Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

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August 11, 2014 By cheryl

Kampong Ah Lee (Edinburgh): A Malaysian “Village” in Scotland

photo 2 (5)Dorset Boy is a little particular about food, which I realize could be a problem.

As you may have guessed from this blog (and Tiger), I am a total food trollop. I will eat anything at least once — I constantly crave variety, the different, the new.

Potato – potahto, though. Plus, there seems to be some degree of curiosity about my food quirks. So when I learn that there is a Malaysian restaurant in Edinburgh — one that actually comes well-endorsed by the one Malaysian-Scot I’ve met in the city — he knows we have to go.

So one night, the ever-patient man allows me to drag him to Kampong Ah Lee …

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Asian, Malaysian, Noodles, Scotland, Southeast Asian, Tales From the Road Tagged With: Asian, Edinburgh, Kampong Ah Lee, Malaysian, Mee goreng, Noodles, Rendang, Scotland, Southeast Asian Food

October 13, 2010 By cheryl

Taste Good: A True Thing


IMG_5331

Years ago, as a freshman at Northwestern University, I used to trek to the computer lab after classes to log onto a Web site and stare longingly at pictures of Singaporean food that someone out in the ether had taken the care to post.

I'm ashamed to mention how long ago this was, exactly — let's just say that this was the first year the university handed out email addresses to incoming freshmen and well, that this "Internet" thing was still new-fangled.

I've never forgotten the kindness of the person — whom I've never known — who put up that rudimentary site filled with pictures of dishes I desperately missed. The photos became my lifeline during that first bone-chilling Chicago winter — and I would spend the next 10-plus years looking for good versions of Singaporean chicken rice or spicy beef rendang in Southeast Asian restaurants across America.

After years of looking, I've finally found a place that I can whole-heartedly say is authentic: Taste Good in Elmhurst, New York. (And I'm not the only one who thinks so — the Singapore Permanent Mission to the United Nations often uses the restaurant to cater its events.) I won't go into all the details here — you'll have to check out my piece on the meal and my quest in the Atlantic Food Channel today — but I wanted to pay a little homage to that anonymous person who saved my sanity all those years ago.

So here's a little visual montage. Whoever and wherever you are, I hope you enjoy these pictures …

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Asian, New York, Queens, Restaurants, Singaporean, Southeast Asian Tagged With: Assam laksa, Atlantic Food Channel, Beef rendang, Char kway teow, Chicago, Chicken Rice, Dessert, Elmhurst, Grandmother, K.K. Thong, Kangkong belacan, Malaysian, Northwestern University, Popiah, Pulot hitam, Queens, Rice, Singapore, Soup, Taste Good, United Nations, Winter

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