Penyet World Express, Setia Tropika JB

A quick post on our second meet up (Second meet up with Simren, first with Joyce LOL). Initially, I wanted to combine this post with the previous post on Batu Berendam Coconut Shake because both post are mainly about coconut shake but since I have pictures of ayam penyet, I decided to just seperate them. Also, Johor Bahru and Melaka is 2 hours drive apart so this deserves a separate post. 

*OMG why do I sound like I'm not making sense?

Penyet World Express

Jalan Setia Tropika 1/1

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Picture of Penyet World Express taken from their Facebook page

I totally forgot to take a picture of the shop so I had to go find a picture from their Facebook because I'm usually high when Simren's around HAHAHA. The initial plan was for all of us to meet up at G Cafe, Mount Austin but because the rest couldn't make it and since Simren and I had to go to our grandmother's place we decided somewhere closer.

Penyet World Express is located at the row of shops opposite Kementerian Dalam Negeri (Where you all dmake your passports). It's easily spotted because its one huge green shop.

Feel a little apologetic to Joyce because we were all suppose to meet up at somewhere nicer and then go for a karaoke session or something but the plan had to change so we only had quick lunch. Sorry Joyce, if you're reading! Maybe next time!

Ayam Penyet (Puyuh) set, RM7.90

Ikan Lele set, RM7.90

I took the set meal where you can choose a penyet item and then choose two sides. This set is the non- rice set so:

• I choose Puyuh as my penyet item and wedges and tauhu tempeh as my sides. 
• Simren chose Ikan Lele as her penyet item and fries and tauhu tempeh as her sides.

Both sets come with keropok, raw vegetables, a bowl of soup, chilli sauce and sambal belacan as dips! Not the best sambal belacan I've tasted but it was edible.

Joyce's mee soto

While lunch didn't wow me, our drinks did!! Since I've read that they are famous for their coconut shake, I decided to give it a shot. The weird thing is that I don't think I saw it on their menu. I asked them anyway and yes, they do serve coconut shakes!

Coconut shake, topped with vanilla ice- cream RM4.50

The coconut shake was really good!! Actually I think it tasted better than the ones in Malacca, except for the fact that it is double the price of the ones in Malacca. The coconut shake is so thick yet not too sweet. The ice- cream and the coconut juice blended very well together, making it creamy yet refreshing. It has very nice texture to it too i.e. tiny coconut flesh bits inside so you can chew on the bits after each slurp! 

So there you have it Johoreans! We have awesome coconut shake too! So we don't have to travel all the way to Malacca for Coconut Shake anymore! Well, actually I still would because road trips are FUN! Teehee

Batu Berendam Coconut Shake, Melaka

It's the last day of year 2014!!! Tomorrow marks a new year and I thought that I should blog about something nice instead of an angry post about yucky food that I'm suppose to write about LOL So the other day when we drove back to JB for Christmas, we stopped by Malacca for a pit stop.

Since mum wasn't with us, we could go wherever we wanted whenever we wanted HAHA Decided to try out the Coconut Shake Batu Berendam that is apparently better than the Original Klebang Coconut Shake. 

I've tried the Klebang shake and I thought that it was very good and cheap! So naturally my expectations for Batu Berendam's shake was high too. I'm not too sure about the location exactly because we used Waze GPS so I googled for address.

Batu Berendam Coconut Shake
Jalan Batu Berendam

The coconut shake stalls can be seen easily from the main road, if you miss it just keep right and make a U-turn.

It was about 12pm when we arrived and it was drizzling so I stayed in the car and let my sisters jump down to pack us some coconut shake. She told me that you would need to place your order in the shop opposite the tent. 

I read somewhere that Batu Berendam Coconut Shake opens daily from noon onward (except Sundays).

This is the shop that you place your order for coconut shake

I found that a little weird because in other blogs, I saw pictures of the coconut shake being blended at the tent area. I was (and am still) suspicious about if I got the right Batu Berendam coconut shake:S This is the only coconut shake in Batu Berendam right, Malacca people? 

Anyway, we all got the Coconut Shake Special, RM2.80 if I've not mistaken. Special means coconut shake topped with addition vanilla ice- cream on top.

Batu Berendam Coconut Shake, RM2.80

Coconut shake, topped with vanilla ice- cream and chocolate spinkles

Batu Berendam Coconut Shake tasted quite yummy too but I'm still in favour of the Original Klebang Shake. Somehow personally, this shake tasted a little too sweet, as if their proportion of ice- cream to coconut juice was larger. The sprinkles weren't necessary for me too, maybe because I'm not too fancy of sweet stuff.

