Fun OK Seafood @ Taman Muda

Fun OK Seafood @ Taman Muda is a typical no-frills dai chow (rice with dishes) restaurant that we discovered on ShopeeFood but did not order delivery.  We were able to have a first-hand look at their menu which was rather extensive.  It can be quite intimidating to look at the menu with so many choices if you're visiting for the first time with the person taking the order hovering over you for your decision.  Worst still if there's no menu (and you have to listen to what they have) or the menu is written only in Chinese (which I can't read), so it's good to have a heads-up on what they offer. 

So that made me confident enough to visit for a dine-in straightaway.  It's always good to show a photo of the eatery's signboard whenever possible (as it makes it easier for people to spot the place from afar) but it's not always possible especially when eyes of workers and customers are glued on you (too shy-lah), so this photo was taken on the day we found the shop closed.

My son absolutely loves to eat lai liu har (literally translated to mean pissing shrimps which doesn't remotely sound appetising, otherwise it goes by the name mantis shrimp or squilla).  I actually wasn't aware that it was called squilla until I saw such it described as such on the menu.  So, we chose Squilla in Salted Egg Yolk Sauce @ RM22 as our first sampling.  Can't fault the cooking of the squilla which was super crispy but the salted egg yolk coating was a little muted.

The Fried Tofu with Minced Meat in Special Brown Sauce @ RM15 attracted me to order it as it was listed as their speciality on the menu (with 3 thumbs up & a chef's hat).  The soft fried tofu was nice but the brown sauce wasn't what I was expecting and I couldn't quite put my finger on what I tasted until my son aptly referred to it as bolognese sauce.  Yeah, that's it.....not a taste I'd associate coming out of a tai chow place! >.<  I didn't take a fancy to the sauce (not something I'd order again) though my family thought it was alright.

Our choice for our vegetable dish that night was my husband's perennial favourite of Curry Mixed Vegetable in Claypot (there's no individual prices listed for vegetables but was told they're usually around RM15 except for some, like the curry vegetable, which will cost a little more).  With the usual ingredients of cabbage, eggplant, okra, long beans and tau fu pok, this one failed to meet our expectations as you can probably judge by the colour of the curry.  The spices and curry powder was the dominant taste and missing that red chilli oil and santan creaminess that we prefer.  Safe to say, there'll be no repeat of this dish.

The first time we were here, I was about to order a fourth dish when the lady boss stopped me and told me that three would be enough...and it was, more than enough actually.  We ended up having to tapau (takeaway) the salted egg yolk squilla which we couldn't finish coz the portion of curry vegetables was too big.

Even though our first visit wasn't all positive, we did return and our second visit we ordered the Squilla in Creamy Butter(milk) Sauce @ RM22 this time.  The creamy buttermilk or lai yau sauce was good, the consistency of which is little bit wetter (which I prefer) and not overly thick and cloying like some can be.

We were very happy with the outcome of the Sweet & Sour Pork @ RM20 which is a must-have dish for us.  The little pork strips (rather than rounded nuggets) were a lot crunchier than many I've eaten, so it was good in that sense.  I was happy to see the use of fresh pineapple chunks (along with onions, tomatoes and cucumber) in the sauce which made it very appetising to eat.  If there was one teeny weeny thing that could be improved would be to make the sauce a little lighter but it obviously made no difference to my family who clearly enjoyed it.

For our vegetable component of the meal, we went with a simple Stir-Fry Green Dragon Chives or ching loong choy.  I love to eat this vegetable immensely for its sweet, crunchy and oniony flavour.  I could finish this all on my own if I wanted to.

Again, on our third visit, I had to order someone's favourite squilla and we ordered the Squilla in Creamy Butter Sauce @ RM22 once again but asked for it to be cooked dry-style (or kon lai yau, something similar to Chinese Dry Buttermilk Prawn).  The dry style, fried with red bird's eye chillies and curry leaves, has these super frizzy thin shreds of egg floss (made from stirring egg yolks into butter) that were super crispy to eat. This is my son's favourite style of having squid or squilla but the dryness of it can get to you after a while, so make sure you order something saucy for your other dishes.

Since there were only two of us, we ordered only two dishes, the second being Kam Heong Clams @ RM22, the clams of which were of a decent size and fairly fresh but the kam heong sauce needs work.  It wasn't too salty, lacking a bit of the fragrance of dried prawns and had too much lemongrass taste (the shredded lemongrass was a bit stringy too when I bit into them).  After this sampling, there will be no future orders of anything kam heong from here.

