh fish, seasoned with a light hand, fried to a crisp but the flesh was still tender and juicy. The stir fried sotong with shallots, also lightly seasoned, was soft but springy. It takes experience to not overcook such delicate things!

The otak-otak was a very generous sized portion and not fishy. I prefer nyonya otak-otak over Malay as the former usually steams the dish instead of grilling, which can make the dish dry if the cook isn't careful. Plus the former is heavier on the spice. Botak's otak-otak also had some fish flakes to add texture to an otherwise smooth mousse.

I find that Malay asam pedas to be spicier and more sour than the nyonya version. This one was like a middle ground; spicier than nyonya but sweeter than Malay style. The fish was fresh and cooked to perfection. The assam pedas was served with okra and eggplant.

The stir fried spinach was worthy of my popo's home cooking. 

This was our third Asam Pedas for this makan trip, plus we had a late breakfast, so we were not as enthused as we normally would be. While I can see why it's recommended and I agree that they were all good dishes, the prices weren't competitive. 

Out of the three places we had Asam Pedas, Botak's was the most expensive. To be fair, we had the other two in Melaka, however one must factor in the ambience.

The ambience at Botak's is nothing to shout about. While the restaurant is clean, it's in an old, shabby neighbourhood. There's no air conditioning either. Despite the lack of a crowd, parking was surprisingly scarce for a weekday (we came around 12pm to avoid the lunch rush hour). 

The cost of our meal (inc drinks) came up to roughly RM30-40 per pax.

Wah, can you imagine the price if it was upscale? We hear this restaurant is very popular, even with Singaporeans. Could that be the reason for the price?

K - The portions were so so considering the price. Only the otak-otak's portions were generous. Nice food, but not a must eat for me, especially since there's nothing special about the restaurant itself. Just a typical kedai makan. 

Verdict - Worth a visit, at least once to rasa. Delicious, simple food but the price makes us think twice about coming again...

Restoran Makan Jadi Baru (Botak) (map)

No. 145

Jalan Lumba Kuda

80000, Johor, Malaysia

Tel: +6072249225

Price - $$ - $$$ (depends on what you are ordering of course)
Opening hours - 7am to 10pm

No pork served

Gerai Ayong @ Johor Bahru, Johor

I pestered K to take me on a makan trip last year before delivering but the man was just too busy. In the end, we planned the trip for Jun 2013, that's over half a year ahead! 

Haze or no haze, aku takleh sabar dah woy. I WANT MY NOMS I WANT IT NOW!

I got some serious side eye when choosing JB for makan trip destination. JB takde benda lah, said K and some friends. HAH! 

Apologies for crappy photos (and lack of it), we used a camera phone. But to make up for it, have a map! 

Important advice for people not familiar with JB - don't completely trust googlemap for directions. It hasn't been updated, we had to make a lot of u turns as there was no right turns. 

Gerai Ayong, Medan Selera Tepian Tebrau

Gerai Ayong is famous for tauhu and char kway/ koi bakar, sotong kangkung, ikan bakar (grilled fish) and ais jelly. 

Clockwise from top - ABC, Tauhu & Char Kway Bakar, Ais Jelly

The tauhu and char kway bakar (grilled) was a surprise hit for both of us. The crunchy, lightly charred tauhu and char kway  was served with sweet and sour rojak sauce with peanuts and cucumber. 

The sotong kangkung was good, served with same sauce. The sotong was springy and overall, it's a good dish, but I wouldn't drive all the way from KL to JB for it, mostly cos it's not something too hard to find.

We chose ikan pari (sting ray), the sambal on the ikan bakar was an absolute winner. Sweet, sour and spicy, the sambal was so sedap you don't need any dipping sauce/ condiments and the fish itself was fresh and well cooked. We were hoping for other seafood like baby crabs but they only had fish in stock that day. 

