During the initial days of the Movement Control Order (MCO), at least for the first four weeks, I was very rajin (hardworking) and cooked most of our meals (certainly all dinners and, sometimes, even lunch) coz everyone was adhering to the MCO or, more like, everyone was afraid to leave the house unnecessarily.
As the MCO progressed further, we became less fearful of stepping out and more eateries began to open during the period of an Extended MCO. When I ran out of ideas of what to cook, got tired of eating my own cooking and started to be less hardworking, I subscribed to the idea of buy some, cook some for our meals.
When the Conditional MCO (CMCO) kicked in in early May, I finally took a break from cooking as even more eateries resumed business with some catering to dine-in customers as well. We're now in the Recovery MCO (RMCO) phase and I'm relying more on food deliveries, self pick-ups and takeaways...and will probably continue to do so for at least a while more until such time I'm confident enough to dine out again.
#1 - Burger King
#2 - KFC
#3 - McD
The Shogun Burger is exactly the same as the Samurai Burger...with a choice of beef or chicken patty (my choice is always beef) dipped in a sweet-savoury teriyaki sauce and mayo, crisp fresh lettuce in between two soft sesame buns except the Shogun Burger comes with eggs-tra (and fuller) satisfaction! ;D I actually quite like this Samurai (or Shogun) Burger as the teriyaki sauce was rather pleasant (just wish they would lighten up on the mayo).
#4 - Texas Chicken
Texas Chicken makes up the fourth and final fast food chain that has a presence in my neighbourhood. The visits there were, more often than not, for the honey biscuits rather than the chicken itself....hee...hee (is it just me or are the honey biscuits getting less buttery and even less sweet?).
Texas Chicken makes up the fourth and final fast food chain that has a presence in my neighbourhood. The visits there were, more often than not, for the honey biscuits rather than the chicken itself....hee...hee (is it just me or are the honey biscuits getting less buttery and even less sweet?).
#5 - Eatomo
Well, if I can't get to Eatomo....I guess Eatomo will have to come to me then...lol! ;) I've dined in at their Bangsar and Taman Desa branches countless of times and I've also written numerous posts on this place over the years. So, it'd make sense that I'd think of ordering delivery (which comes from Eatomo Ampang apparently) for our usual favourites like Mentaiko Seared Tamadon Combo, Wok-Fired Spicy Gyutandon Combo, Mentaiko Seared Salmon Don Combo and Enoki Fries Basket. P/S: Combo means it comes with aforced drink.
Weusually always double-up on the beef tongue coz...double the beef, double the pleasure...and also double the pain (hehe...it'll set you back more than RM40!). Warning: Containers are big but portions are small (especially the amount of rice) >.< Sometimes, we'd even cook our own additional rice and egg to buffer up the servings. Someone with a good appetite will need two portions at least (or one main and a side) to be satisfied.
#6 - Quan Ice Cream & Coffee House
This neighbourhood cafe is one of our regular dinner venues for affordable, no-frills rice and noodle meals. Their menu is really extensive and you can easily get a dish for under RM15 that not only tastes good but also value-for-money. Their dine-in set lunch (at around RM15) for a main+soup+ice cream+drink is really great value. See, even a small outlet like this can afford to use paper boxes...shame-shame to the bigger enterprises!
We eat here so often (and have tried so many dishes) but our preferred choices are the simple comfort food like one-dish rice meals, fried rice or noodle dishes. P/S: From the name of the place, I would think that they specialise in ice cream and coffee (though it's not what we come here for as their ice cream is run-of-the-mill and their coffee is nothing special)...kekeke! ;P
#7 - Nasi Lemak Saleha
I heard about this good nasi lemak from Nasi Lemak Saleha (there's a branch near Tesco Ampang) some time back and had always wanted to try but didn't manage to when a recent trip there wasn't fruitful as the place was packed to the brim with customers (spilling onto the streets)...with delivery riders (hogging all the car park space). So, we turned around and headed elsewhere. During the MCO period, it was as good a time as any to order food right to our doorstep.
It turned out very pleasant (ordered through their own dedicated website) which I will write about in a separate post (since this is something new I've not written about). So, here's a little teaser of what we had to get your juices flowing. ^_~
#8 - Sushi Mentai
Seeing how phonghongbakes enjoyed her (delivered) sushi in a recent blog post, I realised I missed having sushi too since our regular neighbourhood haunt, Sushi Mentai, was closed for a good 6 weeks until they reopened in late April for takeaways only. We passed by the place a couple of times since then but was horrified by the long queue we saw which made us change our minds until one day we decided to head there early (just before 6 pm) to beat the queue.
