辣妹子湘菜馆Kuantan food review

Fancy for something really spicy and Chinese? Now one can have it in kuantan! It's been opened for quite some time but we just have gotten the chance to try it out.

辣妹子湘菜馆
10, Lorong Air Putih 54, Taman Indera, 25300 Kuantan
Opens daily 11.30am-3pm, 5.30pm-10.30pm
Phone number 0 11-1581 7777
https://www.facebook.com/lameizi.ktn/

Love how grand the restaurant is decorated as. Walking through the heavy wooden door into a stately interior.

As there were 7 of us, we went for both steamboat  and a la carte dishes. Even though the sitting is air-conditioned, we can still feel the heat of the steamboat.

As usual we went for half a pot of clear soup and half spicy soup. The clear soup is sweet to taste and full of the fragrance of Chinese herbs such as Dang Gui. The spicy soup, on the other hand, is really fiery with lots of Sze Chuan pepper, dried chilli and chilli oil. Not for the faint hearted.

There's a wide range of raw ingredients available for the steamboat. We order Xiao Bai Cai, oyster mushroom, tofu, bean curd skin, chicken cubes, prawns, thin pork belly slices, quail eggs, Chinese noodles and chive pork dumplings.

Pork belly slices should be held by chopsticks and briefly blanched in the soup so that it's just cooked in the center.

These dumplings are indeed full of ingredients with thin skin. Chive is unique as it's an acquired taste but it goes really really well with pork and dumplings.

Bean curd skin that actually looks like noodles. It differs much with the local bean curd skin which is either in huge flat pieces or fried to create the extra crisp and texture.

Our extra orders include this spicy chicken 辣子鸡。The free-range chicken is deep fried until it's slightly hard and crispy. It's then stir fried with lots of dried chilli cut into small cubes, Szechuan pepper and peanuts. It requires a lot of runny nose to finish the dish :p

Brinjal pot. Eggplants always taste better cooked in lots of oil with a touch of chili. The chef also adds a generous amount of garlic mince and spring onions together to create this pot of goodness in thickened broth.

Our verdict is 7.5/10! Price is fairly average but taste and quality of food is fairly good. Just the we do not really endorse the behavior of one elderly lady whom we believe is either the owner or major shareholder because she can be quite intrusive and kind of destroy the mood.

Sek Yuen Restaurant Pudu KL food review

Mention Sek Yuen and it will make many recall fondly about wedding banquets held in the past since our parents' generation. It's that old schooled Chinese restaurant that never went out of style.

Sek Yuen Restaurant
315, Jalan Pudu
Opens Tuesday to Sunday 11.00am to 2.30pm, 5.30pm to 10pm
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/%E9%80%82%E8%8B%91%E9%85%92%E5%AE%B6-Restoran-Sek-Yuen-1948-Jalan-Pudu-155047324596390/

Having 2 air conditioned shoplot and one original shoplot with fan only, it's already full by 6pm! A rare scene for KL. Let's see how good the dishes are.

Peking duck

Nothing fancy but solid good roast duck. Cripsy skin, can't taste any fat underneath yet juicy and tender duck meat that easily came off the bone. All speaking of roasting a fresh duck under low heat for a long time.

Crab meat wrap

I love how I can eat crab without having to crack the shells open. Stir fry with scrambled egg, julienned carrot, shitake mushrooms, glass noodles, this yummy combination is then wrapped in iceberg lettuce for an extra crunch. Adding a few drops of black vinegar improves the flavors.

Tofu with mixed vegetables

What a comfort food. A standard combination of fried tofu stir fried with a combination of vegetables (carrot, baby corn, Chinese cabbage, spring onions and ) and chicken slices, as well as shrimps.

Steam fish

It's an art to know how steam fish until it's just cooked and still soft and juicy. This is a great example. The only thing we didn't like is the amount of fish bones there. Ha. And if only the minced ginger has a bit more punch.

Seafood cake

A great concoction of prawn, vegetables made into paste and deep fried into this golden balls of delight.

The other thing worth mentioning is that their steamed rice (nasi kukus) is so much more flavoursome and soft comparing with conventional rice cooker ones.

