FCC @ Siem Reap

Beautiful lotus is spotted all around Siem Reap. Just love the beautiful lotus that blossomed.

Beautiful lotus

Passed by FCC few rounds when we went around Siem Reap. Thus, headed there the afternoon before heading home. Love the serendipity feeling when stepped in the restaurant.

Beautiful reflection of tree

Ordered the angkor twist and fruit shake to quench our thirst.

Angkor Twist and Fruit Shake. USD3.50 each

For light meal, we ordered the spring roll. It tasted alright, with sweet sourish sauce that spurs our tastebud.

Springroll. Price-USD5

The tomyam soup was special of the day, and love the strong taste of lemongrass used to cook the soup.

Tomyam soup. Price-USD4.50

FCC Angkor
Pokambo Ave
Tel : 063 760 280

Jol Moi @ Siem Reap

One area not to be missed when one is at Siem Reap is the Pub Street. We were so spoilt with choices when comes to food. Throughout our trip, none of the meals has really failed us, and we were pleased with most of the meals we had.

For lunch, we explored The Alley (road just behind Pub Street), and were attracted by the simple set up of Jol Moi, and the 'attractive' price which seemed to be slightly lower than the other restaurants we came across.

Beer which included Anchor is only at USD0.50 per glass.

The Alley (behind Pub Street)

The restaurant was really packed, and we had to wait few minutes to get our table. And we waited real long - about 30mins for our food to be served, however, it was dishes worth waiting.

Inside the restaurant

Delighted to find a drink by the name of 'Klang' (I'm a Klangnite) in the drink list

If I am to vote for my utmost No 1 salad it has to be this vermicelli salad. Coupled with the fact that we were all real hungry, we really felt this tasted soo good. The sourish sweetish sauce that comes with this plate of salad, combining squid, prawn, onion, capsicum, carrot, peanut and basil leave - yummy.. I wish I can be back to Siem Reap to taste this again.

Vermicelli Salad. Price-USD2.50

The tom yum soup tasted really good. The spiciness of tom yum soup - the aroma of lemongrass, basil, seafood, thickness of the soup - slurrppping the soup away till the last scoop.

Tom Yam Seafood Soup. Price-USD3

Quite a unique combination - taufoo and eggplant. Stir fried with onion, and the special Khmer sauce, this was another 'thumbs up' dish.

Eggplant with Tofu. Price-USD2.75

The loc lac chicken - one the popular Khmer dish was stir fried with sauce consisting of lime juice and black pepper. Tasted superb.

Khmer Loclac Chicken. Price-USD3

Jol Moi is the best discovery that we had during the trip. They were opened for just 3 weeks+ at the time we were there. Ahh...It was so good that Janice and I had to return there the next day, for a bowl of soup noodle. Though it looks a little like maggi mee cooked with seafood, the texture of the noodle was actually real 'springy' - love it... and the soup broth tasted so good, with strong taste of sweetness from vege and seafood.

Seafood Noodle Soup. Price-USD

The fish spa is real popular in Siem Reap, for there is a fish spa operator in almost every other corner. And we think its quite smart of the operator to rent a space from Jol Moi. After eating or while waiting for food, customers can treat the fishes with dead skin on their feet.

It was my 1st fish spa experience. Couldn't resist the such cheap price of USD3 for 20mins. It was extremely ticklish for the first few minutes, and after that, it felt kinda cute, to be nibbled by the fishes. Result - extremely clean feet *<>*, and set for long walk for the rest of the day.

Thumbs up for the fish spa experience, and it was reeeeaaallly cheap too

Jol Moi! aka 'Cheers!'
(right behind Le Tigre de Papier)
The Alley (off Pub Street)
Siem Reap, Cambodia

Pan Mee @ Swee Hing, Taman OUG

Being there on a Saturday morning, one will instantly know that customers are regulars from the neighbourhood. We shared table with a gang of uncles and aunties after their morning exercise.

The pan mee stall at Restoran Swee Hing

I eaten pan mee from this stall few times in the last 2 years, and was craving for it, thus decided to have breakfast here, before my Saturday plan commence.

The business at the stall was extremely good. Always see the owners cooking non-stop.

