Central Market, Kuala Lumpur

It was a long time ago when I first visited here. I recalled it's a very crowded and noisy market selling a lot of local snacks and sarongs (batik). Now that it has undergone quite a change. Cleaner and more tidy. I still see some very old time memory (photo 7/8).

Breakfast at Cesar's, cafe of Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur

Caesar's serves cold buffet and a hot main course chosen from the menu covering a wide range of Western and Asian dishes, such as congee, nasi goreng, nasi lemak, bento, egg & sausage...etc. On the first day, I chose a black truffle omelette. I like the way they put some sliced asparagus to bring out the nice aroma of the truffle. The omelette was nicely pan fried and so good to go with a crispy aromatic croissant. The next day I tried grilled salmon bento which was also very nice. Overall, I didn't leave much on the plate.

Chuai Heng Restaurant 翠恆酒家, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

As I recall from several posts of the food blogger Paranoid Android, there is a place I have had in mind due for a visit. It's Max@iHaus just off the Jalan Imbi and Bukit Bintang, 5 min. walk from Ritz Carlton. Unfortunately, the restaurant wasn't there anymore. As I walked back on Jalan Bukit Bintang, I noticed quite many cars parked outside of this Chinese restaurant. I decided to check it and also for the convenience to take a cool break from the hot midday. As the first dim sum steamed roll served on the table, it gave me the confidence that the chef knows how to make a proper steamed roll (but the BBQ pork filling is so so). Luk Yu in Starhill really needed to walk for 5 min. to check what dim sum should be. At least the siu mai is with ground pork, dried mushroom and shrimp. The har gou shrimp dumpling is pretty good, so is the beef balls. On photo 2, it's light fried bitter gourd in salty egg york coating. The coating isn't that heavy but bringing out the nice aroma of bitter gourd. I ordered a seafood stir fried rice noodle and the chef was quite generous to give some scallop chunks, and it's just RM18 (appro. HK$42). The whole bill is around RM65 (vs. RM120 of Luk Yu).

Luk Yu Tea House 陸羽茶館 (not the one of HK), Starhill Gallery, Kuala Lumpur

This place is just opposite to my favourite Korean restaurant KoRyo on the basement of Starhill Gallery and it's been there for quite some years. At first, I doubted how good it would be. So as Ritz Carlton gave a RM50 discount voucher for the bill over RM100. I took it a try. Turned out I needed to take another meal right after.

1. The shao mai was horrible and the chef used ground chicken meat, but it had the frozen smell. 2. The chicken feet wasn't deep fried well first to make it a bit spongy under steaming effect. 3. BBQ pork bun was too wet inside. 4. this is the most awful stir fried flat noodle in seafood egg sauce. Some frozen seafood was used and the ginger slices weren't first pan fried to make it aromatic to offset the frozen smell of the seafood. 5. See that miserable steamed rice roll. The flour wasn't made it right and it's too mashy. They put the baby bak choy to go with it to make it a bit bigger. Then at last the 2 desserts almond tofu and mango pomelo - forget it!

KoRyo Won, basement, Starhill mall, Kuala Lumpur

Glad that this restaurant is still here and it's been almost 10 years. The place is also very consistent. Not a single visit has disappointed me every time on my regular visit in town. Their kimchi is very nice as well as the other appetizers. I like the way (also very Korean) that they put the salt and chili paste on the side. This way you can taste the original flavour of ginseng soup. This time I ordered an ox tail soup. Very nice and aromatic. I feel pretty sleepy every time I took a real good ginseng chicken soup.