Eat Drink KL: Tiong Hokkien Mee, Japanese BBQ, D'Raz & Al-Safa

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Tiong Hokkien Mee, Japanese BBQ, D'Raz & Al-Safa

The spotlight shines on street food for this entry, of the Chinese, Japanese & mamak varieties.

First up: Tiong Hokkien Mee, one of multiple outlets that specialize in Hokkien Mee on a single stretch of Damansara Uptown.

Not bad, though we would have liked some liver in this, as well as lots more crispy lard.

No matter: we helped ourselves to a Tupperware of fresh garlic to punch up our pleasure.

Next up: Taman Desa's popular Gerai Makan Japanese BBQ, as distinctively open-air & outdoorsy as eating can get.

The offal truth is easily stomached here: Try the pork neck, throat, tongue, liver, heart, stomach & intestines both big & small. Squeamish patrons can choose beef brisket, rib-eye & short ribs.

Cooking is completely DIY, which some will enjoy & others might find inconvenient.

Ultimately though, the smoky succulence of this meat is something to savor, for sure.

Beer, to pair with the protein. Can't really tell whether we prefer Sapporo or Asahi.

Sake's a little more lovable, though perhaps not perfect for barbecued meat.

Gerai Makan Japanese BBQ, run by the folks behind Sanuki Udon & Maruhi Sakaba, is open 6pm through late, but not on Mondays.

It's late now, so here's our final stop: When hunger pangs strike past midnight in Sri Petaling, the only grub to grab in this neighborhood might be street burgers & mamak fare.

D'Raz seeks to capitalize on the burger bakar craze; its offerings span the regular beef patties ...

... to grilled ostrich & venison burgers (not terrible, but nowhere near outstanding) ...

... as well as rabbit ones (everyone's favorite cuddly-creature, tastes-like-chicken meat).

D'Raz closes at 2am, still might too early for some; mercifully, there's Al-Safa a few steps away.

Al-Safa offers everything from nasi kandar to tandoori chicken, but we were in the mood for the doughy deliciousness of roti telur ...

... & meat-stuffed murtabak, both competently executed here. No complaints.

Don't quail at quail; Al-Safa serves surprisingly juicy & flavorsome ones. Bear with the bones.

Al-Safa bears a poster with a distressingly stern warning: No Liquor Allowed.


Gerai Makanan Japanese BBQ @ Faber Plaza, Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur.
Tiong Hokkien Mee @ Damansara Uptown, Petaling Jaya.
D'Raz & Al-Safa @ Jalan 3/149E, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur.