ronnycakes reviews: Bali Hai Seafood Market, Kota Damansara PJ

Bali Hai Seafood Market is a restaurant that hails from Penang, and this Kota Damansara branch is their first one in KL. It’s a huge open air (but surprisingly cooling thanks to the bamboo-ish hut covering on the roof) seafood restaurant that has more than a dozen seafood tanks on one side showing delicacies like live Alaskan Spider Crab, Snow Crab, geoducks, lobsters, fishes and such.

Starting off with the Indonesian Style Deep Fried Chicken Wings, this was the one thing that stood out for me all night. The chicken wings were fried just nice, meat was tender and the skin was just a hint of crispy. Coupled with the sprinkling of chili salt on top, one was definitely not enough for me (was there with a large group so only managed one piece T_T)!

Super delicious fried chicken wings.

Venison Stir-Fried with Kai Lan was a twist to the classic veg dish, oyster sauce with garlic and slices of venison. There was no gamey smell to the venison and it paired perfectly with the Kai Lan.

Tofu with Chicken Floss, your run of the mill deep fried tofu with chicken floss and dried shrimps adding slightly more oomph to it.

Steamed Lala in Spicy Ginger and Lime Sauce was tangy and spicy and very fresh.

Freshwater Prawns in Sweet and Sour Sauce were very fresh (and lots of prawn roe in the heads), and were priced at RM30 per prawn.

The obligatory Soy Sauce Steamed Fish at all Chinese dinners. The fish was very fresh but the sauce was quite forgettable.

Squid with Salted Egg Yolk was sufficiently savoury and rich. The squid pieces were tender and fresh too!

On to the star of the show! Large and juicy Meat Crabs in Kam Heong Style were delicious. Once again, the freshness of the meat was top-notch and the sauce was done very well. Kam Heong is my favourite style of crab! I especially love the intensity of the curry leaves.

All in all there were a few hits and misses at dinner, but all the seafood was very fresh. On the downside, food at Bali Hai is not what you would call cheap (the meal cost about RM1000 for 9 people) and the captain gave us a larger portion of prawns than she should have due to the amount of other dishes that we ordered. Maybe I’ll go back just for the fried chicken wings. :p

Address:
Sunsuria Avenue,  Persiaran Mahogani
Kota Damansara PJU5
47810 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
(nearby the Tune Hotel in Kota Damansara)

Map *here*

ronnycakes reviews: Sang Har Mein, Greenview Restaurant PJ

I have a confession to make. I have never had sang har mein before in my life. I know right, shame on me! How can I call myself a foodie if I haven’t even tried sang har mein (such a Chinese staple) before?!
Wils decided it was time to educate me and brought me to Greenview Restaurant where he claims has amazing sang har mein, and amazing it was!

Greenview’s Sang Har Mein 生虾面 (RM 38) came with one massive prawn sliced into two. We opted for one prawn to share and a 2 person portion of noodles, but you can always request for extra prawns. The gravy was excellent, the noodles were just of the right texture and prawns were juicy and fresh. Prawns used were of the big-head variety so as you can see there was quite a generous amount of prawn roe.

Because we were feeling extremely gluttonous that day, we also ordered a Salted Vege Beancurd Soup 咸菜豆腐汤 (RM 12), which was very good as well.

A complimentary platter of fruits were served as per Chinese restaurants. :D

I can safely say that the sang har mein at Greenview is indeed awesome and value for money as well given the fact that portions were pretty huge and the prawn was huge too. I’m definitely looking forward to trying other varieties of seafood in my subsequent trips!

Address:
Restaurant Greenview
6 & 8, Jalan 19/3
46300 Petaling Jaya

Map *here*

Clarissane reviews: Mun Kee Steam Fish Head Restaurant, Jalan Imbi

Fish tops my list of one of my favourite food.. steamed ones in particular! Rich in protein and Omega 3 fat, it’s a healthier alternative to chicken or red meat. I always look forward anytime, any day to a delicious, hot meal of perfectly steamed fish. Give it to me and I’m a happy kid :)

Mun Kee in Jalan Imbi is known for its reasonable and a decent variety of steamed fish carp. The fishes here, called ‘Soong Yue’ in Cantonese is reared till its so plump and juicy, that its flesh just ‘melts’ in your mouth.. DARN DELICIOUS!

