Memphis Bistro

Last Saturday, in the company of good friends, we checked out this place in Puncak Dana, somewhere near Ara Damansara. It was like a leap of faith, following the directions given by KTT, because the area is fairly new, and there were like NO other shops operating at that hour. So imagine, going to a deserted "Bangsar" and to be told that at the end of the 2nd left turn, there is a fully functioning restaurant. It reminded me of Indiana Jones' last obstacle in the holy grail show, where he had to take a leap of faith into the abyss whereby a magic bridge just opened up once he took his foot off the rock.

So anyway, apparently this place has been featured in the papers recently, and wasn't as deserted as the general neighbourhood. Old Vinyl covers embellish the place, that made friend, (King of England) remark that the place was like a time warp. I said, duhh, that's the idea ma. Memphis, hallo.

The chit chat began, as the bottles of wine started accumulating, each guest arriving bringing one or two bottles. Our table probably had more bottles of wine than the entire stock of the restaurant.

I'm more a whisky person myself these days.

Pet groomer remarked that she enjoyed reading this blog, and she never knew I could write. WHAT THE FATOOSH!!!! Hallo, how can she not know? I thought my sms-es to her would have clued her in as to how eloquent I am. "weiiii, see tou poh (boss lady), why so long never see one? watchyew up to dis days ah?" or, "i where got horny one, u ah, simply say only leh"....Goes to show, you can know a person for years, and not really know them. With the advent of computers recently, how many of us can actually identify our friend's handwriting? Gone are the days where we used to gape at beautifully handwritten letters, and our tongues get paper cuts from licking stamps and envelopes.

Somehow, escargots (ass car gots) always remind me of the show Pretty Woman, and while I bear no resemblance to Julia Roberts in any way, I have always wanted to recreate that scene where a snail flies off my hands onto someone else's plate. You see, I am very un-the-cultured one, so I delight in showing of my plebian roots.

I don't know how the escargots came about, but it must have happened when the waiters, all elderly gentlemen, but gainfully employed, and Hainanese, of course, muttered to me that the shrimp starter was not available, and asked if I would like [mumble incoherently] instead. I guess I must have unwittingly nodded to the snail dish. But no loss, that the cultured Tai Tais on the table whacked it like a sailor downs his rum from a hipflask. Very flavourful, and the texture just right.

The other popular starter was the chicken skewer with a peanut sauce, in our local language, known as SATAY. Chicken being the most politically correct carnivore staple, you can't really go far wrong, although I didn't care much for this particular dish. The use of breasts in any culinary caper hardly takes my breath away, and I would rather be breastless.

The baked crab was yummy. That potent symbol of small sized fiery women, the chilli padi, is more for decoration, adding a dash of scarlet to an otherwise colourless but tasty dish. Which I guess is applicable to women and make up too.

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms, gratinated. Rather tasty, but I found the mushroom a wee bit undercooked. Some people like it that way, but I am not one for raw mushroom, unlike steak, and prefer mine cooked through and through.

Crab cakes. A delicious starter, (though one of the gals on diet decided to have it as her mains...oh, with half a lobster), it had generous amounts of crab meat, and not too much of those undefined fillers that one usually gets. By the way, it has been said, that peeling crab for someone is the greatest expression of true love.

The soups are definitely noteworthy. Very reasonably priced, (which makes me think that in some other establishments, we're paying the rent when we order soups), and very good. Hearty wholesome thick but yet not starchy. One of the Soong Sisters had the mushroom soup, which was smooth and silky and mushroomy.

The seafood chowder tastes like Lobster Bisque, which of course, is a good thing. For RM9.50, I'd tout this as the best value for money chowder so far. Thick, prawny, full of gumbo-tion, so much so one of them wanted to order another one.

I decided that I should treat myself (on other people's money), after having given birth to 4 children (vicariously), to a lobster, as the occasion was in honor of ahem, ....me...so I ordered the lobster..... priced at RM185/kg. I was expecting only half a lobster actually, so I was shocked to get a whole one. I also made the mistake of ordering a Thermidor. Whilst these fancy sauces are delicious in the first few bites, it becomes too rich (like carbonara) after the 4th bite, and you feel like you're shovelling saturated fats down your throat with a bulldozer. Should have opted for the plain grilled one, but the good thing about lobster is, there's never any shortage of takers, so wife and godma were the major beneficiaries of my greed.

The grilled lobster is definitely more palatable for the long run.... although as I said, the first few bites of Thermidor were divine.

There's something to be said for good old fashioned steak and chips, which the wife ordered. It was funny how something as insalubrious as french fries is actually THE major hit....everyone started picking on the fries, and eventually, ended up ordering another plate of just fries. These days, its too fancy smancy....steaks are served with all kinds of unpronouncable things.... and a list of saucery that would put a witch to shame.

I was so touched that KTT offered to bake me a cake. And even more impressed when I saw the finished product. Following a Donna Hay recipe, from the Classics II book that we gave her years ago, she succeeded in producing a lovely blueberry swirl cheesecake. The plump fresh blueberries were supposed to be plastic surgery for the tak jadi swirls, but I thought the cake on its own would have looked fine, but then again, I am hardly the highest bar when it comes to cake decor.....

The cake was perfect in sweetness, texture just right, although I think a reduction in cheese would not have noticeable. The three blind mice would have been able to sniff out the cheese here. Lots of it. An excellent effort by KTT...

2 bottles of white, 2 bottles of red and 3/4 bottle of Macallan later, we all left Memphis with amazing grace, high spirited and basking in the warmth and knowledge that yes, life is good, and wealth is measured by the love of friends, not by money....(so say the sour grapes).

Happy Birthday, to ME...... (talk about your syiok sendiri post eh, HB ;))