Oh goody, we were in luck, only second in the queue...but what we didn't expect was that our order would take almost half an hour to get done! :O Fortunately, it led to a satisfying meal as food always tastes especially good when we've haven't had it for a long time.
#9 - Spag & Ju's
When we're thinking of eating pasta, we'd order from Spag & Ju's in Sunway Velocity through GrabFood. My husband and I always go for the Slurpy Chicken with chicken chop, wok or pan-tossed spaghetti and sauteed vegetables in black pepper sauce while my son's regular order is the Slurpy Fish (note that their menu is rather limited).
There was once when the food arrived in cheapskate plastic packaging (sorry, no pics) like those used by chap fan and chicken rice stalls. Their meals cost upwards of RM20, certainly they can use better packaging than that.
Well, if I can't get to Eatomo....I guess Eatomo will have to come to me then...lol! ;) I've dined in at their Bangsar and Taman Desa branches countless of times and I've also written numerous posts on this place over the years. So, it'd make sense that I'd think of ordering delivery (which comes from Eatomo Ampang apparently) for our usual favourites like Mentaiko Seared Tamadon Combo, Wok-Fired Spicy Gyutandon Combo, Mentaiko Seared Salmon Don Combo and Enoki Fries Basket. P/S: Combo means it comes with a
We
#6 - Quan Ice Cream & Coffee House
This neighbourhood cafe is one of our regular dinner venues for affordable, no-frills rice and noodle meals. Their menu is really extensive and you can easily get a dish for under RM15 that not only tastes good but also value-for-money. Their dine-in set lunch (at around RM15) for a main+soup+ice cream+drink is really great value. See, even a small outlet like this can afford to use paper boxes...shame-shame to the bigger enterprises!
#7 - Nasi Lemak Saleha
I heard about this good nasi lemak from Nasi Lemak Saleha (there's a branch near Tesco Ampang) some time back and had always wanted to try but didn't manage to when a recent trip there wasn't fruitful as the place was packed to the brim with customers (spilling onto the streets)...with delivery riders (hogging all the car park space). So, we turned around and headed elsewhere. During the MCO period, it was as good a time as any to order food right to our doorstep.
#8 - Sushi Mentai
Seeing how phonghongbakes enjoyed her (delivered) sushi in a recent blog post, I realised I missed having sushi too since our regular neighbourhood haunt, Sushi Mentai, was closed for a good 6 weeks until they reopened in late April for takeaways only. We passed by the place a couple of times since then but was horrified by the long queue we saw which made us change our minds until one day we decided to head there early (just before 6 pm) to beat the queue.
Oh goody, we were in luck, only second in the queue...but what we didn't expect was that our order would take almost half an hour to get done! :O Fortunately, it led to a satisfying meal as food always tastes especially good when we've haven't had it for a long time.
#9 - Spag & Ju's
When we're thinking of eating pasta, we'd order from Spag & Ju's in Sunway Velocity through GrabFood. My husband and I always go for the Slurpy Chicken with chicken chop, wok or pan-tossed spaghetti and sauteed vegetables in black pepper sauce while my son's regular order is the Slurpy Fish (note that their menu is rather limited).
There was once when the food arrived in cheapskate plastic packaging (sorry, no pics) like those used by chap fan and chicken rice stalls. Their meals cost upwards of RM20, certainly they can use better packaging than that.
#10 - BigBowl Thai Food
We've dined in at BigBowl Thai Food on two previous occasions before the MCO and found their Thai food to be quite alright and so we decided to order delivery but decided to pick it up ourselves when FoodPanda offered a discount for self pick-up.
But what we ordered for pick-up though didn't quite turned out as expected this time...but that'll be a story for another day...a story that needs to be told...a story I'll probably write in thenot too distant future. :P
We've dined in at BigBowl Thai Food on two previous occasions before the MCO and found their Thai food to be quite alright and so we decided to order delivery but decided to pick it up ourselves when FoodPanda offered a discount for self pick-up.
But what we ordered for pick-up though didn't quite turned out as expected this time...but that'll be a story for another day...a story that needs to be told...a story I'll probably write in the
#11 - dahmakan
Of course, there have been orders from dahmakan during this period. They remain a choice not so much for the fantastic (but still acceptable) taste of the food but for the simplicity (and ease) of their ordering system (especially the feature for ordering in advance up to a week) and their effort in keeping me informed of delivery every step of the way.