 
Left - Sotong Kangkung & Ikan Pari Bakar

For drinks we had the ais jelly and abc. Wah, macam day and night. The ais jelly is light and refreshing thanks to the limau, while the abc was heavier as it's served with generous drizzle of chocolate sauce instead of sirap. The abc was interesting but it can be weird eating red beans and sweet corn with chocolate. To be honest, I think the ais jelly compliments the fish better than abc.  

K: Actually felt a bit muak eating the ABC. Too rich, too rich! It's something I would give a miss and I am a choc lover too. Choc's great, as long as it's not too sweet of course.

Random musings: The stall's name is Gerai Ayong & the operator, Ayong, is Chinese, so how come the name of the operator on the signboard is Malay? Chinese Moslem? Ali Baba? Anyone can shed some light?

Gerai Ayong is located at the Tepian Tebrau Food Court, which apparently has other good stalls too. Will have to make another trip down to JB to check the rest out...if we can resist going back to Ayong that is!

Verdict - Worth the trip, worth a repeat :D

Gerai Ayong
Medan Selera Tepian Tebrau
Jalan Mohd Amin
80100 Johor Bahru

Open from 6PM - 12PM

Closed on Wednesdays

No pork served

Price range - $-$$

Sao Nam Restaurant @ Empire, Subang

I miss the Little Vietnam and Codo restaurants in Midvalley as they were among the most affordable of its kind. I still curse the Barbie shop (which took over the place) under my breath whenever I pass it by. This brought me to start looking for another place to satisfy my Vietnamese cravings.

Sao Nam has been nominated multiple times as Best Indochinese Restaurant in KL by Time Out KL. Not only that, it's ranked no 18 for restaurants in KL on tripadvisor.com! The prices are higher than Little Vietnam and Codo, as it is touted to be fine Vietnamese cuisine in a casual setting. They have two outlets in Bukit Bintang and Empire Mall Subang, respectively.



I like the pop artish look of the restaurant btw. If you get bored, one can try count how many stars decorate the place. The menu is also pretty extensive and there are special dishes you'd have to pre-order first. I am intrigued with the mangosteen prawn although I'm sure it's going to be pricey. Since we just walked in, we didn't have that lah.

Imperial Rolls or Hue Spring Roll (RM18 for 6 pieces)




I've had Vietnamese spring rolls before, but this was my first crispy one. Sao Nam hand makes these wraps which, unlike the usual smooth rice wrapper, has a lacy pattern like our local roti jala.  Unfortunately, I think the wrap was just a smidge too thick for my liking.

K- Really? Too thick? I thought the wrap was just nice.

Inside the crispy exterior is a prawn and chicken filling. The spring roll is not complete without vietnamese dipping sauce that is sweet, sour, salty and spicy (using fish sauce, cili and garlic). Despite being deep fried, I didn't find this dish to be oily.



This is not quiet food for each bite gives out a crackle and crrrrrunch only slightly muffled when you wrap it in lettuce, thai basil and mint leaves. I had a bite sans leafy greens and I find that with is better as it gives a more refreshing and cooling (that's probably the mint) taste.

Texture wise, this was more interesting than the normal fresh spring roll, although I still prefer the latter. The portion was a little too much for 2 pax.

Chicken Curry Noodle Soup  or Bun Cari (RM`18)

K doesn't care for pho (GASP) so he tried this instead. As like most Vietnamese noodle dishes, it comes with a side of herbs and veggies of thai basil, taugeh, etc.

It's a sweeter, milder version of our curry mee, with a generous serving of chicken and not much else. That's right, no taufu pok, no kerang (blood clams) or fish balls, etc! The taste is so similar to curry mee that it is difficult, almost impossible, to not poke around the dish looking for those things. That nagging feeling of something missing is too hard to shake, which is a shame.

If you don't care for all those things, then this dish is for you. As for me, I'll just stick with Malaysian curry mee. The noodles were nice though, more mee sua than mee.

K- Agree. Too sweet for me, feels like sweetened kuah lemak rather than curry.

