Halal and Muslim-Friendly Guide to Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan! - Sojibo Halal Restaurant, Diver City Tokyo Plaza, Odaiba

Originally, my husband intended to go to Japan for a business trip, on which me, our daughter, my mom and little brother tagged along with. My mom had never been to Japan, and it was an opportune time for all of us to go.

He had a brief meeting at Odaiba City, so we tagged along to see Odaiba Bay. Post-meeting, we ended up at Sojibo Restaurant, a Halal-certified restaurant located at Odaiba City!

I love their restaurant food displays, it looks so real! Upon entering the restaurant, we knew it would be a good meal as we saw many locals dining in.

One of the menu options, which my husband and brother ended up taking. 1,649 Yen is approximately RM 54++

Menu illustration vs acual food, looks pretty accurate!

Imaan loved the green tea!

She was also obsessed with the edamame.

I opted for a simple prawn tempura udon. Unfortunately for presentation sake, when my tempura prawns arrived, the bottom half that was soaked in the broth ended up with a soggy batter. The one untouched by the broth had a promising glimmer of a golden and crispy batter. The broth itself was intense and rich, as it should be due to the simplicity of this dish.

My mom opted for a duck ramen. The duck was incredibly tender, with a hint of smokiness. The leeks added a subtle sweetness to the dish, lifted by the broth. When this dish arrived, the aroma from the broth made your mouth water.

Imaan stole one of my prawn tempura.

Obligatory family shot! 

My mom and Rayan in front of the restaurant.

We actually had trouble spotting the restaurant, obviously as none of us can read Kanji; we only spotted it because of the Halal certificate. This was taken post-meal; you can see there are locals queueing waiting for dinner. 

Generally, Japanese restaurants are very attentive and careful when it comes to Halal concept; if they serve alcohol at the premise, they do mention it, and any alcohol, as well as the glasses used, are stored and prepared in a separate area from the kitchen, such as the note on the bottom right. It's a simple note, but this thoughtful gesture meant a lot to us. It seemed to me they went their extra length to ensure the Halal preparation was very thorough; many restaurants even prepared separate utensils to be used specifically only for Halal meals. 

Rating:

• Variety: 4/5

A lot of options, from rice to noodles to suit all taste. 

• Taste: 4/5

Really clean tastes that let the main ingredients to shine through. 

• Value for Money: 5/5

I do believe that Halal food is generally more expensive in Japan especially during dinner time, so expect a meal to be between RM 40 - RM 80. Some no-frills meals were as low as 800 Yen.

• Cleanliness: 5/5

Most Japanese restaurants that we dined in was generally spotless.

• Service 4/5

We were seated all the way at the back, so it was hard to get the waiter's attention. However, they were very sweet to Imaan. 

• Ambiance: 4/5

Cozy with dimmed lights, packed with diners but not overly noisy.

• Overall: 4/5
A convenient and cosy spot for Muslims! You can definitely dine-in without was-was. Based on all the other restaurants, this was the only place that had a queue when we left, a positively good sign!

Sojibo, Diver City Tokyo Plaza Halal Restaurant
1-1-10 Aomi | 6f, Koto 135-0064, Tokyo Prefecture
+81 3-5520-1310

Lunch @ Mohd Chan Kelana Jaya

As our office is surrounded by heaps of good restaurants, we had lunch at Mohd Chan today, a famous Chinese Muslim restaurant chain. The food selection is reasonable, at RM 6.90 - RM 15++ for a meal.

Nasi Goreng "Kam Heong" Special, RM 7.90. 

Fried rice with dried shrimps, chilli padi, fish cakes and egg. Served with two pieces of prawn. Quite flavorful and packs a punch!

Kantonis "Ying Yong" Bihun + Kuey Teow, RM 8.90. 

They were out of kuey teow, so it was replaced with just bihun. The gravy was to die for! The bihun was unique as it was fried so it was crunchy to bite into.

Nasi Ayam, RM 7.90. 

Didn't try it but the chicken looked succulent.

According to their website, Mohd Chan Restaurants offer a fusion fare of delectable Chinese-Muslim dishes, inspired by our melting pot culture and various regional cuisines. They also have fish, crabs, prawn, squid, mussels and other dishes catering to the fusion theme. You may view their full menu here.

