Menace on our streets

The road thugs are at it again. In recent months, they have attacked both local and foreigners, male and female, young and old, able and disabled. It seems the authorities are finally coming to terms that this menace is now spinning out of control. According to the authorities the reason these youths have turned to a life of crime (call it what you will, as far as I am concerned, it’s crime) because they are bored. I don’t understand why we are even validating them by accepting such ridiculous excuses. I am sure most youths have their moments of boredom but they don’t exactly go on rampage on the streets, do they? Our authorities and politicians have for far too long treated these thugs with kid gloves. From suggestions that these thugs be turned into role models (go figure!) to sending them off to rehab and national service (please, not the same place our kids go to!), the only thing they have not really done is to throw these thugs into jail. As far as I am concerned, if they are not too young to hurt and maim, they are not too young to be severely punished. The authorities must stop glamorizing their actions and just jail them instead of slapping them on their wrists. It’s time the citizens regain our safety on the streets. We deserve as much.

Dim Sum at Tai Zi Heen, Prince Hotel Kuala Lumpur

We celebrated dad’s birthday recently at Prince Hotel & Residences’ Tai Zi Heen Chinese Restaurant. Tai Zi Heen is currently running a promotion for halal All-You-Can-Eat dim sum for lunch at RM45.00++ per person on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

We were among the first ones to arrive at 11:30am and were promptly greeted by the wait staff and led to our table. At the table were the dim sum menu and card to indicate our selections. Service was fast, probably because there were not many diners then.

The dim sum menu is divided into several sections, i.e., Chef specialty, Fried, Steamed, Rice & Noodles, Vegetables and Desserts. We tried a variety of the dim sum items listed in the menu such as siew mai, har kau (prawn dumpling), crispy prawn with mayonnaise, cod fingers with mango and oats, rice roll with prawns, shitake mushroom dumpling, Thai fish paste dumpling, stir-fried carrot cake, spring roll with duck, bean curd skin with abalone sauce, prawn pancake, wu kok (yam dumpling), prawn dumpling with jackfruit and steamed salted egg custard bun. There are three stir-fried vegetable dishes on the menu. The first vegetable dish we ordered was Hong Kong vegetables with magnolia petals and kei chi. I didn't quite like this dish.

Instead I preferred the stir-fried long beans with pickled vegetables that came topped with chicken floss.

The dim sum were delicious and not too oily unlike the non-halal version served at other restaurants. Of all the dim sum items, our favourites were the stir-fried carrot cake, cod fingers with mango and oats, wu kok and prawn dumplings with jackfruit. We had many servings of those! The cod fingers is a winner simply because the smooth cod goes really well with the sweet mango slices.My dad really liked the stir-fried carrot cake which was very flavourful.The prawn dumplings with jackfruit is a big surprise. The thought of eating jackfruit combined with prawns is not exactly appealing to me, but surprisingly it was actually quite nice.

To end our lunch, we ordered the Aloe Vera jelly with lime sorbet, Sea coconut & longan with ginseng, glutinous rice balls and Chinese herbal jelly (kwai ling gao). The aloe vera jelly was a nice change from the usual desserts served for dim sum. The lime sorbet definitely cleanses the palate very well! The kwai ling gao was served with sea coconut slices, sago and white fungus. It’s a tad bitter but I’ve no complains because I’ve always liked my kwai ling gao bitter. The sea coconut and longan is a bit of a disappointment. I counted more longans than sea coconut. The sweet soup has a tinge of ginseng which took a bit of getting used to.

The other desserts in the menu are mango pudding and sago honey dew.Tai Zi Heen is located on the 1st floor of Prince Hotel and Residences Kuala Lumpur at No. 4 Jalan Conlay, 50450 Kuala Lumpur. Tel : 03-2170 8888

Kedai Ikan Talapia Lan Je

We had dinner at this homey restaurant more than a month back but I was too busy to blog about it. Lan Je is located in a new block of shoplots and on the day we were there, it seemed like the only shop opened. This is no deterrent to the hordes of diners who faithfully made their way there to savour Lan Je's specialty, the steamed fish. For those in the know, Lan Je has quite a following. The original Lan Je is located in Rawang and this shop in Kota Damansara is a branch.

At Lan Je, the steamed fish is ordered per person, in short, that means each person gets one fish. I've read about Lan Je in a few blogs and when we found out that they have branched out to Kota Damansara which is nearer where we live, we thought we'd give it a try.

We ordered 2 steamed fish to share. One was simply steamed in soya sauce, and the other, steamed in soya sauce with the addition of bird's eye chillis. The fishes were fresh, obviously, but this being the only way it is served at Lan Je's, I can't quite understand why it is THAT popular.

We also ordered Sweet and Sour chicken balls, stirfried angle bean in belacan (shrimp paste) and tofu with meat. The sweet and sour chicken balls are nothing to shout about, the sauce is not as good as I expected it to be. Same goes for the tofu with meat and vegetables. Nothing spectacular, really.

The only saving grace is the prawns in cili padi sauce. I liked the sauce which goes really well with rice. It's sweet and spicy at the same time and coats the prawns well.

The address for Kedai Ikan Talapia Lan Je is F-50G, Jalan Teknologi 3/9, Bistari "DE" Kota, Kota Damansara, PJU5, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Tel : 012-6699919, 016-6189919.