Tg Tualang River prawns

The prawns here lured us back to Tanjung Tualang for another round of the famous big head river prawns . River prawns lovers would mind driving almost 2 hours to get their fix . This sleepy town located about 45 minutes from Ipoh , comes alive every weekend and during public holidays as prawn lovers from near and afar makes their way here and its every prawn lovers dream to be greeted by rows and rows of restaurants proudly display their prawns on the walkways to lure you in.

Being the 6th day of CNY and felt a little bored from the usual CNY programme , we headed down to Tg Tualang to meet another 2 couples on their way back to KL from Penang for our fix. Since we were early and ahead of schedule , me and my kaki makan fren decided to start our makan trip early by stopping in Bidor for wantan mee for part 1 of our makan trip !!


This particular wantan mee is much better than the much famous Pun Chun. Flavourful noodle which is cooked al dante , and each wantan comes with whole prawns . But doesnt comes cheap even with KL standard's at RM4 for a small serving and each wantan cost 50 cents each.


And after our initial stop we finally makes our way to Tg Tualang , the mecca of river prawns.

First stop was Sun Swee Kiong based on some recommendations from a friend.

This steam Pak Soukung ( Catfish ) was really fresh and firm at the belly side . Indicating that this is a true river fish and not the reared ones.

Fried petai with sambal and cuttlefish. This is really good with fragrant belacan and not too spicy

What was supposed to the star of the day turns out to be a failure. This ' Kon Cheen' fried prawns was rather bland . Would be much better with a little more saltiness and sweetness from the caramel. But the firm flesh of the giant prawns saved the day.

The heads didnt turned out perfect either. Could be better with a little more Shiau Hing wine . Another failure is that, steam prawns shouldnt comes with chinese parsley as it spoils the natural sweetness of the prawns. Spring onions would be a much better choice. However the creamy roe was really nice .

Just to show you how big the prawn head really is .

Steam crabs. Remember parsley doesnt goes with prawns and crabs !!!!! Wasnt flavourful and the chef kinda of stingy on the Shiu Heng wine I guess.

Overall this restaurant is a failure in my list except if you really want to have a good plate of petai, IMHO i would skip this restaurant and get back to restaurant we frequent normally. It doesnt comes cheap either. The bill comes up to RM 407 for 7 of us . The 7 prawns already cost RM280 !!!!!

And guess what we did after the dissapointing meal just now ??? We headed for another round of steam prawns at Sun Mee Fong !!!! To locate this restaurant isnt hard , just look out for this sign.

Even Ah Xian gives his thumb of approval. Check it out here.

Good steam prawns no need to be huge !! This medium size was allright as the meat was fresh n firm to every bite. Most importantly is that there is spring onion to add sweetness and fragrant as well as sufficient of Shiu Hsing wine in steaming the prawns. This dish get everyones thumbs up approval. And yes we only ordered just one dish here !!!!!! And we all left satisfied for just RM70.

We all left fully satisfied and decided to stroll along this sleepy town and came across this particular stall which sells freshly baked Sak Keh Mah.

Freshly baked Sak Keh Mah, was really a treat for the nose !!

Old skool convenience store before the hypermarket era.

Cant find these bamboo screen banner anymore in KL.

Tranquil little town

Kampung Timah ,where the cows roam the streets and prawns fills out tummy !

Directions :

Using PLUS highway from KL towards Ipoh direction take the Tapah exit and drive towards Kampar town. Look out for a Petronas station on your right prior reaching Kampar town . Take a left turn at the traffic light. Drive further 2 km and you should see the sign board which reads Tronoh Mines/ Tg Tualang. Turn right and drive all the way straight passing thru some small villages before reaching Kg Timah. At the T junction turn right and continue driving for another 4 to 5 km and you would reach Tg Tualang .

Other post : What to eat , BackStreetGluttons, Godblesz

Melaka Makan Trip

The first sign saying that we've arrived in the historical town of Melaka...



Started our day at this humble looking shack in Jalan Bunga Raya, Melaka which serves great congee and fried shrimp wantan.


Located in Jalan Hang Lekir , Nancy's Kitchen has been a great restaurant which serves authenthic Nyonya inspired dishes.

