Restoran Wan Shoon @ Damansara Kim

This Mee Jawa from Restoran Wan Shoon @ Damansara Kim has had a steady following since an article in Malay Mail featured it in 2022 and I was subsequently reminded of it by my circle of blogger acquaintances/friends, kyspeaks, phonghongbakes and choiyen.com when they tried it.  How could I not try when all of them sang praises of it, right? ^_~

This coffee shop houses a number of other stalls selling chicken rice, char kway teow, curry mee, sam kan chong, Kampar fish ball mee, popiah, chee cheong fun + yong tau foo and others.

But if you google this restaurant for reviews of what to eat, it's all about this stall! ;)  You'll practically find nothing much mentioned about the other stalls here other than this sought-after mee jawa.

Since that's what I specifically came here for, let's start with that.  A standard bowl of Penang Mee Jawa is RM8.50 but mine has something lurking at the back...hehe.  The bowl was filled with small prawns, tofu slices, hard-boiled egg, beansprouts and very finely shredded lettuce, finished with a crispy topping (of crushed peanuts and possibly some kind of crispy bits of batter?).  There's also a piece of crispy keropok (cracker) which is a bit different from other mee jawa(s) that I've had served standing upright on the plate.  I liked that the cracker tasted savoury and was slightly thicker (than those regular, thin type usually used in other mee jawa) but still very crunchy.  I've to admit that the whole ensemble made it the most beautifully presented plate of mee jawa I've seen.

The first thing that hits your senses when the dish arrived at the table was the smell of the lime.  The notable difference here is that the lime juice is already squeezed into the dish by the stall owner (which I appreciate as I hate to dirty my hands and squeeze it myself).  The freshness and zestiness of the lime juice (and enough of it) balances out the sweetness in the gravy perfectly and that was what I thought was a key difference with this mee jawa.

I initially ordered just mee (coz usually only mee is offered by vendors of mee jawa) but I overheard someone ordering meehoon mee, so I asked for my order to be changed.  When it arrived, I noticed there was only mee, so I thought the lady forgot to change my order.  On digging further, I realised the noodles had two colours, yellow and white (similar to those thick meehoon).  Biting into the noodles, the texture of the yellow noodles seemed different from our usual yellow mee, this one is thicker like spaghetti noodles but with a softer texture.  Very nice.

As for the sauce, I'm not sure what it's made of but it had a sweetness to it, so I'm thinking it's probably from sweet potatoes (maybe with a combination of potatoes) and tomatoes as well.  It's not spicy at all (though I've seen some photos with a spoonful of sambal at the side...maybe only upon request) nor sour (from the lime which gives it a fresh lift).  It's not too thick either, nor overly sweet and tomato-ey (like some) but is adequately thick to coat the noodles nicely....and then you get this fragrant, crunchy texture from the toppings of finely crushed nuts.

As I mentioned earlier, mine had something lurking sneakily at the back...and it was a piece of vegetable fritter @ RM3 (so my plate of mee jawa cost RM11.50 in total).  The fritter, probably made up of vegetables such as jicama, chives, onions and carrot, was excellent.  The fritter was incredibly fragrant (and they don't stinge on the chives) with a hint of sweetness (I'm guessing that there could be some sweet potato shreds in the mix).  You must get this add-on fritter...so, so good, one of the better vegetable fritters I've had in a long time!

My empty bowl that has been licked spooned clean speaks for itself...a testament to just how good it was with its gravy slurped down to the last drop!  If I had my way, I would want more gravy coz both the cracker and fritter is best eaten dunked into the sauce.

The same stall also sells Penang Prawn Noodle which I came back to try on my second visit.  The bowl is filled with the usual ingredients of prawns, pork, hard-boiled egg slices, kangkung, beansprouts and fried onions you'd find in a typical bowl of prawn mee.

But the differences in the standard ingredients were that the prawns were tiny (too tiny for a proper bowl of prawn mee), the pork weren't in thin slices but in tiny cubes (which resulted in a different mouth feel) and the fried onions were the store-bought kind, not own-made.  The broth tasted light with a bit of prawn flavour coming through.  This prawn mee reminded me of the one in Restoran Yong Len in TTDI (which have its followers).  If you prefer a lighter broth, this might suit you but, in the end, it was just a very average bowl of prawn mee for me that's not worth my while to travel so far for...should have just stuck with the mee jawa! ;D

Like any coffee shop, it's not only home to the jawa mee stall but a number of other food stalls.  Since my family isn't a fan of jawa mee, my husband ordered the Curry Mee with poached chicken, tofu puffs, long beans and beansprouts (he omitted the cockles).

