Liang Sandwich Bar @ Sunway Velocity

It was in one of my trips to this mall that I chanced upon Liang Sandwich Bar @ Sunway Velocity (their 8th outlet) which has been opened for just a month (since 9 June 2018) when I visited.

I guess I was first attracted to the food kiosk by the horde of customers surrounding the stall.

Curious, I just had to join the crowd to see what it was about.  As I inched nearer, I was confronted with the life-sized poster of celebrity Jay Chou, presumably the brand ambassador for Liang Sandwich Bar.  Ah, now I understand why this stall intrigued people.

As I approached, I noticed that a staff member was frying up what looked like roti canai to me on an electric grill behind a glass enclosure.  I later found out that they're actually a spin on the Taiwanese traditional onion pancake.

The staff (aka the 'cook') would tear off these frozen-like discs or pancakes sandwiched between two sheets of plastic (much like one would unveil a Ramly burger).

These are then placed on an electric grill to cook and fluff up (or rehydrate as you will).  It was amazing to see just how quickly these frozen discs fluff up to become a roti canai.

The grill can take up to 10 pancakes at a time....and they're flipped continuously throughout the cooking process to get the desired browning and fluffiness.

Once they're nicely browned, the 'cook' will proceed to fluff them with a pair of tongs and metal spatula.  The resulting sandwich, or shall I say a roti canai lookalike, is similar to one that has been fluffed up with both hands much like how a roti canai man in a mamak stall will do it.

And that essentially is what this Liang Sandwich Bar is all about....churning out takeaway sandwiches that you can eat on the go, like you would a burrito or taco.

The so-called sandwich is folded into half and put in a small paper bag that can be easily grasped by hand and eaten on the go since there's no option for dine-in at the kiosk.

I think they called it a sandwich because you can choose to have the basic pancake with a number of fillings thus making it more like a sandwich.  There are a total of ten options which include:

• Scallions Sandwich (RM3.90), the most basic one
• Scallions Sandwich with Egg (RM4.90)
• Cheese & Egg Sandwich (RM6.90)
• Chicken Ham & Egg Sandwich (RM6.90)
• Mushroom & Egg Sandwich (RM6.90)
• Tuna Mayo Sandwich (RM7.90)
• Chicken Floss Sandwich (RM7.90)
• Sambal Ikan Bilis Sandwich (RM7.90)
• Chicken Patty Sandwich (RM8.90)
• Chicken Bolognese Sandwich (RM8.90) - Jay Chou's choice

But, after taking a look at the possible fillings on site, most of which are processed food, I don't think I'd want any of the fillings.

Other than the basic scallion sandwich, the rest comes with an option to choose the sauce (maximum of two sauces) of your choice from cheese, mayonnaise, chili, black pepper, mustard, tomato or liang sauce (Jay Chou's choice).  I've no idea what liang sauce is.

I ordered the most basic one to start, the Scallions Sandwich @ RM3.90, as I wanted to taste the original scallion pancake.  Just make your orders at the cashier after which your receipt will contain an order number...then wait for the order to come up on the screen to collect your sandwiches.  So far, I've experienced a wait of between 10 - 20 minutes for my order to be fulfilled.

It tasted exactly like a roti canai....only better-tasting and less greasy...and with one subtle difference...the taste of scallions.  The layers of dough imparted a thin, crispy and fluffy texture unlike the doughy and sometimes overly greasy roti canai.  This is one roti that's delicious without the need for it to be eaten with a curry...hehe! ;D  The sandwich remained crisp even after I reached home and eaten more than half an hour later.

It also had this delicious aroma of scallions which was immediately prominent once you get a whiff of the pancake.  I loved the onion-y flavour that the scallions in the pancake imparted, so obviously you have to be a fan of this onion-like flavour in order to love this.  I also like the fact that this pancake isn't greasy as I didn't see any oil used in the cooking of it (although the flat grill did have some oil marks which I believe came from the process of rehydrating the pancake itself).

The next time I was in Sunway Velocity, I grabbed the Scallions Sandwich with Egg @ RM4.90 as it'd be a take on roti telur (I thought) which happens to be a favourite of mine.

They make this by pouring in a ladle of beaten egg onto the grill and then putting the already fluffed up pancake on top of it, so this was different from a roti telur which encases the egg inside the roti.

They asked what sauce (a maximum of two) I would like with my sandwich and I went with black pepper coz the rest of the sauces weren't all that interesting and I didn't know what liang sauce was.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have asked for any sauce as it made the crisp roti canai wet and soggy.  So, if I were to have it again, I'd definitely omit the sauce.  Even the egg made the roti lose a bit of that crispiness and, because of that, I don't think I'd enjoy one with fillings and sauce.

As to how crispy and fluffy your sandwich will turn out to be very much depends on the 'cook' that day as I felt mine wasn't as crispy and fluffy when I had it the second time round.  That's because I noticed the 'cook' turning and flipping it constantly on my first visit which I didn't see a different 'cook' do as constantly on my second visit.

My Personal Opinion

With its origins from Taiwan, this food franchise seems to have made its debut in Malaysia a few months ago without much fanfare (compared to some other franchises).

With more outlets scheduled to open in various shopping malls in KL like Pavilion (this outlet just opened last week) and Mid Valley, Penang and Johor, I (personally) believe this snack chain will do well since roti canai appeal to many Malaysian palettes as they're so widely eaten here.

After tasting this sandwich, which is predominantly a roti canai that isn't greasy, I'll never look at a roti canai quite the same way again!  I'd certainly prefer a non-greasy over a greasy one made with lots of unhealthy ghee.  Plus this one also has a more crispy and fluffy texture.  My choice, over and over again, would be the basic scallions pancake for its original taste and its ability to retain the crispiness and fluffiness.

If you can get past paying RM3.90 (maybe considered expensive by some) for a roti canai 'impersonator' (kekeke!) but with the added taste of scallions, then by all means do give this a try. Those who crave for a roti canai (but can't have it too often) now have an option of a better-tasting, non-greasy roti canai over an unhealthy one.  Now who wouldn't want that! ^_~

Liang Sandwich Bar
Lot B-47D Sunway Velocity
Lingkaran SV
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 012-283 0228