Monday, August 16, 2010

Review: Imperial Treasure Windows of Hong Kong @ TripleOne Somerset

Newly opened at TripleOne Somerset (formerly the Singapore Power Building) is another bunch of Imperial Treasure outlets. This latest threesome consists of Imperial Treasure Bakery, Steamboat Restaurant as well as Windows of Hong Kong (let's call it WHK for short). I've been back at WHK twice now and been raving to friends and family since - its 4 treasures rice set (四寶飯) has been my favourite thing in the past couple of weeks. 


This dish is extra special to me because of the memories I have back in HK when I was probably around 7 or 8 years old - whenever my grandfather used to work late and couldn't make it home for dinner in time, he would always buy food back and Jack & I would get all excited because that meant supper time for us! We'd grab our kiddy personalised bowls + chopsticks and he'd always share his food with us, despite having not that much in the first place. I still vividly remembered the wonderful texture and fragrance of bits of salted egg yolk mixed with steamed rice. Those were the days where life's simplest things makes you happy..


At $7.00, I found this set extremely good value-for-money given its location - the rice was topped with a chicken wing, slices of succulent, juicy Char Siew, marinated octopus slices, and of course half a salted egg and drizzled with seasoned soy sauce. As a set the rice is accompanied by a choice of either a hot coffee/tea or soup of the day. For the soup, one can choose between a chinese or "western" style, I'd usually go for their chinese double boiled soup. As a Cantonese, I really miss having soup since I've been busy with work there's hardly time to prepare your own, so this is a great way to satisfy my cravings for flavourful, nourishing soup!

Four Treasures Rice Set with Fuzzy Melon & Octopus soup (四寶飯+節瓜章魚湯) - ok the name may not sound enticing, but think of it as winter melon soup with oomph!

Jack insists that the Baked Pork Chop Rice was also worth a re-visit and XQ loved it as well:
XQ's Baked Pork Chop Rice Set 焗豬排飯+節瓜章魚湯 ($8.50)

While this is still slightly inferior compared to the likes of Maxim's and Cafe de Coral in HK, it's one of the most authentic eateries here in terms of HK style fast food, and at those prices, I'm definitely going back regularly! And I'm dying to try their steamboat branch - will plan for it this week~!

8.5 out of 10
Imperial Treasure Windows of Hong Kong
111 Somerset
#01-K1/24/25
TripleOne Somerset

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Review: Good, hearty Breakfast @ Restoran Win Heng Seng - Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur

Kays & I were back in his hometown KL over the weekend for brother-in-law Yew & ST's wedding celebration. It was an extremely short trip so we've not been able to cover much grounds on the food front. I still have on my list Soo Kee KL Hokkien Mee & Beef Hor Fun, Klang Bak Kut Teh, SS2 Mi Goreng special!! Unfortunately these are all located very far from one another so I will probably take a few trips to fulfill them all.

One of the Woo-boys' comfort food is the Pork Ball Noodle Soup, and Yew brought us specially to Win Heng Seng coffeeshop @ Jalan Imbi which is one of the better known stalls in KL.

If you're staying in the KL city area, this place is just a short walk/ cab ride around the corner from Jalan Bukit Bintang. This coffee shop is located prominently at the corner of Jalan Imbi, next to an open air carpark in the day (that magically transforms to even more food stalls by night) so it's hard to miss.

Pork Ball Noodle Soup

The rice noodles (kway teow) was cooked al dente, topped with fresh chopped scallions, marinated minced pork, pork balls that somehow were never round. What made the most lasting impression were interestingly their dark, flavourful sausages. 

While their soup base didn't have as much oomph as our regular stall in Petaling Jaya, this is no doubt a favourite breakfast haunt for many locals.

It's usually packed so be prepared to wait a while for a table

this is the stall we bought from - just look out for this uncle and the stack of sausages at the side!

Do also try the Sio Bao and egg tarts at the little pastry stall around the corner, which seems to be another crowd puller in the morning.

Next trip in December, so I will attempt at fulfilling my list again!

7 out of 10
Restoran Win Heng Seng 永興成茶餐室
Jalan Imbi
Kuala Lumpur