A lot of people have been saying that 2016 has been a pretty depressing year. The world has gone through some dramatic changes, the economy is not getting any better, and God keeps taking away celebrities we love. It’s been a rough year, but I still want to count our blessings. So continuing from the last post, I’d like to list the TOP 12 dishes we’ve had in 2016.

One of the very first questions I’ve asked Kevin during our early phase of courting was “When did you last had an amazing meal?”. I think that set the tone of our relationship from the very beginning. We love to eat. And lucky for me, I found someone who’s willing to explore the world of cuisine with me. Funnily enough, most of the “amazing” dining experiences we had weren’t at any 5 stars restaurants, but in forms of street food. So, on this list are mostly cheap to mid-range food that has either blew our mind, or had us going back many times over.

Oyster and Fish Noodles at B & Best Restaurant, SS4.

Technically, we started going to this place since late last year. But this remains one of our favourite noodle places and we go there almost once a month. The first time I had it, it completely blew my mind. The seafood here is super fresh and we always opt for Oysters and some form of Fish (often Red Snapper). My order is Dry noodles on the side, tossed with pork lard and dark soy sauce. Add a generous spoon of their sambal to complete the meal. Comfort food and  the best way to boost our zinc level *wink wink*.

A lot of people say it’s pricey. Usually we order one bowl with 2 types of seafood, 2 dry tossed noodles, 2 drinks for around RM38. To me, I think it’s worth it for the quality of seafood and the level of satisfaction.

Mei by Fat Spoon, Desa Sri Hartamas.

This restaurant also has been around for a while although we didn’t get to visit until recently. Comforting Japanese inspired food is their thing and they are probably the one who started the rice bowl trend. We had the Torched Salmon Bowl, which was nice (can’t go wrong with semi raw salmon mixed with onsen egg, mayonnaise and Japanese rice); but it was the Ox tongue rice that won our heart. The thinly sliced beef, sweet-savoury & succulent, paired with cili padi & garlic chips on steamed rice, it’s easy to just wipe the whole bowl clean.

And since we are talking about rice bowls, we have also done The Fish Bowl (Hawaiian Style Fish on Rice) and pretty sure we will be going back there again.

Kampua Mee at Mian, Aman Suria

How can I do a list without my favourite Sarawakian food? There are plenty of places selling Sarawak Kolo Mee and Kampua Mee. But strangely a lot can’t differentiate the noodles and mix them up. The owners of this shop actually hail from Sitiawan, but what matter is the noodles here are authentic and delicious. Interestingly the white noodles here follows a recipe from China so it actually tastes quite different from what we get in Sarawak, in a good way of course. The char siew here is more suited to West Malaysian, none of those thin and dry pieces we get in Sarawak, which is a bonus. Try the ginger duck noodles too, another one of their signatures.

Pork Noodles at Kean Fatt, SS3

I have to confess, I’ve never had Pork Noodles until I met Kevin. And Kean Fatt is the first Pork Noodles place he’s brought me to so I guess I’m a little biased. Pork Innards, tender slices of pork, sweet savoury soup, silky noodles, finish with runny yolk; WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?! Since then we’ve tried a few places but this remains my favourite. The wait here is not too long, maybe around 20 minutes, so that’s another bonus.

Yung Kee HK Style Beef Noodles 庸記牛腩面, Pudu

There are plenty of Beef Noodles of different styles in Klang Valley and I’m sure everyone has their favourite. Yung Kee serves authentic HK Style Beef Noodles and there are a few quirks are this place: during the weekdays only normal beef brisket and tendon are available. But come weekends, you’ll be able to try out different cuts of Beef, and also dry tossed noodles. The picture above was dry beef noodles with mixed beef parts including tripes. Look at the thickness of the sauce, it’s super amazing. The tendon here is a must order and if you feel like digging deep, go for the wagyu beef. But be careful, the price is steep here. 2 bowls of noodles with an extra order of beef tripes set us back nearly RM50. So this is a special treat kinda place.

Fried egg salad at Jatujak Bangkok Street Food, Ara Damansara

Before Kevin, I didn’t care much for Thai Food because I had a preconception that many of them in Klang Valley aren’t that authentic. Frame Thai somehow changed my mind, but it has lost its magic due to a few reasons. Jatujak Bangkok Street Food is only minutes from our place and it’s always reassuring to see a neighbourhood restaurant filled with people even during weekdays. The food here is a mixture of Thai style BBQ, traditional Isan food and Seafood dishes. But that really blew our mind was this simple Fried Egg salad. Golden egg with runny yolk, coats in sweet, savoury, tangy sauce and fresh herbs. Super tasty! The grilled cockles and pork satay here are also really good.

Liver Sashimi at Maruhi Sakaba, Taman Desa

Not many people are daring enough to eat raw food. Even less so would touch a raw liver. But for someone like me who even likes my liver still pink in Pork noodles, this is right up my alley. This is just plain amazing, super tender piece of liver coated in sesame oil and a bit of soy, complete with raw ginger, garlic and spring onion, it’s just an explosion of flavours. I don’t know any other place which serves this so we come here almost once a month too. They also serve Chicken Sashimi, which we always order as well. The other grilled things are amazing too. Great place to have a caveman style meal (meat, offals, vegetables) and nice to wash down with some sake.

Banh Mi at Pho Viets, Atria Shopping Centre or Empire Shopping Gallery

Banh Mi holds a special place in our hearts because our first overseas trip was to Vietnam. For those uninitiated, Banh Mi is a Vietnamese sandwich with heavy influence of French Cuisine. French Baguette, Pork Pate, Sliced Pork, Pickled Cucumber, Radish and Cucumber, Chili, Coriander, can you just imagine how tasty it is? We’ve since tried a few Banh Mi in Klang Valley and Pho Viets is undesputedly the best so far. Pho Viets was the only restaurant ever resurrected from our initial black list (because I wasn’t very impressed with their Pho), and I’m pretty sure it will remain our favourite for long time to come.

Skippy’s Pizza, Damansara Uptown

It’s hard to find a pizza Kevin doesn’t like. But there are bonus points made here at Skippy’s Pizza. One, it’s Pork pizza. Pizza is better with real pork! Secondly, they serve their pizza with freshly minced garlic in oil. His mind was blown. Ever since then we even serve our pizzas at home the same way. The housemade chili oil is pretty amazing too. As for the pizza there? Pretty decent crust, toppings are generous, but it’s not made with woodfire oven.

Pork Burger at Ninja Joe, Tropicana City Mall 

Generally we are no food snob as you can imagine we still hit the occasional Big Mac nowadays. Ninja Joe’s visit was random. We had a Japanese meal and didn’t feel full so Kevin suggested to walk around the mall and see what else we could eat, and ended up passing by this. The burgers do take a little bit of time to make, but come piping hot. The patty is juicy and tender and they have quite a variety of toppings. This one above came with Nacho Cheese, Jalapenos and Lamb Chili too. Tasty stuff.

Tanoshii Desato, Tropicana City Mall (other branches available)

And since we are at TCM, here’s one of our favourite desserts of 2016. Taiyaki is a fish shaped Waffle with filled centre. At Tanoshii, you can choose between Matcha, Red Bean, Chocolate or Custard. Then you can complete the order with ice cream and a choice of fruit. Here we had the custard filling, matcha ice cream and strawberry. The Taiyaki is freshly made, so it does take a bit of time. Worth it though, the skin is crunchy, with pillow soft custard, not overly sweet, and the contrast of hot and cold. It’s a fun dessert.

Watermelon Cake at Naj and Belle, Courtyard SS15 Subang

Last but definitely not the least, this cake is probably the BEST thing we’ve eaten this year. This cake is almost full copy from the famous Black Star Pastry in Sydney,  but it’s not a complaint since we can get our hands on it without having to purchase a plane ticket. It’s just plain genius to have a watermelon slice in between the vanilla sponges spiced with nuts, and you can taste the lychee in the cream too. What a refreshing cake! It’s a little pricey though (around RM16 a pop) we’d glad it pay it for that sensory experience.

There are obviously many more delicious things we enjoyed this year, but these are the most memorable. I hope you had a yummy year yourself and may 2017 be another great foodie adventure! Happy New Year!