Halal Restaurant in Port Dickson

My sis had a seminar (organized by her office) at Thistle PD. She wanted to bring her son along but as she'll be busy all day, she asked us (me, my 2 nephews n niece) if we want to come along. Hmm..short weekend break? Why not..

My sis was a designated driver, so she left early Saturday morning with her colleagues. I left later (after office hour) with the troop. When we reached PD, my nephew played with my car window (back window) and it was stuck. We stopped by at a workshop and the mechanic help to close it but he told me that it will stay close as it will take him some time to fix it. He advised me to take it to a workshop in KL later for proper repair.

We reached Thistle about 4pm and it was really hot. My nephew wanted to swim but we have to wait till later in the evening.

Thistle is a nice hotel (formerly Guoman Resort), everything is new except bathroom fittings (I guess they burst their renovation budget).....I like the hotel as it family oriented n very comfortable with plenty of facilities - pool, children playing area, library etc...

But, since it was quite new when we visited the place, they were not ready for huge crowd, it was chaotic during breakfast. They ran out of clean coffee cups (we had to use bowls for our coffee), the trainees waitresses/waiters were very inefficient (caused many guests to lose tempers)....a part from that, I enjoyed my stay here.

Dinner? before the trip I surfed the net on where to eat good seafood, found 2 places, one is Weng Yin Seafood Restaurant and the other is Restoran Chardin Seaview; we decided to go to Weng Yin as it is near Thistle while my sister joined her colleagues at Chardin Seaview.

We enjoyed our seafood dinner - we had soy sauce fish (forgotten what fish we ordered), butter prawn, Kam heong bamboo clams and vegetable...Definitely will visit this place again if we go to PD again.

What others said about Weng Yin (pork free):
http://j-travel.blogspot.com/2010/01/weng-yin-seafood-restaurant-at-port.html
http://www.portdickson.net/pages/wengyinseafood
http://stevenhavingfun.blogspot.com/2008/09/restaurant-in-port-dickson-weng-yin.html
http://www.usj.com.my/bulletin/upload/archive/index.php/t-10408.html
http://www.malaysianbabes.net/forum/index.php?/topic/6990-any-food-to-recomend-in-port-dickson/
http://www.friedchillies.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/3179/

What other said about Chardin (pork free)
http://joshuaongys.com/2009/11/restaurant-chardin-sea-view-seafood-village-port-dickson/
http://lifeofcontinues.blogspot.com/2009/02/restaurant-chardin-sea-view-port.html
http://kadusmama.com/2008/06/lobster-crab-geoduck-any-for-you.html

Read what others said about Thistle Hotel here:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g303991-d1473370-Reviews-Thistle_Port_Dickson-Port_Dickson_Negeri_Sembilan.html
http://www.thistle.com/hotels/malaysia/port_dickson/thistle_port_dickson/index.html

Other nice hotels in PD:
http://babytaz38.blogspot.com/2007/01/destination-port-dickson-malaysia.html
http://khongfamily.com/blog/?p=318
http://www.cuti.com.my/hotel/info.php?id=2782&hotel=Avillion+Admiral+Cove
http://www.kuali.com/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/4/eatingout/5013840&sec=eatingout

Laksa oh Laksa

I just had S'pore laksa as lunch. Bought it from Secret Recipe. Tasted ok but I'll not go for second helping as it is a bit too rich for me..

I was thinking why not blog something about laksa, after all we've so many variations of laksa here in Malaysia..

I was in Sibu airport few days back, went there for a site visit - basically visiting the airport itself as Ministry of Transport (MOT) is planning to expand the airport. One of the worst airport that I ever visited. Doors are rotten, floors are stained..about time they do major renovation work.

Anyway, we had no time to go to town, so we had our breakfast and lunch at the airport restaurant (only one restaurant there), it looks like typical malay nasi campur restaurant. For breakfast I had laksa (Sarawak) and for lunch we had nasi campur. The laksa was actually quite tasty, better than what I had tried at Tesco's (Mutiara Damansara) food court and Alexis (Great Eastern Mall http://alexis.com.my/html/ampang.html ).Nasi campur? The dishes were too sweet to my liking..