Red Noodle or Cao Lu (RM18)



I decided to be adventurous and skip my usual pho for another Imperial dish famous that is the speciality of Hoi An. The noodles (similar to hor fun) is served with minced chicken and prawns, sesame crackers, fried shallots, nuts and a smidgen of some fish sauce and oil (chicken fat? sesame?). It is served with the usual herbs too.

It also comes with a bowl of prawn soup, which you are to take after a bite of the noodles. The noodle dish was slightly salty with just a slight bitterness from the herbs and shallots, while the soup was sweet. It was a very interesting experience although I admit, I tend to forget to sip the soup.

The noodles were soft and alas, so were my crackers from the sauce. Darn, I was really hoping for more crunch from the crackers too. Oh well, nuts came to rescue. :) Overall, it's a very nice light dish and, despite the many raves for this dish, it can no way ruin my love affair with pho! Sorry, cao lu but pho is still my ichiban ^.^

K- The red noodle once mixed up, is not really that red. And strangely enough, the soup was okay the first time I tasted it but when I tasted it again, it was just too salty.

Note to self - forget being adventurous, eat pho next time.

Interesting fact - Cao Lu (or Cao Lau) is usually a non-halal dish. It normally consists of lean pork slices, and the sauce contains pork jus (omg I've been watching too much Top Chef!)

I have to admit that my expectations were high after reading the rave reviews. Did it meet it? Not quite. The food was good but not in the omg-I'm-still-dreaming-about-it-way. I'll definitely give it a try again, although not in the near future as it is rather pricey.

In short - Good food, nice decor and service. The menu is expansive and a wee bit expensive, the noodle dishes are the cheaper mains in the menu.


Sao Nam Restaurant
L28, Empire Shopping Gallery
Jalan SS16, 47500 Subang
Tel - 03 5022 2122/ 2123
http://www.saonam.com.my
(The website has recipes!)

Price Range - $$ - $$$
No pork served - booze sold

Edit July 2013 - Sao Nam at Empire has closed down. Their official website has not been updated either. Not sure when it happened as I don't go to Empire often but I've read that service went downhill there.

Awfully Chocolate @ Raffles City, Sg

I am a chocoholic (pinjam your tagline, J)

After seeing these little shops popping up in several areas in Singapore, and also catching it on tv, I could resist no more. Even before conversion, the prices are steep (as stated by my Sg cousin) but I just had to quell my curiosity. A shop called Awfully Chocolate? Is there such a thing as an awful amount of chocolate?

I first tried the rich chocolate cupcake (about sgd$5) a year ago and months later, asked K to buy the all chocolate cake (sgd$25-50) during a business trip.



They were awesome btw, especially the Moist Dark Chocolate cake. The cake, befitting its name, was indeed moist and very bittersweet like a good dark chocolate. This means a sliver alone can sate me, so we had the cake for a while. This is a good thing because:

1) it is hella expensive;
2) it is rich; and
3) it is in Singapore la wey.

So during my next Singapore trip, I made it a point to go to Awfully Chocolate again. This time I tried the Cold Poached Chocolate.

What exactly is Cold Poached Chocolate (about sgd$6 and up)? Heck, what is poach? I automatically think of eggs, to which I confess I've yet to poach one. Anyway, it seems like they came up with some new method to temper chocolate but instead of using heat, it's cold.

They have several flavours to choose from, mostly boozy though. Your non-alcoholic choices would be Horlicks and Salty Butterscotch (pictured). I had the latter.

This is seriously sinful stuff. I'm not kidding nor exaggerating. A cold slab of chocolate as soft and gooey as a chocolate truffle topped with a mountain of cream and a drizzle of salty butterscotch. 

A spoonful of this gave me a sugar shock.

 The cream was airy and light, a contrast to the dark and dense chocolate. The texture is like sex in your mouth. The salty butterscotch was nice but not memorable, perhaps because it drowned out by everything else or maybe there wasn't enough of it. After a while though, the chocolate orgasms subsided and was replaced with a hangover.

