When it comes to chef’s knives, I tend to prefer the heavier, European knives, mostly because it’s what I’m use to. I have a similar mindset to knives as Boris the Blade does with hand guns (a character from the movie Snatch, if you’re wondering).

“Heavy is good. Heavy is reliable. If it doesn’t work, you can always hit him with it”.

Ok, maybe not that last part…

A number of food bloggers and other media types were invited to Carrick to not only test drive some European style knives from Wenger, but also to learn to cook some Southern Italian food from Antonio Ruggerino, owner & head chef of Verde Restaurant+Bar.

After a meet & greet and some welcome beverages, we man our prep stations on long, industrial steel counters. The kitchen is setup as a commercial cooking school, with equipment that you would find in a commercial kitchen. There’s even a rack stacked with loads of Kitchen Aid mixers! (no photo, unfortunately).

At each station, there are brand new boxes containing a chef knife and paring knife from Wenger. It’s a brand that has relatively recently entered the Australian market, as least where kitchen knives are concerned.

Chef Antonio Ruggerino, along with an assistant chef, work the class through a Calabrian one-pot mussel dish. It a dish from his family’s native region of Calabria, located at the southern most end of Italy. The toe end of “The Boot“, if you will.

The mussel dish is very simple and very quick to prepare. The Wenger chefs knife was ultra sharp, making short work of the mise en place for this dish.

If, according to Boris the Blade once again, “weight is a sign of reliability“, these forged knifes have it is spades, as they’re quite hefty blades.

If you’re more into lighter knives, they also have a set of lighter stamped blades, which we were able to play around with as well. Though just as sharp, it felt toy-like in my hands. As I said, I’m use to heavier knives.

After about a minute of prep and a couple of minutes on the stove…

…we end up with a superb mussel entree for one.

It’s amazing how little time, and even less effort, went into a dish that produced such fresh flavours. This is a dish that I’ll certainly be adding to my mid-week dinner repertoire.

If you’re interested in the recipe, I’ll look to write it up in a subsequent post.

With a dish of this nature, there’s no way that I’d pass up an opportunity to mop up all the juices with some fresh bread, and there was plenty to go around.

The class was also given a quick run through regarding the prep of another dish, a winter classic known as osso buco, which we would be having as dinner soon afterwards.

We forgo the process of making this dish through to the end, which would take too long due to the amount of time required to slow cook the osso buco. Instead we stick just to the prep of the mise en place.

It’s really just an excuse to play around with the knives some more and practice our knife skills, or in my case, lack thereof. No complaints here in any case.

Once we’re done playing- er… I mean prep for the osso buco, we step away from the kitchen and take our places at dining tables setup in what would otherwise be the foyer area of the cooking school. A three course Southern Italian meal awaits our consumption.

Stuffed zucchini flower was a wonderful way to start off the meal, with its crisp batter, creamy cheese filling and shaved Parmesan to add a contrasting bite.

The main, osso buco, is simple with its presentation, & what one might refer to as honest with its flavours. There isn’t anything complicated or contrived with regards to the dish. The meat is tender, the sauce is light and the generous serve of smooth mash potatoes tastes just like potatoes, devoid of the richness that cream and butter often bring.

Despite the fancy table setting, the dim mood lighting cast by candles & sitting amongst strangers (for the most part), it felt very much like a home cooked meal.

We finish off the evening with a dessert of Limoncello panna cotta, served with a crunchy wafer of almond biscotti.

Limoncello, a lemon liqueur of Southern Italian origin (surprise, surprise), gives a subtle citrus tang to the creamy, velvety smooth panna cotta that has barely set. A light finish to a wonderful meal.

As we began to head off, to make our way out into the cold winter’s night for the journey home, we were presented with the very knives that we’d used earlier during the cooking class, cleaned and reboxed, as a parting gift. A pleasant and unexpected surprised. Thanks Wenger!

the heart of food was invited to attend courtesy of Mark Communications. Thanks to all the people involved with this event.

Verde Restaurant+Bar
115 Riley St, East Sydney (cnr of Riley St & Stanley St)
P: 02 9380 8877

Hours:
Tues, Sat: 6pm – 12am
Wed – Fri: 12pm – 12am

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Wenger (Australia)
Wenger knives are available from all King of Knives stores, as well as other selected retailers. For more information, check out their website or contact page.