Toasting the dried noodles. The fish paste, yummy

Reminded the lady on my order, after waiting for 15 mins.. My bowl of noodle came 5mins later.Yay...

'Lady boss, is it my turn yet?'

I just love the hand peeled pan mee, and the clear broth of soup, that comes with lots of ingredients - fried shallots, anchovies, black mushroom, vegetables and a piece of fish paste.

Bowl of pan mee. Price-RM4

Koulen II Restaurant @ Siem Reap

We were recommended by the driver to dinner at Koulen which serves buffet - international and local food, at only USD12 per person. And to top it all, there will be the Apsara (Khmer classical dance) performance.

When we reached around 7.30pm, the restaurant was jam packed with tourists. From what we gauged, there could be close to 500 people (if not, more). All tables were taken/reserved. Lucky the driver made reservation for us.

There were really big spread of food - ranging from international and local food. I especially love the spring rolls, and soup noodle (I had 2 bowls!! despite being so full).. I think overall, the food here taste good and worth it for the price we paid.

The spread of food

The first out of the few sessions of Apsara dance performance, which started around 8pm.

The beautiful apsara dancers

Rina, BC, Me & Janice - 'stomach full-full' after the buffet dinner

Opportunity to take photographs with the apsara dancers, after their performance ended

The next day, the owner called the driver to check if we have paid our bill. And of course we did. And the next question was, if we could recognize the staff that we paid to. And well, of course not, due to the many staff working there. Wish we could help, like the police investigative show, in pointing out the suspect. Hehe..
The driver then explained that this happened 'occasionally' due to the big number of staff working, which he may have chose to keep in his own pocket. Sigh!

Apart from that, it was an enjoyable dinner.

Koulen II Restaurant
No 50, Street Sivatha, Mondul II,
Svaydangkum, Siem Reap,
Kingdom of Cambodia
Tel : (855) 12 897 105 / (855) 92 630 090
Email : koulen_rest@yahoo.com

Blue Pumpkin @ Siem Reap

Upon a short walk at Old Market, we can't wait to stop by for drink/dessert, due to : 1st - we were tired after having to wake up at 4am, to catch flight to Siem Reap during the morning, 2nd - the hot & humid weather. Blue Pumpkin was the 'target' for our drinks - the highly recommended spot.

The girls - busy shopping

Got excited when spotted the Blue Pumpkin.

Blue Pumpkin from the outside.

Excitement continued on - had to pose with the 'giant ice-cream cone'

Cosy seating area, before reaching the upper floor

Climbed straight to the bed sofa seating... So comfy. ^ -^

Rina, me, Janice

The stretch of bed sofa seating area

Choice of bed sofa seating, and chairs

BC, sipped the coconut drink right away - quenching his thirst . Price-USD1.75

This was part of what we ordered. The chocolate cake with icre-cream, vanilla red berry shake, and the tiramisu. The chocolate cake was so moist with slight crunchiness on the sides, and eaten together with ice-cream, 'yummylicious'. The drink was good - wasn't too sweet, however the tiramisu, was a little dry.

Chocolate cake with ice-cream.Price-USD3, Tiramisu-Price-USD2.50, Vanilla Redberry Juice.Price-USD2.75

Too bad we didn't have the chance to have a proper meal at Blue Pumpkin. We returned to Blue Pumpkin on few other occasions throughout our trip - for ice-cream and pastry. One thing is for sure, the business is so good. They have good crowd all the time.

Inside Blue Pumpkin - Lower Floor. Always full with customers

Yummylicious ice-cream

Blue Pumpkin - Old Market Branch
365 Mandol 1,
Svay Dang Kum,
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Tel : (855) 063 963 574

Business Hours : 6am-10pm daily

Free Wi-Fi

First day meal @ Siem Reap

Upon checking in to our guesthouse(at around 9.30am local time), we decided to walk around, in search for food.

Since it was extremely humid, we settled for this air-conditioned place (restaurant cum groceries shop (pictured on top left). Surprisingly, the seafood soup noodle was quite tasty.

