Claypot meal for 2 pax at Vegipai for RM11!

This vegetarian restaurant offers fusion food with a twist.  Some Asian dishes like the claypot meals we ordered were given the extra ‘oomph’ with chili padi while the western menu even offered pizzas and burgers.  Naturally, like most vegetarian restaurant, we tend to forget the meat is actually soy-based.  Hence, providing a fuller feel at the end of the meal.

We got to choose from 3 different claypot meals: Assorted vegetables curry in claypot, Golden dry curry eggplant & abalone mushroom or Petola stew with homemade "dou fu" in claypot.  This deal included 2 bowls of rice.

We ordered 2 sets, namely the vegetable curry and dry curry eggplant which came with 4 bowls of rice.

Vegetable curry ( a little bland for my liking)

 

Dry curry brinjal (this dish came sizzling onto our table).  Deliciously warm with a kick of chili and spices. An absolute must try.

Besides the meals offered by the voucher, we took the opportunity to try a few other dishes.

We ordered the meehoon curry (pictured above) which was tangy (taste comparable to a mild asam laksa).

 

The sweet and sour mushroom rice (the vegetarian version of ‘koh loh yok’) was light, crispy and mild.  Suitable for those who opt for non-spicy food.

 

Tong Sui (white fungus with longan) – warm dessert which was not too sweet

Mango smoothie – something sweet for the young at heart

We’d give Vegipai the thumbs up and it is definitely worth a repeat visit.   Particularly since we got a RM10 voucher for the next visit :P

RM4.90 noodles set @ Tou Tou by Everyday

  Main entrance

 

 

For RM4.90, this deal included a meal set with a choice of a noodle (thick/thin hand-made noodle, mee hoon, keow teow or claypot in broth/soup/curry or dry) and a drink (green or herbal tea).  

 

Tou Tou’s menu

The noodles (list price RM7.90) was a choice of shrimp or squid balls.  We opted for the shrimp balls were well made – fresh, tasty and not at all spongy.

Having bought 3 coupons, our meal looked like this:

Curry noodles with prawn balls

Dry thick noodles (this was their specialty Hakka noodle) which came with prawn balls (pic below)

 

Prawn ball meehoon soup

 

To add a little spice to our meal, we tried their highly potent chilli concoctions in red and green varients.

 

To cool us down, our drinks were chinese tea and herbal tea.

We also took the opportunity to try other full priced meals including the thick and thin variants of chicken chop noodles, sui kow soup and fried dumplings with Thai (tasted bottled) chili sauce.

Thin noodle with chicken chop

Thick noodle with chicken chop

Sui kow soup

Fried dumplings with Thai sauce

 

Overall, the dining experience at Tou Tou was pleasant.  Service was quick.  The meal was delicious and well worth the RM4.90 per person. At regular prices, the meals remain reasonable for a family outing, particularly since we were given a 10% discount card for future visits!

The only disappointment was their specialty Hakka noodles (thick/thin) were not spongy/chewy enough.  They tasted very much like regular ‘pan mee’ with minced meat.

Worth specific mention is the chicken chop which were sliced so thin that it felt as though we were eating chips!  They were crispy, light and not dry.  The chicken chop went very well with both chili sauces and even with tomato ketchup.

 

Kitchen area @ Tou Tou

Thumbs Down for Tong’s Roast Workshop

 

Second visit: August 2011

Alas, a great disappointment the second time around.  We were the only diners on a rainy Saturday evening and the food was as soggy as the weather.  The chicken tasted as though it had been sitting on the fly-infested shelf the whole day while awaiting patrons. 

 

We ventured to try the duck and the roast pork but both were fairly regular fare.  Definitely not worth the trek to the eatery.

 

The place is manned by foreign workers which did nothing to the authenticity of the food nor ambience.  They were, at times, rather dim in understanding simple orders.  To complicate matters, the coupon usage system had changed between July and August 2011.  In July, we were billed and refunded the RM1 paid to Dealmates as part of the standard operating procedure (SOP).  However, SOP changed in August whereby although the payment was automatically deducted from the bill.  While I have no problem with a change in SOP, I definitely do take offence to rudeness and the manner in which the staff informed me to ‘go count’ the total billed. 

