KL Sedap 2014 Part 1: Nasi Ayam Hainan Chee Meng

So before we set out to KL, we asked our readers for some suggestions on makan places in KL that they'd like us to visit and review. Boy oh boy did we get a great response and a nice long list of makan places to visit.

Yeah we probably won't be able to fit every single one in because some are really far away from the city centre where we will be based and well technically we're only there for a total of just about 2 weeks. So we will try our best!!

So one of the places suggested by a few readers was Nasi Ayam Hainan Chee Meng.

At first, we thought that this chicken rice place was the one located just beside BB Plaza / Sungai Wang Plaza because we remember a chicken rice place from our past few visits. Well, apparently that's a different one and this one was a little further up the road.

Let us tell you that the Bukit Bintang stretch was under really heavy renovation when we visited. Guess they are re-doing the roads or something so it was quite a big turn we had to make on foot plus it was raining really heavily too!

Anyways we finally found the right place and we were ready for a nice hearty meal because the weather was cold and we were hungry!!

Half Roasted Chicken (RM33.00)

So we came all this way and no way were we gonna order just a small set.
We wanted to order half a Roasted Chicken and half a Steamed Chicken but they were all out of the latter so we settled on a whole chicken but it gets served in halves anyways.

You can also choose the Ayam Kampung version but it's a bit pricier at RM40.00 per half.
Rice is RM2 for a small and RM2.50 for a large one. Drumsticks/Boneless chicken is an extra RM1.
Bishop's Nose aka Tongkeng Ayam at RM0.50!!!

Quite a fair serving of chicken if we do say so.
But there was one problem... 5 of us all agreed on one thing about the chicken - it was tasteless.
It was pretty disappointing because we really thought this was gonna be the bomb.

Not sure maybe it was our bad luck to drop by on the wrong day?
The soy sauce was salty goodness in my opinion but then again a good roasted chicken should not have to rely on the soy sauce to give it flavour right? A good example is the Roasted Chicken at Tang Tea House in Singapore. Yeah the soy sauce is the bomb but the chicken on its own is power too.

But one thing is for sure. The chicken is really a big chicken so you're getting your money's worth in that respect. That picture above is a snap of the chicken breast part. Look at how thick it is!

The rice was also a bit of a let down. It was really grainy and actually it was close to being considered uncooked in some parts. Dry and a little bit hard to swallow on its own and also lacking the chicken flavour you'd expect in Chicken Rice.

The chilli seemed to be the saving grace here.
It was nice and spicy probably because they don't include too much garlic but more chillies instead (rightfully so) but still lacking in the flavour department. Yeah spicy... but not tasty.

But we guess that, in a way, the chilli was probably the best part of the chicken rice there.

Kailan Sos Tiram (RM14.00 Large)

There was a bit of the split decision on the veggies though.

We had the Kailan Sos Tiram (Oyster Sauce Kailan) which I personally thought was really good because the kailan was nice and cooked through as opposed to being too tough like some other places I'd been to before.

But a few others seemed to think some improvements were in order because it was a bit on the sweet side. I thought it was on the salty side which is probably why I liked it so much LOL. Well, anyways they also have a small serving for half the price in case you'd like a smaller size.

Wantan Goreng (RM6.00)

As a side, we decided to go for the Fried Wantons which seemed like nice and deep fried crispy goodness from the picture in the menu and I guess they were not that bad.

Nice and crispy fried goodies but a little lacking in the flavour department (as with most of the rest of the stuff we had there unfortunately).

They're packo full of minced chicken meat and good for dipping in the chicken rice chilli if you're looking to add a little kick into the wanton.

Other sides you might to choose from are the Kerabu Mangga (Thai Style Mango Salad) or maybe go for the Kerabu Kaki Ayam (Thai Style Chicken Feet Salad).

CHILD FRIENDLY FACTOR

Baby chairs are available upon request but a little crampy. Depending on the weather, might get a little stuffy too.

Overall Child Friendly Rating - 2.5/5

Adam's Verdict:
Roasted Chicken Rice 1.5/5 -- Kailan Sos Tiram 4/5 -- Wantan Goreng 2/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Roasted Chicken Rice 0.5/5 -- Kailan Sos Tiram 1/5 -- Wantan Goreng 1.5/5

Azim's Verdict:
Roasted Chicken Rice 2/5 -- Kailan Sos Tiram 1/5

Razali's Verdict:
Roasted Chicken Rice 2/5 -- Kailan Sos Tiram 2.5/5

Fateha's Verdict:
Roasted Chicken Rice 2/5 -- Kailan Sos Tiram 1/5

They actually have quite an extensive menu with items like Chicken, Prawns and Squid cooked in various styles like Salted Egg (!!), Sambal, Sweet & Sour etc and also a variety of vegetable dishes to go for as well but when a place has the words 'Nasi Ayam' in the name, you'd expect Chicken Rice to be the specialty there that can't go wrong.

We eat a lot of Chicken Rice (have you read The Chicken Rice Chronicles by the way?) and we have to say this was pretty disappointing. Sure this might appeal to some peoples' taste for sure but this wasn't for us.

PS the staff were really unfriendly too. Maybe it really was a bad day for us to visit.