It was shared among 3 people but even then, it was a struggle as the muak factor is high. It is richer than the Sultan of Brunei and unlike the cakes, I found this to be sweeter than my liking.

I'm not saying this isn't sedap but the portion was too much for me to handle in one seating. I would have preferred this in a smaller dose, bite size perhaps.

Awfully Chocolate
http://www.awfullychocolate.com
Store locations
Price - $$-$$$
No pork served, but there's hidden booze eg cooking alcohol. Not certified halal by MUIS.

Restoran Indah Sayang, Taman Melaka Raya

Late afternoon at Indah Sayang

TJ - The odd thing about Melaka is that most of the restaurants (that I've seen anyway) don't have any signage saying it's halal or pork free or not halal. I've had to go into the restaurants and ask. This restaurant was recommended (while we were contemplating nak masuk ke tak) by a random Singaporean family  that always comes back to Indah Sayang and I can see why.

Addictive tapioca chips awaits you

The decor is nothing to shout about. You want a pretty kitschy nyonya restaurant, head to the many other nyonya restaurants available at Taman Melaka Raya. You want a cozy little place with good food, drop by Indah Sayang. 

Assam Fish

K (our invisible third contributor) can and has slurped down the Asam Fish's kuah like it was soup! The bits of pineapple provides a tangy sweetness that compliments the spicy sour kuah (sauce) made fragrant with daun kesum and lemongrass.

Cili Garam Prawns

The portion for Cili Garam prawns (literally "chili salt") was a little small for a group of 3. Damn. The dry-ish sambal is, of course, spicy, salty and sour thanks to tamarind juice and a squeeze of lime. I lovelovelove this sambal but it NEEDS MOAR PRON PRAWN.

Kerabu Pucuk Paku

The Kerabu Pucuk Paku (Fern Salad) was a surprise - we've never had a kerabu so wet. Young and tender ferns in sweet, sour, salty and spicy mix with a strong taste of coconut from the kerisik (toasted dessicated coconut) and santan (coconut milk). It was good but definitely not the highlight of the meal.

Ayam buah keluak

One of the reasons why I keep coming back to Indah Sayang is for the Ayam Buah Keluak . Buah Keluak is poisonous unless prepared properly (which involves burying it in ash for forty days). AIYA GILA. There is no way I'm gonna prepare this dish at home and I don't know where to buy prepared buah keluak anyway.

The gravy is thick with spices, its taste reminiscent to rendang (it's the lemon grass and galangal) but with an added bitterness thanks to the buah keluak. The fruit's flesh is black and squishy yet slightly meaty, with a pungent earthy taste (maybe that's the ash). Unfortunately, this dish tends to overpower the other ones but I can't stop ordering my faves regardless. Warning - buah keluak's an acquired taste although Nina was loving it from the start. ("What can I say, I'm a connoisseur.")

There was chicken with the keluak?

Nina - the bitterness was undercut by the delicate nuttiness. Not to be hyperbolic, but it was a revelatory experience. I've been spoiled! This restaurant's ayam buah keluak has now set the bar for me. I was so intent on enjoying this dish I had to pass over the assam fish, which was also great, but the flavour would've overwhelmed the buah keluak so... a choice must be made!

The proprietor was gruff and friendly in that particularly brusque way all Malaccans seem to have (it's not an insult, it's just a howyadoin, if you're in Melaka). He was warning us about the cincaluk (the shop also sells cincaluk and gula melaka and tapioca chips for you to take home), and that it was very salty, to which TJ can attest (It's meant for making cincaluk omelet, not as cincaluk the dip - TJ) . XD The tapioca chips (RM9) is a must buy. It's a biiiiig pack but don't worry, you'll go through it in no time.

RM77 for 3 pax

Restoran Indah Sayang (nearby Watson)

138, Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka. 

