Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Reunion Revisited, For Lionheart's Surprise Birthday

There's something rather fascinating with "surprise" birthday parties. Always the chink in the armor that inadvertently gives the game away, like some smartie pants who sms-es the birthday boy on the day of the dinner, "happy birthday, see you tonight", when the guy's birthday isn't actually on the day, OR, "let's wait till tonight to take a group picture", at a red herring birthday lunch, ......

For planning a surprise birthday, I think STRICT instructions have to be given to guests, AND THEIR SPOUSES (especially), and should come with a hefty penalty for leaking pots. (cheen pou). Cut off their handphones for a month as a punishment, or make them sing Frank Sinatra's "START SPREADING THE NEWS" in the foyer of Suria KLCC....

However, there are the odd occasions, where despite close hiccups, (such as almost bumping smack faced into the birthday boy in the foyer, carrying a birthday cake), a surprise still manages to succeed.....

Such was the case last week, for Lionheart. His good wife had planned this dinner months ago, and had cleverly told him that he had to come to join her for dinner with clients. Me & wife walked into the front entrance of BV, and saw the man on the opposite side, head bowed down busy texting away. (Speaking of bowing head and texting, I once was mistaken for being extremely religious, because I had my phone in between my legs while the waiter was serving the food, and was sms-ing away, and the hostess thought I was quietly saying grace)

We bolted the way a herd of deer bolt when they feel the ominous presence of a Lion in the Masai Mara, (but not with the dexterity and litheness of deer), and jumped into the nearest elevator, near the Massimo Dutti entrance. We bump into another guest, and quickly exchange stories of close shaves. (nothing to do with hair from any parts)

And since Malaysians are generally a tardy lot, there's always the real possibility of him bumping into anyone of us...heck, I can bump into friends in a busy Shanghai bazaar, so what more in little Bangsar Village.

Mrs Lionheart is frantically sms-ing us to see if we had all congregated at Reunion, the appointed venue. Of course, only 4 out of 10 had arrived.....she appears, all flustered, and excited, telling us that she had told him to go kill time at MPH and use the loo there while waiting for her clients. (Good tip, if you ever need a clean loo to go to in BV2, apparently the one next to MPH is highly underutilised)....

When it was decided we had quorum, she calls him and says, "Dear, you can come now, all my clients are here already. Eh, what fish you want ah? Steamed or fried?"

Meanwhile, I also drop a red herring of my own, sending Lionheart an sms about gym, and saying that I was on my way for in-laws dinner at Kajang...

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The above collage captures the surprise, real or otherwise, expression of the birthday boy!

I always find the food at Reunion to be fairly consistent, and of above average quality.

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Not usually a cod fish fan, I found this dish VERY good. I think its a kinda honey glazed pan fried cod. The skin was delumptiously (delicious + scrumptious, something I learnt from a Secret Seven book in my youth) crispy, while the flesh firm and sweet.

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Claypot Brinjal with Mincemeat. Extremely flavourful, and a carb magnet. It just screams out for rice.

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Of course, dine with any Brit educated flers, an order of duck will inevitably draw comparisons with Bayswater's Four Seasons, ....which actually I am inclined to think is a bit overated. (eeeks, bracing for the onslaught of FS Duckians)....

The Pei Pa Ngap at Reunion I thought was good. Succulent, not overly fat, but fat enough, and the skin, lovely and crispy.

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Mmmm, comfort food, steamed mince pork with salted fish. Again, another rice magnet. Very tasty, and just the right balance of meat and salted fish.

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I'm not sure what this dish is called, but it's kinda like a marmite chicken with little mantous. Very delectable morsels.

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Mmmm, baby french beans I think they're called. Tender, and young...just how I like them. Crunchy too, while maintaining their cholorophyl. Lovely crunchy bits of shallots to complete the crunch factor.

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Wow, we had a lot of food. Their signature salted egg prawns. I am a bit off salted egg dishes coz they're so rich. I now prefer my crabs done in superior stock, having OD-ed on Salted Egg Yolk Crab... however, if you haven't OD-ed on Salted Egg Yolk, its still a good dish.

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AND the piece de resistance. I know its strange to contemplate the fact that there may be hokkien mee in restaurants that taste as good, if not better than established road alleys, and insalubrious corners of KL where the rats set up their official exco and state secretariat....

