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Monday 28 January 2019

Favourite 'Budget Eats' of 2018

Since announcing my retirement and acknowledging that I will be blogging less frequently, I've come to realise something I've always suspected to be true...and that is...pageviews are directly related to how frequent one put out blogposts.  I know that for a fact now as I've seen my daily visit stats drop drastically (by half) of what it used to be now that I'm writing only one (maybe two) posts a week.  That's to be expected and it makes complete sense...coz why would one need to visit my blog if there are no new posts to read...haha! :P  Oh well, if it drops any further, that could be just the motivation I need to stop writing altogether. ^_~

Anyway, let's get back to my post for today.  Budget eats nowadays are confined mostly to food you'd find in coffee shops or some modern food courts in shopping malls.  Something most of us will be looking forward to in 2019 with rising costs of living.  Here's a round up (in chronological order) of some of my favourite budget eats in 2018.

Ok, ok, so they use canned sardines (!) but even then they still tasted better than some popular food chains that specialise in assam laksa.  I like it coz the broth isn't too sour.

The Fish Bowl @ Pavilion


Many of us have grown to love poke bowls for its fresh ingredients and light taste that's both appetising and healthy.

Boon Signature Roast Pork @ Damansara Jaya


The siew yuk here is melt-in-the-mouth tender (a term more often used to describe char siew than siew yuk) with a super crunchy skin.  Though it isn't one of my favourite siew yuk because of the overly soft texture and strong hint of black pepper, the place still got on the list because of its Iberico siew yuk that I liked for the leaner cut, tender texture and flavour of the meat (though some will probably disagree at this even being considered a cheap eat...kekeke!).

Red Leaf @ Jalan Loke Yew


This prawn mee is a great find for all prawn mee lovers.  The sweet-tasting broth and fresh, good-sized, sweet sea prawns set them apart from all other prawn mee stalls.  But this shop also turned up two surprises in the form of Penang char kway teow and fried rice that's full of wok hei.

Mak's Chee @ Pavilion Elite


If you love fragrant dry prawn roe, then you must try the noodles here tossed with just that...absolutely umami-licioius! ;)  While you're at it, don't forget the reassuringly fresh, firm, juicy and sweet-tasting sea prawn wontons.  But the gem turned out to be their Cursory Rice which ended up to be the single most satisfying carb-loaded comfort dish I ate this year (you'll be glad to know that the latest version, instead of just plain rice, has the rice tossed in pork lard, soy sauce and chopped spring onions...mmm, even better).

Malaysia Boleh! @ Shoppes at Four Seasons Place


It's my favoured modern food court in the city.  Why?  Well, because it houses my no. 1 favourite curry laksa (that moved here from Imbi), that's why.  Besides that, it also offers various other yummy eats (in a clean and comfortable environment) like fried Hokkien mee, Ipoh bean sprout chicken rice, Penang fried carrot cake, char kway teow, Penang fried oyster and more.

Liang Sandwich Bar @ Sunway Velocity


I didn't think I would enjoy this snack as chain-style restaurants and food don't usually appeal to me...but I did.  The scallion pancake (or sandwich as it's called) is a different take on our traditional roti canai...better-tasting and less greasy.  It comes with various fillings (and sauces) but I only like the basic scallion one....nothing else.

Madras Lane @ Petaling Street


I purposely came here to try the third stall's (from the entrance) curry mee after learning that theirs made it to Lonely Planet's Ultimate Eatlist at number 2...and it was certainly decent, just not my number 1.  The yong tau foo turned out to be more than satisfying too.

Spag & Ju's @ Sunway Velocity


This place was the coming together of two food trucks each specialising in spaghetti and juices.  A humble and value-for-money meal of chicken chop (with either spaghetti or mashed potatoes in black pepper sauce) done right is what you should go for here (in fact, it's the only thing you should go for here).

Keng Nam Hai @ Kepong


It was the hua diao lala beehoon that first enticed me here.  Thick beehoon, fresh lala, flavourful broth with hints of rice wine and ginger....so good!  And then I discovered that they also have one of the best tasting curry mee, certainly a worth adversary to my no. 1 favourite. ^_~

These were just some of the cheap eats I ate in 2018 (you can check out my previous cheap eats list in 2017 here).  With ever increasing prices slowly creeping up on us, any budget eats are surely welcome in 2019.

6 comments:

  1. Of all the above, I have been to The Fish Bowl (which I think is the best of the few poke bowl places I have tried) and Boon's Signature Roast Pork. Liang Sandwich Bar has opened an outlet at Starling and I will try it one of these days.

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    1. Hmmm, one thing I've noticed about you is that you don't really eat coffee shop food (unless you do but you don't blog about it)...hehe! ;)

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    2. Your observation is correct! I only eat chap fan there hee..hee...

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    3. But the chap fan you blog about are from proper restaurants too...so they don't count as coffee shop food...kekeke! :D You know, some of the best food are from hawker stalls in coffee shops. ^_~ I'm guessing you don't eat at hawker stalls because of the communication (in ordering in Cantonese) and the cleanliness issue?

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  2. Red Leaf sounds like the place i should aim for this year - i might imagine getting hooked to their char kuey teow :D

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    Replies
    1. Oh, but the best thing here is still the prawn mee :)

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