Ramadhan Special 2013: The Famous Satay Burger

I'm pretty sure that most of you would have heard of The Famous Satay Burger.
One of our readers, Syawal, sent me an email to try it at the Tampines Bazaar Ramadhan this year.
I wasn't able to battle it with the Ramly burger but it was still worth a visit.

I first heard about it a few years ago and it appeared to be a regular fixture at the Geylang Bazaar Ramadhan. It seemed like a really popular thing with the long queues at the stall too!

I tried it way back when (before the idea of this Halal Food Blog was even formed in my mind) but never really officially reviewed it so I decided that I would do so this year. But apparently they're not located at the Geylang Bazaar this year. They've apparently taken up a space at the Tampines Bazaar instead!

Satay Burger ($5.00)

So you have a choice of beef, chicken or mutton for your Satay Burger.
Is it any coincidence that it's just like ordering satay?! I think not!

Let me break down the anatomy of the burger for you...

The special Satay Sauce

Comes with lettuce, cucumber and onions

So it's a pretty standard burger from what I can see so far.
The uniqueness of it will be the taste of the satay sauce that gives this burger a truly local flavour.

You know what? Even the meat patty itself makes a big difference!
It's seasoned exactly the same as how they would season satay meat on a skewer! When you take a nice big bite, you're going to immediately recognize that familiar taste of satay spices like coriander, cumin and fennel seeds (jintan).

It was just like I was eating a steak made up of satay meat all compressed together!
In fact, you will see at the stall that they actually do press the patties at the stall itself. They actually have the patty press there! No joke! And they also charcoal-grill the patty so it's still juicy!

For my experience this time, unfortunately the bun was a little soggy (as you can see from the first picture posted above). I guess it has been sitting in the box waiting for packing for quite awhile and soaked up some water from somewhere. So I ended up eating just the patty and veggies.

But what about the Satay Sauce??

Looks a little spicy right? Well it's not that spicy.
I actually feel this was a really good Satay sauce. It had a great flavour and it went really well with the meat patty since it's like eating satay.

But this burger can tend to get a bit messy to eat...
It may not look it, but it's pretty big. So watch out for the dripping sauce.

World Halal Quest blogger Kak Mas tried it way back when in 2009 when they had a stall at the Pasir Ris fishing pond. I'm not sure if they still have a stall there to be honest. Check out her post HERE.

Adam's Verdict:
Famous Satay Burger 3.5/5

For all you Satay lovers out there - this is a must try!
It really really tasted like I was eating satay!

Famous Satay Burger

Tampines Bazaar Ramadhan
Beside Tampines MRT

Operating Hours: 12 noon til 10.00 pm Daily

Ramadhan Special 2013: My Pizza

Something worth checking out at the Geylang Bazaar this year is this stall called My Pizza.
Not really something new I guess but at least something a little different from your usual fare like Kebabs.

It's quite a simple set-up actually.
Just a stall with pizzas on display and some ovens to get the pizza nice and hot for you.

Hawaiian Pizza ($3.50 per slice)

Pepperoni Pizza ($3.50 per slice)

They've got some classic favourites like Hawaiian and Pepperoni for you. Some other flavours include Spicy Chicken, All Cheese and something like a Meat Lovers among others.

The pizzas are actually pretty big in size so a slice is gonna be enough for one person to get filled-up.
If you're buying for a few people then you might consider buying the whole pizza?
They actually have those mini-size pizzas for $5 each and should be enough for a really hungry solo meal or maybe 2 people to share.

Well in case you were wondering, I didn't buy any of your usual flavours.
I saw something that was pretty unique and I couldn't resist ordering it just to try it out.

Sambal Ikan Bilis Pizza ($5.00 per slice)

Maybe I'm a jakun but I've never seen this around before.
Sambal Ikan Bilis Pizza! Unique or what! I know we always have Sambal Ikan Bilis with bread (which is technicall what a pizza is) but I was really curious to know how the cheese would come into play.

Cheese + Sambal Ikan Bilis is not really a combination that comes to mind am I right?

But OMG it's good!
The sambal ikan bilis itself was really tasty and you get bits of the ikan bilis when you take a bite.
Surprisingly enough, the cheese doesn't really affect the taste of the sambal but definitely plays a big part in making every bite a really good one.

And as you can see, they're not stingy on the cheese or the sambal too.
In fact, it was so tasty that I ended up eating the whole pizza by myself!

By the way, the Sambal Ikan Bilis Pizza only comes in the mini-pizza size.

Adam's Verdict: 
Sambal Ikan Bilis Pizza 4.5/5

I really enjoyed this pizza. Maybe because it was something different but definitely because it was tasty.
The pizza box has the brand 'Pezzo' which my darling wife and I tried once at Ion Orchard. I'm not sure if this is a subsidiary maybe? Or perhaps the same place with a different name for the bazaar.

Well, whatever the name - you really gotta try this!

My Pizza

Geylang Serai Bazaar Ramadhan

Area located near Singapore Post Centre and across the road from Tanjong Katong Complex
(Please see map below)

Operating Hours:
3.00pm til 2.00am Daily

KL Sedap Part 3: A&W

Yes yes this is another place we makan-ed at when we visited in Melaka.
But if you remember, we didn't get to eat what we came for. And finally - now we can!

Beef Coney Dog (RM11.65 for the combo)

Yes, this time the guy gave us the correct Coney Dog!
And to be honest, compared to the Chicken Coney Dog, the Beef version is so much better.

