Gluttons' Square PJ Old Town

I longed for crabs, but rain did not make it viable. Also, just coming from an infant baptism in Holy Rosary Church, I was not really in comfortable, crab-eating garb. Still, the presence of a good friend always makes food more enjoyable, no matter the meal. And with Sharon Lee in tow, it was a celebration of friendship as well as gastronomy as we stuffed our faces and debated on God, the presence and practise of faith in our lives.

As food was as eclectic as the conversation. The Medan Selera (or Glutton's Square) in the old part of Petaling Jaya yielded its tried and true food treasures. At stall 44, Gerai Koon Kim Hong, the lobak remains as original and as tasty as ever. 'Lobak' actually is a specific food item. These pork rolls, about the size of a jumbo frank, are made of diced pieces of lean pork marinated in spices like cinnamon, star anise and clove. The flavour, when done correctly, is sweet and savoury. It is then wrapped in thin sheets of bean curd and fried quickly. 'Lobak' is also the catch-all phrase for the other items which normally are sold with these pork rolls. Traditionally they include prawn cracker (flat discs of flour with shrimps on top), fried beancurd sheets, fried pressed tofu, and other such stuff. The stalls also normally offer another traditional delicacy with lobak - century eggs and ginger. If done well, the items are crispy, oil-free and very toothsome. And truly, this stall does it very well. Even their accompanying sauces, chilli and sweet dark sauce with egg whipped through, are exemplary.

The RM11 lobak platter.

Stall 45 offers Penang delights, and it really is tough to decide what to order. No guesses that we ordered everything! The sotong kangkong (brown cuttlefish with water convulvus) was crunchy and refreshing, with its sweet shrimp paste sauce not being cloying or too dense to mix with ease. The medium sized plate cost RM10.

Ground peanuts cover the brown cuttlefish and morning glory.

The fruit rojak utilizes the same shrimp paste base as the sotong kangkong, but the all vegetable dish was different because of the crunchy texture of the different vegetables, ranging from cucumber, jicama (bangkuang/sengkuang, Chinese turnip or the badly named yam bean), unripe mangoes, pineapple, raw papaya, and beancurd skin.

Fruit rojak.

The popiah (braised jicama, on a base of Chinese salad, with shredded cucumber, diced egg) was good, but did not rival the one sold at the night market stall near my home.

Traditional Penang-style popiah is kinda messy.

The best assam laksa in PJ is to be found in Old Town!

The assam laksa however was magnificent. I had let the rice noodles soak in the rich, thick, fish-based gravy, and by the time I ate it, it was a stodgy of waterlogged noodles, but the flavour had infused every strand of the translucent noodles and made each slurp a melody of flavours. The orders from stall 45 totaled RM23. What a feast!

The best ice kacang in Malaysia!

No trip to this particular Medan Selera is complete without a pilgrimage to the mecca of ice kacang. Stall 46, gerai minuman Weng Kee specializes in ice kacang, chendol and sometimes bubur cha cha. The quality of her product is unsurpassed, beginning with the soft, dense, delicate ice, and filtering through to the quality of water used for her ice. Her coconut cream (santan) is always fresh, while her brown sugar syrup, made from coconut palm juice, is the perfect consistency and sweetness. Her pink sugar syrup in infused with pandan leaves, and always smells sweetly perfumed. Definitely the way to end an eating spree! Or to begin one!