Damansara Village Steamboat, Damansara Jaya

Hi guys! An early Happy Chinese New Year! Been really busy catching up my job for the CNY holiday preparation and also to catch up on the time spent holiday-ing in Bali. I just had the best experience in my life in Bali, which I will blog about it soon!

Back to the *slurps* food that I would like to share today, I guess almost everyone of you had at least heard of or look into some sort of food introduction on this famous place for steamboat. Owned by our very own talented veteran Patrick Teoh; who also runs the blog Niamah!! which I loved to read as it touches on issues that I always care of.

So upon settling down, you will have to make a choice on how you would like to dine. I would really recommend ordering the sets; which is a little pricey but the best part of it is that you could share. I took the Village Special Seafood Set (A) (RM65) to be shared with the girlfriend. Truthfully, I found that the set is pretty much worth it as it could even be shared among 3 ppl; with loads of seafood, fresh ones mind you and some really good steamboat 'lius' to go along. My steamboat set comes with :

• 200g Tiger Prawns
• 2 x Flower Crab
• 500g Giant Clams
• 1 x Village Steamboat Set - the lius, fishball, fu zhuk etc.

There are also other sets which substitutes some seafood with meat; and also sets that are larger in portion with fresh fish meat like pomfret and snapper thrown in too. More detailed list and pricing could be seen from Damansara Village's blog.

There's only 1 soup base here - the clear soup. It's pretty bland and depends on the fresh seafood thrown in to get really sweet at the end of the session. A recommended upgrade is the Village Drunken Pot; which you will need to add RM12 if I'm not mistaken. Chinese wine with herbs are are added into the soup; making this a hit with chinese wine dishes lovers! I only tried this on my 2nd visit, too bad! Really liked this one as I'm practically drinking the soup non stop after the upgrade.

Some fried onions, and great accompanying chili to dip in. I still like my seafood with minimal dipping sauces though.

The Village Steamboat Set - just this alone could feed 2 pax. Their fish products like fishballs and fu zhuk are not those shopping market quality type. Pulau Ketam perhaps?
There's also 2 mussels, an egg and a piece of 'Yee Mee' prepared.

The Flower Crabs. Although flower crabs are not meaty itself, it is famous for lending it's sweet flavor to boil soup. Nevertheless, the crabs here are fresh to my liking with bouncy enough meat texture.

Giant Clams. These gigantic clams taste sweeter and has better texture than it's smaller size cousin. Simply dump in a few, and check if it's open after 2-3 minutes. Should immediately eat it after the shell opens up to avoid texture changes.

As Patrick Teoh says, like your texture of your old tennis shoes. Niamah!!

When this particular dish appeared, I was thinking why the hell are they covering the top of the plate with another stacked plate.

It turns out, live prawns are contained inside. Damansara Village really brings 'live' to a whole new level, with really jumping, alive prawns grasping for air. For first timers, giggles and shock are expected, lol. Anyway, seafood couldn't get any fresher than this, and yes, the prawns do taste better a lot, albeit the cruel cooking method.

*Sorry, but.. SLURPS*

There's really no other method to enjoy a rainy night but with a good meal of piping hot steamboat downed with a good Guiness stout!

The bill for the both of us came up to RM76.80, not bad for a once in awhile splurge.

The pretty comfy environment with personal huts seating; or opt to sit inside. My only complains about the al fresco seats are the mosquito! Especially on a rainy night!

Overall, I would definitely return! Although much pricier, but the seafood are definitely the next freshest thing other then fishing for your own seafood. I admittedly do miss the superb Herbal Drunken Pot soup base, too!


Damansara Village Steamboat (Damansara Jaya branch)
Address : 1067, Jalan Jenjarum, Kg. Sg. Kayu Ara, Off Jalan SS23/10, Damansara Jaya, 47400, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Phone : 03-7803 1832
Website : Damansara Village Steamboat
Price : RM60 ++

Ikea, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya

Want to get some great looking (but costly!) designer styled furniture? Head to Ikea ! Want to taste some really good Swedish meatballs? You HAVE to head to Ikea ! To me, their meatballs are the bomb. I constantly have lots of cravings of them. However though, I honestly felt only a handful of their items are delicious, and in fact some of them are pretty disappointing. That is why, I keep going back only for ze delicious meatballs! Ikea's food court, like any others is based on a self service concept, which makes it easier and faster to grab the great meatballs.