Azim has A&W lots of places in Malaysia and he claims that the Coney Sauce here is actually below par compared to other A&W outlets he's been to. My darling wife, on the other hand, thinks the sauce is fine but they put too little on it.

Call me a sucker for meat but there's just something so.. something so.. satisfying.
The snap of the sausage is so much more evident and it tastes absolutely delicious. Topped of with the Coney sauce and onions and you have yourself a party right there.

Honestly - one is not enough for me!

Curly Fires

Of course, pair it with some Curly Fries and there's an even bigger party.

But you know what was the real kicker for this visit?
Remember that in Melaka, we were served the Root Beer Float in paper cup.
Well, thank goodness that's not the case here.

Classic Root Beer Float

That's right. A Classic Root Beer Float served in a frosty mug.
With scoop ice-cream (none of that Soft Serve nonsense) and they even get the Root Beer out of the old-school tap! That's what I call classic!

And it still tastes as refreshing as ever.

Yes! That tap!
When was the last time you saw one of those?!That's the original stuff right there!!

Not only are we not able to get the classic A&W in Singapore anymore, most of the places across the Causeway (and even in Indonesia) don't really keep many of the old A&W traditions that made it famous in the first place.

Nowadays, you get a paper cup instead of the frosty mug.
If I wasn't such a law-abiding person, I probably would have swiped the mug! Because you simply can't get it at that many places anymore!

And speaking of classic...

A&W Waffle with Double Scoop Ice-Cream (RM7.95)

I remember that the last time I ate this was in 1998 at the A&W in Bedok (besides the National Library).
And according to Razali, it hasn't changed a bit.

The waffles are still excellent and the standards haven't dropped at all.
You can have the single scoop for RM1.00 lesser but come on... you know it's gonna be the double...

Adam's Verdict:
Beef Coney Dog 5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Beef Coney Dog 3.5/5

Razali's Verdict:
Waffle with Double Scoop Ice-Cream 4/5

Azim's Verdict:
Beef Coney Dog 3/5

As you can see, it was a very satisfying meal overall.
I wish they would re-open A&W in Singapore. I'm sure people would still flock there.

A&W

Jalan Batu, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
www.facebook.com/awmalaysia

Operating Hours:
10.00am til 11.00pm (Sundays - Thursdays)
10.00am til 12.00am (Fridays and Saturdays)

KL Sedap Part 2: Hard Rock Cafe

I'm sure you guys remember when we headed to Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) in Melaka right?
Well before there was HRC Melaka, there was HRC KL!

But before we start, let me apologize in advance for the quality of some of the pictures.
The place was rather dark and I had no choice but to fire the flash in most of the shots so they appear rather bright. But I guess that's better than having pictures of the silhouettes of the food right?

Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings (RM26.00)

When you order your wings, you have to choose between either Classic (Normal), Tangy BBQ (Mild) or Heavy Metal (Spicy). Talk about lighting the fire of my appetite am I right?

Well it's basically like an order of Buffalo Wings.
The wings are tossed with the special sauce of your choice. They douse the wings with the sauce just nicely because you will get some on your fingers when you pick it up but not too much that it's overpowering.
Served with a Blue Cheese ranch dressing!!!

And at RM26.00 for half a dozen wings, it's a steal!!

Famous Fajitas Trio (RM55.00)

So these are the famous HRC Fajitas. (My mum's favourite!)

You have a choice of beef, chicken, shrimp, a double combo of two meats or a trio like mine!
It's served on a hotplate with a bed of sizzling onions. Awesome!

Fajitas Accompaniments

The Fajitas come with some accompaniments of course.
Some tortillas for you to stuff with the meat. You've also got lettuce, guacamole (avocado), herbed diced tomatos, Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses plus sour cream!

So if you're looking to have a party in your mouth, all the guests are already invited!

I can tell why my Mum loves this so much.
The grilled meat on the hot plate taste so much better when they're still sizzling hot and getting to choose what you want (or don't want) to be in your tortilla makes it even better. In fact, ditch the bread and just eat the meat! It's totally fine!

Hickory-Smoked Bar-B-Que Beef Ribs (RM78.00)

This is something we wanted to have in HRC Melaka but we passed.
And my darling wife decided she wasn't going to pass it up twice in a row!

BRING ON THE MEAT!!!

The tender beef ribs come smothered in BBQ sauce and cooked absolutely superbly.
The meat is so tender you don't even need a knife! You can just use your fork to twist of the meat and it comes falling off the bone just like that. Wish they would have laid off a little on the sauce though because I'd rather enjoy a little more of that beefy flavour instead of the BBQ sauce which is also in the baked beans.

It comes with fries, coleslaw and some baked beans.
This is a MUST HAVE for any meat lovers!!!
(My mouth is literally watering as I type this now while looking at the picture above)

Adam's Verdict:
Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings 3/5 -- Famous Fajitas Trio 3/5
Hickory-Smoked Bar-B-Que Beef Ribs 4/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings 2.5/5 -- Hickory-Smoked Bar-B-Que Beef Ribs 4/5

Still so many items to try on the menu at HRC.
I reckon we'll be making our way there a few more times. At least.

Hard Rock Cafe (Kuala Lumpur)

Concorde Hotel
No 2 Jln Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: +60 3 27155555
www.hardrock.com

Operating Hours:
11.30am til 2.00am (Sunday til THursday)
11.30am til 3.00am (Fridays and Saturdays)

Kitchen closes at 10.30pm Daily