All in all, it's still a good coconut shake with good differences if compared to Klebang's. It's like comparing KFC to Popeyes, both is equally good in their own ways. That being said, I think I'll go back to Klebang if I'm craving for coconut shake.

"Why so Ugly?" #insidejoke

Cheers! Happy New Year

Oh, I might as well write about a very yummy, comparable Coconut Shake that I discovered in JB!

Tampoi Laksa Shangrila, Johor Bahru

Still very much in the holiday mood but my sister's exam has just started so she's practically on lockdown LOL In which leaves me without a shopping partner. Feel like going malling today and to watch Night in the Museum but scared to disturb her:( Hoping she reads this post then ask me out instead hehehe

So back in JB, I met up with Wawa and Simren. Two of my very close buddies! This time Simren suggested for us to have lunch at this rather new shop in Taman Tun Aminah, very close to The Store. 

I was okay with whatever place that she recommends because the last time I recommended Bob's Kitchen it was so expensive yet food was not up to par.

Tampoi Laksa Shangrila

95G Jalan Pendekar 2, Taman Tun Aminah

Johor Bahru

07- 5628629

Tampoi Laksa Shangrila

Something good about meeting up somewhere outside town is that you are guranteed a parking most of the times and it's much more peaceful too. No need rush and fight with people who are also rushing for God knows what reason.

Oh talking about rush, I realised that JB has really rude drivers! I was actually shocked at how many JB drivers were rudely cutting in lanes, not giving chance for people to switch lanes, how they purposely accelerate when they obviously saw you coming out of a junction etc. What happened to my state men?!

Back to Tampoi Laksa Shangrila, they have sufficient variety on their menu so they would be suitable food for all! People like me would obviously jump for their signature laksa and health conscious people like Joyce would opt for their noodle soup kot? Lol

Menu

Interior of Tampoi Laksa Shangrila, simple and neat

Took a picture of their original shop's signboard!

Chee Cheong Fun (Big) RM5.90

Since Simen had already tried and tested this food place before recommending it to us, she was probably sick and tired of the noodles HAHAHA (Thank you Simren!) So she ordered Chee Cheong Fun! Was so glad that she did because I wanted to eat everything on the menu!!

Chee cheong fun is one of my favourite food because it's steam flour topped with sweet sauce! Takes off the guilt a little. But I'll usually eat it with side dishes like fried wanton, fishcakes and whatnot :P

Tampoi Laksa's chee cheong fun was good! The sweet sauce was thick and nice also! 

Ice water RM0.60 | Ice Cincau RM2.50

I scrooge a bit by ordering ice water. I wanted cincau like what they ordered but I was thinking RM2.50 can buy me one big block of uncut cincau d! So I stucked with ice water:S

Tampoi Laksa (Small) RM5.50

Wala! This was my lunch that day! Tampoi Laksa!! The laksa gravy was so fragrant and flavourful, it tasted exactly like the back lane one off Jalan Harimau at Century Garden there! Very generous with their ingrediants also like egg, fishcake, tofu and fishball. Love the sambal!!!!

But the small was small la, I think the amount of noodles given was whacked by me in about 5- 6 spoonful only. I finished my meal rather quickly, regretted a bit for not ordering big but if order big, later sure too full. Sigh, food dilemma.

Rojak (Large) RM10

Lastly, we ordered a BIG rojak to share! This was really good as well. The prawn paste was thick and generously given. You can witness their generousity looking at the amount of peanuts they sprinkle on the rojak too! The only downfall is that they didn't give as much Yu Char Kuey as I would like, but still very yummy!

I'm so hungry now. I gotta find food, most probably biscuit:| Ughhh, the torture. Should I go back JB again this weekend? Hehe

N Square Restaurant, Johor Bahru

Finally, all settled down in KL. The past week in JB was as hectic as hell but it was also so much fun because I got to go out everyday! Love helping my sis with her baking and fresh milk business, all the trips to restock the goods and what not SO FUN!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas because I did! 

Didn't actually do anything fun on that day except exchanging Christmas gifts and eating my sis's Christmas special bakes (Classic cheesecake & Red Velvet Cupcakes), but I got to do that all with my sisters! 

As I was saying, I went out every single day till I'm currently having dark eye circles and slight eye bags due to the rush... I realised that JB has a lot of new cafe! This of which I thought was a good thing till I actually patronised them.

The thing that upsets me much is the super high price that they place on their less than average tasting food/beverages (I'll blog about it later). The not too bad tasting are still not cheap either but at least it's something that I don't cook at home e.g. waffles so that's fine.

The one that pisses me off like mad are the foods that tasted worse than my cooking. Mind you, my cooking skills are mediocre so if I'm to pay RM23 for a pizza, make sure it's better than my sloppy ones or the commercialized Domions/Pizza Hut ones.