On our fourth visit, we found the place closed (must be taking a long break after working tirelessly through the CNY period, I'm guessing).  So, we ventured a few doors away (at the end of the same road where there was another Chinese restaurant occupying two individual lots) since we were already in the area.  Let's just say the people there weren't particularly friendly and since no-one acknowledged our presence, we simply just took a seat in one of the lots but found the place a bit too dim for our liking.

The guy who took our orders didn't give us any recommendations but just stood there while I flicked through the endless pages of the menu.  I felt his impatience and ordered quickly.  So, I went with 4 dishes not knowing what their portion sizes were like (sorry, no proper names or prices since the guy took away the menu right after).  We had sweet and sour pork (didn't nail that crispy crust), mantis shrimp kung po style (nothing to like or dislike), homemade fried tofu served with mayo (nice crisp on the outside but tofu was a bit dense) and stir-fried Chinese broccoli with salted fish (kai lan with ham yue) which turned out to be the best tasting dish with a nice salty fragrance permeating the kai lan.  I doubt we'll be returning as the place/people just didn't endear themselves to us.

So, on our actual fourth visit to this place, we ordered squilla yet again done a different way, Squilla Kung Po Style @ RM22 cooked with dried chillies, onions and sprinng onions with a spicier note.  This turned out to be their least successful style as the squilla ended up having a different and not so palatable texture than the other styles.

We have even tried the Salt & Pepper Squilla via delivery.  That meant we've tried almost all styles (except kam heong for obvious reasons) with creamy butter emerging on top and kung po not something we would have again.

The Tofu with Broccoli, White Snow Mushrooms & Straw Mushrooms @ RM18 was yet another recommended dish (with 3 thumbs up & a chef''s hat).  No complaints on this healthy and easy to digest dish.

My son's favourite omelette is a Dried Radish Omelette @ RM12, something simple that many households can easily whip up at home...but was told the raddish I use isn't quite the same in flavour as those eaten outside. >.<

I decided to order an extra dish of soup, Chinese Pickled Vegetables with Tofu Soup @ RM9 (a soup that my family drinks) thinking it'd be like the size of a double-boiled soup but holy mackerel, it was a soup fit for three and, mind you, this was S size!  But it wouldn't be a soup we'd order again as it wasn't a slow-boiled soup but more of a guan tong (quick boil soup), so it didn't have enough time to develop its flavours + the vegetables (especially the ham choy) were not as soft as I'd like them to be.

On our fifth visit, we just had to re-order the well executed Sweet & Sour Pork @ RM22 as it was something we truly enjoyed the first time round.  Not only was it one of the better dishes here, it was also among some of the better sweet and sour pork we've had.

We also ordered something they recommended, Tofu with River Prawns in Premium Brown Sauce that was not on the regular menu but offered in one of their set meals (so I don't know what's the individual price).  Although the river prawns weren't big, they were fresh and sweet.  Cooked together with fried tofu rectangles, nai pak (extra dwarf Chinese cabbage) and onions in a decent brown sauce for something light and easy to eat.

For vegetables, we went with one that all three of us enjoy, Stir-Fry Cabbage with Dried Prawns, a simple stir-fry vegetable but we would have liked a bit more dried prawns and some bird's eye chillies for that little kick of heat.

On our sixth visit, after trying almost every style of squilla, we finally let that rest and went with Salted Egg Squid @ RM22 instead....hah..hah.  Though the squid was slightly chewy, the salted egg sauce was decent.

The Pork Belly with Salted Fish in Claypot @ RM25 was another winning dish with its salty, fragrant flavours of salted fish and thinly sliced tender pork belly.  I wished there was more spring onions to bring added freshness to an otherwise robustly flavoured dish.

This was the place that got me hooked on Sitr-Fry Potato Leaves as this soft textured vegetable was simply lovely.  There was a photo of this vegetable dish on the menu, so I just pointed to it.  I wasn't sure if potato leaves and sweet potato leaves were two different things (I think some places call it yam leaves as well) but I know how sweet potato leaves look like and the reason I don't fancy it as much is because it's more stem than leaves, so I've always refrained from ordering sweet potato leaves.  But I was told by the lady they're actually the same just that some places use the stems as well where as they use more of the leaves. So, now I know, the stir-fry sweet potato leaves I've had in the past (which I didn't like) was because they cooked all the stems as well (I recently found out that I should ask for "shi mew" as in baby leaves and those will have more leaves than stems).