Mohd Chan Kelana Jaya
Address:
B-G-06 & 07, Jalan SS 6/20,
Dataran Glomac, Kelana Jaya,
47301 PJ, Selangor

Operating Hours: 11 AM - 11 PM Daily

Contact Details:
Phone: +603-7880 9099
H/P: +6017-882 8861

Website: http://www.mohdchan.com.my

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mohdchanmy

*This post was not sponsored or endorsed by Mohd Chan.

Palembang Day 1: Pempek & Patin

We recently went to Palembang to visit my brother's in-laws, Pak Hatim and his wife.

Palembang, honestly, is one of those cities that you go to just to eat.

It's also best if you could hire your own driver, which was graciously provided to us by Pak Hatim, during our visit there.

Upon landing, the driver, Pak Feri, picked us up from the airport and took us straight to Pak Hatim's house. It's a nice house nestled in the busy hustle and bustle of the city. We were served Pempek, one of the iconic and signature food. It's essentially varieties of fishcake, made from fish paste and tapioca. Pempek is usually served with kuah cuka. It is served grilled, steamed or fried. 

I love the courtyard; there are some singing birds who respond to you when you whistle to them.

Very gladiator-like decor in the courtyard!

Lunch was served; Ikan Patin, otherwise known as Silver Catfish was served three ways;

• Pindang (which was some lemongrass, red onions, chilli, tomatoes, galangal, pineapple and some other ingredients I can't remember);
• Tempoyak (fermented durian)
• Asam pedas (sour spicy)

If you've never tasted Ikan Patin, you should try and taste the wild/ River Ikan Patin. It tastes very fresh, but it has a slight muddy taste to it.

There were also king prawns, which I was too lazy to peel.

I loved the Ayam Kampung masak Kicap - organic chicken cooked in a sweet, soya broth. I also loved the Sambal Tempe (fermented soybeans in spicy sambal sauce).

My parents (my mom in leopard; my dad in black), and Pak Hatim and wife before the meal!

It was such warm hospitality, we couldn't thank them enough, especially after such a big feast. You can imagine, after the meal, we were very full and proceeded to head to the hotel. We stayed at Emilia Hotel by Amazing, located right next to Palembang Indah Mall.

Killer Gourmet Burger, KGB @ Taman Tun Dr. Ismail branch

For one of my closest friend's birthday, we decided to celebrate it at Killer Gourmet Burger (KGB) Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. I heard many good things about it.

It's a Minion-themed party. WHO SAYS 27 IS TOO OLD FOR BIRTHDAYS??

Ordered this Texas Jalapeno Steak & Cheese Fries to share, I think around RM 20 or less.

But someone doesn't want to share... The sad thing is, all the topping's just for show.. when you dig deep it's just regular fries.

I don't remember for the life of me what this burger was called. 

Happy faces being fed. Raihan's overjoyed by the size of her cheese from her Mexican-inspired burger that came with guacamole. Mmm, moley moley.

The queue and wait was a bit long, but I guess that's what happens when you go to burger joint on a Friday night. Their milkshake is quite small for the price. 

Overall Experience:

Food: 4/5

Service: 2/5

Pricing: 2/5 

For a little peace and quiet, we proceeded to Kaffe Coffee, just down the road, to cut cake.

Birthday girl (left) lighting up her own cake HAH!

The tasty chocolate cake by Nadia, purchased from Lavender. I think the coffee foam was Nadia's (questionable?). Not sure what it is - an old woman? Bahaha.

Forced selfie with Raihan!

Thanks Kaffe Coffee for allowing us to celebrate the birthday there!

80. Food Review: Noodle Shack @ Citta Mall, Ara Damansara

Today, some colleagues wanted to watch the queen of movies, Angelina Jolie Maleficient at Citta Mall. I am planning to watch it with my fiance so I joined them for dinner beforehand at Noodle Shack, Citta Mall. 

Colleague: Ah?? Noodle shag? What you order, wan?

Me: Noodle SHACK LA!

-_-

Ridiculously sharp, stock-image quality, all the things my pictures are not photo from their website.

Although it hasn't received any halal certs from JAKIM, they do not serve pork and they claim to be MSG free.

