All posts tagged: Malaysian

Crispy fried chicken skins and sweet drinks at PappaRich Auckland

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PappaRich is a franchise serving up Malaysian classics across Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and very recently, Auckland. The first New Zealand store was promised for months on social media (I know because I was waiting patiently) and their loyal expat fans were insistent, verging on enraged that their beloved store opening was delayed. I think some people would have rammed the doors down if they thought it would get them a PappaRich meal earlier. Set on Level 1 of the SkyCity Metro complex (aka “IMAX”) on Queen Street in the city, this is a full size restaurant with all the furnishings and bright lighting you might expect from an international franchise. After soft opening for a couple of weeks, I was invited to the official opening a few weeks back where my sister and I, and others including bloggers Cecilia from Ultimate OmNoms and Sheena from As Told By Sheena. I was born in Hong Kong but grew up in New Zealand and I grew up eating Chinese/Malaysian food. So much to the point that I assumed it was Cantonese food …

20. Mamak Malaysian Restaurant

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In celebration of Auckland Restaurant Month, I will be posting 31 quick-fire reviews on 31 restaurants and cafes in the Auckland CBD and city fringe. The atmosphere is… Chancery Chic meets Malaysian street food. If you haven’t been to the Chancery, when it first opened, the cobble-stoned centre was very fancy. Now most of the stores have changed hands though the architecture remains. Very limited space inside so most of the seating is outdoors, they have heaters and big umbrellas for cold, wet nights. Come here for… Home made style Malaysian street food. A small selection of Malaysian main courses, drinks and appetisers. All at a food hall prices. Lots of tasty appetisers which are great for sharing. The most interesting thing on the menu… Nasi Lemak with ikan bilis (fried anchovies) Spicy soft shell crab Unexpectedly wonderful… Roti – made on site Beef Rendang Satay Chicken I would come back to try… Their laksa – These steaming bowls of spiced noodles are are huge and popular. I must see what the fuss is about. Catering to… Omni, …

Trying new food properly 2

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Don’t judge a new food until you have tried it properly. I have commented on others judging a new food from just one encounter but I didn’t realise that I am guilty of it too. I tried Nasi Lemak for the first time in Sandakan, which is in the northern part of Borneo in Malaysia. I didn’t like it and I made my mind up. Dish eaten and dismissed. But I have to add, I tried it at an airport. Airport food has never been a good measure of a dish. So today, in Auckland, at a reputable local Malaysian restaurant, I tried it again. I liked it. Moral of the story, don’t judge a new food until you have tried it properly. At least once. Made by professionals.

Mamak

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We spent last Christmas and New Years in Malaysia (Borneo) and I’ll never forget the food we ate there. I can’t believe almost a year had gone by already. One fond memory of indulgence was our first day in KK. Upon seeing the tiny prices on the menu, we assumed the dishes were starter sized, so we ordered 2 dishes each. They were main sized. Generous. We ate till our eyes glazed over. I’d been reading about a new place called Mamak from various local Malaysian food bloggers. The word mamak refers to Malaysia’s Tamil-Muslim who run food stalls serving tasty snacks at all hours. Mamak Malaysian is a fairly new addition to the Chancery in Auckland city and it’s been operating under the radar (or at least my radar) for most of 2011. The first time I visited, there were lots of Malaysian people dining and this is surely a mark of authenticity. The Chancery has always been had a European feel about it and with posh retail on all sides, al fresco dining …

Batu Caves, Monkeys and street art in Kuala Lumpur

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We were only in Kuala Lumpur for a day and we only had 1 destination on our itinerary. Everything else was just spontaneous, unplanned, getting lost in a new city. Batu Caves was worth a visit and the KL train system is really good. The return trip from KL Sentral to Batu Caves was 3RM or about $1.30NZ. There is no entrance fee to the caves and the food out there is cheap too so it makes or a cheap way to spend a morning. Perhaps on of the cheapest activities you can do in KL. We arrived a few days shy of the big Hindu festival called Thaipusam so there was a bit of preparatory work going on. The Long-tailed Macaques weren’t aggressive when we were there, but they are quick and love people food. A monkey made off with someone’s drink. We had a curry while were out there. Vegetarian and quite spicy but look how it’s presented on a pretty leaf. I’d seen a food programme where they folded the leaf over when …

