Otak-Otak Place @ Tropicana Mall

After posting two Taiwanese dishes for my last post, I had decided to come back to our local food. We have plenty of local delicacies over at our country. Since we're multiracial country, so we had a lot of choices in term of food variates. And for my lunch last week, I had decided to give this place a review since I had tried it a few times already. The name of the place is Otak-Otak Place. It's located inside Tropicana Mall and I think this is the first of many branches around town if I am not mistaken. As the name goes, the place specialty would be otak-otak. For those who are not familiar with the term otak-otak (brain), no we're not eating any brain here mind you. It's actually a cake made out of fish meat to put it simple.

Once entering the restaurant, you will be brought back to your childhood time as the deco of the place are 80s. You have all the candies and tit bits from the 80s in there that you can check out and even toys too. I think they are under CNI group with all their products on display and all. They have another branch over at CNI HQ at Hicom Glenmarie too.

Here are some of the sweets which is on display on their shelves. Really brought back some memories. You have your Rota or Ding Dang chocolate in a box which is so ever famous during my childhood time. I think people who are in their 20s now never heard of this before.

Babe wanted to order their roti jala when she saw it inside their menu. I am not a big fan but since she was once in the flour industries, she's very fond of this particular dish after a road show demonstration on it. The roti jala is actually made out of flour, eggs and some coloring. A simple dish which you can make in your kitchen anytime. The main or rather side dishes would be the curry chicken to go with the net bread. The gravy was really thick and nice. Dip the net bread in the gravy and take a bite with some potato and chicken. A very local food and just simple and nice.

I had ordered Ice Lemon Tea since it came with the set lunch which I had ordered. 

They have a few type of tea to choose from and babe had decided on their teh tarik with ginseng. Really refreshing and it comes with a piece of biscuit too. Our local English Tea.

I had recommended the otak-otak char kuey teow for babe since I wanna give it a try too. The portion was large. I mean for the price you are paying, this is quite worth it. The kuey teow itself is above average and just the way I like it which is not too dry and eggs are everywhere on the noodle. The special part of it would be the extra otak-otak on the side. But that is not just all, cause they even added bits of it into the noodle when they cooked it. So you can bite into bits of otak-otak anytime. Something different for me but still it would be better if they have fried lard in it. 

As for my lunch, I had ordered their Western cuisine which is the black pepper chicken chop. I wanted to give their Western dishes a try although it's not my main purpose of the visit. At least I know both of their local and western food are alright when I recommend this place. The portion was just alright, not too large. Black pepper sauce isn't that strong of a taste which is just to my liking. Some of my friends preferred a stronger black pepper taste. Side dishes would be the salad and fries. Nothing too fancy but passable.

My set lunch comes with two stick of Otak-Otak fresh from the grill. 

Once open, you can see the otak-otak or fish cake is juicy and delicious. Took a bite and it's quite alright. For those who tried Muar otak-otak before, well this exactly the same to it but it's there somewhere. I heard that the owner shipped the otak-otak directly from Muar weekly over.

Overall my lunch is quite fulfilling and I am really satisfied with it. The amount of customers in the restaurant really shows how good is their food. Service is alright although your call for service might fall on deaf ear during rush hour. But I can still live with that since they come and apologize and are really polite in serving the food. My black pepper set lunch cost me RM15.90 inclusive of drinks and the char kuey teow is RM10.90. For lunch, I can still live with that price tag. Maybe not everyday but on invitation. 

Food Rating : 3.8 out of 5.0

Ambiance Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Service Rating : 3.8 out of 5.0

Will I Return? Yup

Address: Otak Otak Place 

Lot L1-58, 1st Floor,
Tropicana City Mall, No. 3, Jalan
SS20/27, 47400 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Tel / Fax: 03-7728 0403
Operation Hours:
10.00am – 10.00pm (Daily) 

Other Branches: 

One Utama Shopping Centre

IOI Boulevard

Suria KLCC

Wisma CNI

Kokopelli Travellers Bistro @ Section 14

This is a place which I had been wanted to visit for so long. It's called Kokopelli Travelers Bistro. They are formerly housed nearby University Hospital but is relocated to Section 14 I think early this year. I heard a lot about this place from floggers around town. And babe had even been to this place previously and had some good feedback from it. So I was determined to try this place out one and for all.

 

As you can see, the restaurant is actually a converted old mansion along Seksyen 14. They preserved everything in the house without much renovation but everything is in good condition. White is their theme and everything looked so homely if you are sitting inside. There is also a private room if you are having a party or private function. But be advice that people will come in as the toilet attached to the room is the only one in the house. Everyone was looking at me when they saw me coming in the room that night. Funny~!!

 

Decoration is nice and simple. They use mahjong paper placed on top of the table which I think save their time of wiping the table and changing the clothe. But a but wasting maybe.

 

Pasta Carbonara - RM20.90

There are a few varieties of pasta to choose from ranging from Seafood Marinara, Seafood Kinguine Aglio Olio and Primavera but as always I had choose my favorite, Carbonara. The pasta come with beef bacon & turkey ham. Sorry guys, this place is HALAL so no pork for you. To be honest I was skeptical when I first saw the pasta as it was too watery but heck it's so cream at the end of the meal. One word, delicious. Please don't order this if you can't take the thick creamy sauce.

