Medan Selera Kampar @ Kampar Perak

I hardly venture to the North! Few years ago, most of my customers were concentrated in the East Coast, South or Klang Valley... but never North. Then the economy suddenly became bad and a lot of my customers in Johor and Klang Valley were affected. Business were never the same again. Went through my business card holder for contacts & found several contacts from the Northern Region and thus my trip to the North began.

My first stop for the night was in Kampar town, now a bustling town thanks to the presence of TAR College and UTAR! My friend, Andy, lives here and he was kind enough to let me stay overnight at his place. He brought me to Medan Selera Kampar for breakfast early next morning. Parking wasn't easy to find even though it was weekday morning. According to Andy, most Chinese flocked to this foodcourt and surrounding area just to eat and buy groceries.

The foodcourt was huge and housed many stalls. Being first-timer, Andy brought me to his favourite breakfast spot. He commented that even though the food here was not spectacular or with the wow-factor, it was decent enough to warrant everyday trip here for the choices. I have seen Axian featuring some stalls in his TV program but to see them in real life.. this was my very first time! Look at the crowds! It was only weekday morning.. imagine the chaos during weekends :P

The main highlight should be this stall! Look carefully - it might look like an ordinary CKT stall but there's something different.

This guy was actually sitting on a stool while frying the CKT! Not that he was feeling tired of standing but it was the way since he started this business.

The CKT was different from those we had in Klang Valley - it was less dark, less oily and full of wok hei. however, the only thing that it lack was the flavour. It was rather bland and maybe that's why they threw in the lime and chilly. Andy said that the flavour had remained the same for the longest time. Perhaps it was my tastebud which had accustomed to the KL or Penang version.

Apart from that, we also had the glutonious sticky rice that was doused with curry and topped with lean char siew + peanuts. Not the one to shout about as well :)

My friend Andy had the wantan mee Kampar style that was slightly different from what we had everyday. The noodle was homemade (springy & QQ), bean sprout was included together with the normal char siew. I had a slurp and thought that it was well.. NORMAL!

I bought some thin apom from nearby stall after seeing a long queue waiting for the stuff. Unlike the usual apom, there was basically nothing inside which intriqued me.

Of course, they also sell the regular apom.

The apom was crispy & sweet! It is best to consume while hot because they would become soft once cold.

After the breakfast, I noticed a motorcycle selling a rather interesting stuff - ham kok chai! I don't know what it is called in English but it was good!


The speaker was turned on permanently and to some extent, the sound could get a little annoying.

Leo's verdict - after the first trip here, I had come back here for the second time with Jenn this time... the curry chee cheong fun was truly delicious but we forgot to take pictures! Do drop by this foodcourt if you happen to be in Kampar. This quiet town is nothing short of good food!

MEDAN SELERA KAMPAR (Kampar Food Court)
Between Jalan Masjid & Jalan Ampang,
Kampar, Perak, Malaysia.
GPS Coordinates : E101 9′ 1.6″ N4 18′ 51.5″

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.

Hutong Food Court @ Lot 10 Shopping Centre KL

By now, most of you must have gone to or at least heard of this infamous foodcourt located at Lower Ground Floor of Lot 10 Shopping Mall. If you need any landmark, it's just outside of Isetan's foodmarket. If everything else fails, just ask and I'm sure many will point to you the same direction :P

Hutong is the brainchild of Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, Managing Director of YTL Group. If you still have no idea, just Google! Most (if not all) of the stallshere are handpicked by Tan Sri himself. It is said that Tan Sri himself loves to patronise all of the stalls that operate in Hutong at their respective original location before he came out with the idea of having them all under one roof. According to his marketing team, Hutong will be a gourmet’s heaven of street food vendors who have sustained their family recipes for no less than three generations, just like the YTL Group itself. Famous names like Honkee Porridge, Kong Tai from Singapore, Soong Kee's beef noodles, Mo Sang Kor's BKT & Kim Lian Kee's Hokkien Mee are just a few names that have set up the business here.