Although the portions here are good, sometimes we do order a fourth dish usually something like a tofu or vegetable dish that's easy to consume.  This was the Thai-Style Tofu @ RM15 which succeeded in lifting up our appetites with its zesty, lightly spicy and sweetish sauce (a bit sweet for me but should be fine for others). The standout for me was the nicely crisp tofu and the fresh, crunchy shredded onions and cucumber.

This Stir-Fried Fu Yue Yau Mak or romaine lettuce fried with yellow fermented bean curd cube was well-liked by my husband but me and my son both agreed that the one we had at our neighbourhood's bak kut teh place tasted much better.

My Personal Opinion

Although I can't convincingly say that the food here is all good, I can safely say they're good value.  A simple meal for three here (without any expensive seafood like fish, prawns or crabs) is circa RM60 (for 3 dishes) or probably RM80 (for 4 dishes)....very reasonable prices as portions are huge and satisfying backed up by decent tastes.

Fun OK's seafood is certainly ok even though I've only had a little sampling of them (in terms of squilla, prawns & squid) but I do see a lot of people ordering their steamed fish (and crabs sometimes too).  Overall flavours can be slightly more robust in some dishes (that's probably why my family enjoys their food).

It has since become one of our regular spots for our weekend tai chow dinner (my husband's favourite kind of meal).  Waiting time might be a little long (so a little patience is needed) if the restaurant happens to be full as they also do a lot of takeaways and food deliveries as well.  And if you eat there regularly enough, you'll notice some slight inconsistencies in their cooking/taste as well.

Update: Fun OK has since relocated to No 2-G Jalan Wawasan 2/8, Bandar Baru Ampang, 68000 Ampang, Selangor

Fun OK Seafood

75 Jalan Bunga Tanjung 6A

Taman Muda

56100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 016-662 2342

Nasi Lemak Bamboo @ SS2 PJ

When phonghongbakes wrote a post on Nasi Lemak Bamboo @ SS2 PJ, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I ventured there coz I love to eat nasi lemak to begin with + it's located on a jalan (road) which is a familiar hunting ground for us when it comes to food.

Originating from Sabah, this flavour of Sabahan reached our shores with their first branch outside of Sabah in PJ (opened in late November 2020).  They have since opened another branch in Sri Petaling with more franchise outlets to open soon.

We actually came here twice.  The first was a disappointment because we found a queue waiting to be seated...and we didn't want to wait.  The second time, we arrived not long after they were opened and found no queue.  We got one of the last available tables...and that's when I noticed everyone who was sitting down wasn't eating yet coz the 'queue' has moved inside...meaning everyone was 'queuing' inside instead for their food...lol!

Well, at least queuing when one is seated isn't that bad.  The shop is basically self service, so you need to order at the counter and self pick up your food and drinks from two different counters.  I would have preferred for the food to be served to us at the table.

Well, our first order has to be none other than their Nasi Lemak Bamboo Kari Seafood @ RM16.90 as that's obviously what they're best known for (otherwise it wouldn't be in the shop's name...hehe!).  This was how it was served.  It arrived with an inverted bamboo on a rattan tray lined with waxed paper laden with the usual toppings of hard-boiled egg, fried ikan bilis & peanuts, cucumber and sambal.

When I lifted up the bamboo cylinder, the contents melimpah keluar (flowed out) with steaming hot rice mixed with prawns, sotong (squid) and sambal that was wrapped in banana leaves.  They made this by lining the hollow bamboo with banana leaves before filling it up with cooked rice and seafood curry to be steamed.

You know me, the food already gets off to a flying start when it arrives piping hot.  The seafood of squid and prawns were adequately fresh and it was a generous amount of seafood for the price.

The medium-sized prawns had a slightly (very slight) bouncy texture when I bit into it and were only mildly sweet, not near the low quality of frozen prawns but also not quite the good quality, sweet tasting fresh prawns that I know.

What looked like small squids turned out to be baby cuttlefish.  They seemed like baby octopus initially but taking a closer look and based on size of the tentacles to body ratio, they're more likely to be baby cuttlefish (they call it sotong katak?).  The cuttlefish had a nice, soft texture.

