On a fine lazy Sunday 8th September 2013, we were invited to a boutique cafe called South Pacific Café and Boutique located 23-1, Jalan Perdana 4, Taman Segar Perdana, Selangor, Cheras. This is really a new concept where you can shop for your favourite dress – only ladies apparel while you enjoy some simple home cook meal.
This café caters for special private events like kid’s birthday, seminars, get together and etc. They will cater to your unique theme events.
They even had a kid’s corner where you can bring along your children and they can be occupied with the activities around here thus giving the mother more time to eat, shop or just chilling with their friends.
For starters, we had the creamy mushroom soup; the soup was laden with lots of button mushroom in it. The accompaniment of the toasted garlic bread makes a perfect dip that goes well with the soup.
Next, we had the chicken salad. The chicken cubes were marinated well overnight before being cook and it permeates quite well into the chicken. It is tossed into the combination of fresh green vegetables and hard boiled eggs with thousand island dressing.
Simple Dish Curry Chicken and Green Curry
At South Pacific, the main dishes are usually of a one dish set that you can order. It is no frill and hassle free and dish.
One of the dishes we had was the Chicken Curry Rice. It was served with stir fried vegetables of French beans, cucumber and carrot. Here, they served the orange kunyit rice. Frankly speaking, I would have preferred it to be served with White rice instead. The curry was quite rich and according to the owner Ms May, they do not use any santan for the curry. The chef uses fresh milk to cook this curry, which effectively took out the very lemak feeling of the curries which is not bad.
Next we tried the Green Curry Chicken, which is less spicy and milder version compare with the chicken curry. The taste of the green curry was not too overwhelming and tastes like the Thai green curry. This green curry was cook using a recipe which was passed to them by a Thai lady.
Steamboat is always a nice way to share meals with friends especially with the recent wet weather that we are experiencing. On a cold evening, having a spicy steamboat will vet all your senses.
Here, we had the opportunity to taste a Spicy steamboat version at San Hui Wen (China Chong Qing Steamboat Restaurant located at 30, Jalan SS2/66, 47300 Petaling Jaya.
The most important element of a good and wholesome steamboat had to be the soup base. As you would find around town, the norms soup bases are Chicken soup, Herbal soup, Tom yam, Clear soup and even Porridge (be it pumpkin or clear porridge). Here, at San Hui Wen, they have 2 version of the soup base which is the Herbal and Spicy Herbal base.
The lady boss which, incidentally was from China says she could not find a steamboat restaurant that serves authentic Chong Qing style steamboat and henceforth decided to start her own steamboat restaurant. In Chong Qing China, due to the cold weather, steamboat is one of the most frequently eaten dishes and the real spicy soup base is the top choice as this will keep them warm too. There you can literally find many restaurants serving Spicy Steamboat.
Let’s review the first soup which is the herbal soup base. Most other places their herbal soup base, are rather bland (I am sure you will agree on this). You won’t really want to start drinking the soup before you start putting stuff in ingredient. Here the soup is boiled using the best selection of herbs and you can smell the strong aroma, the minute you enter the restaurant. The strong smell lingers around the whole place. You can see that there are abundant of wolfberries floating on the soup base.
The spicy version meanwhile were added with the spicy chilli oil and once you taste it, the spiciness is very tingling and pungent in that you can easily, get choked up. You have an option to order whether you want it normal, mild hot or super hot. You also have the option to order whether less oil or more oil on the soup base. Personally, I reckon, the best is still the normal one.
Pork, Chicken, Lamb Meat Slices
When I had my first China steamboat in Tian Jin, he had this thinly slices of Mongolian lamb. The nice things about this thinly slice meat, is it that it can be cooked very quickly, usually around 15 seconds or less depends on the boiling temperature of the soup. You are supposed to just dip the meat with your chopstick into the steamboat soup, not really dumping into the pot and let it boils inside the soup. This way the meat will not be too hard and very chewy.