Done with ranting. Moving on to happier food finds!

My secondary school friend, Nadia, recently opened a restaurant in JB and I was determined to pay her restaurant a visit as an act of friendship and support.

N Square Restaurant

62 Jalan Perjiranan 2

Bandar Dato Onn, Johor Bahru

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N Square Restaurant at night

N Square is situated at Bandar Dato Onn and it's really easy to find. Your landmark would be the KFCH College in Bandar Dato Onn. When you see the college, turn right and you will immediately see a row of shops on your right. Find N Square there facing the road!

N Square is open daily (except Tuesdays) from 5pm- 12am.

I was suppose to meet up with a few friends here but then plan changed but luckily I managed to dine with my family here on the second day of Christmas:D

A few shots of the interior:

Simple deco. Frames of pictures of them when they were younger I assume.

Counter

N Square has a rather minimalist interior design but they charge real minimalist price for their food so I think it's all good! Of course they are many other new cafe in town which has really fancy deco and what not but their price is also FANCY. 

I'd rather spend my money on good food than just good ambience. Seems like people are willing pay for great photos to be placed on Instagram despite not so tasty food, but I'm a scrooge so my money is primarily for food LMAO

Waitress serving drinks and my mum trying to patronised whatever Naomi's telling her LOL

Customer service at N Square is quite food. Waiteress will greet you once you step into the restaurant. Remind me a bit of those Japanese shops where you will feel like a king regardless of whether you're buying anything or not.

We all ordered ice water and warm water. I was thinking out loud (to my family) if they would charge us for water? My mum told me to not ask Nadia because after all it's a newly opened restaurant and mum said nevermind if pay for water, haha. 

Guess what?

Ice water FREE!

Warm water FREE!

Woah! So generous! To clarity this, just in case they are people from other countries reading this- Here in Malaysia, ordering plain water is chargeable! Except if you go to certain cafe/restaurant.

If you go to Mamak shop, I think they will charge you like RM0.50 for a glass of water. If you go to some cafe, they will charge you RM1 for water. Btw, the water that you are paying for is usually just filtered water (I hope) not mineral water.

But here at N Square it's free! I hope they keep it that way because I always think that what's offering your customer a free glass of water right?

Strawberry milkshake, RM7

We ordered a strawberry milkshake to try as well. It tasted a little diluted at first, tasted more like ice blended than milkshake but after stirring in the cream it didn't taste too bad. Maybe adding in more milk and ice cream would help?

Mushroom soup with garlic bread RM5

Dad loves starters so he ordered mushroom soup and garlic bread. This is a Must Have! I loved how creamy and thick the mushoom soup was! Bread was generously spread with garlic butter too, yums! I would have ordered more bread to go with the soup because it was super yummy!

If we were at home, mum would have likely toasted the whole load of Gardenia bread for dipping!

Lamb shoulder chop RM17

As for the main course, dad had Lamb Chop which was really cheap! Two chunks of lamb shoulder only for RM17!!!! According to my dad, the lamb was cooked perfectly. I'm usually a little hesitant to order steaks/ lamb if they are cheap (LOL) because I have this perception that they will overcook it. Overcooked beef/ lamb is one of my pet peeves.

So now you know where to get cheap yet decently cooked lamb chop! Next time I'll give the beef steaks a try now that I know they handle meat fine.

Fish and chips RM10

Mum, Reb and I ordered fish and chips because I have been eating too much chicken back in KL and the fish and chips here at N Square is only RM10!!!! Look at the portion of fish and chips offered! Two large, and I really do mean LARGE pieces of fresh dory fish for RM10!! Are you kidding me? *swoons

I was so excited that RM10 today could buy me such a generous meal that I had to take several pictures of the fish HAHAHHA

Nicely battered fish on top of thick cut fries. I repeat, Thick. Cut. Fries  ❤ ❤ ❤

One huge slab of coleslaw! 

Fingers says TWO big ass fish! Teehee  ❤

Beef lasagna RM14

Naomi opted for beef lasagna because she has been craving for it for a while now. Tasted quite good though it could be better if it had more sauce to moist it up a tad bit more. Again, generous amount of beef and cheese! 

Love that it didn't taste Malaysian. I tried making lasagna at home and it always has this Malaysian taste which is not suppose to be there. My self made spaghetti is usually also very Malaysian tasting :S

Then it was dessert time!!!