The seafood curry is very light tasting, not the robustly flavoured kari we know, so those expecting traditional curry flavours will be disappointed.  The curry has this light, sourish tang to it (with kaffir lime leaves)...nothing quite like a savoury curry but I quite enjoyed it eaten together with the sambal.  The sambal is more on the sweet side rather than spicy which works for me but some will prefer it spicier and more savoury (like my husband).  Mix the curry with the sambal for a delicious mouthful.

I wanted to try the Nasi Lemak Ayam Rendang for our other choice but it was not available that morning.  Not sure why since we were there when they opened shop, so they couldn't have run out of it already.  Perhaps it wasn't ready yet which leads to the next question....why wasn't it ready? >_<

So, we chose the Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng @ RM12.90 instead.  It was served with a whole fried chicken leg with the same condiments of hard-boiled egg, fried crispy anchovies & peanuts, cucumber and sambal.

The coating on the deep-fried whole chicken leg was very crunchy but the meat could do with more seasoning and flavour (according to my spouse) though it was alright for me.  The batter coating of this fried chicken is crunchy but a bit hard and seemed a little over-fried.  It's not as good as Village Park's Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng (which I prefer) where the batter coating is finer and much crispier with better flavours in both the coating and the meat.

I was able to taste the santan in the rice a bit more with this one coz it was not doused in the seafood curry. The ikan bilis weren't of the best quality though they managed to be crispy but a tad hard.

I ordered a Mee Siam Kosong @ RM5 to go (for my lunch later).  The plain mee siam came with a few slivers of omelette.  The mee siam may look deceptively simple but I did enjoy it as the flavours were nicely balanced between sour and not too spicy.  Something light and appetite inducing.

The Hainan Kopi (Cold) @ RM3.50 is as decent as it can be for an establishment like this.  They also have on their menu mee rebus, soto ayam, sotong goreng, cucur udang, otak-otak, cendol, soft-boiled eggs & Hainanese toast.  They've recently added nasi lemak rendang daging to the menu (now this I'm interested).

My Personal Opinion

For me, it's the uniqueness of the seafood curry in a bamboo that differentiates it from the rest of the nasi lemak joints (although nasi lemak served in a bamboo isn't something new as it has been done before). Nevertheless, if you're someone who enjoys eating seafood (like me) and who doesn't mind a light tasting, faintly sourish, appetite inducing curry, then this is the very thing you should order when you're here. ^o^

But their ayam goreng is not quite in the same league as say Village Park's fried chicken.  I've not had their nasi lemak ayam rendang and certainly wouldn't mind trying their rendang daging on my next visit.

Overall, it's a pleasant enough nasi lemak (I'm referring to their signature dish, of course) though many will probably say they can find many other better tasting nasi lemak than this.  Nasi lemak is just one of those dishes that everyone tends to have their own favourite and it's difficult to convince them otherwise. ^_~

Update:  This branch is permanently closed but they have other branches elsewhere (google to find out where)

Nasi Lemak Bamboo

28 Jalan SS2/66

47300 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Tel: 016-801 3007

Emily's Steakhouse @ Jalan Sultan Ismail

I had already bookmarked Emily's Steakhouse @ Jalan Sultan Ismail even before it opened its doors for business.  Emily have been serving fine steaks in Derby, UK since 2007.  She grew up in Penang and worked in numerous restaurants in London before opening her own steakhouse with her husband/chef.

Emily's steakhouse in KL (opened in June this year) is her second branch after her first Penang outlet (which was opened earlier in March with her younger brother).  My visit here was a little over two months after they opened and we managed to get a table on a weekend without any prior reservations.

The decor is typical of a steakhouse with its warm tones of exposed brick walls, timber flooring, dark brown tables & leather sofas and soft lighting, there's even a fireplace.

For starters and side orders, they have a small selection for you to pick from that includes soups, mushrooms, salmon parcels, grilled king prawns, crab pot, lobster tail salad, onion rings and honey chicken wings.

We ordered the Homemade Onion Rings @ RM12 for sharing.  The onion ring tower ended up to be the last dish to be served.  The onions were sweet and the batter relatively crispy but the oil seems to have been absorbed by the onion rings.

Emily's Steakhouse is, of course, well-known for their steaks....and that was precisely what we came for. They have a cut to suit every taste bud (ribeye, fillet, sirloin & rump)...a size to suit every stomach (from as low as 140g to a substantial 454g)...and a price to suit every budget (starting from an affordable RM58 to as high as RM268 for wagyu).

