#dinner

CHICKEN IMPOSSIBLE AT THE TAJ

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

On the highway heading east…. Camera in front… Camera at the back. High speed chase. Not sure if that famous actor… The one that acted in “TOP BUN PAKCIK” Tom Clues, was acting.

The scene was a guy in a Proton Jawa cut in front of a mid-size Honda (car enthusiasts will call it B Segment or C segment… don’t know which) at high speed. It was trailing a long trailer ( is there a pun in this?) and decided to pull out from behind it at the very last moment, cutting right in front of the Honda. The trailer was at high speed, I guess.

As soon as they passed the trailer, the Honda powered up all its Japanese horses (though they could be more Thai or Indo than Japanese, as most of the Hondas in Malaysia come from Thailand or Indonesia), gave chase and overtook the Jawa. The Jawa gave chase, came level to the Honda, then side-swiped him to run him off the road. Here, it is proven to be a myth that the Jawas are made from milo tin cans because this car was strong. The Honda held its ground. Presumably, Tom Clues was driving the Honda.

The Jawa side-swiped the Honda… a word from our sponsors… Youtube… and tried to push the Honda off. It moved just ahead of the Honda and knocked into the car. Then, it moved left, then right, then ran off the road and hit a road barrier. Here, the Jawa, tossed in the air… Tom Clues stopped his car ahead of the car being tossed in the air. You would expect Tom Clues to reach out to the Jawa driver while the Jawa was still in the air, flipping at high speed. Bubble burst because nothing like that happened. That was a scene from a Bollywood movie.


~ The End ~

In a rush to get back home for the long weekend holidays; people tend to get edgy. They should relax, pull over as many rest bays along the highway to relax, chillax and have a coffee. No need to rush.
The above incident actually happened today. The characters and vehicles are fictional. I was having fun writing on the fly.

After dropping Laura off at the gym; Jeannie and I had that usual question pop up: “Dinner: What do you want to eat?”, I asked.
“Up to you”, she said.
I said, “I leave it to you”.
She said, “Anything is fine with me”.

Now, you know how tough a question that can be. Though there are literally hundreds of restaurants around the area, we, without saying it; want something fast, tasty, cheap, reliable and not too far away from home. So, I said, “Let’s go to the Taj”. Jeannie agreed.

We were there within 10 minutes, had to drive around the car parking lot area three or four times before we got a parking. This was one of the easier days.

As we walked into the restaurant, we walked past the counter where all the food for the evening was displayed. I knew I was going to order either chapati or roti canai. They did not have any potato dishes on display. Among the many varieties available, there were two seemingly similar fried chicken dishes. We asked one of the waiters what the difference was. He said one was fried chicken. ookaaayyy. The other was chicken impossible.

“Sorry, what was that?”, I asked. He said, “chicken impossible”. I kid you not. That was what he said. Or at least, that was what I thought he said. I told Jeannie that we will have the chicken impossible, and to pick the pieces with more flesh instead of bones.

Chicken impossible.

We chose a table in the air-condition dining room. Though the skies have been overcast the whole day with short spats of light – to – heavy drizzles; the weather was still humid. Jeannie went for rice with vegetable dishes. I went for chapati. My favourite waitress (the Taj only has 1 waitress; the rest are waiters), Harmann; took our drink orders. We both ordered lime juice, no sugar.

Jeannie’s rice and her choice of vegetables looked really good. The long grains of rice looked fluffy and would have tasted delicious. Jeannie said that it was delicious – her whole meal was delicious.

Harmann served my order of two chapati and the chicken impossible. I decided to have chapati because my weight was inching its way up on the weighing scales, so much so that I hit 76.7kg yesterday. I scaled back on eating since then. I skipped lunch and also holding off the sugar. I am aiming to get back to 67kg, the weight that I was at in March 2019.

The chapati was good. 2 pieces was a meal by itself. The chicken impossible was ok. Pieces were chunky meat, fried but without oil. I think that was the difference between this chicken dish and the fried chicken. The curry leaves that were with the chicken (as you can see in the picture) were more to add flavour.

