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Monday 18 January 2016

Revisit: Millenium Eighty-Six @ Paramount Garden

Remembering the sweet old lady's awesome yam cake in Restoran Millenium Eighty-Six @ Paramount Garden brought me back here one Sunday morning.

The previous times I was here, I had the opportunity to try the fish head noodles, steamed fish with rice wine and fried pan mee from a stall located towards the back of the restaurant.  They were all good.

This time I decided to try their sang har meen (freshwater prawn noodles) but, knowing how expensive this dish can be, I did the smart thing and enquired about the price first.  Sang har meen these days can go for anything from RM70 - RM100 for a 2-pax portion.  I was pleasantly surprised when I found out the price and so I ordered the Sang Har Meen @ RM20 for a 1-pax portion.

Looking at the price they charged, I knew that I shouldn't be expecting a huge freshwater prawn and what came was a medium-sized one.  Even though this was a one person portion, it's still substantial enough for sharing (which I did with my mother-in-law).

Since it was only a medium-sized prawn, there was only a bit of roe in the prawn head but not quite enough to coat the noodles as those I've eaten in the past.  However, the noodles still tasted alright due to the distinct flavour of rice wine in the yee mee (a type of egg noodle that has been deep fried).

Besides this noodle stall, my other favourite is the Penang Lor Bak stall manned by a nice old lady.

I had to have the old lady's Yam Cake @ RM3 (for 2 pcs) again when I realised how awesome it was when I "tapau" (packed) it the last time.  You'll know (at once) that this is a kick-ass yam cake just from the colour...full of yam flavour and topped with bits of fragrant dried prawns, fried shallots, chopped spring onions and fresh chillies. 

This is still the best yam cake I've had so far (and my spouse, who was having it for the first time, thought so too).  He liked it so much that we returned (two weeks later) and had it again.  When you order, she'll proudly tell you that this is the third (or fourth) tray that she has sold today...that's how proud she is of her yam cake (and her chilli dip too)!

And what was even better than the yam cake was her own-made chilli dip that's absolutely fresh and tangy in flavour...definitely one of my favourite chilli dips of all time.  The last time I wrote about this chilli dip, I mentioned that there could be some orange juice in the mix because of its citrus flavour.  So, out of curiosity, I asked the old lady (she's 82 by the way) if she added any orange juice into her chilli mix....and she said no, only the juice of the just-ripe calamansi limes and a bit of the zest.  Well, that's one helluva good chilli dip, I tell ya! ;D

This time I also spotted some glutinous rice at her stall.  I ordered one portion of Glutinous Rice @ RM2 filled with dried prawns, mushrooms, peanuts and fried shallots. 

This version is not as sticky as some I've had before.  It had nicely separated grains but still soft enough...very satisfying indeed.  We ordered this again the next time we were here.

Next, we also ordered some Penang Lor Bak @ RM6 from the same nice old lady.  I think I chose about 7 pieces...1 lor bak (marinated minced pork roll), 1 bean curd type roll, 1 fried spring roll, 2 pandan chicken, 1 fried tofu and.....

.......1 fried bean curd sheet....and all this for just RM6 (amazing)!

This plate of lor bak (on another day) was RM10.....

....and served with the eggy sauce and the same stunning chilli dip.

I also noticed a big, rounded lor bak item and was told that it resembles a mooncake but it's actually salted egg wrapped in yam @ RM3/pc.  Curious, we ordered it and it came cut into pieces and really did look like a mooncake.  We liked this a lot.

This round, we also got to try the Penang Otak-Otak @ RM5 and this had a mixture of eggs, fish chunks, coconut milk and a whole lot of spices and herbs with a strong hint of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.

This version is not those thin rectangular ones you'd find grilled over an open fire (which I'm more accustomed to) but a Penang-style version which is more like a spicy fish custard parcel and steamed instead.  It was really, really good!

There was also a stalling selling all kinds of porridge and when I saw that they offered Frog Porridge @ RM8, I couldn't resist ordering one.  It came in a claypot and there was quite a lot of porridge.

But it had very few, teeny-weeny pieces of frog....it was cut so tiny (the frog must have been really tiny), I couldn't even make out the parts of the frog.  I scooped out all of it into just this one bowl of porridge (which I consumed) and left probably another two bowls of porridge in the claypot coz it was practically tasteless with so little frog.  I guess I shouldn't have expected to see fat and juicy frog legs looking at the price.

#Side Story
The sweet old lady manning the Penang Lor Bak stall is quite chatty when you engage her in conversation.  She'd even tell you about her history and her family.  It's rather sad to see her still working at this age but she wouldn't have it any other way.  She said she did retire some years back but found it difficult idling her time away and reopened her stall at the urging of her customers.

If you happen to patronise her stall, you can always help her out a bit by serving yourselves (as in carrying your food to your table) as she's hard of walking (but still able to run morning and lunch service, leaves around 3+pm and returns again for dinner service as what she told me and I certainly take my hat off to her...for her hard work and dedication).  I secretly snapped a photo of her when she wasn't looking...hehe!