Carrick (Verde Cooking Classes)
For information regarding Verde cooking courses call 1300 364 383, or check out their website.

What sort of restaurant comes to mind when you see the above image? With a wood grained paneled interior such as this, the first thing that comes to mind for me is a steakhouse, with all the meaty, smokey goodness that lies within. In this case, it’s the Outback Steakhouse.

It’s the sort of place where manly men hang out with other manly men, or as the manly head of their family, to eat manly meals that are of man-sized portions.

So it’s kind of odd to admit that two men walked into this establishment to share a single entree, a single main and, for a moment, contemplated sharing a dessert. One of those men may have been me.

Steakhouses have never really attracted me as a diner. After all how much skill & effort does it take to pick a good cut of meat, throw it down onto frying pan (or charcoal BBQ if you want to get fancy) wait til it’s done just right, build a pan sauce from the fond as the meat rests (if appropriate) and then eat?

That’s not to say they don’t serve great food. Some do. I’m just not attracted to that sort of food when looking for a place to dine out.

However, we weren’t here for the steaks anyways.

The reason why an old school friend and the person that may have been me found our way into a local Outback Steakhouse was for this.

Chookaburra Wings ($12.95). To everyone outside of the Outback Steakhouse’s marketing department, these are what most people refer to as Buffalo wings; that simple, yet wonderful combination of spicy & buttery, with the typical accompaniments of a cooling blue cheese dipping sauce and celery sticks.

I pity the poor tourist who misreads this menu item and thinks they’re eating some exotic Australian fauna.

These wings are quite nice. Available in mild, medium and hot, to suit all tastes. However, for those of us that love the fiery heat of chili, order hot but expect medium.

The blue cheese dipping sauce is also great, and pairs well with either the wings or the celery. I could easily see myself ordering the dip and celery on its own, were it available on the menu, and were it manly to do so.

Razorback Ribs ($35.95). A full kilo of BBQ pork ribs conceal a pile of chips beneath. An awesome sight to behold in person as a kilo of ribs is certainly more than enough for one, or in this case two. Though there is a lot of bone, a kilo of ribs still amounts to an impressive amount of meat.

As impressive as it was visually, taste wise it was only fair. Meat was a tad on the dry side, as was the sauce glaze. The chips weren’t too bad. A little lacking in the crunch department but that may have something to do with being encased in what would effectively be a meaty steam chamber.

Chocolate Thunder ($10.95) is probably the most man-sized dessert that I’ve seen in a restaurant, especially at that price. A large slab of freshly baked chocolate pecan brownie sits in a pool of warm chocolate sauce. Stacked on top of this foundation of rich chocolatey goodness are scoops of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, capped off with a chocolate twirl.

It’s an awesome dessert too. Not in that fine dining, nuanced textures and complex flavours kind of way. It’s more primal with its awesome. Hot & fudgey contrasts nicely with cold and smooth, with loads of rich sweetness to go around.

Though two individual Chocolate Thunder desserts were ordered, with the amount of struggle required to finish it, we could have done with sharing only one. Though, we’d never admit that to the staff at the Outback Steakhouse, or each other.

Even though many man cards were lost during this dining experience at the Outback Steakhouse, I could certainly see myself coming back for the wings and dessert. Though next time, I think I’ll come up with some story about how I ate at the Japanese place down the road and left unsatisfied.

Or rather, the person that may be me may do so.

Outback Steakhouse (North Strathfield)
Level 1, 3 George Street, North Strathfield
+61 2 8756 5741

Hours:
Mon-Thurs: 5pm – 10pm
Friday: 5pm – 11pm
Saturday: Noon – 11pm
Sunday: Noon – 10pm

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All-you-can-eat ribs. It’s such a beautiful concept that it almost makes me tear up at the thought.

Tender, succulent crescents of meat that slips effortlessly off the bone. The finger licking goodness of the slightly sticky sweetness of the flavourful sauce. As much as your stomach will allow, and then a little more.

I’ve been hankering for these all-I-can-eat ribs from Cafe Ish, ever since I’d first heard about them while on a holiday in Malaysia.

It’s odd to have a craving for such a thing in a country that is known for its depth and breadth of excellent food, but I did. So once a Sydney food blogger outing was organised by Richard, there was no question that I would jump at the chance.

I was the first of our party of ten food bloggers to arrive at their Campbell St restaurant. Having been directed to our table, I sat down and waited with eager anticipation for the rest of the party to arrive, as well as what lay ahead.

