Umi Fusion - Al Wahda Mall, never again!

A poor eating-experience and one we hope to forget about soon, one weekend lunchtime at the new extension of Abu Dhabi's Al Wahda Mall...

Fusion? Seems Umi Fusion has an outlet at Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai ... I hope that it is purely-Japanese in that outlet, as the meaning of fusion here is genuinely confused! Fusion in Umi Fusion-speak means Mediterranean, Chinese, Japanese and other dishes. It is NOT a fusion of different dishes on one plate - Just a mixed up menu.

Child-friendly? Not at all - One high-chair in the entire restaurant, and when asked for a "child-friendly cup", we got a plastic cup (The disposable type) with a sharp-lip that cut my daughter's lips. Outrageous!

I chose the Paella - I am not sure what mediterranean flavours and colour-profile was agreed upon by the Executive Chef and owners, but it certainly turned-out un-Paella like. Funny enough, it was probably the best of the 4 dishes our lunch-party chose (v the Chicken Rice, v the Hor-fun or Kuay Teow, and definitely v T's mackerel which was promptly returned to the kitchen!).

I am not sure what inspired us to order the Chicken Rice, but we did ... Chili was overly-spicy and without flavour, the chicken was dry ... and the rice? Plain ol' plain ol'!

 

Prices? Japanese Edamame (18 AED), two Japanese Kappa Maki Roll (aka Sushi - 29 AED each), my Mediterranean Seafood with Chicken Paella (69 AED), Japanese Saba Shioyaki (Wait a moment - Isn't that the Mackerel which T sent back!!! 79 AED), and a large bottle of local water at 12 AED. Looks like we got the Chicken Rice and Oyster-sauce-heavy-Hor fun "free".

On a positive side ... They accept The Entertainer. This meal for 4 (4 adults + 4 children) came up to 236 AED, and note that this was WITH the Entertainer vouchers and T had sent back his mackerel!

As Edgar Allan Poe described in The Raven, "Nevermore..."

My favourite chicken rice - Klang

Add: Jalan Gelugor / Jalan Meru, Klang city
Located: Oppsite Maybank and Chi Liung Plaza (Now, CIMB and LHDN)
Tel: Tan Kia Lok @ +6016 284 6962

You know this chicken rice is special ... when it tastes good even when you ta-pau (Malay: Bungkus, English: Take-away) it home ... and even when you ask for breast meat which is usually dry and rough in texture. It isn't here ... its damn good :-)


Review: Top1 Chicken Rice, Klang
The holy trinity of chicken rice ... Fluffy and fragrant RICE, smooth and flavourful CHICKEN, and spicy and complex CHILLI/garlic sauce. Divine!

Halal tim-sum & Chicken Rice at Noodle Bowl, Dubai

We had been to Noodle Bowl in Abu Dhabi's Zayed Sports City / Bowling Alley many times, but when my cousin R asked us to join her in Dubai for tim-sum one weekend, we could not resist. I found the food at the Dubai-branch to be somewhat better, but that's highly subjective!

Mall: Dune Shopping Centre
Located: Al-Satwa / Al Dhiyafah Street
Tel: +971 4 345 3381

Hainanese Chicken Rice - Pretty good! 35 AED, or RM$28. Char Siew Pao (Halal variety, that's chicken char siew, was rather good, pastry/skin could have been fluffier, but "stuffing" was good!) was 16 AED, or RM$6 per pao.


Uncle CH really liked the "Hokkien" Char Kuay Teow, and was rather surprised it could be halal! This cost 29 AED. Beef Horfun with Egg was decent too, 35 AED.


Other drinks ...
Soya milk and peanuts, 15 AED. Water melon juice, 16 AED. Fresh lime soda, 7 AED. Teh Tarik, 10 AED. Jasmine tea in a pot, 15 AED.

And other tim-sums and dishes ...
Fried turnip cake, 18 AED. Prawn chee cheong fun, 17 AED. BBQ Duck congee (Porridge, really good!), 25 AED. Kangkung Malaysia-style, 28 AED.

Aunty Clara's Chicken Rice ... Abu Dhabi!

Aunty Clara cooked dinner one evening :-) here in Abu Dhabi ... and it was heavenly!

