Heed the advice, people. Minimise time outside of the home and order food and drinks from various platforms, writes Syida Lizta Amirul Ihsan
WE'RE back to the stay-home directive but unlike what happened in March last year, we've all gotten the drill on how to operate during the Movement Control Order (MCO) so there is less craze — remember Dalgona coffee and #Don'tRushChallenge? — and more stability and calm.
Food operators who were struggling during the same period last year have now gotten the hang of digital business — either they self-market through Facebook or Instagram or join cloud kitchens or food delivery platforms so business can go on although dining at shops is temporarily suspended.
A new platform that gathers home cooks, bakers and independent restaurants is Neybrfood. Co-founder Donovan Tan says Neybrfood runs on a pre-order basis.
Merchants can determine their delivery dates, so those who do this as a side hustle can balance business with work.
"It's an effort to cater to the vendors' hectic schedule by providing specific time slots. Home chefs do not have the output capacity of a restaurant but they still make fantastic meals," he says.
"I like to think that Neybrfood is similar to Airbnb, and Grab/Foodpanda are like Agoda/Booking.com. It's a platform for home chefs to explore the F&B industry without high overheads," he says.
Neybrfood offers various types of food from a number of sellers, from drinks to hot meals to sweet desserts and snacks.
Hotels have also upped their food delivery game, given that hotel stays are allowed only for quarantine purpose, not leisure. Some hotels have joined Grabfood to deliver meals to customers and most have curated a concise menu which can be delivered during this time.
Depending on your budget, or if there's a celebration at home, you can order from stalls and home-based chefs to restaurants in five-star hotels and fine dining establishments, for a satisfying meal in the comfort of home.
CHICKEN DISHES
One of the merchants on Neybrfood, Ayam Gincu, which translates as Lipstick Chicken in English, offers frozen chicken meals. Just place the pouch in boiling water for 20 minutes and they can be served piping hot. I try Ayam Gincu Signature and Honey Sesame Chicken for the purpose of this review.
The Ayam Gincu Signature is like rendang, with a stronger emphasis on kaffir lime leaves. The chicken is cooked with potatoes and gravy, so you can eat it with rice, bread or even roti canai.
The Honey Sesame Chicken is cooked Chinese style, and it tastes sweet and sour, although I find the sesame smell a tad overpowering. It's great for kids with its sweet and slightly sour taste. This dish is quite dry, so you might need another dish with gravy if you plan to eat it with rice.
AYAM GINCU
TO ORDER Via Neybrfood.com
WHEN Please refer to Neybrfood website for delivery dates
WHAT TO EXPECT Frozen meals
SUITABLE FOR Days when you are too tired or too busy to cook for the family
NOODLES AND CAKES
M&M's Kitchen mainly sells small-sized desserts for big families or small parties and these include lemon curd tartlets, vanilla tartlets, dark chocolate tartlets and cream puffs with apple puree and vanilla bean.
The only warm dishes the kitchen makes are Stir Fry Mee Suah and Five Spice Drumsticks. I like simple noodles, and its mee suah fits that description to a tee. Not spicy and not too strong in soya sauce taste, this is a great one-meal dish with fish cakes and chicken as protein and sawi in the noodle.
The noodle is chewy, just the way I like it. Even the individual meal portion is big for me so I refrigerate the extra and steam it to reheat and it tastes just as good.
I find the Five Spice Drumstick too strong in spice taste, but if you like Chinese-style roast chicken, this one should gel
well with your taste buds. I find that the chicken is best eaten hot, so I put it in the airfryer for five minutes and it tastes much better.
M&M's KITCHEN
TO ORDER Via Neybrfood.com
WHEN Delivers on weekends. Check website for specific dates.
WHAT TO EXPECT Mee suah, roasted chicken drumstick and cakes in big portions
SUITABLE FOR Big families or celebrations
POSH CHOICE
Horizon Grill, located on the 58th floor of The Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur, is famous for two things — its breathtaking view of the city and its RM460 wagyu beef burger that lit up social media awhile ago when a guest complained about paying more that he should during a group meal.
The former is not available since we cannot dine in but if you want to try one of the most expensive burgers in town, you can have it delivered to you.
But if that's too expensive, then other dishes, like the excellent Boston Lobster pasta, with Arrabiata sauce and fresh herb, is a fulfilling dish for a low-key celebration at home.
I like the Smoked Australian Beef Burger, which uses smoked beef, pulled style, instead of a thick patty. It makes the dish less dense and the beef preparation renders the meat tastier.
If you are into Japanese food, Ebisu's Seafood Bento has teppanyaki-style salmon, scallop, prawn, edamame, egg roll, garlic rice and mentaiko pasta. At RM98, the dish is on the expensive side, but the quality makes up for it. Ebisu, is, at least to me, one of the best Japanese restaurants in the city.
