Sup Pedas Kajang, Puchong

December, December, December!
So much to do, to rush for before the year ends!
And with all the hustle and bustle, I had, inevitably neglected my blog ;p

Finally managed to squeeze in time for an update, and it shall be a continuation of the rainy day series..

We were in Bandar Puteri and heard there's a new shop in town..
Up for something spicy, we made our way there in hope for some great grubs.
Ordering was prompt, we wanted to try their 'sup pedas', ie, their hot and spicy soup..

If you were thinking it's somewhat like the peppery pig stomach soup, then you'll be sorely disappointed. This pot of soup is thick with pepper, slices of ginger and loads of choy poh (preserved vegetables). There's slices of pork, pork stomach and chicken to sweeten the soup, but it's just not my cup of tea. I find the soup chokingly sweet and saltish, I'd go for simple pepperish pig stomach soup anytime.

We tried the 18K Hot Hot Pork, which sounds menacingly fiery..

Turns out very similar to the dry style bak kut teh, sans the lady's fingers. The thick sauce was perfect with rice, the pork slices itself was less impressive as it was rather tough. Better than the soup though.

Got some Houliao seafood roll..

Mediocre seafood rolled in beancurd.

The spinach that we ordered was too old..
Way too fibrous.
Overall a less than stellar experience, doubt I'll pop over again, unless I had no other option.


Sup Pedas Kajang is located at 16G, Jalan Puteri 2/4, Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong.

Xin Chun Seafood Steamboat, Kota Damansara

The rain has been relentless for the past few weeks..
It's cold, wet and dull, I guess it's a tropical country's version of 'winter'?

Though there's many who would lament about the rain, I for one, secretly enjoy the rain. I love the smell of rain, the sound of it pelting against my window pane and magnificent lightning that strikes just before a storm begins. That is, if I'm nice and dry indoors..hahaha.

And when it rains, most of us would seek some sort of comfort food..

In my case, steamboat tops the list to warm me up on a rainy day :).

I first heard of Xin Chun from SL. We were on our way to try it but a most unfortunate incident happened and we had to cancel. Year end came and most of us were busy going for hols and clearing last minute work, we just didn't thought of Xin Chun again.

When WF was hanging out at my place recently, it was another wet evening and we were both craving for something to warm us up. Xin Chun came to my mind.

It was freakishly packed when we arrive, but luck was with us, we got a table soon after.

Like any typical steamboat joint, Xin Chun offers 'ching thong' (clear soup base) or 'yin yiong" (mixed of 2 soup, the other being tim yam). Since it's our first try, we opted for yin yiong.

There were 2 sets to choose from - Ketam set (RM13.50) and Seafood set(RM24.50).

It was a minimum order or 2 pax per set, so we could only try one type. We went for the Ketam set. Quite substantial serving for 2, we decided not to order extra ingredients. The set also comes with the typical yee mee and vermicelli, with eggs.

I assumed that their ching thong was basically herb based, to my surprise, it was not. I cant tell what's the ingredients for the clear soup, it was a very familiar, seafood taste. WF said it might be shark bones, which may be the case as the soup was murky, and usually boiling fish/ fish bones brings such effect. I was actually enjoying this soup very much, it's rather satisfying slurping it down. Yums. The ingredients for the steamboat was very fresh too, which added to the sweetness of the soup.

As for the tom yam, both of us didn't like it. It was very spicy yet sweet. Just didn't enjoy it.

Xinchun serves dishes other than steamboat too. Dishes such as lala vermicelli, crabs (in different sauces) and pork ribs, to fill us up while waiting for the food to cook.

Xin Chun Seafood Steamboat is located at No 15, Jln PJU 5/3, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara , 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Vivo American Pizza & Panini, Tropicana City Mall

I can be very bias sometimes..

I tend to make a hasty decision for not dining at a place with it's outlook. That does not mean that the restaurant is dirty, smelly etc..its just a 'feel' that I get. No chemistry I guess, hah. Weird, eh?

Sadly, Vivo was one of such restaurant. When I saw it opening its doors at The Curve a couple of years back, I never had the urge to want to try it.

But recently, Vivo opened a branch at Tropicana City. I was there to catch a movie and while cracking my head on what to have for dinner, I recalled Ms. D persistent effort to convince me to try the food in Vivo some time ago.

Hmmm, why so insistent?

Curiosity got the best of me, we went to Vivo without much hesitation..

Power juices seemed to be popular..

We tried a couple..

Cant remember the names of these, but one was thirst quenching while another was a tad too sour..

The Green Tea latte was a nice way to warm the belly in preparation of the food..The slightly bitter green tea (powder) was balanced by the tame milk.

Ms D said the baked seafood pasta was worth trying..

And so I did.

The pasta was tongue scorching hot when it was served. The top layer of cheese was wonderfully burnt and melted, clinging on to the spaghetti underneath. The tomato cream sauce, - rich and gooey complemented the mild flavour dory fish slices and pasta. A rather satisfying dish, you should give it a try if you prefer creamy based pasta.

The pizza, on the other hand, came with some quirky flavours..

SH wanted to try the Funghi (Mushroom) pizza, and so we ordered one.

You get to choose to have it thin crust or the normal pizza base. Ours was thin.

I was surprised that Vivo was very generous with their ingredients. Loads of mushrooms accompanied with a scattering of feta cheese and almond slices. So far, it sounds normal right? The quirkiness came with the sauce used for the base of the pizza. Rather than the usual tomato base, they opted for pesto. Not that it's bad (the worst base I've tried was caramelised ginger sauce base for a duck pizza..ewww), it's just acquired taste. So this pizza got a mixed vote, some of us enjoyed it, while others don't.

Amy opted for a more norm pizza..

Topped with salami, chicken slices and lots of vegetables. Pretty decent, I liked the fact that the capsicums are bursting with juices when I bit into it.

I've tried their chicken tenders too (which I didn't take a picture of, sorry!), which is great to snack on. It's like a cross between A&W fried chicken batter with Chilli's chicken crisper.

I must admit, there were some items in Vivo that I did enjoy. Vivo is has almost similar clientele akin to Pizza hut's. But if I had to choose between these 2, I'd rather do Vivo.

Vivo American Pizza & Panini is located at Tropicana City Mall, L1-55, First Floor, Tropicana City Mall, No. 3, Jln SS 20/27, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.