Royal Wadeh

So we headed to Asli Village at Downtown East looking for something and ended up buying something else. Ever happened to you? Luckily for us, it was a pleasant surprise!

We chanced upon a shop selling one of the must-haves when we see it... WADEH!!

They called themselves Royal Wadeh (which means they have to be good right?) and we saw a couple of newspaper clippings featuring the couple in-charge, Mr Mohamed Aki and Ms Hafizah, who were busy behind the counter preparing their much coveted Wadeh.

Tiger Prawn Wadeh ($1.50 each, $5 for 5)

 Looks great right!! Makes me feel like walking over and getting a pack now LOL

This Wadeh was actually quite unique in a way. I've had 2 types of Wadeh. One is the dough type which is floury and sometimes even fluffy. The other type is the dense type with bits of lentils (dhal) inside so you get a unique flavour too.

Well guess what? This Wadeh has the best of both worlds!

 

This Wadeh has the nice dough texture which I love because it's still fluffy!

And on top of that, you can see they incorporate the dhal into the Wadeh so you get a great bite.

The Wadeh is also really tasty but if you want to spice things up, bite into the green chillies!!

One thing that's actually as important as the dough itself is the topping and it's getting really hard to find good quality ones nowadays. When I think of Wadeh, it's normally the ones we buy at the pasar malam and the prawns are either really not fresh or really small.

Well, at Royal Wadeh, we are talking about Tiger Prawns and we are talking about fresh stuff too!

And for the price we are paying, it's really really worth it!! The difference in price is comparable to what we normally pay and we are talking about a premium product here!!

Royal Wadeh has more than just Tiger Prawns on the menu though!

Really interesting toppings like Mussels, Crab Claw Meat, Baby Squid and even things like Salmon and Soft Shell Crab!! Interesting or what!!

You can see them frying up the Wadeh fresh and hot right before your very eyes!

Tell me that doesn't get your appetite going....

And of course, like most things, best enjoyed piping hot!!

Adam's Verdict:

Tiger Prawn Wadeh 3/5

Maryah's Verdict:

Tiger Prawn Wadeh 3.5/5

This is definitely a shop we will probably be visiting a lot. Not only because it's near our place but also because they have a good product! Feel like having some Wadeh? It's at Pasir Ris and confirmed power to the gedegak!

PS they even have delivery for large orders plus catering for events like weddings!!

Royal Wadeh

Asli Village
1 Pasir Ris Close, #01-03 Downtown East
Stall #7

www.facebook.com/royalwadeh
Tel: 94999 543

Operating Hours:
3pm til sold out Tuesdays til Sundays
Closed on Mondays

ROUSE

First heard about Rouse online when some people were buzzing about how cool and hip it was.
And when I saw Shamsydar Ani's post on Instagram about the food, we simply could not resist! But could the food live up to its reputation?

And when the HungryGoWhere Guest Instagrammer '5 Halal Pastas' project came along, it was a given because ROUSE had a pasta dish that a few people had recommended.

So one fine evening, we eagerly made our way down to Dunlop Street with great expectations.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup ($7.90)

First up for starters was the Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.
I'll be honest and say that I've had Butternut Squash before but never as a soup. For me, it tasted like a cross between pumpkin and sweet potato so I was interested to see how it would be.

I'd have to say I quite enjoyed it! The soup was creamy and was tasty. You could tastes the butternut squash and also the seasoning as well without it being overpowering.

A smooth start to our meal I'd say.

Quinoa Quake ($16.90)

First thing to note - I kept calling this the 'Quinoa Cake' but it's actually QUAKE! LOL.
And secondly - I'm not sure whether I should classify this as an appetizer or a main.
The menu places it under 'Savouries' which is a separate section from the 'Mains' so I guess I can classify this as an appetizer.

That being said, this is quite an expensive appetizer at $16.90!
(In fact, even a pasta main course costs the same on the menu)

What exactly is Quinoa anyways?
Well, it's actually a type of grain or a cereal that's so healthy that it's classified as a 'superfood'. Surely that means it's gotta be good for you right?

The Quinoa Quake at Rouse is served with Smoked Salmon (ZOMG), a poached egg, lemon dill yoghurt and some leafy greens to top off the whole healthy experience. I actually quite like the Quinoa patty itself. It has a nice breading and was especially good with the tasty lemon dill yoghurt.
And I am such a sucker for Smoked Salmon. I guess my biggest issue was the price because this dish was not enough to be filling on its own and yet had a price up there with the mains. Maybe quinoa is really expensive? I am really not sure.