Cafe Ish is not only an embodiment of their owner/operator couple of Ai & Josh, but there’s a certain element of yin and yang that seems apparent to me. Not so much in polar opposites exactly but with regards to contrasting elements in union, often in harmony with each other.

For instance, Ai and Josh are of Japanese and Australian heritage respectively. Their food incorporates elements from the rugged Australian outback with the refined cuisine of the Japanese, and vice versa. Though their individual character are as distinct as night and day, their service is complementary.

The rest of the party arrive and we commence with pre-dinner drinks.

Oz Geisha is an elegant looking cocktail that’s an original recipe of Ai’s.

Summer Time Ale, a wonderful beer selected by Josh, is served in the bottle with a stubby holder. I imagine this was his idea as well.

A stubby holder, for those that are unaware, is an insulating sheath (often neoprene) that keeps the beer from exchanging heat with hands or the surrounding environment.

You could almost be forgiven for passing on the side dishes and going straight for the all you can eat ribs. There are certain rules of thumb of making the most out of your all you can eat dining experience (one of which is to skip the filler, especially if it costs you extra) which exists for a reason.

However, were you to do so, you’d be missing out on some rather nice starters and accompaniments. Take for instance the Cabbage ($5), served with a wattleseed miso mayo.

Yeah, that’s right. Cabbage. If you’ve just cocked an eyebrow, I know. I thought the same thing when I’d heard a few people from our dining party speak so highly of it. However, once you try it out for yourself, you’ll understand.

Firstly, it works as a stand-alone dish. The fresh, crisp leaves of cabbage works so well with the umami packed flavour & saltiness of the miso mayo. It also serves as a textural contrast, as well as something of a palate cleanser, to help balance out the rich sweetness of the ribs.

Other sides such as the Chili Edamame Beans ($6), and Fries ($6) served with wasabi mayo, are worth due consideration as they’re both great as well.

The commendable warm up act takes its leave and slide towards the wings as they make way for the main act to takes centre stage.

There are two sets of ribs on offer, both of which are prepared in the same fashion. Blue gum smoked, braised in a marinade of soy, sake, mirin & ginger, & finished with a garnish of fresh coriander, chilis, sesame seeds & shallots.

The Pork Ribs are really good, with the sweetness of the meat really coming through. They’re up there with some of the best I’ve had in Sydney. However, they pale in comparison to the beef ribs.

The Beef Ribs are for me, and will likely be for many others, the reason that you not only come for the all-you-can-eat-ribs the first time around, but the reason you keep coming back for more.

These ribs are incredible! To say that the beef ribs are moreish is something of an understatement. They almost demand gluttony. Why?

A high degree of meat-bone-ratio so there’s more meat for less effort. The flavour, though made in the same way as the pork ribs, is more savoury and has more apparent flavour to it, as if it absorbed more of the braising marinade.

While on flavour, the beef ribs remind me very much of the Korean dish jang-jorim, beef braised in a flavourful soy-based broth. As such, I very much felt the need for a bowl of white rice and miss its presence from the menu.

I’m not the only one, as a number of people on the table felt the same way. Though to be fair, they, like I, were all Asian.

As much as I wax lyrical about these ribs in the key of gluttony, a measure of judgement should be exercised. Not only to save yourself from eating your way to nausea or perhaps worse, but for those that are fiscally sensitive, there is a charge of $50/Kg for excessive waste if your demand far exceeds your capacity.

We take a little breather after our rib rampage to allow our stomachs to settle enough to fit in a bite or two of dessert. Unfortunately, I’d not noted prices so apologies for that. A web presence with a menu would have helped though *hint* *hint*.

Lemon Delicious, served with a scoop of ice cream, is the embodiment of truth in advertising as it is, as its name implies, both lemony and delicious.

The soft, pudding-like consistency with its slightly sour taste and delightful citrus aroma is so moreish that you can’t help but keep coming back for more.

The Chocolate Gateau, served with a scoop of wattleseed ice cream and a smear of umeboshi, a salty sour preserved plum of Japanese origin is nice. Ai presented the dish with some pride, and it’s something she should be proud of.

The umeboshi smear on the other hand I could have done without. I’m appreciative that it was presented separate to the cake as it would have lessened the experience for me otherwise. Never been a fan of umeboshi.

The Wattleseed Creme Brulee, served with anko sweet red beans on the side, is almost a fantastic dessert.

