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

Magic Wok Part II

Our first visit to Magic Wok was actually not bad.

Kinda mixed reviews I guess but it had been quite a long time since we visited so we figured maybe it was time for another shot. So we happened to be in the area with my Mum and Dad and decided to stop for some dinner.

Tom Yam Seafood Soup ($8.80)

Magic Wok we guess seems to be a primarily Thai cuisine based restaurant and that means they've gotta have some pretty mean Tom Yam Soup right? Cos that's like THE Thai dish we gotta have when we wanna have Thai food!

Well, the Tom Yam was not bad at all!
Packo with seafood like fish, prawns and squid plus other goodies like mushrooms this was actually quite tasty too we have to say!

So it's not as spicy as you might like your Tom Yam to be but at least the flavour is there.
Maybe you can tell them to make it more spicy when you order if you'd like.

Hotplate Black Pepper Beef $8.80)

Here's another dish we were pretty impressed with. The Black Pepper Beef is served still sizzling hot and bubbling on a hotplate! A must have for all you people who have gotta have the steaming hot!

The beef was actually really tender too and great black pepper flavour. In fact the black pepper flavour was actually a little bit more spicy than the Tom Yam Soup!

On top of that, we think the price actually really makes it worth it too especially if you're sharing.

Kailan with Beef ($8.00)

Yeah I know you're probably going "Another beef dish??" but hey we love our meat okay. LOL
Plus this is technically a vegetable dish. Sort of.

The vegetables were fresh and generous (check out those mushrooms!!) and the beef was tender.
But this dish was really lacking in flavour. Maybe it was a lack of sauce?

We were expecting more of like an Oyster Sauce kinda flavour to come through but it wasn't there. Even if this was a dish that was just simply fried with garlic, they should still have put some more seasoning because this was really really bland.

Thai Fried Baby Squid ($8.80)

This is a dish we had during our first visit... And it seems.... different...

Okay so the flavour was not bad (cos I'm a sucker for Fried Baby Squid) but the dish was definitely different. A case of inconsistency for sure!

The squid was slightly overfried which means they were a little bit tougher than you'd like (you know what I'm talking about right) and the lack of sauce (as you can see from the comparison pic) meant it was a little on the dry side. And where's the pineapple? Definitely better the last time we visited.

But hey. I still whacked the whole thing until finished (cos I'm a sucker for Fried Baby Squid).

Pat Thai ($4.80)

So my Darling Wife and I had plain white rice with our dishes but Mum and Dad decided to share a plate of noodles and when we say Thai noodles, it's gonna be Pad Thai (which also happens to be Mein Bruder's favourite by the way).

Well, comments is that the noodles were a bit bland. I guess you could mix up the chilli and add in some soy sauce if you want but hey you shouldn't need to do that right? Well, definitely another dish that could perk up with some extra seasoning. In the meantime, eat with chilli padi for extra kick!

Adam's Verdict:
Tom Yam Seafood Soup 3/5 -- Hotplate Black Pepper Beef 4/5 -- Kailan with Beef 2/5
Thai Fried Baby Squid 3/5 -- Pat Thai 2/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Tom Yam Seafood Soup 2.5/5 -- Hotplate Black Pepper Beef 4/5 -- Kailan with Beef 2.5/5
Thai Fried Baby Squid 3/5

Zain's Verdict:
Tom Yam Seafood Soup 3/5 -- Hotplate Black Pepper Beef 3/5 -- Kailan with Beef 2/5
Thai Fried Baby Squid 2/5 -- Pat Thai 2/5

Asmah's Verdict:
Tom Yam Seafood Soup 2.5/5 -- Hotplate Black Pepper Beef 3/5 -- Kailan with Beef 1/5
Thai Fried Baby Squid 1.5/5 -- Pat Thai 2/5
So it seems like Magic Wok is not a bad place to go for some good makan. Most of the dishes seem pretty good (just hope they cook it consistently!!) Definitely a place you can visit for a quick fix of Thai inspired food.

Magic Wok

Downtown East
1 Pasir Ris Close
#03-101



Tel: 6582 8928

Operating Hours:
11.30am til 10.00pm Daily