Williams Mamak - Farewell and thanks for the memories

This is going to be a post without any pictures. Yeap, it is going to be pure text because I'm just gonna pen down afew words about Williams Mamak.

For those of you who don't know, there is a mamak at SS26 and that mamak place goes by a few names. Williams, William, Warong Williams, William's mamak. Everyone knows that place. William is a guy that everyone knows especially when it comes to ordering your food and paying for your meal. I used to enjoy eating at that place. Heck, I visited it quite often during my college days.

A wide range of food selection, a huge oven infront of the mamak alongside with a naan making section, it was an attraction for passerbys. Food portion was huge and the food tasted pretty good. As mentioned before, I hung around that place quite often during my college days; mostly for dinner and the occasional supper where my friends and I will hang out after our gaming session(good ol' Counter Strike). Prices back then was reasonable. The place was dirty, next to a drain but yet, it is packed most of the time. You even have police officers dropping by for a meal or two.

Its been awhile since I dined at Williams. Ever since I moved to Puchong, had a girlfriend, graduated, started working, started working out, and got married, I RARELY go to Williams. Afterall, homecooked meals are always better(doh). 

Now that Williams has moved to a new place(still at SS26), the place is at a "cleaner" location I suppose. I would only dine at Williams if a friend wishes to but other than that, I've never thought of having a meal there.

However, I have made a mistake for choosing that place last Friday. I decided to stop at Williams to grab a bite after an event. What a mistake! Here is why. I ordered teh ais, indo mee single with ayam pandan(fried pandan chicken). Once done, I went to William to pay for my meal.

As usual, I greeted William:

"William, berapa?"(William, How much?").

He then asked me what I had and I told him. His reply?

"RM16"

In my mind, I was like WHAT THE FUCK? RM16? So I asked him what is the breakdown. Why RM16 when I only ordered indo mee single with ayam pandan?

In reply, he said

Indo mee RM4, you makan ayam pandan kan?(you ate the fried pandan chicken right?). Ayam pandan RM10, teh ais RM2.

So okay, I paid for my meal and went back into my car, cursing at myself. Why did I choose Williams. I KNEW things will be expensive. But I only ordered a plate of indo mee(single portion that comes with an egg) with a piece of fried pandan chicken. And being at a mamak I was expecting my meal to be somewhere between RM8~RM12. Is that reasonable for what I've ordered? RM4 for my indo mee, that's fine but RM10 for a piece of chicken? To make matters worse, what I had wasn't really a piece of fried pandan chicken. No. It was more like a piece of fried log with generous amount of salty seasoning. I did not enjoy it at all. It wasn't tender to begin with and it was extremely salty(I did not finish it too, too salty). Definitely not worth RM10.

With that said, its not that I stinge alot. I HAVE money. The main question here is, "Is it worth it?" If the chicken was nice, I probably would have dusted it off my shoulder by saying "Okay lah, once in awhile only". I could have gone to McDonald's with RM16 and still have money to spare!

Wait a minute. Andrew, it's only one bad experience and you're bitching about it? Calling it quits?

Oh no, no, no. I think the food there isn't as good as before. And for the price that I might be paying for, I would rather take my money and dine elsewhere. For those of you who still enjoy going there, go ahead. It's your money, your choice. I have absolute no qualms about that.

But for me, that Friday will be the last time I'm dining at Williams. Thanks for all the memories while it lasted during my college days.

And you know what, fuck the farewell. I'm just not going back there any more.

Ali, Muthu and Ah Hock - Nasi Lemak

This is the saving grace that I was talking about in my previous post. The place is called Ali, Muthu and Ah Hock. It is alittle hidden from the main roads but this kopitiam is located at Oasis Ara Damansara. A friend of mine brought me to this place because he wanted to surprise me with something; the nasi lemak. At that time, it was fairly quiet as there weren't as many shops/offices as it is now.