We always order the Garlic and Ginger Steamed Fish, RM 28 for large. Sprinkled with bits of cili padi and spring onions and other herbs, it’s the perfect dish on a rainy, cold night.. totally warms the tummy with its tinge of spiciness! This dish is always the winner on the table ;)

Fleshy and totally meaty! Have it with a plate of steaming hot rice with additional garlic and more chilli and you’re good to go!

These condiments are my must-have staples when dining in a Chinese restaurant :P

Another favourite of mine is the Sambal Steamed Fish, RM29 for large. I always love my food spicy so this is one thing I always have whenever I dine here. As my family and I are avid fish lovers, we always order two types of fish for four people. I can actually easily polish one whole fish by myself :P

For our greens, we had the Salted Fish Kai Lan, RM16. Portion for this was really small and it was barely enough to feed five people that night. It was good nevertheless, crunchy and fresh but it would fare better if the portion was bigger.. this was slightly expensive we thought.

We usually stick to Mun Kee’s staple steamed fish but it was recommended that we give the Salted Egg Yolk Fried Chicken, RM16 a go. No regrets!!! It was fried to perfection.. the salted egg yolk well marinated deep into the chicken ..absolutely heavenly to the mouth (and to the waist) !

This place is the place I always go to get my fish-fix at least once a month. Prices are very reasonable, total bill came up to about RM90 for five people including rice and drinks. Pretty decent for KL standards.

This place is always packed during lunch hours on weekdays, so its best to go during dinner if you want to avoid the crowd. And they have a buy 8, free 1 promotion for all its fishes... looks like Chinese restaurants these days are also falling into that Taiwanese desserts (read: Snowflakes, Chatime) trap to attract customers, eh?

They also have outlets in Cheras and Old Klang Road but I’m not too sure of their food standards there.

Address:
Mun Kee Steamed Fish Head,
No. 45-47, Jalan Medan Imbi,
Kuala Lumpur.

Opens daily for lunch and dinner till 11pm.

Map *here*

ronnycakes reviews: Lala Chong; Ara Damansara

Lala Chong is situated in a pretty hidden area of Ara Damansara, somewhere deep inside the kampung area and even though it is buried so deep, people still flock to the eatery and I hear that is incredibly difficult to get a table on weekends if you don’t call and reserve a table in advance.
What makes Lala Chong so popular is that they serve quality seafood at low prices, without compromising on taste. The restaurant actually dates back a decade ago having originally garnered popularity near the Subang Airport where it still operates.

First up we had one of their signature dishes, the Spicy Pucuk Paku (Fern) with Tuna (RM12). The combination sounded odd even to me and I was a bit skeptical about this dish, but I was pleasantly surprised after tasting it. The ferns were crunchy and an extra kick was given to it by the birds-eye chillis as well as the canned tuna fish.

What’s a visit to Lala Chong without trying their clams? We had another popular one, the Clams in Chinese Wine Broth (Siong Tong Lala) (RM15) which was steamed clams in very flavourful Chinese Wine broth. The lala meat was a little bit small for my liking (I’m accustomed to meatier ones :p) but it was fresh and went really well with the broth.

The Beancurd with Minced Meat (RM12) was what you normally get at chinese restaurants.

What’s a seafood meal without crabs?
We had the Sweet and Sour Crab (RM50). Crabs are priced at RM50 per kg and are fresh and meaty.

Deep-fried mantou (flour buns) were ordered at RM1.50 per piece to mop up all the gravy of the crabs. I absolutely love the texture of deep-fried mantou, crispy on the outside and smooth on the inside. Thumbs-up!

If you’re looking for good seafood at a reasonable price, Lala Chong is the place to visit especially for family dinners! Although they don’t serve pork, the halal status of this restaurant is a little vague so if you’re bringing some Muslim friends do call to make sure.
Parking is ample as they have their own parking lot.

Address:
La La Chong Seafood Restaurant Sdn. Bhd. (Next to Pantai Seafood @ Kayu Ara)
Lot 13556, Jalan Cempaka,Kayu Ara Damansara, 4
7400 Petaling Jaya.

Phone:
Tel : 03-77281906

Map *here*