How The Mighty Have Fallen

It may look trendy, but the shabbiness is getting evident.

When Swensen's first came to Malaysia in the Eighties, with its stained glass lampshades and long ice cream counters, it really was THE place to go for a treat. Great food and ice cream all in one place. It was thrilling to the kid I was at the time. A lot of good memories are still associated with the place where the first Damansara Jaya outlet was: from my dad dropping us off, money clutched in hot, little hands, so we could order take away cones while he circled the block. Dad would always ask for a scoop of yam ice cream in a cup.

I think the franchise died in the early Nineties. It came back in the Noughties, but it was never the same. A visit to the then new Subang Parade outlet showed that there was no longer two sizes of scoops available. In the past, the Swen-size used to be a man's fist-sized scoop of ice cream. Regular was what other ice cream kiosks did. When the brand was re-introduced, that was gone. And so was a lot of the old-fashioned San Francisco ice cream parlour feel. Sure, the old favourite sundaes like the Coit Tower and Stars N Strawberry Stripes were still on the menu, but in response to the times, the decor had changed to a more trendy, cafe-style look. No more dark booths with wood panels, or scarred wooden tables.

The food was so-so, but unforgivably, so was the ice cream. The last time I had an Earthquake (eight scoops of ice cream topped with assorted sauces and whipped cream), it was more like a tremour. This was in 2012. We had four people sharing it, and we had to order another one. This would have been unheard of in the old days. Inflation has caught up too, with the smaller scoops commanding a bigger price tag. That sundae cost over RM50 after taxes!

It's looking like a ghost town in here.

After a long abscence and thinking to revisit an old friend, Kit and CVS made the call for Swensen's instead of Baskins, after a hot and spicy lunch. The outlook was not good from the get go. The trendy cafe has deteriorated into uncool shabbiness. It was lunch time, but despite the promo boards outside advertising set lunches, there was only one other table dining.

After I looked at how it took three wait staff to load a tray of their signature crunchy cones into the freezer, and further noted the connumdrum that developed when the cones began to fall apart, I decided I was not going to blow any money. Basic sundaes were around the range of RM15. A scoop was about RM5. I was not about to fork out money to find the ice cream was old or had melted and refrozen. Turnaround did not look good, and I was not ready to gamble.

The wooden booths have become this.

Frosted Chocolate Malt sundae.

Kit ordered the Frosted Chocolate Malt sundae. It was RM19.90. Thankfully, what I had remembered as a RM10.50 treat was still the same size. Another plus was that it still tasted good, with its malt ice cream, fudge and marshmallow syrups and malted chocolate balls.

The badly assembled cone, already breaking up upon being delivered.

Does this look like vanilla?

CVS' Classic Vanilla crispy cone, however, was a disaster. While the size was close enough to what I remembered, and the chocolate coating was still liberally studded with sliced almonds, it was terribly assembled. It tilted at an angle, and the vanilla was anything but. The yellow concoction inside was definitely too yellow to have come from an addition of eggs in the ice cream. It tasted like someone had scraped the dregs of mango sherbet, vanilla ice cream and orange and disguised it as vanilla. That was a RM10.90 screw-up if there was one.The total bill of RM33.90 could have fed a field trip of kids with cones from the Golden Arches! And I bet, with no complaints,

Safe to say I won't be returning to Swensen's in a long while. It took me two years between visits last. Let's see if they will still be around in the next two years!

Swensen's Subang Parade
G30 5 Jalan SS16/1 Subang Jaya

Family Thais

Sanook is my brother's kopitiam. He owns it with his friend Rivon, who also owns Surisit in Taman Tun Doctor Ismail. I have held off writing about Sanook because when I first tried the food I was a bit astonished that my brother would expect me not to be appalled at what I deemed was the dumbing down of the flavours that made Thai food phenomenal.

However, three changes of chefs later, Sanook has become a place I enjoy eating at, and to which I am happy to bring my friends to. The Thai kopitiam has recently started serving breakfast from 10.30am daily. It's really good, home style food too. I brought VK here a few weeks back and she loved the porridge, though I called Chris out on the fact that he advertised it as Thai style porridge (jok), but what he delivered was more the thick, Hokkien variety of congee as opposed to the Teochew Thai version where the grains are distinctly separate, and the liquid is clear. What Sanook serves is thick gruel which is really simple and hearty, with a runny egg and chicken. A steal for RM5.90 because the bowl is quite large.

Love the runny egg in the jok.

The Thai style lorbak (lightly marinated pork chunks wrapped in thin soybean sheets and fried), is a good, meaty breakfast accompaniment. The flavour is nicely balanced, without it being too sweet, nor too salty. The pork was also tender, despite the relative chunkiness of the meat. RM5 for two rolls was a pretty good investment.