Beef Wrapped Asparagus ($16.90)

I actually hadn't heard of this one but Mein Brudder says "a lot of people said this one is the bomb" so surely we had to try it right?

So there's 2 spears of asparagus which the wrap with a slice of beef. They lay invitingly on a bed of pumpkin mash while a poached egg awaits on a slice of toast. This would normally sounds like it was gonna be great to me but somehow the end result was not what we expected.

The beef was... well... I'm not quite sure how to describe it.
The outside was tough (maybe a bit overcooked?) but the inside part closer to the asparagus was... very underdone to say the least. We didn't finish the beef.

But we did finish the pumpkin mash and the egg and the toast though. Such a pity about the beef.
Mein Brudder did quite like the flavour though.

Spicy Asian Penne Crab Pasta ($16.90)

And we finally got to the dish that we came for. The pasta dish to be featured on HungryGoWhere's Guest Instagrammer feature! Surely this had to be worth it right?

Thankfully, this one hit the spot.
It kinda had a Thai accent to it with the chilli and the lemongrass (there plenty of small slices of lemongrass you cannot miss them). If you're worried about it being too spicy, don't worry.

The serving of crab meat was really generous and as with most pasta dishes, this was really filling.
But just to confirm for you, this one does not have any sauce to go with it okay.

And what did we have to drink?

Iced Chocolate ($6.50)

Nice and rich with chocolate flavour, this is an obvious must have for all your choco-holics.
Refreshing but still not too heavy to have with your meal. I'm guessing this is (and will be) quite a firm favourite with a lot of people!

Iced Peppermint Cucumber Tea ($6.50)

If I said the Iced Chocolate was refreshing, this is 10x more refreshing!
I decided to go a slightly different route with my beverage choice and saw this rather unique option.

I'm quite surprised at how much I enjoyed this. It was nice and tasty and even though I could taste the cucumber, it was not weird at all. Maybe I'm a jakun and I don't try enough healthy drinks or juices but if they all taste like this then I don't mind!

Adam's Verdict:
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup 3/5 -- Quinoa Quake 4/5 -- Beef Wrapped Asparagus 1/5
Spicy Asian Penne Crab Pasta 3.5/5 -- Iced Peppermint Cucumber Tea 4.5/5

Azlan's Verdict:
Quinoa Quake 4/5 -- Beef Wrapped Asparagus 3/5 -- Spicy Asian Penne Crab Pasta 4/5
Iced Chocolate 3.5/5

 I guess one of the reasons Rouse is making a name for itself is because it's quite a simple and laidback spot where you can chill with some friends. The decor itself is very simple as you can see.

But be sure to get a good table by going early. We made our plans a little bit too late and ended up sitting in the middle of the walkway in front of the door and on small crates no less.
That's right. We sat on crates. you can see an example in that picture above. See the crate?

Well, there are still a few things on the menu that we'd like to try so I guess we'll visit again soon.

ROUSE

36 Dunlop Street
Tel: 6292 2642
www.facebook.com/rouseondunlop

Operating Hours
Mondays, Wednesdays, Thurdays 12:00 - 22:00
Fridays and Saturdays 12:00 - 23:00
Sundays 11:00 - 19:00
Closed on Tuesdays  

  

KL Sedap Part 4: Nasi Kandar Pelita

My parents started driving up to KL for short trips since we were kids.
And the routine was almost always the same - leave the house at 6am, drive up to KL, makan Nasi Kandar and then finally check-in at the hotel.

We would literally drive straight to the Nasi Kandar and have lunch first. Kind of like a tradition.
Our Nasi Kandar place is actually Mohd Yaseen Nasi Kandar (along Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman) which my darling wife and I have had in a recent trip there.

But since her trip up to KL with a friend, she's been raving about the Nasi Kandar from Pelita.

I remember having it once but I can't really remember much.
And since our hotel this time was nearby a rather famous Pelita branch, Razali, Azim, my darling wife and myself decided to have a hearty lunch before heading out for shopping.

So what exactly is Nasi Kandar?

Apparently, Nasi Kandar actually originated from Penang and is basically mixed rice with an Indian influence. That means you'll get a wide spread of dishes including seafood (fish head, squid, crabs, prawns), meat (chicken, beef, mutton), vegetables and other assorted side dishes.

