New Paris Restaurant - PJ, Malaysia

My family back home in Malaysia eats out almost everyday. Both my parents work and ever since my grandmother (she was the one that used to cook for us everyday) passed away more 10 years ago, we have been more or less eating out every day. You can imagine the headache of trying to figure out where to go to for dinner, every evening. There are times when we don't even know where to go to anymore. However, there are a few restaurants that the whole family enjoys eating at and New Paris in SS2 is one of them. In fact, we go there so often, it's like an extension of our kitchen! :P
Paris Restaurant started off as a humble little shack, selling super yummy home cooked dishes and rice. The food was good, the price was affordable and the service was really fast. It soon became really popular and they expanded from that little shack to their current location. Hence the new name - New Paris Restaurant. New Paris today is no longer a humble little shack. In fact, it's far from that. Taking up four shop lots and I believe four stories high, they definitely have come a long way. However, a few things still remain. Their good food and really fast service. They really put a new meaning to 'fast food'. I have no idea how they do it but you can see dishes just coming out from the kitchen at lightning speed! :D Totally amazing.
One of our favorite dishes from New Paris is their Home Made Tofu (RM12 = US$3.90). It is one of their signature dishes and a favorite among their regulars. Silky home made tofu deep fried and then topped with some soy sauce and minced meat. Very very yummy. As a little girl, Ashley would only eat this, whenever we go to New Paris. It was her absolute favorite dish! I believe it is still one of her favorite dishes up til today.
The Chinese believe that in every meal, there must be a balance. A little bit of meat, a little bit of vegetable and a little bit of rice. This is the mandatory vegetable dish. Truthfully, I am not really into vegetables (I am currently trying my best to grow to like them more and more :P). However, I totally love this vegetable dish. Stir Fried Spinach with Garlic (RM9 = US$2.90). A simple but yet flavorful dish. Another family favorite.
Ahhhh another 'must order' whenever we have dinner at New Paris. Their curries totally rock! We would usually order vegetable curry but today, we ordered Fish Curry with Vegetables (RM25 = US$8) instead. Really really good. It comes piping hot in a metal bowl. Large chunks of fish with green beans, eggplant, okra and onions. I could eat this everyday, its so good. All I need is a bowl of rice and some of this curry. That would make me a very happy girl!
Now, this is the main attraction! Deep Fried Pork Knuckles (RM38 = US$12.30) with a side of plum sauce. Check out the crispy skin! It's so so sinfully good. Of course we do not order this everyday (really high in fat content and pretty unhealthy). It's so good, I only wish that we could though. Unless of course we are all looking to get a heart attack from clogged arteries in the near future, this dish is only ordered occasionally as a special treat. I highly recommend this dish and it's one of my all time favorite dishes in New Paris.
Mmmm mmmm mmmmmm, look at all the empty dishes. There are rarely any leftovers whenever we go to New Paris. It's not because their servings are small (on the contrary, actually) but it's because their food is oh so good! Our dinner for 5 people came up to a total of RM102.40 (approx US$33). Not too bad at all, considering that we had a huge serving of pork knuckle and curry fish. Oh I love new Paris, oh yes I do!

New Paris Restaurant - PJ, Malaysia
62-64 Jalan SS2/72,
47300 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 7955 9180, 7955 0186

Restoran Teow Chew Meng - PJ, Malaysia

When you talk about Malaysian food, one would automatically think of Nasi Lemak, Char Koay Teow, Satay...things like that. You can pretty much find those delicacies anywhere in Malaysia. However, there are lesser known regional favorites that can only be found in certain areas in Malaysia. For example, there is the choon pneah (egg rolls), roti babi (stuffed deep fried bread), cheh hoo (a slightly spicy chinese salad) and my all time favorite, mee suah tow. Those dishes originate from Penang and you can pretty much only find it in Penang. In fact, unless you know somebody from Penang, there is a high chance you would not even have heard of those dishes before (yes, I am not just talking about foreigners but Malaysians from other states too!). As a little girl, I would look forward to lunches at the cafe in OFA with my parents. In my opinion, they made some really kick ass mee suah tow! Oh, sorry, for those of you who don't know, mee suah is flour vermicelli and mee suah tow is mee suah cooked in a starchy broth, somewhat like sharks fin soup.

After we moved to PJ, the only time we could get to eat mee suah tow was when we were back visiting Penang. You cannot believe our excitement when we saw a Teow Chew Meng branch in SS2! Yes, SS2! That's like 5 minutes away from my parents house in Damansara Jaya. Teow Chew Meng is well known for their uber yummy mee suah tow! They originally started selling their mee suah tow in a small shack somewhere in Butterworth and their children expended the business to an air conditioned shop in Pulau Tikus, Penang. From there, it continued to grow and they now have branches all over. This SS2 branch is not located in the main busy SS2 square but it's over on the quieter side of SS2, at the Seapark/SS2 border. It' faces the housing area and it's on the same row as Lobsterman.
Apart from the yummy mee suah tow, they have quite a lot of really good side dishes that you can order to share too. My favorite is the Apple Beancurd (RM10 = US$3.20). Deep fried beancurd topped with shredded granny smith apples, dried shrimp and a sweet thai influenced sauce. Really really good. The octopus with rojak sauce (RM10 = US$3.20 for small, RM15 = US$4.80 for regular) and seafood roll (RM10 small, RM15 regular) is good too.
My dad is not a big fan of mee suah tow (even though my mom, Ash and myself simply adores it). So, he would usually order the Seafood Fried Rice (RM10 = US$3.20). I tried a mouthful, it's not too bad. Nothing really to shout about though. It's just regular fried rice with some shrimp, squid, chicken and egg..topped with some spring onions. You could also order porridge, noodles as well as oyster noodles if you do not like mee suah tow.
Ahhhh here it is. A huge serving of Sharkfin Mee Suah Tow (RM11 = US$3.50 per person). This portion is for three people. Mee suah cooked with large shrimp, crabsticks, fish maw,fish slices, bamboo clams, squid in a flavorful thick seafood broth. It is then topped with sharkfin and fried garlic in oil. It is originally served with a whole bunch fresh cilantro and spring onions on top but we told them not to add that to ours (not a big cilantro fan :P). Mmmm mmm mmm, nothing beats a big bowl of piping hot mee suah tow, complete with black vinegar. So, the next time you are in SS2 and what to try something new, head over to Teow Chew Meng and order yourself a big bowl of Mee Suah Tow!