 

So unless you are like soggy, tasteless chicken and temperamental foreign staff, steer clear of Tong’s roast workshop.

 

First visit: July 2011

A favourite of my kids so at RM1 per plate (down from original price of RM5.50), why not? Value of chicken rice is probably less than my cost of petrol getting there but hey, it’ll be a weekend adventure for the family and it was!

The old 'F&N' venue just off the Sg Besi highway proved a challenge to get to especially since we came from the south of the city. Nevertheless, after doing a few u-turns (legal ones I might add :) we got there eventually. The restaurant is located just off the main road and faces away from the hustle of city. There's ample free parking particularly on a Saturday evening.

First impressions were that it was a clean, decent place to bring both the young children and elderly. Staff were a little less efficient and appeared to be running around like headless chickens (apologies for the pun) and despite the small number of tables that were occupied, they were not able to cope with the serving patrons. Incoming customers were left to find seats for themselves and had to wait some time before being attended to.

Nevertheless, after confirming our reservation and use of the vouchers, we proceeded to order our food and were pleasantly surprised by the generous portions offered. They kept to their promise of serving full-sized meals at RM1 each. We tried the steamed, roast and braised chicken and while the former 2 were tasty, it was the braised chicken that is a must-try. The chicken was tender, juicy and full of flavour. This venue is definitely worth a repeat visit.

The RM1 Chicken Rice (Steam Chicken)

Braised Chicken

Roast Chicken

Sample Menu

The address is 52-G, Jalan Metro Pudu, Fraser Business Park, Off Jalan Yew, Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, 55100. Tel: 03-9222 2218. It faces the Jalan Loke Yew (instead of Jalan Sungai Besi).

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Save RM10 on groceries @ Tesco

Over the past few months, Tesco has been offering RM10 vouchers in The Star newspapers.  Usually found on Fridays and/or Sundays, these vouchers can be used to offset purchases at Tesco with a minimum spend of RM100.   It’s a great way to encourage shoppers to visit their store – I certainly have been going there to do my weekly shopping :P

Crab lovers galore

A must for crab lovers: Crab + 1 Fried Dish (Shange Fried Mee/Fried Rice)+ 2 Herbal Drinks (Hot or Cold) @ Shange Dim Sum Home Food.  At just RM25.90 for 2 pax, choices include:

• Hong Kong Crab Porridge
• Salted Egg Fried Crab
• Chrysanthemum Steam Crab
• Kam Heong Fried Crab

Deal still available at:

http://www.everyday.com.my/coupons/kl/leetc.ec?886

3 plates of DimSum @ RM10

Golden Sun Restaurant in Kuchai Lama is offered this ‘yumcha’ experience via JackCow.  Over 40 items on their menu is available for selection.  They even had a menu printed for the JackCow promo.

Overall, the dining experience is similar to that of most chinese restaurants so nothing really outstanding there.  Food was tasty and service prompt.  The steamed pumpkin dumplings are worth a special mention. However, the egg tart (which took a very long time to make while we waited) was basically too much fluff ie. too much pastry.

Buffet dimsum is on every Saturday for RM25+ (adults) and RM13+ (kids).  If you have already bought this voucher, you can top up the remaining balance which really defeats the purpose of buying a ‘discounted’ voucher in the first place.

The deal  is worthwhile if you are a small eater and ordering ala carte.  Unlike other online deals, there are there are hidden costs with this voucher:

1. Tea is chargeable at RM1.80++ per person

2. Towels are chargeable at RM1.20++per person

The above charges are not included in the meal deal but will be served.

 

 

iCe nail beauty manicure & pedicure RM29.90 by EziVoucher

Brought to your own home, this steal includes 2.5 hours of manicure and pedicure plus the option of either nail art or French art services.

Only available in Penang (and soon to be available in Taiping) but nevertheless, I bought 2 sets :P 

iCe was over half an hour late for our appointment but did a terrific job with the manicure and pedicure.  Her usual fees are over RM100 so this deal was definitely value for money. 

The nail art work is gorgeous as pictured below.