Malaysia Boleh! 2 @ Shoppes at Four Seasons Place

Since reconnecting with my favourite curry laksa on our last visit here, we've been back to Malaysia Boleh! @ Shoppes at Four Seasons Place more frequently to have our curry fix.

Love those cute hanging lights that look like chicken coops and decor of various bird cages hanging from the ceiling.

It's difficult to come here and not be tempted to have my no. 1 favourite curry laksa each and every time....but try out some of the other stalls, I must.

One of my first picks was the (Te Qi) Ipoh Buntong Bean Sprout Chicken stall as I got to see what they were serving first hand since they were just next to the Jalan Imbi Ah Yen Curry Mee.

What I saw was enough to convince me to try.  A plate of chicken rice costs between RM8 - RM12 depending on the cut of chicken you want.  If you want a bigger portion, you can order a whole chicken (RM60), half chicken (RM32), 1/4 chicken-upper (RM16) or 1/4 chicken-lower.  Since this is "nga choy kai", obviously "nga choy" (beansprouts) will be offered as a side dish.

We went for the Quarter Chicken (Lower) @ RM18 served with crunchy Japanese cucumber and Chinese coriander with a light drizzle of soy+garlic oil+fried garlic bits.  The poached chicken was irreproachably smooth, absolutely tender and garlicky fragrant.  I found myself eating the skin (which I don't normally do) coz it was really smooth without any fats.  Some might find the prices a bit steep but this is "choy yin kai", so the premium prices seem justified.

I had the poached chicken with an additional order of chicken rice @ RM2.  The rice (slightly broken) was alright but I loved the serving of the fresh chillies+garlic dip and minced fresh ginger that came with it.  The ginger paste here takes on a darker colour as I believe this one has been cooked down due to the layer of oil surrounding it.  It's less pungent than the usual fresh ginger mince but still very tasty.

In my first visit to Malaysia Boleh!, I noticed a guy that looked like he was running the place.  He looked familiar to me and I asked the curry laksa lady if he's the char kway teow fella from Mei Sin...and she says he is (I actually bumped into him at another coffee shop, Kedai Kopi Yuyi in Pudu, where he moved to briefly, and left the running of the original stall in Mei Sin to his son).  I did speak to him later and he told me that he takes charge of the food (while another takes care of the premises)...plus he owns one of the stalls here.

And that stall is obviously (Yong Kee) Char Kuay Tiao, so I ordered a plate of Char Kway Teow @ RM9 (the regular portion was rather small and gets you two prawns only, RM12 for large).  He has tasked the frying of the noodles to someone else, of course, but it's still a pretty decent plate of CKT with a bit of "wok hei" going on.  Personally, I prefer his 'touch' (maybe it's just in my head).  The other thing I noticed was that there weren't any cockles! >_<

The Penang Fried Oyster @ RM12 (regular, RM15 for large), fried with egg and green onions in a tapioca starch slurry, seems to be well-received by many but I found the oysters smallish (either that or there weren't enough of them) and not quite bursting with juices when I bit into them.  The tapioca starch slurry wasn't thin enough to be cooked till crispy and ended up slightly gooey.

The Penang Fried Carrot Cake @ RM8 (regular, RM10 for large) was more than decent with crunchy beansprouts and cooked with two eggs (yes, two!).  The "chai tao kway" was nicely soft and well fried with crusty bits around the edges.  I certainly wouldn't mind a bit more "wok hei" and caramelisation.

On one of our visits, I decided to try the Penang Hokkien (aka Prawn) Mee @ RM10 since it's one of my favourite soup-type noodles to eat.  They were quite generous with the prawn broth so much so that the ingredients were submerged in the broth.  I had to do a little 're-arrangement' for the photo op so that the ingredients can be visible.

The bowl came filled with the usual ingredients of prawns, half a hard-boiled egg, lean pork slices, fried shallots, kangkung and beansprouts (they forgot that I asked for the beansprouts to be omitted).  They aren't very good at customising what you want or remembering your specific request.

The broth (this was after I added two dollops of sambal in it) turned out better than I expected...full of prawn shells flavour and (as you can see) with a fairly thick consistency (unlike some of the clearer and lighter broths I've had at some places).  The taste of the broth was more savoury than sweet (so it will be preferred by those who like the soup base savoury).  Perhaps one thing that could be improved would be a bit more of that lovely prawn oil in the broth.  Luckily, the broth was good as the prawns weren't.  They were those translucent type with a crunchy texture (of frozen prawns) which I don't favour as much + they were missing the inherent sweetness of sea prawns that I love.

Of course, no trip here is ever complete without an order of Ah Yen's Jalan Imbi Curry Mee @ RM9 that never fails to impress.  Again, there was no bloody "see hum" (pun intended). >_<  I now wonder if Malaysia Boleh! is a cockles-free place...yikes & booooo!....since there weren't any in the curry laksa or the char kway teow! T_T

My Personal Opinion

Some are bound to say that prices are on the higher side compared to hawker stalls.  Of course it will but I think a satisfying meal + drink for just under RM15 is more than reasonable for the dining comfort, cleanliness and convenience (not to mention the background music) that we get to enjoy! ;)

The hawker fare here (at least the ones I've tried so far) can certainly hold their own compared to some of the real hawker stalls out there.  Personal favourites this round were the prawn mee, Ipoh beansprout chicken and fried carrot cake.  Definitely a worthwhile place to eat if you're working in the vicinity or just in the vicinity.

Malaysia Boleh! (Food Court)
B1-01B Shoppes at Four Seasons Place
145 Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur