Usual Place's Western Food (for breakfast)

151-152 Jalan Lagenda 6, Lagenda Heights, Sungai Petani, Kedah

 

 

Foodelicious

 

I believe Usual Place’s Western Food only serves Western food in the evening, which I have never tried.  We stopped by for the first time one morning for breakfast. I supposed it operates as a coffee shop during the day supported by various stalls. 

As with most coffee shops, the first to arrive is your drink. Each of us have our own favorite breakfast drink so we ordered four distinctive drinks (from top clockwise): ‘Teh Si’ (tea with evaporated milk), Iced ‘Milo’, ‘Oh Teh’ (brewed ‘Eight Treasures’ herbal tea), and extra thick Nescafe with less sugar. That last, complicated one is my dad’s – as usual. 

We all agreed the drinks here were exceptionally good. Most coffee shops serve drinks that range from mediocre to good but this place definitely stands out above the rest. The Chinese name for this restaurant - 老地方 - is actually appropriate for a coffee shop. When good friends meet especially in my parents’ generation or the generation prior, they usually ask ‘where?’ and more often than not, the answer would be, “the usual place, lah!” Let’s just say the drinks made such an impression that I feel it could be that ‘usual place’ where good friends think of when they simply want to have an old-fashion coffee shop drink.

I noticed the coffee shop was also selling some ‘nyonya kuih’ – ‘Kuih Talam’ and ‘Seri Muka’. Those are one of my favorites so we got some. They were yummy!

Both types consist of light green and white layers. The light green color on both are from the ‘pandan’ flavor - a fragrant and sweet flavor, which I love. ‘Kuih Talam’ (talam means tray) has the white coconut milk flavor on top of the ‘pandan’ layer. ‘Seri Muka’ (Pretty Face) has the colors reversed, ‘pandan’ layer over glutinous rice.  

 

My mum ordered the Thai Curry Laksa. By appearance, it looks like any curry laksa except for okra and tomatoes added. The curry has more of a Thai curry flavor. Hence, the name. 

 

I don’t normally Wonton Noodles at food courts or eating places since there’s usually other options that catch my fancy. The one drawback with this coffee shop is the limited selection. But it could have been a blessing in disguise. I actually quite enjoy this wonton noodle – ample sauce, noodles has the right ‘bite’, and the char siu is juicy. Need proof of how much I like it?

 

  Here you go! Cleaned the plate…

One complain – wish the wonton filling was more plump. But in their defense, I have not really found one stall that is not skimping on the filling yet. Then again, I probably don’t order this dish enough to make an accurate judgment. 

Food                            4.0 (Drinks 5.0)

Customer Service     4.0

Ambiance                   3.0

Décor/Details            2.5
Parking                       5.0 (in the morning)

Chennai Curry House 

141-143 Jalan Lagenda 5, Lagenda Heights, Sungai Petani, Kedah

 

Foodelicious

If you are in Sungai Petani and craving Indian food, Chennai Curry House will probably come to mind. I usually come here for lunch. It’s less crowded so the staff tend to be more attentive. 

See, even the cooks have time to grab a bite. Haha, actually, we were having a late lunch. He was probably slaving away in the kitchen till now, when the crowd has thinned out. 

When you have lived in a town for awhile, it may seem like you know everyone. Our neighbor's brother apparently owns the restaurant and his wife happens to be my mother's former student. Small world right?  

This restaurant is clean. The layout makes it seem spacious. We sat in the so-called ‘open air’ area. Malaysia is muggy like every day but you don’t feel like you have sweat pouring down your back while sampling the hot curry here. It’s actually comfortable. I think the ceiling fans and wide open entrance store front helps. Very welcoming too.   

The restaurant has a separate air-conditioned space, probably same seating capacity. I have never eaten in there. It is considered the fine dining section so the décor and furnishing are much more refine.

Dad decided on the banana leaf rice. For those not familiar, they give you a big piece of banana leaf, acting as the vessel for the delicious goodness that will be piled on soon enough. 

Then, one of the servers stops by with this very practical trio of steel containers, each containing a different vegetarian dish. I think I’ve only seen these at banana leaf restaurants, sometimes they have four containers but more shallow.

 

You get one big scoop of each. Here we have spinach with potatoes, scrambled eggs with melons, and a vegetarian sambal dish. The only one I tried was the egg dish and I really liked it. 

Next comes the papadum – a big one. Then, the curry on top of the rice. They start with one big scoop of curry. If you want more, they will oblige. If this was mine, it would be drenched in curry. 