There you go, our simple dinner at Sek Yuen. Yummy and cheap, simple yet elegant. Our verdict is 8/10!

Delicious Happy Garden 美味园 Kuantan Chinese Cuisine food review

Do you know that Delicious Happy Garden is another great place to have Chinese cuisines in kuantan? Recently bought over by a new management team, it's now about 8 months old already! It's just behind SJK(C) Pooi Chai.

Delicious Happy Garden 美味园
1424, Jln Air Putih, Lorong Galing 128
https://www.facebook.com/%E7%BE%8E%E5%91%B3%E5%9B%AD%E6%B5%B7%E9%B2%9C%E9%A5%AD%E5%BA%97-1203316596481463/
Opens Wednesday to Monday 5pm-12am (rest on every alternate Tuesday)
Phone 0169229623

The head chef has previously worked at Mexica Garden (a well-known banquet style Chinese restaurant), as well as MS Garden hotel. We were already having high expectations at the sound of this. Let's see if they live up to the expectations!

Tilapia ginger hotpot姜爆红非洲煲

Fresh raw tilapia cooked in whole using the casserole in a pot of minced ginger and onion soup. The result is an extremely soft and tender flesh without the earthy taste. Simply heavenly. But it could be better if the soup is more flavoursome. It's a skill to maintain the suitable heat to keep the ingredients from becoming charred.

Mayonnaise prawns 风味虾

Fresh and juicy prawns deep fried coated with a layer of mayonnaise mixed with other condiments (secret recipe k), resulting in this slightly yellowish coating. Always one of my favorite.

Signature fried pork belly 招牌姜爆花肉

Pork belly thinly sliced and marinated in honey before being deep fried until the fat melted till golden brown then stirred fried with julienned onions. A great appetizer and snacks if one wishes to have a beer or two. Love how crunchy and sweet the pork is.

Fried pork chop 香炸花肉

Pork chop marinated in fermented bean curd paste then fried until the outside is crunchy and golden. The meat is half lean and half fatty, making the overall combination moist and soft. It's then sliced and plated in bite sized pieces. A hakka style pork chop that's also great as a side dish.

Homemade tofu皇妃豆腐

Tofu made on site to achieve this soft silky texture. Fried slightly on the outside. Sandwich with shitake mushroom and carrot slice and surrounded by blanched brocolli. Drizzled with thickened oyster sauce. Baby Bing's favorite and we only get to have a slice of tofu each.

Braised pork with peanuts花生闷扣肉

Again, three layered pork (fatty and lean layers intertwine with each other) braised in soy based sauce together with peanuts and steamed for at least 4 hours. The result is such a comfort food choice that simply melts in the mouth.

Mixed fried vegetables 芹香小炒

A combination of sliced celery, lotus root, french beans, red carrot and black fungus. Stir fried at high heat so that the vegetables are just cooked and remain crunchy and fresh.

That's quite a feast for 2 adults and a toddler! We enlist the help of the co-owner and her daughter so these good food would not go to waste. Price wise also fairly affordable. Besides this, they also accept buffet orders for occasions such as birthday parties.

Our verdict is 8/10! Found another place to have family dinner. Would love to try their crabs in the near future.

Grand Imperial Sunway Pinnacle

Wanting to have some grand and delicious Chinese cuisine? Boasting a huge ball room and private suite, Grand Imperial is the place to be if you feel like splurging.

Grand Imperial Restaurant Sunway Pinnacle
101 Pinnacle Annex, Persiaran Sunway, Bandar Sunway
Official website https://grandimperial.com.my/pinnacle-sunway-grand-imperial-restaurant/
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/GrandImperialGroup/

Updated visit in 2020 during RMCO.

We managed to savour our dinner in a private suite so we can dine in ease without worrying about running children. Note that sealable plastic bags were available to safekeep our face masks.

Look at my happy children running around and yelling "lanterns!"

Peking duck spring rolls, minced pork tofu, steam prawns, hotplate salted fish fried vege and I must say their fried rice was super impressive!

Dessert: Almond milk, sweet potato puff with sesame (must try!), mango strawberry dessert soup and osmanthus jelly. 