This was back in August 2012

Without setting any expectations, I went ahead with my order of nasi lemak with ayam goreng which costs RM9.50 while others tried the Nasi Goreng Ali. As I've mentioned it before, the restaurant wasn't crowded as Oasis Ara Damansara was still quite vacant at that time so our food came pretty fast.

Looks familiar? Yeap. The taste is 99.99% similar to Village Park but with a nicer tasting sambal. Some might differ but anyway, for me, they are the same. The only difference is I don't have to put up with the crappy service, and inconsistant food portion at Village Park in Damansara Utama.

I know food presentation is not a main criteria but if you observe how the staffs at Village Park prepares your plate of nasi lemak, its basically a fast food type of preparation; throw in everything and serve.

Check out the difference in food presentation between Village Park and Ali, Muthu and Ah Hock

May be its difficult to notice the portion of rice given by Village Park and AMAH but just by looking at the pictures, which is more inviting? I rest my case.

Nasi goreng Ali was nice too. Just be warned though, it is very spicy. So if you would like to try this and to be on the safe side, I suggest you tell them "kurang pedas(less spicy)" when ordering.

On a separate visit to AMAH, I tried their Mee Kari; malay style of curry laksa. Taste wise, pretty authentic for a malay style curry mee. They are quite generous with the rest of the ingredients as well; prawns, chicken, fish balls and etc.

The ambiance is much better for a meal. It feels like a kopitiam and the staffs are not rushing around and trying to push each and every order out like its a fast food chain. Food presentation and portion seems to be consistent. The nasi lemak is slightly more expensive compared to Village Park but for the service, food and portion consistency, I would rather dine at Ali, Muthu and Ah Hock.

Yes, I would drive a little further and pay alittle more to have some quality time with loved ones over a nice meal rather than checking on my orders every 10-15 minutes, getting all worked up and complain about food portion LOL.
Ali, Muthu and Ah Hock is located at the same row as Affin Bank but its at the other end. Quite easy to find once you're at Oasis Ara Damansara. Let's say you've entered to Oasis Ara Damansara, drive straight till you see Affin Bank on your right. That's when you turn right(Affin Bank will be on your left now) and drive on till you spot AMAH on your left. It's an endlot restaurant.

Address:
Lot B-G-01, Ground Floor, Block B, Oasis Ara Damansara, Jalan PJU 1A/7 (Ara Damansara), Petaling Jaya, Selangor 47301, Malaysia

Google Map:

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Village Park - What happened? Greed?

By the time I'm done with this post, it would seem like I've been complaining about food outlets huh? To be honest, that's not really the case. I do have some GOOD food reviews coming up but first, this is about my favourite place for nasi lemak; well, ex-favourite place.

I used to recommend friends and loved ones about this place for nasi lemak but I think I'll stop doing that. I'm kinda appalled by the quality of service, food preparation and the current ambiance of the place from what it used to be. It's been awhile since I went to Village Park for nasi lemak and with that, my wifey and I went there on Saturday; at about 10am.

As soon as I got near the place, I was shocked. Not only was it extremely crowded, it was dumbfounding. Tables were set up not only infront of the place, but BOTH on the left and right side of their restaurant(on the road). Okay, let's not spoil the mood. We got a parking spot and went ahead with our plan; to have nasi lemak.

Luckily, we got a table within afew minutes. This is where the horror began. NO ONE came to take our orders. Even when I called for them to clear the table, they kept saying "Nanti Nanti, banyak orang"(hold on, hold on. There are too many people). No shit Sherlock. There are TOO MANY tables. While waitng for my table to be cleared(and for someone to take my order), you are surrounded by angry patrons and the staffs are running around like it's a bus station; chaotic.

"Mana saya punya Nasi Lemak? Sudah 20 minit?" *Where is my nasi lemak, it has been 20 mins
"Mana saya punya Teh? Sudah order tadi" *Where is my cup of tea? I've ordered it earlier
"Mana saya punya Roti bakar?" *Where is my toast bread?

