I was at Celcom in Taman Tun Dr Ismail to cancel my Celcom Broadband and saw Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen was just opposite where I parked my car.

Popeye is another fast food franchise that recently opened in Malaysia. They have chicken as well as seafood.

I ordered a 3 piece combo meal (comes with a drink, mash potato and coleslaw) which cost RM11.95 which is about the same price as KFC. Their chicken comes in two choices – spicy and mild. I ordered the mild.

The first thing I noticed was the chicken is less oily, and instead of a bun, you get a biscuit which is more like a scone. The mash potato taste better as the gravy is a bit spicy with minced meat in it. The coleslaw tasted fresh and crunchy.

Mash Potato

Coleslaw

Overall, I was happy with the meal. We now have a less oily alternative.

My colleague and I went for a try and here’s a short review. We ordered 4 pau, 1 lo mai kai, 1 kampung fried noodle, 1 curry noodle and drinks.

The wholemeal pau, comes in a few flavours – red bean, kaya, custard and chicken char siew. The filing for the red bean was lacking while the rest were fine. The custard tasted a bit weird as it was salty instead of sweet. Everyday during lunch, a long queue can be seen buying the pau. Most probably it’s due to the current offer at RM1 each. Normal price is RM2.50 as listed on the menu.

The lo mai kai on the other hand was a bit disappointing as there was not much taste.

The Kampung Fried Noodle is nice. Fried dry just the way I like it. However the portion is quite small.

The curry noodle comes with the usual ingredients. My colleague mentioned it was edible but not the best that she has tasted.

Yut Kee the famous Hainanese kopitiam located along Jalan Dang Wangi (Campbell Road) is literally packed with people at all times. It has been drawing crowds since it opend in the 1920′s. The old restaurant has been passed down from generation to generation.

This kopitiam is famous for it’s Hainanese Chicken Chop. It comes served with lots of onions, fried potatoes, mixed vegetables and brown gravy which has Lea Perrins Worcestershire sauce in it. The chicken chop maintains it’s juiciness unlike dried out or over fried like other places.

Another item to look out for is the kaya swiss roll which is located at the display case near the cashier counter.

Mention the name “Madam Kwan’s” and nasi lemak immediately comes to mind. We went for lunch at the Pavilion outlet. The restaurant was rather full with lunch time office crowd but the waiter managed to get us a table.

I ordered the fried rice, while my colleague ordered the chicken chop and another friend ordered the nasi lemak. The food took rather long to come which is bad as lunch time is rather short and service needs to be quick. The chicken chop came first, followed by the nasi lemak and fried rice.

The chicken chop was rather disappointing as it tasted bland and the mushroom sauce that came with it was too little. My fried rice was also tasteless except for the little bits of salted fish. I did not ask about the nasi lemak but judging from how the friend finished the meal, it should be okay.

I also ordered cendol and it now comes with the gula melaka separately. Guess the change is for the health conscious. The cendol still taste good but I noticed the santan is the instant type rather than the traditional which would have made it better.

The verdict: Food quality has gone down. They better do something soon.

Looking for a nice and reasonable meal with generous portions? Try Vietnam Kitchen (non-halal) in the new wing of 1-Utama Shopping Centre. The set meals are delicious and value for money.

As there were only two of us, we ordered Set A, priced at RM33.90 and comes with four dishes – sweet & sour chicken, tofu with minced pork & mushroom, stir-fried bean sprout with salted fish and stewed pork rib with caramel sauce. We also ordered the water chestnut drink and two bowls of rice to complete the meal.

I am not an expert in Vietnamese dishes but to me, the dishes were more Chinese. What’s more important is we enjoyed the meal and will definitely be back for more!