Restaurant Yong Tau Foo Chan Chan

After my various seafood binges for the coming festival, I was craving for something simple and comforting. One of my favorite comfort food is a simple dish of Yong Tau Foo (YTF) or stuffed beancurd and veggies. My family loves this dish and we have tried many places that sell this speciality.

One of our all time favorite YTF place is located in Menjalara, Kepong called Chan Chan YTF. This is a family run business that serves a no frill but genuine homemade goodness YTF. We have been to Chan Chan many times and one thing is for sure, their quality is very well maintained each time. We can count on Chan Chan to serve piping hot and fresh fish paste stuffed into big cuts of taufoo and veggies.

Chan Chan is always packed but customers do not linger after dinner. The restaurant environment is al fresco but it is always cool in the evenings as there are plenty of fans. Service is brisk and customers fill in a order slip while waiters whizzes by to pick the order slip. As all YTF are freshly cook to order, there will be some waiting time but its worth it! J

Besides serving YTF, they also serve some of their specialty dishes like Vinegared Pork Trotter, Grape Wine Ginger Chicken, Asam Fish, Sour Asam Vegetables, Hakka Braised Pork with Black Fungus and a few more items.

First up was the YTF in soup with smooth white bean curd, bittergourd, lady fingers, fish paste and chilies. That innocent chili really packed a punch. One bite and the mouth went numb with spiciness! I love their beancurd, smooth and soft, I feel very content with just having this alone. The owner also added plenty of "shui chai" vegetables in the soup which tasted of anchovies.

 

My favorite bittergourd.

Check out the huge piece of fish paste.

We also ordered some fried "fu chuk", fried dumplings and eggplant. Super crispy and hot, one bite will get you hooked!

Yummilicious fried dumpling or "sui kow" filled with bouncy fish paste, carrots, black fungus and green onions. Make sure to order at least 2 -3 piece person! J

Grape Wine Chicken was next. I am not a fan of this dish as some places makes it too sweet. This one had me gulping down the soup continuously till I was blushing due to the strong alcohol...hehehe.

Full of herbal essence and a well balanced grape wine, the broth is just simply beautiful and luscious. Chicken was average but it was the soup, shredded black fungus and ginger that got me drugged!

Asam Vegetables or "Suen Choy" is another must have here. Braised salted vegetable with asam pieces and chilies, this dish is another favorite of ours. The vegetable has been braised till soft and the sourness with spiciness is just perfect for my family's taste buds.

Vinegared Pork Trotters is another indulgence! Braised till the meat is tender but still with a bite, the balance of black vinegar was faultless. Sour and sweet, we just cannot stop drinking up the soup although it was a bit oily.


YTF priced at RM1 each piece. Verdict is that this place is really value for $$ as the pieces of YTF is big and well stuffed with bouncy fish paste. Other dishes are really good as well. Quality is well maintained over the many visits to this place. If you are looking for comfort and homemade goodness, Chan Chan YTF is definitely highly recommended. Be prepared to wait as YTF is made to order.


Restaurant Yong Tau Foo Chan Chan
69, Jalan 11/6A
Bandar Menjalara, Kepong
52200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 6275 9113

Disclaimer: The opinions and experiences articulated on this blog is entirely based on my personal taste buds and may be at odds for other foodies.

Flavors Restaurant, Swiss Garden Hotel & Residences

Some of us bloggers decided to get together to celebrate the end of a wonderful Tiger year and the beginning of another fantastic year of the Rabbit to come!

We met up at Flavors Restaurant in Swiss Garden Hotel & Residences in downtown KL to stuff ourselves silly with their Chinese New Year Buffet Dinner. Since there were so many of us, buffet was the way to go as this will surely hit the spot for everyone. In addition, variety is the spice of life!  

Flavors is located on the first floor of the hotel and features a unique and charming concept of chic dining. The restaurant was design with contemporary settings intended for comfortness and yet chic for entertainment to last through a timeless era.

I will let the amount of food pics do the talking for this round. J


Flavors Salmon and Jelly Fish Yee Sang Bar

Love the idea of a Yee Sang Bar!

