Take Five from Spice, Surabaya in Sunway Mentari

Found myself at the receiving end of a thorougly unexpected and isolated ambrosial weekend, thanks to a perplexing benefactor. To complement the activities which yielded some serious Q&As of this sticky organ we call the heart, it made sense to take time out to drive to Indon joint Surabaya in the unfamiliar territory of Sunway Mentari to challenge our threshold for spice.

The Lontong Cap Gomeh was a jerky start to Surabaya's liberal lashings of nerve-numbing chillies. The chicken stew, cushioned by dense rice cakes and sliced root vegetables were a winning and reassuring broth in milky, nutty broth.

I relied on my benefactor's authority to weed out what was good on the menu based on an illustrious outing here not long after it opened. He was generous with his praise for the Gado Gado and he wasn't far off. The combination of just-blanched vegetables enveloped in a disarming creamy peanut dressing, best paired with REALLY hot chilli sauce.

Also highly recommended was the Cumi Goreng. It arrived a rather modest serving of golden brown battered squid in sliced red chillies and garlic. The squid rings were scrumptious, although he felt that it was a step down from what sold Surabaya at his first visit.

He also ordered the Mi Goreng Surabaya, which was truthfully, a bit of a disaster. It looked like mamak mi goreng and tasted no better than a mediocre midnight version, compensated only with more chillies. Definitely not for delicate gastrointestinal systems - we left most of it to waste.

With the tastebud massacre, we were only too happy to neutralise with plenty of liquids. Surabaya's beverage menu is a Technicolour dream, featuring a drink in every shade of the rainbow. We had the Yellow Dennis, a pineapple, lychee and longan brew and the agreeable pink Red Stop, a thirst-quenching blend of watermelon, strawberries and tomatoes.

And so with our hunger placated and our tastebuds anaesthesised by the profusion of spice, we skipped out on the rain-washed roads and headed back to our elusive (one time only!) weekend pilgrimage of pleasure and promise.

Resto Surabaya
No. 18-1, Jalan PJS 8/2
Dataran Mentari Sunway
46150 KL

Personality Test at Kar Heong, Subang

Partaking in a simple meal can make radical changes to perception, offering invaluable insights to a new character beyond the possibilities of Myers-Briggs.

He ordered Siu Yoke (Roast Pork). And ate every last sliver of porcine fat on the plate. with relish. Yes this could be LOVE.

He asked for the hor fun with prawn wantan to be replaced with blah yellow noodles. But horfun rules in this joint! What would compel a person to go with insipid yellow noodles over the silky smooth hor fun? I raised a mental eyebrow but refrained from being too judgemental. This is as much a personality outing for me as it is for him.

I stuck to hor fun and I was smugly pleased. Rice noodles coated with lardy love, chives and spring onion. He remained unimpressed. Hmmm...Stubborn, much? Score to Kar Heong, none to him.

The dumplings spoke to me in volumes. I needed a slam dunk and this was it! Check out the size of the prawns involved.

And when it comes down to it, aren't the concealed fillings all that matter?

A meal at Kar Heong isn't going to deliver all the answers about a person but it does bring you one slice of fatty siu yoke closer to the truth.

The Local aka Hock Hin, SS19

The more generous locals I eat with, the more familiar I become with the hidden nooks and foreign suburbs in the Klang Valley. Subang is one area of this gradual induction.

One work evening, a new eating companion gently held my hand as I ventured into this area, which holds its own in the BKT league and its many good eats to cater for its thriving population.

Hock Hin, said companion's family favourite dai chow in SS19 was to be this evening's introduction to Subang.

The Claypot pork with salted fish was lovely, spicy and hit the sodium notes perfectly. Or not so perfect for me perhaps, since I had chosen to abstain from rice this evening. Still, I dug in with nary a care.

Nothing shouted "Welcome to Subang!" like the glazed, hypnotic goodness of these Marmite chicken drumsticks! I polished about three of these darlings with much relish!

Equally gratifying were the plentiful sticks of chicken satay from lone kakak operating the stall in the same kopitiam.

To square off all that pork & poultry, a simple dish of stir-fried French beans with garlic. These crunchy greens are so easy to eat - even though it was a touch more grease than required for a vegetable dish, it was hard to keep away.

Hock Hin is situated on Jalan SS19/6. They have another air-conditioned shoplot a few doors down from the open-air coffee shop, for those who wilt in tropical evening weather.

Subang, I'll be coming back for more!