Eating Borneo #8 – New Years at Mañana

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New Year celebrations have always been epic for us. Many businesses are closed during this time in New Zealand so we holiday like there’s no tomorrow. It’s a time when we leave the city and flock to beaches all over the country to get absolutely trashed with their friends. There’s good food and good times to be had and the celebrations often last a week. I saw in last New Years with The Koala, my friend A, my sister Joey, her boyfriend D and the guests and staff at Mañana Borneo. Mañana is a small resort on a private beach about an hour north of Kota Kinabalu in the Sabah north of Borneo Island. It’s not on a separate island but this beach is only accessable by boat. No cars. No shops. No power during the day. Just a private, sheltered beach, snorkeling, swimming, books, hammocks, monsoon every afternoon (mandatory downtime). It was heaven. We stayed in 3 private villas with our own outdoor bathrooms. The menu here was limited but that was fine, it meant …

Eating Borneo #7 – Christmas in the Jungle

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Paganakan Dii A short drive from Sandakan airport we found ourselves at the incredible Paganakan Dii. This accommodation set in the jungle of Sepilok is rated number 1 by both Trip Advisor and Travellers Point reviews. This high rating is well deserved and it is considered to be budget accommodation but don’t let the price tag fool you. Discreetly hidden inside a nature park, this place features 3 long houses with dorm style sleeping as well as private duplexes. The food is good, the beers are reasonable and breakfast is included every day. There is a great common area as well as lots of good spots to just hang out. Discreet driveway leading up to Paganakan Dii. Being tourists at the nature park. This bird loved The Koala to bits. View from a sunbathing deck. A lovely morning in the jungle. Dorms. Basic, but clean and comfortable. Windows and doors beside every bunk. View of the jungle from bed. No glass windows, just mosquito netting and slat shutters. Dorm balcony. My sister Joey brushes her teeth …

Eating Borneo #6 – Sepilok

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In Sepilok, we stopped off at a random food court on the side of the road for lunch. I liked the fact that we seemed to be the only tourists here. I ordered a Meehoon Goreng Singapore. It was way too spicy. I suffered through this one and didn’t even get a quarter of the way through before I gave up. The soup it came with was good though. Chicken and mayo with rice. This was nice and mild for The Koala. A’s fried noodles with an egg on top. This is a ubiquitous dish and for good reason. It’s yum, cheap and filling. Cruising in Sandakan On Christmas morning, Mr Aji dropped us back at Sandakan airport where we had a rental car waiting. I’d been a bit worried about renting a car in Borneo. I was worried that we might end up with a clunker on dodgy jungle roads. Instead, the roads were smooth and the car turned out to be a super sweet ride. Because we arrived in Sandakan on Christmas Eve, …

Eating Borneo #5 – Sukau

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Mr Aji Tours http://www.mrajiexpeditions.blogspot.com On Christmas Eve, Me, The Koala and A met up with my sister Joey and her boyfriend D at Sandakan airport in the Sabah area of Borneo. Our first day in the area, we met with Mr Aji who chauffeured us in style to Sukau and then onto the Kinabatangan River for an early afternoon river cruise. Mr Aji is a passionate wildlife photographer and had one of the biggest zoom lenses I’ve seen up close. It was incredible to see all the animals in the wild and Mr Aji has a hell of a keen eye. We saw proboscis monkeys leaping from tree to tree, An orangutan mother with her baby, a troop of curious macaques, lots of birds like the rhinoceros hornbill, snake bird, egret, black and white hornbill, eagle, Stockbill and common kingfishers. Because we were on the river earlier and longer than other tours, we had the river to ourselves. The boat driver turned off the engine and we just floated down the river and listen to …

