A tale of three kitchens: Tasty Little Kitchen at Sri Petaling, Mei Wei Little Kitchen in PJ's Section 17 & Private Kitchen at Damansara Uptown.
First up, Tasty Little Kitchen, where 'lap mei fan' fantasies become claypot-crusted reality.
Reasonably aromatic, reasonably priced (RM55+ per pot). A little more liver sausage might make this even better, but we still relished every spoonful.
Pork belly braised with brown squid. Deliciously caramelized, devilishly fatty-oily.
Salted egg silver fish. Well, even mediocre renditions of this recipe are enjoyable.
Three-cup chicken (boneless, hurray!), with a strong, sizzling sugary-salty zing.
Eight-treasure veggies sound sumptuous on paper. On the plate? Meh.
Cost of meal: North of RM160. Slightly steep, but not startlingly so.
Next, Mei Wei Little Kitchen, a fairly friendly spot in the heart of Section 17.
Kicking off with sweet-savory Guinness pork ribs. Might make a nifty beer snack.
Claypot chicken with black beans. Tasty, in significantly sodium-packed fashion.
Golden-battered oatmeal mantis shrimp. Not bad; could be crowd-pleasing.
Cabbage-wrapped carrots, corn, mushrooms & ginkgo nuts. Fun.
Choi poh omelet. Forgettable.
Chilled bean curd, layered with minced pork. Cute.
Fried rice comes in many forms at Mei Wei, including with three types of egg ...
... & with XO sauce, shrimp & squid. Could be more flavorful, but that's OK. Meal cost: RM180.
The final stop in our suburban kitchen crawl: Private Kitchen.
Festive feasting: Salmon yee sang. Nitpicking: Radish seems too thickly sliced, with a cracker-to-veggie ratio that's uncomfortably high.
Ginger sand chicken, succulent enough to have us nearly gnawing on the bones.
More 'lap mei fan,' this time fried. Can't complain; a serving for two costs below RM20.
Salt-&-pepper tofu, with a thin, crisp exterior shielding its soft insides.
Seafood-stuffed omelet, nicely presented, but perhaps less memorable-tasting than it could be.
Chives with pork belly & shrimp. Love this one; brilliant balance of taste & textures.
Typhoon shelter noodles, a spicy-garlicky serving with a juicy pork chop.
Osmanthus-wolfberry jelly, a chilled treat to wrap up a RM200 dinner.
Tasty Little Kitchen @ Jalan Radin Bagus, Sri Petaling.
Mei Wei Little Kitchen @ 619, Jalan 17/10, Section 17, Petaling Jaya.
Private Kitchen @ 103, Jalan SS21/37, Damansara Utama.
Would like to have all those delicious dishes on my lunar birthdAy wor....
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to u too! :)
“追食富迪”: heheh, yeah, lap mei fan would be my desired dish for lunar birthday! hope you have a happy celebration too! :D
DeleteOoh, I haven't had good claypot for yonks.
ReplyDeleteThe Yum List: satisfyingly hot and hearty fare! :D
DeleteHow can you not put on weight after all these?! I love lap mei fan but still prefer my mom's version which i think is the bestest!
ReplyDeleteAugustDiners: ooh, i'm piling on the pounds, unfortunately! but luckily there'll be no more festivities until, ermm, hari raya in august, heh :D wahhh ... okie, if you ever decide to open a chinese restaurant, make sure your mom's lap mei fan is on the menu, ya :D
DeleteShore looks tasty.. but shore is expensive (first one)!
ReplyDeleteCiki: heheh, ya, hits and misses at all three outlets, though generally enjoyable. i guess the first one cost more partly because of the lap mei fan, which was in a huge pot, heh :D
DeleteChilled beancurd layered with minced pork? Looks cute and heck I am ordering it for cuteness sake:D
ReplyDeleteMissyblurkit: yeah, it's definitely more eye-catching and texturally interesting compared to the regular bean curd topped with minced pork :D
Deletenice lu~
ReplyDeleteMr Lonely: good chinese food! =)
DeleteI want one or two more rounds of yee shang and lap mei fan before CNY is over, hehe
ReplyDeleteCK: heheh, i think no more yee sang and no more lap mei fan for me this year (although i would love to have some more lap mei fan, actually) :D
DeleteYah food seems pretty expensive here, did u eat here during the CNY period hence ++++++++ price :P
ReplyDeleteBaby Sumo: ooh, the price is increased at private kitchen, which appears to be charging a 10 percent extra fee on its menu :D
DeleteYummmm!!! Claypot rice. Haven't had that for ages. There was a stall here - very nice but for some reason or other, it has closed down. Tsk! Tsk! Hmmm...omelet - you'll see my version of that in a post, coming soon.
ReplyDeleteSuituapui: ooh, claypot rice is comfort food. i hope you have another stall in town that serves good claypot rice ... and looking forward to your omelet! i'm betting it'll be better than mine, heheh :D
DeleteI am like you, prefer the liver sausage. It glorifies the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteWilson
PlacesandFoods.com
Wilson: ya, i could happily eat liver sausage the whole year if possible! :D
DeleteSo many kitchens...but I still prefer my 'dai chows'...almost d same food at more reasonable prices =)
ReplyDeleteUlric: heheh, yeah, not one, not two, but three kitchens :D i should do a dai chow crawl maybe sometime this year! =)
DeleteI second n join d dai chow crawl! =)
DeleteUlric: yay! i will bring the wine to pair with the savory meats :D
DeletePrivate Kitchen has received much hypes lately!!
ReplyDeleteShall try it soon :D
Charmaine: hope it lives up to expectations for you. quite a few unique and interesting dishes here! :D
DeleteI'm not really a lap mei fan person but I did make a pot the other day just because it's CNY, just to try out the liver sausage. A little goes a long way for me.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Private Kitchen (partly own by Dennis Lau) is a winner? Hehe. Though I do like the look of those Guinness Pork Ribs!
Kelly: ooo, if we were to share a pot of lap mei fan, i'd happily gobble the lion's share of the liver sausage. in contrast, i can't get enough of it, ever! heheh :D ya, private kitchen has quite a number of pretty good dishes (love the chicken!). and ya, the guinness pork ribs is definitely worth ordering if you're ever at mei wei little kitchen =)
DeleteLap mei fan and guiness pork rib, these two along worth the journey !!!!
ReplyDeleteWong: oh yeah, those two dishes were among my favorites for these three restaurants! :D
DeleteHurrah to see people do innovative flourishes on the usual fare - salt n pepper tofu looks yum, and love the dessert style beancurd with pork layers!
ReplyDeleteYouHadYourLunch: yeah, there seems to be a near-infinite amount of tinkering that creative kitchens can do with chinese cuisine, if they make the effort! and using your examples, we can whip up lots of interesting recipes using tofu/beancurd! :D
Deleteyour prices are for how many people ah?
ReplyDeleteFatboybakes: i think cukup makan for at least five people :D
Deleteoooh i love the chives and pork belly at Private Kitchen.. By the way.. I missed lap mei fan now...
ReplyDeleteEiling: ya, i wish lap mei fan could be available all year round! :D
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