Seeing that my husband ate it silently, I knew it was no where near some of the good ones we had.  On tasting, the poached chicken was edible but the curry broth was just too thin and light.

My son tried the Siu Yuk/Char Siew Rice which, from the looks, you can pretty much guess it's nothing remarkable and wantan mee (on our second visit) which was even less inspiring (to even take a photo) that came with pinkish char siew and (he said) the filling of the wantans tasted sourish. >.<

On the way out, I saw that the roasted meat stall was called Fatt Kee Soy Sauce Chicken Rice (I was wondering why the name sounded familiar...only when I was writing this I realised that phonghongbakes has eaten this before).  Well, you don't need to ask what's the best seller here (judging from the number of soy sauce chicken hanging at their stall compared to the scarce slabs of siu yuk and char siew...and also their name, obviously).  Even I am not into soy sauce chicken (which looked like chicken poached/braised in soy sauce), I'd rather have either roasted or poached chicken (not something in between...lol).

I decided to tapau the Char Kway Teow (with duck egg) for my lunch later as I heard a lot of wok-ing noise while I was there.  On opening the packet, I was greeted with a disappointing sight (and smell) of light coloured noodles lacking the necessary char and fragrance (even with lap cheong).  Yes, of course I lowered my standard since I was eating it cold but the taste was still meh.

After coming all the way here (for a second time), I wasn't about to miss out eating the best thing here again, so I decided to tapau one for my lunch later.  Back home, I reheated the gravy and poured it over the noodles, the result of which isn't as presentable but taste good just the same.

Seeing that I was given the thicker meehoon the first time, I asked if they had the regular thin meehoon, the outcome of which is.....forget about the thin meehoon!  Eat it with just mee (or if you absolutely must have meehoon, have it with the thick meehoon which has the same mouthfeel as the mee).  It's called mee (not meehoon) jawa for a reason....lol!

The cracker and vegetable fritter was packed separately and both managed to retain their crispiness and crunchiness even when consumed later.  The lady owner who was packing my order gave me broken pieces of cracker as she was reaching the bottom of her tong of crackers (which she later replenished with new ones). There were a lot of small shattered pieces at the bottom of the plate which I discarded (I thought it wasn't very nice of her to unload the shattered pieces on me especially when I saw her worker had ready pre-packed big ones).  Obviously, the bite is very different if you're not chomping down on a complete big piece.

My Personal Opinion

I've not eaten enough mee jawa to be an authority on it but I've not eaten a mee jawa as good as this so far. Sadly, it's also the only thing worth eating here as the other offerings failed to ignite any interest in us having it again.  So it's no suprise that when you google this restaurant, you only find reviews of the mee jawa and nothing else.

Since the rest of the stalls we tried were run-of-the-mill food and my family isn't that into mee jawa (my husband actually had mee jawa on our second visit as there were no other alternatives that he fancied), it's highly unlikely that we'll be back to this kopitiam (why travel so far just for mundane food).  That means my only chance of having this splendid mee jawa again is if my husband happens to be in the vicinity to tapau for me. :(

For the rest of you who are from this area (or its surrounding areas), count your lucky stars that you have a smashing mee jawa near you.

Wan Shoon Restaurant

47 Jalan SS20/11

Who is Damansara?

47400 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Boon Signature Roast Pork @ Damansara Jaya

I got my first taste of this "siew yuk" (roast pork) when my husband brought me here one Sunday morning.  Although Boon Signature Roast Pork @ Damansara Jaya wasn't new to me as I've read the story about the owner and creator of this roast pork.

The owner first opened a shop in Kota Damansara but it subsequently closed (apparently the location was not ideal).  He then sold roast pork at "pasar malam" (night markets) before finally having another go and opened this shop in the middle of last year.

Since it's obviously all about the siew yuk here, let's start with the Roast Pork Rice @ RM9.90 which was served with a good portion of rice, drizzled with their inhouse soya-based sauce.