And the list goes on. It's simple. Everyone was agitated. Instead of chit chatting over a meal, everyone was waiting and checking on their orders over and over again.

When our food came, it looked like the staff just scooped some rice with their hands and slap it unto your plate. Utterly, a plate of disappoinment. The food presentaion and portion was horrible. You could tell it was just prepared in a fast manner; just to get the food out. I could buy a packet of nasi lemak from a roadside stall, and the amount of rice would be MORE than what was served. Why am I paying RM8.30 for this?

Anyway, we got our food, ate and it was time for payment. The line for payment is long, which is fine with me. While waiting in line, I was observing on how they were dishing up the nasi lemak on the hot plate to be served. It's like a fast food process; Slap some rice on, throw in the chicken, sprinkle in some peanuts, fried anchovies and sambal. They don't care how it's presented and they don't even bother with consistency of rice portion. What happened to the nice-bowl-shaped amount of rice?

And when you're at the counter to make payment, you'll see pictures of so-called celebrities and political figures dining at their place. Not forgetting the Time Out KL Food Award which they won too. I don't think those will matter if the quality of your service and food presentation is neglected.

Obviously, I don't major in hospitality or worked in a food and beverage industry but by watching some of the foodie programs on AFC, I think people tend to forget that it's not just about quality of the food but the quality of the service and food presentation as well.

Village Park used to be a place where family and friends can gather to have a good meal. Despite the long wait, people were still willing to wait patiently. It's a family restaurant and not a fast food outlet, it doesn't have to be complicated; you simply have too many tables and your staffs can't manage! Show some love and passion  quality control for the food.

I think one word sums it all; GREED.

If Village Park was the only place for such nasi lemak, I would have no choice but to go there whenever I have the urge to have their nasi lemak.

But guess what? THERE IS ONE SAVING GRACE. I have another place for nasi lemak. The taste is 99.9999999999% similar to the one at Village Park. Alittle more expensive(by RM1.50 or so) but you get good service and awesome food portion(and CONSISTENT too). Also, the sambal is nicer too; alittle spicier.

I will share this location soon :)

Burger Kaw Kaw at Mayang Oasis

I blogged about Burger Kaw Kaw back in March 2012 and I got quite a number of views on that post alone. 5 digits to be exact. It was about my experience of a 3 hours wait for a burger. Despite the long wait, everyone was waiting patiently for it. The picture above is what it used to be and if I'm not mistaken, they have built a new stall at the current location(Wangsa Maju).

The new change for Burger Kaw Kaw is not just a brand new stall but it has ALOT of branches now. And lucky me, they have an outlet at Mayang Oasis which is near where I live. Burger Kaw Kaw is now easily available minus the long queue which they used to have.

As grateful as I am, I find that the standards have dropped. Don't get me wrong. It doesn't taste bad but from what I tasted previously, the taste and portion isn't up to par. Don't understand what I mean? Let me explain. As advertised by McDonald and all the major fast food chains around the world, "Product images are for illustration purposes only". So of course I knew what I'm getting is going to look different in terms of looks, food preparation and food portion. But I was quite disappointed with the chicken patty.

This was taken last year back in March.

This was what me and my friend Marcky had when we first tried it; and yes, after a freaking 3 hours wait. It wasn't out of this world but still, it was nice. So we decided to try it again since it was near our place at Mayang Oasis.

Just a note: I'm not using the QUALITY of the PHOTO to judge. I was using my iPhone 4. :P

And this was another Burger Kaw Kaw session that I had with another group of friends on another occasion.

The chicken patty looks awesome right(bottom right - Double chicken patties)? Well, it tastes alright, cripsy but there was more flour than chicken meat. My friend had to literally PEEL the layers of fried flour before digging into the meaty parts; Just like how some who likes to eat their KFC chicken without the fried skin.

I even commented on their facebook page but I didn't get a reply. I said "Please check on the Mayang Oasis branch for consistency". So after all the food reviews, articles and newspaper publishing on Burger Kaw Kaw, I guess this is how things end up.