The lorbak is worth pigging out on.

Another zesty breakfast is the Yum Ma Ma (instant noodle salad, RM5.90). This is a refreshing, though carby meal comprising of Thai instant noodles turned into a tom yum-like salad, with the tanginess of coriander, the crunch of carrots, fragrance of basil, and the tender bite of prawns.

Yummy Yum Ma Ma.

Pad Thai.

 If fried noodles are more your thing, try the Thai version of char kuey teow. The RM5.10 Pad Thai is comes with two large prawns and will pack quite a wallop if you mix in all the dried chilli flakes served on the side.

For lunch and dinner, try the Som Tam Talay (green papaya salad with seafood, RM10) is another winner. It is spiced just right, so you have that crazy chilli buzz and tingle, which just stops short of a heat-induced aneurysm, when your head feels like it is exploding because of the amount of capsaicin in a dish. This salad had a great balance of saltiness and sweetness, as well as the sharp zest of lime juice.

Tom Khai Kai.

 To me, Sanook offers the best version of the coconut tom yum soup. The Thais like it super spicy, to the point that it makes the ears ring. My sensitive sinuses cannot take that level of heat, and it embraces the happy medium of the hot, sour and creamy mix which is this particular tom yum. I also find it very affordable at RM8. This portion served three, with double helpings for two.

White is just right.

Sanook
13 Faber Plaza

Jalan Desa Jaya, Taman Desa

Off Old Klang Road 

Kuala Lumpur

The One That Got Away

Malaysia could have had a real Chinese cuisine star in Sam Leong. Born in Malaysia, he has since decamped to Singapore and married a Thai, whom he evidently worships, if the naming of his restaurant and cooking studio are anything to go by (both the restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore and the live venue are named Forest, after his wife).

Sam Leong and yours truly, in the kitchen of Tao, InterContinental Kuala Lumpur.

As part of a dining promotion with InterContinental Kuala Lumpur, Leong popped across the border to his old stomping grounds. I had the chance to grill him on a few subjects.

How much time do you spend in any kitchen these days, really? 
I'm seldom at the stove. I travel twice a month on guest chef stints, and I consult on restaurants. I have two chefs who have been with me for 22 years. They started as kitchen helpers and are now chefs in their own right. They're the ones in operations now.

You actually have retained a staff for 22 years?
In those days there was such thing as loyalty. These days I have lowered my standards. To find commitment is hard enough already.

What kind of changes has there been in the Chinese kitchen, over these years? 
There's been no change at all! The people who come into Chinese kitchens still have not much of an education. They come because they have not studied. They don't look good and would never have made it passed the HR department in a hotel. They are the kind of people only Chinese restaurants hire, and they are in it because they know they'll at least get food while they earn their money. You do get the rare ones who are educated and looking to learn, but they tend to resign. The Chinese kitchen is no place for someone who has been to hotel school and who has been taught that there is a knife for everything. In the Chinese kitchen, there is only one knife - the cleaver - and you do everything with it.

Chinese chefs don't talk. They don't teach either. The only way a young kitchen helper will learn is by experience. If you get nipped by a crab while chopping them up, you continue with a bandage on your hand. If you want a recipe, you study the chef. You look in the dustbin to see what brand of flour and sauce he uses. Chinese chefs will never give out a recipe to anyone who has not been with them for 20 years.

You started life in a Chinese kitchen, just like that. How did you get your break? 
Even when I was Director of Kitchens at the Tung Lok Group (in Singapore), I believed that talking to guests was not my job. If guests had an issue, they spoke to the manager who would then speak to me. When I started to travel, I began to transform. I went to Alain Ducasse's Paris restaurant to eat. There I observed an elderly couple who complained to each other about the soup being too salty. They critiqued every dish. Then Ducasse himself came out and stopped at their table and asked how the food was. The couple lavished praise on him. That is when I learnt the power of the chef. That is why when I was at the Four Seasons Singapore, I made an effort to clean up after service, and go out and present myself to the guests. I learned how to position myself at a table as I stood to talk. It is something you can't learn from a book - how to talk to guests in such a way that guests don't get a neckache  as they look up to you.

Do Chinese chefs have their culinary idols? 
When I began, the only famous chef I knew was Martin Yan. My dad taught me the cooking basics - how to make good soup, how to prepare abalone and sharksfin. I had no idols but I admired my father. He was born in China, he came to Malaya after World War II, in the 1960s. He was the first Chinese chef to use gas to cook, instead of charcoal.

