Kohilam Kalimuthu sinks her teeth into some of the more popular burgers in town

A burger (known in some parts of the world as hamburger) is a just your plain old sandwich—a meat patty in between two slices of bread or bun. As fast food took off on a major scale in the last couple of decades, burger joints became somewhat of a fad—a place to see and be seen, with some joints becoming a teen hangout. In fact, most kids I know pester their parents to take them to fast food joints as most now offer a promotional toy (usually based on a new movie) with a kiddy meal.

Burgers have evolved throughout the years with different flavours, toppings and sauces to cater to different tastes. Fran-chises like McDonalds have different menus in different countries to cater to the religious majority. For example, McDonalds in Malaysia doesn’t serve pork, but Bacon Burgers are available in Western countries, while in India, this franchise offers vegetarian and mutton burgers, but not beef although the Muslim population is sizable.

I’ve been a big fan of burgers ever since McDonalds was a five minute walk away from my school, and I decided to give other burger joints a try as well.I checked out Wendy’s, Burger King, and McDonalds’ newer menu, and lived to tell the tale.

Wendy’s, Jaya One, Petaling Jaya

Not many are aware of Wendy’s compared to the more mainstream burger joints like McDonalds and Burger King. According to Wikipedia, Wendy’s was founded in 1969, and became the world’s third largest fast food chain in December 2006. Wendy’s signature is their square burger patties, with their tagline ‘Our burgers are square because we don’t cut corners.’

The outlet in Jaya One was clean and fresh, and they have both indoor and outdoor seating. I decided to sit inside as the sun was out!

Wendy’s menu looked quite extensive. They had different combos and their burgers were quite varied as well. The choices included a quarter-pounder (beef), a grilled chicken burger, a spicy variety, the three-quarter pounder (3-tiered burger) and even a shrimp burger. I settled for the shrimp combo as I’d never heard of a shrimp burger in a fast food joint before.

The Shrimp Supreme combo was RM10.98. The waitress wasn’t too friendly though, I tried to make small talk to break the monotony of her day, but all she did was give me a tight smile, neither did she bother to tell me about any lunch promo or how I could get a free Frosty Float at my next purchase.

I gave up, took my food and sat down to enjoy it. The fries were good, not too oily and not over-fried, so I started on the burger, which I must say was delicious. The prawn patty, although not big, was fresh and I could taste the prawns (as opposed to just flour and flavouring)! I would definitely recommend it.

What’s good about Wendy’s is that they also have salads, nuggets and baked potatoes on the menu. Their Garden Sensations Salads are made fresh, while their oven-baked potatoes come with a variety of toppings such as sour cream, broccoli and cheese, and bacon and cheese.

Chicken wraps are the latest item on the menu, and they also have four choices of combo meals called Wendy’s Packs which include a burger, chicken or baked potato with nuggets and drink at RM6.99 each.
The restaurant was clean and bright, the lighting was great and the food was good.

Food:  5 Stars
Ambience:   5 Stars
Value for money:   4 Stars

McDonalds, Seremban Parade, Seremban

McDonalds is the most popular burger joint in the world and in Malaysia. There is never an element of surprise if any res-taurant in this franchise has a line a mile long at any hour of the day, let alone weekends or during lunch.
McDonalds was founded in 1940 and currently serves more than 45 million customers worldwide on a daily basis. Now one of the largest franchises in the world, McDonalds is a hit with kids, teens, youths and adults alike.

McDonalds has always been a favourite of mine. I always used to wonder how the waitresses taking orders as well as the kitchen staff constantly had a smile on their faces no matter how long the lunch hour queue was. This time around, it was not peak hours so the restaurant was a little empty.

The menu includes their signature Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, McChicken, Double Cheeseburger, Fried Chicken and Nuggets. The latest item on the menu is the Big N Tasty—a quarter pound beef patty with cheese and vegetables. I ordered a Spicy Chicken McDeluxe set (RM10.55) after perusing the menu. The waitresses were smiling as usual, and I took my food to a quiet corner to enjoy.

