Zhou Porridge Restaurant, The Scott Garden

The deal: RM15 for RM30 cash voucher for food and drinks at Zhou Porridge Restaurant.

What we got:

Congee steamboat set for 2 (RM39.80)

The steamboat set comprised of prawn, broccoli, an egg, crab meat, crab sticks, fried fish fillets, Taiwan cocktail sausages, fish maw, fish balls, golden needle mushrooms, minced pork and fried beancurd skin (the last one served separately and not pictured here).

For our porridge base, we chose the prawn-flavoured one.

We let the porridge boil for a bit and then threw all the ingredients in, resulting in a concoction that looked like this:

We thought the porridge base and the ingredients went pretty well together. Despite the menu stating that it was a set for two, the portion was more than sufficient for two, and would feed three average eaters, or maybe even four small eaters. Being bigger-than-average eaters (only in terms of appetite and not size, we hope!), we could wipe the pot clean, although we were pretty stuffed at the end of it.

Besides the above, we also ordered deep fried loh bak (RM6.90). This turned out to be a disappointment. Servings were small, not particularly tasty and not worth the money. 

We also got two desserts (longan and red dates with lotus seeds in syrup and honey aloe vera with aiyu jelly, RM6 each) but they were nothing to shout about.

Tax: Service tax at 5%.

How much we paid: RM30

Manmaru Homemade Udon, Mid Valley Megamall

The deal: RM10 for RM20 cash voucher for food and drinks at Manmaru Homemade Udon.

What we got:

Kamo seiro udon (regular: RM15.90)

I love udon. If I had to choose between ramen, soba and udon, I'll almost always choose udon (except when there's cold soba, because cold udon still seems a bit strange to me). It's been two months since I've last had udon, so the voucher was very timely.

I got the kamo seiro udon, which was udon served in hot water, with duck broth in a separate bowl. I know they call it 'gravy' on their menu, but I thought broth would much better describe its consistency. There were four or five slices of duck, which were tasty. The broth tasted somewhat herbal-y but I found it a little too salty.

Niku udon (regular: RM14.90)

My partner got the niku udon. The beef slices were tender and the broth was less heavily flavoured compared to the duck one, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. We also thought the noodles were firmer in texture compared to udons we've had in other places.

Tori karaage (RM2/piece)

 Yasai kakiage tempura (RM1.80/piece)

The tori karaage was less oily than the ones we have at our usual udon place, and the kakiage had less flour coating as well--which means we could taste more of the veggie, with us deceiving ourselves that this was 'healthier' (though we know it likely isn't). 

After our meal, we washed it all down with a cup of cold green tea (RM1.50).

Tax: None.

How much we paid: RM20