Authentic Thai food featuring A Lemongrass (LG) Thai Restaurant Kuantan

It's not easy to find genuine Thai food without adapting to the Malaysian food culture. One is immediately transported to Thailand stepping into LG. All the restaurant staff are imported from Thailand albeit fluent in Malay. After more than 10 years in the food industry, they hold onto their authenticity.

A Lemongrass (LG) Thai Restaurant
B346& 348 , Jalan Beserah
Kuantan
Opens Monday to Friday 5pm to 1am
Saturday and Sunday 4pm to 12am
Tel +60 9-568 6354
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/lemongrassthree/

Originally a bar, now LG has transformed into a family friendly restaurant with indoor non smoking dining area. The neighboring Chill and Grill also belongs to the same restaurant, serving as the outdoor area which permits smoking and beer drinking. I particularly love their artistic wooden table at the outdoor section.

The current chef had experience cooking in a hotel back in Thailand. So we were expecting some pretty plating.

Entree- fried chicken wings

Our intention was to introduce their famous pandan chicken unfortunately they were unable to source for screwpine leaves big enough to make the dish that night. But these chicken wings are equally appetizing. 

Fried at low to moderate heat, the whole wing was cripsy without a distinct fat layer. Dip this in sweet Thai chilli sauce for an enhanced flavor. Great for sharing over a pint or two.

Thai seafood salad (Yum Talay)

It's an art of its own. Beautifully carved tomato with deveined prawns perfectly cooked and curved like blooming flowers. 

Combined with blanched squid pieces, julienned carrot, chopped parsley, lemongrass. Refreshing with a hint of fish sauce.

Thai fish lettuce wrap (Miang Pla Too)

A very unique dish. Barramundi fillet coated with flour and deep fried until golden. Wrap a small piece of fish in the lettuce, adding roasted peanuts, lime pieces, onion, lemongrass, ginger and dried shrimp.

Drizzle this with sweet tamarind, palm sugar and fish sauce based gravy to complete this one bite wonder. All the ingredients just went so well together to create this special flavor.

Thai fried rice with shrimp paste (Khao Kluk Gapi)

I love how the shrimp paste made the fried rice tasted so close to the traditional Chinese glutinous rice.

Mix this with shreds of fried omelette, stir fry pork pieces, mango slices, red onions, raw long beans, fiery bird's eye chillies and dried shrimps. Again, such extraordinary dish that we would definitely have over and over again.

Thai pineapple fried rice (Khao Pad Sapparot)

This popular Thai dish is great for children because it's sweet and not spicy. Pieces of fresh pineapple, hotdog slices, cashew nuts and mixed vegetables were stir fried with cooked rice. Then presented in the original pineapple shell. All time comfort food. If you would like a touch of spiciness, feel free to add some bird's eye chillies.

Chicken green curry (Gang Kiew Wan Gai)

The green curry here is on the more watery side. One would never go wrong if chicken slices are added. Chunks of brinjal and cucumber complemented the curry so well. A splash of coconut milk is a must for green curry.

Not only does green curry go well with rice, it also matches glass noodles very well.

Clear Tom Yum with seafood

Without the usual red broth, this clear Tom Yum looked deceivingly benign. One sip to reveal the same amount of spiciness and sourness. Combining chicken slices, fresh prawns, squid and chicken pieces, it's very appetizing indeed. Good to warm the stomach.

Have all these wonderful Thai dishes with freshly pressed juice- we ordered orange and pineapple.

Verdict- 8/10! All the cravings for Thai food satisfied! Authenticity is guaranteed. Ingredients are fresh and price average. What more to ask for?

Watch this short video about our dining experience at A Lemongrass Restaurant.

New taste old brand featuring Shang Hai Tan Restaurant 上海滩老招牌新口味

For Shang Hai Tan die hard fans, they have recently moved from the back alley to a new shoplot. New place and new dishes introduced. But still the same chef, Mr Lee. He started out in this food business since early teenage years.

Shang Hai Tan 上海滩
Address 11, Jalan Besar, 25050 Kuantan, Pahang
Opens Monday to Friday 5.30pm to 1am
Saturday to Sunday 4pm to 1am

This is a family business. Spanning two generations, it's still standing strong since 1965. It's fully handled by Mr and Mrs Lee at the moment.

Look at this awesome mural showcasing the head chef in action, as well as their signature Hokkien noodles.

Stuffed tofu and vegetables on sizzling hotplate 铁板酿料

This dish is one of its kind. They have improvised using aluminum foil to ensure the ingredients do not stick to the plate. Love how crunchy the fried beancurd skin is. Other ingredients include stuffed tofu, stuffed dried tofu, stuffed brinjal, stuffed chilli and fried wanton.

Have the stuffed bitter gourd using their special chilli sauce. Perfect combination.

Fish head vermicelli 鱼头米粉

Generous juicy red fish head pieces deep fried and coated with crunchy flour. Cook this with vermicelli. Soup is fish bone based with pickled vegetables, tomatoes, sour plum and spring onions.

For those who doesn't like evaporated milk, they don't add any in the soup but the soup is very sweet and we finished every single drop.