When I first came to this foodcourt, I was impressed by the selection of food & drink there. However, the set up was like a maze and I had difficulty in locating some of the stalls mentioned in the newspaper. It took me a while to locate Mo Sang Kor's stall which is located almost at the end of the food court. Oh did I mention that the ceiling was rather low??? Not a problem for me & Jenn though.. as both of us are not that tall anyway :P

I had Kong Tai's signature Hokkien Prawn Mee @ RM7.90. What I like about this Singapore's import is that the noodles have absorbed the flavours of the stock and yet retained its springy-ness without being too soggy. Not too dry nor wet. The presence of seafood such as fresh prawns and squids provided sweetness to the already lip-smacking gravy. It could be better if the wok hei is sufficient though! The accompanying sambal was not bad to be paried with the noodles.


Mo Sang Kor Bah Kut Teh @ RM16 - originated from Klang. Tan Sri himself is a big fan of their BKT. After tasting it for the very first time, we knew why. The BKT soup itself was packed with flavour and it was so intense that it left an aftertaste on our tounge. For RM16 which was quite steep IMO, there wasn't much soup for both of us to enjoy as part of the bowl was filled with spare ribs. Nonetheless, we love it to bits and when Jenn asked for more soup from the owner, he politely told us that they have no re-fill policy there in Hutong. Of course we were disappointed!!!

As for drinks, we had the usual Cham Ice from Kluang Station which got me wondered, is this kopitiam chain also in their 3rd generation?? Hmmm...

Leo's verdict - I wonder if all businesses are in their 3rd generation. Initially I wanted to try the Campbell Street Popiah and Kim Lian Kee's Cantonese yin yang but the former had not opened for business yet while the latter was in the midst of preparing ingredients. Word of advice... never go there too early as you might have to wait for a long time. I was there at 10.30 and most of them informed me that they start at 11am onwards! A BIG SIGH!!!

Ultimately, while Hutong may be a food court, it will not be just any other food court with the same old boring fare.

P.S: Non-halal :)

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.

Best o Chien ever @ Everyday Foodcourt, Pusat Bandar Puchong

I'm going to reveal my favourite place to savour a good plate of O Chien or oyster omelette in Puchong. Until today, I have yet to find a place that can match this particular small stall located in a foodcourt in Puchong. Back to my life in Puchong which was sometime between 2000-2006, I came to this foodcourt at least 3-4 times a week. What's not to like about this foodcourt? With the temperature hovering around 28 degree Celcius at night, it's a perfect place to dine alfresco style albeit in a noisy environment - people chattering like in pasar malam, the sound came from the nearby speakers. Those were also the times when I'd buy DVD from the peddlers.. yeah I know that they were pirated but I couldn't afford genuine ones.

Anyway, back to the topic shall we? Everyday Foodcourt is located in Pusat Bandar Puchong which is further down from IOI Business Park. If you know where SP Setia Office in Puchong is, the foodcourt is conveniently located right next to the building.

There is an adjoining furniture plaza next to the foodcourt itself.

This huge foodcourt has 2 sections:
1) Covered; and

2) Open-air section

It has almost everything that you might be looking for while eating here... magazines & newspaper vendor, and traditional Chinese pastries that are very hard to find nowadays!

While there are a lot of food stalls to choose from in this foodcourt, there is a stall that I have never failed to order everytime I came here. I introduce my all time favourite O Chien stall to you! Of course, looking at the picture, you'd notice that they also do fried carrot cake, lala and prawns too. What differentiates this particular stall from others is the crispy & crunchy mixture of the batter (flour & starch) and the egg. And let's not forget to mention that tasted GREAT!

The stall owner obliged to let me take pictures of him in action when I promptly informed him that I was going to introduce it in my website! starting with all the ingredients used to make this oyster omelette - starch, home made chilly sauce, chopped garlic, dark soy sauce and one secret sauce (I didn't ask)

Most of the oysters used were average.. about the size of 20 cents

First, he would pour the starch onto the sizzling hot wok.

Once the starch started to take shape, the egg was poured onto it

The batter would then be placed aside while he started to mix the ingredients that made the flavour of the O Chien oh-so-irresistable! Oysters were the last to be mixed into the gravy.

As a result? A plate of delicious oyster omelette ready to be feasted!