Here's one handy tip before you order. Try to call or WhatsApp during non-peak hours so riders are aplenty and your food will arrive warm and delicious.
BANYAN TREE KUALA LUMPUR
TO ORDER WhatsApp (012-288 2135) or order via GrabFood, Foodpanda and TableApp for delivery and Eatigo for self pick-up
WHEN 10am to 8pm daily
WHAT TO EXPECT Fine dining dishes from Horizon Grill and fine Japanese cuisine from Ebisu and local dishes by Bake at Banyan Tree
SUITABLE FOR At-home celebration
DIM SUM, AND THEN SOME
I am a huge fan of dim sum, so I am curious why Jade Pavilion escaped my dim sum radar. I order two items from the takeaway menu — Steamed Honey Glazed Barbecue Chicken Buns and Steamed Prawns and Chicken Dumplings with Hokkaido Scallops — and they are so good I have to ask myself how come I didn't know of this place?
The chicken buns are soft with the top cracked open and the filling is just right, with a generous portion to boot. Some buns are not as soft and sometimes, the spice in the filling can be overpowering. This one, is perfection, if I may say so.
The siew mai is equally delicious. Large, dense and tasty, it left me wanting more and I promise myself, once dining is allowed, I will have a meal in the
restaurant because these are the only two dim sum dishes in the takeaway menu.
The local fare from The Courtyard is impressive too. I order Char Kway Teow for myself and Yong Chow Fried Rice for my toddler son. My dish comes with black tiger prawns, bean sprouts, bean curd and chives.
As someone who likes hawker food from hawkers, this high-end hotel version doesn't disappoint, although I would have liked it spicier and with cockles instead of prawn.
Murshid's rice has diced char siew chicken, vegetables, fried egg, cucumber and tomato and he loves every bit of it, so much so that two days later, when we ask him what he'd like for dinner, he specifically requests for this fried rice.
PAVILION HOTEL KUALA LUMPUR
TO ORDER WhatsApp 017 206 8805
WHEN Noon to 8pm
WHAT TO EXPECT Chinese food from Jade Pavilion including some dim sum choices and local fare from The Courtyard
SUITABLE FOR Dim sum lunch or local food, excellently done
JAPANESE STYLE
Of all the merchants I have tried on Neybrfood, I like Taste By Bert the best. It's a home-based kitchen specialising in making Japanese sandwiches, or
katsu sando, which is deep-fried chicken or fish sandwich.
The patties are fresh and so is the slaw accompanying it, making it a fulfilling meal on its own. I am surprised by how thick the chicken patty is. One sandwich is enough for lunch.
The meals are delivered from its kitchen in Bukit Jalil, and by the time it arrives to me in Bangsar, everything is still warm. The bread is lightly toasted and the sandwich isn't soaked in dressing, preserving the taste of the katsu well.
The Tori Katsu Sando is packed with chicken meat and delicious slaw complemented with Aomori-style Ringo Kare Mayo, imported from Japan to satisfy your cravings. I personally like the Alabama Mayo Tori Katsu Sando, with coleslaw made with finely diced purple cabbage and a special mayonnaise.
It's great for a quick, weekday meal between work-from-home tasks or as a solid breakfast to kickstart the day.
TASTE BY BERT
TO ORDER Via Neybrfood.com
WHEN Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and weekends
WHAT TO EXPECT Japanese katsu sando (sandwiches)
SUITABLE FOR Quick meals in between Zoom meetings
DRINK FOR GUT HEALTH
You only need to browse through Instagram and you will find a long list of shops selling kombucha, an effervescent green or black tea, said to contain health benefits like probiotics.
If you are not used to drinking kombucha, then Ancient Remedies can be a good start simply because its drinks are on the sweeter side. It's more palatable to newbies because some kombucha can be hard on the stomach.
Kombucha tastes like the sweetened version of apple cider vinegar, so those with acid reflux might want to be a bit careful, or at least not take it on an empty stomach.
Orange is the New Black uses freshly squeezed orange juice as natural flavouring and this drink marries great citrus flavour with fun carbonation. Light and citrusy, with a slight tinge of sour tastes, this is my favourite flavour.
The apple-flavoured Appeley Ever After is reminiscent of sparkling apple cider — tangy, slightly sweet and bubbly. It's a classic kombucha taste but on a sweeter side.
ANCIENT REMEDIES
TO ORDER Via Neybrfood.com
WHEN Delivers daily
WHAT TO EXPECT Kombucha drinks
SUITABLE FOR The health-conscious or those looking after drinks for gut health
Stay safe and order in your dishes through GrabFood. Use GrabFood Promo Code for additional markdown.