Hanamaru & Yoshinoya @ Midvalley

Hello again!

Pretty pleased with my data analysis progress so far so I'm taking a break and decided to spend some time writing this very stale post. When food post becomes stale, literally like food you just feel like ditching it. But this post is a must note because I really really liked the udon despite the fact that I'm not really a udon lover. Also! I'm typing on my new keyboard that I bought for data analysis and thesis/ conference paper writing hehe

This Udon shop was pretty new when I visited but since it has been in draft for so long, well it's obvious that it isn't new anymore la but still it's worth the mention! A Japanese fast food chain restaurant has landed in Midvalley! You wouldn't believe that this is fast food when you taste it!

Hanamaru & Yoshinoya

Level 3, Midvalley

Hanamaru Facebook | Yoshinoya Facebook

This is a self service store so you would have to go to the cashier counter, place your order, foot the bill and then wait for your food to be prepared and carry it back to your table yourself. Hanamaru Udon store is situated right next to the Yoshinoya and the seatings are shared so you can order from either sides.

Hanamaru & Yoshinoya at Midvalley

I decided that I would like to try their famously raved Udon so here are a few pictures of the store! Now you know what to expect and can get excited over it hehe

A shot of few ingredients at the Udon preparation counter

Pipping hot soup and stacks of bowls!

That's the guy preparing my chicken soup udon.

After receiving your udon, next to the udon prep counter is an oden pot! I'm not too interested in having Japanese lok- lok so I gave it a pass

At the cashier before paying they will once again entice you for an add on. This time they offer you Onigiri and Sushi. I gave that a pass too because I already bought too much of tempura LOL

Totally forgot to take a picture of the tempura station because I was God damn excited!!! The way the tempura are being assembled and the really good lightings made me go bonkers! I told myself that I must come back to get a picture of the tempura station after I put down my tray of food on the table but... yeah, I got carried away with eating hehehe

Our orders!

This is my chicken soup udon (Regular) RM10.80 with two tempura, the Kakiage Egg RM4.80 and Golden Ball RM2.80

My chicken soup udon was so yummy! The soup was light and healthy yet so flavourful. This is like the best light hearted broth I've ever tasted!! Japanese soft boiled eggs were nicely done with a slightly runny yolk. The yolk could have been runnier though.

Kakiage Egg tempura is made up of vegetables and eggs. Very much like cucur bawang with slightly less batter so you can actually see all the vege protruding out like porcupines. For me the vege was nice and crunchy but the downfall was that it was very oily. 

Beef Udon, RM12.80 with two tempura, Sweet Potato RM2.80 and Ebi Tempura RM4.80

Naomi had the beef udon and it was yums too! This one is slightly oilier than my chicken broth but the intense beef flavour is there. No egg included though. That was one of the reason why I choose the chicken soup one because I wanted the egg HAHAHA

The sweet potato tempura and the ebi tempura tasted like tempura that you can get from any japanese shop so it was nothing much to shout about.

Beef Bowl (Regular) RM11.80

Mum had beef bowl because I think it's hard for her to not have rice for dinner. This was pretty good as well. I thought it tasted similar to Sukiya. Nice lean beef slices with caramelised onions topped on rice. Mum loved it at first but towards the end she finds the beef scent overpowering. But! She keep going on and on about how generous they are in providing good quality beef.

Yakitori Bowl RM9.80

Reb had Yakitori Bowl, this is chicken topped on rice because she's not really a beef fan. Wanted to treat her to some kick- ass steak last time but she turned my offer down! :O She polished off every single grain of rice so I assume that it was tasty? lol

Okay, finally I'm saving the most interesting part for the last section of this blog post! The GOLDEN BALL!! I'm a big fan of Sushi King's Golden Ball. Sushi King's Golden ball is tempura egg cut in half and topped with crabmeat mayo. Hanamaru's Golden Ball is a tempura of soft boiled egg!

See the runny yolk inside?

It was quite yums! A little messy I thought because it was difficult to shove in one whole egg in your mouth with one bite but if you bite it into half then the runny yolk will spill. Not that it was damn runny but you know... it can get messy and eating it was a little awkward. Still prefer the ones that they help cut in half :D

Talking about egg, two nights ago I dreamt that I was four months pregnant but my baby bump wasn't showing yet wtf. To my surprise, I was happy and kind of proud about it but then at the same time, I got worried in my dream because I haven't travelled enough yet! I always find it weird whenever I think in my dream. Anyway, weird dream. 

