I always wanted to write a review on this, the char siew wantan mee of Restoran Meng Shiang @ Yulek.

The dry and lean looking char siew might not turn your appetite on instantly, but trust me, you must give it a try!

And, you need a lots, ahemm, I mean A LOTS of patience to wait for your char siew mee to be served....

They do serve roasted pork (siu yok) and grilled spare ribs, but my advice is FOCUS on the char siew and the springy noodles!

Sabah is my most favorite state in Malaysia. Everyone is saying that Sabah is a paradise for seafood lovers, no doubt it is but it’s not always cheap! If you really wish to enjoy cheap seafood, you should look for a place which is away from KK like Salut Restaurant.

Situated at the remote area of Jalan Tuaran Talipok, there is no way to reach without chartering your own transport. We paid RM60 to get a 7-seaters. After entering the gate of Salut Restaurant, we went a little further, passed by some big ponds which look like those that used to rear prawns, before long we saw a wood built restaurant standing erect in front of us.

Since Kiat is a beach boy, he knows well what to order for us. He approached the tanks, checked the prices and eventually picked 6 types of seafood with 1 fried veggie.

See, these cockles are so much bigger than adult’s finger, Kiat said it’s best to boil and eat them with chili dip.

Sea snails (RM12) are getting expensive in West Malaysia. Kiat said some restaurants charge as high as RM1 per piece. The tactic to eat is to dig the tail out from the shell with tooth pick, grab the tail with fingers, pull it gently and the whole content will come out at once. Basically it’s kind of tasteless, but some people may just enjoy chewing its rubber-like texture.

Sapak shell is also quite HUGE as comparing to my colleague Poh Leng's palm, cooked with superior stock(RM12) was yummy too since the meat was rather chewy. Broth was sweet and I enjoyed it very much.

Boiled fresh prawn (RM30) seems to be a “must order” dish here in KK. The prawn is small in size with firmer meat, basically the natural sweetness of the meat could beat any big prawn, tiger prawn & etc miles away. Especially the prawn’s head with hidden orangey roes, one may easily get addicted after sucking a few. ;-)

Deep fried soft shell crab (RM30) was well done too, tasted fragrant and puffy, such a superior tidbit to go with beer.*slurp*

For the green dish, we wanted to try this unique Sabah veggie fried with garlic (RM10), sweet and crunchy, good choice.

Sabah is the place you get to eat steamed LIVE garoupa with reasonable price if you know where to find! The guy told us they were selling RM60 per 1KG for live garoupa, why not!? Kiat chose one with 900gram; he said this is the ideal weight of a fish to be steamed. How true! This garoupa is heavenly good when steamed with premium soy sauce. I’d never realize the distinct difference between a live garoupa comparing the one I carried back from wet market until I had tried this, MAMA MIA!! The flesh of those you get from market turns flaky after being steamed while live garoupa is NOT, the flesh is firm,springy and full of natural sweetness, no strange odor found. In fact, this is the most expensive dish on the table yet I still think RM54 is well worth it!

If you want to have more info about our Sabah Food Adventure, please see our blog @
http://ahkingfoodtalk.blogspot.com/
http://ahkingfoodtalk.blogspot.com/

While on the way to Genting, I remembered Chew Sir told me that he used to settle his meal at Bukit Tinggi before heading up. Simply for 2 reasons, cheaper and nicer. Being a gourmand, I trust his advice wouldn’t go wrong.
So, we skipped the trunk road and drove passed the tunnel, followed the signboard of Bukit Tinggi, before long we saw a row of shop lots on the right as well as the stunning “126”.

We slowed down the speed. There is a little junction on the left that leads you a U-turn back to the shop lots. The first “126” appeared in front of us, it was not exactly what we spotted along the highway. We followed the little path, drove further up, and we saw another “126” that stands alone. A sightseeing bus was parked aside of the restaurant. Few tables were occupied, obviously by tourists sent by the bus. We also noticed a few posh cars with JB’s number plate resting in front at the time of 5.30pm.

There's no menu, all their signature dishes're displayed on the signboard. Waitress recommended the followings

1.)Wild boar curry (RM8.00)
Chew Sir kept telling me the wild boar curry,already embedded in my memory, so must not miss! Wild boar has lean and firmer meat, this curry base dish was best to go with rice.

2.)Steamed wild paddy frog ( RM39 for 2 pax)
Wild paddy frog definitely makes a difference from those reared ones, and it’s getting rare too. They steamed it with Chinese herbs and Shiu Heng Wine. I must bring my brother in law here at least once as he is a big fan for wild paddy frog.

3.)Stir-fried baby watercress (RM5)
This dish has been recommended by so many foodies, excellent choice indeed, fresh,unique, crunchy and no bitterness found.

4.)Braised Catfish in clay pot (RM27 for 900gram)
I thought 3 dishes were enough but waitress strongly recommended us to have a fish steamed or braised in clay pot. She convinced us that the size wouldn’t be too big, eventually we chose to have it braised in clay pot as she emphasized this culinary method gives better fragrance of wine. Fish was only 900gram, just nice for steam. The fish was perfectly cooked with absence of muddy odor; skin was gelatinous while the meat was flaky.

When we called for the bill, a complimentary watermelon was served. Looking at the dishes we had, thought it might anytime burn a hole in my pocket, yet to my surprise, it came up to be less than RM100!

Saw a brochure of Daidomon on the desk of my Japanese boss, Buka Puasa Special, dinner buffet was only RM43.90++. Boss said he tried it with his family, and the meat’s quality was satisfactory. One rainy Thursday, we drove straight to Jalan Ampang after work. To avoid traffic jam, we used Smart Tunnel.Arrived Great Eastern Mall around 7.30pm.

Like every other buffet style, customers are required to pay prior the meal. As soon as being seated, we couldn't wait to check out the buffet table. After a round, Moon brought back salad with Wafu (Japanese) dressing, light and refreshing. For grill items, we got to place order with waiter. The waiter suggested warming up with assortment of beef & seafood. He also explained to us that scallop and oyster are controlled items in this promotion in which each group of customers only allowed to order once, others products are free flow though.

While waiting the meat cooked, we had sashimi and sushi. June was right, Daidomon is such a heaven for beef lovers as they serve different parts of cow including ox tongue. This was my first experience taking animal’s tongue; the texture was crunchier and chewy, not too bad!

Although they claim to have more than 100 dishes, but throughout the night, we only attacked the grill products, we merely approached the buffet table for other selections. For desert, they serve ice cream and limited choice of fruit. The peach flavored ice cream was nice!

The verdict is, quality of food is satisfactory but only 1 type of dip being served, should have more choices indeed. Besides, It’s not really that well worth if you are no beef person. Anyhow, the ambiance was great if you are looking for a place to get chatty with your mate.