Most of the time, these slices are cut from areas of the poultry where they are some layers of fats like the belly parts which is one of the best part for steamboat. Depending on your personal preferences whether you like it hard, chewy or medium done, you are able to control how much of dips you want into the soup.
Here in San Hui Wei, we were served 3 types of finely and thinly slices of meat i.e. Pork Slices, Chicken Slices and Lamb Slices.
I find the meat slices here, goes very well with the strong signature herbal soup, the strong taste of the herbs were immerse deep into the slices as we lightly dip into the soup and with the highly recommended dipping which, was concocted by Maggie (the lady boss), it was a perfect blend to this perfectly slice pieces.
Home Made Parsley Pork Balls / Pork Slice
Home made dishes are usually looked up upon. The mere mention of home made will raise your bar and expectation.
We were told that the Parsley Pork Meat Ball was made by the Chinese chef. Of course, he uses a special recipe to marinate the chopped meat. Frankly speaking, I have never eaten a pork meatball that comes with Parsley. Most of the time, the pork meatball that I have eaten will use either a preserved vegetable like “Tong Choy” or cuttle fish but Parsley is another ball game.
To me, it was just okay and didn’t spring any surprise to my palate. Better to eat it with the herbal soup and make sure you don’t overcook it as it will be dry and hard.
The marinated pork slice was much better. I usually preferred fresh meat compared with processed foods. They are 2 main advantages, one you can control on how much to cook it whether medium or well done. Secondly, the flavour can be jive in with the soup and when you are done, the soup will become a strong broth when you finish all your food.
Spicy Chicken – Sze Chuan Style – Real Hot Stuff
This is a courtesy special dish from San Hui Wei. This is not in the menu. You can order ala carte for this dish.
This simple looking chicken dish is very spicy. Laden with dry chillies, fresh chilli padi and chilli oil, this dish is super spicy, even for me, where I am used to very spicy food.
The unique part to this dish is when you take your first bite. Surprise as it seems, it does not taste that spicy. As the chicken goes into your tummy, you start to realise the degree of spiciness that is expunge out i.e the more you eat the spicier it becomes. My friend Mr. Kong was perspiring profusely with every piece of chicken eaten.
But one thing funny about this dish, it is quite addictive (if you can stand the spiciness) the more you eat, the more you want to take another piece. This dish would have been a perfect match for any the alcoholic drink especially a cold beer. Indeed this dish is that it bears the resemblance to the Chinese saying of San Hui Wei which literally lingering taste and that is how the name of the restaurant was taken from.
There aren't many full fledged Chinese Restaurant in Shah Alam more so in Kota Kemuning. Most of this Chinese Restaurant are like the 'Tai Chow' type. We had an invitation to have a Chinese dinner course review at Mayflower Restaurant located at No 2G, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla S 31/S, Kota Kemuning, Seksyen 31, Shah Alam (South).
In many Chinese restaurant they either serves a four or five combination dishes as the Hors d'oeuvre of many Chinese wedding banquet. At Mayflower Restaurant, they serve a unique 3 combination dish instead.
A simple and plain looking 3 dishes based on Zhejiang-style cooking was served on the table, mostly consisting of vegetables as the core ingredient. As simple as it looks, the first bite changes our perception.
The first dish that I tried was the Bamboo Shoots and Asparagus Stir-Fried With Spicy XO Sauce and Dry Shrimp. It has a tad bit of spiciness and the use of dried shrimp enhances the flavour of the dish and a perfect partner with the crunchy asparagus. The manager told us that, diners have options of ordering this dish ala-carte with prawns or cuttlefish as well.
Next is the Braised Mustard Stem With Crab Meat Broth. Taste wise, the combination of this is quite similar to the Braised Tau Foo with Crab meat but here the chef have added the mustard stem as the main ingredient as compared to some which uses the bean curd, which was crisp and not over cooked. Mustard have a tendency to emit a strong taste if not properly blanch but not in this case.