My father used to gather, with all the other Chinese chefs, in Jalan Imbi after the night's work. They would sit until 2am talking about philosophy. I would listen as they talked about work, staff problems - table talk. When I became a chef I remembered some of the things my father and his friends said, and I found I could use the knowledge to improve my restaurants and staff.

Leong's idea of a tom yum.

Hardly part of your seven a day.

You've now found fame as the Chinese chef who serves his food in a Western style plating and form.
I like how Western food is served individually. When at the Four Seasons I noticed businessmen coming in for lunches and talking so much that the dim sum turned cold. This made me think about presenting four different types of dim sum in one basket for each individual diner, so they had the selection in front of them and could eat off their own plates instead of moving the lazy Susan round and round. As a guide I used Joel Robuchon's quote, "Anything on a plate must be edible."

When I began doing these individual plates, the staff resigned because of the added burden of plating. Guests would ask where the head and tail of a whole steamed fish was. But I knew I was on the right track when a single diner from New York came to the Four Seasons and was thrilled that I was able to offer him - a man eating alone - a seven-course Chinese meal complete with Peking duck. He told me he had travelled his whole life and never ever had this experience. So you see, you need to continue believing in what you do. It's all about bringing the customer to another level. It's not just about breaking with tradition.

So how do you see Asians viewing Chinese cuisine? 
There are no more red lanterns in the best Chinese restaurants. It is not expected any more. Chinese restaurants in Asia are beautifully designed now, with dim lighting, wine glasses and show plates. Things have changed because Asians are changing. They have more time for food now, and will enjoy their meals with wine. The dishes do not need to be brought out quickly because people need to eat and rush back to work.

You have two sons. Will you allows them to follow you into the professional kitchen? 
My younger son is interested in Italian food. I told him to get a pastry degree and become the owner-chef of a small bakery. It's not so stressful and you get to enjoy being in the kitchen. 

High On The Good Life

I covered the members' only, casual fine dining restaurant portion of Genting Club known as LTITUDE  for The Star's Life Inspired pullout. However, since the pullout is only available in certain markets, I was not able to get a copy. For those who don't have a few thousand Ringgit to spend on membership to Genting Club, here's a look at what lies behind the zealously guarded, and politely cordoned off mirrored doors.

Ltitude forms part of the gaming, entertainment, lifestyle hub that is Genting Club.

The entire area is billed as a lifestyle experience 6000 feet in the clouds. Members can roll the dice at private tables, and eat at the games tables if they wish (and believe it or not, some DO wish). This means they miss out on what I think is the best part of Genting Club, the dining area - Ltitude Restaurant. This warm, welcoming space gets part of its glow from the many copper skillets and pots hung over the cooking stations. The restaurant features an open kitchen concept, so the cookware is actually used in the preparation of food.

The chiller is stocked with premium cured meats, from iberico to black pig hock.

This decanting cradle is made specially to pour huge bottles of champagne.

No effort was spared to make this space luxurious, so what you get is a kitchenphile's wet dream of a Josper grill, and wide preparation areas, married with marble tabletops and plush banquettes.

The kitchen is fitted out with a Josper grill, the first one of its kind in Malaysia.

The chef manning Ltitude is an old acquaintance, Casey Lim, who I interviewed for Genting's 45th anniversary recipe book. He's worked his way up from kitchen helper to Executive Sous Chef, and there is little he does not know about the local and Western kitchens. He uses this knowledge to good effect at Ltitude. I was very pleased with his amuse bouche of cured meats which he paired with truffle mousse, and Spanish paletta and parma hams.

Colourful cones of delight.

 The Japanese sashimi salad was the most stripped down of all the dishes presented that night. The objective, which was completely met, was to showcase the freshness of the ingredients which included tuna and avocado carpacchio, salmon belly, amberjack, octopus, and the freshest, most delicate of salads.

Japanese sashimi salad.

The chicken consomme with scallop ravioli was another stripped down dish, which also stood out for its freshness and impeccable preparation. The heady, fantastically clear soup was individually poured out of soup kettles for each diner at the table.

Scallop ravioli and brunoise of vegetables.

In goes the soup, and the taste buds set sail.

Personalized soup service!

Casey says that comfort food is an integral part of the menu at Ltitude, so it is not strange to find patrons requesting curry noodles or more hawker-style foods. The Taiwanese braised pork dish he served next was one of the favourites of the older clientele. While it was admittedly very well done, both in flavour, texture and serving (special commendation goes to the marvelously tangy and crisp cucumber pickle), it's not something I want served at a fine dining table. Also, I don't like braising as a style of cooking in general, so this was about the only thing I did not finish.