Brownies with vanilla ice- cream RM10

I'm not a very big fan of desserts because I don't have a sweet tooth. I'd only have desserts after my meal if someone wanted somebody to share it with them. My sisters and I had brownies as dessert though I was hoping to get the Sticky Pudding LOL

Chocolate and vanilla ice- cream RM2 per scoop

Dad and mum got ice- cream as desserts. Both were served in pretty bowls! I'll now show you my kind of dessert:

Onion Rings RM6

HAHAHAHA yes onion rings! 

I ordered onion rings as my dessert and this is another Must Have!! Super yummy like the ones at Mcd! Or was it A&W? The onions is nice and mushy inside and crispy outside. Taste like they mash up onions then form them back into rings, for all I know. LOL. 

Now you know where to find cheap and good food tonight! Bon appetit!

Dal Komm Coffee, Damansara Uptown

It's Christmas eve! Somehow Christmas becomes less exciting these days if compared to when we were kids. Last time it was fun receiving gifts and what not! Of course, it's still fun now to receive gifts but I'd know what I'll be receiving these days so that minus the fun a tad bit :P

For the past 2 years, it has become a norm for me to have Mexican food for Christmas eve dinner! But since I'm back in JB, I wouldn't get my mexican food. Gah! But Reb will be whipping up some Christmas bakes so that I can't wait!

So Reb came up to KL for a few days before we came back down to our hometown. My sister is very Korean so we would usually go for Korean food hunt. This time, lucky her! This new cafe just opened!!

Dal.Komm Coffee 

Jalan SS21/37, Damansara Uptown

Dal.Komm Coffee

I love the food court at Uptown so the other day when I was having dinner there I passed Dal.Komm. Someone told me that the name sounded very weird, like it had some Indian ring to it? LOL My sisters both said that "Dal" sounded very Korean but what's "Komm"? Hmm.

Dal Komm is situated a row behind The Pie Shop, right at a corner.

Entrance to the shop

I like the button that we will have to press for the glass door to slide open! They have it at Sukiya, Uptown also. Very korean/ japanese-y LOL

Interior of Dal.Komm

Counter where you place your order

Selection of cakes and signature toast.

I'm assuming that the displays are their signature because there were much more on the menu. The toast and the bingsu on the counter are fake of course but they do look very real and pretty! At least it gives you an idea of what you are about to order. Very helpful especially if this is your first time trying bingsu and have no idea what to expect.

Fake bingsu on display

The right most one- Grapefruit bingsu- is their most popular bingsu!

Since it's thei most popular, signature bingsu (shaved ice) so we initially decided on that flavour till the cashier told us that it would be sour and bitter and sweet all at the same time. Once we heard "sour" and "bitter" we decided to go for the Apple Crumble bingsu instead XD

Reb placing order

This is very much self service so you would need to decide on what you would like to have then place an order at the counter, foot the bill and wait for your orders to be ready. They will hand you this buzzer like the ones used in Taiwanese dessert shops so you will know when your food are ready for collection.

Order here

Buzzer to indicate that the food/ drinks are ready for collection at the counter

Apple Crumble bingsu, RM15

Our orders we ready within 5 minutes and we were all very excited to see our bingsu because it looks so pretty!! All nicely layered with shaved ice and crumbs! Our bingsu was topped with vanilla ice- cream and whipped cream with a drizzle of apple sauce, noms!

I really like this Apple Crumble bingsu because it wasn't too sweet. The last time I had bingsu at Cafe Bene, the red bean was super sweet till it feels like there was insufficient shaved ice proportion. But thus Apple Crumble bingsu is for the win!

At first, I thought that it would be weird to eat ice and crumbs together but wala! It tasted good! 

Strawberry Honey Toast, RM16

We also ordered the Strawberry Honey Toast and yes, as expected it came looking very pretty too! The strawberries aren't the sweet type though so thank God for the honey drizzled on the toast. Somehow sour strawberries and sorbet is a little too much to handle together- even for a person like me who prefers slightly sourish stuff compared to all sweet.

Naomi requested me to cut up the toast for us so I obliged. Just as my knife was on the toast, the toast broke up to several pieces. Oh, so it's already been cut up for me HAHAHA

Nicely cut into nine pieces

All you have to do is grab and... noms!!

I find the toast rather over priced so definately not coming back for their toast. Speaking about toast, I'll be blogging about this famous Roti Benggali from Penang who is now operating in PJ!! That's like 1/3 of the price of this Strawberry Honey toast. Obviously they wouldn't have strawberries and sorbet on top but good old school kaya butter is wayyyyy yummier (and cheaper!) in my honest opinion.

And if someone really wants Strawberry Honey toast, it's easy to replicate it at home! So yeah, no pricey toast for me anytime soon. 

But as for Apple Crumble bingsu? YES PLEASE!!

Leaving you with a picture of my sis being all- so- grown- up ordering stuff at Dal.Komm!