Eye candy at Ko Hyang, The Gardens

If you're ever in Mid Valley, and stumped about what to eat, head on over to Ko Hyang, a little Korean kiosk serving decent Korean food. It's located at the lower ground floor of The Gardens. And make sure you head there early during peak hours because there's always a queue.

What's good there? Order the Kimchi squid/chicken thingy, they serve a rather generous portion. The pancakes are pretty tasty and the beef bulgogi is rather bland. However, do give the Kimchi Ji Kye (the soup) a miss. It has no oomph and they serve a rather small bowl. Not worth it really.

For those less adventurous, there's always the fried glass noodles. It's tasty enough for the first few bites but the taste gets really jelak (cloying) for me. I like my food fully flavoured and spicy. So if you're like me, give it a miss. But what's really attractive about this place is the good-looking Korean chick manning the place. Yum. ;)

VERDICT
Ko Hyang, The Gardens
Simple and tasty Korean food. Eye candy for the hungry. Generous portions if you know what to order.

Pork-free.

Of Tarts & Bittersweet Times

Ahh, there's nothing like coffee and cake to cap off a nice lunch.

Brewed coffee. Black with no sugar.

Cake. Bittersweet chocolate.

Tart. Chocolate with caramel and almonds.

And friends. Topped with laughter and love.

VERDICT
Alexis, The Gardens
My friends liked the bittersweet chocolate cake while I preferred the chocolate tart. The chocolate tart was just more interesting to me. More textures. More oomph.

Grilling at BibiWok

Of late, my friends and I have been patronising this Thai BBQ Steamboat joint in Puchong called BibiWok. The place is spread over 2 stories, with the 1st floor being the BBQ Steamboat area and the ground floor, the Nyonya-Thai restaurant.

What's great about this grilling joint is the all-you-can-eat buffet items that you can order straight from the menu. A godsend for lazy asses out there. But you've got to grill your own food. Not to worry though, they make it simple enough by giving you butter-coated (or is it margarine? oh nevermind) banana leaves to place on the hot grill. So there's no chance of food getting burned or god forbid, melded to the hot plate.

BUT what's even better is the little pot of kick-ass tom yum soup that you can do your steamboating in. The soup is a combination of clear broth and freshly blended green goodness (kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, etc). And I have to say it's a really nice change from the usual red tom yums.

Outstanding buffet items include the fresh, thick cuts of squid (my fav), crispy fried dumplings, lamb slices and scallops. They used to serve those yummy straw mushrooms, but they took it off the menu recently. Dammit. Anyways, never order the mussels. Those were bad the last two times I tried it.

For dessert, there's watermelon, chocolate ice cream and vanilla ice cream.

You have to order your own drinks but they are decently priced. So it's all good.

VERDICT
BibiWok
At RM28++ per person, it's not a bad deal. You get your BBQ and your steamboat at the same time. And the ingredients are all pretty fresh (well 'cept for the mussels). Plus, you also get buffet items like fried dumplings (fried to order) and mango kerabu. But the clincher is still the awesome tom yum.

Pork free.

No More Churros, Thanks!

I had mad cravings for churros (Spanish doughnuts) after seeing them on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations.

So when Molten Lava erupted in One Utama (ok, well maybe like a pimple would), I was like Yay 'cause I could finally satiate my curiosity.

'Cause in my mind, playing like a broken record were visions of ze churros, generously piled and generously smothered by icing sugar, accompanied by a nice thick cup of chocolat.

But alas, what came out of the Molten Lava were 4 miserable pieces of churro, accompanied by an even more miserable bowl of a sorry excuse for chocolate.

Sigh.

One bite and all dreams were crushed.

I guess some things are better off as ideas when you can't get the real thing -- or when the real thing disappoints as well.

VERDICT
Molten Lava
Somewhat pricey for something so simple. But if you enjoy the greasy smell of fried doughnuts, then give it a go. If not, I'd say you'd be happier with some Big Apple or Krispy Kreme.

Activating our Tums at Carey Island

"Hey, when are you taking me to Carey Island?" said StarLight (aka FoodMooch) for the hundredth time. "How bout this Saturday?" said SuperStar (aka best bud in the universe, ahem).

And so the journey began...

...with four Starborne children tearing down the highway in a white car dubbed 'The Starbird' towards the ghettoes of Klang (as one Starchild puts it). Of course, not forgetting the Cute Couple who were leading the way.


StarBurst, SuperStar & StarBright Meditating on Food while StarLight Wanders
"What? The restaurant is not on the island?" said StarLight. "Oh, well. At least it's pretty scenic."


The Fried Oyster Omelette
Tasty but too seafoodish in flavour.



Asparagus with Sambal Belachan
Gotta have your greens ya know. StarLight loves asparagus. And this wasn't disappointing.


Star of the Night: Assam Fish
"The Assam Fish was good," StarLight said.
"What? You went all the way there to eat Assam Fish?" said StarLight's sister.
"Well, umm, the butter prawns were pretty good too...." muttered StarLight.


Kam Heong Crabs
The Kam Heong sauce was alright and the crabs were fresh. 'Nuff said.


Butter Prawns
Now these babies were good. Salty, sweet and deep fried, they give you that nice crunch when you bite their little legs.


Brussel Sprouts with Garlic
Can't go wrong with this.


The Food has Ascended...into our Tums
And now it's time for some moonlight dancing so that we can go beyond the beyond! ;p

FoodMooch hopes you've enjoyed this kooky blog post. And thanks the following:

• StarBurst for inspiring this post with her 8th Gate Activation 11:11 story (strange things are going on here in Kay Elle. But don't worry we're much too sceptical for that sorta thing. We'd rather start our own cult ;p).
  
• SuperStar for driving us all the way here.
• StarBright and Cute Couple for making this a starry event.

VERDICT
Kang Guan Seafood Restaurant
Tasty seafood (pork free). Decent prices. Rustic ambience. Lovely water views. Getting there was the fun part -- especially when you have good music and good company. So if you ever head there, remember to load up your ipod with road trippin' tunes! For more details and directions, head over to Bangsar-bAbe's Kang Guan seafood post.

Coming Soon

Malaysia's foodaphile is coming to a food stall near you. Watch out!