The most affordable Fish-y meal!

Would you believe me if I tell you that you can get 2 fish for one price; and order two more dishes and yet still pay less than RM50 for a meal for 5 pax?

Yeah, believe it now because we found it in this particular restaurant in Mahkota Cheras; Restoran GT.

Now, they are not big nor reputable like Tai Thong group of restaurants, no, far from it. They are just a small group of people who does the Chu Char business in the kitchen of this restaurant.

How my parents managed to find out about them beats me =P

Menu, only one sheet like this, simple and straight-forward

Whatever it says on the menu, I know I am here for a Fish-y meal, because I was already informed that the fish here is really reasonably priced.
The fish, meaning the cheap ol' talapia fish which is not exactly that cheap anymore these days.
I'm not sure, have you realized that when you eat out, fish can be so super duper expensive????

I love garoupa, grouper, threadfin, goby, etc but they cost a bomb! (Although I still find time and place to enjoy them sometimes, well, just to pamper ourselves more;)

My parents, are just the wise spenders they are =)

We had the Deep Fried Talapia



Talapia in their Assam sauce


Vege: Stir-fried romaine lettuce at RM8


Another side dish; Assam Sotong (RM12)


Whole meal costs less than RM50, and now you must be bursting with surprise, and curiosity as to how much the fish really costs???

Well, the price, going at promotional price is only RM9!!!

No kidding, seriously, that's why we ordered two fish! If you ordered 3, it's still cheaper than what you get for one fish in other restaurants!

Now, is that not seriously the MOST affordable FISH-Y meal you've ever heard???

Fancy an afternoon YUM CHA @ Golden Sands Resort

The theme was catchy and enticing, and it made me drive all the way up to the famous coastal beach area in Batu Ferringhi to try it for myself and there I was, one Sunday afternoon, after mass in the morning, sitting in the lobby lounge of the Golden Sands Resort.

Being a beach hotel, the lobby and the lounge was not air-conditioned to allow the sea breeze to blow the natural and saltish air into the place.
On normal conditions, I would not mind it (if I were staying at a beach hotel on a vacation, because I would not stay long in the lobby anyway as I would be busy getting a cab to go to town).
However, on a hot Sunday afternoon, I think the diameter of my pupils dilated a few cm wide when I heard that this is the dining area; right smack in the central foyer upon entrance.


Introducing to you, the lobby lounge





I am telling you, even these big comfy cushioned seats did not appeal to me as I believe they added more to the sweating.

Oh ya, there was unbelievably a lot of ants near the edge of the seats too; so try not to sit too close to the edge or place your bags there.

The menu; where you can select dim sum of your choices and they will bring them to you.

There are several sheets to allow for your multiple orders.
Kinda like the sound of that, "My wish is their command". (I feel I ought to slap both of my hands on top of each other and nod and blink or twitch my nose or something, LOL!)

Shortly after the orders were placed, they came to set up the table and brought us a pot of hot tea


The sauces to dip the dim sum in later


Oh, we did have to wait really long for the dim sum to arrive after our ordering; I think it was approximately more than 30 minutes so my expectations of the food elevated a little.

Here comes the dim sum:

Funnily, I believe they placed 2 different dim sum within the same basket and since we ticked so many items, I am guessing these were the seafood roll and long shui prawn roll

Another basket arrived with the Golden Sugarcane Prawn, Crispy Fish Fillet Roll and Crispy Prawn Roll


From closer view:
The Crispy Prawn Roll


Golden Sugarcane Prawn

Ooooh, this one was good, must try! =)

Next, some steamed dim sum
Steamed prawn dumplings (Har Kao)


Siew Mai


I think these two were quite disappointing for a hotel's standard; as I have tasted much better versions of these in local dim sum stalls.

