Champ's Bistro @ Centrepoint, Bandar Utama

Back in the days, the days of our parents (whether you are now only twenty or fourty for that matter), in the days of the wars or after the wars, the days of poverty perhaps.

Those days when a whole table of meat was rare and the luxurious staple diet only consists of rice.

And something else of course.

The common company for rice was zhu yao char ("fried pork lard").

The immense flavours coming from the cube of lard that has been deep fried to a crisp bite, was probably what your parents or their parents ate with rice those days.

I must thank the lucky stars that i didn't have to endure such hard days. Although sometime i do wonder what is is like to eat zhu yao char and plain rice.

Coming into Champs though, the liberal use of zhu yao char i suppose was not because the owner or you as the customer were broke and poor from any war.

It is the deep simple flavours of the miracle "pill", that we are here. (Plus the pork noodle, prawn mee and hokkien mee)

Presented with a bowl of complimentary DAMN SHIOK zhu yao char. Deep fried pork lard tossed in a dark soya sauce with a hint of fish sauce (maybe), generous amount of lime juice, raw onions and chilli padi (bird's eye chilli). One of us commented pork lard was foul and sickening, but ended up picking at the dish till the very end. It is THAT sinful and good. Or like the hokkien people say "Si Beh Shiok".

It is not on the menu, but if you are lucky enough like us to bump into the owner/chef Richard, try asking. Ask him about this, maybe he will personally go make a bowl for you. Speaking hokkien is a plus point or if you look damn pretty.

Obviously the word "Shiok" is very liberally used here.

The Prawn Mee may look like any other prawn mee one can get outside. The soup looks the colour, the prawns maybe larger than some. One would wonder why people would pay close to RM 20 for the bowl right? Thats because what you get is a chokeful of ingredients; prawns, pork ribs and etc etc along with a soup that has been boiled for hours with love and tender care (i hope).

The soup base is tremendously good and even if the noodles are not plenty, this will be like the default place for prawn mee despite the extravagant price.

The Chow Siew Yuk was equally as good. The sweet dark soya sauce that was stir fried in, was addictive along with the chilli padi. Good snack with beer, pity somehow we were not in the mood for boozing that Sunday night. A good cut of roast pork too, i must admit.

The Fire Something Pork Balls looked normal but packed a punch with the chilli padi inside. Another good appetiser that will suit beer very well.

The Hokkien Mee (or if i am not mistaken, the black worm). Laden with pork lard (not a new idea), pork liver slices, prawns and etc etc, the only complaint was the amount of noodles. A little bit on the stingy side. This though in a larger portion, would have sent me to heaven (literally).

Continuing with more pork but from the grill, the 1/2 slab of pork ribs. Although Richard mentioned it was just grilled (without any prior cooking preparation), it was succulent and came with a bite, not chewy and hard to digest. The sweet marinade with the sesame seeds was really the key to the mouth watering ribs. The huge chunk of corn and broccoli summed up the balanced meal.

A much later addition, the fettucine carbonara with loads of bacon sprinkled on the top. Done to suit the asian tastebuds, this was lighter on the egg yolk/cream, heavier on garlic and onion. The bacon though was delightful, how we wished for a bowl of bacon ONLY.

The western food generally costs around RM 20 plus to RM 40 plus, depending on the protein.

Address and contact details:

Lot F10, 1st Floor, Centrepoint,
Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
03-7722 5800
Open from 10:00am to 12:00am daily

Verdict: Solid 4 stars out of 5 stars. The pork lard has literally propelled this place to one of my favourite places to suggest to people. Another favourite that i have tried, the pork noodle is also heavily recommended. Forget the shopping centre upmarket hawker food, if you are willing to pay that kind of prices, come here instead.