I thought this dish was going to be spicy. It wasn’t at all. Overall, the chicken was nice, but I prefer the chicken to be fried in oil and for it to be spicy. The Taj is more popular especially for its spicy food, besides it being a convenient place for fast and relatively moderate priced food. When I say “fast food”; it actually is fast served food compared to the fast food restaurants. You order your food on those large screens, make a payment and then wait. They are not as fast as The Taj or Star Bhavan and places like that.

If you want fast and reliably tasty food, this is the place to come to. Except, that the limited parking available can at times be a “hair-pulling” experience.

As for why the chicken dish is called “chicken impossible”, I think the waiter may have mispronounced it. I don’t know, but “chicken impossible” definitely sounds inviting; like something you must try.

A SIMPLE MAKANĀ  AT THE ORIENTAL

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Pt. 2 continuing from C.R.M.: Cendol, Rojak & Muruku… http://leatherpotato.com/2024/02/20/c-r-m-cendol-rojak-muruku/

From Mydin, we headed to Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall which was about 15 minutes away. Though it is quite close, the traffic is usually heavy at any time of the day.

We had a couple of activities and errands to do there. Of course, dinner time crept up sneakingly fast that we had to figure out what to eat. Decisions, decisions. We both wanted comfortable, yet something fast. Not fast food as we have been having that quite often. So, we both agreed fairly easily, on going to Oriental Kopi restaurant.

One of the reasons that we, the Batik Influencer, and I; both like Oriental Cafe is that it is brightly lit.

We got a table pretty quickly as there wasn’t much of the usual queue. The restaurant was full with patrons. Just as much as people leaving after their meal; there were new customers waiting to be seated.

One of the reasons we both like Oriental Kopi, at least the outlet, here in Sunway Pyramid, is that it is brightly lit. Another reason is that it is clean. The tables are cleared immediately after customers have finished with their meal, cleaned with what looks like a disinfectant detergent and is ready for new diners within minutes.

Black Glutinous rice, more popularly known as “pulut hitam”. The white liquid is “santan” or coconut milk. This dessert came with two pieces of starchy balls with sweet green pea fillings as a standard dish.

Food ordering time. We went through the big, glossy menu. Jeannie got one of the menu checklists and pencil to write the numbers that was listed against each of the food, drink and dessert items listed in the menu. She wrote the corresponding numbers of the food and drinks that we decided on, in the menu checklist.

Jeannie’s dinner.

Jeannie ordered a rice dish that seemed to have everything in it. I went for the “Pulut Hitam” (Black glutinous rice) and two sets of kaya & butter on toast – simple food. We waved to one of the “Order Takers” to come take our orders, which was a small piece of paper with our orders placed on it.

Within minutes, though I would like to say, “near instantly” buy not quite; my pulut hitam arrived. It looked good. I was hungry and was willing to start with this first. However, this is a sweet dish. It is usually best to have it after the savory dish.

Jeannie’s order was the next to arrive. It looked interesting enough. It was a sort of fried rice, cooked in soy sauce, with various vegetables including chili padi. Chili padi (1) is a vegetable, no? Two large prawns were included in this meal. Large sliced, dark green skin cucumbers was placed all around the fringes of this dish. It was more than just part of this meal decoration; it tasted really good as wel.

To top it (literally) all, there was a sort of semi-boiled egg, with its soft yolk still in tact, bobbily sitting, on top of the rice. The presentation of this dish deserved top marks for decor. The food tasted just as good as it looked, according to Jeannie.

My order: 2 sets of toast with kaya and butter. The pulut hitam was my drink and dessert.

Mine was a simple dish: 2 sets of toast with kaya and butter. The toast was browned just right for me. It came with a generous spread of kaya. The kaya was nice, not too sweet. Jeannie, Laura and I do get worried about the sweetness of foods served in many places. We are careful and are conscious about very sweet food. Folks, there were nice, thick slices of butter that came in this toast. Not the ultra-thin and microscopic slices that we read about in social media where people complain that there is not enough butter served in a butter dish. So, ya; this toast with kaya and butter was good. I would recommend you try it for yourselves if you visit Oriental Cafe.