McDonalds’ fries were slightly thinner and longer than Wendy’s but were absolutely delicious, just out of the deep fryer. The chicken fillet inside the burger was huge—made of whole muscle chicken thigh, marinated with a special spice and topped with fresh lettuce and mayonnaise. The chicken was spicy and it did not taste like a processed chicken patty. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

Dessert was a sundae with hot chocolate fudge (RM3), although many people prefer the Strawberry Sundae. Their Apple Pies (RM2) and signature Oreo Flurries (RM4.10) are great choices too, although the Flurry has increased in price but de-creased in size!

Children will be contented with the Happy Meal—a smaller sized combo meal that comes with a toy, and if parents prefer healthier options, the soft drink can be changed to Ribena or Milo and they can opt for a cup of corn instead of fries.

Food: 5 Stars
Ambience: 3 Stars
Value for money: 4 Stars

Burger King, Sunway Pyramid, Bandar Sunway

Burger King is the second most popular fast food joint, first opening its doors in 1954. With almost 12,000 outlets in more than 70 countries, it is no secret that their flame-grilled patties are popular with the masses.The Burger King outlet in Sunway Pyramid is quite new, and the concept is slightly different. The counter and the dining area are separate but close by, the dining area brightly lit and looking like a lounge.

The menu includes their signature Whoppers, Black Pepper Singles, Mushroom Swiss and BBQ Cheeseburger, all with beef patties. Burger King’s menu also includes the BK Fish, French Chicken, Grilled Chicken and Chicken Tenders Sandwich. I opted for the BBQ Cheeseburger in medium (RM7.95).

The waiters were quite friendly although busy, so I took my meal to the uber-chic dining area. The fries were golden brown and hot, but did not compare to Wendy’s and McDonalds. The burger tasted good but only because of the BBQ sauce; otherwise it would have been quite flat.

Burger King boasts great desserts though. The Hershey’s pie, touted to be a slice of chocolate heaven, is only RM3.95. I opted for the Caramel Melts Sundae, and boy, did the caramel melt in my mouth! This was one gorgeous dessert at RM2.95.

This franchise also has Kid’s Meals in choices of Cheese Burger, Beef Burger or Chicken Tenders for RM9.90 each, which I feel is a little pricey.

Food:  3 Stars
Ambience:  4 Stars
Value for money: 3 Stars

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Somewhere in the middle of the clubbing  scene in Changkat Bukit Bintang lies Radius International Hotel, a 3-star hotel currently undergoing renovations to add another star to its credentials. Getting to the hotel at anytime during the day (and night, for that matter) is a headache because of its location but Gopal and I braved the rush-hour traffic to make it to the Steamboat Restaurant in time for dinner.

Ms Tang, the group’s Business Development Manager who met us at the lobby, accompanied us to our table, specially reserved as the restaurant was expecting a large crowd that evening. We walked around taking pictures before settling ourselves at our table and speaking to our host, as well as the restaurant’s manager, Mr Parameswaran, who was on leave for Deepavali but came in to ensure we were comfortable and not lacking in any way.
Radius’ Steamboat Restaurant, open for a year now, is located towards the left corner of the hotel as we entered, with steps descending towards the dining area.

Steamboat dining, popular in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and China, refers to a style of dining where ingredients are cooked in a simmering pot of soup at the table, with typical dishes being seafood, noodles and vegetables, while other buffet spreads include strips of chicken, fish and eggs.

The steamboat buffet offered by this restaurant is a lovely spread, and at RM19.90++ per head, is quite a steal. The buffet includes drinks (orange juice, Chinese tea, water) and mouth-watering desserts.
To cater for patrons who need rice as a staple with every meal, the buffet also offers fried rice, fried noodles and fried chicken.

As soon as we sat down, our waitress served us Chinese tea and orange juice, and set a huge aluminium pot on the stove in front of us. The pot had two compartments, one filled with tomyam soup, the other with chicken soup. We had to wait for the soups to boil before we could put our meat and vegetables of choice into the soup.

