Double chicken special

"Bang. Bagi satu double chicken special, tak nak bawang, tak nak cili & tomato sos. Mayonnaise saja. Bagi garing skit. " Those in the know, will know what I'm rambling on about, the ramly burger.

A ramly burger with works will cost more than a burger you get at the golden arches. But man, they taste great and you get to 'customise' it exactly to your liking. But of course, there are some stall which are better than others.

When I see a ramly burger stall by the road side, I will always remember what my primary school teacher, Cikgu Putih, said once while reprimanding some kids for not doing their home work. 'Kalau tak rajin belajar nak buat apa? Lain kali buka gerai burger bawah pokok main gitar?' (If you're not going to study hard, next time you'll end up strumming your guitar at a burger stall which you open under a tree.) It was a bit harsh, but words that I remember till this day, not that I suddenly become extra hardworking.

I've seen a guy open a burger stall right outside his house, running it together with his wife, while his kids watch TV at home. The stall's not his main source of income as he works around my office during the day. He seems well to do and I can't link it to what my ex-teacher said bout burger stall owners. To me, he's just a regular guy who makes use of his extra time to get some extra cash.

Recently, while on a burger hunt, I found another stall. Been there once. It was not bad. Went there the 2nd time. Made my order as usual. This guy's pretty good, even wears a chef's hat. :-) When I reached home to enjoy my meal, I noticed that the plastic bag which the burger came in had some writing on it. Then, I noticed that this guy had written down his name and phone number so that you can call him to order your burgers. Talk about good customer service. Also, when I was making my order, I saw that he had already set aside about a dozen burger buns. I asked him do I need to wait long cause it seems that he has a larger order to fulfill. He said it was meant for a customer collecting later. Not bad.


Anyway....back to my burger. :-) The 2 patties are slightly crispy on the outside but juicy on the inside, just the way I like it. Wrapped in an omelet and topped off with a slice of cheese,mayo and greens. As you slowly savour each and every bite, the cheese slowly melts in your mouth and the distinctive taste of the burger patty accompanied by the infamous maggi seasoning sauce is absolutely to die for. Coupled with the extra mayo, it can get messy.You want to eat slowly so that it will last longer, but you just can't stop yourself from taking the next bite. Damn. It's so good! Oh well, there's always tomorrow. ;-)

Doesn't look like much, but it's really good. We're talking about a road side stall, not some posh restaurant. The white gooey looking thing is actually the melted cheese. Just took some random shots as I was in a hurry to dig in. :-)

Note to self: Need to improve on camera skills

Where not to eat

Ever gone back to a restaurant because you enjoyed your last visit but got totally disappointed the second time? Could it be because your expectations have been set to high? Is it because business has bloomed and the chef has no choice but to get the help of unskilled helpers in the kitchen? Or is it because the waiters/waitresses are groggy from not getting enough sleep? Or could it be down to complacency and as a result consistency goes down the drain?

Well, the missus, kids and I were already hungry. And so we decided to go back to this restaurant called Little Kitchen which serves Italian food.

Made the mistake of ordering the set dinner. First course, watered down ‘Soup of the day’. Then the main course, pasta al fredo, which the waiter said was supposed to be accompanied by tomato based sauce (I wasn’t sure cause I am not Italian mah :-), so I asked the waiter) turning out to be cream based with herbs and it tasted really bland. For desert, some gello/gelatin based cake masquerading as cheese cake. Coffee, Tea or Milo was part of the set. I asked for milo. The waiter brought tea. I told him I asked for milo from the waitress ealier. He brings it back to the kitchen. Then the waitress comes and tells me milo is the 3 in 1 kind. In my mind I was thinking, “What the?!!!”. But instead, I said ‘Never mind. I’ll take the tea’. By this time, I was already fuming mad. Only consolation was that my kids were eating the food, quite happily actually. Call me a snob, but I would definitely avoid letting my kids eat such lousy food again.

The missus ordered a pizza and ostrich soup. We also ordered fried calamari, which was quite nice and crunchy. Nothing fantastic though. The pizza was edible and tasted not bad but the soup had pieces of meat in them which has the consistency of rubber. On our previous visit, we had the same ostrich soup as well and it was much much better then. The pizza was served after the soups, so I thought maybe they just suck as soup and my main course would be better. But what do you know? They suck at everything!! To top it off, it wasn’t cheap either. Definetely a write off.

Oh yeah…before the cake was served, tomato based waiter comes and asks me, in these exact words. ‘Hello. Do you want a drink?’

Yummy fried bee hoon

There are a group of stalls, located in front of the Honda showroom along Sungai Pinang. You have curry mee, duck leg noodle and my favourite, fried bee hoon. The stall is run by an elderly couple. What's so special you might ask?

Well, the fried bee hoon is accompanied by some freshly fried fish meat and prawns and are only fried when you place your order. So, it really retains its crunchiness and is very tasty. The fish and prawns are crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside, absolutely delectable. A combination of fresh seafood and good frying technique puts some of shops selling fish and chips to shame...hehheehh. Added to that, is a helping of very fragrant home made sambal which really complements the bee hoon.

To sum it up, simple, yet very satisfying.


Reasonable pricing


Uncle in action. The simpler the dish is to prepare, the harder it is to make it taste really good.


Don't be fooled by this plate of simple looking bee hoon. It simple is very delicious

Of the old and new

There have been lots of 'Kopitiams' opening these days. Most prominent of call is Old Town. You can find it everywhere. The food that they serve is simple, yet you will see a steady crowd at any of the outlets.

But.....bet you've never heard of New Town Kopitiam! Guess the owner didn't feel like paying for the franchise. :-) My missus and I were curious as to what kind of food would be served, so we went there last night with the kids. Open entering, you can feel that the decor was the same and also different from it's more famous counterpart. Among the 'foods' and drinks available on the menu were the usual coffees, teas, 'cuppucino', 'french fried', toasts, chicken chop, nasi lemak and of course, half boiled eggs.

I had the orange white coffee, missus had hong kong milk tea. The kids had apple juice and we ordered the french toast. The food and drinks came quick and they were all not too bad. Nothing to shout about though. However, I did spot another patron having curry mee....looked quite nice. Will try it out the next time.

At the back of my mind, I was thinking, the owner's pretty shrewd. While using certain aspects of it's more famous counterpart but incorporating a different menu, I think he managed to pique people's curiosity to check out the establishment. And I must say, that even for a skeptic like me, I would give this place a second chance. Pricing wise, I would think that it's on the high side. But then.....he must be working on the good thing not cheap, cheap thing not good theme.