The creme brulee is an excellent execution of this dish. The burned sugar crust actually has some substance to it, shattering into shards when its surface is breached. The wattleseed custard beneath is barely set and is somewhat like silken tofu. I much prefer it this way over firmer interpretations of this dish.

However, the red beans on the side feel to me as either a lack of confidence in its acceptance by not incorporating it into the creme brulee itself, or something of an afterthought.

I would have much preferred it either be added as a paste/sauce at the bottom of the creme brulee or left off the dish entirely. It otherwise detracts from the greatness of the creme brulee, which is able to stand on its own merits.

All in all, a fantastic dinner and one of the best all-you-can-eat experiences I’ve had in quite a while.

All you can eat ribs are $35 per person, available only on Wednesday evenings. There is a time limit of 90 mins from when the first bowl of ribs hits the table. A charge of $50/Kg applies for excessive waste of ribs. All drinks, side dishes and desserts are charged separately. They are neither all-you-can-eat, nor inclusive of the $35 charge.

Cafe Ish
82 Campbell St, Surry Hills.
(02) 9281 1688

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Note: Cafe Ish is no longer located on Albion St, Surry Hills.

Nausea-inducing winding roads up a mountain pass leads to vast fields of strawberries literally ripe for the picking. A tea plantation, tranquil fields of green & yellow as far as the eye can see. Steamboat, fueled by charcoal. An unexpected but otherwise awesome food find, perhaps one of the most memorable of the trip. A new found perspective on karaoke (image included).

All this and more on Day 4 & 5 of the heart of Malaysia & Thailand, when a group of Sydney food bloggers visits the Cameron Highlands.

The food tour hits the road once more, this time heading north to the mountainous region of the Cameron Highlands.

The drive up to the Cameron Highlands was fraught with nausea-inducing winding roads, lined with colonial style buildings. It’s no surprise that the area was discovered, and then colonised, by the British back in the 19th century.

After what seems like an age, we finally reach our hotel, Equatorial Cameron Highlands, situated 1628M above sea level, if the plaque about their entrance was anything to go by.

Upon exiting the vehicle, one thing that was distinctly noticeable was the difference in temperate. It was close to 10 degrees cooler than the low lands of Malaysia and far less humid.

As we quickly drop off our bags and hit the road once again, our stomachs settle and appetites build, enough to warrant an investigation into the local food culture of the region.

We find ourselves at Restoran Sri Brinchang located within Brinchang, one of the major townships on the Cameron Highlands. The selection of this restaurant had very much to do with its proximity to free wifi and little to do with experiencing food unique to the region.

There was plenty of time for that later at any rate. There were emails to be read, networks to be socialised and gossip to be caught up on.

Sri Brinchang is, for the most part, an Indian restaurant. So, Indian food, for the most part, was what we ordered.

There was the Ghee Dosai (1.80 RM), and its more structurally perky, ghee-less cousin, the Paper Dosai (2 RM). Both dishes were served with the same assortment of curries.

Both dosai were alright. Nothing out of the ordinary if you’ve had a decent dosai before.

I can’t speak for how the Roti Canai (1 RM) with its single curry, or the Chicken Tikka (7 RM) with its yogurt spice marinade, had tasted. However, at those prices (approx. $0.37 and $2.60 AUD respectively at time of post), who cares? :)

One dish I did care about, or rather didn’t care for, was the Mee Goreng (4 RM). It wasn’t bad but I wasn’t all that excited about it either.

The Garlic Naan (2.50 RM), like the dosai, isn’t a bad effort. It helps that it was baked fresh and arrives to the table steaming hot.

Chicken Thali (7 RM) is the most appealing meal in my eyes. Partly due to its visual impact. Partly due to my Korean heritage of almost every meal consisting of rice with a whole bunch of small side dishes; the more the better.

With our hunger for food and Internet connectivity sated for the moment, we adopt the role of a tourist and spend our time doing touristy things. Things that we would likely never do back in our home city.

Like visit a cactus nursery.

We forgo the paid admission of Cactus Valley (or are unaware of it) and instead find ourselves at Big Red Strawberry Farm. Both venues are not only popular tourist destinations for the region but also conveniently located on the same premises.

We’re actually not here to see the cacti which, surprising to me, I found to be appealing, visually speaking.