You'll normally also get a serving of veggie mix (normally cucumber, pineapple and carrot) as an accompaniment.

So far like normal right? But what makes Nasi Kandar unique?

Well just give the guy dishing out your food the 'word' and you'll find out.
Say 'kuah campur' and he'll put a little bit of each type of curry/gravy on display for you including the special 'kandar' gravy which is dark and tasty.

Don't worry he's not going to drown your rice in gravy until it becomes a soup.
But just how many types of gravy are we talking about here?

Well it's normally at least 5 types and mostly curry.
Crab curry, prawn curry, chicken curry, meat curry and Kandar gravy. If there's more then he'll put more.

So common things to have with your rice?
Chicken is a popular choice like fried chicken for example. They also have a special dish of chicken which is basically the chicken with the Kandar gravy. (RM6.00 per piece of chicken)

You can also have seafood. Prawns will cost between RM5.00-RM15.00 depending on size.
Squid will be about the same. And trust me - they have some pretty big prawns and squids.
You can even get a Fish Head (Curry) for about RM30.00.

Nasi Kandar with Ayam Kandar, Ladyfingers and Salted Egg

Nasi Kandar with Fried Chicken, Cabbage, Ladyfingers and Salted Egg

 The average price per plate for the servings above is about RM9.00.
And it may not look like much in the photos but believe you me that's a full meal right there.

For my Ayam Kandar though, it was a little different from what I usually have at the other Nasi Kandar place. It seems that here, they fry the chicken here first which mean they just put it in the gravy later.
This kinda makes the outer skin have that Kandar taste but the meat is completely clean.
Definitely a minus for me.

And apparently, Azim had the fish and he wasn't really impressed either.
Only the Fried Chicken seemed to be okay. Maybe because it was just simple.

And another thing. He may have put all the different curries and gravies for us but somehow it still turned out to be only a little bit of gravy on our plates. A case of stingy-with-the-gravy?
Normally at other (Pelita) outlets they apparently are a lot more generous and dish out the kuah the way it should be in Nasi Kandar.

Sotong Goreng Tepung (RM15.00)

We also decided to have the Sotong Goreng Tempura.
As this is only made to order, this would mean it was supposed to be fresh and hot and crispy but unfortunately this was not the case. I'm guessing it was sitting on the counter for awhile before the server finally picked it up and sent it to our table.

Anyways, don't expect much in the flavour department. The batter was completely tasteless.
But at least the squid itself was not overcooked.

Adam's Verdict:
Nasi Kandar 2.5/5 -- Sotong Goreng Tepung 2/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Nasi Kandar 2.5/5 -- Sotong Goreng Tepung 3/5

Razali's Verdict:
Nasi Kandar 2/5 -- Sotong Goreng Tepung 3/5

Azim's Verdict:
Nasi Kandar 2.5/5 -- Sotong Goreng Tepung 3/5

Pelita is actually a very famous Nasi Kandar chain in KL so I have no doubt that it's actually a nice place to have Nasi Kandar. Maybe we just went to the wrong outlet on the wrong day. Maybe next time other outlets might be better.

Oh. Any by the way. Avoid going during lunch hour unless you're okay with a large crowd.

Nasi Kandar Pelita

No 149 Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: +60 3 21625532
www.pelita.com.my

Operating Hours:
24 Hours Daily (Closed between 1pm til 2pm on Fridays)

Ah Nam BBQ Seafood - Steamed Fish

There are hundreds of seafood makan places spread across Singapore.
But how many are certified Halal?

My family has a favourite haunt for seafood across the Causeway.
But when it comes to Singapore and we're talking about seafood and the likes, then there's one place we travel to more often than any other place.

Ah Nam BBQ Seafood is located in Changi Village (great! no need to travel so far for east-siders!) and serves Halal seafood. It also serves other stuff but dishes mostly related to seafood lah obviously.
A bit of research has shown me that they actually own a kelong near Pulau Ubin! So that means the seafood has got to be fresh right?

The place is open air so you can enjoy some cool weather (if the weather is cool). Unfortunately the nearby Changi Village Food Market is under renovation so you'll be sitting right next to the barricades.

Okay don't talk so much let's see some dishes.

Beef Hor Fun ($15)

This actually came by mistake.
My brother actually ordered the Dry Beef Hor Fun which is actually our favourite but this normal Beef Hor Fun came instead. Come to think of it, we always have a problem when we're ordering the Hor Fun dish... Hmmmm...