As for the 1st restaurant which the driver took us, it was local food, and all tasted alright (not too good, nor too bad, either). It was our 1st time trying the ever famous amok fish - in green coconut, which was steamed fish with green, peanut and coconut milk.
Total bill that came up to USD22.50 for 4, I thought the price was quite reasonable. And after eating at few more restaurants in town during the next few days, this meal was actually higher priced than the rest. What to do, as the drivers has their perks (free meal) for bringing tourist there.

1st row : 1st meal - Soup Noodle. Price-USD2
2nd row fr L : 1st proper restaurant we went to. Fried chicken with khmer spice. Price-USD4.60
3rd row fr L : Amok fish. Price-USD4.90, Spring Roll-USD4.50

American Chilli @ One Utama New Wing

Visited American Chilli umpteen times, but seldom with kids. Brought Qi Yao there, since kids eat for free (with purchase of main meal). Yay.. ^<>^
To me, American Chilli served the best western food in town. The queue at almost all times (especially dinner time) at all its branch its a sure prove of this. And plus, the generosity of giving free meal for kids, yay.. truly my No 1 favorite western dining place.

Qi Yao were given this book (in color), where there were number of games, for them to play. Not that they know how to, at this age, but they were happy drawing on the pages. Good thing to keep them occupied.

Qi and Yao, can't wait to scribble

Triple Play would have been our favorite, but knowing we will know be able to finish, opted for the Southwestern Eggrolls. This eggroll is perfect each time I taste it. Love the overall combination of smoked chiken, black beans, corn, jalapeno Jack cheese, red peppers and spinach wrapped inside a crispy flour tortilla. The tortilla is fried till real crunchy.

Southwestern Eggrolls. Price-14.95

For the free meal, we chose macaroni with cheese. Qi & Yao didn't really like this very much.

Free cheese macaroni (with order of Country Fried Chicken)

The main meal of the day - Country Fried Chicken. Though the skin of chicken was fried till hard, it is that which made the chicken extra crispy. Topped with creamy sauce, the sweetness of corn, garlic bread and last but not least, the favorite of all, the fries (with partially signs of the potato skin still seen), this ought to be my favorite main meal of all time.

Country Fried Chicken

Me, Qi, Yao and Wen

It was Qi Yao's first time watching movie in cinema - Alvin & The Chipmunks. Though they didn't really understand the movie, it was an experience for them. And coincidentally, we saw the board of 'Alvin & The Chipmunks' outside Big Apple.

Sooo cute - Qi Yao and of course, Alvin and the chipmunks

The Apartment Downtown @ KLCC

Read so much about The Apartment, thus suggested to sis to have lunch there, since we were at KLCC. High expectation = same level of disappointment.

The food was served like 20 mins+ after our order.

My sis ordered the fanta strawberry thinking it was something that would be fancier than the usual bottle fanta sold outside. They brought the very same bottle, and opened it in front of us. Charged at RM8.90, wa.. we paid 4x more than the normal price. Perhaps if they were just bring the drink in glass, we won't feel such a pinch.

From the tapas menu, ordered the crab salmon cake. Mini size, but tasted nice.

Salmon Crab Cake. Price-Rm9.90.

The taste of spaghetti wasn't in line with how good it looks in picture. In fact, after eating this, we have the feeling of, we'd rather just cook simple spaghetti, at home, mixed with canned tuna.
The description on menu which says 'spaghetti with sauteed chicken and mushrooms with white wine garlic, chilli, cherry tomatoes and rocket' made us chose this. Though it does has all the ingredients as mentioned, there wasn't any 'ummph'... The chicken tasted bland, and the spaghetti was so dry.

Chicken and Mushroom Pasta. Price-RM23.90

The kids set, which also comes with free ice-cream, has something like this mentioned 'decorate your ice-cream with xxx toppings' . The paper as kids menu was taken back after ordering (most other restaurant would provide children with crayon for coloring). When the ice-cream came, cheh, it was merely chocolate sauce which topped the vanilla ice-cream which tasted like King's.

Sausage and potato tasted pretty standard, afterall its just fried and salted.

Mini Sausages and Potato. Price-RM11.90

The highlight of the lunch - the company (Sis, Qi and Yao).


Conclusion, I doubt I would return here to try its other dishes... Unless someone recommends me a specific dish that they felt is good.
Fyi, The Apartment was voted the Best Fusion/Contemporary Restaurant in Time Out KL Food Awards 2009. So, peeerrrrhapppss, it was just us...