Nor were we here to view carnivorous pitcher plants, that lures insects into its cavity to trap them in order to digest them for their nutrients. Nor for any of the other vast array of flora on show for the viewing public.

We were here for the strawberries. Not just any old strawberries mind you but ones that we could hand pick straight off the plant.

There are rows and rows of strawberries that, at the right time of the year, you could hand pick to your heart’s content. For this place, this was, unfortunately for us, not the right time of the year.

However, for those that must have their fresh strawberries, or strawberry-based products, there is a store from which you can purchase fresh strawberries by the punnet, as well as strawberry beverages, jams and so forth.

A number of varieties of lettuce are also grown here in abundance, though I don’t believe that hand picking activities for tourists are available for these leafy greens. However, and rather oddly so, as with the strawberries, you can purchase freshly processed lettuce juice.

In the past, a friend of mine occasionally would talk about marketing lettuce juice. He would also talk about how all his ideas, once voiced, would inevitably be stolen. Coming to this place was a surreal moment in my life.

We move on from the disappointment of not being able to pick our own strawberries to head for one of the many tea plantations in the area.

The inevitable rains of the season are brought forth, a daily ritual that we learn to adapt to, or at least tolerate. We take refuge at the Cameron Valley Tea house at the Bharat Plantations (warning: annoying flash site), foregoing the tea shop retail store for the moment in favour for a warm cup of tea and some scones.

We order a pot of tea and four scones to be shared amongst the five of us. After a little mathematical problem-solving, we work out that we each get 3/4 of a scone each, with one to spare.

The tea is nice enough. I was expecting something spectacular considering we were overlooking its likely source. However, this could just be my trumped up, and perhaps unrealistic, expectations talking.

The scones on the other hand were terrible. Stale & doughy, warmed by microwave, and served with whipped cream straight out of a can. The image above was all I had of my 3/4 share.

This was a far cry from the freshly baked, wonderful scones that Billy had had in the past. I feel for him somewhat as he must have been really disappointed that these did not live up to the previous experience.

The rains cleared and we make our way out of the tea house, passing a giant novelty-sized cup and saucer, serving as a tip cup at the register. What served as a symbol of playful optimism and humour on the way in, in my eyes, ended up looking sad, if not slightly arrogant, on the way out.

We make our way down the stairs, to the tea garden with its diverse range of flora christened with the rains that had just past, giving the flowers a lush quality of fresh morning dew.

Further along the path beyond the garden lies an enthralling vista of green and yellow as far as the eye can see. Acres upon acres of tea bushes carpet the valley and mountain side. Seemingly ripe for the picking, despite visual reminders to discourage us from this very action.

Having made the most of our time down at the plantation, we make the trek back up to our vehicle. There are only so many tea leaves one can look at before the mind starts to wander, even beyond that of the playful antics previously documented.

Having been dissatisfied with the inability to pick our own strawberries at Big Red Strawberry Farm, we make a stop of Kok Lim Strawberry Farm to try our luck there. As luck would have it, the strawberries here were ripe for the picking, so to speak.

Money exchanges hands as we’re offered admittance to the field of strawberries below with an empty plastic container in hand. The fee of 20 RM covers a minimum of 500g worth of strawberries. Anything beyond this is charged at a rate of 40 RM per kilo.

Rows and rows of strawberry plants run along either side of narrow walkways just wide enough for a single person to stroll through comfortably, in a vast undercover complex.

What initially starts off as a novel activity of hunting for the best, most ripe, specimens soon feels somewhat like a chore, in much the same way that picking fruit at a grocery store or supermarket is.

Once you’ve had your fill of filling a punnet full of strawberries, the strawberries are weighted with additional fees charged, if necessary. In the case of the punnet I was sharing with Helen, we fell short by a fair margin. Thankfully, there are plenty of surplus strawberries at the weighing station to make up the 500g minimum.

However, it almost begs the question, why bother picking them in the first place?

In the evening, we head once more to the township of Brinchang in search of some food. This time a specialty of the region – Charcoal Steamboat at Restoran Highlands.  The cooler temperatures during the day invariably lead to chilly evenings. This was the perfect environment for such a meal.

The charcoal does two things for the steamboat. It firstly operates at only one temperature – boiling hot. This makes for some fast cooking. However, it also means that you have to be more mindful of food items that can overcook easily, such as leafy greens or noodles.

