Looking for a steamboat noms session? Check this out!

I've always been a fan of steamboat. Especially when I have the option of dumping in tons of yummy vegetables into my pot of broth.

When I was invited to check out this quaint little restaurant at PJ, I was quite enthusiastic. After all, who can ever say no to good food? :P

Locating the place took some time for me, as I am not a PJ-ian and I get lost easily. Technically, you can actually view the shop from the LDP highway. But being the blur me I usually tend not to look elsewhere except for the road ahead of me lol.

Keep an eye out for this logo while on the road!

A closer look at the entrance

The restaurant interior is quaint and has that vintage feel to it, with a certain amount of 'rustic' atmosphere lingering about. I was charmed by the vintage items displayed there, like the classic television set and coal iron (remember those?).

Some of the many vintage pieces you can spot in this place

Of course, you're not here to look at the interior alone. Let's start with the three appetizers available:

Crispy salmon skin drizzled with sauce - RM6

Japanese Cucumber with seasoning sauce and julienne carrots - RM4.50

Tongsam Century Egg with pickled ginger - RM4.50

And now to the main course.

This restaurant boasts of three different type of soups:

• Black Chicken Herbal Soup (RM23)
• Pork Oriental Soup (RM18)
• Clear Tomyam Soup (RM18)

Savor the aromatic blend of herbs and spices in this pot of homemade broth

You can also opt for a half-half pot of Tomyam & Pork Oriental

These wonderful homemade broths have minimal to absolutely zero MSG added into them. Which is good since this lets you savor every piece of ingredient tossed in without guzzling down your tea (or any other types of drinks) too much along the way.

Once you've selected your poiso soup base, it's now time to pile up on the ingredients! :D

Dian Huo Xin Wo offers a wide variety of meat and seafood, but I admit that the star of the show would be their range of homemade 'meat' balls. Made from scratch, these balls are densely packed with flavor and of course, it's all about meat. Though the meat are processed prior to opening time, the balls are only rolled (or made) upon your order. Which means you're truly getting the freshest rolled balls for the day (or night) :D

Gotta be ballsy to go ball-istic over these yummy balls!

The homemade range include Signature Beef Ball, Golden Yolk Pork Ball, Mushroom Pork Ball, Dumpling, Crystal Fish Ball, Squid Ball, Shrimp Ball, Seafood Ball, and Quail Egg Chicken Ball. The price range is between RM6 - RM8 per 'dimsum basket' of four/five balls.

If these balls aren't enough for you, how about some thinly sliced meat and while we're at it, a plate of 'Sang Har" prawns?

Oh the glorious meat!

Choose from Chicken, Pork Loin, Mongolian Lamb, Australian Snowflake Beef, and/or American Wagyu Beef slices for a price of RM12 - RM36 per plate.

For the seafood lovers, there are Grouper Fish Head, Pomfret Fish, Fresh Prawns, Snapper Fish Slices, Osmanthus Mussels, Fresh Black Mussels, Cuttle Fish, Jelly Fish, Bamboo Clams, Fish Skin Dumpling, and Fresh Crab to choose from.

If you're into 'spare parts', Dian Huo Xin Wo offers Pork Liver, Stomach, and Intestine (RM6 - RM10 per plate). There are also a variety of sausages and fishballs to choose from.

Of course, what's steamboat without veggies I ask? Well, for me anyway.

Some of the many vegetables and mushrooms to choose from yums!

Oh this has GOT to be added into my running raving commentary of this food place: the chilli sauces. According to the owner, these sauces are crafted from scratch without any proper recipe and they're designed to compliment all ingredients used in the steamboat. Talk about neat! :D

Since they do not have any name for the sauces, I hereby dub them: Dry Chilli, Spicy Red, and Sambal Green Chilli. (lame, I know hahahaha)


We also took this opportunity to try out the restaurant's unique 'yee sang' specially prepared for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

Get this: this colourful dish substitutes salmon sashimi for smoked bacon slices and red dragonfruit. Utter yums! :D All vegetables are freshly julienned upon order, and even the sauces are specially prepared to compliment the smokey bacon flavor and sweetness from the dragonfruit.

Currently, this restaurant is offering this Yee Sang dish for RM68. Available until the 17th February. They highly encourage pre-order to avoid disappointment, so pick up that smartphone and give them a call today! :D

Overall, I admit that this place is worth a second (and third...fourth...okay definitely more than that) visit. Though the price may put you off, rest assured that you'll definitely get your money's worth right here :D

Restaurant details:

Dian Huo Xin Wo 点火心窝
19, Jalan SS4D/2, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
+603 - 7887 4557 or  +6012 - 296 3886
Opening Hours: 5pm - 11pm


This place definitely gets two thumbs up from me!