I can almost hear some readers/Burger Kaw Kaw fans going "Kalau tak suka, jangan makan lah?" "Sial punya budak cina"

Listen, Listen. Listen

Bukan macamtu bro. I hanya nak kongsi mengenai burger ayamtu. Masih sedap....I cuma kena makan semua tepung tepungtu dulu :P. Kalau aku nak makan kat Burger Kaw Kaw lain hari, aku akan pesan burger dengan daging lembu je. Senang cite kan? Oleh itu, jangan salah faham bro bro and sis sis sekalian.

Oh my Bahasa Malaysia. It's been awhile. Should I read more Berita Harian or that car magazine "KERETA"? But anyway, for the price I'm paying. I think I would rather make my own burgers or dine elsewhere. Afterall, we're the one with the buying power *FUH! ECONOMICS*

Remember, pictures are for illustration purposes only

Next burger place to try, myBurgerLab :)

Restaurant Ah Hua at Batu Pahat - Minced Pork Noodle

This place one of the try have when you're Batu Pahat!

Pork-toberfest with Morganfield's at Pavilion

Lai Ching Yuen Restaurant - Healthy Dim Sum

Healthy Dim Sum with OpenRicers

Curry Mee at Aman Suria - Update

A hearty bowl of curry mee

Hi-Tea at Cinnamon Coffee House

Cinnamon Coffee House is back with its latest weekend Hi-Tea spread.

Kaw Kaw Burger Bakar at Wangsa Maju

A huge grill for a road side/street burger stall? Yeap. That is the famous Kaw Kaw Street Burger or in Bahasa, Kaw Kaw Burger Bakar

Kedai Kopi Wah Cheong - Wan Tan Mee

If you're a regular at Section 17's wet market area, you will definitely know this place. It's easy to find and a regular spot for folks to dine at this place; that explains the crowd and sharing of tables.

Green Meadow Health Cafe at SS2

The Bee at Jaya One

I heard of The Bee but haven't tried it out myself until last month. I was at Jaya One for personal matters and when lunch time came, we were spoilt for choices as there were so many restaurants and cafes. Me and my wife decided to try out The Bee.

O'Briens Irish Sandwich Cafe at Mid Valley

Bet you've seen this around right?

Restaurant New Cheow Sang At Taman Mayang Jaya

I've been passing by this place for more than1 year and finally, me and my in-laws decided to have dinner at this restaurant. It's not that we were ignorant. It's just that we normally have dinner at home or simply have other places to dine. After dining at this restaurant, its safe to say that I have found a hearty place for Bak Kut Teh without having the need to drive all the way to Klang; this restaurant is like 5 minutes walk from my in-law's place.

Paradise Inn at Sunway Pyramid

A new restaurant is in town.

I know what you're thinking. Paradise Inn? Yes, its a restaurant and no, it is not an inn. I was told that Paradise Inn was introduced into Malaysia by Paradise Group Holdings Pte. Ltd, a Singapore based restaurant group. The design of the restaurant is quite intriguing and I can't wait to try the food.

Italian Tomato at Bangsar

No, this place doesn't sell tomatoes from Italy

Goreng Kuey Teow Tong Shin At Bandar Puteri

I got to know Tong Shin char kuey teow from Marcky. As I was craving for some delicious char kuey teow he gave me a link to a food review by another fellow blogger about this Tong Shin Cha Kuey Teow. Most reviews I found said that it's nice but to me, the best part was when I got to know that it's a non-halal; PORKIE!

Koon Kee Wan Tan Mee At Petaling Street

So I've heard about this place...via foursquare

Chicago Rib House at 1 Utama

A new place for pork ribs is always welcomed. Better yet, it's at one of the popular shopping malls in Klang Valley, 1 Utama. I was invited to check out Chicago Rib House not too long ago and the place looks pretty cosy despite all the hustle and bustle in a shopping mall.