FINALLY, a McDonald’s outlet has been opened nearby my place! You have no idea how happy I was when I found this out. You see, about 2-3 years ago, there was only 1, I repeat, ONE McD in town. No drivethrough, plus the traffic is always congested there, no place to park.. overall I hate going there. Then one by one McD started to pop up. Nearest to me is at Jusco area.. which, even using the highway, is not that near. Then I heard a new one is being built nearby my place (about 5 minutes of driving if there’s no traffic) and damn, I was overjoyed.

I have been watching the construction from the beginning. I use that road a lot so it’s hard not to watch the building being built while you count the days and wait in anticipation. Seriously.

It’s actually very interesting to see that site, used to be a flower shop, being demolished until the building is built. That’s how much I was looking forward to it.

And boy, the excitement just increased when you don’t see those walls anymore and you actually see the building, 85% done now. Just waiting for the days for it to open. I think it took about 3 months for the whole construction from demolishing the previous building to the opening.

A day after the opening, I went there for breakfast with my mom and my mom’s friend. The place is very colorful. It does feel like a cheerful fast food restaurant and also a cozy cafe. Not bad.

There were colorful balloons, walls, everything. The place was however quite small, but not too small.

There was also a small playground for kids. Beside it there’s another area, more like a lounge? It’s more comfortable in there. The chairs are more comfortable inside too.

We sat there until lunch hour and boy, it started to go crazy. The place was packed with people during lunch hour. It was so crowded and so loud that I got annoyed, haha. I think we must have spent over 3 hours just watching people and talking.

I even spent my new year’s eve there with my friend. Back in December when I had to work mostly outside, I could say every 2 days or so I would stop by and buy my prosperity burger. I can consider myself a regular customer :P I should get special regular customer discount or something haha.

However, I have a bad memory when one night where after buying my food there, as I was going out of the traffic light, some idiot taxi driver stopped for what he thought was red light (it was for another junction) and BAM, I crashed into him. So in turn, I wrecked the front of my very new car, and got fined RM300. Some justice huh? I can’t talk much about this because it hurts too much.

This is Mr. Indy. He introduced himself as the franchisee of this McDonald’s. When he saw me taking pictures inside and outside, he stopped to ask me and then we talked a bit. He’s a very nice and friendly guy. I’m so surprised though because he looks so young. That’s when I found out this McDonald’s is a franchise. If I’m not mistaken, I received a flyer earlier this month that they had the official opening. I missed that however.

Well thank you for making my wish come true… been hoping that a McD would open near me for ages.

I first heard about ayam penyet when I was doing my internship at a production company. Everyone was talking about how good the food is, and how spicy the sambal (chilli) is. They had an Indonesian helper at the office so he probably introduced it. After all that buzz, I decided to try it for myself. Boy, little did I know from that day on, I’d be ayam penyet lover and addict. It’s all about the sambal which is soooo spicy, it’ll sure give you stomach burn for a whole day. Ayam penyet originated from Indonesia and has currently became a huge hit in Kuala Lumpur, with branches popping out here and there.. there’s Ayam Penyet AP, Ayam Penyet Ria etc. I hope they’ll expand the franchise to other states..especially Ipoh.

According to their website, ayam penyet is described as:

Ayam Penyet is a traditional Indonesian cuisine which originates from Surabaya. It is a popular chicken dish where the fresh chicken is specially marinated with various spices and herbs . The meat is then smashed with a wooden headed hammer and deep fried until golden light brown. One of the unique feature in preparing this funny name dish is the art of frying where it is crispy from outside and juicy inside.

I knew they were opening a new branch in KLCC when I saw the sign. when I was attending a very sucky and shitty 1Malaysia1Halal campaign or something at the national mosque few weeks later, I decided to stop by at KLCC and found out they’ve opened the new branch of Ayam penyet Ria at the food court.. boy was I happy. But sad news is, Yoshinoya (my favorite restaurant) has been replaced by almost similar Japanese stall.

During my first visit it was almost lunch hour so KLCC wasn’t packed with people yet. The girl there was very friendly and chatty with my mom. But during my 2nd visit, and 3rd visit, during peak hours, they weren’t quite as friendly and chatty as they were when they first opened. Plus different people too.

Ayam Penyet Set : RM8.80

A set of ayam penyet @ Ayam Penyet AP KLCC consist of rice, ayam penyet (smashed chicken), tempe, fried tofu, and little of greens (cabbage etc).. they ‘sprinkled’ some bread crumbs I assume on the chicken. Of course, the sambal. I love to have extra sambal for super extra spicyness. Be warned to those who can’t stand spicy food, avoid the sambal.. but then again, what’s the point? Their specialty is the sambal. That’s what made ayam penyet famous. The chicken, since it’s smashed, is very,very soft but yummy and crunchy for the skin.

For the KLCC stall, the set also comes with a bowl of soup which is an extra nice surprise because Ayam Penyet Ria or other ayam penyet place I’ve eaten at doesn’t give the soup. So yeah, that’s a nice surprise. If you want soft drinks, it’ll cost RM2.30 each.

Of course, there are a lot of other varieties and not just ayam penyet. You can have beef, fish or any Indonesian delicacies like gado-gado, etc. Trust me, if you love spicy food, you’ll love ayam penyet.

RESTORAN AYAM PENYET AP
Level 2 (Stall 10)
Signature Food Court
Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur
http://www.ayampenyet-ap.com

They also have outlets in Subang, Bangi, Sunway, Punchong and are opening more outlets.

Wendy’s at Giant, Kota Damansara used to be our hangout spot every Friday. Mostly because of the good promotions they had back then, like free Strawberry shake with every purchase, and 50% off on any Frosty every Friday. Plus there was also the good Pepper stacked burger, and free Frosty float with every combo meal purchase. Wendy’s is also my favorite fast food restaurant out of all mostly because of the size. The squared meat and the big drinks… compare to McDonald’s or KFC, their regular drink is McD’s or KFC’s large drink..

But since when has Wendy’s become STINGY??

We tried to buy a combo meal only to find out the 50% off on Frosty every Friday promotion is no longer available. So she ordered the new Wrap & Roll ala-carte. We received the receipt which says “FREE FROSTY FLOAT with your next combo meal purchase“. Now what is wrong with that sentence? Everything.

First I tried to use my friend’s receipt to buy my own combo meal, so I’d get the free Frosty float. They had this same offer the last time too. Guess what?? Turns out my friend would have to buy A COMBO MEAL for that receipt to be valid. WHAT THE F——? Now nowhere in that receipt stated that you need to buy a COMBO meal for that receipt to be valid, so that you’d get a free Frosty float for you next COMBO meal… if that’s the case, it would be stated like this — “With every combo meal purchase, FREE FROSTY FLOAT on your next combo meal purchase” or something like that. We were pissed and disappointed, and felt conned because this is a stupid marketing tactic. What happened to free shake on any purchase, combo or not??

Not only that, the wrap & roll is extremely SMALL. Okay, it taste great, but the chicken is as big as my middle finger, no joke. For this it cost RM5.50? We’re better off buying KFC’s toasted twister. Wendy’s, you disappoint me. I thought you were different from other popular fast food outlet.

Wendy's Wrap & Roll: RM 5.50

(image taken from SEVENTH ANGEL [NET])