Where fresh popiah and pai-tees are made fresh upon order

Also great Cendol and the rich Laksa Lemak.

And also tasty Nyonya Chang ( rice dumplings )

The ever popular Jonker Street. Its a saying , You havent been to Melaka if you havent been to Jonker Street


And also the Hokkien ancestors clan !!! Yeah I am a hokkien by the way.........

The charming Hotel Puri, where you are transported back to the olden days.

They even have a swallow hall, where they built their nest here.

Our day continued with dinner at Loi's Famous Beef Bah Kut Teh in Bukit Baru. Its the one and only Beef Bah Kut Teh stall here in Malaysia I suppose . Several reviews has made on this delicious soup. Click here for more reviews.

Chef Loi's in his kitchen , which is located in the yard of his home !

Its first cooked to boiling hot over slow fire before thinly sliced raw beef is added on top of the soup and served along side some raw cabbage and some 'nam yee' sauce over it. Beneath it you'ff find heaps of tender meats, beef balls, internal organs in a peppery herbal soup.

Whats better way to end the day with some satay celup as supper before we left for KL ?? We wanted to try Capitol but the crowd really put as away, as its more famous as a tourist restaurant..nevertheless we were shown to this local haunt Ban Nen Hiong in Jalan Ong Kim Wee , by a Melaka's born friend, which also serves a decent Satay celup ! Thanks Ed !!!

Another review of this place by popular blogger Jason can be fond here.


Satay celup is not what the name suggest. Its no where near Satay, except the sauce being a peanut based sauce which looks like satay sauce. Its basically lok-lok where you dip sticks of seafood , meat and vegetables skewers, like prawns, cockles , meat balls , fried bean curd into boling peanut sauce to cook.

Sadly this unique dish never makes it our of Melaka, as there has been few satay celup's shop in KL, but sadly none of them survives .


By the way..I blogged bout Melaka and promoted Melaka in a way to the world thru www... You think would I get a datukship from the Melaka Government argh ????

Taichung revisited

Its been countless times I've been to Taichung, but I'll never get bored as every visit is a new experience for me. As the name literally suggest , Middle of Taiwan, its located about 150kms away from Taipei ( which means Northern Taiwan ).

Basically Taichung is an industrial town, but like any other cities of Taiwan, its heritage in argicultural still lies strongly in the heart of Taiwanese. This can be seen from the amounts of paddy fields which is scattered around town,beside houses, factories and even back alleys is not spared !!

Paddy fields everywhere !!! View from my hotel, Howard Prince Taichung.

Taichung is also the home of the infamous Betelnut girls...........where scantily clad ladies does their business by cabins by the roadsides attracting passing drivers with their killer bodies, sometimes wearing nothing more than an underwear and lingerie....wait its not what you think..they are mere selling betelnuts , ciggrates and nothing more !!

Another must visit spot in Taichung is the famous FENGCHIA night market,which is just like our local pasar malam. There is a saying from a local....if you have not been to Fengchia, you havent been to Taichung !!!! Loads of yummy Taiwanese street foods can be found here, together with cheap and trendy gifts for everyone. If you want value for money shopping, here is the place .

Yummy roast cuttlefish. NT40/each

Noodle store with where you pick the ingredients.

Pepper meat bun, another favourite street food

Takoyaki, influenced by the Japanese which ruled Taiwan for over 50 years

Another must try, spare parts of gizzards, intestines etc


Its been ages since I had a coke the old skool way, directly from a glassbottle!

Howard Prince Taichung has been like a home away from home for me each time I visit Taichung. And believe me.they do really serves good food !!!!!!! Recommended is Yangtse River restaurant located in 16th Floor. But sometimes its really funny that they like to serveswestern chinese food here in a same meal.............

Smoked salmon salad with Sesame oil sauce

Cold appetizers. My all time favourite is the marinated cherry tomato in prune juice !!

Chinese style Beef steak with red wine sauce which we had for dinner on the first night.

Lamb shoulders, which makes up part of our lunch on the 2nd day.

Shark fin dumpling soup for lunch....

Haha also saw our humble Proton Savvy made into Taiwans shore !!