The last dish, is the Chinese White Cabbage which is stewed until it has a very soft and smooth texture. The broth was superb and you can taste the sweetness of the white cabbage coupled with the scallops it was just a wonderful combination of ingredients that brings out the best of the white cabbages.
Poached Chicken has always been one of my favourite dishes. We are used to the Ipoh Poached Chicken with “Nga Choy” version or the one that is the Hainanese Style where you will find in many shops selling chicken rice. Here we had the opportunity to try out a Shanghainese version.
The chef have painstakingly removed all the chicken bones, making it easy to eat or slurp in the juicy, succulent and springy farm chicken. There are many version of the Shanghainese style. One of it, is the Shanghainese Drunken Chicken – of course this is prepared using poached chicken with Xiao Hing wine and is usually served as a Cold Dish and coated with a gelatinous layers (the effect from keeping it in the fridge).
The other version is what they called the Shanghai Crystal Chicken which is quite similarly prepared as the drunken chicken but using only the chicken leg and thigh instead of whole chicken. The broth of the chicken is combine with Xiao Hing Chinese wine and forms a gelatinous layers that is transparent and looks like crystal wrapping around the boneless chicken meat. Just like the Drunken Chicken this is also served as a Cold Dish. During the early seventies Chinese restaurant used to serve this as one of the combination dish of Hors d'oeuvre.
Eating this as a Cold Dish can be a challenge as not many people know how to appreciate this and also you have to consume it very quickly else the cold effect and taste will be different. Moreover the gelatinous layer will start to melt and becomes soggy.
At Mayflower, they have twisted it slightly to instead of serving it as a cold dish, the chef had prepared a hot broth as a light sauce to be spread over the chicken. As with the other 2 earlier mention method, the taste is quite similar but without the gelatinous layers. The sauce has a tinge of Chinese herbs from the wolfberries and not too overwhelming wine taste, a perfect end with a bowl of white rice for me.
Ratings 4 of 5
They are many versions of Pork Knuckles that I have tried over the years. The German Pork Knuckles is the most popular one which is mostly a little bit salty as it is best complimented with beers. I had also tried a Chinese fried version but that was coated with a buttery curry sauce which was unique in a way.
The Chinese Pork Knuckle here is a little different, more so from the cooking method used to cook this special dish. upon arrival at the table it didn’t look any different from any type of Pork Knuckles except for the exceptional big knuckle that is used here. Most of the time the Pork Knuckles serves are of a much smaller portion usually meant for sharing for 2 to 3 person.
According to the Mayflower manager description this dish is very time consuming to prepare. First and foremost, the Pork Knuckle had to be marinated in a special recipe overnight. The following day, the chef will stew it for another 2 hours to soften the meat and enable the stew to deeply penetrate into the meat. Then, the chefs using a nail hammer (a device which has a lot of nails on one side to poke miniature hole on the Pork Knuckle skin. This will enable the fats to be release when the Pork Knuckle is set to fry. This similar process is done with the “Siew Yok” – roast pork. Of course the nailing process for Siew Yok is more intensive. Since, the meat have already been cooked, the nailing process becomes delicate as if too much pressure on the soft skin will break the fragile cooked Pork Knuckle into pieces. The effect of this nailing will make the skin thinner as all the fats will be release out during the frying process.
Upon completion of the nailing process, the Pork Knuckle will then be deep-fried to a glorious golden brown accordingly. This dish is best eaten as soon as it is serves. In this way, you get to enjoy the crisp skin and the well marinated meat. This dish comes accompanied with a peanut based sauce, but I prefer the original finger licking taste of the Pork Knuckle as being prepared by the Chef, I really love this dish and so much so that I got to finish all the knuckles pieces too.
Rating 5 of 5
Chefs these days are very creative lot, not only are they able to cook sumptuous dishes that suit our palate but they are also able to decorate the dishes as a piece of art. Sometimes you feel reluctant to eat such a piece of masterpiece. I had a first hand experience that I would like to share here.
