Posts Tagged ‘tai chow’
Hennessy Lor Mee & yummy Ais Kacang at Setapak!
March 8th, 2010 • 46 comments General, MAIN
Tags: chinese, hawker food, makan-makan, Setapak, tai chow
I first read about this intriguing creation in this article “Food Tale promotion by Knife Cooking Oil” which was published in The Star.
As usual, it took me months later to visit the shop, with the usual obstacles of distance, time & the lack of an adventurous eating partner.
So one weekend, I decided to hell with it, if no one is keen then I’m going alone. And I ended up having 4 people joining me right after I have declared so. Funny how things turned out sometimes huh?
ps: (And today is my 2nd visit! Food IS consistent!) *stamps approval*
Bloggers’ Yee Sang @The Magic Wok, Damansara Jaya
January 30th, 2010 • 25 comments General
Tags: Advertlets, chinese, damansara jaya, invited review, tai chow
Indeed the woks here wields some serious magic.
How else could one explain the delicious dishes that appeared from the kitchen that night?
One dish that got me hooked that night were the finger licking long ribs. It was absolutely addictive. The marinate thoroughly permeats the meat & the tender texture with the glorious soft fatty layers still got me salivating till today.
Restaurant Hing Kee – China Street, Penang
December 4th, 2009 • 22 comments General
Tags: penang, Penang food, Restaurant, tai chow
A firm favourite of mine, this unassuming (& thank god, still a non-commercialised & pretty well kept secret in Penang) restaurant is as ole school as one can get.
Located next to the Magnum 4D shop along China Street, just off Pitt Street/Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, one does have to be familiar in Penang to know of its existence.
(China Street is just opposite the famous Goddess of Mercy Temple (Kuan Yin Teng)).
The cooks & wait staff are the aunties, who’s been around for probably since the time the shop started. I don’t know about you, but it is always reassuring to see my meals prepared by the old & experienced.
Our typical lunch here would rarely, if ever, vary from the dishes below. Taste-wise, most of the dishes are ‘lighter’ on the palate, and I would forewarn those with a heavier tastebuds to visit at their own risk, since they might find it bland.
The Braised Fish with Bean Curd is a firm favourite of mine.
To be honest, it is more bean curd than fish but that is the standard here. Do let them know if you would like more fish fillets, and prices will be adjusted accordingly of course.
A close contender is this Pak Poh Chicken Drumstick. The gravy is the best, infused with all the herbs and good even if you were to drink it on its own.
I normally doused my rice liberally with it and pick at the meat since it is quite bland (not surprisingly, since its probably braised for hours). It is however, great eaten paired with chilli padi (birds eye chillies) .
I was accustomed to these cuts of siew yuk before I was introduced to KL’s prime cuts of crackly skin & soft gelatinous fatty – layered pork.
This was good enough for me then, and still is now. Look at the silver plate it is served in, there’s such a nostalgic feel to it no?
Even the boiled chinese herbs drinks here (barley, chrysanthemum, etc) is strong in taste & fresh.
Another customary order is this blanched kangkung topped with some sort of paste with salted fish and deep fried garlic .
It is oily yes, but acceptable once it coats each stalk of veg, for the topping is the one that lends the flavour to the dish.
Tummy space permitting, we would add an order of scrambled eggs with big onions, carrots & spring onions; again, another simple good old dish of yesteryears..
The old lamps, the ceiling mounted fan, chinese painting/pictures, the cane chairs, round tables & the mosaic flooring.. such charm don’t you think?
I can’t remember the exact amount but it was approximately RM50+- for all the above.
Very reasonable & I have always left feeling satisfied and happy.
Sometimes, simplicity is best.
Restaurant Hing Kee
Lebuh China
Business Hour: 10am-3pm & 6-10pm
Note: They do sell smooth tasty congee, but only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Grand Imperial Restaurant – BSC
November 15th, 2009 • 23 comments General
Tags: bangsar, chinese, fusion, tai chow
The Grand Imperial, had perhaps, hoped to be a strong contender for The Grand ‘ole Dame of Chinese cuisine, The Ming Room in the vicinity of Bangsar.
A quick Internet google did not yield much results except for the dim sum review by Joe & another by STL of happy Happy.
Since we wanted to go ala carte, it still left us pretty much undecided on either The Ming Room or Grand Imperial.
So 30mins before the agreed meeting time, I stood in front of Grand Imperial Restaurant, flicking through their menu and then repeated the same procedure for The Ming Room.
Finally I decided on Grand Imperial, for just based on the menu alone, seems to offer a wider selection of preparation for each category of seafood, meat & so forth. Anyhow, it’s good to check out a new place, I reasoned to myself.
Even at 645pm, the place was fast filling up with patrons, mostly families and even businessmen, all talking loudly & enjoying their drinks.
While having wines and champagne with Chinese cuisine was almost unheard of back in my younger years (it was then beers/shandy, tea or sarsi/orange cordial), it seems that every restaurant worth their salt now are going all out with the wine pairing trend.
And it is no exception here at the Grand Imperial, which I must say, offers quite grand of a selection of alcohol.
A non alcoholic person, I settled for some good old Chinese dessert instead, and the words “Avocado” jumped out at me from the menu.