Eating Borneo #4 – Sandakan

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Both Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan are in Sabah which is in the north of Borneo. Tourists often fly to Sandakan Airport before heading to the Orangutan Sanctuary in Sepilok,  The Kinabatangan River in the Sukau area and Turtle Island near Sandakan. This area of Borneo is on your bucket-list if you want to love wildlife. Asian Delight – Sandakan Airport We ate fair bit at Asian Delight because it is the only restaurant at Sandakan Airport. We also give it thumbs up for having air conditioning. Here are a few dishes we ate there around the Christmas period. The Koala’s Western style breakfast with a basket of fries. My noodle soup. A’s rice filled omelette. I had to try a Nasi Lemak at least once. While I like dried fish this was a bit much for me. But the chicken wing was really good. So good that I just ordered chicken wings and rice the next time we came to this restaurant. As with most places, western style food is available is usually more expensive and …

Eating Borneo #3 – Chicken Rice

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In Malaysia, Chicken Rice is super popular and can be found in many little eateries including fast food places. I had Chicken Rice in Brunei, Chicken Rice at a KK cafe and when I saw that KFC in KK had a version of Chicken Rice, I couldn’t resist. I never said I was a gourmet. I’m a foodie if you consider a foodie to be food obsessed. I crave KFC every now and then and The Koala never denies my cravings. When I’m eating fast food chain in a foreign country, I always order the most exotic local choices. This really was just a piece of chicken and a portion of chicken flavoured rice. No broth or dipping sauces in sight. Rice was ok. Nothing to wave a tambourine at. The Koala’s more complete meal in the background with a scoop each of coleslaw and mash potatoes. Quite a different recipes to the versions we are used to in NZ.

Eating Borneo #2 – Seafood Feasts, Kota Kinabalu

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No visit to Kota Kinabalu is complete without visiting it’s famous seafood foodcourt Seri Selera Kampung Air. The touts working outside are fierce and getting your business is their number one priority. Maybe you want to have a look around first. Maybe you are happy with eating at whoever grabs you first. Here in the north of Borneo, sea creatures of many shapes and sizes wait in glass tanks. Maybe they cross their fins and claws as you walk past, hoping to get picked last. Most creatures have a price on their tank. The ones you should be wary of are the creatures without price tags. Most places advertise by the 100gm. 20RM might sound cheap, but a small 500gm lobster is going to set you back 100RM / $45NZ / $33US. Our mantis prawns. One orange/black and the other white/black. Tiger and zebra! The mantis prawn are kept separate in plastic bottles so they cannot fight each other. The tiger and the zebra came to about 1 kg. Slipper lobster or Moreton Bay Bug. …

Eating Borneo #1 – Rainforest Cafe, Kota Kinabalu

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The second stop on our trip was Kota Kinabalu in the Malaysian part of Borneo. Malaysia is pretty cheap in terms of food and booze, though not the cheapest on our trip. So cheap in fact, that when we saw the price of the dishes, we stupidly assumed the portions were tiny. So we ordered 2 dishes each. 3 people. 6 meals. http://www.rainforestlodgekk.com/rainforest_cafe2.cfm Here, at Rainforest Cafe we stuffed ourselves until we couldn’t see straight. Unfortunately, all the food was good. We couldn’t sacrifice any dishes and with no fridge in our room, we didn’t chance taking a few boxes of food home. We were rendered completely useless after this feast. Lesson to self, order a meal. If you are still hungry, have a snack later. Asia is full of snacks. There is no need to eat yourself senseless. A couple of weeks later, our second visit was much more dignified. Rainforest Cafe offer a range of lunch sets for 6.90RM / $3.10NZ / $2.30US. Your choice of main comes with a drink and a …