...but I think the hokkien mee in Reunion really is up there with them all. Infested with crispy divine pork lard, and enough wok hei, and gravy, and almost too much lieu, (ingredients), not enough noodle, it is my all time favourite dish here. Mmmm, just thinking about it....makes me shiver in delight

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My humble contribution to the festivities, a Passion Fruit Peach Cheese Cake.

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And from the Lionheart's personal trainer, a Baileys soaked Tiramisu!!! Phwaaaah, talk about enough kick.

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As usual, twas a lovely enjoyable dinner with great food, great company. What more can a person ask for. We look forward to your grand 50th Birthday, dear Lionheart....(I know its not for a few more years, but we must save up mustn't we, to buy our airfares there!)



31 comments:

Bangsar-bAbE said...

The hokkien mee got almost too much lieu?? Sounds like my kind of dish! =D (rub hands and tummy in glee...)

Sean said...

can't tell if his surprise is real, but he definitely looks delighted. :D
oh yeah, reunion does whip up a mean hokkien mee. there's like some animal's entire liver in every plateful. i've read that flower drum in bkt bintang is another restaurant that does justice to this dish, but haven't managed to check them out yet.

Anonymous said...

Yup, surprise parties are so hard to organise, especially when deaf ones inform the birthday boy that they can't make it to his surprise birthday party because they have to fly off to sarawak.

I like the food at Reunion. But it's always so crowded that there's no chance of walking in without a reservation.

Your cake(s?) look delicious. Which reminds me, it's been awhile since I had one of your scrumptious delumptious cheesecakes (definitely not secondary schoolgirl level to me). Don't you owe me a cake for something or other, tangechi?

Yin said...

woah, so cantik. good thing i just had lunch so i'm not gonna komplen that you food piccies are making me hungry ;)

Rebecca Saw said...

is the lady in blk his wifey? she looked really pleased!

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

hahaha..thats the toughest job on earth..to org a surprise meal!

remember arranging 1 for the GF...insisted we walk out and eat despite pouring cats n dogs (back in the Uni days)and getting a friend to drop us there...so that all her friends didnt had to eat by themselves!

fatboybakes said...

nipples, ...i dun understand ur surprise...can u please explain it properly? sorry ah, uncle old oridi.

TNG, no, that was another friend who had to hide, coz she was seated right in the line of sight...

yin, awww, u too kind.

AWOL, ya, that kinda half baked surprise is not really a surprise la though...i mean, u more or less know the guest list, and you know there's a dinner, and you know the venue....shoulda thrown in a stripper...

sean, there's a flower drum in KL? related to the oz one ah?
actually, as i retraced my steps thru BV2 during lunch just now, i was thinking it would be almost impossible for the bday boy not to have spotted us dashing away....unless he was soo preoccupied with his sms-ing...

bangsar babe, hey, its bangsar hokkien mee at bangsar prices babe, it better be loaded with stuff. but then again, lard is cheap.

fatboybakes said...

oh, AWOL, sorry, forgot the 2nd half of your comment. nah, i only made the secondary school girl one... the tiramisu was made by Lionheart's personal trainer. fatten him up, and let him pay you to lose weight. good strategy eh!

Sean said...

nah, this one is a tai thong outlet on jln bkt bintang ... somewhere across the road from chulan square. think it opened early last year. keep meaning to try it, but always end up diverted somewhere else.

minchow said...

Salted egg yolk prawns... genius! How that was NOT the piece de resistance instead of the hokkien mee, I will enjoy finding out! Classic expression on birthday boy's face!

Rarebeet said...

Bit hard to plan surprise parties for my friends since they usually ask "Are you guys planning a surprise party for me??!" I do like the food at reunion but somehow I can't sit down for very long. Must be the lighting...Or lack of!

Anonymous said...

haha, FB, the lady in blk looked comical, hor?!!

and your cheesecake was lovely....i enjoyed it and so did everyone, i'm sure :)

Henry Yeo said...

is it the latest trend to always do surprise birthday parties or is it something chronologically related?

Julian Si said...

Great write up and lovely piccies, bro!!

Thanks again for the weekend :-)

The Duo Dishes said...

Peach cheesecake, check. Bailey's tiramisu, check. Party time.

J2Kfm said...

deadly salted egg prawns! and the dishes all look very delectable, very home-style.

but me no fan of Hokkien Mee, though i'll probably down all the lards that i could!!!