Ok, ending abruptly here.

Al- Baik Fried Chicken @ Kota Damansara

Being fat sucks and I'd never get used to it. Ever since I was young I was a chubby baby and I never did lose the fats so I have never knew what a flat tummy looks like. So don't blame me if I caress your flat tummy because I jakun hahahha 

The lightest I've ever been was between 62- 63kg. That was when I was swimming and eating 2 spoonful of rice per day with vege till I had fainting spells, FML. Thought that the suffering was not worth it so now I'm back to 66kg with normal eating. I could probably lose it if I was exercising enough but... hehehehe.

To make things worst, I love fried chicken so since I can't be skinny, come be fat with me! JOKING!

Al- Baik Fried Chicken

Jalan PJU 5/12, Kota Damansara

Facebook

This is how their shop looks like in Kota Damansara (Picture from their Facebook page)

They have been around Malaysia for quite some time already. I have a friend who is their number one fan and mentioned that Al- Baik fried chicken beats KFC/ Texas Chicken hands down! Apparently it is very famous in Arab so due to all the rave I decided to give it a shot for lunch that weekend since they newly opened a new branch closer to me. The Bukit Bintang branch is problematic when it comes to parking.

Interior of restaurant

Interior 2

The place looks very simple and... cheap LOL I mean I was expecting more because they are a franchise like KFC, McD etc so their simplicity took me by surprise. 

My friend told me that the older Bukit Bintang branch wasn't as nice as this (Gasp! Double shocked, so I don't know what to expect of the old place) but had more comfy couch. Oh ya, but they renovated the Bukit Bintang branch anyway so I assume that it's good as this one now.

Like any other fried chicken restaurants, you would need to go over to the counter and place your order; self service system. Well, half self service because the chicken will be sent to you later.

For the entire month of March 2015, they are having a 15% discount for the Kota Damansara branch!!

The price of the chicken here is slightly more expensive than KFC or Texas Chicken and I was told that I needed to order 3 pieces of chicken to be full. And so I did. You can refer the picture above for the price of my 3- pieces of chicken set meal. 

Unlike KFC or Texas Chicken, please be warned that this is NOT a fast food restaurant solely because the food ain't fast. I waited for at least 30 minutes for my food to arrive, about the same time needed to cook beef steak LOL

Set meal comes with chicken, huge bun, fries and a drink.

Don't expect your food to come organised like other fast food restaurants, I was culturally food shocked HAHAHHA Everything was just chucked into one paper on a platter. 

Something that other chicken shops don't have: Garlic sauce and Cocktail sauce.

Now I'll tell you why these were my life saver...

You see, Al- Baik fried chicken is not your typical fried chicken. Despite KFC claiming that they use 10 over spices, you wouldn't actually taste the heat from the spices. KFC's spices are mild and are there just to add flavour to the chicken.

Al- Baik chicken is fiery!! I bought the spicy version instead of the original because apparently the original wouldn't taste as flavourful as the spicy. My gosh, one bite of the chicken and my mouth was heating up! You could taste and feel the spices come to life! After finishing my first piece of chicken, my stomach was on fire LOL

And this is why you would need their garlic sauce to tone down the heatiness coming from the chicken. The garlic sauce was served cold so it was so soothing to have with the hot chicken. The only downside was that my brain couldn't brain what was going on because it tasted like kebab if you have it with garlic sauce.

"Brain thinks, this is kebab. Eyes confirm, no no this is fried chicken. Brain can't brain it."

See the spice, probably curry powder that seeped right through the bone of the chicken!! That is one skillful marinade!

Overall, it was a good but different fried chicken experience. If you like fried chicken like I do, and if you are adventurous enough you should give it a shot! 

Oh yes, and three chicken was just nice to make me full. I love it that my chicken arrived really hot and crispy (duh, I waited 30 minutes for them to fry it) and that there weren't icky fats below the skin. So when I finished my meal I was full but not that kinda oily throat wanna vomit kinda full. Surprisingly, it lasted me the whole day! Didn't feel hungry even at night, what Arabian sorcery is this?!

Happy chickening!

