Dinner for 2 in Seremban for under RM35

I've been lazy. I'd like to cook dinner for two of us on a daily basis but I just can't seem to do it consistently. Of course, my cooking ain't that great and I can only cook limited variety of dishes.

So we eat out fairly regularly.

And as a pair of retired couple, we have to budget ourselves and try to get good and tasty food at the same time.

I try to set benchmark at RM35 for two of us. The number is arbitrary but I thought that's a reasonable amount.

Last week we went to 3 places and there were hits and misses.

Those makan places that we like will be recorded as PTB, "Places to return". Once we have 15 to 20 places that can be considered PTBs, then we are all set as we don't have to go to the same place more than twice a month. Add on to the fact that I will make dinner at home at least once a week, I think we are ok.

The bad one first.

We thought this place will be promising based on the signboard.

It looked fairly established and it wasn't situated in some pricy neighbourhood. So what could go wrong, right?

So we ordered some fish porridge and a claypot braised pork with black fungus mushroom.

Verdict:

1) Porridge was a bit watery
2) The fish slices were very very thin. My guess is they are trying to short change to pump up the margin.
3) They dropped in so much cilantro and chinese parsley that you might as well call it a parsley porridge. I meant, come on man, the condiment is not supposed to be so overpowering! Dumb fuck.

This braised pork was not bad but it cost RM20!!

WTF, this is not Shangri-la Hotel la, this is some shitty suburb in Seremban. OK?

And the bamboo cane drink they served was like coloured water, no taste.

Total bill: Porridge = RM16, Pork = RM20, Drink RM1.50 = RM37.50

Over the budget and felt being ripped off. Two thumbs down.

Kedai Makanan & Minuman Fu Rong
Lorong Permata 4/1, Taman Permata, 70200 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

Next was a Vietnamese place nearby.

This place is run by a local guy with Vietnamese wife. Ingredients and baking machine are imported from Vietnam.

The curry has a very nice and different taste from the local Chinese curry or the Indian curry. The star is the homemade baguette. I like the Vietnamese's take on the French baguette. They made it light and fluffy and crispy on the outside as opposed to the traditional "heavy and full" French version.

This dish in only RM10.00. Very good value in my book.

My wife had the pork sandwich with the same type of baguette. Also RM10.00.

At the table, they give you authentic Vietnamese sauces.

Total bill: RM27.00 with drinks. Within the budget. Two thumbs up.

They have many other dishes including steamboat. Must come back and try the other dishes.

They also run a little convenient store next door selling Vietnamese stuff.

This sotong jerky is very very good. You have to try it.

I can safely say that this will be our regular dinner place in the future.

Mother Dung
Taman Permata, 70200 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

Note: This place is a bit tricky to find. You have to go behind the huge Seremban Chinese Assembly Hall to the row of shop houses. Otherwise you will overshoot to the other side of Taman Permata.

The last time we went to One Eleven Food Court, we were disappointed by some stupid hawker.

I blogged about it here: Dishonest Hawker

We noticed a steamed fish head stall the last time but they were sold out when we wanted to order.

Last week we went back again and we tried their fish.

It was great.

The "Sung" freshwater fish was fresh and tasty. They put on lots of ginger to steam the fish and thus balanced out the muddy taste of freshwater fish.

Although it was a bony fish was it wasn't too troublesome to eat. Half of such a large fish was good enough for both of us.

Best part was the price. The fish was only RM25.00.

Total bill: 29.20 including 2 bowls of rice and drinks. Two thumbs up and within budget.

There are actually more things to try at this food court. But I think this stall is the best.