The second thing it does is impart a smokey character to the dish. Other than a smokey aroma, likely more from the source than what may have been infused into the cooking stock, there wasn’t much difference that I noticed from your regular steamboat meal.

The meal was quite satisfying, with variety of ingredients such as chicken, crab claws (the fake stuff), fish, fish balls, jellyfish, pork, prawns, squid, tofu, leafy vegetation, with a couple of types of noodles and eggs to finish off the meal.

A disagreement breaks out regarding whether the eggs should be left whole to boil or cracked open to be incorporated into the soup. We end up going the whole egg route, though if you were to ask me, my vote would have been for cracking them open.

We finish off the evening with some karaoke back at the hotel. Having never done karaoke before, I was somewhat skeptical of enjoying the experience of singing off-beat and off-key whilst listening to other people do the same. However, I kept an open mind about it and I’m glad that I did.

Karaoke can be a lot of fun, so long as you don’t take yourself too seriously and just enjoy the moment. My new found appreciation for 80′s love ballads, mentioned in the very first holiday post, as well as the impulse to sing to favourite tunes out loud was born this evening.

It can also be a learning experience. For instance, singing Madonna’s Material Girl as a heterosexual guy is exceedingly weird, to the point of being uncomfortable. More so when sung as a duet with another guy. I also learned to appreciate how Filipinos get so worked up over having Frank Sinatra’s My Way sung badly, to the point of deaths being involved. Having destroyed that song first hand (and not destroyed in the good kind of way), I think I’ll leave it up to Frank to sing it his way from now on.

The next morning, we pack our bags and head for a local market not far from the hotel.

The street market, which runs on either side of a small side street is, for the most part, a product market hawking the local agriculture. Corn, strawberries, various leafy greens, and other fruit and veg, as well as tea, naturally. There are other stall, such as the occasional one selling cooked food, or trinkets and souvenirs.

The strawberries here are half the price of the hand picked ones at Kok Lim i.e. 20 RM/Kg. If hand picking strawberries isn’t your thing, buy the strawberries here.

We hit the road once more, this time in search for some breakfast. Having done away with the buffet breakfast provided by the hotel (thankfully!), we eventually find ourselves at Uncle Chows (note:  URL on their business card but it’s a parked domain. future site?).

Uncle Chows was something of an odd find. A sign on the road randomly caught our attention stating little more than the name of this kopitiam (cafe) and a direction to drive. After a few more signs and changes in direction, we arrive at a quiet establishment located right by a residential complex.

With the lack of clientele at the time that we arrived, I wasn’t all that hopeful that the food would be any good, as with the experience at Sri Brinchang, the day before.

Boy, was I ever wrong!

A couple of people order the Roti Bakar Set (Set A, 5 RM), which consisted of kaya toast with butter (the roti bakar), soft boiled eggs and a coffee (kopi o in the case above). Though I’d not tried this, I was told that the kaya/butter to toast ratio was lacking, not making for the best example of this staple breakfast combo.

The Curry Laksa (7.90 RM) was much like some of the best I’ve had in Sydney. I was quite pleased with the depth of flavour of the mild curry spices, as well as the fish balls, and large pieces of chicken, still on the bone. I would have a preferred it with a little more heat but it was good all the same.

Har Mee (7.90 RM), a prawn flavoured noodle soup isn’t as spicy as one would presume just by looking at it. Billy, who had ordered this dish, didn’t seem too fussed over it, either in a good or a bad way.

Asam Laksa (7.90 RM) is a sour, fish based soup built primarily on shredded mackerel and tamarind. Touted as the best version of this dish by both Minh and Helen, this happened to be the only one I missed out on sampling! Gotta find my way back here if I’m ever in the area to see how good it is for myself.

It may be a bloody long way from Australia, but we were also a bloody long way from heading back. There was still much of Malaysia & Thailand to discover, explore & taste.

Next stop – Ipoh. By far and away the best food experience on the whole trip. Coming soon. Don’t miss it!

Malaysia, day two. The food tour group’s first day on the road leads us to a bubbling cauldron of meat, bones and end trails, with a little toil and trouble; a flash flood and a growing dislike for a deity; seafood with a lyrical name; and taking a fresh approach when facing an arch nemesis on its home turf.

Klang Lek Bak Kut Teh, Klang

After what ended up being a surprisingly decent buffet breakfast of nasi lemak provided by our hotel, The Nomad SuCasa, we pick up our motorised passenger vehicle from the Mid Valley Megamall (known throughout most of the trip as “Mega Valley Mall”) and made our way down the congested motorway to the port city of Klang.