Johnny Rockets, Sunway Pyramid

So Johnny Rockets has been one of my favourite place to have milkshake since they first opened at the Curve. Lately, they opened their biggest store in the whole wide world (bigger than the US outlets where it originated!) at none other than my favourite mall Sunway Pyramid!!!

This was a few months back if I have not mistaken, just that this post of mine have been in the drafts for the longest time ever, opps LOL. But of course, I'm not earning a penny from this blogging hobby of mine so I'll only write whenever I have time, or when I feel like it.

Like today for instance, I have lots of time in hand. Since I'm chilling alone in my room I decide to quickly publish my blog drafts.

Johnny Rockets

Sunway Pyramid 

(located outside the main entrance)

Johnny Rockets, Sunway Pyramid

View from Sunway Pyramid's main entrance (The Sphinx) 

Escalator going up

It's a two storey building. You will need to use an escalator to reach the entrance of the restaurant. Then when you reached the entrance, you will notice that the restaurant located on level 2 has another level inside, that you climb by stairs.

Entrance

I think you would need to wait to be seated but when we were there, there weren't anyone outside the counter. Probably they were short in staff so we decided to just walk in and have a peek. As we were walking in to find someone to get us seated, waitress in pretty red dress came along and took us to our seats.

Playground outside entrance

At the entrance, there is this mini play area for kids. No one was playing at that area when I was there though. Balloons and slide! And they have many chairs for you to seat while waiting to be seated. The irony LOL Okay, now I'm sure that you would have to wait to be seated and not just barge your way in like we almost did :P

Climbed the first flight of stairs and this sight welcomes you

Arcade area

Close up darts game

It requires token for the games here which you can purchase from the cashier. You can find games such as the throwing darts game, the table footie game and this slider game (I'm sure there is a proper name for these games but I'm too lazy to google for them).

I think one token cost RM, or RM2. Not too sure.

View from our level. I was trying to spy on the whip cream that they used because it was just soooooo good!

Ballons tied to your seat.

I don't know if those balloons are meant for us? As in if you seat at that seat than the balloon attached to your seat is yours. I realised that the balloons had some scribbles on it like "XXX was here", some love dedication and what not. 

Aisle from my view

Sisters and menu

The must have picture of cutlery and serviette LOL

Fancy straw holder and premium sauces (Heinz, yes please!)

Rootbeer float, approximately RM8

Bacon Chedder Single, approximately RM25

Bacon rulez!

Johnny Rocket Wings, comes in 6

OMG this is one of the best buffalo wings that I have ever tasted!!! The ones at Mikey's Pizza scared me a little because it had such pungent taste and smell.But the ones at Johnny Rockets are to die for! Super good, spicy and sweet tasting wings!

Forgot how much did this cost though? I think the wings in 6 cost approximately RM22.

I would come back just for the wings and milkshake and maybe the cheesy bacon fries. The only problem I have with fries with toppings is that my fries will soon turn soggy. I prefer to have one large fries just salted for me to dip in tomato + chili sauce.

One more shot of the wings

Cheesy Bacon Fries

My best friend who is a vegetarian would then have to enjoy Johnny Rocket's fries without the bacon. She always orders cheesy fries till it seem like that has become her staple food LOL Maybe Johnny Rockets would want to use her as their vegetarian ambassador :P

Signature Smiley ketchup, free.

Berry Berry Milkshake, approximately RM18

I have to say this again, they have the best whip cream ever! Even better than Starbucks! Talking about coffee, Starbucks is my favourite place to get coffee beverages because I love their fraps mainly because of their cream! So now, to find another place where their cream beats Starbucks simply is mind blowing!!

On the side note, it's October already which means that I will just need to wait for about a month till my favourite favourite Toffee Nut Frap comes back in season. Swoons~

Too much of food for a supposedly afternoon snack

That's all she wrote:)

Daro Crispy Chicken, Bangsar

This is so rare that I try out a new restaurant then immediately come home to blog about it. My food posts are usually a little stale (i.e. visited the shop about 2- 3 weeks ago). 

Just now, my sister and I decided to have lunch at Nirwana Maju because I felt like having their deep fried petola! But when I was driving around looking for parking, I realised that the new fried chicken shop is finally open!!

Daro Crispy Chicken

Jalan Telawi, Bangsar

Entrance

So we decided to try out the new chicken shop and postpone our banana leaf rice meal. Anyway, as usual there was a long queue in Nirwana Maju.