This feature is very helpful as it allows you to plan ahead on days you know you don't have time to cook thereby giving you peace of mind that your meals are already taken care of without the need for last minute scrambling on what to order or dealing with late deliveries. During Ramadan, dahmakan put some kuih-muih on their menu...and they were excellent. ^.^
#12 - Kak Ani Nasi Kukus Ayam Berempah
Kak Ani Nasi Kukus Ayam Berempah in Kampung Pandan is pretty popular for what else....nasi kukus ayam berempah, of course, and I finally got to try it (via delivery) during the RMCO...and it was pretty good, especially the curry. I appreciated that it came wrapped in banana leaf and paper (as opposed to a plastic box) which makes eating with a fork and spoon much easier too or pakai tangan aje (just use hands). More on this.....later, maybe.
#13 - Tai Chow
One of the most affected F&B business (I think) is tai chow. Somehow, the packed tai chow dishes just don't taste the same when eaten at home. For example, sweet & sour pork just didn't have the same effect as eating it there and then coz by the time the dish reached home, the pork cubes would have soaked in the sweet-sour sauce and thereby lose most of its crispy exterior. The same happened to say stir-fry cabbage with dried prawns & cili api which should have had a crunchy bite but ended up softened as it 'steamed' in its packaging. The dishes ended up tasting something like economy rice. Anything fried and crispy...you can forget it. The only things that travelled well were dishes like omelette and braised tofu.
#14 - Bak Chang & Other Steamed Goodies
One of the things that frequently popped up during the MCO period was bak chang (or glutinous rice dumplings)...either that or it's because we're nearing the chung festival...and this chung (which I've not had before) turned out surprisingly good (perhaps I should write about this since I noticed my bak chang posts have been garnering extra interest lately, probably due to the upcoming Dumpling Festival which will be celebrated on 25 June).
This, together with pau (steamed buns), siew mai (Chinese steamed dumplings) and lor mai kai (steamed glutinous rice with chicken) I noticed popped up at coffee shops (and markets) where they were never there before. I suppose it's quite convenient to rent a small spot (in a coffee shop that has been vacated for dine-in) to sell these very easy to sell items. I saw lots of people buying them in large quantities to take home as they're easy to store and ready to eat (all you need is to just re-steam them). I bought my fair share of them too (from different vendors).
#15 - Bubur Cha Cha
A chance find when I was out to do some chap fan takeaway from a coffee shop we patronise frequently. Even after the shop opened for dine-in, the lady boss could only fit in one row of like 5 tables (instead of the usual cramped 3 - 4 rows), so it wasn't like she'd be expecting a lot of customers coming for her drinks. She improvised and started selling tong sui (sweet soup), anything for supplementary income (I suppose). She told me she makes a different sweet soup each day. Well, it was my lucky day that day...coz she has my favourite tong sui....bubur cha cha! ^o^
This one was moderately sweet and had all the trappings of a good bubur cha cha...soft yam, sweetish orange & yellow sweet potato cubes, yummy sago pearls (though I prefer medium-sized ones to these big ones) and chewy tapioca jellies (hers were huge & colourless ones). Making tapioca jellies is the most complex (aka difficult) part of a bubur cha cha recipe (I've tried..and failed). Well, if I'm ever in the vicinity, I know where I can get my fix of tong sui now.
Of course, there have been orders from dahmakan during this period. They remain a choice not so much for the fantastic (but still acceptable) taste of the food but for the simplicity (and ease) of their ordering system (especially the feature for ordering in advance up to a week) and their effort in keeping me informed of delivery every step of the way.
This feature is very helpful as it allows you to plan ahead on days you know you don't have time to cook thereby giving you peace of mind that your meals are already taken care of without the need for last minute scrambling on what to order or dealing with late deliveries. During Ramadan, dahmakan put some kuih-muih on their menu...and they were excellent. ^.^
#12 - Kak Ani Nasi Kukus Ayam Berempah
Kak Ani Nasi Kukus Ayam Berempah in Kampung Pandan is pretty popular for what else....nasi kukus ayam berempah, of course, and I finally got to try it (via delivery) during the RMCO...and it was pretty good, especially the curry. I appreciated that it came wrapped in banana leaf and paper (as opposed to a plastic box) which makes eating with a fork and spoon much easier too or pakai tangan aje (just use hands). More on this.....later, maybe.
