Serving the Beast Within at Thai Sabye Sabye, Old Klang Road

The Man is essentially an animal, his primary and greatest stake invested in his (or her) own survival. And when that survival is threatened, all the additional complex emotions as well as the ability to rationalise or apply logic become entirely expendable.

Case in point: One night, a desperate craving for Thai surfaced out of the blue. And with all things tinged with desperation, the advanced thinking, feeling human approach goes out the window when it came to the need to assuage that craving. Like a stiff drink. Or sex. No rest until you crack the code. Need it NOW.

I consulted the usual suspects in the blogosphere for guidance and found plenty of good things said about several Thai joints - a few were closed on Mondays and a few others were simply too far away in the horrendous rain-addled traffic. And then, just as I was on the brink of self-detonation in despair, I stumbled upon this lone post on Thai Sabye Sabye located on Old Klang Road, a stone's throw away from home for now.

The old unassuming outlet, located within Lucky Plaza (which houses Pasaraya Central, right before OUG turn-off) facing Old Klang Road, was a mere 5-minute drive away. I was giddy with excitement at the prospect of placating that incensed animal within.

The place was nicely filled up with families who looked like they had returned again and again to order the same items on the menu every single time. The worn-out furniture was reassuring, as was the wearied, yet comforted disposition of the other patrons.

We started with the Four-angle Bean Salad. Scrumptious with both dried and fresh shrimps providing a nice contrasted punch, coated with generous dousing of nam pla and citrus. Very refreshing stuff.

We couldn't possibly do without tomyam, especially on this chilly wet KL evening. Sabye Sabye served their tomyam soups in single serves (RM6 per serve) which allowed us to try two different types. He had the Tom Yam Chicken with Coconut Milk. It was creamy and comforting but it wasn't entirely mind-blowing.

I went with the Clear Soup Tomyam with Seafood. Again, despite my enthusiasm for this place, I felt the tomyam fell a wee bit short on the crazy spicy & sour front. The abundance of sliced bird's eye chillies brought on a coughing fit at one point but I saw that as just bad swallowing action on my part, not entirely great tomyam preparation on theirs.

Otak-Otak was a radiant serving of seafood coated in egg, coconut milk and turmeric. Went down too easily with white rice.

Deep fried Squid with Salted Egg dispensed the kind of joy one couldn't shy from when met with one's kindred soul. You want to get right under the skin and discover what you can't possibly know from muted appearances.

The soul of the evening had to be the Petai Fried Rice which arrived looking as placid as frozen peas but once we stuck our fork in to release the aroma, we were done for. I dare say I've not had petai marriage with carbs as zesty as this!

If you want to pay for only things you order, refuse the towel, the appetizer and jelly they serve as soon as you're seated, as they'll all pop up on the bill later. It's a token amount extra but still... you know what I mean. Meal rounded up to RM70 for two of us, which we were only too happy to fork over. The human in me laid comatose while the animal licked its paws and exhaled with gusto.

Thai Sabye Sabye

G62, Ground Floor, Lucky Plaza
Old Klang Road, KL
Tel: 03-7981 2887

The Pride of Sarawak... is Fried Chicken! Or at least at Rajah Brooke Cafe, Kuchai Lama

Despite the proximity of Kuchai Lama to my neighbourhood, I had not ventured to seek out the thriving neighbourhood of a great many food digs until one fine afternoon, when steadfast eating buddy Fat Tulip suggested driving to check out Rajah Brooke Cafe.

Rajah Brooke Cafe specializes in Sarawakian favourites with highly coveted Sarawakian gems like Laksa and Kolo Mee featured prominently on the menu.

He decided on Tomato Mee which came looking like a redder version of Jawa Mee with crunchy noodles. Tasted a-OK, nothing phenomenal. Except maybe the scary fuchsia tint on the char siew.

I went for the Nasi Padungan and asked for the steamed chicken drumstick to be substituted with the fried Santubung chicken, smartest thing to do ever. The chicken arrived as everything fried chicken should aspire to be - crisp, moist and quite simply, very tasty. Those who do not want to order the rice dish can also get this separately as a side dish.

My aversion to the combination of butter and rice kinda killed my enjoyment of this dish though. About halfway through blissfully chomping the fluffy, fragrant rice without giving thought to the butter factor, Fat Tulip pointed out that the rice served was in fact, not white but butter rice. I pretty much dropped my cutlery right then and there.

The otak-otak was a sore disappointment though. Rubbery and featherweight, the serving of six slices offered nothing to the meal.

After downing his noodles, Fat Tulip decided to go for the kill and order the Kung Pao Pig Stomach and rice. He enjoyed it enough but I found the sweetness of the dish off tangent.

Rajah Brooke Special - like cendol, but not really. Bleh. Say no to condensed milk!

Meal was a very manageable RM40. Service was efficient and we got our orders after a relatively short wait time. Can't size up the claim of Best Sarawakian food in town though, as it's an under-explored brand of cuisine for me. I'd come back to give the Sarawak Laksa and Kolo mee a go, and another side order of that Santubung Fried Chicken.

Definitely keen to explore more of the area. Even spied a newish Pan Heong outlet. Anyone has a clue whether this is offspring of the eminent Pan Heong in Batu Caves?

Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park
19 Jalan Kuchai Maju 8
Off Jalan Kuchai Lama
03-7983 3264

Lunch at New World #2

Otak-otak in banana leaf - alright, no verbal raves.
Papa Chow ordered 2 plates of Nasi Lemak for himself and Taka. He can never let an opportunity for nasi lemak slip by, supposedly. Who could blame him. No verbal raves though.
Verbal raves all around for this curry mee. We all had a bowl each - beautiful stock, good proportions - we did without the pig's blood and extra cockles. Highly recommended. Mama Chow said that the two curry mee stalls at New World were equally good in their own way: the one we ate had a sweeter stock and the other (closed) was more aromatic, spice-oriented.
The damage: we did not finish the chai koay as it turns out. What did I say about oversized dumplings?
Ais Kacang with banana slices. This has been a firm favorite for a long time; seeing as it was one of the few things I could actually eat when I was fully vegetarian at Swatow Lane. I don't know if it was the change of location, the absence of longkang-side ambience with ratty parasols - but it wasn't quite the same. I think one of the issues of communal eating, which I am all for, is the lack of undivided attention given to a single dish/feature/thing. Because there is a multitude of distractions, flavours, you tend to be prompted by greed rather than concentration - I am referring to myself really. I think it is important to afford each dish the time to consider it on its own but chaos is really fun.