Anyway, back to laksa. Basically, laksa has 2 major variations - sour and without coconut milk (penang laksa, assam laksa, kedah laksa etc), and lemak (rich) laksa (nyonya laksa, mi kari, curry laksa etc).

What's the difference? Well, read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laksa and here http://www.squidoo.com/ultimate_laksa_guide and here http://www.pickles-and-spices.com/types-of-laksa.html

Anyway, my article here is base on personal experience, taste and preference.

Kedah Laksa
I love this version. For obvious reason since I was born and raised in Kedah. I love home made version, but making it, is quite a tedious process. In Kedah, Laksa Teluk Kechai is very popular. Tried it before and I love it.

http://www.friedchillies.com/index.php/site/detail/laksa_teluk_kechai/

recipe sample - http://www.scribd.com/doc/24064747/Laksa-Kuala-Kedah

Kedah Laksam
Not many people knew that there is a Kedah version of laksam as it is not popular outside Kedah. Even in Kedah, laksam is only popular in Kuala Kedah and nearby area like Alor Star. Anyway, my parents' neighbour originated from Kuala Kedah. The late Mak Mah made a mean laksam. Before she passed away, my sister managed to get a recipe from her. And now we can always enjoy laksam whenever my sis invited us over for makan makan at her place..

sample recipe http://kuaci-corner.blogspot.com/2009/09/laksam-chek-nani.html

Penang Laksa
Very close resemblance to Kedah Laksa...

recipe sample - http://resepi.mesra.net/Detailed/1058.shtml

Perlis Laksa
Close resemblance to Kedah Laksa. But they add sugar in their gravy...
i tried Perlis Laksa before, tasted like Kedah Laksa to me...anyway, I heard people said (urban myth?) that authentic Perlis Laksa use eels as its main ingredient..

recipe sample - http://www.docstoc.com/docs/8290699/My-Resipi-Laksa-Kuala-Perlis/

Penang Assam Laksa
I prefer Kedah Laksa, assam laksa is an acquired taste for me, my bf is chinese so sometimes when we eat at chinese stalls, there's nothing much that I can eat except assam laksa, rojak, grilled fish or grilled tauhu. After a few bowls of assam laksa over a number of years, I now love this version...

recipe sample - http://www.penangchefs.com/recipe.aspx?recipeid=22

Curry Laksa
Spicier version of nyonya laksa

Sample recipe - http://kuali.com/recipes/viewrecipe.asp?r=830 (for halal version, opt out pig's blood)

Nyonya Laksa
Quite similar to Singapore laksa but spicier...
Sometimes when I have craving for this laksa, I'll have it at either Secret Recipe or Nyonya Colors http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/nyonya-colors-nyonya-foods-one-utama

Nyonya Colors also offers Thai Curry Laksa & Dry Curry Mee (close relatives to Nyonya Laksa)

recipe sample - http://www.malaysianfood.net/recipes/recipelaksalemak.htm and http://resepi.mesra.net/Detailed/758.shtml

Pot Laksa
Another variation of nyonya laksa. My sis's specialty. She found a recipe in a recipe book, modified it and made it her own. Another dish that we'll always enjoy whenever she has makan makan do at her place.

recipe sample http://www.101cookingrecipes.com/nyonya-recipes/pot-laksa.php

Mi Kari
Malay version of Nyonya Laksa, less creamy, spicier. Taste like you are eating your noodles with thin curry...

Recipe sample - http://www.resepirrrecipe.com/recipe_details.php?rec_id=172

Sarawak Laksa
Will never eat this version in Peninsular Malaysia. Tasted horrible. But In Sarawak it actually taste quite nice.

recipe sample - http://www.1easyasianrecipes.com/borneo-recipes/sarawak-laksa-recipe.php

Singapore laksa
- not my favourite kind of laksa. Secret Recipe offer this dish in its menu

recipe sample - http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/default.asp?pg_id=1488

Johore Laksa
- not my favourite, a bit too rich for me..

recipe sample - http://resepi.mesra.net/Detailed/3321.shtml

Kelantan laksa & laksam
My favourite during fasting month..

recipe sample http://qutreen.fotopages.com/?entry=1668638 and http://kuali.com/recipes/viewrecipe.asp?r=85

And many more variations that I've yet to try...