 

Signature Fried Koey Teow - RM10.90

This is a MUST TRY dish from the restaurant. I heard a lot of positive feedback for their plate of Char Koey Teow. I like CKT but never tried any good one without pork lard or oil in them. But this CKT really change my mind. The CKT comes with prawns, cockles, bean sprout and chives. It's really large hence the price. It's not too wet and the taste is so darn nice. But maybe slightly heavy on the MSG maybe.

 

Pizza Mazor - RM10.90

I heard that their pizza was quite nice from my friend who just visited the place. So I decided to order one to share around. The boss was so nice to introduce some of their favorite dishes in the place and this pizza is one of them. It's not thin crust but there is a lot of cheese on the pizza. Nothing much special bout the pizza here or maybe we're just too full to taste it.

 At the end of our dinner, the place was pack. So if you're deciding to dine in for more than 4 people, it's best to call beforehand for reservation. Overall the food is good and the service is great. The place is small and decent with good food. Definitely a nice place to have dinner with some good companion. The price for their other dishes like steaks and western food seemed a bit pricey even for the pasta but then again, the quality of the food is good and we have to look overall for the ambiance and also presentation I guess. Definitely be going back for more one of these days. (Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0)

Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow @ USJ 11

What is the best way to kick start your day? One hot delicious plate of Char Kuey Teow. Well OK, I can start with Nasi Lemak too. But this time around, I had some craving for CKT and since my bro called for breakfast I had decided to return to Lorong Selamat CKT at USJ. The stall is located in one of the many one in Restaurant Lam Hin Leong. The shop is located behind the Petronas Station after the police station intersection at USJ. Sorry for the lack of info on the location as I forgot to take of their name card (yes, they have).

Char Kuey Teow or Fried Kuey Teow with everything on it. As you can see, it has the similar traits from the one from Lorong Selamat in Penang. Served with big fresh prawns, fried lards, sliced Chinese Sausages and a tint of pepper on top for taste. The plate of CKT looks more colorful and mouth watering with the addition of fresh bean sprout and cockles too. But I am so not into both of them. So I had ordered the below. RM5.00 (L) & RM4.50 (M)

This is the Char Kuey Teow Mee or Fried Kuey Teow with Noodles. I don't take plain Kuey Teow so I add some noodle into them. For one it won't look too dry as I don't eat bean sprout and cockles. Yes, I know, it's not the original way of eating it but heck, I am not from Penang. I am just a Pahang guy who likes to eat Penang food. The noodle isn't that spicy although you can ask them to do so. You can really see the bits of egg on most of the noodles and not like the one we normally had outside which sticks to each other. Simply delicious. But my plate of CKT might not be everyone plate of CKT so you can try with an open thought. RM5.00 (L) & RM4.50 (M)

As you can see the women is the only cook over there and the man is only helping her to prepare ingredients and taking orders. It's not big but the food is good. I had tried all the stalls from my makan-venture up North few months back and nothing came close to this. I think most of the good cooks had either moved to KL or retired. Both of them (married couple?? I assumed) are from Penang. So since I am half Hokkien, had ordered using my rojak Hokkien and I guess got some itsy bitsy more noodle on order. Or it was just myself. LOL!! Another thing worth mentioning is that they had managed to maintain their standard and quality of the food although it's been years from my first plate of CKT. (Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0)

Jalan Macalister @ Penang Island

The last stop for my makan trip up North would be the famous night spot along Jalan Macalister. I was afraid that no one would believe the name of the street so here it is, Lorong Baru.

It was raining when we arrived that night. So it was a bit troublesome to walk around holding our umbrella while checking up all the stalls. So what did I ordered that night? What else?

Lobak. I will not miss a chance on ordering this. Well actually my friend ordered this so I just wallop only. Not bad.

Found one of the stall selling Fried Oyster. Good news, oyster is large and a lot. But still a bit too starchy for me. But it's juicy and fresh though.

This is the Char Keuy Kak from the same stall as the Fried Oyster. I am not into this but according to my friends, it's damn good. They even ordered another two plates after the first.

This would be my forth and last plate of Char Kuey Teow in town. What is the different you ask. Well this time around, I had ordered Char Kuey Teow with Duck Egg. What's the different in taste? Nothing much. Just another plate of Char Kuey Teow. And I was hoping for something special. Disappointed again.

Actually we didn't just ordered fried chicken wings and liver, but Fried Chicken Skin but I didn't snap a picture of it. Couldn't resist not ordering this dish as I didn't see anyone selling it in KL. Not too bad if you like to eat those skins on KFC.

According to my friend, Macalister sells the best Fried Intestine Satey in town. Yes, this is definitely better than the first we had at Gurney Drive. We even managed to con a friend of ours to have one saying that it's chicken meat. Damn that was one funny sight.

Jalan Eng Kwee @ Penang Island

I am not too sure about the location of this shop too but I guess it's along Jalan Eng Kwee if I am not mistaken. It's famous for their Char Kuey Teow and also Cendol. I think this is gonna be my 3rd plate of Char Kuey Teow of the trip. Place was small and pack but luckily found a table to sit.