If you're looking for the typical traditional Chinese-style of siew yuk, I'm afraid you won't get it here.  They use a more Western-style of marination (apparently more than 10 herbs and spices) here.  That said, I tasted one predominant flavour...and it was black pepper...and lots of it! >_<  So, if you're not fond of black pepper, you may have to rethink about trying this.  As for me, I love black pepper, so I'm fine with it. Although some blogs and newspaper articles mentioned the omission of five-spice powder in the marination of this siew yuk, I'm sure I detected a hint (a very slight hint) of five spice powder coming through.  It's certainly possible if the spices used are among the same spices the five-spice powder is made of.

As for the meat itself, with a good ratio of fat-to-lean (maybe a bit too fat in some parts), it was melt-in-the-mouth tender...almost too tender if you ask me.  Don't get me wrong, I like my meat tender too but still with a bit of a bite and this was a tad too soft for my taste buds.

The super crunchy-skinned siew yuk is also different from the norm, extra thick and pork crackling-like, which I have to admit was superbly crunchy.  If you look towards the kitchen, you'll notice that their slabs of roast pork have been scored into small squares.  Perhaps, this was what made it extra crunchy but some parts of the golden skin were also a bit hard.  And because it was scored this way, some of the cracklings easily detached themselves from the meat when cut.

Of course we had to try the "char siew" (BBQ pork) too and ordered a plate of Roast Pork + Char Siew Rice @ RM11.90.  They use Japanese Pearl Rice here, a better quality rice which provided a firmer bite than the standard (sometimes broken) rice usually offered elsewhere.

Besides rice, they also offer wantan noodles.  I had the Roast Pork + Char Siew Noodles @ RM12.90.

The char siew was super tender but not overly sticky-sweet and that's probably why the outer layer was not as darkly caramelised.  Still decent though the siew yuk trumps the char siew here.  The texture of the char siew is a bit similar to my Toast n Roast (but I have to say Toast n Roast's version is better).

The noodles, which came with some minced pork on top, had a springy texture similar to those HK-style wantan noodles.  The noodles were tossed in a sauce that was quite bland tasting (they haven't got the right balance of flavours).  Neither the texture of the noodles nor the flavour of the sauce were to my liking.

During weekends and public holidays, a special version of Iberico Siew Yuk is available at RM28 per 100g.

The portion of Iberico siew yuk shown here is 100g.  Mighty expensive some would say, more than double the price of normal siew yuk where a small portion of standalone siew yuk is RM12, medium is RM24 and large at RM36, RM60 for 500g and RM120 for 1kg (the same prices apply for the char siew).

I definitely preferred the Iberico version better as there was more flavour in the meat.  It was also a little leaner and the texture wasn't overly soft (like the normal siew yuk earlier).  Somehow, I felt the Iberico pork absorbed the strong black pepper marination better.  Maybe because it wasn't the traditional siew yuk, I welcomed (and accepted) the Western-style marination more eagerly.  Also, don't hope for any crispy skin...there isn't any.  Instead the marbling gives way to a well charred upper layer for yummy results. ^o^

Condiments of pickled green chillies and chilli sauce are available table-side for your eating pleasure. They've got the fresh, zesty flavours right in their house-made chilli sauce which packed a bit more punch than the norm.

Their Ipoh White Coffee (Cold) @ RM4.20 isn't too bad either.

This place concentrates on just three roasted meats with roast chicken being the other roasted meat here. Since I wanted to try the roast chicken as well, after being attracted to the highly black peppered skin, I ordered a take-away Roast Chicken Rice only to realise (later when I opened the box at home) that I was given Roast Pork Rice instead. >_<  This was also the first time I've seen roast pork packed this way...with a plastic sheet separating the rice from the pork (I guess they wanted to ensure their roast pork stayed at its optimum crispiness).

My Personal Opinion

If you like a more Western-style roast pork belly (compared to the Chinese-style siew yuk) with a deluge of black pepper taste, then you'll surely be delighted with this siew yuk.

Many sing its praises as one of the best roast pork in town...not for me though.  The super crunchy skin is definitely the highlight and the siew yuk is certainly commendable but not a firm favourite of mine for their more fatty-to-lean ratio and overly tender meat.

Having said that, I won't mind returning for their Iberico roast pork (albeit not regularly because of the hefty price).  If you love the taste of black pepper, perhaps you should try this siew yuk to determine (for yourself) if you rate it among your favourites.