Kick ass Swedish Meatballs (RM5 - 5 pieces, RM10 - 10 pieces, RM 15 - 15 pieces). Ladened with massive amounts of addictive brown sauce and some lingonberry jam by the side (hidden in pic); all topped with a bed of thick cut fries. You really MUST try scooping the meatballs up fully coated with brown sauce, and mix some of the lingonberry jam on the go. Extremely addictive! The meatball's texture is well; meaty enough with great textures and I like to describe it as 'beefy exploding taste'. Accompanied fries are also great when dipped into the gravy.

I don't usually order other food here, but since I came with my sisters and girlfriend; we decided to give others a go. Turns out, the Baked Salmon (RM15.65) was really disappointing. Albeit the salmon's large size and portion versus the price tag, the salmon tasted more like microwaved. The meat was really dry and lost most of the salmon's 'magical' texture, if you get what I mean. Gravy was also bland and tasteless. The only good thing is really, the portion.

The Vege Pasta (RM 5.25) is surprisingly cheap. Cheap, doesn't really compromise this really bland tasting pasta dish. It taste and looks bland. Maybe opting this for an accompanying or side dish will do, hmm.

Overall, I still think Ikea's food corner is really worth the trip, just for the Meatballs! I always purchase 15 pieces *grins*. Just because I tried some really bad main dishes doesn't mean their food are not up to par. The Fried Chicken Wings there, for example are really good. I also heard ravings about their cakes and great deserts. I especially like their concept of free refilling when you purchase their soft drinks or coffee/tea; with the availability of the drink machines. Also, I noted almost all the food that they serve can also be bought frozen in packs from one level below. Great if you like to serve it at home. Need.. me..a...t...ba...ll...s... in freezer!

A total of RM 40+ for the 5 of us. What??

Ikea
Address : No.2, Jalan PJU 7/2, Mutiara Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Phone : 03-7726 7777
Website : Ikea
Price : RM 10 ++

p/s: I spotted a really nice lamp that I think would fit well in my future house if I were to have one. Money, money, money... work harder, earn harder! Same goes to you guys.. great day!

The Best of Melaka - Part 2

Continuing from the first post, the 2nd post aims at much more 'newer' food founded. Surprisingly, these newer outlets suddenly become must visit places around Melaka. Tried a few of them and well, a few of them are really recommended.

1st stop, some lunch! I really like Donald and Lily's Melaka and Nyonya cuisine food. Situated in a simple wooden shop, their Nyonya Laksa, Ayam Pongteh and Melaka styled rice are really recommended. People are constantly flocking in and queues are normally seen. We arrived a tad too late, and was disappointed as they ran out of their famous dishes. Too bad, next time perhaps! Anyway, their other 'simpler' dishes tastes similar but with a twist, while the simple styled cendol is really good and creamy.

The Mee Siam (RM3), pre cooked. Was alright.

Tau Kua (RM5). The crackers are good..

The creamy and cooling cendol (RM2.50). Simple yet satisfying.


Donald & Lili's
Address : Behind 31 Jln Tun Tan Cheng Lock Chinatown(Heeren Street), Melaka, Malaysia.
Phone : 606-284 8907
Website :
Price : RM 5 ++

For some good old traditional snacks/desert, there's this famous Putu Piring located at Tengkara. People actually buy Putu Pirings here in bulks!

Smooth and fully loaded Putu Pirings (RM0.90 per piece) with coconut fillings!

Putu Pirings on the go - the shop is actually a front area of a house.

Putu Piring Tenkara
Address : 252, Jalan Tengkera, Melaka, 75200 (Not really visible as no signboard, locate Pet Shop - Perniagaan Sayangku that is located beside)
Phone : 06-2821505
Website :
Price : RM0.90 per piece

There's also another place for some good tea time hang out spot that serves really excellent Mille Crepe, or so called the thousand layer cake. I think Nadeja Cafe creates the best Mille Crepe I ever tasted here in Malaysia. Plus, it's easily located; at the top of Datarana Pahlawan has it's plus points. The cakes are really creamy and smooth, with the dozens of layers creating a very playful interesting texture.

Our fav - the Original (RM8.50). This was actually the basic normal vanilla based flavor. Tried others but still remains my favorite as it's not too sweet. There are some really special flavors like Oreo, Chocolate and some fruit based ones.


A lil pricy for a slice, but all's worth it!


Many thanks to the girlfriend's sis for pointing out and showing us the place!