Fried hokkien noodles 福建面

Their signature dish. Thick caramel sauce coating every single strand of noodles. The must is huge deep fried cripsy pork lard pieces to achieve the perfect taste.

The noodles are soft. Baby Bing loved it to bits. One can never have too much of it. Beware of messy and dirty clothes for young children though :p

Sweet and sour pork loin pieces 酸甜猪肉

Big pieces of pork tenderised and marinated before being deep fried then braised in thick sweet and sour sauce. Sprinkle fragrant sesame seeds on top to complete the taste.

Look at how generous the pieces are. Bigger than a soup spoon.

Salty egg deep fried squid 咸蛋花枝

Squid deep fried in salty egg coated flour, curry leaves and dried chilli. The squid here is fried till slightly hard for the extra chewy texture. It has a sweet taste that complements the saltiness. 

The chilli does not render the dish spicy at all. In fact, it just adds on to the flavors.

Not to forget stir fry lettuce 清炒生菜。

 The lettuce is stir fried with the right heat and timing to a flavored vegetables that's just cooked but still crunchy.

Have all these yummy dishes with freshly pressed apple juice and carrot milk. Refreshing indeed!

Verdict: 7.5/10 Really unique sizzling hotplate with stuffed ingredients. Classic dishes cooked well using the right heat 锅气. That's the essence of great Chinese stir fry dishes 煮炒。

Tea appreciation at Hungree Boys kitchen kuantan

Dr Angel is always on the search for good food, especially in kuantan. Today, I would like to introduce everyone to Hungree Boy's Kitchen.

Hungree Boy's Kitchen (熹阁）
A25, Lorong Tun Ismail 6, Sri Dagangan Bussiness Centre
Opens daily 10am to 10pm except Mondays
https://www.facebook.com/Hungree-Boys-Kitchen-%E7%86%B9%E9%96%A3-368995090190842/

Spacious interior with a very traditional Chinese feeling.

First time seeing stingray being reared in a domestic aquarium.

The various tea types being served. Look at the health claims for all these flower tea.

We ordered Jasmine+ Green tea+ Roselle + lavender. It's meant to relax the mind and relieve "heatiness". They claim it's great for cold, cough and stomach upset. A pot can easily be shared between 3 to 4 pax.

Really like their honey. Refreshing, just the correct touch of sweetness and not bitter.

Chinese herbal drink 王老吉. Only order this if you take like bitter drinks. After adding 3 sugar cubes, the bitterness is still fairly overwhelming.

Gui Ling Gao 龟苓膏. Original flavor so it's naturally bitter. Have this with honey for a good match. Will prefer it to be smoother though.

Pumpkin noodles. Fairly generous portion. Love how the crunchy fried beancurd skin is in contrast with the soft noodles. Sweet chicken soup with nutritious mushrooms. Great for those who like clear soup. 

Curry noodles. I have heard a quite a few positive comments. Indeed it did not disappoint. Thick soup with fragrant coconut milk. Freshly made fish balls with tofu pok, fried wanton and fried beancurd skin. Not to forget the fresh peeled prawn. These make a heavenly combination.

For friends who love fried or western stuff, try their chicken burger. Crunchy outside and juicy patty. Lots of cripsy French fries to satisfy the craving for fried stuff.

Our verdict- 7/10! comfortable dining environment. Price is fairly average for cafe of similar standard. I'm not a tea expert though so those who love tea is welcomed to comment their opinion about the tea. Food wise, I could appreciate the effort put in. Real ingredients used with no MSG. Would be back to try out other tea.

Soothing the sensitive and ezcematous skin featuring Glow Gelenggang

Last year was a bad year for me because I started to develop contact dermatitis on my wrist. On the good days, they don't bother me. On the odd days, I really have to lather my wrist with strong steroid ointment to ease the itch so that I will not scratch and damage my skin. Since then, the condition had waxed and waned. Oh well, I am not allergic to anything but certain substances just irritate my skin. Read here an article from Mayo Clinic to understand more about contact dermatitis.

In order to keep my skin calm and itch free, I have started to be more vigilant about the skincare product I use. I was the type of girl who did not really care about the brand or read through the fine lines about ingredients used in skincare products because I never had problems with any of them. In my search, I came across this homemade skincare product proudly made in Malaysia by Glow Gelenggang.

A set of Glow Gelenggang consists of a herbal soap and a bottle of organic herbal oil. Look at the cute packaging I received in the mail.

These are the powerful natural herbs/oil used in their products.

Cassia Alata/Senna Alata

This is an important Indian herbs used for centuries. Among its affects are relieving pain, inflammation, anti-bacterial, anti- fungal and wound healing properties. In fact, western medicine uses senna as laxatives.

Black seed oil

This seed has been used for its medicinal use for the past 2 centuries.  Black seed has been shown to have anti-histamine properties which alleviate itch.


Argan Oil

This is rich in vitamin E. It also relieves dry skin therefore useful in eczema, psoriasis and preventing wrinkles.

Olive Oil

There's increasing evidence that this helps to relieve eczema and psoriasis.

Goat's milk

Great moisturiser and may alleviate psoriasis.