I ordered the Sambal Chilli Shrimps and Eggs Pan Mee (RM 11.90), and Rose Tea (RM 4). After waiting for a bit, the long-anticipated meal finally arrived... and I gotta say, it is pretty darn good. The awesome folks knows that us Asians like the spice and heat when eating, so they gave us complimentary sambal belacan and soup with the meal (I had four small portions of sambal belacan because my colleagues was not into it).

 Sambal Chilli Shrimps and Egg Pan Mee

Excuse me for the low quality photo. 

Man, I really need a better phone if I'm gonna be commenting on other people's places. 

The Sambal Chilli Shrimps and Egg Pan Mee was really fantastic! Really chockful of flavor. The pan mee was not overcooked, it was still a little 'al dente', as the Italians would say. The minced chicken had a subtle taste of garlic. The egg was cooked and still runny. Love it when they cook the eggs this way! But the star of the dish was definitely the Sambal Chilli Shrimps. It was really good, wished I had more of it. When you mix everything together (with the sambal belacan condiments), it was like an explosion of Asian flavors and you just wanted more. I really loved this dish. This is saying something cause I don't particularly like noodles much.

Rose Tea, RM 4

The rose tea was surprisingly good; it was four small rose buds in a strainer steeped in hot water. I drank it 10 minutes after it was served, and the flavors were so intense. It was like drinking a hot and less-artificial sirap ais. Really flavorful. Nice to have on a cold, windy day. Being the Asian that I am, I forgot to ask if I could refill the glass.

Review Scores
Food: 4/5
Menu options: 4/5
Price: Affordable - less than RM 12 per dish; drinks were around RM 4 - RM 6
Ambience: 3/5
Service: 5/5
Overall: 4/5

Definately would come back again!

Details:
Noodle Shack at Citta Mall, Ara Damansara
G33A Citta Mall,
Jalan PJU 1A/48,
47301 Ara Damansara,
Selangor
Website: http://www.noodleshack.com.my/



Disclaimer note: This is an independent food review, in no way endorsed by Noodle Shack or it's subsidiary holdings. However, if the good people from Noodle Shack would like to send me some awesome vouchers, you can e-mail me at junee.yusoff@gmail.com

66. can cook, will cook.

Lately, I've been going on a health and fitness frenzy, by swimming, and making meals at home. The sad thing is, I don't have a stove yet (since I moved houses). In fact, I only have a rice cooker and microwave. The Asian in me has never been so thankful for the rice cooker. If you don't have a stove, the rice cooker is ideal for cooking rice (uh duh) and other complex carbohydrates like pasta. I have been dying to eat healthier meals so I started by making....

A. Chicken and salad with broccoli

Ingredients:

• Honey, salt, black pepper, garlic and light soy sauce (chicken marinade)
• Salad leaf - iceberg, cherry tomato, baby carrots
• Broccoli

Recipe:

1. Marinade the chicken with the chicken marinade, leave for 5 - 10 minutes
2. Place the chicken in a microwave-safe container
3. Whack the chicken into the microwave for 4 - 8 mins, depending on the size, skin side down
4. Turn it the other way, pour the sauce all over the chicken, and microwave it for another 4 - 8 minutes
5. Leave to chicken to cool while you cut your salad
6. Pour the chicken gravy/sauce all over your salad (you can add olive oil a little if you want to)
7. Place chopped broccoli in microwave-safe container with just a bit of water (like maybe 1 cm of water height) - add a pinch of salt to the water
8. Whack the broccoli in the microwave for 1 minute
9. Serve chicken, broccoli and salad on a plate.

