Claypot goodness at The Claypot Station

We had lunch at The Claypot Station at Dataran Sunway last week. The Claypot Station serves a wide variety of dishes in claypots.

Since we had just finished a spot of shopping, we needed something to fill our growling tummies. The Claypot Station seemed like a good idea!

We ordered 4 dishes to go with white steamed rice. We were recommended the Fa Tiu Frog which was paddy frogs cooked in dark soya sauce and Chinese rice wine. I really liked the thick gravy that smothered the frogs. It was finger-licking good!

The next dish we ordered was the Chicken in herbal soup. The soup was robust with the herbs, especially licorice. I liked the soup although I can’t say the same for the chicken. Somehow I didn’t think the chicken absorbed the flavour of the herbs well enough.

To counter all the meats we also ordered a plate of tofu with dried shrimps. The tofu was very soft and came topped with dried shrimps and oyster sauce.

For vegetables, we ordered the Sour & Spicy Vegetables. I’ve always loved this dish as the sourness and spiciness of the vegetables are so appetizing. The Claypot Station’s version is not too sour which I liked although it lacks the usual “kick” that the sour and spicy vegetables provides. I would have liked it a little more spicier.

The Claypot House is located at No. 23-1 Jalan PJU5/12, Dataran Sunway, PJU5, Kota Damansara, Selangor. Tel : 017-3936 352.

F4 Fish Head Restaurant, USJ

Weekend dinners are usually looked forward to in our family. It’s a self-reward after a full day of house cleaning.

Last Saturday we had dinner at F4 Fish Head which is located in USJ Subang near the Giant hypermarket. F4 is a popular outlet for those “in-the-know”. It’s popularity can be seen with the many filled tables in the restaurant. We usually make a reservation for dinner because failure to do so means we’ll have to stand and wait for the other diners to finish, which is no mean feat coz it’s a very long wait.

We ordered the Ling cod fish head simply steamed in light soya sauce. The fish head was extremely fresh and meaty. Little Miss Picky loved the fish so it’s proof that the dish is a winner.

Next up was the homemade tofu in thick black sauce. The tofu was very soft and smooth and the dark soya sauce complements it perfectly. It is the perfect accompaniment for steamed white rice. We ordered kangkung belacan and “yau mak” stirfried in “fu-yu” (fermented beancurd). The vegetables came with a glistening sheen and were very fresh and crunchy. F4 serves very nice cuttlefish rings with salted egg yolk and also a mean Assam fish head. But that’s another post for another day!

F4 is located at Lot 776 Sub Lot 3 Jalan Subang 4, Subang Jaya Industries Park, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor. Tel : 012-325 9111.

Dinner at Steam King, Dataran Sunway

We had dinner at the cozy Steam King Seafood restaurant at Dataran Sunway last week. Steam King serves very fresh seafood straight out from the rows of aquariums at the back of the restaurant. It was highly recommended by my hubby’s friend so we decided to give it a try.

We ordered steamed frog with garlic sauce, Teochew-style steam fish, prawns with salted egg yolk and sweet potato leaves with belacan for 2 adults and a 7 year old.
Our orders arrived in a jiffy. The first to arrive was the steamed frog with garlic sauce. The frogs were big and juicy and steamed just right with a thick layer of chopped garlic on top. Personally I felt all that garlic was a little too overpowering for the frog.
The prawns with salted egg yolk is a personal favourite and Steam King’s version didn’t disappoint. The prawns were large and fresh and coated with a nice layer of salted egg yolk. It’s a good dish to eat with your hands!
My hubby’s favourite sweet potato leaves with belacan was the next to arrive. The stirfried vegetable was sweet and smooth but I don’t quite liked the belacan. I think it would have tasted better just stirfried with garlic.

The Teochew-style steamed grouper fish was excellent. It was very fresh and came topped with lots of cubed tofu, mushrooms, tomatoes, Chinese cabbage and salted vegetables. The fish flesh was firm yet separates at the gentlest prodding of the fork.

We were served a complimentary plate of fresh fruits and sweet barley dessert to end our meal which was a nice touch.

I found the serving at Steam King too big for 3 persons. The dishes we ordered are substantial enough for at least 5 to 6 diners. Since we couldn’t finish all the good food the leftovers were nicely packed for us in containers. We really liked the freshness of the food and plan to visit again!