Below was our first visit in 2018. I think my photography skills have improved a lot in the past 2 years.

Appetizer is mini anchovies coated in tempura powder and fried. Gives a popping sensation when one bites into it. Taking it with the peanut makes me wanna eat it nonstop.

Peking duck

But the duck actually hailed from London with such cripsy skin that I couldn't find any fat underneath and tender meat that came off the bone easily. We have the luxury of the duck slices cut and readily wrapped in warm steamed popiah skin with refreshing cucumber and spring onion. Just need to pop it into the mouth to relive the goodness.

Duck noodles

The whole roast duck is then prepped in the kitchen to produce this noodle dish. I like how soft the meat is in contrast with the slightly chewy thin noodles fried at the right heat in caramel sauce.

Spinach and bean curd skin soup

Never thought of this interesting combination. The beancurd skin is soft enough but not falling apart. The spinach adds on to the sweetness of the soup together with the gochi berries. Great choice for cold weather and young children.


Fried oyster mushrooms

Coated and fried till golden and cripsy outside, it's also flavored with salted egg, the trend in Asian dishes recently. The salted egg made the tempura batter less dry and adds on to the texture. I can never resist fried oyster mushrooms, let alone one that's plated so nicely.

Baby French bean rolls

Another elegantly plated dish. The freshness and crunchiness of the lightly blanched bean, wrapped in cripsy and salty bacon. The exterior lightly dusted with some chicken floss. A very creative combination that looks so good in terms of colors, as well as winning in the taste.

Grilled pork chop

This may look like a simple pork chop but look deceives. Marinated and grilled to perfection, the meat is so juicy, soft and tender unlike any other pork chop that I have ever had. Maybe the secret is the Spanish origin of the pork?

Steamed tofu with pork belly

Another dish that children will love. The tofu is silky and soft that baby Bing finishes it all by himself. The braised pork belly is so soft that everything just melts in the mouth. Marinated so well that all the flavors are fully infused.

Fish cake

At a glance I thought it's cripsy like crackers. But it's actually fried on the outside but soft like fish ball on the inside. Nice springy texture. The dipping sauce tastes kind of like green curry but a stronger hint of mint. Yum!


Our verdict 9/10! Delicious food made with lots of care and effort but the price tag is equally high. Want to spend and eat like a King, try Grand Imperial out.

Affordable lunch sets at Samwon Kitchen Kuantan food review

Friday lunches are usually the best lunch that we can have during weekdays thanks to the longer lunch break. Have been wanting to try this place out. Finally gotten the chance to date Mr husband! This place was converted from a Japanese buffet restaurant.

SamWon Kitchen Korean Cuisine
Address A137, Jalan Haji Abdul Haziz, Kuantan
Phone +60 9-531 6996
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SamwonKitchen/

Love how spacious the dining area is. Bright and inviting too. Sam Won only serves their lunch sets during the busy lunch hours. It's a great selection of satisfying Korean food. We didn't have too much time otherwise would have tried the Korean BBQ.

Kim chi stew with rice

My all-time favorite. Fiery and appetizing kimchi stew with fresh squid rings, prawns, silky tofu, egg and a very generous portion of kimchi, capsicum, spring onions and brown onions. Finish every single drop of the soup even though it's spicy. Wallop the bowl of rice down in no time.

The Korean fried rice set is enough to fit two. The equally hot kimchi colours the dish dark red. A huge portion of brocolli, kimchi, onions, spring onions and chilli stir fried with slightly sticky rice. It's made perfect with a sunny side up egg which has a half cooked egg yolk. My favourite way to have eggs!

All Korean dishes also come with a great selection of side dishes. Macaroni in mayonnaise, preserved brinjals, kombu, kimchi (just can't get enough of it!), dried fried seaweed and preserved cucumber. We didn't even ask for refill because we were so full after the two dishes.

Each set also comes with a complimentary glass of fruit juice. Freshly pressed, not cordial. We had apple and orange juice respectively.

Our verdict 8.5/10! Lunch set great for value and equally yummy. Shall be back for their BBQ in no time.