#13 - Tai Chow
One of the most affected F&B business (I think) is tai chow. Somehow, the packed tai chow dishes just don't taste the same when eaten at home. For example, sweet & sour pork just didn't have the same effect as eating it there and then coz by the time the dish reached home, the pork cubes would have soaked in the sweet-sour sauce and thereby lose most of its crispy exterior. The same happened to say stir-fry cabbage with dried prawns & cili api which should have had a crunchy bite but ended up softened as it 'steamed' in its packaging. The dishes ended up tasting something like economy rice. Anything fried and crispy...you can forget it. The only things that travelled well were dishes like omelette and braised tofu.
#14 - Bak Chang & Other Steamed Goodies
One of the things that frequently popped up during the MCO period was bak chang (or glutinous rice dumplings)...either that or it's because we're nearing the chung festival...and this chung (which I've not had before) turned out surprisingly good (perhaps I should write about this since I noticed my bak chang posts have been garnering extra interest lately, probably due to the upcoming Dumpling Festival which will be celebrated on 25 June).
This, together with pau (steamed buns), siew mai (Chinese steamed dumplings) and lor mai kai (steamed glutinous rice with chicken) I noticed popped up at coffee shops (and markets) where they were never there before. I suppose it's quite convenient to rent a small spot (in a coffee shop that has been vacated for dine-in) to sell these very easy to sell items. I saw lots of people buying them in large quantities to take home as they're easy to store and ready to eat (all you need is to just re-steam them). I bought my fair share of them too (from different vendors).
#15 - Bubur Cha Cha
A chance find when I was out to do some chap fan takeaway from a coffee shop we patronise frequently. Even after the shop opened for dine-in, the lady boss could only fit in one row of like 5 tables (instead of the usual cramped 3 - 4 rows), so it wasn't like she'd be expecting a lot of customers coming for her drinks. She improvised and started selling tong sui (sweet soup), anything for supplementary income (I suppose). She told me she makes a different sweet soup each day. Well, it was my lucky day that day...coz she has my favourite tong sui....bubur cha cha! ^o^
This one was moderately sweet and had all the trappings of a good bubur cha cha...soft yam, sweetish orange & yellow sweet potato cubes, yummy sago pearls (though I prefer medium-sized ones to these big ones) and chewy tapioca jellies (hers were huge & colourless ones). Making tapioca jellies is the most complex (aka difficult) part of a bubur cha cha recipe (I've tried..and failed). Well, if I'm ever in the vicinity, I know where I can get my fix of tong sui now.
When ordering food delivery, one thing we have to bear in mind though is that prices via delivery are never the same as in-store prices even if it's stated as such (on GrabFood's app/website). And that's because they're very clever at disguising it by doing a combo (which effectively means forcing a drink on us). That way they can blame the higher price charged on the cost of the drink and it won't be so obvious. Most of the time the drinks are diluted and tasteless...and not worth the amount paid (usually +/- RM5)! >.<
For FoodPanda, there's usually a mark-up of up to 30% on in-store prices (depending on the restaurant). Even when Nasi Lemak Saleha handled their own deliveries (via LalaMove), the prices were slightly lower than FoodPanda but still higher than dining in (as they have to factor in the delivery charges). I actually don't mind paying slightly higher prices for food deliveries as I know I have to pay a bit more for the convenience (and I understand that the delivery partners and riders need to make money too, I just wish they'd stop saying "prices are same as in-store" when it clearly isn't...or force a drink on us when we don't want one.
Hmmm, with the prolonged MCO, then CMCO and now RMCO, I may just be getting too comfortable with food deliveries, self pick-ups and takeaways already.....and getting too lazy to dine out. ;P As much as I love the convenience of food deliveries, there's always the issue of non-environment friendly packaging as there are just not enough restaurants that use paper boxes instead of plastic...bummer! :'(
For FoodPanda, there's usually a mark-up of up to 30% on in-store prices (depending on the restaurant). Even when Nasi Lemak Saleha handled their own deliveries (via LalaMove), the prices were slightly lower than FoodPanda but still higher than dining in (as they have to factor in the delivery charges). I actually don't mind paying slightly higher prices for food deliveries as I know I have to pay a bit more for the convenience (and I understand that the delivery partners and riders need to make money too, I just wish they'd stop saying "prices are same as in-store" when it clearly isn't...or force a drink on us when we don't want one.