B. Chicken pasta in tomato sauce with side salad

Ingredients:

• Honey, salt, black pepper, garlic and light soy sauce (chicken marinade)
• Salad leaf - add rockets, buttercrunch, cherry tomato, baby carrots and Japanese cucumbers
• Tomato pasta sauce
• Pasta - preferably tube-shaped ones
• Salad dressing - olive oil, mustard, brown sugar, lemon or apple cider vinegar, salt

Recipe:

1. Cook pasta in a rice cooker - make sure to add a little salt in the water, and put a lot of water - might take a while.
2. Cook the chicken following the instructions for the chicken from recipe A - once it's cold, tear apart chicken meat with fingers
3. Heat up tomato pasta sauce - any one, preferably with basil-based (if you can't find a sauce with basil, just buy the normal one and add fresh basil leafs, even better) - in a microwave-safe container for 1 minute and a half.
4. Bung in cherry tomatoes (with just a bit of water) into the microwave for 40 seconds
5. Chop up the salad leafs
6. Make the salad dressing while you're waiting - just bung everything into a bowl and whisk it using a fork
7. Drain the pasta water - add in olive oil and mix it around the drained pasta
8. Add in the heated tomato pasta sauce
9. Add in chicken
10. Add in microwaved cherry tomatoes
11. Stir and mix the food
12. Garnish with chopped rocket leaves
13. Serve salad with dressing on the side

I know people have said that microwaved food is dangerous from the radiation, that nutrients of veges disappear when you microwave it etc etc. In reality, I don't have a stove so I'm hoping to get one this weekend and depend less on the microwave.

As for the lack of nutrients, it all depends on how much water you place in the vegetables when you microwave it, and how long you microwave it for. I don't recommend microwaving vegetables any longer than 1 minute because that's when it becomes all limp and probably depleted from the nutrients.

Anyway, most of the vegetables here are raw and fresh, which is good for you. If you cook a whole chicken, you can keep the balance to make a salad, sandwich, or pasta for your lunch/dinner the next day. The pasta tasted amazing overnight. If you guys have any thoughts about microwaved food, leave it here :)

63. food review - waroeng iga @ one utama - 12 july 2013

I was gonna catch up with one of my girlfriends, Hawa, at One Utama, for breaking fast. After walking around, I suggested breaking fast at Waroeng Iga, an Indonesian ribs-specialty restaurant that had just opened in One Utama. It had some good reviews from a local Facebook group, so we booked a table at 7 pm.

The restaurant had looked very empty upon our arrival at 7 pm. We placed our orders. Hawa ordered nasi ayam penyet (flattened chicken with white rice), my boyfriend ordered nasi iga bakar cabe ijo (ribs in spicy green chilli sauce with white rice) and I ordered set nasi goreng iga spesial.

They gave us dates to break fast, very considerate of them. But by 7.30 pm with no sight of our food, me and Hawa left for prayers, and came back 15 minutes later, with just white rice on the table. Oh, dear. My boyfriend left for prayers, and at 7.50 pm, only the ayam penyet and iga cili hijau had arrived. I enquired the waiter about it (foreigner), who slapped his head, saying 'ajoooo' and hit his colleague on the arm. I guess my food was forgotten.

Set nasi goreng iga spesial

My boyfriend returned for prayers and my food still did not arrive. My meal finally arrived at 8.20 pm, one hour and 20 minutes after I had placed my order. I was so hungry that I scoffed down my meal. I guess you could say it was very delicious, but I was disappointed that a meal of fried rice came with only two small pieces of fried ribs (as you can see from the picture).  Price was around RM 20.

Iga bakar cabo ijo

The iga bakar cabo ijo was surprisingly delicious. The ribs was tender and spicy, though would have loved it to be more spicy. For the price (RM 18 ish), the portion was surprisingly small.

Ayam penyet

I didn't try the ayam penyet, but the portion was really, really, small. I think this restaurant caters to people who don't eat much...

Pisang coklat susu manis

We then ordered dessert, pisang coklat susu manis, which turned out to be just one banana split into two, sprinkled with condensed milk, chocolate sauce and cheese. Although delicious, the price for such a dessert was appallingly expensive. This was RM 6.90 (if memory serves me correctly).

Verdict:

Despite the delicious dishes, I was put off by this restaurant with the miniscule portion, overpricing of drinks, and especially the long wait. It doesn't portray itself as a high-end eatery, so I was definitely expecting big portions. 

