LucyBites.com

It’s been a while since I’d posted anything. The excuse was that I’d just started a new job and any kitchen adventures had to be put off indefinitely. But 4 months is a long time and though I’ve not been making anything, I certainly have been eating out a whole lot. So I guess I’m gonna continue with another food review of this cosy little japanese restaurant tucked away among the shoplots at the new Ara Damansara.

A mate of mine happened to know the owners well, and has been telling us to drop by the restaurant. The place isn’t huge but the interior is nicely decorated to give you that comfy clean feeling that make you feel at home.

Soba-Ya’s speacialty is it’s homemade soba noodles which is freshly made everyday.

First up we settled on a Sashimi Moriawase. The dish basically consists of slices of a variety of raw fish, namely salmon, mackerel, butterfish, yellowtail fish and tuna. They’d just made some fresh wasabi, so we were lucky to have that with the sashimi, a lovely combination no doubt.

And then of course I had to order what I always do in any japanese restaurant which is the Unagi Bento. What to do I love unagi (jap for eel) and I can’t live without rice. This to me is possibly the safest set you can order, don’t think one can go wrong preparing this one. The set came with a small portion of it’s famous homemade soba noodles.

Unagi Bento Set

Succulent chicken balls fried on sticks immersed in sweet sauce

Deep fried soft-shell crabs

Cute lil Shishamo, pregnant miniature fish

The soft-shell crabs tasted slightly soggy to us but everything else was great. Shortly after the owner’s wife decided to let us try a small bowl of vinegar pig’s knuckles with black beans (i presumed) which she had made for her own consumption. This japanese style of cooking the dish made it taste so sweet and light compared to the usual kind we find at other places.

Black vinegar pig’s knuckles with black beans

>This was a actually the second time we had dropped by, the first time in my opinion was a much better experience maybe due to the fact there were alcohol involved? I left my camera at home hence I’m only posting about my second visit. You can read all about the first one here.

Soba-Ya makes a nice venue for dinner out with a few mates, especially so if you love japanese food. They even cater for special occasions, like home parties for birthdays and such. If you happen to be within the vicinity I’d definately recommend you to check the place out.

Soba-Ya, No. 27, Block D, Dataran Ara Damansara, Jalan PJU 1A / 20B, 47301 Petaling Jaya

Had a lovely early dinner at an old favorite place called the Green Lotus Cafe last Saturday. This exotic little cafe is located along the alley directly behind Lot 10 shopping mall in KL.

They used to serve really nice Thai dishes but have since changed the menu of late, which still mainly consists of famous typical Thai offerings you can get at most Thai restaurants locally, just not my old fav dish of theirs which was the basil leaves with prawns. Although judging from last weekend’s visit, the food still tasted pretty good.

I loved the way they decorated the place, and this is really not a bad dining spot to have a romantic meal with your sweetheart. Brought my bf here the first night he was in town and have also celebrated a dear friend’s birthday and my own one here in the past. The prices I would say are reasonable and affordable. Read the rest of this entry »

..do try and make your way down to palate palette in KL.

If you’re a bargain-hunter like me, you wouldn’t want to miss their super-duper junkyard sale happening this weekend.

I might be there to flog off more than a coupla items myself, if luck permits, both pre-loved and brand spanking new ones, at unbelievably low EVERYTHING-MUST-GO prices.

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Wonton mee, wantan mee, konlo mien, whichever name you call it, they are all basically the same thing (yes except maybe konlo mien, that’s the dry version for all you pedantic folks out there). This is a common local hawker fare and you can find a stall selling it in almost every single chinese coffee shop and food court in the country. There’s the wet style and there’s the dry style. I personally prefer the dry style.

Like all other types of hawker food, there are stalls that are famous for their awesome wonton mee and then there are the rest who don’t quite do a good job making them. My all-time favorite wonton mee stall is located in Chulia Street, Penang. The stall has been in business for decades. The man behind it is called Ah Ngau, who took over from his dad about 15 yrs ago. Perhaps I will review it the next time I go there again.

The usual wonton mee we eat outside will consist of egg noodles, wontons - dumplings, char siu - chinese barbeque pork, sometimes chicken meat floss, a small portion of vegetables - most likely choy sum or kailan, and some clear soup.
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So I’ve been hankering for a yummy bowl of curry noodle since last week. And last night (more like this morning) I finally succumbed to the craving. At 1am. On a weeknight. Now where else but in KL can you wander out to find great food, served piping hot, well after midnight? Actually, this is what I really missed most when I was away.

There are a handful of food courts that are open til quite late into the night, not to mention the many 24hrs mamak shops. But this particular restaurant I went to, is famous for it’s curry mee and frogs legs rice porridge/congee. Best of all, it’s open from night up until 6 in the morning!

The curry mee is one of the best I’ve tasted in Klang Valley. Not too salty and just the right amount of thickness and spicyness. I normally stay away from chicken breasts but somehow this place managed to make the breast meat taste nice and succulent. They’re very generous with the fresh clams too. And then there are tripes, deep fried tofu puffs and beansprouts. And the soup…oh the soup tasted so good I had to remind myself not to slurp so noisily! All in all you get a sinfully delicious bowl of curry mee.
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Another post about cookies only this is more of a quiz. Took this and apperently I’m a Fortune Cookie haha! I guess I could say I’m a tad optimistic most of the time, and the rest of it pretty much sums me up although I’m not sure about the mysterious bit.