The Iron Egg is actually a star of this dish, as it is boiled for 24 hours to seep in the flavours.

 What I was really looking forward to turned out to be the thing that let the meal down the most. When writing for Life Inspired, The Star, I am edited by the most amazing food editor. If wine maestros are 'noses', then Julie Wong is a 'mouth'. Her sense of taste is impeccable. She knows her food, and she knows her journalistic standards. She chided me for marking the restaurant down on what I felt was the cardinal sin of not being asked how I wanted my steak. This oversight caused me to be served with the most beautiful accompanied, bad steak I have ever had. It was such a shame that I forced myself to finish the meat, just to justify the loveliness of the artistically prepared vegetables.

What was so wrong with the steak? Well, for one, there was a strip of fascia running right through it, making chewing difficult. I had no choice but to discretely spit out bits of meat and muscle. The second was, because they had assumed everyone took their steak well done, my hunk of meat was grilled to within an inch of its life. There was no redness, no juice, and very little flavour.

Everything was perfectly cooked. Except the beef.

Dessert, thankfully, saved the day. The chocolate sphere with mascarpone mousse, ice cream and warm chocolate sauce was nice to look at, pretty to see served and surprising to eat. I loved the ritual of the hot liquid being poured on, and the visualness of the melting sphere. I adore food which 'moves' on the plate, and this dessert sure did.

Poetry in motion! The chocolate sphere being melted with hot chocolate.

Aside from the movement of the food, the force was strong with this dessert. The taste, texture and the lovely dance of cold ice cream and warm chocolate and velvet cheese was gorgeous. The biggest winner was the surprising inclusion of pop rocks, that exploding candy we used to eat as kids, in the middle of the dessert. It was hidden so well, that it was totally unexpected. When the fizzing and the tingle began, I actually exclaimed aloud. I was that tickled, and that pleased. Yes, kitsch is cool with me!

The most amazing thing about the experience was that the meal we were presented with was a RM300 nett set meal! For the presentation and the quality we got, this has to rate as one of the best fine dining meals I've sampled in Malaysia. However, note that you pay a cool RM20,000 for entry into this exclusive circle, so I guess cheaper good food is one of the perks.

Whatever it was, it was one of the best nights I've had this year. Even with the thick fog we encountered as we made our way down the mountain.

Thank you Casey, for the time and care which you and your team put into this meal!

Part of the kitchen brigade who toiled for us.

Chef Casey Lim in the thick of things.

LTITUDE Restaurant & Bar
Genting Club
Genting Hotel
Gentin Highlands

Hai-way Robbery?

Joy is a slice of bread for RM5. As long as you're the owner.

In all the interviews I have done with Hainanese chefs and older Hainanese folk, the one thing that came through strongly was their frugality. New migrants to Malaya were most often broke after paying their passage from China, and among the first things they did was to buy a few chickens for their eggs, as well as their droppings, which would fertilize a vegetable plot so there was cheap food available. The chicken would later also become part of  the food chain. Cheap, easy-to-cook items remain the backbone of Hainanese cuisine. Just not at restaurants or cafes.

Does this look like RM5 to you?

Call me a cheapskate, but paying RM5 for a piece of toast with a slice of processed cheese and sugar is something that would make a chef's mother turn in her grave (if she was buried, and not cremated). Just let me get this rant out of the way before we talk about the other food at Hainan Joy. RM5 for piece of toast! Of course the menu calls it thick Hainan bread, but I'd be the thick one if I ever order this one again, seeing the bread, though wholemeal, was not of such traditional quality that warranted the price of the item. In fact, I could get a whole loaf for that price, as well as a few slices of cheese!

Rant aside, it is always the case of willing buyer-willing seller, isn't it? What can a parent do if a child will only eat toast? As evidence by at least two other tables near mine, this was the clear case. The simplest food, with the highest mark-ups will allow a nice profit baseline and ensure clients who do their math will opt to price up and get a more expensive dish which has more value and substance than toast.

Charming little entryway.

Like CVS always tells me: people eat out for the convenience of not having to clean up. Eating out gives the cook a rest and allows him or her to be part of the dining experience as opposed to the provider of the food that makes up the backbone of the experience. For this, I'd bring guests to Hainan Joy.

The general food items are within market price for a cafe, and there is certainly some truth to their Hainanese claim. I'm told their coffee is also the traditional kind, sugar roasted for a sweeter aroma and silkier mouth feel. I guess RM3.50 for a kopi-o isn't too much to pay if it is really good coffee. I do think RM1 a glass for water is a bit much, although it is a large glass. I'm not sure if it is refillable.