HairyBerry said...

Hail the Hokkien Mee!!! Omg, cant wait to try the hokkien mee from reunion!!!

u know, ppl just dont make hokkien mee like they used to. they are supposed to be dry, fragrant and crunchy (lard). these days, they are just soooo wet and bland. even the belacan chilli paste oso never re-goreng-ed. just pakai what's from the plastic packs. sigh....

lol on close shaves. omg, we are sooo not starting that topic again! haha!

Anonymous said...

oh dear! yr photos are killing me!!! esp the glazing duck and codfish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

/drowns in saliva

fatboybakes said...

xin, go la. in fact, i might go again this sat.

hairy berry, nothing worse than non crunchy crispy lard....however, i am not too interested in the sambal, i can do without.

j2kfm, not a fan of hokkien mee? GASP!

duodishes, the baileys hit us with the strength of an oncoming train!

jules, u are most welcome!

henry, yup, surprise parties are for the 40 aboves only.

sunshine, lady in black looked great, and hilarious.

fatboybakes said...

paps, yeah, strange lighting and decor they have. the light in our room kept dimming and brightening .... and it was very warm...

550ml, salted egg yolk prawns ARE good, its just that i have O/D-ed on egg yolk shellfish...

sean, okie, will look out for it.

thule a.k.a leo said...

BV or BV2 is the place which I seldom go to... but perhaps I should start pay a little more attention to them... coz there are so many eateries there with commendable quality yet out-of-this-world prices... lol!!! It's a high-end area after all... guess that's the price to pay!
I have to agree that surprise party is very hard to plan.. and one small mistake will lead to suspicions and then, pecah tembelang!! lol... my wife had me once 2 years ago for my birthday!!! But then... I know that your friend felt delighted.. after all, I was!!!
Still... I love the cakes that you make...especially the bailey's soaked Tiramisu.

fatboybakes said...

thule, i didnt make the baileys tiramisu laaaaaaa!!!!
actually, i dont think the eateries in BV or BV2 are anything to shout about.... reunion is just well placed, coz its the only chinese restaurant in the near vicinity, and happens to be above average.
oooh, pecah tembelang, havent heard that in years....
hey, u said on someone's blog that you are in a rural area at the moment? where ah?

chyme88 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
thule a.k.a leo said...

heheheh sorry sorry... I didn't read your blog thoroughly.
By the way, I live in Kuala Lipis, Pahang.
But I always go to KL during weekends... at the moment, almost every weekend coz my wife has to undergo checkup for my baby daughter... will be a dad in less than a month!

Ciki said...

i know the hokkien mee here is damn good but I'd always rather just go eat the arang-fried one downtown at the no-name corner coffee shop, coz ambiance is everything when eating the Hokkien.. and i don't mean high class ambiance.. I am talking screaming aunty - cigar chugging uncle, arang furnace wok-hei draft blasting your face, as you wait patiently on your 100 year old stool in that 100 year old coffee shop..:p

hmmm.. i wanna go eat hokkien mee..

Delumptiously scrumplitious!

Anonymous said...

"... if you ever need a clean loo to go to in BV2, apparently the one next to MPH is highly underutilised."

It's sentences like this one that makes my day everytime I read your blog, FBB. :)

Anonymous said...

Sigh.. feel so out lah. Dun even know where is BV1 let alone BV2.. Is this the old Hankyu Jaya ah??

Wok hei and chinese croutons - essential ingredients for a super hokkien mee!! Let's have a makan session there come Jul/Aug. And I really want to try your 4 seasons cake!!

Henry Yeo said...

no wonder....don't want to wake up and discover that you have cross 50 years, is it?

fatboybakes said...

henry, huh? tak faham.

GFAD, yala, old hankyu...gosh, that was a lifetime ago.

LFB, glad i am of service.

ciki, ya, that's what i thought too, how can u exchange that experience by eating hokkien mee in aircond comfort hor! but its damn good....

thule, really? wow, i am impressed, you sound very KL!

Steve said...

Marmite chicken? You've just got to be kidding FBB?

I think I'm going to be sick...

fatboybakes said...

steve, mate, marmite chicken, crab etc is all very common here...its not like IN YOUR FACE MARMITE kinda flavour, just a dash probably, in fact, if you didnt tell me, i wouldnt even know there WAS marmite... guess it adds flavour to the name of the dish more than to the dish itself.....