Ah Tuan Ee @ The Curve PJ

Despite knowing its existence for the longest time, Jenn & I have never seemed managed to make it here. That was, until one particular day when I was feeling a bit adventurous that both of us decided to give it a try. Nyonya food was normally not in my highest priority when it comes to dining out.

We didn't know what to eat when we arrived at The Curve one Friday evening. Then we spotted Ah Tuan Ee's as we crossed over from IKANO Power Centre using the overhead bridge. Lazy to venture further, both of us decided to try this out.

Interior was done Peranakan style... but I reckon more towards Oriental style!

Pineapple fish @ RM20.80 - Fish slices topped with pineapple and sweet & sour sauce. Comfort dish but I thought that the fish slice was rather big . It would be perfect it was smaller :) the Pineapple provided a sweet note to the dish.

Perut Ikan @ RM16.80 - one of Penang's favourite! Concoction of 12 different vegetables & herbs, with prawns and fish maw, cooked to perfection as a spicy, sweetish, sourish, soupy and truly aromatic dish. Let me see how to put it... the gravy tasted just like asam laksa. From its outlook, it looked just like rojak sayur-sayuran but I have to say this.. not everyone appreciate perut ikan so it's more like an acquired taste!

Stir fried brinjal with sambal @ RM11.80 - a simple and flavourful dish but not memorable.

Fried sotong @ RM18.80 - fried squid rings coated with spicy flour & served with sweet chilly sauce. The squid rings were lightly battered with curry-like powder before deep fried, resulting in a delightful crunchy dish. Loved it to the bits! I cleaned almost 80% of the plate :P

Leo's verdict - Overall our dinner was satisfactory. The supervisor was very helpful in recommending the dishes to us even though I didn't ask for any. Dishes were served rather fast and cleaned up as fast too... LOL! Just remember to try the fried sotong ok?

Peranakan Food @ Bibik Neo

This was my second time eating Peranakan food while in Melaka, the first one being in Ole Sayang (also in Melaka Raya) a few months back. I didn't bring camera at that time and therefore I didn't manage to blog about that place. This time, I made sure that my trusty Ixus was in my bag before starting my business trip. Coming out from Chuang Chun Herbal, it was still sunny and hot along Jalan Merdeka.

Finally this restaurant was opened for business... from the outside, you can notice that its design was influenced by the Peranakan culture.

A few tables were already taken by the time we entered the restaurant. We were served relatively quick as the dinner crowd had not come in yet. Observing around, the interior was kept simple without any fancy decoration or design. Wooden tables were covered with plastic cloth... I suspect that everything was kept original from day one, of course with some minor refurbishment from time to time.

Then I spotted the tikar placed on top of the ceiling.. I asked the waitress and she proudly announced that it was unique as they were the only restaurant that did the ceiling that way!

Complimentary prawn crackers were served once we placed our order. Crispy and non-oily.

It didn't take too long before the dishes came, starting with the nyonya version of otak-otak. Taste-wise it was similar to those Muar but personally, I thought it was great! A lot of fish meat inside, generous portion and how could I forget? The smell of lemongrass...

Chicken devil with potatoes - please skip this dish as there was absolutely tasteless apart from being spicy. The meat was tender and soft though!

Omelette with cincalok (small shrimps) - a bit oily but it was OK for me. This dish was absolutely appetising despite being a bit salty.

Prawn lemak nanas - highlight of the day! The aroma of pineapple in the curry gravy plus the fresh prawns had me adding another bowl of rice (something which I normally wouldn't do unless it's that damn good!)

Bendi steam with sambal belacan - simple concept but the secret lies with the sambal belacan that was quite spicy but went very well with the bendi.

Itik Tim - this is basically duck soup with salted vegetable. Those who like salted veggie definitely love this soup but the duck meat was tasteless and quite tough to chew.

Leo's verdict - One of the few famous authentic Nyonya restaurants in Melaka Raya. My friend even said that a trip down to Melaka is not complete without trying the Peranakan food. He's right!

Restoran Bibik Neo @ Jalan Merdeka, Melaka Raya (just a few doors away from Chuang Chun Herbal ;)

Penang Village @ Tropicana Mall PJ

Tropicana Mall has become my favourite place to go for grocery shopping because it is still new and less crowded. The best thing is that I can go there anytime without having to worry about carpark issue associated with those major shopping malls out there (do I have to list them down?). Top of my shopping lists nowadays are mostly baby stuff... Mamy Poko, Drypers, baby clothes, etc... I hardly buy anything to pamper myself like I used to do in the past! Have I changed??? Hahaha... another step in life!

So it's time to look for something to eat after shopping. Spotted this restaurant tucked at a corner on the 1st floor. Intriqued... we looked at their menu... hmmm! interesting we thought so we walked right in. But then we realised that the outlet was almost empty! Anyway, we were impressed by the interior and decor... white furnitures made the outlet look clean and the red colour on the wall provide Oriental feeling for the outlet.

You can see that there is a section where shiny zinc plates are used together with lighting to add brightness to the entire outlet.

Don't know why but I craved for teh tarik that day... and their overpriced teh tarik was not too sweet but not too great either!

Our main meals were served using a boat-shaped plate which was kinda odd looking... I prefer my food to be served using round ones. Anyway, my Nasi Goreng Penang Village special was mediocre. The two pieces of accompanying deep fried ayam berempah was quite hard but tasted good nonetheless. Luckily they provided her bee (prawn sambal) that provide some oompphh to the fried rice.

Jenn's Nasi Tomato with Ayam Rendang fared better... she mixed the rendang gravy with the rice. The side dish... 3 pcs of popiah was so so only.

Leo's verdict - price was slightly on the high side. Service was fast and attentive, as we were virtually the only customers at that time. They also provide set meal at a special price... but with a catch!! No white rice is provided and the price for a bowl can set you back!!!

The Wok @ Jalan PJU 5/21, The Strand Damansara PJ

Actually we stumbled upon this restaurant by chance. We were looking for a new place to have dinner, and we haven't explored The Strand before. I just drove around the area and noticed this place, situated along a rather quiet and dark street. Most of the shoplots were still empty at that moment. There were a lot of cars parked outside and that prompted us to give it a try.

The whole place has a very Oriental approach in its exterior and interior design. For example, you'd notice this unique partition that looks like from ancient Chinese era from the outside.

And as you walked inside, you'd notice similar design for its interior, giving you the feeling of back to the future.

Apart from food, they also sell some antiques which are placed at one corner of the restaurant.

Teapots can fetch as high as RM500!!!

Stir fried eggs with prawns - I always like eggs prepared this way. The prawns were huge too!

Stir fried roasted pork with dark soy sauce - the meats were sinful but the gravy was good. But I think that it was quite salty...

Deep fried red snapper with special sauce - I ordered a RM13 fish initially... but then they served this snapper without our consent and told us that the other fish was out of stock. In the end, I was charged about RM50++ for this fish... quite disappointed and felt like being robbed in the daylight... sigh!!!

Herbal tea which was ready made powder mixed with hot water... very artificial and I didn't quite like it.

They gave me free dessert - red bean paste... but I'm not buying.

Leo's verdict - in the end, we felt cheated as they didn't inform us about the availability of the fish that we ordered. A simple dinner that I thought should be less than RM50 turned out to be RM90++... the food is quite OK but the ethics are not there... I don't know if I will ever go back the second time again!

Nyonya Color @ The Garden Mid Valley

You can find a lot of places offering breakfast here. But if you want to know which one offers good breakfast, just look at the queue. Like this one.. lol!

Their concept was similar to those kopitiam, but with extras such as cucur udang and variety of kuih-muih to choose from.

The layout is simple...

They even sell own produce such as paste, rojak sauce, roasted kopi powder, etc...

Nasi lemak packet @ RM2.50 - Well, it's more expensive from what you normally get outside but this is the price to pay especially when you are having it inside high-end shopping mall.

Sambal was quite spicy but good nonetheless, with generous amount of anchovies and peanuts. Quarter slice of egg is included as well :) burp!! (excuse me!!)

Soft boiled eggs @ RM2.20 - the eggs were not so fresh, as the yolk was stuck at the egg shell as I opened them.

Teh tarik @ RM2.40 - one of my favourite drinks for breakfast. You would have noticed it if you read most of my blogs. A decent one but still good enough for me as long as it's not too sweet. Still, I prefer the one in Park Village.

Leo's verdict - I used to come to Mid Valley a lot when Jenn was still working here. But I never stepped into this kopitiam once. Next time we come here to shop, I will drop by to try their other dishes again. Stay tuned! By the way, they also have another outlet in 1-Utama Shopping Centre (Old Wing)

BiBiChik @ SS2/30 PJ

Nyonya food has never come across my mind before whenever I eat. But one evening, Jenn & I were feeling adventurous again and so we drove around SS2 area. The result?? We found this place... we knew the food must be good judging from the crowd inside.

Luckily for us, we found a table as soon as we walked inside the establishment, right in front of a live music performer.

They have quite a lot of newspaper cutting

Ho Chak! had been here before... I must have missed the show that time.

The singer name is Roy Chew and he only performed every Saturday and Sunday from 7.30pm to 10pm.

I noticed that there was a big traditional Chinese fan on the wall.

The lady boss sang a few songs accompanied by Roy's guitar skill...

We ordered their famous dishes of course, according to the menu

Honey Sotong @ RM15 - sotong tentacles fried with honey and batter. This dish was superb and went on very well with the rice... the presence of sesame enhance the aroma of this dish.

Paku pakis @ RM8 - fried with sambal belacan. You don't find this type of veggie easily anywhere... don't worry, it was not very spicy (just nice)

Bibichik chicken - marinated with their special sweet sauce and then stir fried.

Leo's verdict - It was a waste that I didn't find this place sooner. The whole atmosphere was great with live peformance. This was a special night because there was a blind gentleman who requested to perform live and BOY, he was very good with his guitar! He whipped out several evergreen Cantonese, Mandarin and English songs to my amazement. Songs from Elvis Presley, Teresa Teng, Sam Hui were sung... and everyone there sang along! I'm sure that if my parents were here, they would be delighted to hear those evergreen oldies, some as old as before I was born.

Everyone applaused everytime he finished his songs
Since Jenn & I wanted to stay longer, we ordered cendol as dessert - not too sweet but not too great either.