DIBS (Hawaiian) Coffee - A new favorite!

A quick warning: I'm writing this blogpost while still being wired from the numerous cups of coffee I've been sampling today...so forgive me if I sound unintelligible at times XP

Yesterday, my colleagues and I wandered off to Menara Gamuda at PJ Trade Centre looking for a new place to lunch. To our surprise, we discovered a newly opened shop here! It sounded intriguing enough for us to try out the place (though what caught my interest the most would probably be the coffee varieties offered here!)

So far I've tried their Macadamia Nut brewed coffee as well as their Toasted Coconut brewed coffee. I prefer the former rather than the latter somehow, but they're both equally fragrant too! :D

Just a quick rundown about this place: The shop owner, Allen, explained to us that this shop offers job opportunities for the deaf. It's a good place for them to learn new skills and if they're talented in a certain field (for example, baking or designing) they are encouraged to sharpen their skills here. The cakes, for example, are all baked from scratch by one of the deaf waitress there! (That statement sounds mean but it's true! lol) I can't wait to sample her cakes one day (we were too stuffed to order anything else hahaha). Allen aims to succeed in making this cafe the very first gourmet cafe run by the deaf in Malaysia...and I really do wish him all the best in this venture!

These photos are taken the next day, when a whole bunch of us came back to have our lunch here.  Be warned, this post is rather picture-heavy!

Hawaiian Coffee; I like this logo! XD

The food (and cashier) counter.

The drinks menu! Click on the photo to view the different coffees offered here :D

Flipping the drinks menu over, you'll have "Cikgu Mila" teaching you some basic sign languages that could help you in this shop!

Breakfast AND lunch menu, as well as the snacks & desserts available here. Flip this menu over and you'll find the A-Z sign language illustrations (no photo available cause I forgot to snap a pic of that!)

One of the set lunches available: Aloha Chicken

My lunch (because I wasn't too hungry): Waikiki Sausage

Two of my colleagues ordered the same dish: Herbed Fish & Chips. This is really yummy! :D

Here's one more: DIB Jumbo and Fries.

I couldn't resist sneaking a couple of shots of the sauce counter just because I like the selection of sauces available there!

Bottles from left: Tomato, Thai Chilli, Chilli, Spicy Pineapple, Yellow  Mustard, and Sweet Relish.
There's also Sugar Syrup (for iced coffee I presume) and Maple Syrup (for the waffles)

A closer look at the last three bottles. 

Hey, these coffee beans are for sale! :D I should try them one day

The array of cakes and desserts available.
Clockwise from top left (cakes only): Pumpkin Cheese, Cappuccino Cheese, Pineapple Cheese, Chocolate Cheese  & Passionfruit Cheese.

*******

While we were finishing our food, the shop owner stopped by our table for a bit. I guess he was amused at the way we were trying to master the sign languages that we learned from the back of the menus. Hahahahahaa. As we were chatting (and getting Lesson101 about Sign Languages) he then started showing us how the Hawaiian coffee is brewed in this shop.

Setting up the equipment. That 'pot' is filled with hot water! Not boiling water though, for according to Allen, boiling water ruins the coffee

The top 'jar' is added, with the filter in place

Ground coffee is placed into that jar

And so the coffee brewing process begins!

Basically the water is heated up and the steam will travel through a small pipe upwards into the jar above, seeping into the powder. This will go on until the water below have traveled to the jar above. When fire is turned off, the steeped coffee will flow downward into its original container below, the coffee grounds excess left behind.

The fire is switched off, and coffee flows down!

What remains of the ground coffee - a perfect ''coffee pudding''! :D
This basically indicates that the coffee filter is doing its charm properly haha

A nice cuppa Polynesian (I think?) coffee. It's pretty strong stuff, but I like it all the same.

Overall, I'd say this place is a nice change to coffee franchises out there. Staffs are friendly and helpful, and you get to learn a thing or two about sign languages as well from them! A nice comfortable environment to hang out with your friends as well.

My only peeve is that the food served during lunch isn't hot and piping (I guess they cater more for express?) and at best, lukewarm. But aside from that, this place is certainly worth a try!

Here's the address:
DIB: Coffees of Hawaii (Hawaiian Cafe)
Block D, Level 1,
Menara Gamuda, PJ Trade Centre, 
Jalan PJU 8/8A,
Bandar Damansara Perdana


They have another shop nearby, which is located near Mum's Place. Here, they offer free sign language classes every first and third Sunday of the month from 10-11am. Sounds interesting? Head over to their shop here!


11-A-1, Jalan PJU 8/5A
Bandar Damansara Perdana
47820 Petaling Jaya
Tel: +603-7710 4752/3152