Seremban siew pow

The food most synonymous with Seremban is possibly the Seremban siew pow. There are so many places selling what they claim to be the famed siew pow, but which is actually the genuine one?

The original and genuine siew pow can be found in Empayar Seremban Siew Pow located in Pasar Besar Negeri Sembilan, just off the Labu/Seremban toll (1st Seremban toll if you're travelling from KL). Turn right at the traffic lights, then make a U-turn before the next traffic light. Take the first left turning and then turn right and you will see Empayar Seremban Siew Pow on your left. Don't be put off by the location in a "market", as it is in a completely separate building altogether.

They also have several franchises around Seremban town, but I feel this branch sells the best-tasting and consistently good siew pows.

Siew pow is a baked pastry bun with flavoursome and moist meat fillings, either pork, chicken, curry chicken or vegetarian. It is best eaten piping hot, so you can enjoy the crunchy, light and flaky pastry to its maximum potential.

They also make a Crispy Siew Pow version, where no oil is coated on the siew pow outer skin. This makes the siew pow look lacklustre in appearance, however many claim that this version is much tastier with a buttery texture. I sampled this today, and found that if the the siew pow is eaten with a drink, then the pastry melts in your mouth and you can taste the rich buttery pastry.

The famed siew pow is so popular that many Seremban folk buy them to give away to relatives and friends. We have friends asking us to buy some and bring it all the way to Malacca/KL for them. Most weekends, this place is heaving with tourists (you can see a few tour buses lined outside) and the siew pows sell like hot cakes!

The crispy kaya puff here is also excellent, the pastry is really flaky with thick delicious kaya filling. Kaya is a type of thick coconut jam.

I also like the pineapple tarts here, the pineapple filling is very moist and not overly sweet.

They also do egg tarts here, but I feel that the pastry is rather dry and has deteriorated over the years. The durian tart pastry looks like it would have a nicer texture to it, but I avoid it due to the durian filling.

Price: Siew pow & crispy siew pow (RM1.20), Pineapple tart (RM1.00), kaya puff (RM1.30)

Location: Empayar Seremban Siew Pow, LG1-57, Tingkat Bawah Tanah, Pasar Besar Negeri Sembilan, Jalan Besar TBK 4, Taman Bukit Kepayang, 70200 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

Maze, London

"How would you fancy a trip to London next week?"
Christmas has come early for me! Hubby invited me to join him in London for a week. I was excited by the prospect of being in London again, doing the touristy things, watching musicals and of course, eating! I was looking forward to eating some good food while i was there.

As soon as I stepped out of Terminal 4 Heathrow Airport, I was greeted by the cold breeze. How I have missed the cold weather here! It was refreshing and I was already looking forward to my trip here.

We chose Maze, one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, located in Grosvenor Square and a short walk from Selfridges for our first Michelin meal. Maze is a 1 Michelin-star restaurant headed by Jason Atherton. Those of you who watch Great British Menu may know him from Season 2 , in which he won the honour to cook both the starter and main course for celebrities and top chefs at The Gherkin. Jason Atherton is also the first British chef to complete a stage at Spain’s famous El Bulli restaurant and has worked under Pierre Koffman, Nico Ladenis and Gordon Ramsay as Executive Chef at Verre in Dubai.

We arrived at the restaurant only to be told that the restaurant was fully booked (lots of people doing Christmas lunches and dinners). Luckily, they could seat us at the bar. We accepted and were led into the restaurant. The restaurant is bright and sleek, very contemporary with tasteful decor. Sitting at the bar wasn't too bad. We felt pretty relaxed since the restaurant has quite an informal feel to it.

The food here is described as "French cuisine adopting Asian influences" and "innovative". We both chose the 4-course "lunch bites" menu to enjoy Maze's signature dishes in tasting-sized portions. Take your pick out of a mixture of savoury or sweet dishes. We went for 3 savoury and 1 sweet dish each. Since it is winter now, most of the savoury dishes on the menu were soup/broth based.

Warm bread with luxurious butter was served as we waited for our first course to arrive.

First course

My first course was Cornish red mullet, tapenade, croutons, aioli, fish soup. The soup arrived on a separate dish and was poured in front of us. The red mullet was firm and the mild flavour of the fish was complimented well by the flavoursome fish soup. On top of the red mullet were 2 lightly toasted croutons spread with tapenade. The slight saltiness of the tapenade, a combination of puréed olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil was appetizing.

Hubby's first course was Onion squash soup, puffed wild rice, ewe’s curd, smoked bacon, braised chicken thighs,chestnut powder. The soup was bursting with flavour, and the braised chicken thighs soft and tasty.

Second course
I am liking the food presentation here! Next to arrive is the Citrus spiced oxtail, wild turnips, horseradish and sour apple risotto. My my my, the food here really delivers on flavour, the oxtail was tender and so flavoursome. The risotto was slightly sourish from the apples.

Before the waiter poured soup onto Hubby's next course, I whipped out my camera and took a shot of the 'Scotch broth’ roasted halibut, black pudding, Argyle ham, samphire, turnip purée. The fish was firm and fleshy and is so lovely to eat with the "scotch broth" sauce. The scotch broth in this dish was not a broth as such, but rather a flavoursome sauce made with carrots, turnips, swedes and bacon.

Just before the third course was served, Jason Atherton came out to the dining area to mingle with his patrons. I was delighted when he said 'Hello' to me as he walked past the bar. While others like to spot celebrities, I get the thrill out of chef-spotting.

Third course

We both ordered the Braised shoulder of aged lamb, faggot, parsnip purée, pear jam, ox-eye daisy, cob-nuts and pomme puree. OMG I so need to rave about the pomme puree here (mashed potatoes)! The creamiest, smoothest, loveliest mash ever! It really is VERY GOOD - so good it kind of stole the thunder from the lamb. Not that the lamb wasn't good, in fact it was delicious and tender.

Last course

Now for desserts, Hubby made the better choice. He had the Devon milk and yoghurt mousse, winter berry sorbet, dried winter fruits and oats, berry syrup. He chose this because we wanted to try different desserts and he let me choose first. It worked out well for him as the mousse with winter berry sorbet was light, sweet and delicious.

I had the Devonshire rice pudding, spiced blackberry jam, clotted cream and blackberry ripple ice cream. The rice pudding was rich and tangy, but was lacking presentation wise. But I guess there's only so much you can do to make rice pudding aesthetically pleasing.

To end, petit fours in the form of fudge, dark chocolate and sugar coated jellies.

Verdict: Although the menu stated that the dishes would be in tasting sizes, I felt that they were quite generous portions. The food was innovative and bursting with flavours. We left feeling very satisfied. This was definitely one of my favorite meals in London.

For a full list of 1 Michelin-star restaurants in London, click here.

Dress code: Casual

Service: Good.

Price: £28.50 for 4 dishes.

Location: Maze, 10-13 Grosvenor Square, London, W1K 6JP (adjacent to London Marriott)

Nearest tube: Bond Street