Don’t this look so delicious? I almost wished I was eating this instead of waiting for the dishes we ordered.

So what did we order? First, the Spicy Bindi. Okra or bendi is one of my favorite vegetables so if it’s on the menu, it will usually land on my table. And spicy okra is just heavenly. This one is super spicy and I loved it. I think I ate two-third of the dish or was it three-quarter? 

Sotong or squid/calamari is a seafood I can’t seem to get enough of when I’m home in Malaysia. I hardly cook it in Hawaii. The prep time of having to clean it – removing the outer skin, eliminating the ink sac, gutting the insides – takes too long, not to mention cumbersome. So of course I ordered the Sotong Sambal. It had good flavor but I wished they didn’t cut the sotong into such small pieces.

Last dish – the chicken. Sorry, forgot which one we ordered. I think it was the Chicken Korma. I let my mum pick so was not paying attention. It was also my least favorite dish. I thought the curry was a little watered down – flavor not as bold as the bendi or sotong. 

We had a satisfying meal. I know my dad sure did – look at his ‘plate’. 

I would come back here over and over again. If I had a big enough stomach, I would order the banana leaf rice and a medley of dishes. A word of caution, the prices can add up pretty quickly here depending on what you order so if you are on a budget, the banana leaf rice may be the safest, tastiest bet.

Oops, almost forgot the Teh Tarik. It hit a spot. That’s all I got to say.

Food                            4.5

Customer Service     4.0

Ambiance                   3.5

Décor/Details            2.5
Parking                       3.0

Mabrown (Bee/Mei Ah Tong) Restaurant 

21 Jalan Petri, Sungai Petani, Kedah

 

Foodelicious

Yes, so this restaurant has two different names. And one has nothing to do with the other. The Chinese name '味也同' roughly translates to ‘Taste Together’. According to my mum, the name ‘Mabrown’ was given by the Caucasian customers who found ‘Mei Ah Tong’ a real mouthful. 

It’s been around since the 1960s. My parents had their wedding reception at this restaurant in 1971. Mum said it was the best restaurant in town then. Point is most folks in Sungai Petani know this place. 

I’ve been eating here since I was a child and the restaurant has been a family business since it first opened. The daughter-in-law and grandson runs the front of the house now.    

The atmosphere in the restaurant is like an old Chinese coffee shop – just look at the tables and chairs. And the tiled flooring. I love it.

The restaurant also has an air-conditioning section located to the left of the store. It holds about five tables. My dad always picks the air-conditioning room. He cannot stand the heat and mugginess. 

We’ve always had pretty good service here but today, it was like pulling teeth to get one of the bussers to clean a table for us. The boss had to tell them at least twice before it got cleaned. 

Who can have food in Malaysia without cili padi, chili sauce, chili powder or anything ‘chili’. This restaurant gives a generous portion - two plates of each for 3 adults and 1 child. 

The order came pretty quickly. First to arrive was the 'Kau Yuk' (pork with taro), supposedly one of its specialty. Today, they didn’t have Mui Choy. Thus, the Kau Yuk came with taro only. It was still yummy. 

Next came the Dou Miao or Pea Shoots fried with garlic and salted fish. I really like this one. There was just enough salted fish to keep the pea shoots as the star of the dish.

We ordered the steamed tofu for the little one but it turned out to be a superb choice. I think this was my second favorite dish today. The dried krills, fried shallots and green onion garnish added some crunch and flavor. And of course I love my tofu drenched in sauce since it normally is quite bland otherwise. 

The Gulai (curry) Assam Fish was the best thing we ordered today. The ‘pari’ or ray is cooked well and the spicy sauce had the right tanginess. Okra is a usual accompaniment in assam fish curries but I was surprised to see cucumbers too. I thought it might get mushy unlike the okra which is quite hardy but it held up nicely and actually adds to the dish. I don’t think we would normally order ‘pari’ for this dish but it worked fine. For future reference, I would recommend a different fish.

See the fresh ingredients that were ground and used in the curry? Chili, shallots, okra…fresh ingredients – that’s what makes food taste even better. 

I had no idea how big the kitchen was until we went to the back of the restaurant. There is a huge extension and numerous cooks were prepping and cooking there. No wonder the food came quickly. 

Food                           4.5
Customer Service    3.5
Ambiance                  3
Decor/Details           1.5
Parking                       5 (if you know where to park or else it's a 3.5)

By the way, apparently, they are open for business from 10am to 3pm only. (Yes, don't let that sign in the first picture fool you. I found it propped against the wall in the air-conditioned room, presumably an outdated sign).