We slowly grind through the traffic on our way to Klang for one express purpose – bah kut teh. As Klang is reported to be the first place that this dish was served in a restaurant, its birth place (at least in a commercial sense) was likely a good place to journey to find a good, authentic example of this dish.

We travel over a bridge, past a sign for a bak kut teh restaurant under the Klang bridge. Seng Huat is meant to be one of the pioneering restaurants, supposedly staying true to the original recipe when the restaurant first opened over 30 years ago. However, we forgo this restaurant in favour of another.

We instead make our way to Klang Lek Bak Kut Teh. With a certain degree of difficulty mind you, as it took some assistance from people at a nearby petrol station to direct us to this restaurant; one which was fairly highly recommended based on some research on the Internet. We did had a GPS, which we obtained with the vehicle. Unfortunately, this unit proved itself to be very good at being very bad at what its primary function was i.e. to direct us to our destination.

We eventually take our seats outside by a kettle that sits on its own burner, exclusively for our table. Whilst our kettle bides its time until it brews with what we would later find out to be Ti Kuan Yin tea, another, much larger, kettle brews a different sort of tea out the front of the store.

Bak kut teh, which translates to “meat bone tea”, is a complex concoction of various herbs, spices and other ingredients. It often includes, but isn’t limited to, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, star anise, Chinese angelica root, soy sauce, pork meat and/or offal, & pork bones.

We end up with two varieties of bak kut teh, served in heated clay pots, each of which costing 30 RM. One contains offal of pig’s intestines known as “9 layers intestines” [sic], apparently what they’re famous for in Klang. The other is a combination of lean and fatty cuts of pork known as half-half. Both pots also include button mushrooms as well as yuba, dried bean curd sheets reconstituted in the dark, herbal soup.

Both bak kut teh dishes were good in their own way. The “9 layers intestines” is wonderfully springy to the bite, somewhat like a firm sausage, whilst the fatty pork practically melts in the mouth. However, I couldn’t help but compare it to a rendition that Lex, professional chef and food blogger of vue de cuisinier, had made up as a trial run for a dish that would later become his entry into a cooking competition (his bak kut teh recipe here). His was just as good in my mind, and that was before he perfected it for the competition.

The two pots of bak kut teh were served along side accompaniments of wilted lettuce, yao char gwai (the fried dough cut up into small chunks), and rice.

Batu Caves, Gombak

After our rather nice lunch in Klang, we hit the road once more but this time to burn some time and some calories at the famous, though I prefer infamous, batu caves (more on that below). It’s the site of a series of Hindu shrines dedicated to the deity Lord Murugan, serving both as a place of worship (one of the most popular outside of India), as well as a tourist attraction.

The entrance to the batu caves is rather picturesque in its own right. Off to one side resides an ornate shrine. Beside the stairway leading to the caves, stands a statue of Lord Murugan; the largest of its kind in the world at 42.7 meters.

Whilst we spend a few moments enjoying the view, the heavens open up, raining down one of the meanest storms I’ve seen in a long while. We take shelter at a nearby cafe, biding our time before we make the climb up to the caves.

I was quite happy to kick back and take our time, as I knew what was in store.

Two hundred and seventy two steps, scaling a height of almost one hundred meters. It wasn’t bad enough that I was already sweating from the heat and humidity.

Anyhow, the storm had come and gone in a short moment. Before we headed to the caves, shoes & socks were removed. Not as a sign of respect for the caves, but as a necessity in order to cross the impromptu, knee-high lake that had bridged the gap between the cafe and the entrance to the caves.

Approximately 40 normal steps, 30 mildly discomforting steps and 202 excruciating steps later, we finally reach the summit. On the brink of collapse and drenched in more sweat that I thought was humanly possible given the already sweat-rendering heat and humidity, there was a serious case of the CBF’s that was had at that moment with regards to photography, let alone sightseeing.

However, after a much earned breather and the achievement of reaching the summit behind me, and despite being tired, wet and bare footed, I pushed on into the caves to see more of what I’d already seen outside – statues, shrines, small bodies of water and-

Oh, this is so wrong. More stairs? Seriously? Two hundred and seventy two steps wasn’t enough? Buddha is out there probably laughing his arse off right about now.