As it is a new restaurant manned by foreign workers, I hope that they will improve this food establishment so they don't have customers fuming. One hour and 20 minutes waiting time for main course and 30 minutes for dessert is not acceptable, with the bill racking up to RM 86 for just the three of us. Expect to fork out between RM 25 - RM 30 per person for a cuisine you can eat cheaper at Warong Penyet (The Curve). I think I would have enjoyed eating at a fast food restaurant such as Chili's better. However, I would go back just for the iga cili hijau. 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Waroeng.Iga 
Cleanliness: 5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Service: 0/5
Price: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Overall: 2/5

47. getaway to melaka: part 1 (chicken rice balls)

I'm the sort of person who loves to travel. And adventure. I love spontaneous getaways, be it a day, a few hours, or a week. We were blessed with a beautiful, sunny Sunday, so we seized the day to visit my hometown and got up to all kinds of shenanigans.

After visiting my family's side, we headed to town and sought chicken rice balls. This was the first time I was having it, and originally we intended to head to Jonker Walk for the meal, but along the way we saw a blue signboard which intrigued us and lead us to..

EE JI BAN CHICKEN RICE BALL!

There was many people there, and the shop was sheltered from the sweltering midday heat with tarpaulin that showcased the media coverage the shop had received. I was super excited, and believed that it would be an amazeballs experience.

 

After waiting a bit, we were finally seated and served by a cute little boy who took our orders with an iPhone. Our choice, was of course, the rice balls (hehehe, RM 0.30 each), and chicken (RM 4.00 per portion). We added the nyonya cili garam sotong + prawn, for RM 18.00 for a small portion (you can choose to add petai for an additional RM 4, but they ran out of petai).

So we waited... and waited... quite a bit actually. I think we waited for 40 minutes. And after drooling so long, the food finally arrived:

 

No picture of chicken. Forgot to take the picture of the chicken cause we were too hungry. 

Overall? TBH I was quite disappointed :( The rice could have tasted better if it was served piping hot, but after waiting 40 minutes, the rice was barely lukewarm. The portion for two people was very disappointing to say the least. The chicken was alright (we got half steamed, half roasted). However, the nyonya sotong and prawn was very delicious! But not as spicy as I thought it would be. And the portion was ridiculously small for the price. Behhh.

I'd go there again for the sotong. And not on a weekend. The table behind us ordered before we arrived, and by the time we were leaving they still didn't receive their food :( 

Rating? 6/10

Ee Ji Ban Chicken Rice Ball

275, Jalan Melaka Raya 3,

Taman Melaka Raya,

75000 Melaka

H/P: 0163665220 / 0162165220

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/EeJiBan-Chicken-Rice-Ball-Halal/94461985851 

*Stay tuned for more Melaka updates :)

19. a clash of cultures

Indonesian cuisine leaves one tastebuds miffed. It is always brimful of spices, salty, and most of the times, you can taste sugar in every dish. But all the food I've tasted thus far are delicious. Although it assaults your tongue in all ways delectable, so you can't really consume much of it, only a little.

This is kelapa susu manis. It's essentially the coconut flesh in fresh coconut juice, mixed with bendera kental manis (condensed milk) and gula Melaka (palm tree syrup sugar). In my humble opinion, this drink was so delicious, much better than jus alpukat (avocado juice). Just thinking about this refreshing drink is making me salivating. Drool!

This is pisang karamel (caramelized banana). Oh my God, this dessert was absolutely delicious. It's essentially banana fried in a crispy, crunchy batter, and topped with grated cheese and drizzled with caramel and chocolate syrup. It should be eaten piping hot. 

This is one of Indonesia's signature dish, bakso. This was from a restaurant called Bakso Malang (unlucky bakso). It's essentially meaty beefballs served in a delicious broth, sometimes with noodles, tofu pieces and so forth. Topped with their spicy chilli-soya-sauce, you could be enjoying a tantalizing mix of fiery, wholesome beef in your mouth. 

As the saying goes, When In Rome, Do As The Romans Do. In this case, when in Palembang, eat as the locals do. The top dish is a popular Indonesian dish called ikan terbang or "flying fish". My god, it was cooked perfectly; crispy on the outside, moist chunks of fish on the inside (you can see my father's impatient fingers in the picture). The bottom is kepiting masak lada hitam (crab in black pepper sauce). You know it's good spicy when you're gasping for water but you're still holding onto the crab. These dishes are from a popular restaurant, Riverside Restaurant.

The gorgeous view from Riverside Restaurant. Clear, sunny skies. What a beautiful sight to see.