Hmmm, with the prolonged MCO, then CMCO and now RMCO, I may just be getting too comfortable with food deliveries, self pick-ups and takeaways already.....and getting too lazy to dine out. ;P As much as I love the convenience of food deliveries, there's always the issue of non-environment friendly packaging as there are just not enough restaurants that use paper boxes instead of plastic...bummer! :'(
I've gradually become a little more relaxed. When I first started getting deliveries I was sanitizing packaging and heating all food before consumption. It was a bit stressful and a bit over the top. Now I'm slowly going outside again.
ReplyDeleteIt's understandable...all of us are a little apprehensive too coz we've never had to face this before. Slowly but surely, we're getting our lives back to normal though I'm still a little weary about dining out.
DeleteSame here, I was cooking practically everyday both meals and then I couldn't take it anymore. So Grabfood to the rescue! It's really great to eat food prepared by the restaurants after a long time. I have only ordered once from Eatomo and though I enjoyed my meal, I just could not bring myself to order again due to the price and small portions. The food you ordered from BigBowl Thai Food looks interesting with those packets of sauces/condiments. I have not heard of this restaurant. I am curious what happened with the pick up. I still have some bak chang in the freezer and now I feel like going to buy some bak pau as well. I like the ones at Key Hiong at Taman Megah. Life is more or less back to normal now even with RMCO. Traffic is heavy like before and parking is becoming bad again!
ReplyDeleteAh, so I see you've tried the food from Eatomo already. I thought you haven't todate coz I don't remember seeing you blog about it. I've never thought of you as one who would be concerned about prices seeing some of the things you eat...and order (like the steaks)..hihihi! ;D I guess your Eatomo meal didn't knock you off your socks then....leading you to question the prices in relation to the taste and portion...haha! ;) That only happens when the food is not good enough. So, looks like Eatomo is more suited for smaller eaters (so I order 2 or 3 dishes lah for myself...hehe) though I feel the portions aren't as small during dine-in (I could be wrong).
DeleteYou've not heard of the BigBowl coz it's nothing famous, just an eatery in my neighbourhood. For a bak change that I've put in the fridge, I need to re-steam it for a good 15 - 20 minutes, so I can't imagine how long it'll take to re-steam one from the freezer! >_<
Ya, I can see that traffic is much heavier these days and once school re-opens, everything will seem like it's back to normal.
this is a long and extensive list! i'm always too lazy to photograph my delivered meals cos i wanna have them before they lose all their heat, heh ;) burger king used to be my favourite of the burger chains in the 2000s, but like all burger chains, the patty just doesn't seem to be as satisfying as before (and i do think it's the quality itself and not just our changing taste buds). i'm also lazier to dine out nowadays too, especially since the number of merchants available for delivery seems to have doubled in the past three months. i was speaking to someone who's more familiar with chinese food recently, and he also said he wouldn't order sweet-sour pork for delivery or takeaway, cos the crispness will deteriorate too quickly. so i guess that's one reason we'll still have to dine in from time to time :)
ReplyDeleteI can photograph my delivery meals coz they're usually not that warm by the time they arrive, so it makes no difference.
DeleteI guess we can't really compare the quality of fast food burgers to other burger places because of the price (some you can even get for under RM10). I started 'late' with Burger King coz they didn't have that many conveniently located branches when they first started. It was only in these last two years when one popped up in my neighbourhood that I started eating them, so in that sense I'm 'lucky' I didn't get to taste the more satisfying patties from before...hee..hee! ;)
Food delivery has made us lazier, for sure, especially when there are even more options now (merchants are now queuing up to get their restaurants/food on delivery platforms...the new normal!).
Yup, dining in is never going to go away coz there's nothing better than eating food straight from the kitchen where the presentation, temperature and crispiness of the food matters. ^_*
U had quite a variety for your food deliveries/takeaways. Choices at my place are not really interesting (or I'm too chosy? =.="), so I rather cooked at home instead during MCO and RMCO. But recently, we've dined out quite a few times already during weekends, so I think we are kind of going back to the previous lifestyle, except still no mall and cafe hoping.
ReplyDeleteYou're very hardworking leh...cooking all the way until the RMCO....keeping your family happy and appreciative. My neighbourhood's dining options are also not all that great but we have to make do. Haiz, I've not been to the malls nor dine out in proper (air-conditioned) restaurants since the MCO started! >_<
DeleteYou know.. I'm starting to enjoy all these cooking, but yah a bit of mix with delivery & dine in is best.
ReplyDeleteWell, you should enjoy the fruits of your (own) labour...after all, you're a good cook (some guys can't even fry an egg)! >_<
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