The Pulut Hitam that came with the santan pre-added in, was generally nice. I would have preferred if it was served with the santan not added in, but come together with it. I would have preferred that I had the choice of adding the santan in, which would have meant that I would have added just a dash or sprinkle of santan to give the pulut hitam some flavour; without over-powering the pulut hitam itself.

The Batik Influencer and the Hatted Writer.

We left shortly after we finished our dinner to get done the main reason we came to Sunway Pyramid for in the first place.

NOTES:
1. “Chili Padi” is used to describe someone who is small but feisty. Chili padi isĀ tiny chili that is extremely spicy. It puts fear even for most locals when a food dish includes this “vegetable” as one of its main ingredients. Most of the time, it is the culprit for all the spicy dishes in our Asian Cuisine.

DINNER AT SHAAZ

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Dinner at Shaaz. Quick and simple dinner.

We dropped Laura off at Sunway Pyramid. She booked a Spin session at the gym. While we (Jeannie and I) wait for her, we thought we’d grab dinner.

Shaaz is a restaurant on its own, just next to Sunway Pyramid. This is Jeannie’s and my second visit here. The food experience that we had on our first visit was good. Hence, the second visit here.

Jeannie ordered “Mamak Mee Goreng” and I ordered two chapatis. According to Jeannie, the chapatis are usually made with no oil or very little oil, so it is supposed to be healthy or healthier.

For drinks, we both ordered lime juice. This time round, we did not ask to exclude the sugar.

Lime Juice. It was more like sugar juice. The sugar was not that over-powering. Still, I would have preferred more lime than sugar.

The drinks lightly tasted like lime juice. There was more sugar in it than there was lime. Still, it tasted quite good. And they sure were refreshing; especially on a day like this. Though the sun was not blazing hot, the day was still very humid.

Mamak Mee Goreng. It looked pretty oily to me.

Jeannie’s Mamak Mee Goreng arrived together with the drinks, which was quite fast. It looked good, though slightly on the oily side. It did taste good, spicy enough that Jeannie did not have to add chili to it. It had a generous serving of tofu and bits of vege (short for vegetables. The word “Vege” is quite commonly used here.) This meal proved to be quite filling.

My two piece chapati serving. No oil.

I had to wait about 10 minutes after Jeannie’s meal arrived, to get mine. The ten minute wait seemed worthwhile as the chapati looked really good. No oil, the chapatis came with parapu (dhal or “lentils” in English) and coconut chutney.

The parapu and coconut chutney was so good, that I had to ask for a refill. The two chapati were filling.

I was famished. I did not have lunch this afternoon. I was keeping tabs on my weight control. I am quite happy with my weight loss over the past week – good results. Have to keep going at it. Once I arrive at my target, then, the next step is to maintain.

Parapu refill or “tambah lagi”, which means to add more. No, I did not wave the waiters over and did not show the national hand signal in the air for tambah lagi. You have to be Malaysian to know this unique hand signal for “tambah lagi” or “add more”.

The meal was really good. it came up to RM17.40 including 6% SST tax or US$3.73. Simple. The restaurant was nice and comfortable and brightly lit.

After our meal, Jeannie and I went back into Sunway Pyramid, where Jeannie went to tapau (order takeaway) KFC Popcorn chicken for Laura. KFC’s Popcorn chicken is really tasty. It serves as a good light meal. This is one of Laura’s favorite “snacks” or light meals.

We did not have to wait too long for Laura. She finished her Spin exercise session, had a shower and met with us at our usual meeting point before walking to our car.

Sunway Pyramid was quite quiet today. It could have been because it was a week day. Plus, there wasn’t any promotions going on. However, it offered a pleasant experience to shop without having to jostle with the crowds and all their rushing about. I quite like it this way.

Now, to head home, have some rambutan fruit and make a nice mugga (referring to coffee) as in cuppa refers to tea.šŸ˜

Do check out Shaaz when you are around this area.