While the Nyonya laksa (RM8.50) looked good, and was priced well-within acceptable limits, my dad claimed it was a bit watered down. It tasted, he said, like the Prima Deli packets available from Singapore - just not 'lemak' enough, as if they had tried to get too much gravy out of one packet. Still, it smelled very authentic.

Nyonya laksa.

The nasi lemak special chicken was RM10 - also well-priced. The portion was good, and the serving was made to look bigger with lots of little additional items. It was certainly a filling meal, and very passable.

Nasi lemak special chicken.

The Hainanese chicken chop (RM14) were also large. The chicken legs they used were certainly not the usual scrawny hypermarket chicken ones. They were also fresh, and well breaded. A Hainan chef, however, will tell you that chicken legs for this dish should always be de-boned and flattened before being coated in batter. Still, it was a good batter - very close to the puffiness of KFC's Hot & Spicy - though not as spiced.

Hainanese chicken chop.

While the peas were missing, there were baked beans in its place. The quality of the beans could have been improved if they'd warmed it in a pan slowly before serving, to dissipate the metallic tang that I always find prevalent in canned foods.

The fried egg was a bit of an oddity, but it had a nice, oozy centre, so it added thickness to the gravy. The brown sauce was so-so despite the addition of mushrooms. Using dried black mushrooms may have given the sauce more presence and a heavier clout.

Generally this is not a place I would shun in the future. I would, however, stay far away from any of the toasts because that RM5 slice of bread still rankles me!

Hainan Joy Cafe

53 Jalan SS24/8,Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

We'll See The Dr Now

Not sure if it's the best coffee in the world, but it's pretty good.

Post-prandial drinks on a hot day in Solaris saw my brother-in-law suggesting somewhere more blog-worthy than Coffee Bean if we were going to document the exercise. So we went to see the doctor. Why Dr Cafe is named such I have no idea. I read through the founder's story (and grammar errors) and did not see any medical profession attached to his name. Still, the overall experience was a good one, apart from an incessant blasting of a car horn from someone who had been hemmed in by a selfish motorist with a doctorate in proctology.

The car park situation is so bad that you'd have to be in the vicinity to be a patron.

Outdoor seating for Englishmen only (since mad dogs and all other pets aren't allowed).

CVS shouted the first round, which consisted on a pretty good cinnamon role (RM6.35) which, although not as squishy as I would have liked, was pretty soft, and very well flavoured.

The cinnamon roll in all its glazed glory.

 This is possibly the only cafe which offers cider, and a hot one at that. Impressively, it was darn good cider too, with the tangy smell of apples, and a tasty mouthful of cinnamon. I'm pretty sure it did not come from whole apples, and it may have even been made from a pureed concentrate (it had a slight hint of preservation in it), but it was still good steamed cider, and it was not overly expensive at the same price as the cinnamon roll.

Steamed cider went well with the cinnamon roll.

White sugar, white vanilla, white cream. Evil never looked so pure.

The caramel franilla grande with whipped cream (RM13.80 + RM2.10) was really sweet, but oh, how evilly delicious was that smooth, rich-smelling mouthful of cold mush.

The decaff cookie frappe (RM13.80) was another winner. The flavour was awesome and it helped that they made it with a Vitamix blender, so it came out creamy smooth. The off shoot of that was an absence of any real cookie bits.

The naked decaff next to the white queen.

Despite the sign above the counter claiming that if no receipt was given, then the drinks would be free, the lax counter person failed to honour the claim, choosing to reprint individual receipts for the misto house blend (RM7.40) and Espresso Con Panna (RM7.40). So much for the whole rahrah propaganda of serving great products via great and knowledgeable staff! Companies should really enforce these service propositions if they're going to go to town with all their slogans and corporate posturing!

Just above this display is the sign claiming that your drinks are on the house in event of a receipt not being presented. Yeah, right!

Plastic packaging, like their free drink promise!

This took quite a bit away from my enjoyment of the second round of drinks. I am never out to get a free drink, but I believe in principles and really hate it when promises are not kept.

It looks big, but it's an espresso!

We all felt that the thick layer of cream on the Espresso Con Panna took away the scent which is the primary enjoyment of coffee. It made the espresso seem rather insipid, and a tad alkalic once it made it through the cream.

The misto fared better, since it was not all dressed up, though it was not so good that I would have drunk it without the addition of sugar.

Misto wasn't nearly as dark and mysterious as it could have been.

Dr Cafe Solaris Dutamas
Level G2 Block A4
Solaris Dutamas
1 Jalan Dutamas 1
50480 Kuala Lumpur