Menthol

Provides a cooling effect, thus lessen itch.

One may wonder but it is already explicitly stated that there is no steroid contained in the products. Long term  use of highly potent steroid cream may potentially cause local side effects such as thin skin, easy bruising as well as telengiectasia (visible small blood vessels on the skin). More severe side effects are usually not seen as it is only applied on the skin. Therefore, this Glow Gelenggang set could be a useful adjunct in order to minimise steroid usage.

However, in most severe skin conditions such as extensive weepy eczema and psoriasis, the use of steroid cream is necessary in order to keep the skin condition under control.

Why is maintaining healthy skin so important? Besides the obvious cosmesis concerns, skin is also the barrier against invading bacteria and viruses. Skin integrity is also important in maintaining body heat regulation, as well as avoiding loss of water and minerals from the body.

Watch this short video about how I use these products. First time trying this funky feeling on my video.

This is my dry itchy skin before using the product. I have seen a few dermatologist and had lots of testing done, proven it's ezcema.

After 3 days, visibly less inflamed and skin not itchy anymore :)

Those interested please contact
Facebook page www.facebook.com/glowgelenggang
Website www.glowgelenggang.com
WhatsApp 0145445951

Get further discounts by ordering with this code YUNYING10

What's more? Glow Gelenggang is generous enough to provide 5 sets for giveaway!

This is how to join
1. Like my Facebook page www.facebook.com/yingzangel
2. Like Glow Gelenggang
www.facebook.com/glowgelenggang
3. Subscribe to my YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0z0Q7sy39RFFt9HBvBATDw

4. Like and comment on this post "I love Glow Gelenggang" and tag 3 friends

Winners will be announced by 15 March. Good luck!

Brighter and healthier eyes featuring Berry Bright

I am a frequent offender of sleep deprivation as baby Bing is still not sleeping through the night despite going to turn 2 this coming May. Compound this with my oncall schedule. Being a blogger also means that I have to work in front of the screen for long periods. These are all unfavorable conditions for my eye health.

WebMD had published a guide about how to maintain eye health. Read it here.
The recommendation about eating well and consuming certain nutrients is particularly attractive for a food lover like me.

It didn't take me long to discover this wonderful supplement Berry Bright. Full of the goodness of various berries, it's a great remedy to maintain eye health. As I previously explained here, please check all your supplements are HACCP and GMP compliant and Berry Bright definitely is! It's also halal and vegetarian friendly.

One of Berry Bright's founder is none other than Miss Amanda Teh. She is a fully certified naturopath from Nature Care College Sydney.  To be honest, I haven't received much training in terms of natural and complementary therapy but they play their own roles. Therefore, as a doctor, if my patients would like to try complementary treatment, I always advise them to look for certified practitioners such as Miss Teh. It's important to make sure these supplements will not interact with other prescription medications or cause side effects.

In this day and age, it's virtually impossible not to use electronic devices. The blue light emitted is known to cause eye strain but not eye damage inline what many believe. Besides these few tips from the American Academy of Opthalmology,  Berry Bright also claims to protect our eyes against strain, dryness and fatigue.

These are the vital phytonutrients found in Berry Bright! NZ black currant, eyebright extract, marigold extract, vitamin C. For Berry Bright with stevia, it also contains bilberry and stevia. This stevia is none other than the famous artificial sweetener suitable for consumption by patient with diabetes.

So on what basis is the claim coming from? Among the superfood Berry Bright contain are lutein and zeaxanthin.  These are potent antioxidant naturally found in our eyes, especially the lens, retina and macula. Eye parts that are essential for clear and sharp vision, especially in dim light and when there's glare. Lutein and zeaxanthin protect the eyes against harmful Ultraviolet rays that contributes to ageing related eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataracts formation.

And what attracts me even more is the eye brightening effects! As you can probably tell by now, I was born with huge eye bags and dark circles. I have been looking for lots of topical remedies over the past 2 decades only with modest effect. Read this article from the Star to find out how might we get panda eyes and puffy eyes. So, sounds like inherited dark circles may be very hard to treat after all.

Berry Bright comes in small sachets. Dissolve it in about 200ml of cooled water and consume it immediately to avoid oxidation.

The original Berry Bright becomes light purple after reconstituted.

Berry Bright with stevia becomes a much darker shade instead. One sip and I could immediately tell that there's no artificial coloring or flavoring added. The one with Stevia tasted slightly sour but both of them smelled amazingly berrylicious and are very palatable.

This is my untouched face before starting Berry Bright. Sorry if I gave anyone a fright with this scary face :p

Me after 3 days of drinking Berry Bright. I have lost the puffiness and at least half of the dark circles. That's after 2 on calls in the past week.

After 7 consecutive days, look at the changes. Simply amazing. Not only are the dark circle and puffiness visibly improved, my vision is also much clearer and not so sensitive with glare anymore. I used to need my sunnies even on a cloudy day. Now lets hope the changes last. (I didn't edit any of these photos )

Now my dear readers, if you would like to give Berry Bright a try, quote this unique  15% discount code angeldc01 before 15 March 2018. Click here to buy now.