SUBANG JAYA, Aug 24 — This time, we visited Subang Jaya for Adelynne Ong's chap fan hero, Orange Mixed Rice.
She explained, "it is my favourite because it has really good choices of dishes. It has pretty affordable prices and is located near the SS15 LRT station."
She also elaborated how the place is managed well as it's kept clean and there's free soup, tea and water. True enough, that was what we discovered when we visited the place. It's a corner shop lot that offers comfortable seating within a well-ventilated space.
Started in June last year, this chap fan place is operated by You Kim Soon. He also has three other shareholders for this venture.
You started dabbling in the kitchen as young as 12 years old, when he worked in his hometown in Muar, Johor.
Later he ventured up to the Klang Valley where he worked at Overseas Restaurant at PJ's Armada Hotel. After stints in Singapore, he returned to Malaysia about 10 years ago to open his own F&B business.
He started in Serdang where he operated a mixed rice stall. For the future, there are plans to expand Orange Mixed Rice to other places like Puchong and Petaling Jaya, where food will be supplied via a central kitchen.
Expect a spread of 50 plus dishes here. There are crowd favourites such as fried chicken, steamed pork with egg, deep fried pork belly and more. You also have various fish dishes and even lala clams.
Most patrons take one protein accompanied by vegetables and a scoop of the steamed egg or an omelette. Everyone has their own selection. Some go for healthier choices like vegetables and beancurd. Others load up their plates with potato slices, steamed egg and a protein.
What's interesting is they have a separate area for braised dishes and curries. These items are kept warm over portable induction cookers. You see people scooping up a bit of curry or sauce to add flavour to their rice.
There are also various curries with wild boar, vegetables, fish and chicken. There's also a restaurant dish such as braised pig's tendons, a nod towards You's restaurant background.
You have the price list for the items on a poster. They charge you by the scoop ladled to your plate or take away box. There's a choice of rice and noodles.
Prices start from RM1.50 for the egg dishes and even tofu items. Depending on the vegetables you select, expect to pau RM1.50, RM2 or RM3. Details on the type of chicken taken also makes a difference to the charges, whether it's strips, cubes or a whole chicken.
Pricier items include the seafood items, wild boar which is RM4, roasted pork for RM5 or their claypot pork belly with salted fish for RM4.50.
I selected a mix of Adelynne's favourite items such as brinjal in a dark sauce and salted egg chicken with vegetables. I saw one diner pick up the pan fried fish and he told me that he eats it every day. My plate was RM12, purely because the fish which is a ma yau yu is RM6.
The selection may be pricier than a normal chap fan meal but that fish was well worth the money. The firm flesh had a sweet taste that I ended up eating the crispy bones.
You explained to me that they select the fish themselves from the stall, rather than rely on suppliers hence the fish is fresh. There's various preparations for the fish items like sweet and sour fried fish, steamed fish or pan fried fish. There's also lala clams, sotong and occasionally, there will be prawns.
For the soup, just scoop up a bowl yourself. The soup I tried was made with old cucumber, carrots, chicken feet and neck. If you're lucky, you can also get some of the chicken feet with your soup. For drinks, there's water and Chinese tea.
Orange Mixed Rice, 92-G, Jalan SS15/4b, SS15, Subang Jaya. Open: 8am to 9pm. Facebook: @OrangeSS15Restaurant