Sadly, my Chilled Avocado Cream with Sago, RM7, was sickeningly saccharine- sweet, with nary of the luxurious creaminess expected of avocados. And this was supposedly their signature dessert.
My companion didn’t have much luck with his Chilled Lemongrass Jelly w Sea Coconut, Rm6 either. See below. Doesn’t it look outright pathetic?
Since our fourth guest is late, and happens to be a Malay, I quickly fired orders for a plate of siew yuk.
The crackly top hats and alternating layers of tender pork & fat restored some of the good vibes around the table. Maybe desserts isn’t their forte, we thought.
Anyhow, we added an order of BBQ Sliced Pork it with Honey Sauce RM16 just to be sure.
Rainy nights and stressful days got us hankering for stewed, double boiled, body nourishing soups hence we ordered 2.
Both were recommended orders of the Restaurant Supervisor & was a complete joke.
Double Boiled Seafood Soup, RM22 & Mushroom Soup, RM14.
When we couldn’t spy any seafood nor mushrooms in both bowls, we called her over to confirm if it was the right order.
She proceed to dig the spoon into both bowls and shoveled up some of the contents. After repeating that for several times, (while we watched her digging away at our soups) she merely said “Oh, the chicken one is the seafood soup, and the pork one is the mushroom”.
My boss then tactfully reminded me that this is a business meeting & I should try not to create a scene. Hurmph.
This cost us RM42.00.
It was just another crap, uh…I meant craB dish.
Fisherman Fried Rice with Salted Egg Yolk. RM16.
The culprit?
SALTED FISH. Which ingenious chef fries rice with salted fish AND salted eggs?!!
I think it was written somewhere in the menu as Australian beef. That’s probably why.
Texture and taste-wise? It could have been Malaysian cows for all we know.
So I do look forward to any good reviews anyone may have to share! ;p
Grand Imperial Restaurant,
Lot T5,3rd Flr,BSC East Wing.
No.285,Jalan Maarof,
Bukit Bandaraya,
Bangsar,59000, KL.
03-22831118
The Ming Room, BSC
November 12th, 2009 • 24 comments General
Tags: bangsar, chinese, tai chow
The fact that tonight there is another session at the Ming Room kinda reminded/prompted me to post this up.
I do have memories of really scrumptious food that night else I wouldn’t have bothered. Partly also it would be a shame if these pictures remained tucked away in some cluster of my HDD, collecting bits & bytes of dust & subsequently forgotten (just like those other 101 pic folders on my drive).
We were here for a birthday celebration & this is MY favourite part of the meal.
I mean who really cares what we had for dinner when there is CAKE right?
Oh?
No?
You mean the dinner is important?? Sheesssh.
But I digress. Where was I?
And so yeah, the cake cutting part.
Which means this is when I get to EAT the cake. FINALLY.
Ahh…the expression on one’s face when presented with a cake by the famed FatBoyBakes.
Rich, ALCOHOLIC Blackforest Cake that wraps up the dinner nicely.
But of course, before all that jazz, we did had dinner. And The Ming Room offers both ala-carte items as well as 8-10 different set dinners. Ours was this.
For RM88+ per pax, it is worth your moolah for this alone.
The Double Boiled Shark Fin Soup with Shark’s Bone.
So robustly flavourful yet delicate in taste. Murky white broth, chunks of abalone & combs and combs of shark fin. Dear God, I have sinned.
Such a glorious soup, and there’s no need for quick slurping since it was kept nicely warm by the contraptions you see here, whatever it may be called. Soup warmer?
I mean, don’t you hate it when you drink a good bowl of soup, and was just beginning to savour the taste, with the soup tummy warming properties starting to take effect & you find each subsequent spoonful colder than the previous, hence you panic & start to gulp down the remainder? Urgh.
Baked Cod Fish with Orange Cubes.
A delightful starter. Tangy orange juice doused onto streaks of tart pomelo, coupled with milky moist cod. Now, IF only they serve us a BIGGER piece.
With such marvelous starters, I begun to look forward to the night’s dinner.
And then the next course left me cold.
Pan Fried Iberico Pork Chop in Chef’s Special Sauce.
Hummprhh.. And to think that Chinese are supposedly the best when it comes to their pork.
Tender yes, texture – wise but salty & there wasn’t anything special with that sauce. If anything, it was too strong & probably overpowered the meat natural flavour. A pity really, for I have heard much raves of Iberico pork.
And the next dish elicited a yawn. Of which I did politely cover my mouth of course.
Sauteed Black Fungus with Kai Lan.
Baked Rice with Abalone & Seafood.
Ah..finally an interesting looking creation. Which brings one to wonder about the shell. Do they wash, dry & refill it for the next round? I mean, I’m all for Reduce, Reuse & Recycle…BUT BUT…
Well, I digress.
The rice was wonderfully flavourful with bountiful chunks of seafood, chicken cubes, long beans & mushrooms thrown in.
Then it is dessert time.
Chilled Sago Cream with Mango.
Forgettable. Hence no descriptions. Cos I forgot how it tasted.
Some hits and misses obviously. But The Ming Room carries decades of solid reputation & is renowned for its dim sum as well as its exquisite Chinese fare so I’m not one to dismiss it after ONE meal. Plus, I have yet to staple their famous dim sum.
So, should it be Grand Imperial or The Ming Room again tonight?
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