My Personal Opinion

Two stalls you shouldn't miss while you're here is the Penang Lor Bak stall manned by the sweet old lady and the noodles stall at the back.

There could be other good eats at the other stalls but I couldn't be bothered really coz, each time I'm here, I just head straight for these two! :D  And now that we've found this great yam cake, we'll certainly be back more often as the old lady isn't getting any younger.  And you should too...before the chance slips by!

Restoran Millenium Eighty-Six
13 Jalan 20/22
Paramount Garden
46300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor

18 comments:

  1. Wei that salted egg yam wrap is not easy to make leh! Even in Penang, not all lor bak stalls will offer this. Hats off to the old lady!

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    1. No wonder I've not seen it in most of the lor bak stalls in KL.

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  2. Based on your review last time, I went to this eatery and ordered a fish noodle from the stall at the back but didn't like it because the fish meat was not fresh and was very siang (fishy taste is super strong). Maybe it is an once off thing but I dare not order from the stall anymore. The old lady was there but I did not order anything from her since the fish noodle was filling enough. The next time I go to O&S, I may just drop by this eatery to tapao the yam cake, lo mai fan, and salted egg yam wrap from her.

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    1. Eh, I remembered that you liked the fish noodles in your post...you certainly didn't mention that it was fishy. Only thing was you wished for more rice wine in the steamed fish slices. The times I had it, it was fresh and the occasions when it was not that fresh, it was still ok, it didn't have any super strong fishy taste.

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    2. Normally I will not write negative things about a stall that someone else gave a glowing review to give them the benefit of a doubt since I have only been there once so it could be their off-day. People making business for a living, not good to give negative review when it could be a once-off thing unless I go there many times and all the times it is bad but it can't be right? since others gave them glowing reviews so I take it that it was a once-off thing. Although I did not write anything negative, I also did not give them a glowing mention. I just say I like the clear soup.

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    3. It's perfectly fine to come to a conclusion that's different from mine even after I had given a good review on it (I do that all the time myself even if others rave about the place). After all, taste is very subjective! I believe in writing the truth...at least my perception or personal opinion of what I thought about the food or what the dining experience was to me (and the reader can choose to agree or disagree). If I don't tell it as it is, it defeats the purpose of my personal food blog (this is my principle, it may not be others).

      Having said that, I don't like it referred to as "negative reviews" but more of "constructive criticisms". It is never the intention of any food blogger (and certainly not mine) to put the restaurant down or deprive people of making a living (I know a lot of hard work goes into making the food business a success). Anyway, one "not-so-great" review from a puny blog like mine is not going to affect their business plus restauranteurs know they can't please everyone (they just have to please enough to survive). At the end of the day, I'd rather write the truth than write something I don't mean.

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    4. Aiya, I also always write what I mean lah. Just that as my blog is not a food review blog like yours (my blog is just my food diary), I don't write every detail about the food (that's why my post is very short). I like the clear soup so I wrote I like the clear soup. I did not write anything about the freshness of the fish. Chill, no one is saying your reviews are negative lah, nor that you are depraving people of business. I am only talking about me only lah in my reply above.

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    5. Sorry, typo above, should be depriving instead of depraving.

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    6. Just like you're not referring to me when saying it's not good to give negative reviews and deprive people making a living, I was also not referring to you when saying I'd rather write the truth than write about something I don't mean.

      I don't consider my blog as a full-on food review blog, coz if it was, I'd be accepting invitations for food reviews from restaurants that I've gotten over this past year already. I'd like to think of my blog as a diary (too) of my food experiences...and what I write is my honest opinion of the food.....according to my taste buds!

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  3. It looks like this little old lady's stall is a must visit! I must ask my brother to take me there. I like lor bak and also yam cake. And I am very sure I will like the salted egg wrapped with yam too. It's amazing that the lady is still active at 82. Working keeps her strong and sharp I guess. We should all aim to be mentally and physically fit when we are in our 80s (if can live that long)!

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    1. I hope she is there on Saturdays :)

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    2. I think she should be there on Saturdays as weekends are always good for business.

      Yeah, if you like yam cake, you have got to give this a try with her chilli dip...so good!

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  4. That 70-100 would be the place near batu caves. lol

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    1. Even the famous one in my neighbourhood was going for about RM70 (2-pax portion) beginning of last year! >.<

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  5. i like how they've improvised and tried to offer the best possible sang har meen for RM20 ... i remember back a decade ago, sang har meen already cost nearly RM40 at imbi for a plate with a big prawn, so i shudder to imagine what it costs now. actually, this place seems like a real gem, there are so many thing i know i'd enjoy ... not only the sang har meen, but also the yam cakes (i love yam!), the interesting salted egg yolk creation, and the comfort-food glutinous rice ...

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    1. Yeah, the Soo Kee sang har meen in Imbi is very expensive....have not had it for many years...don't know how much it costs now. If you love yam, you have to try this yam cake before the old lady quits for good! ;D

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  6. The yam cake sure looks delicious.

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    1. Yes, it is....my favourite yam cake todate :)

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