For me, I guess I'm still old-school when it comes to siew yuk preferring the Chinese-style versions of good 'ol fragrant, salty, crispy siew yuk that I've found in some shops (maybe not quite as good as Wong Kee's roast pork...notoriously known for their unfriendly attitude and high prices...but close enough to provide satisfaction)! :P

Boon Signature Roast Pork
75 Jalan SS22/19
Damansara Jaya
47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel: 03-7731 8169

Two Hands Restaurant @ Qliq Damansara

It was the photo of an irresistibly stunning looking hunk of meat in eatdrinkkl's post that first attracted me to this place, Two Hands Restaurant @ Qliq Damansara, which opened a little under six months ago.

And well, since it was our gang's usual monthly meet-up (we had missed meeting up for two months), what better place to splurge some extra 'budget' than here...on a piece of Tomahawk! ^_~

The place exudes a warm, welcoming vibe with lights dim enough to bring out the romantic ambience and bright enough to offer warmth.  The lighting on the wall says it all (and the small touches of candles on the floor)...if that doesn't say romance, I don't know what will.  But the place is also ideal for a quiet dinner with family and friends.

I don't usually make reservations but I did in this instance.  Luckily so, as the dining area was rather small but spacious enough for it to be cosy and intimate, making the space very personable.  There's a bigger al fresco area, shaded with lots of potted plants, that's ideal for drinking (and smoking)...and perhaps partaking in some small bites.

As we walked in, through the entrance from within Qliq Hotel, we were greeted by chef-and-owner, Vic himself (I recognised him from his Facebook postings), who showed us to our table, something I wasn't expecting (perhaps we were early and the chef wasn't busy yet), still it was a nice touch.

In a way I was glad that I did make reservations (for once) as we got a table in a nice, secluded corner which was just great for our party-of-nine.

When we were there, their menu was still printed on a simple laminated piece of hard paper but they've since launched a proper hard cover menu.  You can see (from his Facebook entry) just how excited (and proud) Chef Vic is about the new menu!  Incidentally, their all day breakfast and lunch menus are real value deals.

First things first, let's get the kids' meals out of the way, shall we?  My friend's girls had the Seafood & Tomato Basil Bucatini @ RM27.  The spaghetti-like pasta (with a hole running through the centre) came filled with prawns and squid tossed lightly in a tomato-based sauce.

My other friend's boys shared a Chilli Shrimp Fried Rice @ RM28...hold the chillies, of course.  It was served with grilled pineapples and a tomato and onion relish on the side, together with a sunny side-up egg.  I didn't taste either dishes, so I can't vouch for the taste, but both dishes were wiped clean.

With the kids' meals taken care of, it's the adults turn.  From the Sharing Starters of eight choices, we picked four starting with the Crispy Parmesan Cauliflower @ RM22 that uses local organic cauliflower, tossed in gluten-free flour with Spanish smoked paprika, sprinkled with Parmiagiano Reggiano and parsley, served on top a dill yogurt sauce.

Who knew that a humble ingredient like cauliflower, when seasoned well, could turn out so tasty.  It was just soft enough but still had a crunch and it paired beautifully with the creamy dill yogurt.  I was surprised that I would like this dish of cauliflower that much.  But I guess I shouldn't be as I'm always on the lookout for this dish of fried cauliflower florets tossed in curry powder and some other Indian spices (when I'm at an Indian restaurant) and this was probably Chef Vic's modern interpretation of that.  It turned out to be my second most favoured starter of the night.

Next on the list was the Fried Calamari (also gluten free) @ RM26 comprising of market fresh squid, marinated in fresh dill and smoky chili flakes, served with a mayo-like citrus dip.

The calamari was tender with a very crispy, flavoured coating making this simple dish easily welcomed with open arms...or mouths, in this case.  And the best part were the little bits of batter that dropped off from the squid...don't leave them on the plate, you wouldn't want to waste those super crunchy morsels of delight.

Another appetiser for sharing was the Salted Egg Custard Prawns @ RM28 made up of sustainably sourced white sea prawns (I think there were 4 - 5 good-sized ones), swimming in a salted egg sauce, tossed with fragrant curry leaves, and served with house-made butter croissants for dipping.

The prawns, fresh and firm, were soaked in a delicious gravy that's best eaten with the buttery croissants (wished they were a tad more crisp though).  You'd want the croissants to mop up every last bit of the sauce and, if you need more, you can add-on another three pieces for RM6.

The final starter we picked was the Aged Soy Glazed Chicken Wings @ RM24 of chicken wings (four of them) marinated with smoky aged soy with a hint of spice and served with garlic mayo.