But anyways this was still okay lah. Beef was still tender and tasty.
In fact I reckon the gravy is actually better than the dry version if you're looking to slurp something hot and homely down.

 Hotplate Tofu ($10)

  Cockles ($5)

Well they also have Hotplate Tofu which is a must-have from what I can see.
But I have to say that the Hotplate Tofu here was nothing really special. I mean, I'm not sure how 'special' a Hotplate Tofu dish can be but this just seemed ordinary. I think I've had better.

I can't say much for the Cockles though.
I don't really like 'em but my wife does and she says they're the bomb!

Sambal Kangkong ($5)

For those lovers of Kangkong out there - rejoice!
But... if you're the type that likes it extra spicy, you'd better tell them when you place your order.
This one is not really damn spicy but it does pack a bit of a kick and it's not overpowering with any taste of belacan or anything like that.

Fried Baby Squid ($10)

Another must have? Fried Baby Squid!
Give me a $25 plate and I think I would probably clean it out myself I tell you.
The ones at Ah Nam are on the crispy side FYI but they have a nice taste that'll have you putting more and more on your plate I tell you.

Sweet and Sour Grouper ($14)

Okay this was actually a fish that was brought by my sister-in-law whose Dad had gone fishing so Ah Nam will cook it any style you request for a fee depending on the size of the fish and the style of cooking.

We chose Sweet and Sour so that we could enjoy the fresh and firm flesh of the fish.
Ah Nam has a variety of fish to choose from (Grouper, Seabass etc.) and also several styles to cook them (eg Steamed, BBQ, Fried, Assam Steamboat). Anyways this dish was nice because the fish was freshly caught lah...

So if you are having trouble deciding how to have your fish cooked - it's very simple.
When in doubt, fry the bugger.

And now comes the supposed star of the show -

Salted Egg Yolk Crab ($64 for 4 large crabs)

You what I love more than salted eggs? Salted egg yolks.
And when I first tried Salted Egg Yolk Crab in Malaysia, I was hooked (pardon the pun).

Ah Nam's version is delicious but somehow very perplexing.

You can have the normal slightly dry version (as seen above) or you can opt for the wetter version which has a bit of a gravy working for you.

So what seems to be the problem you ask?
Well if you take the wet version, the salted egg yolk taste is somewhat diluted.
And if you take the dry version, well you miss out on the gravy and because if the salted eggs get overcooked then it's gonna be extra super dry.

I personally like mine to be a bit runny.
I remember the first time I was brought to Ah Nam, this dish was perfect.
Just the right balance of salted egg yolk taste while maintaining some gravy for you to slurp up while gobbling on the fresh crabs.

Adam's Verdict:

Beef Hor Fun 3.5/5 -- Hotplate Tofu 2.5/5 -- Sambal Kangkong 2.5/5 --

Sweet and Sour Grouper 3/5 -- Fried Baby Squid 5/5 -- Salted Egg Yolk Crabs 3.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:

Beef Hor Fun 4.5/5 -- Sambal Kangkong 4/5 -- Sweet and Sour Grouper 4/5 --

Fried Baby Squid 3/5 -- Salted Egg Yolk Crabs 2.5/5 -- Cockles 4.5/5

Azlan's Verdict:

Beef Hor Fun 4/5 -- Hotplate Tofu 4/5 -- Sambal Kangkong 4/5 -- Sweet and Sour Grouper 5/5 --

Fried Baby Squid 5/5 -- Salted Egg Yolk Crabs 3.5/5

Yana's Verdict:

Beef Hor Fun 4/5 -- Hotplate Tofu 4.5/5 -- Sambal Kangkong 4/5 -- Sweet and Sour Grouper 5/5 --

Fried Baby Squid 5/5 -- Salted Egg Yolk Crabs 4/5 -- Cockles 5/5

Overall I'd say Ah Nam is a great place to visit especially if you're looking for a family outing.
Laid back place. Open air dining. Friendly staff. Good food. Plus it's nearby if you're staying in the east.

 Ah Nam BBQ Seafood - Steamed Fish

Blk 1 Changi Village Rd
#01-2040
Tel: 9670 8575

Operating Hours:
Sun - Thurs: 5.00pm til 12 midnight
Fri and Sat - 5.00pm til 1.00am