Keeping in spirit with cleaning out my fridge and using up leftovers from previous baking/cooking projects, I’ve made some yummy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. These cookies are a little special cos unlike the usual ones with just chocolate chips, raisins and oatmeals in them, these have also got a little mixed dried fruits and cereals. I personally lOvE my cookies a little crunchy hard yet slightly crumbly on the outside while the inside just abit chewy. That would be absolutely perfecto

Found a cup of chocolate chips leftover in a bag and also half a bag of Dorset cereals tucked away in some hidden corner of the fridge. Bought it during my last wanna-eat-health-from-now-on stint, which needless to say did not last very long. I think I probably didn’t finish the bag cos they tasted kinda bland compared to the usual one I always bought that came with cranberries.

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Had to clear the fridge and thought of using up all the leftover bits and pieces by making this sweet and sour fish fillets dish. Found some japanese cucumbers, half a lemon, few slices of canned pineapple rings, an apple way past it’s prime and half an onion. Recipe adapted from Amy Beh’s Sweet and Sour Fish in Fruity Sauce over at Kuali.com.

Last week I bought this frozen Sutchi fish fillet weighing about 300gm. It only costed RM1.29 can you believe that?! It actually tastes pretty good too mind you. I don’t know what kind of fish is Sutchi, it’s not listed in Wikipedia but some online sources have quoted it to be a kind of freshwater tropical fish.

My adapted version of this recipe is as followed:
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Was invited to have lunch with some girlfriends yesterday by my gracious ex-flatmate Hani. Her mom had made some delicious Raya dishes and she was generous enough to ask a few of us over to her place, the same apartment I used to stay at. No food pics cos everyone was too busy enjoying the food and yapping.

Since I’ve not bothered to whip up anything fancy in the kitchen of late, I’m just gonna post a coupla random photos taken,of the fabulous apartment and the poor cat I used to torture the hell out of, Charlie.

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I finally managed to brainwash lil bro into trying out the long-been-opened Delicious outlet over at Bangsar Village II the other night, after listening to so many people rave about it, bloggers and friends alike. Now it turns out that I have actually been to their other outlets in 1U before and it took me a while to realize they were of the same Ms Read’s establishment. Talk about slow.

Having worked in the food and beverage industry in the past before, I tend to not criticize too harshly when it comes to eating out, especially the service I’m getting unless it is absolutely appalling or does not justify what I am being charged for at the end of the day.

I have to say the Delicious outlet in Bangsar II did a good job training their staff even though they were mostly foreign workers. We went in at the busiest time of the night for dinner, and the place was almost packed so I was pleasantly surprised we did not have to struggle to get the attention of the waiters.

However with a name like Delicious, the food left us less than impressed. The menu consisted of choices between italian, western and local cuisines. We made the mistake of ordering their local dishes, as in hindsight that was probably not the best type to order at a place famous for it’s non-local food.

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I believe I’ve mentioned before that some time back I was being overly ambitious by attempting to make phyllo/filo pastry from scratch at home, and failed horribly. So I went out and got myself some Pampas filo sheets and also their puff pastry. After which I promptly forgot why I wanted to make filo in the first place and went on making these portugese egg tart with the puff pastry instead.

Last nite while tidying my freezer compartment, I noticed that the filo pastry will expire by next month, so I figured I’d better think of some ways to use them up before then. Hence today’s Tropical Almond Strudel. Read the rest of this entry »

Lately I’ve been cooking this dish quite abit. One because it’s delicious with rice and I’m a no-rice-can-die kinda girl, and two because the dish requires such few ingredients and preparation, I will make it when I’m too lazy to think of what to cook next. I remember it wasn’t til I was out of school that I began to learn to appreciate and actually like the taste of bittergourd. Which explains why my mom only started cooking this dish regularly at home after we were all grown up.

For those of you who are unfamilliar with this melon-like fruit (some may argue, vegetable), the sound of the name itself alone is probably off-putting enough. I mean why would you want to eat something that’s bitter in the first place? All I can say is it is definitely one of an acquired taste.

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Last week, while out on an errand, my brother suggested that we try out Leo’s, this new nice looking cafe place thingy establishment that had just opened their latest branch nearby. He said he’s seen the place fully packed just the weekend earlier which I supposed he took as a promising sign that the food will be good. Well let’s just say it was a complete and utter let down. I even saw something that got me rather worked up. More on that later.

First of all, the place was pretty much empty save for a few tables, eventhough it was smack in the middle of dinner time. One of their main attractions was gelati, which I did not feel like trying so I can’t say if it’s any good. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently posted of my brief visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma. It was only for a half day trip to a bordertown called Taichilek. Hearing recent news of the poor Burmeses’ unfortunate helpless state and what is currently happening is truly heartbreaking, especially knowing I have set foot on their soil before.

If you have not been following the news lately, please click here for the latest reports of the situation.

This brave blogger has written a first-hand account of what’s going on in her country. Please take some time also to check out her blog here and participate in supporting the peaceful revolution in Burma by clicking on the banner above. Besides thoughtful prayers, this is the least anyone who blogs can do for them.

Coupla days back, my bro came home after a japanese dinner. He said he had this potato salad which was very nice, so I said I will try making it at home. I googled for the recipe and after browsing the other recipes for the same salad, I decided that I found the perfect one on this delicious jap food blog called justhungry.com.

For the dressing I used the japanese mayonnaise - Kewpie brand, which my half-japanese ex-housemate swore by when it comes to mayo. I’ve often used it for making egg sandwiches, although my own fav dressing or mayo substitute is actually Heinz’s salad cream.

If you’ve never tried this famous japanese mayo, then you should. I find it tasting nicer than the normal mayo with an eggy-er flavor. Found it at the local Jusco outlet’s japanese food section. They have other brands too, but I stuck with the classic one.

This vegetable potato salad is pretty easy to make and the best part is it keeps very well in the fridge for at least a coupla days. I’m a fan of any food that can be chilled and eaten many many times. Also if you’re having dinner or bbq parties, preparing this salad one day ahead will make your work on the actual day alot easier.