Check out the traditional Yee Sang with its fruity sauce.

Chopstick full of flavors.. "lou hei, lou hei!"

Appetizers and Salads

Gorgeous Seafood on Ice! Featuring Aphrodisiac Oysters, Succulent Prawns & Tantalizing Mussels

Flavors Caesar Salad Bar with anchovies, bacon bits, croutons, chicken, lettuce, cheese & caesar dressing

Crispy Seaweed Rolls with Crabstick

Bed of roses of Smoked Salmon

Prawn Salad

Flavors Cheese Platter

Clockwise: Salmon Salad, Ham and Asparagus Salad, Kerabu Mango Salad & Mushroom Salad

Healthy Steamed Seaweed Rolls

House Salad Bar with a great variety of salad dressings

There were also two soups of the day...Chicken Soup and Hot and Sour Szechuan Soup with bread rolls.


Main Course

My favorite of the night...Beef Rendang...tender and so flavorful!

Asam Prawns...succulent and juicy

Salmon Fish Head Curry...creamy and intense flavors of aromatic spices

Wholesome Steamed Chicken with Ginger

Braised Dry Seafood with Oyster Sauce

Spicy and aromatic Garlic Chili Prawns...lovely and yummy!

Healthy Steamed Fish with Black Fungus

Fried Rice with Abalone Sauce...surprisingly delicious!

Noodle Station

Laksa...rich and very tasty.

There is also a Fishball Noodle Soup station and Cantonese style Noodle station.


Desserts

Deep Fried Special New Year Cake (Nian Gao)...oh boy oh boy, this is really outstanding! Pieces of Nian Gao, Pumpkin, Yam, all bundled tightly with Seaweed and coated in a super crispy beautiful batter!

Passion Fruit Cake

Rows and rows of desserts of jellies, puddings, mouse, cakes..etc

Traditional Kuih Muih

Flavors ABC Ice Kacang Bar

There was also a warm and fluffy Bread Pudding, Sweet Tong Shui, Platters of Fruits and ice cream.


We really enjoyed ourselves to the fullest with good food, great friends and beautiful environment. Head on over to Flavors to experience this yourselves!


Flavors Chinese New Year Menu

Reunion Buffet Dinner priced at RM88++ for adult and RM48++ for child

Available 2nd Feb from 6.30-10.30pm
Chinese New Year Buffet Dinner priced at RM68++ for adult and RM38++ for child

Available from 17th Jan to 13th Feb from 6.30-10.30pm (inclusive of “Yee Sang”)

Flavors Yee Sang Promotion
Salmon Yee Sang – RM48++ at half portion, RM78++ for one full portion
Jelly Fish Yee Sang – RM38++ at half portion, RM58++ for one full portion

Available from 17th Jan to 13th Feb.

Takeway is available only after 12 noon onwards.

Flavors Restaurant
Swiss Garden Hotel and Residences
117, Jalan Pudu,
55100 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Tel no: +603 2141 3333
Website: www.swissgarden.com

Disclaimer: The opinions and experiences articulated on this blog is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may be at odds for other foodies.

Tai Zi Heen, Prince Hotel & Residence

With the coming Chinese New Year holidays, most hotels and restaurants are preparing for the festive holidays with special menus.

Lucky me! My friend, Sid from BigBoysOven extended an invitation from Prince Hotel to review their festive menu at their Cantonese restaurant Tai Zi Heen recently.

Prince Hotel is a class of its own with its beautiful décor and gorgeous art collections. The lobby has a stunning modern art chandelier that took my breath away. There are also gorgeous vases and beautiful artifacts surrounding the whole hotel.

Tai Zi Heen’s award winning Chinese Master Chef Ricky Thein, and his culinary team delivers authentic Cantonese food into the realm of contemporary cuisine with dishes that accentuate original flavours with a modern twist!

The décor of the restaurant is an ideal venue for work and personal functions and has a seating capacity of 180 persons with five private dining rooms for special occasions.

Dressed with red lanterns, the chandelier was simply D.A.Z.Z.L.I.N.G!