This was my favourite starter of the night.  The well marinated aromatic chicken wings were perfectly fried. With looks mimicking a good "ayam goreng berempah" (fried spiced chicken) but far better in taste, it was crisp on the outside yet still juicy within...and jam packed with flavour. ^.^

From the offerings of mains, we opted for the Grilled Portuguese Chicken & Dirty Rice @ RM58 which featured a whole chicken leg marinated in spices and aromatics (I'm guessing dried oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic, chillies, lemon juice, brown sugar could be in the mix) rendering a deep flavour in the chicken.  And then it was grilled beautifully to give it that added charred flavour...absolutely scrumptious!

The dirty rice raised some eyebrows with its name...I'm not sure what's dirty about it though...hehe!  Served on a sizzling hot plate, the rice, drenched in a tomato-based sauce, had pronounced flavours of Indian spices.  Some of the rice bits got a bit crusty at the bottom when it came in contact with the hot plate.  If you're a lover of Indian spices, you should so order this.

And finally, the very dish we came here for....the piece de resistance...the Black Angus Tomahawk Steak @ RM370...and when it arrived, you'll know it'll be a dinner table discussion point with its amazing presentation of a well marbled ribeye steak attached to a long, exposed bone served caveman style! O_o

The tomahawk was served with an array of delicious sides such as extra juicy vined cherry tomatoes, braised in a fresh tasting tomato sauce, roasted garlic cloves and housemade buttery croissants with a trio of flavoured butters (truffle, herb and orange-balsamic), wholegrain mustard and smoked flake salt.

Besides an assortment of sides, the tomahawk also comes with Chef Vic's personal touch of explaining the dish to you and slicing the steak in front of you.  Just look at that glorious slab of perfection! O_o

The properly rested, beautifully marbled, monster bone-in steak, served caveman style was cooked to a perfect medium rare as requested.  Time for some cutting action!

As the chef skillfully slices with precision into the tomahawk, my mouth was watering in anticipation of what I'll be feasting on very soon.  I mean who wouldn't when confronted with such a marvellous looking specimen.

We were told that the Black Angus beef is dry-aged for 30 days and you can have it with a sprinkling of smoked flake salt or a smear of wholegrain mustard, mashed garlic or flavoured butter.  I don't think I shall need anything since I like my steak 'naked' in order to savour its pure flavours! ;)

Chef Vic sprinkled a little smoked sea salt to get us going and said we could add on more if we like.  You can get a good 15 slices (at least) from the tomahawk, so it can easily feed two very hungry carnivores or sufficient enough for four not-too-greedy people on its own.

The tomahawk, generously crusted with freshly cracked black pepper, was seared to perfection yielding a lovely char while the steak remained immensely tender, succulent and juicy.  This being my first experience of eating a tomahawk (and dry-aged) steak, it was everything I hoped it would be! ^o^

I loved the aroma and the deeper, intense flavours of the dry-aged steak compared to a typical steak and every bite was worth savouring....slowly! ;)  You'd want the taste to linger in your mouth coz it's just that good! ^o^

Wine, cocktails, beer and coffees are available for your drinking pleasure but we opted for freshly blended fruit juices (with no added sugar).  The three choices available were orange, watermelon & apple @ RM12 a bottle.

My Personal Opinion

Tomahawks are well sought after these days as it's the ultimate 'wow-factor' steak.  It used to be more common in top (and expensive) restaurants but I'm glad to see reasonably-priced ones popping up in more restaurants nowadays making it within reach of more diners.

Even though we might not be able to indulge in a Tomahawk regularly as price is definitely a factor, nevertheless it's worth the money to splurge on one occasionally...especially the one here since it's also one of the more affordably-priced tomahawks I've come across.  Having said that, the rest of the menu deserves some love too as I couldn't fault any of them either.

Order a tomahawk and get it sliced table-side by Chef Vic himself for that one-on-one with him! ;)  Although we spoke only briefly, he comes off as friendly, approachable and humble...and he's also clearly passionate about the food he puts out (check out some of his videos on Facebook and you'll understand why).

So, head on over to Two Hands Restaurant soon...and rest assured, you'll be in very good hands here.  It'll be a sterling meal and one you'll reminisce of having again! ^_*

Two Hands Restaurant
Unit No A-LG-05 Qliq Damansara
Jalan PJU 8/8A
47820 Petaling Jaya 
Selangor
Tel: 012-424 1194