Nasi Ayam Hainan Chee Meng

50 Jalan Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

www.cheemeng.com.my

Operating Hours:
11.00am til 10.00pm Daily

Selera Cuppage

So I've heard about the legendary Selera Curry Puffs which used to be sold around Rex Cinema back in the old days. We're talking about a curry puff that could go up against (Old) Chang Kee apparently!
Well, unfortunately I never got the chance to try those curry puffs and I thought I would never get the chance.

Pak Busu Zul & Abang Razali

Apparently I was wrong! Thanks to Pak Busu Zul and Abang Razali, just found out recently that Selera has survived and is currently located at Cuppage!(Heard they also have a restaurant along Mackenzie Road?)
That's right. That includes the famous curry puffs as well!

But when we visited this time, it was quite late and the curry puffs were already sold out so we decided to have a proper meals instead.

Sliced Fish Soup Noodles ($5.00)

My darling wife was feeling a little under the weather so she decided to have something soupy.
And when it comes to 'something soupy' and 'under the weather', you can bet on some fish soup right?

When the dish arrived, the smell was actually kind of a put-off.
The fish had that hamching smell that is so fishy that it puts most people off eating completely.
Fortunately in this case, it was only the smell that was fishy. The fish itself didn't taste fishy and was quite fresh so I'm not quite sure how come the smell ended up being like that.

You have a choice of noodles and my darling wife chose her favourite Bee Hoon.
The soup itself was actually quite bland. I guess overall, you'll probably end up trying to justify the rather high price of $5.00 for this bowl of fish soup.

Fried Hokkien Mee with Prawn and Sotong ($5.50)

Pak Busu decided to have the Fried Hokkien Mee aka Rochor Mee.
The best Hokkien Mee we've had outside of home was the Fried Hokkien Mee found at the now-closed Mr Teh Tarik at Changi Village. So it was going to be interesting to see how this matched up.

I guess it definitely looked the part but Pak Busu says it was nothing spectacular.
The one thing I can definitely spot that was out of the ordinary was the sambal on the side.
How can you have Hokkien Mee without Sambal Belacan??

Bee Hoon Hong Kong ($5.00)

Here's something that Razali says he has pretty much every time he goes there.
Simple and satisfying with noodles, some greens and seafood (like fishcake, prawns and squid).
And it's quite a generous serving too.

But something that I actually didn't really appreciate was that they just poured the gravy and everything else over the noodles. That means when you dig into the noodles, the middle of it is still dry and you have to mix up the gravy first. Maybe it's just me being fussy but I feel that they should mix the whole lot up while cooking.

Wanton Noodles (Dry) ($6.00)

And last but not least of the mains, I had the Wanton Noodles (Dry).
Seems like everyone had noodles eh.

I've had Wanton Noodles at many many makan places (including the now-closed Tong Seng) and hold this dish in quite high regard. It's quite a simple dish and I guess it's quite widely available but everyone has that one stall that they will always go back to for their favourite Wanton Noodles.

Well, for me, after eating at Selera I can safely say -- I have yet to find my favourite Wanton Noodles.
Because this was definitely not it.

You get quite a generous serving of noodles and some greens and shreds of Char Siew Chicken. The Wanton (in case you can't seem them) are the boiled type but they don't come in any soup. This made them rather dry. And they weren't exactly the tastiest dumplings around.

Oh well. Better luck next time I guess.
And speaking of dumplings.

Fried Wantons ($8.00)

As usual, gotta have some of the fried version right?
But this is also where we got the most debate. After all, everyone has their fave wanton like I said.

Abang really liked the Fried Wantons here because they were crispy and even went as far as to say that he found them better than the ones found at Puncak (Far East). My darling wife on the other hand, says that the skin was too thick and the filling was too dry. Puncak's Fried Wantons was still tops in her books.

For me, I felt that the thicker Wanton skin they used here definitely gave more crunch when you chomped down but I think I too prefer the thinner-skinned (and maybe even smaller) Wantons.
And was the filling really too dry?

You be the judge

Fried Baby Squid ($14.00)

I really love Fried Baby Squid. And so does my Brother.
Never had to pay $14.00 for it before though! Bloody expensive!

The baby squids here were actually smaller than where you might get at other makan places (maybe they used Foetus Squids). The tentacle parts were really crispy but the bodies were kinda tough and chewy (which I actually don't really mind).

One thing I did like was that the sauce has a very lime-y tangy twist to it which was very appetizing.
Unfortunately there was very little sauce so it ended up being a bit dry.

Adam's Verdict:
Wanton Noodles (Dry) 2/5 -- Fried Wantons 2.5/5 -- Fried Baby Squid 3/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Sliced Fish Soup Noodles 2/5 -- Fried Wantons 2/5 -- Fried Baby Squid 2/5

Pak Busu's Verdict:
Fried Hokkien Mee with Prawn and Sotong 3/5 -- Fried Wantons 3/5 -- Fried Baby Squid 3/5

Abang's Verdict:
Bee Hoon Hong Kong 3/5 -- Fried Wantons 4.5/5 -- Fried Baby Squid 3/5

Overall I felt that our meal was really pricey and not really up to standards.
I'm not sure how it was in the past at the original location but I'm guessing perhaps times have changed.

Guess I'll go back to try their famous Curry Puffs someday.

Selera Cuppage

Cuppage Plaza, 5 Koek Road
#01-11

Tel: 62350520

Operating Hours:
12.00pm til 11.00pm Daily
(Closed on CNY)