Remember this? Putu piring

This is something which came from so far away in time that I am sure some of us may not even remember or know about it at all


Putu piring is like the cousin of Putu Mayam which I have previously blogged about; only this one is in solidified flour mould with fillings of gula melaka in the midst of some coconut flakes stuffing in the middle


It's getting tough to find these nowadays, and we just came across it occasionally

We got this from a stall which was new and run by a family who were clearly not experienced in business, but at least it was not unusual anymore with someone ready to take this back into business...

An old traditional Indian rice flour cakes; which comes affordably at 35-50 cents per piece and a serving of 5 pieces only cost RM2, this definitely brings back the good old memories!

Mummy's cooking - Day 2

Continuing from the previous post, on Day 2 while I am on my stress relief vacation, I was treated with more delicious dishes from my home's kitchen

A different variant of sauteed prawns with a specially concocted sweet and sour sauce (Mum's recipe)


Stir-fried french beans with fishcakes, prawns and carrots


Boiled romaine lettuce


Steamed talapia fish fillet garnished with onions and spring onions


Another special recipe handed down from my grandma was this special sauteed cucumber slices with chili served as a cold appetizer (can't reveal too much about the recipe since it's a secret family recipe)


Which is always a good accompanying dish for this steamed chinese sausages (lap cheong) especially during CNY or Christmas dinners


and if that's not enough, there's more to come...but that will be another post...

Mummy cooks - Day 1 at home

I took a short break back at home last month; in conjunction with the holiday for the Heritage day up north which coincided with the weekend of the country's monarch's birthday, so naturally, I just took leave to make it a little longer than the usual weekend.

That stretches to about four days (like yeah right, only one day extra from the usual 3-day long weekend which could make us all go yippee like we are winning lottery)

Anyway, the best part of being home is to finally get a dose of Mummy's cooking which I love to share and snap the pics of it everytime to be posted on my blog.
It's like a break from my usual restaurants/cafes visits I go for, with some crappy or great food too, but seriously, nothing beats homecooked, right?

It does not need to be Martha Stewart or Jamie Oliver's recipes and I am still happy to see them.
Even if it's something as simple as ABC soup (Mum's recipe)

There's fishballs in the soup just for my benefit since I really love them!

Or something as easy to make as boiled vegetables which just soften like that


And there's always fish whenever I am back at home, be it a whole fish or my favorite thick fillets like this threadfin fillet

which tastes just as good steamed!

Sauteed tiger prawns with onion sauce

This was an extra bonus since they were fresh in the market that time...

To be continued...

Not so zen at Zen World of Dim Sum

Zen World of Dim Sum sounded like a havenly place for breakfast and to be frank, the atmosphere from the whole concept of their interior design did seem to send the same message.


It looked like a really new place and an exciting restaurant to try dim sum.
We jumped straight in without bothering to check the prices, and I think that ,was a little bit of a mistake and turns out, there were more than what I had imagined.

For starters, we were surprised or rather, shocked to see that they were not ready with their dim sum yet at 8.00a.m. on a Sunday morning.
Varieties were kind of limited at that time too but problem solved, the staff and lady boss were eager to help us to heat up the food immediately.

We should have sensed trouble when there is not a lot of people patronizing the place despite it being a Sunday morning where most other restaurants would be buzzing with dim sum fans or family gatherings.

Steamed fishballs


Prawn dumplings (Har Mai in Cantonese) - RM4


Fried fishballs


Braised pork ribs


Har Kao/Prawn dumplings

This is the original prawn dumplings with this translucent white wrapping

Scallop with prawn dumplings


Chee Cheong Fun (Flat rice noodles with soy sauce and with roasted pork/prawn fillings)


Egg tarts


The total bill was about RM40-50++ with most of their dim sum priced at RM2.60 and above. I find that quite pricey if you ask me, as I have tried better dim sum at an even better price.

I guess that just vanquished the zen it was supposed to have huh?

Going East @ Koya Japanese Restaurant, Mahkota Cheras

Set lunches and promotions are always welcome when you have no idea to eat or when you just didn't want to splurge that much on lunch and yet want to have a good one.
Don't get what I mean, well, who doesn't want to enjoy a good meal even when you are on a budget?

Koya Japanese Restaurant is located along the row of shophouses facing the road in Mahkota Cheras and they hit the nail right on the spot with their RM9.90 set lunches




Besides their lunches on budget promotions, they also offer a variety of ala carte


Ramen Temaki set (RM9.90)


A set which comes with the ramen and a side of hand-rolled temaki



BBQ set (Pork), also at Rm9.90



Sakana Fry Set

I think this set was rather bland and dry; the fish was over-fried and oily, ughs


Sakana miso bento (RM16.90 - a different promotion)

The fish in this set was lightly grilled and served with a unique sauce which tasted suspiciously like curry

My personal opinion, a Japanese meal is never complete without a pot of hot green tea


Will I come back again? I guess so, the food and the ambience and the prices kinda got the stamp of approval from the whole family ;)

A taste of Italy @ Italiannes

I used to walk away from this restaurant after hearing some not-so-good reviews from some of my friends but I have another friend to thank for who organized for a gathering here and I was hooked since.

Okay, not exactly hooked as in I can't live without this place but I kinda liked the food and the ambience of this place which reminded me a little of Italy too (not their music though, I find it a little mind-blowing sometimes, maybe I was just there at the wrong time or the wrong DJ)


The old pictures on the wall and the checkered tablecloths just make them all so old-school, quaint and homely, don't you think?




Authentic olive oil (I don't know if it's extra virgin or not) is always a must when you dine Italian



Because you need them for the bread



Their set lunches come with a choice of starter/appetizer which can be a choice of soup or light snacks along with a main course.
Since we ordered two sets, we opted for one of each.

Tomato soup was the soup of the day


Tomato bruschetta

With some of the extra tomatoes in the middle




That was a whole lot of tomato to start a meal eh?

After the tomatoes, we had our fish, the Italian way!

Grilled dory served with angel hair spaghetti


Ain't the first time I ordered this, and I still love the sourish taste the lemon lent to the nicely grilled fish with the spaghetti.
It was no easy feat to finish this by yourself, so it's always advisable to share over here.

Breaded fish with french fries


Now, as an Italian friend once told me, fish is always abundant in Italy and they are always fresh because the Italians love their seafood!

And you know what I said in return?

MAMMA MIA!