Parsley shark's fin dumpling


All the three of the steamed stuffs in the same basket (again)


Note: there is not much of a choice in the steamed items list compared to the fried stuffs

Golden Pear Dumpling

If I had to pick a star for the day, this would be it, it was a very unique taste.
I could not take much of it as the inner layer was made of glutinous paste but the blend of the fried outer layer with the second layer and the light dhal like paste inside is sure to make you want more than a bite =)
This is definitely one unique pastry!

Seafood roll with scallop


Almond flake shrimps toast


Crispy prawn roll


Jade Roll and Phoenix roll with black pepper


From closer shot; Phoenix roll with black pepper


Shanghai chicken bun (since when was Shanghai famous for this?)


The insides

Nothing much interesting.

For RM29 per person, I didn't really think it was that much of a value's (or money's) worth as there was not that many choices for a hotel dim sum.
Furthermore, I am really not that big of a fan of fried dim sum anyway, so, my opinion is, I've been there and done that, not going back.

Some of my favorites from home...

Staying away from home means a lot of privacy and independence (I would not say freedom as I always have a lot of freedom at home too).

One thing that is amiss is the nice and freshly cooked meals served hot on the table when you get back to work.
For me, I only come home with a box of takeaway sometimes or having my dinner after work and to be greeted by the furnitures and stone cold walls in the house.

Sometimes at work, you also hear about colleagues going home to enjoy their wives' cooking or the unmarried ones will be looking forward to dinner or weekend at their parents.
It is during times like these that you truly longed for some homecooked food; especially those of your mum's.

Everyone says their mum is the best cook (maybe not for all, I've heard a friend complaining that their neighbor cooks better than his mum, LOL) and I dare say the same about my own mum too.

Whenever I am home, I am always spoilt by the lavish meals (I say lavish although mum says it's simple is because of the time and effort she took to prepare the meals and I appreciate her for that;)

There is always fish; and she always will get me fish fillets like these; garoupa or threadfin are some of my favorites!

I love the tender and juicy fillets marinated and steamed to perfection (not too harsh nor raw, I am really picky with my fish too!) in that soy sauce and a hint of Chinese wine before garnished with sliced ginger and garlic.
I am seriously craving for this fish as I am writing this!

Diced long beans with beancurd and fishcakes; sometimes she may throw in some prawns as well when she's in the mood!!

This may sound like a simple dish; but I don't think so, as it takes time to prepare them; dicing the long beans, making the beancurds into little cubes, and the carrots as well.
The preparation is tedious, but the cooking process is just to toss them into the wok and stir-fry!
Interesting how simple ingredients like these can make such a perfect meal~

Occasionally, she would get some fishballs or fishcakes (Yong Tau Foo style) from the market if they are available


I particularly liked this one, it's known as the Kampar fishcake, and pretty hard to come by too. (Maybe I should go to Kampar one day;)


That is all I dare to update at the moment before I crave too much....
I doubt I will ever be as good a cook like my mum....

Hao Mei Restaurant - it started with free tea

This restaurant is located in Mahkota Cheras and my parents discovered it by chance while searching for new places to dine out when mum did not cook.


It was a new restaurant in that area as well at that time, I guess shortly after Chinese New Year. They were pretty deserted compared to the other restaurants in the area, probably due to the fact they have not established their own reputation or image yet.

Anyway, the family came across the banner which mentioned the promotional price of their talapia fish at only RM9 and decided to give it a try.
When we arrived, they mentioned that the Chinese tea was also on the house (although they did not mention NOT all)
(Once my bro ordered the 'Cha Wong' (Emperor Tea) and was charged at RM6)

There was a menu in Chinese on the wall, but the overly-friendly boss would recommend the dishes to you anyway.


We have tried the:
Stir-fried assorted vegetables (RM7)


Stir-fried potato leaves with belacan (RM7)


Stir-fried brussel sprouts (RM7)


Deep fried mantis prawns with dried chili (RM12)


Specialty beancurd with prawns (RM12)

This is a star dish as I found that it was really unique and appetizing!