Restoran Teow Chew Meng - PJ, Malaysia
33, Jalan SS2/30
47300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 7877 9298

Kanna Curry House - Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

One of my all time favorite South Indian delicacy is the Banana Leaf Rice. I have yet to find a banana leaf rice restaurant here in NYC (if you know of any, please please please let me know!). Therefore, every time I am home in Malaysia, I would make it a point to eat as much banana leaf rice as I can. There are only two banana leaf rice restaurants that I would usually go to (I think they have the best banana leaf rice ever!). One of them is Nirwana Maju in Bangsar and of course, the ever popular Kanna Curry House in Section 17. Nirwana Maju is located right in the heart of Jalan Telawi 3, just opposite Bangsar Village. Since Kanna Curry House is located nearer to my parents house (compared to Nirwana), I would usually end up in Kanna.
Kanna Curry House occupies two shop lots at the fringe of Section 17., near the Rothmans Roundabout There is an air conditioned non smoking section inside and there are also tables and chairs under the big shady trees opposite the restaurant (I guess you can call it the smoking section :P). Yup, if you choose to smoke, you will have to brave the heat and sit outside! Parking is always a pain at Kanna. It's quite normal to see cars double (sometimes even triple) park along the streets and back streets around Kanna. We once spent almost half an hour just circling the neighborhood, looking for a spot. You know what? The food in Kanna is sooooo good, it was worth it!
For those of you who are not familiar with whole concept of banana leaf rice, here's how it works. A huge pile of steaming hot parboiled rice will be place on top of a banana leaf in front of you. Yes, the leaf is your plate! Three (sometimes four) different types of vegetables will then be scooped onto your leaf. They can range from cooling cucumber salads to potato chutney. Usually, crispy papadams will be served too. The rice, vegetables and papadams are free flow, so if you want seconds or even thirds, you can just get the waiter to top it up. The rice and vegetable combo in Kanna cost RM4.80 per person (approx US$1.50). It's almost the same price in Nirwana but you get something extra. They serve the best deep fried bitter gourd ever! Seriously, that's the main reason why I would go to Nirwana. It's all about the deep fried bitter gourd. Really good!
Alright, so now you have your rice and vegetables. Next, the waiters will bring out different types of curries. This is complimentary and you can help yourself to as much as you want. Most banana leaf rice restaurants would serve the usual three types of curry - fish curry, chicken curry and dhal (a non spicy dried lentils curry). In Kanna, you get two extra types. They are famous for their crab curry and salted fish curry. Now, THIS is the reason why I come to Kanna. The crab curry as well as the salted fish curry is AMAZING! I would usually mix all 4 (minus the dhal) curries together and just pour it on top of my rice. Thinking about it now makes my mouth water. Sooooo good. You must be thinking, wow, four curries at one go? I thought you always say that you have a weak stomach and have a low tolerance to heat? Yeah I do. However, this is so good, I would just go for it and then chug about half a bottle of Pepto Bismol later :P
Some people are just happy with the curries and vegetables but most people would order some dishes in the middle to share. The waiters would walk around with small plates of meat and curry and we could just pick out what we wanted. We chose a plate of mutton chop curry (RM5.50 = US$1.80) to share. The curry was really thick and the mutton was tender. Pretty good. There is also a deep frying station outside, where you could pick whatever meat/seafood that you want and they would fry it on the spot for you. There are all kinds of stuff to choose from. You can get pigeons, calamari, fish eggs, various types and cuts of fish, potato croquettes, shrimp or just regular fried chicken. We chose three pieces of chicken drumsticks/thighs (RM14.40 = US$ 4.60), two fish cutlets (RM9.60 = US$3) and a portion of deep fried fish eggs (RM5 = US$1.60). I loveeee the deep fried fish eggs. Super high in cholesterol but super yummy! I guess it's alright to eat some once in a while, just don't make it an everyday affair.
The total bill came up to RM62.50 (approx US$20) for four people. This includes 2 iced lemon tea, 1 hot milk tea, 1 mango lassi and a banana (yup, my dad ordered a banana for dessert :P). A little pricey for lunch (especially for Indian food) but I guess it's worth it. You cannot put a price tag on good food, can you? Oh and for those of you who are not familiar with Malaysian banana leaf rice culture, here is a little trivia for you. After you are done with your meal, the way you fold you banana leaf tells the owner of the restaurant if you enjoyed your food or not. If you were to fold the leaf inwards (towards you), it signifies that you had a good meal. If you were to fold the leaf in the opposite direction, it shows that you didn't enjoy you food. So yeah, the next time you are at a banana leaf rice restaurant, remember to fold your leaf correctly after your meal. We don't want the poor owner to think that he did a bad job when in reality, he didn't! :P

Kanna Curry House - Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
29, Jalan 17/45
Section 17, Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: (603)7958 4814
Fax: (603)7958 2829