I also ordered a plate of Fried lobak from the same stall. From the picture it might looked dry but don't get deceived by it's look. Enough wok hei and packed with flavour too!

Bah Kut Teh @ RM19.80 - mushroom, taufu pok, cabbage, intestines and pork belly were thrown in and cooked together. The herbal taste was quite strong so for those who enjoy this, it's worth a try.

forget about the yaw char koay though...

Leo's verdict - the O Chien stall only operates from evening onwards. Parking shouldn't be hard to find around this area. Crispy batter + flavourful oyster = winning recipe!

P.S: Non-halal

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.

Pan Mee @ Oasis Food Court, Mid Valley

After closed for quite a long time, the Oasis food court is opened to the public. It was used to be located at the new IT section on the 2nd Floor of Mid Valley, but they had swapped places instead. I remembered that it was usually packed during lunch time, as the office crowds came here due to its slightly cheaper food as compared to other places.

The whole place has become brighter and not as stuffy as it used to be... Green colour is used to provide a calm feeling while having meals here.

While everything has changed and improved, there is still one thing that do not change... the human traffic!

I only eat one dish here... pan mee!!! Served in a very big bowl, I had to say that the pan mee is not that outstanding. But it was OK for me... generous amount of anchovies, minced meat, sweet potato leaves and black fungus were given and normally it would fill my stomach.

Leo's verdict - for RM5.50 per bowl, it is value for money... given the huge amount of pan mee and its ingredients. Apart from pan mee, Jenn always raved about the Portugese grilled fish stall too... so if you happen to look for quick fix for lunch, do drop by Oasis Food Court.

P.S: For those who watched Axian's show every Sunday, I had actually gone to Malacca a few days ago to try the Teo Chew porridge that was introduced on 5th July... a lot of new blogs coming soon featuring the places that I'd gone to during my 3-days business trip (what??? you think everything is about works only?? Still have to eat la...)

Food Garden @ The Garden Mid Valley

This blog has been backlogged since Christmas (^_^) but with new addition when Jenn & I went to FoodGarden again for the 2nd time.

Ah!!! The Christmas feel in Mid Valley...

Whenever Jenn & I planned to shop here, we would arrive early in the morning to avoid the traffic jam and also to have breakfast before that. One particular morning before Christmas, we had breakfast at this newly opened food court in The Garden. Surely enough... the proprietor named it "FoodGarden"... lol! It is located on the 3rd floor next to Borders Book Store.

You still can see the flower bouquets outside

The food court was quite big with a lot of stalls selling various types of food - Korean, Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Italian, Western, Mamak, Chicken Rice, desserts, etc...

The drinks section

Penang food... the proprietor can be annoying sometimes... as they tried to push their food everytime people walked pass their stall.

Roti prata with cheese and sausage @ RM3.80 - apart from the cury gravy which I thought was quite strong on the powder, everything was great!

Teh tarik @ RM1.80 - only RM1.20 with any roti purchased (valid during opening promotion which I am sure has ended). It was not too sweet, as the way I like it.

Fried koay teow - It was not too oily and the portion was quite big too. Thumbs up!

Lunch crowd!

Lanna Thai stall... yup! Thai food of course... I noticed a lot of people actually placed their orders here so I decided to give it a try.


Pineapple fried rice @ RM7.50 - a decent fried rice, which was enough for me. However, the chilly sauce was hot and went well with the fried rice. Love it!

Set C - Seafood paprik + tom yam + mango salad + veggie of the day + fruits + plain rice... all in total?? RM9.90 - never assume that they actually give you a lot of the mentioned above. It's only enough for one pax & there was no meat in the tom yam soup. However, the seafood paprik was quite good, as it was not too spicy with strong mint flavour.

Leo's verdict - Moderately priced food and drinks for upmarket place. I was asked by the supervisor not to take any pictures due to the management policy. Oh well, I still managed to take a few pictures before that.
Well, they should have known the power of blogs nowadays. They just don't care much about the free publicity that the bloggers can offer them. I'll bet that if other famour bloggers came and are asked not to do the same, they will lose out on the potential business.