Aside from the shrines, statues and stairs (!!), there are also wild macaque monkeys, and a man wielding a large yellow python for photo ops, to see. However, between the humidity, flash flood and ungodly number of stairs to climb, I was very far from caring to give them much notice.

In spite of all the hardship, I was able to take in, and by the end even appreciate, the grandeur of these limestone caves. After all, all the pain and suffering was behind me.

If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him.

Jalan Alor, KL

Flash forward to the evening. After a much needed rest-stop and change of clothes back at the hotel, we find ourselves on Jalan Alor once more. However, this time we do away with the alfresco seating and opt to dine in at Meng Kee Grill Fish.

The decor is quite reminiscent of many no-frills Chinese restaurants that can be found in the suburbs of Sydney. There are various articles posted around the restaurant, presumably promotional material for the restaurant or the owners. The hat was an odd touch though.

As with most meals, we begin the dinner with drinks. Likewise, as with most meals, the drinks seem to be handled by an operator independent to the establishment we dine at. I’m not sure if it’s just my ignorance of Malaysian food culture, but there seems to be a symbiotic relationship between food hawkers and drink vendors.

A pear and sour plum iced drink is what I decide to go with. It has a very grass-like flavour to it, which seems very unusual to an inexperienced palate. Refreshing, but unusual none the less.

My first serious dish of vegetation on this trip thus far is this dish of Fried Sambal Chili Four Angled Beans (8 RM). It’s the first time I’ve had this uniquely shaped vegetable, which I find to be rather pleasant.

Continuing on with the sambal chili, there was the Fried Sambal Chili Lala (15 RM). Apparently, “lala” is what KL locals call pippies. I pity the poor tourist that points quizzically to a plate of these in a restaurant, to only get back the answer “it’s lala, lah!”.

Grill Stingray Fish (varies from 15RM to 40.50RM) is the wing of a stingray grilled in a simple fashion, served with a dipping sauce. The meat is rather mild in flavour but otherwise quite a pleasant tasting bit of seafood.

Fried Oyster Egg (varies from 8RM to 15RM). This oyster omelette is interesting in that rather than being fluffy, the egg is cooked to a crispy texture. Personal preferences polarise some of the dining party into fluffy and crispy camps.

Fried Kue Teow (5 RM). This version of char kueh teow had nice, slippery rice noodles and was neither stodgy nor greasy.

Grilled Taufu (varies from 4RM to 16RM). Grilled slices of crunchy tofu sandwich a medley of vegetables and a prawn-flavoured dark sauce. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had referred to this as an interpretation of rojak, as those were the flavours and textures that came to mind when eating this.

After dinner, we make our way out to Jalan Alor proper to frequent the dessert place from the previous night for Ais Kacang & Chendol. Just as we’re about to leave Jalan Alor, we make one last dessert pit stop at a durian vendor.

I have no love for durian. Actually, a history of distinct hatred for it that I do not have for any other food item I’ve come across to date. To be fair, I’ve only ever had durian in either its frozen or artificial forms and never the fresh fruit itself. Figuring that having it fresh in the country that is known for their production of durian, if I don’t like it here when people who like it says it’s good, it’ll be stuck forever from my list of things to eat and be considered fructus non grata.

The first taste of fresh durian (16 RM/Kg) was unusual. It wasn’t the disgusting taste that I’d learned to despise. Instead, a distinctly strong flavour of onion came through this savoury, custard-textured room temperature fruit (by Malaysian standards i.e. warm). It was one of the most unusual experiences I’ve had.

Though I’ve no longer written off my arch nemesis, “the king of fruit”, it was very far from winning me over. For now, the jury is out.

Luna Bar, KL

We end the evening with a nightcap of sorts; cocktails at Luna, an upmarket bar located on a lofty floor of the Pacific Regency Hotel Suites building.

The bar has a number of distinct features. Firstly, the majority of the bar is without a roof, making this something of an open air bar. There’s the swimming pool taking up the majority of the floor space within the middle of the bar itself. The men’s urinals, which is just a window out to KL with little more than an opaque strip covering ones privates. That was an interesting experience. Lastly, the inflated prices for drinks, which were close to being expensive by Australian standards, let alone Malaysian ones.

Having capped off another food-filled day, we make our way through the streets of KL to find a taxi back to the hotel, passing numerous billboards and the occasional street performer entertaining tourists and locals alike.

I wonder if there is a bronze man too…?