Seafood Wok (RM20)

NOT WORTH it at all as there was basically just 4 prawns (not particular big-sized) and cuttlefish with beancurd and vegetables!

Steamed red talapia with Cheung Jing sauce (one of our favorites) - RM9


Another style of red talapia; garlic and ginger sauce

This may be a little weird if you are not used to the taste or if you are simply not a fan of garlic

This was one of my personal favorites; sweet and sour style!


Food was overall not too bad, but their prices and portion have changed since they took off their promotion.
The rice was significantly smaller, and the tea is no longer free.
The serving portion of the dishes were also relatively small compared to before, making it not so much of money's worth anymore.

Time to try new places perhaps?

Healthy Choices @ Young Hearts Restaurant

I have only been here once; which was 4 years ago, back in 2006 or 2007 when they first opened their doors and I remembered choices were rather limited.

I have decided to go back for a second try recently, since we seemed to be driving past it so often and so last Saturday, I went there for dinner; an early dinner as we were starving =P

When I stepped into the place, I was reminded of how calming the environment used to be (didn't change one bit) and how you can be instantly transported into a zen-like mode sitting here.

The interior conceptualized nature and bamboo, with little fountains to promote that comfortable ambience in the restaurant.




It is of no surprise, certainly, as the founder was intent to make this a homely place to remind guests of home as they tuck into her homecooked recipes which had been passed down for generations.
Focusing on health, the founder centralized the concepts of the food and drinks served here to achieve that notion of healthy and homey dining.

Honey Lemon with sea coconut (warm) - RM4

This was slightly sourish; it was definitely natural-tasting and the sea coconut used were not the usual ones coated with heavy syrup but rather a light and natural version of sea coconut in whitish color.
Since I love all of them separately, this combination definitely works for me =)

Ice Blended soursop (RM5) was unfortunately a huge disappointment for me.

It was too sweet and the shaved ice were just too rough for my liking. I can't seem to find one which is good; which uses actual soursop in it.
I have only found two so far; one in Singapore and the other was in Johnny's restaurant.
Any other recommendation?
I personally found this rather overpriced too; for RM5, I seem to be having shaved ice with syrup.

Between these two, I would definitely prefer the former!


After flipping through the menus which seemed to be spoiling us for choices, we decided to go for the set meals offered for 2 pax for an easier option.
They call it the NEW ALL DAY LONG SUPER VALUED PACKAGES
The set comes with noodles/rice, three main dishes of your choice and a free soup of the day.

SET A: RM39.80

Either noodles


Or rice


Our choice dishes were:
Assam seafood with fried brinjal

Not too spicy; nor too oily, and the way I liked it.
The assam scent was not too pungent and just pleasant; for those who are hard core spicy fans, these may not reach that high level of spiciness you are up to.


Teriyaki Prawns

I heard this was one of their best sellers; and I was not disappointed.
The prawns were big and succulent and fresh!
This was definitely an appetizing dish!

The Vege of the day was this stir-fried four-angled beans

This was one vegetable which I had a hard time scouting for around Penang; and I seldom see it being served.
I love this simple way of cooking these crunchy beans.

The soup of the day was beetroot with herbs and chicken


Ordered separately, the above combination could total up to more than RM40-50+, so this was definitely a super-valued package.

We ordered a separate side dish; to try out their ala carte dishes and we picked the prawn rolls

This is basically just vietnamese spring rolls (the clear translucent skin) with raw vegetables and chunks of prawns in it.
I liked the fact that the vege were all raw and fresh; but I was quite disappointed with the amount of prawns in it though.

The rolls went well on its own or to be dipped in the special sweet sour sauce served.

It was not bad over all; but I do find the drinks slightly overpriced and maybe some of the ala carte dishes as well.

Healthy dining in a homey environment, I think this place fits the description well.

In case you want to try this place out, this is along Cantonment Road before you turn into the Pulau Tikus market.