Duck King

Last week, I attended a meeting in Petaling Jaya, and had dinner at Jaya One.

A friend suggested duck rice and the rest of us agreed. When he said "at Duck King", it sounded like a joke.

This most royal restaurant turned out to be packed with people and served some great dishes at reasonable prices.

The barbeque pork and char siew were good, as were the variety of duck dishes. Unfortunately, the 8-treasure duck has to be pre-booked, so we ordered the roasted duck and nanjing duck.

We also ordered the claypot bamboo fish, which turned out to be the best dish.

Hi-Tech Healthcare

I was invited to the launch of iHeal Medical Centre, held yesterday. It was officiated by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.

iHeal Medical Centre is located in Menara IGB, right outside the inner road of Mid Valley.

The centre specializes in 4 major areas: Preventive Medicine, Regenerative Medicine, Genetic Medicine and Less Invasive Treatment. It also claims to be the first fully integrated IT boutique ambulatory care centre in Malaysia, and has the latest state-of-the-art 4D CT scanner -- the first in the world.

It is also surrounded by shopping malls, hotels, and close to other medical centres, making it an icon for promoting medical tourism.

I used to visit Columbia Asia for my annual check-up, but will definitely consider this place for my next check-up.

Taiwan Restaurant

Recently, I had lunch with a few friends in a Taiwanese restaurant on Jalan Imbi. Not Fong Lye Restaurant, which I don't find authentic anymore.

This restaurant comes after the Overseas Restaurant and before Park Royal on Jalan Imbi, and it's called, quite to the point, Taiwan Restaurant. 

The owner is the main cook as well as the captain. I suppose he needs to hire a nice captain as he is a typical Taiwanese cook. 

Soupy water-based fish slice

There are a few great dishes here, such as the water-based fish slice (which reminds me of fish bakuteh in Sandakan). The soup can be drank.

The chicken, cooked with 3 different kinds of Chinese wine, is also great. My friend's only complaint is that they used too many chicken breasts and not enough soft thigh meat.

Herbal dessert with milk dressing

The herbal dessert isn't bad. It's like tasteless guilinggao with milk dressing. 

The place is a bit pricey for me, but for those interested, you can call Taiwan Restaurant for more details at 03-2144 9158.

Croatian Restaurant

Croatian Lamb

Recently, I had an appointment in Solaris, Mont Kiara, and didn't know which restaurant to meet at. I spotted a strange name -- Dubrovnik -- and out of curiosity, I walked in and asked about it. The waitress told me it was a Croatian restaurant, and I immediately decided to have my meeting here.

Dubrovnik specializes in many meat items. My guest ordered Croatian lamb, which came out somewhat tough although it tasted great with the creamy mushroom sauce.

Seafood Pasta

I ordered a simple seafood pasta, which was great.

It's not too pricey, but I didn't get a chance to try Croatian liqueur as they only served it by the bottle. 

Tong Kee's Egg Tarts

Tong Kee used to be an old brand known for its egg tarts and pastries.

Each time I crave for egg tarts, I will go to the outlet outside Jusco in Mid Valley simply because they bake the egg tarts fresh every hour to accommodate the sales.

Recently, you would notice more outlets in places like Puchong (right opposite the side of IOI Boulevard) or Kepong, carrying the brand name TK Breads n Tarts. Besides the egg tarts, which are still the best thing they offer, they also have cakes, breads, and pastries that are giving King's Confectionery a run for their money.

I bought a green tea cake for my wife's birthday recently, and a sesame and hazelnut cake for my daughter's. They were both fantastic. There are definitely more choices in TK besides egg tarts!

The 2nd World Chinese Economic Global Forum

 
This is the second year Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute organized the World Chinese Economic Global Forum. It was held at the Palace of Golden Horses, and was graced by Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew on 2-3 November 2010. The forum was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

This year, the forum that received over 500 participants from all over the world also introduced the 'New Silk Road', which is the platform for China's direction in exploring other ASEAN countries, including India and the Middle East.

It was interesting to hear the in-depth directions of the Malaysian government as we head towards Vision 2020, and the framework of what the current Pemandu is doing. Other speakers included Vice-Chairman of China Council for Promotion of International Trade Yu Ping, Vice-President of China Development Institute Guo Wanda,Vice-Chairman of JP Morgan Securities Japan Christopher J. LaFleur.

Hokkaido Ichiba

Okonomiyaki at Hokkaido Ichiba

I took my family to The Gardens, Mid Valley, to check out the new Japanese restaurant Hokkaido Ichiba. I actually visited the outlet last month, but it wasn't open yet.

The restaurant has a nice, modern ambience. Apparently it is part of the same restaurant chain as Raku Zen and Sushi Zanmai. Both are great Japanese restaurants with reasonable prices.

The difference is that Hokkaido Ichiba serves more seafood items and specializes in Hokkaido seafood.

Snow crab ramen

I ordered the snow crab ramen, which is very nice.

This outlet also has okonomiyaki, one of my favorite Japanese snacks. We ordered 2 okonomiyakis to share, and I have to say they taste better than those in Haru Zen.

Overall, I enjoyed the food very much and the price is reasonable. This is also a pork-free restaurant!

Sizzling Tong Po Meat

I had a great experience during my current visit to Johor Bahru -- my friends took me to a non-halal seafood restaurant in Taman Molek, called Tai Son Restaurant.

It's not my first time there, and I know the restaurant as one of the prime wedding dinner locations in JB, but I didn't realize that it is also a proper seafood restaurant. Prices are reasonable, too.

One of my friends ordered a sizzling tong po meat. 

Sizzling tong po meat? Now that is something different! The dish was nice and hot till the last sauce drop!