Appetising spicy vege soup to start ... dried scallops and chinese mushrooms were so plump and juicy too!

This was followed by chinese mixed veges :-)

And then ... "tear-good" Pot-roast pork ... Yes, belly pork. Perfection!

Oh yah... it was Chicken Rice night :-) Lovely texture, great taste ... dammmmn good.

Chicken rice wouldn't be complete without the condiments ... Hainanese shallot sauce, and delicious chicken rice chilli sauce :-) Bliss!

Chicken rice in Abu Dhabi - Wednesdays at Meena Cafe

Wednesday at Meena Cafe, near Port Zayed, is CHICKEN RICE day :-)

I had a choice of steamed or roast chicken, E and myself chose the latter. It was good! Best of all, it cost only slighlty more then RM$13.


Or ... you can have roast duck wan-tan mee in soup :-)




It was so good that I tapaued a portion for work the next day, this time I chose the steamed chicken variety, which was equally good. Perfect with the sweet-ish chicken rice chilli sauce, and I love the fragrant rice ;-) SLURPS!


ps - E, wishing you all the best in your time in Iraq. Cheers bro, and you know you are welcome to visit and eat with me any time in Abu Dhabi, there will be many more trips and meals I am sure!

Part 1 - Double breakfast in Klang, Chicken Rice!

This is our favourite chicken rice in Klang ;-)

Add: Jalan Gelugor / Jalan Meru, Klang city
Located: Oppsite Maybank and Chi Liung Plaza (Now, CIMB and LHDN)
Tel: Tan Kia Lok @ +6016 284 6962


The chicken is always and full of flavour...
The chilli is excellent...
The ginger sauce is so tasty...
The rice is perfectly cooked and so fragrant...
and I even love the soup served here. Perfection!


Know how much this cost? RM$4.50. Nuff said!

ps. You will find a more detailed write-up here!

Malaysian Embassy of Abu Dhabi hosts a Pasar Malam

Living in Abu Dhabi ain't so bad when the Embassy of Malaysia along Al Saada Street 19 hosts events such as Pasar Malam's :-)


Sambal chicken


Nasi Ayam Melayu, 15 AED me thinks...


Meehoon Goreng, 10 AED


Nasi Lemak, 15 AED

Shot of Karipap's just before I devoured them! 4 for 10 AED.

Home made chicken rice ... With love!

Hmmm, seems one of the secrets of excellent hainanese chicken rice is to use ... ice cold water! bbG plunged the chicken which had been boiling in a big pot, into ice water for about 5 . Seems this would stop the cooking process and tighten the skin! It worked :-)


Lovingly rinsing the chicken with ice water :-)


Bring on the chicken rice chilli sauce ...

The end product! Delicious :-)

Legendary Meng Kee Char Siew - Jalan Alor, KL

On a recent stay-over in KL, bbG took me to the legendary Meng Kee ...


Add: Meng Kee Char Siew@ Alor Kopitiam, Jalan Alor, KL
Located: Next to Nova Hotel
Tel 1: +6017 6388 648
Tel 2: +6016 9093 721

Three of the pillars of good chicken rice ... Chilli and Rice... and Steamed Chicken too of course. I found the chilli to be good, the rice to be reasonably good, and the chicken to be smooth and succulent. Pretty darn good!



A friend once described a tasty vege diet ... Have Taugeh ... with Charsiew :-) NICE! Wasn't particularly impressed by the Char Siew, perhaps the cut we got was a little lean. I prefer Spring Golden, in Shah Alam ... bliss! The Taugeh on the other hand was blanched perfectly, bravo!


The definitive makan blog, Masak-masak says it best ... The test is always in the taste and one must admit that the char siu isn't as great as long ago - no melt in the mouth stickiness taste I look for and the cut they gave me was way too lean (even though I asked for half fat/half meat). Honestly, the Glenmarie version is much better, if one has to pick between the two outlets.

Home made Chicken Rice in the desert - Delicious!

bbG cooks a lovely Hokkien Fried Mee Hoon ...

But her Chicken Rice takes some beating, its fantastic!

I love the homemade chilli sauce ... Seems there are 12 red chillis, lime, garlic and garnished with some spring onions and coriander.

The delicious steamed chicken ... so wholesome!