Yao, so cute posing.. I just had to post it here

Love shopping at Isetan supermarket. Interesting square shaped watermelon

The Apartment
Lot G48 & 139, GF & 1st Floor,
Suria KLCC,
50088 KL
Tel : 03-2166 2257

Business Hours :
10am-12mn daily

**Halal

My Friends @ Subang Jaya

Getting a car park near Subang Jaya where Inti and Metropolitan are located is rather difficult. Were around the corner, and remembered trying out the butter chicken that was really good, thus, went to have the same meal again.

Outside "My Friends"

This is the stall to look out for

The butter chicken set (comes with rice) was one of the best I've tried. I can't remember the exact price, but it was surely economical. The chicken was fried till real crispy, and the buttery creamy sauce was real aromatic.

Meal simple enough, yet real satisfying. *^*

Butter Chicken

My Friends
(around one of the corners, near to Metropolitan)

*Non-Halal

Full House @ Sunway Pyramid

Checked out Full House at Sunway Pyramid branch last Sun, in celebration to Sally's birthday.

We all just love the ambience - white finishing, spacious, comics strips drawn on the wall with the main character being 'Thomas', 'cute-sy' stuff sold within and the interesting comic drawn menu, which they made it looked close like a real magazine. Bravo for the artist that created these characters.

Hot Lavender and Hot Peppermint Tea. Price-RM6.90 per pot

"Thomas", the character, inviting customers for a cup of tea

We liked the deep fried soft shell crab salad that was served with garden salad and wasabi mayonnaise, as the soft shell crab was fried till aromatic and crispy.

Soft Shell Crab Salad. Price-RM10.90

The fried chicken not too bad. Can't go very wrong with chicken wings.

Chicken Wings. Price-Rm9.90

The soup that came as part of the set was the fresh shitake mushroom soup with toasted almonds. The almond does make a difference, and went well with the mushroom soup.

Mushroom Soup. Part of the set.

The so-called seafood spaghetti only have 1 mussel, 1 prawn, 1 scallop and maybe a few squid, doesn't really taste good. *^* The whole plate of spaghetti was really dry and overwhelmed with oregano and thyme.

Seafood Spaghetti. Price-RM20.90

We ordered 2 lunch set - the chicken and dory fish set. These are available from 12nn-4pm daily and it comes with ice lemon tea, mushroom soup and a mini tart.

The grilled chicken thigh served with mashed potato, and daily vege was one of our favorite, as the black pepper raisin sauce went well with the chicken.

Chicken Chop Set. Price-RM18.90

The dory fish was cooked till just nice, and the sautee shitake mushroom and lemon grass sauce was creamy and tasty.

Dory Fish Set. Price-RM16.90

The smoothies-fruities fish was quite a disappointment, as the pan fried butter fish has rather strong 'fishy' taste. Arrgh.. wasted the passion berries and sun-dried tomato sauce.

Smoothies Fish. rpice-RM22.90

Lastly, the highlight of the day - birthday song for the birthday girl. Ordered a tiramisu and brownie. The tiramisu at first bite tasted good, but after a few bites, there were a certain 'freeziness' within the cake - feels like it was partially frozen when placed in the fridge. As for the chocolate cake, moist enough.

Tiramisu. Price-RM7.90 and Chocolate Brownie. Price-7.90

From L to R : Aloy, Sam, Sally, me and Janice, ready to sing birthday song

After the makan-makan, went to check out its corner with items for sale. They at the same time sell clothes, accessories, shoes, etc. Cute nice deco.

Part of the items for sale

This is the other part of the restaurant. The 2 tables were empty at that point, however, other parts of the restaurant were real packed, and the noise level was really high. Every one busy chatting, and at one point, felt like being at pasar malam. *^*

Nice environment for tea

I personally think that the food isn't really the hero here... but its the ambience that outshine the food.
And while you are there, do take lots of photographs, for the photo will turn out nice, at almost any angle you take it.

Fullhouse (just directly below Esprit)
Lifestyle Store and Cafe
LG 1.96, No 3 Jalan PJS11/15,
Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall,
46150 Petaling Jaya.

Tel : 03-5621 9960

**Halal