The spread was good and we started with some crab, fishballs, sausages, processed crabmeat, prawns and mussels.
While waiting for the ingredients to boil, we spoke to Mr Param and Head Chef Noris, who has been with Radius for about a year, but came in armed with 20 years’ experience. Chef Noris is also responsible for the hotel’s Kopitiam.
“I love my job. We interact with customers sometimes, and that’s where we get our new ideas. Sometimes we experiment with different ingredients in different dishes at the suggestion of a customer and it turns out wonderfully,” he enthuses. “We also try to change our menu every six months so our patrons get something different now and then.”
Mr Param is also very enthusiastic about his job, having been with the hotel for nine years.

“We receive many foreign tourists here, especially people from India and Indonesia, and we try to cater to their tastes,” he says. “For example, some Indonesian patrons who tried our steamboat told us to include pucuk paku as one of the ingredients, and true enough, it went very well with the soup. We also cater for functions, with a menu that is personalised while working within your budget.”

Ms Tang then invited us to try our food, which was already cooked, and she ladled all the ingredients into our plates, while I helped myself to the different sauces—chilli sauce, sweet sauce and belacan. There were also pieces of cut lime for those who prefer a slightly sour tang to their food.

I tried the processed crabmeat first, which was soft and succulent. The chilli dip was spicy in typical Malaysian style, but it went well with the crabmeat, as did the belacan dip. I personally found the sweet sauce lacking as it was too salty and didn’t complement the ingredients.

Gopal tried the crab and absolutely loved it. I wasn’t a big fan of seafood, but the strips of fish earned my respect—they tasted extremely fresh. The prawns weren’t your typical udang galah buffet fare; this medium sized invertebrate wasn’t too pleasing to my palate, but I saw Gopal peeling it with gusto!

Unfortunately the sausages were overcooked so we didn’t enjoy them, but the rest of the fare was great. The mussels and clams were fresh, with the fishballs and seafood-balls going well with the soups and dips.The tomyam soup was spicy and flavourful, a definite winner when pitted against the chicken soup, which is more suitable for children or tongues not accustomed to Malaysian spiciness.

Almost towards the end of the meal, Ms Tang suggested we put some yee mee into the soup. I tried protesting, as I was almost too stuffed to eat another morsel, but she insisted, saying it was going to be worth it, as this was her favourite ingredient despite all the seafood around! She only allowed the noodles to boil for about 3–5 minutes, before telling us it was ready, ladling some onto our plates.

One taste of the noodles and I knew she was right. They were cooked to perfection, and went well with the tomyam soup. I even had seconds!After we finished with our steamboat, Ms Tang insisted that we try their desserts as well, of which they have a variety, in-cluding ice cream, puddings, jellies and cakes.

The ice cream would be a hit with adults and children alike, as it was a make-your-own version with Hershey’s chocolate syrup, strawberry sauce and whipped cream, and toppings of nuts and raisins.

Note to parents: Please make sure your children are supervised when helping themselves to the ice cream
After thoroughly enjoying my own bowl of ice cream, I tried their fruit tarts and cakes, which were decent. All was good, with Gopal having his usual Nescafe tarik while the rest of us chatted away.

That is when I realised that steamboats were quite a healthy option for a meal. Everything was steamed or boiled, there were no carbs apart from the noodles and desserts, and the beverages were healthy and un-carbonated. Just stay away from too much seafood, and you are okay!

The only grouses I had were about the parking, which is perfectly understandable seeing that this is after all Changkat Bukit Bintang, and the ambience of the restaurant. Although it was part of a hotel, I did not find the dining area very pleasing as it was noisy and closeted. The layout or flow of the patrons were okay, with the steamboat buffet items in the middle and the condiments and desserts on the side, but I personally didn’t find very attractive. But I must say the food made up for it thought, and my dinner was thoroughly enjoyable.

The Steamboat Restaurant fits 120 people at any given time and accepts reservations for private functions, as long as notified beforehand. Opening hours are 6–10pm, Tuesdays to Saturdays.

Story By : Kohilam Kalimuthu

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