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2009-05-18
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Disclaimer: Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian, Thai and even Chinese provinces of the Monsoon region might carry similar common-denominators in terms of certain food styles, but due to my upbringing and spending parts of my life growing up as a pre-teenager 'against my personal will' in coastal Malaysia, perhaps my expectation and experience with such food is inevitably biased towards the Malaysian experience. Ordered the following dishes:1. Bak Ku Teh (肉骨茶) - When this arrived I knew but could
Disclaimer: Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian, Thai and even Chinese provinces of the Monsoon region might carry similar common-denominators in terms of certain food styles, but due to my upbringing and spending parts of my life growing up as a pre-teenager 'against my personal will' in coastal Malaysia, perhaps my expectation and experience with such food is inevitably biased towards the Malaysian experience.
Ordered the following dishes:
1. Bak Ku Teh (肉骨茶) - When this arrived I knew but couldn't pinpoint a component that was missing compared to my past image, later on I finally recalled its missing the dried beancurds, which I think are essential in a dish like this to absorb the deep soup flavours. The taste of the 'Teh' was really great indeed, but it wasn't like that of true Malaysian style. Although this had a strongish medicinal taste which held a lot of complexity, it was slightly weak in pork taste but overwhelming in ginseng, longan and some spices influence.
The ones I'm used to drinking in Malaysia were also very medicinal, but probably more 當歸 and more powerful spices influence as well as having a deep deep molten pork flavour in the darkish soup, which somehow reminds me of Bovril beef stock (保衛爾?). It was a very deep profound taste. Having said that, SATAY INN's version was also very good. It came with dark soy sauce as well as Chinese Dough sticks, the latter was a bit unfresh IMHO. Nevertheless this was much better than a 'Teh' version I experienced a while back at a name forgotten Bak Ku Teh shop in 明園西街 in North Point, which has since disappeared from 2-3 years ago.
Score: 8.5/10
2. Tasting Platter with Beer - This set meal comes with a Tiger beef (replaced by Carlberg on this nite) and 4 small dishes for tasting. Chicken and Beef Satay, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Chai Tau Kueh (various spellings) and Gai Lan with salted fish.
Hainanese Chicken -
The chicken was slightly tasteless but it had a pleasant texture without being 霉霉 feeling. It really needed the sauces and dark soy sauce. Not bad but not impressive.
The rice was really lacking the garlic-chicken oil. Although I normally don't want a lot of it anyway as its too unhealthy, the version here was on the opposite spectrum and really needed more garlic and chicken oil taste to bring out its hidden flavour. Rice cooked slightly on the dry under-cooked side but I don't mind it personally.
7/10
Gai Lan with Salted Fish -
A seemingly coastal fishermen's dish ubiquitous with chinese in the world. This was done really well and the salted fish had a clean, pleasant umami filled flavour.
9.5/10
Chicken and Beef Satays -
These were very unsatisfactory. The beef texture was over-marinated to the point of being 霉yet still ultra dry and tough after cooking, not acceptable. Both chicken and beef had little apparent input from proper traditional seasoning, such as cumins, turmeric, grated ginger and lemon grass, etc, etc.
No meat taste, no sophisticated marination taste, bad textures, no charred taste either. Bad in every single aspect. Very bad renditions of 'satays' not just compared to Malaysian or Singaporean ones, but also to even ones served in say Australian Malaysian/Singaporean shops. There's no sweetened pineapples or onions either, only cucumbers, so its only half the real deal. No woven palm leaf wrapped rice puddings to go with the satays either.
Disaster = 3/10
Chai Tau Kueh/Kay (Fried Radish Cakes) - Slightly under fried as no crispiness on the edges of the white cakes, there's no radish taste, texture was slightly too floury, little sauce taste from Sambal or dried shrimps, etc. I do not purport to know how to cook this dish nor how to rate it accurately by pointing out all of its singular weaknesses, but I've certainly eaten it enough to know its not good here. I've recently had this same dish in another shop in 又一城 and both did really poor versions, whereas a shop in Melbourne I tried barely 6 months ago was really spot on.
5/10
3. Fried Rice with Eggs
This was slightly tepid but the flavour from the eggs was good. Its weird how this isn't entirely a Malaysian dish, with the slightly moist eggs and oily texture probably more of a Fujian or Taiwan dish unless its fried really dry, then it becomes more Cantonese. Used to eat this a lot with garlic in Malaysia for some reason, despite not being a national dish. Afterall, there's heaps of Chinese migrants on those shores.
7/10
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On the menu, I noticed certain items which reminded myself of a distant nostalgic past... longly forgotten memories which have abated or simply been locked away started coming back in abundance, flashes of episodes returning to re-haunt my soul. I've almost forgotten that I used to consume these stuff daily and even used to like them. Nowadays, whilst I don't detest such cuisine I find them slightly too rich, too bold or hot for my taste preference. Call me unexotic or boring - but that's what 童年陰影 is all about, isn't it?
About the service, it was quite friendly and comfortable, but not scot-free spotless. Some food description on the menu written in both chinese and english but without Malay/Singaporean names caught my attention, some beancurd something plus whatever, which didn't make a whole heap of inherent sense. I summoned the waitress for assistance as I was hoping to revisit the Pork Lobak dish in Hong Kong but she answered NO with a hesitant voice when questioned, despite seemingly not even knowing or hoping to know what I was trying to describe. A trend I've found in Hong Kong restaurants - whether it be waitstaff or chefs, who don't want to appear clueless infront of customers. The automatic response is often a 'Denial', which perhaps puts them in a better controlling position despite not answering my question. How pathetic... If I don't know the answer to certain things in life I'll obviously ask politely, or if I held the wrong knowledge will just admit it freely afterwards - what's the big deal? Ego? Who has an ego these days, its outdated... Its all about self-learning and correction and knowing how to ask the right questions rather than how to answer them. Anyhow, I didn't want to be a guinea pig on a 1st visit to here, so didn't order it and still haven't found out the true answer. Never mind - there's always a next time.
Food ranging from low '2's' to '3's' to 'mid-4' for the Bak Ku Teh. Overall, recommended but may be its just me, I didn't like the Satays here at all, when it should be the easiest dish to marinate and grilled well.
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