Look at the picture above and you can see how painstaking the chef have to spent time creating this dish i.e. the décor part. It is not only nice to eat but a feast for the eyes too. Let me explain the steps used to produce this magnificent art dish piece. On the top part is the tree branch with leaves and 2 dragon fly hovering around a lake which you can see there are some fishes, a tortoise, a flower, and some water plants. Let me explain from the top which is the tree. The ingredients used to prepare the branch are shiitake mushroom. The chef had trimmed the side of the mushrooms and makes it to look like a branch. The ingredients used to prepare the leaves are cucumber which is cut into half and combine to use only the outer portion to resemble a leave. The dragon fly is made of red chilli padi, while the flower petals are made of corn and the fish from radish. To finish it off, the water which is transparent is made up of agar-agar and set into the décor.
Normally the décor for this dish is for the main table (for the host table) during a wedding banquet and is not served as what the projected picture that you see when you order ala-carte.
Coming back to the dish - Buttery Prawns With Corn Kernels , it is also a first time for me to eat a combination of corns and prawns. I don’t believe they will jive together as both are way off the scope. Surprisingly as it may sound, once I eat the corn, I could taste the sweetness of the corn complimenting the strong buttery sauce with the infused prawn flavours.
The main ingredient to cook the sauce is a combination of butter, evaporated milk and you never guess it cheese as well – to give a unique buttery flavours that only cheese can produce). The use of really fresh and succulent prawns was a perfect fit and partner to this elegant dish.
Rating 5 of 5
Taiwanese Steamed Hamburger – I have eaten a similar version of this “Bao” before i.e. much similar to the “Tai Bao” but the filling wants a Braised Pork Belly. The impression for this dish was a little different and the way we are going to eat it.
Normally in Taiwan, these hamburgers are sold as a side walk food at fast food outlet, where one can just order and have it prepared instantaneously and eaten right away. You can eat it like a burger henceforth called the Taiwanese Hamburger. At, Mayflower they called this dish Hakka Braised Pork Belly.
First and foremost, the Pork Belly were braised using a combination of ingredients. It tasted very much like the famous Hang Zhou “Tung Po” meat. When served on the table, it comes with a basket of freshly steamed bun – the dough is quite similar to the “man tou”. I was told that these bun are made fresh each day to ensure the quality of the bun. In Taiwan, the chef will need to cut the bun, but here the bun had been made much like a folded kebab piece.
We started to apply a sauce which is Hoi Sin Sauce on the inside of the bun. Next we put on top of it, a piece of salad vegetable in this case “Mak Choy” and then followed by a piece of soft and tender Pork Belly and some gravy, after which we sprinkle it with some grounded combination of crushed wheat and oat (Taiwan version – they use grounded peanuts). It was indeed a nice combination and the taste was very delicious with every bite eaten. As the meat was braised until it was very soft and tender and you can literary bite thru it.
The sheer mention about Italian Food, the first thing that comes to mind, is Pizza and Pasta. I have the opportunity to try out this no frill little cafe located at 25 Jalan Juruaudit U1/37, 40150 Glenmarie, Shah Alam called Gusto Giusto which simply means the Right Taste in Italian.
This restaurant is owned by an Italian from Sicily and he was very passionate to share with us the Italian family dining experience and henceforth his setup of this restaurant and its menu.
The décor is a simple and family like. The first dish was the appetizer.
Antipasto – Italian appetizer. The cheese that was used here was of a subtle taste and I really enjoyed this Italian appetizer. We were served 2 variants of this antipasto.
The olives was also very crunchy and did not have that funny taste like keeping too long. I found out later that the olives that the chef used is soaked with water compared to some which is soaked in oil.
The first antipasto was quite like a salad tossed with corn, olive, peas, basil and a few slices of buffalo cheese. It is very refreshing
The second one, consists of fried tomatoes, olive and multiple pieces of buffalo cheese. If you are that love cheese then this antipasto will make your day. The cheese does not have the pungent smell and taste.
