The f-word was the only apt word to describe the whole weekend (F as in “Food”- think Gordon Ramsey, not Jeremy Piven). While food hunting was not the main agenda of my weekend, I somehow ended up trying out a bunch of new places throughout the weekend.
As for tonight, my family and I had dinner at a cosy place called Otak-otak Place in IOI Boulevard. Puchong has become our latest destination for food as it is the most central for all our family members. To anyone who hasn’t heard of IOI Boulevard, it is a relatively new business centre in Puchong located opposite IOI Mall, intended to be an upmarket retail and F&B location for Puchong. While its shops are still largely unoccupied, there are quite a significant number of restaurants and cafes at its ground floor, and business appears healthy.
Dining at Otak-otak Place is quite an experience in itself. Coming into a cosy place decorated with make you reminisce about your childhood, you are greeted with a menu whose cover is the familiar brown ‘buku latihan’s familiar to all students. A flat screen television plays P. Ramlee movies, while the counter sells ‘kedai runcit’ junk food of yesteryear like the ’spectacle’ chocolate buttons and multicoloured bubble gum.
While it is most likely that someone was hired to design the eatery’s decor in line with the shop’s theme, the ambience didn’t feel too hollow and impersonal like other commercial establishments.
As its name suggests, Otak-otak’s main specialty is its otak-otak served in various ways. We had the Otak-otak Roll as well as the Otak-otak Dumpling. As its name suggests, the otak-otak dumpling is basically otak-otak wrapped in fried wanton skins. Not bad at all. The otak-otak roll, on the other hand, were eggrolls filled with otak-otak. I didn’t like this as much as I felt the eggroll skins were a slightly thick.
For mains, the Otak-otak place mainly served typical Malaysian rice and noodle dishes as well as some Indonesian ones like Bakso. My brother had the Nasi Lemak Otak-otak while my brother-in-law had the Nasi Lemak with Chicken Rendang, both thoughtfully served in very Malaysian tiffin carriers. The nasi lemak was pretty good in general- the otak-otak went well with the sweet but not too spicy sambal, and the chicken rendang was slow-cooked enough to be flaked out from the bone easily. And more importantly, the nasi was fragrant because it had used sufficient santan. I have had some bad nasi lemak before from a popular chain that despite having the word “rich” in its name, were surprisingly stingy on the santan.
Top: Bakso served in claypot. Bottom: Rendang chicken and otak-otak.
My sister had the Mee Bandung Muar, which was just right in terms of spiciness, and came with some fresh prawns. My Bakso, however, was not to my liking as I was expecting a broth that had a fuller flavour to it. Even the minced beef balls that it came with lacked seasoning and spices. However, this being my first time having bakso, I am giving it the benefit of the doubt.
Mee Bandung Muar
Overall, I’d recommend this place for its ambience, creative menu and rather good nasi lemak. I’d stay away from the Bakso, though.
A quick recap of the rest of my food adventures:
Friday night supper at Damansara Hokkien Mee. Quite good, but noodles cooked slightly soft.
Saturday yumcha dimsum at Jin Xuan in Bandar Puchong. Worth the wait!
Saturday afternoon Tea at Yogi Tree. Is it just me, or is this place overrated?
Sunday dessert in Honeymoon, IOI Boulevard. Higher priced, but good quality HongKong desserts. Almond cream and sesame seed cream 芝麻糊 and peanut cream 花生糊 were all thick in texture and tasty. Why were they closed at 10pm on a Sunday night was beyond me, though.
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