AN EVENING AT THE ORIENTAL

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

The kopitiam, that is.

It took a long over 2 hour drive to go from our house to pick Jeannie and Laura up from their respective workplaces.

Laura wanted to go to the gym. She was looking forward to a good work out. She had a choice of the gym at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Centre or the one at Empire Gallery Shopping Centre (1).

She opted for Sunway Pyramid as she felt that I would have more stores to visit while we waited for her. However, I was not going to visit the stores there, as I had done so just yesterday.

The traffic in PJ (4) was moving at a breathtaking snail speed. Laura said that if I wanted to drive straight home, it was OK with her. However, she looks forward to working out as often as possible. So, I wanted to get her to the gym.

I drove as fast as possible, within the speed limits to get there. Since it was past 7pm, the “through pass road” from Kelana Jaya (4) across the triple-decker bridge was open.

We managed to get to Sunway Pyramid shortly after that.

While we waited for her, we thought we’d have our dinner. Jeannie and I settled for “Oriental Kopi” restaurant. Laura is at the gym and we are here.

We are at Oriental’s Sunway Pyramid outlet. As you can see from the pictures, this restaurant is brightly lit, very vibrant with lots and lots of customers. We did not have to wait in queue to get in as we would usually have to. However, the restaurant was full. As people left, new customers streamed in. This restaurant is very, very popular.

Jeannie wanted something soupy since it rained heavily earlier in the evening and the weather was generally cold. I thought it to be more gloomy than cold.

Jeannie did not order order anything soupy. In fact, they did not have anything soupy on the menu. She ordered Nanyang Curry Chicken Rice and their traditional coffee.

Jeannie’s meal: Nanyang Curry Chicken Rice and their traditional coffee. The egg on top of the rice is sort of a bull’s eye – soft and bouncy, until it is broken, where the yolk spills out.

My iced coffee with cincau. Quite a nice combination.
Getting some work done, while waiting for my order to arrive.

I went for something light – “Double Butter Kaya Toast”. Jeannie pointed out one of my favorite desserts – Pulut Hitam or “Tang Yuan in Black Glutinuous Rice” on the menu. For my drink, I ordered the “Oriental Kopi Cincau Ice”.

Our dinner.

The service at this restaurant is good. We were served our meal orders quite fast. I had to caution Jeannie when she was going through the menu, to order something that would be served quickly. She usually wants to try something new which quite often is not fast moving on the menu. That means she has to wait for longer than the time meals are usually served, as the kitchen has to specially prepare it.

My pulut hitam with the Tang Yuan (gummy balls?) with green pea paste [I think] fillings.
The Tang Yuan in Black Glutinuous Rice”. The white stuff floating on top is santan or coconut milk to add to the flavor. Yum!

We soon finished our meal. Laura was still at the gym. The Pulut Hitam or “Tang Yuan in Black Glutinuous Rice” dessert in my opinion, was not top notch today, as it is usually. The taste of the pulut hitam was somewhat lost by the overpowering taste of the Tang Yuan.

If you want an unusual, yet nice iced drink I would recommend the “Oriental Kopi Cincau Ice”. I give it a score of 8.0 /10.0. Jeannie said that her coffee was too “kau” (2) for her. I thought her coffee tasted very nice. I drank the whole balance of it.

Both Jeannie and I, decided to get some work done at the restaurant while waiting for Laura. The restaurant was very noisy. But it was a noisy sort of a chorus of people talking, all at the same volume level and in tune with everyone else. It was something like a loud murmur. We did not have to talk on top of our voices to be heard.

With my Insta360 Go 3. I started on this essay while sipping my iced coffee with cincau or as it is known as “Oriental Kopi Cincau Ice”.

Laura was done with her workout at the gym a short while later. Jeannie asked the waitress to tapau (3) the balance of her meal that she did not finish, to take home.

The Oriental is…well…oriental, if you are looking for a simple, oriental, style of meal. The ambience also sets you into the oriental mood. You will probably like it.

