And when you do find delicious good food, you daydream about it all the time. You wish you could have that Ikea meatballs like, RIGHT NOW. Or that heavenly seafood spaghetti that Myen's father served up a few christmases ago.
The trip to China last year (2008) was a wonderful experience. You have to believe me when I say the food is scrumptious! I'm not sure if it's the water or the product, but the Chinese can cook up a real storm. Malaysia is a food paradise too, that one is sure as hell. We have various herbs and spices that had the British, Dutch, Portugese and Cheng Ho coming back for more. Our food is a culinary mix of cultural fusion, which makes us especially tasty (cue the "Malaysia Truly Asia" song here.)
I digress. Talking about Chinese food, which I AM going to cover in my China trip travel blog (which is taking forever to finish...), I came across two restaurants in Shanghai - Ding Tai Feng from Taiwan and Ajisen Ramen from Japan. Their food is absolutely an eater's paradise! Yes, it was THAT good.
Back home to motherland, I have spent several moments reminiscing the tasty morsels. The wonderful rich broth of Ajisen Ramen, and the juicy, tender Shanghai xiao long paus. I did not take pictures of both and am now slapping myself for it (never was a food photographer, me).
Guess what, Ding Tai Feng opened a new restaurant in the Gardens. I guess my incessant rambling about how good it was finally convinced my gang to celebrate Myen's birthday there.
There were a lot of people, that was promising. I guess everyone heard of the famous Shanghai xiao long paus that Ding Tai Feng was famed for. Obviously I was very excited about revisiting the good times in Shanghai. But then, the menu was...different. A few dishes were replaced. The tastes were changed.
More importantly, the Shanghai xiao long pau tastes different! I cried, I sobbed, I wept, I whimpered, but it doesn't help the fact that Malaysian Ding Tai Feng has smaller, less juicy and less tasty xiao long pau. The other noodle dishes my gang had were significantly smaller and tastes like any other noodle house in KL, but with a higher price. Oh, how I grieved!
Regrettably (or not), we did not take pictures of the food as, honestly, it wasn't quite worth it.
Then there was Ajisen Ramen in Shanghai. Priced at RM 16 a big bowl (filled to the brim with delicious meat chunks, mushroom and whatever), it was totally a steal! And don't get me started on the rich broth, which I managed to almost finish if not for my already expanded-beyond-its-girth stomach. How I missed Ajisen back in Malaysia!
Lo and behold! Ajisen decided to open in Sunway Pyramid! It was by chance that Myen and I, browsing through the mall directory, saw the shop high up on the list, and lunch was decided.
Once again, my loyalty was tested. The menu was totally different, again. The price, higher than I would appreciate. There were a lot of choices, but not much to interest me. I blame the terribly designed menu. When I finally made my mind to have the RM 20 something Peking duck ramen, I could feel my wallet writhing in pain. It wasn't as if I had other yummy choices, but would you rather pay RM 10 for a bowl of noodles and a pitiful amount of veggies instead? The only picture to interest me were the duck. So.
The cruelty! The noodle tasted of alkaline, and the soup wasn't rich! If it weren't for the chilli and the duck, I couldn't have stomached the bowl of thing (I cannot stand the taste of alkaline)! And the price I paid certainly added salt to my wounds.
Oh please, Sakae Sushi has better chicken katsudon.
My painfully expensive and NOT delicious Peking Duck ramen.
Alas, this must be why our government encourages us to eat local food, for foreign gourmet - all right, chain stores - that once reached our shores, are heanvenly no more.
Say hello to char kuey teow and asam laksa again!
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