Madam Chiam Curry Noodle House @ Taman Connaught Cheras

To the loyal followers of Axian, you might have heard or come across this place which is located at the busy area of Taman Connaught in Cheras. Surprisingly I have not heard of it until my friend who saw Axian's program started asking me for direction to this place. Armed with a good sense of direction, I can easily pinpoint the exact location of certain places after the first visit. No wonder my friends still call me "Taxi Leo" until today... LOL! But if everything else fails, I still have Garmin module embedded in my E60 :P I hardly utilise my Garmin from the day I installed into my car... what a waste of RM2k++ spent!

Madam Chiam is very popular among those who live in Cheras. When one talks about chilly pan mee, this place would be among the first (if not the first) which comes to mind. Jenn & I stopped by for lunch one Saturday afternoon while on our way to her sister's house in Alam Damai. Parking can be a headache but you can take your chances by parking by the roadside.

Axian's bunting proudly displayed!

This place looked just like regular Chinese kopitiam with plastic tables and chairs. Good thing was that they have a unit of air-conditioner which made the whole place not-so-hot!

Dry chilly pan mee @ RM4.50 - practically the signature dish. Even though the signboard stated "Madam Chiam Curry Noodle House", you can spot a bowl of dry chilly pan mee on each and every table that you see. The thin pan mee resembled those of wantan mee but slightly thicker. It didn't disappoint! This dish really packed a punch after I put all the dry chilly flakes into the mee and stirred with chopsticks. The minced meat, anchovies, half-boiled egg & chilly flakes combined really well to make each and every slurp a delight! However, they served spinach soup instead of using sweet potato leaves that I like (which was quite a letdown)

Curry Pan Mee @ RM4.50 - Jenn's choice of curry pan mee was normal. The curry broth was good but not the best that she had! Cockle lovers take note - look closer :)

Both of us had the boiled chrysanthemum tea to counter the spicy-ness of the pan mee.

Madam Chiam Curry Noodle House
Jalan Cerdik, Taman Connaught Cheras

P.S: Non-halal

Leo's verdict - This particular restaurant serves only noodles such as traditional pan mee, chilli pan mee, curry noodles, wantan mee and the list goes on. I don't mind going back there again to satisfy my craving for chilly pan mee... after all, I have yet to find a place that can match its taste.

Disclaimer:
1) I'm not paid to promote/endorse any particular event, restaurant or person in this blog. ALL are based on my unbiased personal opinion.
2) My reviews are based on my personal taste and preference and therefore may vary for others.

Restoran Sim Hap Ke @ Jalan Waras 1, Taman Connaught Cheras

A few years ago when I was still working with Thule, I called Cheras my second home. Why??? Because my colleagues both stayed in Cheras area and normally we would have our yam cha session in Taman Connaught. Surprisingly, I never took notice that such a wonderful restaurant exists in this area. Frankly, I would never have known about this place if not for Precious Pea. Thanks! Once in a while, Jenn & I would go down to Cheras as her sister lives in Alam Damai (which is quite near to Connaught) and therefore, it would only mean a matter of time before both of us finally made our way here.

Some pictures of their popular dishes were pasted on the glass at the entrance.

Salt-baked lala - this is a truly different approach to making a lala dish. As far as I concern, I had only tried siong tong (superior soup) lala, kam heong lala but not salt-baked lala. Even though the lala was baked with salt, they remained juicy and thick. Naturally the meat will shrink a lot due to the extensive usage of salt in the process. They had the aroma from the slightly burnt salt and most importantly, it didn't taste salty at all. Just watch out for the salt bits scattered all over the plate :P

Thai style kailan with salted fish - appetising! The dish was sourish, salty and spicy. Perfect to go with a bowl of rice.

3 Flavour Ribs - Another winner for both of us. The usage of lemon, curry leaves and butter gave a distinctive flavour to the ribs without overpowering the whole dish. A must try dish here!

Leo's verdict - there are a lot of other interesting dishes that we wanted to try but there were only two of us. Total damage? RM38 for the 3 dishes excluding tea and rice... even with those stuff, it cost slightly over RM40! A value for money lunch indeed! You definitely can expect another post about this place soon, but if you can't wait.. head over to Cheras and try for yourself. Don't worry about what dish to order, as the friendly staff will recommend some dishes to you in case you couldn't make up your mind! Most importantly, it won't hurt the wallet :)

Restoran Gui Lin @ Taman Connaught Cheras

It is often a difficult task to find a table without having to berebut with other diners, especially during Chinese New Year period where everyone come out to dine with their families. This newly opened restaurant is located along Taman Connaught (pasar malam side).

So many people were waiting for tables that it took us about 15 minutes before one was available. I really hate waiting for so long.

Stir fried nai bak - the first dish of the night. The veggie was fresh...

Kam Heong Lala - one of my favourite ways to eat lala apart from superior soup and chilly style. I just love the smell of curry powder, curry leaves and dried shrimps mixed together with this seafood. This dish really opened up my appetite.

Claypot taufu - braised Japanese taufu + mushroom slices and veggies in claypot. Still piping hot when it was served (notice the smoke coming out of it)

Tong Po Meat - the gravy was very sweet and made me asking for extra bowl of rice (something I rarely do ever since my waistline expanded). For those who are not afraid of the fat layer, you would find this dish appetising. For me, I couldn't afford to risk my effort so far... so I separated the fat from the lean meat and it still tasted good. I wish that they have man tao (bun) so I can dip into the gravy.

Herbal Chicken - A simple and traditional way to prepare chicken meat with wolfberry before topped with coriander. A point of note... they used kampung chicken (according to the boss)

Steamed patin fish - RM50 per kilo... so the price is reasonable. The fish was free of soil odour.. did I mention before that Jenn's family is sucker for steamed fish???

Leo's verdict - The total damage is about RM170 but it was for 7 person, so it can be considered as value for money. what important is that the dishes are good enough to justify the prices.