I chose Angus Ribeye @ RM88 for a sizeable piece at 340g with a generous serving of hand-cut chips (they don't serve fries here, only chips), green peas and a side salad made up of mixed salad leaves, cucumber and tomatoes.  It was rather obvious that the chips were hand-cut seeing that they were all of different sizes...and let me tell you they were plentiful on the plate and delicious too, crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy inside.

Here, you can request for your steaks to be done from the not commonly offered 'blue' all the way to 'well done'.  Rare is already too rare for me let alone blue! O_o  I had mine cooked to medium rare as usual and it was beautifully executed to such.  It was lusciously tender and had that nice charred flavour from being grilled over a charcoal stove though I can't really say the meat itself was brimming with flavour but certainly decently flavoured for the price paid. ^.^

I read somewhere that their steaks are not seasoned before cooking but in a recent article in the Star papers, Emily states that they're lightly seasoned (and I can confirm that I did see some light specks of black pepper).  I suppose that's why you find shakers of sea salt and black pepper on the table for diners to season their steaks to their liking.  For those who like more robust flavours, it'll come off quite bland, so do take note of that and make sure you season your steaks before eating.  There's also vinegar on the table to go with your chips (apparently some people like it that way).  Well, it's a common condiment in the UK when it comes to fish and chips.

You can choose to eat your steak naked just as it is to get that lovely smoky flavour but, because it's so lightly seasoned, it's great to have some sauce with it.  You have a choice between their homemade black pepper sauce, rich creamy pepper sauce or creamy mushroom sauce.  The really surprising thing for me though was that we had to pay for the sauce separately (I think a choice of sauce should be given for free!).

I went with the rich creamy pepper sauce (RM5) which turned out to be an excellent choice.  It had the taste of black pepper (but not as peppery hot) with a much creamier consistency.  The sauce only arrived when I reminded them about it.  So, when it came, I dived straight in as I was staring at my steak for a while (so, that's the reason why there is no photo of the sauce in the pitcher).  I loved the sauce so much that I dipped the fries into what was left of the sauce.  What's shown above is only half a steak (coz I shared it with my spouse). ^_*

That way I can also partake in half of my spouse's order of Emily's Black Pepper Steak Pot @ RM38, a dish made up of beef sliced cooked with onions, fresh button mushrooms and peas doused in their signature homemade black pepper sauce.

This turned out better than I expected with tender beef slices, soft onions, some chunks of mushrooms and a bit of peas.  The black pepper sauce was very good, not overly peppery hot like some I've had.  There's a reason why their signature sauce is such a popular choice with diners.  But for me, I prefer the creamy pepper sauce over the black pepper sauce.

Our final main was the Grilled Salmon with Gratin Potato @ RM68 featuring a piece of grilled salmon sitting on a bed of thinly sliced potatoes with cheese and cream.

The salmon stayed moist and was well grilled with a crispy skin.  This was a rather hearty dish because of the potatoes, cream and cheese.  Order this only if you enjoy something creamy and cheesy.

Besides bovine pleasures, the restaurant also offers lamb, fish and prawn dishes in case there are non-beef enthusiasts.

My Fresh Watermelon Juice @ RM8.  Complimentary water is also served.  If there was one very mini complaint, it'd be the plastic table doilies used as table mats as I could see that some of them were stained. That reminded me of some of my past experiences of being confronted with soiled paper mats which some restaurants try to reuse and it's rather off-putting.  If you don't intend to dispose of them after each use, then it'd be better to not have it at all.  I'll be more than happy if you just serve me my food on a clean table.

My Personal Opinion

As they choose not to season or lightly season their meat, it didn't appeal as much to my spouse (as it did me) since he's someone who likes the robust flavour of a well-seasoned steak (he gave the salt grinder a good workout).  Luckily, they had good sauces to make you not notice (as much) the under-seasoned meat.  I think you can only get away with not seasoning your meat if it's of exceptional quality (like wagyu) where you can really taste the flavour in the meat itself.  But then a good seasoning on a steak do tend to give it that crusty, savoury layer on the outside of the meat that I truly adore.

That said, the dishes we had were definitely hearty and good value.  For a RM88 piece of ribeye, there are certainly no complaints from me about the taste and value.  I would return for the steaks. ^o^

If you're after a family-friendly steakhouse in the heart of town, Emily's might just be the place you're looking for.

Update: Emily's Steakhouse has since relocated to 8 Jalan Inai, Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur

Emily's Steakhouse KL
GF Sheraton Imperial Hotel
Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 013-210 6884