Walk over to the Char Kuey Teow Stall and order, and the guy give me a heads up as there is still 20 plates before mine. Since I am really looking forward to try this so I decided to wait and so did my other friends. Saw the lady cooking non stop the whole time and till one time, they ran out of kuey teow and calling it a day. Yes, business was really that good for them.

So here is my plate of Char Kuey Teow #3. Outlook is the best I saw from all the stall but I couldn't say the same bout the taste though. Taste was plain and nothing special. Was totally disappointed again. Has Penang's Char Kuey Teow really drop that much of it's quality?

Since I am waiting for my Char Kuey Teow, I had decided to order some side dishes to eat to ease my hungriness. Saw an old lady selling lobak. Yes, that is what I wanted to eat. Not too filling but just nice. Not much choices so I just choose the lobak.

Well I guess you can't really go wrong with Lobak. As long as it's hot and juicy, it's OK with me. But still they need to control the fire so that it won't over cook it.

To cleanse my thirst I had ordered their Cendol which I heard was superb. Or so I heard. People were queuing up to buy the drink. So I assume it would be true.

In came my cendol and I realized that we need to pay an extra 50 cents if you order in the cendol. There is two stall over there and the old lady serving drink will tell you that it's the same but trust me, it's not. Well that is what I heard from my friend at least.

Some of my friends decided to try out their Asam Laksa. Nothing much to brag about here. Just your typical Asam Laksa. And yes, I am not an Asam Laksa fans too. So don't expect me giving reviews on them in the future. :P

Overall the place was totally over rated and I am still not sure what is the buzz is all about. Char Kuey Teow was disappointing but people are still queueing up to take away and it was sold off even before dinner time. Weird~!

Gurney Drive @ Penang Island

This is the second makan location which we all 'hit' during our trip up North, Gurney Drive a.k.a Sun Kwan Chai Kok. The place as you can see is too pack with people as early as 6pm. This place is so commercialize because of their local foods and over rated by the patrons. But nevertheless, we give this place a try too since it's a must visit location for tourists. And well, we're tourist.

When I arrived, I saw this uncle was so busy cooking the Char Kuey Teow without stopping. I think we can't really order anything else but Char Kuey Teow. Well since it's a must order, so this would be my 2nd plate of Char Kuey Teow of the day.

So this is the Char Kuey Teow which so many people were so eager to try. There is not much color in it but plain red from the chilly paste. There is a lot of prawns in this plate (or rather plastic container), around 6 pieces I think. But the taste was totally disappointing. Sigh~! RM3.50/plate

Popiah from one of the stall nearby. The skin was really think and taste was on the plain side. RM2/plate

I was informed that there is only two stalls selling Muachi over here. And we had ordered the one from the 'uncle' rather from the 'auntie' which I heard was the right choice. And truly it's not bad to eat. I am not so into this food but still a good snack to munch once in a while.

We had also ordered the Steam Squids with Kangkung. This is not my favorite dish too as I am not so into it. But I heard that it wasn't that nice too.

The best Rojak stall over here would be called G.P but it wasn't open that day so we opted for another stall which was just alright. Please make sure that the sauce to be separated from the fruits when you order so that the sauce won't be watery before you finish the dish.

Tempted to try this one out as I heard it was something special over here (Penang). No, it's not Chicken Satey but look further down.

Yes, it's Satey Intestine. I think it's pork's intestine in this case. This is my first bite into spare parts. As I am not so into spare parts at all. Well how do I describe this, it's very soft and juicy. Very different from the chicken or beef which I tasted before this. New experience for me, not that bad. But I heard McCalister served a better choice of this dish.

Lorong Selamat @ Penang Island

This is the first location of my makan trip up North, the infamous Lorong Selamat. This place was so commercial that you can see everyone selling Char Kuey Teow in Klang Valley would say that they come from Lorong Selamat. So I was really excited to try this one out.

When we arrive, the place was totally pack with patrons. But we managed to secure a table for 9 of us at the back of the restaurant.

Heard that the ABC is a must order so I walk over and look at what they had to offer. Well it's the standard ABC we have over here with a scoop of ice cream on top.

ABC a.k.a air batu campur with everything and a scoop of ice cream on top. I am not sure if I am really that hungry or it was that good but I managed to finished off the bowl before the Char Keuy Teow arrive.

For appetizer, we had ordered one of the local delicacy, Penang Lobak. It looks so delicious and I am so into Lobak even before I come over to Penang. So this is definitely one of the must order for me during this trip. Freshly fried and not too over fried. Meat still juicy and the sauce was just nice.

For the main dish, I had ordered the Char Kuey Teow from this uncle with the sunglasses. They are the only stall around which offer me Char Kuey Teow in this restaurant. So it's him or asam laksa for me.

So here's the infamous Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow that I heard so much about. Big juicy prawns (3 of them) with fried lards and bean sprout. But no banana leave at the bottom? Taste was really over rated for me. I had better in KL. And it's not cheap too. One plate of this cost RM6.