Rating 3 of 5
Nasi Sicily – Arancina
Nasi Sicily – Arancina literally means - Orange Riceball– unique, fried rice ball coated with breadcrumbs. It takes awhile to getting the use to the flavour of this Arancina.
It was a little crunchy and hard at first, but once you start to bite it, it has that hard crunch (due to the frying) that made it a little different. The filling in the rice ball are mozzarella cheese with tomato sauce and some beef.
This dish is not for everyone. It takes a while to find the taste and you either love it or hate it.
Rating 2 of 5
At Gusto Giusto the pizza based is of home made thin crust. I like the cheese that was used in this restaurant as it does not have a strong and pungent cheesy taste. The cheese used are from Australia.
Margherita – tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil
The most important criteria of a perfert baked pizza have got to be the right timing, as this will decide the fate of the browning of the cheese. Too much it will burn the cheese. the right timing and heat level used will determine the partially burned cheese has a particular distinct flavor of its own.
Siciliana – tomato sauce, mozzarella, olives, anchovies
Everything, from the quality ingredients to the super-swift firing in the oven, giving you an experience as close as possible to that you’d enjoy at a Trattoria table in Sicily.
Gusto Giusto Special – tomato, mushroom, anchovies, capsicium, beef
The secret is consistency; the base will be beautifully chewy and the topping charred to loveliness, whether you keep it simple with a Margherita (tomato sauce with mozzarella) or dress things up with, say olives, anchovies (Siciliana) or mushroom, capsicum and beef (Gusto Giusto Special).
Rating 3 of 5
A great pasta in this case – Spaghetti – must be perfectly cooked. The use of the right quality pasta is important, cooked to the right texture, the sauce must not be too overwhelming and not too creamy. All play a critical part to ensure you have a pleasureable experience to enjoy the best pasta possible.
The spaghetti Bolognese was served which a strong tomato base. I preferred the beef version of it as the beef brings out the best combination of taste to match the tomatoes base.
Next is the Spaghetti Frutti Di Mar – which means Fruit from the sea – In Italy they do not call it seafood but fruit from the sea. The ingredient used was very fresh. You could taste the crisp prawn and the springy squid mix blended with rich cheesy sauce makes it extremely tantalizing.
The final dish was Spaghetti Tarufona (truffle sauce). This dish looks very simple. There is no meat and you could only see some chopped garlic in the dish. Before the waiter laid down this dish, we could smell the fragrant aroma of the truffle sauce. I have never eaten spaghetti with this sauce.
Truffle oil used to cook this dish.
The first bite of the spaghetti, I was totally mesmerised by the flavour and the smell of it. I was indeed extremely surprised on how a simple dish with so minimum ingredient can taste so wonderful. You definitely want to go for a second helping or a third helping on this dish. If any dish this is the one that made my day.
Rating 4 of 5
It is a great challenge to cook this dish. How the chicken breast is prepared and the cheesy filling can make or break this dish.
I find that the chef, have over fried the chicken rolls and due to this, the chicken meat was quite tough. The portion of cheese was also too little. Normally, when you cut into the chicken rolls, the cheese will flow out. I find the cheese lacking and basically this looks like a chicken cutlet instead of Chicken Cordon Bleu.
Although some efforts were used to present the potatoes in a rounded form, to me it is a little too hard. It would have been great, if the potatoes are serves as smashed potatoes with some brown sauce, it will be a great combination. Overall this dish is just a little too dry. The saving grace was the salad that came along the dish.
Rating 2 of 5
Mention about
real strong coffee, espresso comes to mind. Here, to finish off our meal we
tried the espresso. Apparently, the Italian takes around 4 to 5 shots of espresso
per day.
I would say the
espresso served here is very strong and you could feel the real coffee
bitterness flowing down your throat to your stomach. Not many people can
appreciate this bitterness. In fact, after 2 shot, I felt very refreshed due to
the sudden burst of caffeine intake.
It was a truly unique experience having our meal here.
The must try food
is the Spaghetti Tartufona – a unique gastronomic experience for me today.