Nadeja Cafe
Address : UB-051, UB-052, UB-053, Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall, Jln Merdeka, 75000, Bandar Hilir, Melaka
Phone : 06-284 3469
Website :
Price : RM8.50

On our way to the girlfriend's relative house where we stayed in Klebang, we noticed a certain stall that is constantly overcrowded and in queue. Being the curious me, I pulled over my car after the 3rd time noticing it and went over to look. Turns out, this stall - Klebang Original Coconut Shake is famous for some coconut based concoction - namely the coconut shake! Very 'Malaysian' style, and the skeptical me look around and found out locals made up the queue - well common sense, the place was really hidden and without and advertisement or so!

The stalls - which are manned by our Malay friends did an extremely good job on preparing the concoction. I noticed they precisely estimate the quantity for the exact taste. Few scoops of Wall's vanilla ice cream, some fresh coconut juice, ice cubes and sugar!

Stall, crowded + tastes good = profit!

The verdict? A YES! For RM2.00 (add RM0.50 for ice cream on top), it's definitely refreshing, mainly thanks to the sweetish coconut. The icy cool blend of icre cream and ice cubes definitely made the old styled coconut juice into a newer drink. I actually enjoyed this on a pool side with a newspaper on the other hand. Awww..

Klebang Original Coconut Shake
Address : along Jalan Klebang Besar (next to Solok Kg. Bahagia), Klebang - locate Caltex
Phone : 013-34994061
Website :
Price : RM 1.80 ++

For dinner, I recently came across Eleven Bistro at Jonker Street which serves Nyonya food. I really like the environment here which is pretty comfortable. I preferred to sit outside just to chill out, have a drink or two and some meal; all while observing the different walks of life. It's rather hard to find these kind of environment back in KL - within certain budget; yet still not overcrowded like pubs or clubs.

We had the Butter Squid (RM12 - Small). This was really just ok, and I think reason being was it's not really Nyonya food. To me, the squid lacks in enough flavor that is needed to bring the else naturally bland tasting squid.

Portuguese Special Baked Fish (RM 35-45; depending on size of the day - ours was RM45). Well, first off the chili gravy was really different, can taste the blended spices in it due to it's texture; and the added onions and lime really brings out the fish taste. The girlfriend really likes this fish, and I too think the fish really goes well with the gravy.

My favourite dish out of the 3; the Portuguese Special Curry Dable Chicken; or the Devil Chicken (RM 12 - Small). This is the Portuguese's version of curry chicken; being less spicier, without coconut milk and definitely loaded with spices. The chicken pieces are not overcooked; really smooth and complements the gravy very well. *Drools *

Comfy and quiet. Really a great spot to have a drink or two outside while being serenaded by some good ol' Jazz musics.

Eleven Bistro
Address : 11, Jalan Hang Lekir (Jonker Walk), 75200, Melaka, Malaysia.
Phone : 06-282 0011
Website : Eleven Bistro facebook page
Price : RM 15 ++

Well, for supper, the only new place that I would suggest for a try, is the new bbq shop which is located outside of Porridge House at Taman Melaka Raya. I wouldn't say it's really really good, but it's does have it's fan base of locals and clubbers (clubs located nearby). People come here mainly for it's barbecued chicken wings, which is well, special on it's own.

You choose your items over a cart fully loaded with ice and it's freshly barbecued. Something like lok-lok but barbecued.

The chicken wings (around RM2.50) that are actually deboned and cut into pieces; which I say why it's rather special. In terms of taste, it does feels more tender as it's better cooked. However, given the price tag, I would preferred the normal ones, though messier.

The large prawns (RM8) ala Capitol Satay Celup. It was fresh, but rather expensive. Our fault though as we did not enquire the price on first hand. But nevertheless, it's still good as it's length is around the size of my palm. Fresh and large!

A simple BBQ supper for 5 of us eating on average at 2 sticks per person costs us around RM25.50. Not that bad if you ask me for some less heavy supper snack.

Porridge House (BBQ)
Address : 291, Taman Melaka Raya, 75000, Melaka
Phone : 012- 782 7336
Website :
Price : RM 3 ++

So that concludes my opinions on the old and newer best food joints that one can find in Melaka; continued from Part 1. Of course, it's merely my opinions that I found during the time I tested that suits my palate. Over in time, I really hope to add on more places during return visits. Happy Exploring and Eating!