NOTES:
1. Sunway Pyramid and Empire Gallery are shopping centres both located in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
2. “Kau” simplyĀ meansĀ THICK, as in very strongĀ coffee. it is actually a Hokkien/Teochew ( Chinese) dialect.
3. “Tapau” is Malay for takeaway or pack back.
4. PJ or Petaling Jaya and Kelana Jaya are both cities in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.

DINNER AT THE TAJ

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

After a quick 10,000 step brisk walk between 2.30pm to 4.00pm; I had a refreshing cooling, shower. Though the sun was not blazing hot due to some fairly cloudy skies; the weather was still very hot. I had to go for my walk at this time because I had a busy morning and the evening was going to be busy, as well.

I left the house as soon as I got ready after the shower and headed to P.J. (Petaling Jaya), as it is more popularly known as.

An hour and a half later, we were on our way back to Subang Jaya. I had just picked Jeannie up from her office; then drove another 6.3km (kilometres) to Damansara Heights to pick Laura up from her office.

The traffic was pretty smooth flowing both ways. In fact, we arrived 10 minutes before Laura’s work ended for the day.

As we were about to get on the ramp towards Subang Jaya from the Federal Highway, the usual question popped up: “What are we having for dinner?” I immediately thought of Taj Curry House which was near where we were at that time.

Laura said, “Taj”. I said that was where I thought of going too.

So, Taj Curry House it was then. My mouth began to water thinking of the chicken varuvel dish. Super hot and spicy dish. Super delicious.

As we sat at a table, the waitress came to take our order. It is worth mentioning that at most Indian restaurants, there are only waiters to take and serve your orders. This waitress, who has been at Taj for a few months now, can take pride of being the one and only waitress at an Indian restaurant; at least in Subang Jaya, And she is good at her work.

The waitress knows our regular orders. However, she asked if we wanted to add other dishes, too.

Laura ordered rice with chicken varuvel and fish curry gravy. Simple meal, super delicious!

Laura’s meal at the forefront of the picture – rice, fish curry gravy and chicken varuvel.
Jeannie and I ordered roti canai (I ordered 2 pieces) which came with fish curry, dhall and sambal.

Jeannie and I ordered the same meal – roti canai. I asked for 2 pieces. The roti canai in most places have shrunk in size yet has seen several price increases. It is still amongst the cheapest meals you can get. With our roti canai came fish curry gravy, dhall and sambal as a set. The fish curry and dhall here, at Taj’s Curry House; has always been good. Warning about the sambal: It is extremely spicy yet delicious. The way to eat this (or the way I eat this) is to add a very little bit to each spoon portion you eat. Yes, we generally eat this meal with fork and spoon. Unlike the traditionalists who tear pieces of the bread (roti canai) and dip it into one or two or all 3 condiments including the sambal (like me) and eat it.

A side note: You can order this meal in a slightly different way. You can ask for “roti banjir” -literally translated from Bahasa Malaysia into English as “bread flood”. This means your roti canai will come with the fish curry and dhall poured together onto the roti canai. They pour lots of the fish curry and dhall until the roti canai looks somewhat submerged. Hence the word “banjir” or “flooded”.šŸ˜‚

Here the additional side order of chicken varuvel is seen as an extra to our meal.

For drinks, Jeannie and I had “Limau ais”, Bahasa Malaysia for “cold Lime juice”.

Our meal was satisfying – tasty and reasonably priced, too. Sitting in the comforts of air-conditioning. The environment was good.

We met Suzan Manen and Timothy Lam dining there, at the restaurant. We were all in the church choir some years back. Suzan and Timothy were just sharing some of their stories and experiences about Greece, especially Santorini. They had a wonderful time. They just returned back to Malaysia and were rekindling themselves to the taste of Malaysian food – which they missed very much. It was good meeting with them after a long time.

Sitting: Jeannie and Laura.
Standing: Me, Suzan and Timothy.

Roti canai. tosai, or rice with the various curries and sambals, the Taj Curry House in SS12, Subang Jaya; is worth checking out. Prices are reasonable.