Tel: 06-2820285 

Price Range - $$

No Pork Served - but they do have booze

(the tumblr photopost)

Durian 3 Way @ Jonker Walk, Melaka

We can't remember how or why a very last minute makan trip to Melaka came about but we were probably inspired by this CNNgo article.

To be honest, we could check our chatlogs, but this fuzzy recollection of how things happen is more authentically us. :D

Cendol & ABC @ Jonker 88

The shop is also famous for its laksa dishes but we were too full from lunch to have a bowl. 

ABC Durian

EPC

ABC Durian is typical ABC concoction with the added bonus of fresh durian flesh puree. The addition is what makes it unusual, also a little disconcerting.  You can never miss the flavour of durian in a dish, but (both) Nina (and TJ) had a bit of cognitive dissonance in having it paired with the other major note in the dessert, that of the rose syrup. It's not something that immediately comes to mind when it comes to complimentary flavours. Whether it works for you in the long run depends on how much you love durian to close one eye about the janglyness of the whole thing.

EPC (or Eight Treasure Cendol) doesn't actually come with durian. It's a cendol that comes with additional ingredients such as roasted peanuts, sweet corn, nutmeg and buah nipah (atap chee) . It feels more like what a Malay restaurant would consider as an ABC, in Nina's opinion, in the sense of 'let's throw in everything and damn the consequences!'. But the volume of the condiments is not overdone, so it's just right. We are not actually a fan of nutmeg by its lonesome, but it all works here.

Durian Cendol

Durian Cendol is the thing Jonker88 is known for (or at least how it's known for amongst ourselves). Plain perfect cendol added with a dollop of durian puree. The dish itself is what it's supposed to be: fresh, icy and creamy, so the addition of the durian was a welcome one. Nina likes the jolt of durian as it livens up the creaminess of the whole thing.

So what makes Jonker 88 cendol so special? The shaved ice is powdery fine, no chunky ice bits, the gula melaka is as thick as molasses and the santan doesn't taste canned. TJ has heard of better durian cendol places but sadly, not in a pork free shop.

RM4 each

Taste Better One Bite Durian Puff @ Pooh Kean Enterprise

Taste Better One Bite Durian Puff

The pastry was amazingly light and if you have it fresh, crispy and airy enough. It keeps well enough, but it's one of those pastries that tastes heavenly right out of the oven. The cold cream durian filling was just nice and not too much per puff. A perfect one-bite puff indeed! Just be mindful of your stomach and appetite: it might disappear in one bite, but your stomach won't thank you if you've overloaded. The box of 12 divided between 3 people was just nice - we couldn't keep eating because it's all finished, but we tak rasa tak puas hati because there weren't enough for all of us hahah.

However, do note that it's not fresh durian filling, just cream. For TJ, the best durian puff that actually has fresh durian in it would be in Petaling St (will blog abt that someday!).

Good news is you don't have to travel all the way to Melaka for these. Just head to the Mines, Sri Kembangan or Setia City Mall, Klang. Chit, kalau tahu, tak payah tunggu 10 minit for it to finish baking.

RM15 for a dozen.

Durian Fireball @ Iceland

Durian Fireball

We were actually hoping to have the durian crispy roll or crunchy roll, but alas, habis. So durian fireball it is. Unfortunately, it was terribly disappointing.

While the exterior shell, which tastes like a mochi/ glutinous rice that was dipped in batter and deep fried, is good, the filling...well look at the picture. Can you see the gooey golden creamy durian just oozing out of it?

Neither could we. :-/

RM5 for 3. 

Jonker 88

88, Jalan Hang Jebat, Melaka
Price Range - $

No Pork Served

Pooh Kean Enterprise

96, Jalan Hang Jebat, Melaka
Price Range - $

No Pork Served

Iceland (or maybe it's next door to Iceland?)

32, Jalan Hang Jebat
Price Range - $
No Pork Served

(original tumblr photopost)