Initially I wasn't sure if they were really opened for business because there was no customers inside the shop. I only assumed the shop was open for business by noticing that on lonely opening ceremony flower wreath next to the counter.

I told my sis, this boss must have not many friends/ contacts so nobody sent him congratulatory wreaths, lol.

Daro Crispy Chicken is situated kinda next to Tous Le Jours. It's a corner shop, same row as Number76 saloon. Apparently, this is a half Canadian chicken shop- that's what I conclude from their catch phase something about being Canadian and Asian. 

Alfresco dining area

Huge logo outside you wouldn't miss it

 

Counter

Since this is a fast food restaurant, you would need to place your order at the counter and pay for it first just like how you would at McD or KFC. Then the cashier will give you a UFO looking buzzer. When your food is ready for collection, the buzzer will buzz. Then, you return them the buzzer and collect your food. Very much like those Taiwanese dessert shops. 

UFO buzzer

Menu

Since it's called "Daro Crispy Chicken", their specialty would obviously be chicken. There are different types of chicken on the menu such as chicken chop, fried chicken (wings/drummets), fruitti chicken balls (sold out!), burgers etc. 

Besides chicken, they also have fish and calamari on the menu. It's reasonably priced, very much like other fast food joints. 

A sneak peek of the interior:

Seating area with mirrors that make you look skinnier, my favourite! hehe

Another shot, pretty green walls

Bar stool seating (left) and Sauce counter (right)

Crispy Chicken Meal (4 pieces), RM8.95

My sis got the Crispy Chicken Meal. It comes with fries, prickled vege and a drink of your preference, she chose Coke. Her chicken sauce was Honey Lemon. The chicken tasted okay, not horrible, but can't compete with KFC or Popeyes, not even McD or Wendy's. 

The only special thing is the dip, which in this case wasn't very nice. A little too sweet for the liking, tasted like something you serve as desserts instead. 

Fries were shoe string fries, freshly fried. They had some sprinkles on top I think it's chili powder? Not too bad, nothing beats McD's fries though, hehe.

Chicken Chop meal, RM10.60

My lunch was Chicken Chop meal. They gave me a rather small piece of chicken, slightly smaller than the size of my palm. Though small, it tasted way better than my sister's chicken wing/ drummets. It's a combo set so it also came with fries, vege and a drink of my choice.

I love the fact that I could choose ice lemon tea without adding any additional charges. I find McD/KFC/ etc charging extra for ice lemon tea nonsensical. I'm not a carbonated drink person, because I just hate the feeling of the gas bubbling down my throat but usually at McD I'd just settle for Coke because I don't wanna pay extra.

I LOVE the prickle vege though my sister found it a little too sour. It felt so refreshing to cleanse your palate after eating greasy chicken so I love the idea of having prickled vege instead of the normal coleslaw.

For the sauce, I chose peanut butter. According to the cashier, the peanut butter sauce suppose to taste a little spicy but it just taste like normal peanut butter to me. It goes on pretty well with the chicken though.

First time when I tried peanut butter with meat and found out it was actually tasty, was in Taiwan. I tried it unknowingly LOL 

Chicken Ham and Cheese sandwich (bread was french toast!)

I bought this "Chicken ham and cheese sandwich" from Mos Burger early in the morning before conference. Usually savoury sandwiches aren't served with peanut butter here, so I was surprised that it actually tasted good!

So back to Daro Crispy Chicken, I was willing to give the peanut butter a shot. Not the best combo ever, but it tasted decently good.

Receipt

Despite the small meal size, we were both full! I thought I would have to order another set but no, it swas just right. Prolly I had my fried chicken with peanut butter sauce so that made me full fast. I didn't had to worry about it being too greasy because of the sour prickled vege, I'm a fan!

Not too sure if I'd return soon though. Their specialty should be their chicken dips, but they aren't fantastic either. So I'd rather drop by McD (for fries), KFC or Popeyes (for chicken). I have yet tried their Calamari rings though.

If their Calamari Rings is good, then I'm sure to return only because it cost RM7.60! Let's just see!

Ending the post with a few pictures of the fancy containers the chickens were served in:

Daro Crispy Chicken metal box

I couldn't find their Facebook page nor their website though

Notice the metal handle to carry attached to the box, fancy!

Uniquely Canadian- Canadian dips their chicken in peanut sauce?