A Whiff of Lemongrass

Mention Brickfields and one immediately thinks of a bustling, chaotic neighbourhood with cheap food, drinks and brothels. I suppose the addition of KL Sentral brings about some semblance of respect to Brickfields, but I wonder, does Brickfields really need that?

What I like about Brickfields is the appearance of uncomplicated life.

Where the uncle selling newspapers greets you every morning, whether or not you will be getting the papers for that day.

Or where the aunty selling roast pork at the wet market sells you that small portion of roast pork at a privileged price of just RM2 for your breakfast.

Where the man at the chicken rice stall asks you where that curly haired friend who normally frequents the stall has gone.

Where the uncle at the teh tarik stall in front of the Petronas petrol station takes the time to sit down with you to have a chat while you enjoy a packet of packed nasi lemak with your usual ginger tea.

We decided to go to the Lido kopitiam at Brickfields for lunch today. This is the kopitiam that is located behind the old Lido cinema, now the site for Public Bank, and opposite the YMCA. There are two dishes which I find particularly delicious at this kopitiam: char koay teow and pan mee.

The char koay teow is fried with crunchy bits of lard, lup cheong (chinese sausages) and kerang (cockles). It is hard to find a good char koay teow, and this place gets the thumbs up from me.

The pan mee stall has a strong following too. Be prepared to wait before you are served as the queue is pretty long. What makes the pan mee special here is the sambal belacan which is hot and sour. The aunty who dishes out the pan mee is quite generous with the ikan bilis (anchovies), minced pork and sweet potato leaves.

After wolfing down our lunch, we made our way across the road to a stall selling kuih and other savoury treats. The husband and wife duo have been running this stall for as long as I can remember, and it always gets crowded at lunch time. They sell an amazing variety of kuih and I hardly ever notice the aunty taking a break.

I am always filled with a sense of nostalgia when I am at Brickfields. The familiar faces remind me of simpler times.

When my boss asked me if I was interested in attending a commemorative luncheon organised by the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) at the Westin Hotel, I said yes for two reasons: the speaker, the eloquent Dato’ Shahrir Abdul Samad, and the location. I never pass up an opportunity to visit the Westin.

As expected, the Grand Ballroom at the Westin was delightfully decorated and brought out the oohs and aahs from all of us. I couldn’t resist the urge to take out my mobilephone (on the pretext of answering an SMS) and snap some photos.

I love the refreshing and tastefully arranged bouquet on our table. I couldn’t resist photographing it at all angles:

And best of all, my cameraphone didn’t misbehave the way it did in all the previous photos. 😉 My ego has received a substantial amount of bashing due to the substandard photographs that I have been posting on this blog, but in my Nokia’s defense, one can only do so much with a cameraphone, you know. 🙂

I like the way Westin works with colours in the table presentation:

I don’t usually enjoy food that is mass-produced, but this time, I was pleasantly surprised.

I enjoyed the crispy cod fish with a lemongrass sauce that was not too overpowering. The starter included a miso-picked cream cheese served in a tart shell, and I thought it was absolutely heavenly.

As I looked heaven-wards (up), instead of the usual ornate chandeliers, I saw glass sculptures illuminated by light. I am quite sure they were designed by the famous Dale Chihuly (see www.chihuly.com). I first chanced upon his works at the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens in London, and I have been a fan ever since. See if you can see the similarities:

At the Westin

At Kew Gardens

Hmmm. The more I look at it, the more it reminds me of my hair.

It was a really hot Monday, and I had a meeting scheduled for 3.00pm, so when Pretty Pui suggested walking to Petaling Street because she was craving for hor fun (flat white noodles), I hesitated. But her pitiful looks brought out the compassionate side of me, and I gave in.The coffeeshop we were headed to was not the more popular hor fun place in Jalan Tun H.S.Lee. This place is located in the heart of Petaling Street opposite Tang City and Kiew Brothers and is known for dishing out a decent bowl of hor fun noodles, with the specialty being the prawn wantan.

I like the look of the coffeeshop. It was clean – you could almost see your reflection on the table, and there was a large mirror facing the entrance of the shop if you are into some preening, although I’m sure the greater purpose would be for some sort of feng shui.



The noodles came fast enough. I had ordered the hor fun in soup with shredded chicken, while the two girls got the dry and soupy version of hor fun with prawn wantan. Ecstatic Eeyore preferred the dry version of the hor fun with shredded chicken.

After seeing the girls’ glistening prawn wantan, I couldn’t resist the urge to order a bowl of wantans. Eight pieces cost about RM6.50. And the verdict? Ditch the hor fun, and get the wantan. The hor fun is not as smooth as the Ipoh version, and I must say that the KLCC foodcourt Ipoh kiosk has a better version. The prawn filling in the wantan had a nice crunch to it, although it was a little salty.

I went for my meeting that day, RM13 poorer, and with clothes drenched in sweat.