 

There were two gorgeous huge enameled vases that stood outside of the restaurant’s main entrance!

Restaurant’s entrance which features two beautiful embroidered chairs covered in red & gold fit for royalty.

Award winning Chef Ricky Thein

Tai Zi Heen’s culinary team has come up with a magnificent list of CNY set meals and ala carte dishes to jazz up the festival.

CNY Yee Sang Menu
CNY Prosperity Set at RM988++, RM 1288++ and RM1488++ for 10 pax
Prosperity Yee Sang Selections of Seafood: Abalone, Hamachi, Sea Whelk, Surf Clam, Tuna and Salmon (available at full portion or half portions)
Vegetarian Yee Sang
A La Carte Selection
Special Lunch Dim Sum Menu


We started off with the must-have traditional Yee Sang with Salmon.

Chef Thien really kept the Yee Sang light, simple and delicious! Fresh golden salmon slices, finely julienne vegetables, crunchy jelly fish and crackers were unified by a beautiful plum sauce with lemon that was very well balanced.

I just cannot resist a plate of heavenly salmon slices that is so fresh, one can see the sheen of freshness on the fish.

I cannot stress how important a blissful soup can make a difference in a meal. We were served the Double-boiled Pearl Shark’s Fin with Bamboo Pith and Chinese Cabbage.

This is simply the best of the best! Top notch quality ingredients were my first taste. It almost makes me wants to sing out loud when I was enjoying this soup. The broth was really divine and full bodied of various flavours of the ocean. Clean and well balanced, the soup is clear and you can taste quality shark’s fin at its simplest! Sigh…. with happiness. J


I must have done something right in my past life…to enjoy a luxurious Braised Dried Oysters with Fatt Choy, Baby Abalone, Sea Cucumber and Wok fried Greens.

Abalones were perfectly cooked. Sea cucumber and huge oysters were braised till tender and mellow. The taste was again very lush and mouthwatering. This dish is simply shouting “Eat me!”

My portion of Food of the Gods!

Traditional style Steamed Cod Fish was served as our fish course. This must have been a huge cod because the size of the slices was really humongous.

No fault with this as it was again well cooked and seasoned with quality soya sauce. Freshness of the cod was present, hence the taste was really sweet and well balanced with the amount of saltiness from the soya sauce. I had two huge pieces of this fish. ;)


With a prosperous meal, comes with a prosperous dish of “Har”, Stir-fried Prawns with Pumpkin Sauce served on a Rice Nest.

The restaurant spares no expense at serving fresh huge prawns, coated with a golden pumpkin sauce, nestled comfortably on a rice nest. Prawns were crunchy and very succulent, bathed in a lightly sweet and savory sauce of mashed pumpkins. Another award winning dish in my opinion.


After my seafood ecstasy, dessert of Double-boiled Hasma with Red Dates and Glutinous Rice Dumplings were served individually.

I am not a fan of Hasma (which originates from frog) which has a tendency to be fishy. Although there are reported benefits of this delicacy replenishing the lungs, kidneys and improving skin completion, I have had a few bad experiences with this dessert. The one served at Tai Zi Heen has absolutely no smell, hence I was happy to devour this with delight. The glutinous rice dumpling was smooth and silky with a stuffing of black sesame paste.


My seafood rendezvous ended with a sigh of great satisfaction from everyone at our table. No wonder Chef Thein has won many awards for his Cantonese cuisine. All of his dishes were clean and very well balanced in flavours. This is definitely Cantonese cuisine at its best.

My conclusion is that Tai Zi Heen is well worth the price and the drive (to beat the horrendous traffic) to savor its Cantonese cuisine with a modern twist. Salute to Chef Thein!


Tai Zi Heen Chinese Restaurant
Level 2, Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur
Jalan Conlay, 50450 Kuala Lumpur.
Hours: Lunch   12 noon – 2.30pm
           Dinner   6.30pm – 10.30pm

Tel: 03-2170 8888 (For Reservation)
E-mail: restaurant@princehotelkl.com.my

Disclaimer: The opinions and experiences articulated on this blog is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may be at odds for other foodies.