Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Going Full, Monte's

There are certain places I have never written about, just because I go there so regularly, that it totally escapes my mind to blog about it. One such place is Monte's in BSC, which has been there forever, and my family and I HAVE been going there forever as well. At least once or twice a month for our normal Sunday family dinners.

So, when Dinesh of BRDB (Bandaraya Development Bhd) invited me to Monte's, part of BRDB's campaign to expose (hmm, the words campaign and expose always reek of scandal in political terms) the F&B outlets in Bangsar Shopping Centre, I was more than delighted to accept. Afterall, being the creature of habit that I am, I ALWAYS eat the same thing whenever I am there, ie, the Oxtail Soup and the Grilled Halibut. This was the opportunity to sample other stuff on the menu! Fellow co-floggers included Fratmustard of Qguides, Aly of RedFM and ROKH of Tham Jiak.

To be honest, I think dining experiences are definitely enhanced by the company as well. And when alcohol is served, so much the better.

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Over the months I've known her, I am amazed at Aly's ability to tuck away beer the way a marathon runner drinks 100plus after a 42km run. And the best part is, I wonder where it all goes. She's slim as a supermodel, and she doesnt go wee wee as often as I do, were I to drink that amount of beer. She da man!

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The self explanatory menu.

Juicy Scallops, pan seared, on a bed of sweet potato mash. Not overcooked, and seared just right.

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Escargots always remind me of that classic scene from Pretty Woman, where Julia Roberts lets the snail fly from her pincers. Alas, we needed no such skills, as the snail can quite easily be dug out using that surgical like fork. Baked in a lovely gratin-ish/garlicky sauce, this is a must if you are an escargot lover.

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Chef's dream salad. Lovely crunchy prawns, in a light yet satisfying olive oil vinaigrette, and pieces of eggplant (which were my favourite), with a hint of pesto. Oh, I have no pictures of it, but we were also served the most awesome garlic bread. Delicious baguette topped with a generous garlic butter that just melts in the mouth.


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Their classic oxtail soup. Always hearty, always good. The tail is slow boiled till it is tender and falling off the bone. I always have this whenever I eat at Monte's. It goes really well with the buns they usually serve (but we had garlic bread instead this time).

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Pumpkin and Carrot soup. This is actually our kids' favourite item. Thick, wholesome and bursting with pumpkinny flavour. Also, blended to an extremely smooth consistency.

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Prawn and Fish Combo. Didnt really get to try this dish, but if the other prawn dish below is anything to go by, then it should be pretty good. The prawns here are generally rather fresh, and the texture remains intact, unlike some that disintergrate.

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Rib Eye steak. Good old fashion steak, served with potato wedges and vegetables. I love this dish for its traditional-ness and simplicity. Too often in this day and age, food has evolved so much that it is sometimes unrecognizable. And I guess that is what brings us back to Montes regularly. It IS good comfort food.

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Another comfort food type dish... Spaghetti marinara. The naming of dishes is simple, so you are not left tongue tied trying to pronounce some exotic name. Substantial dish, and definitely enough on its own for one.

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Now, this dish sent me flying back into nostalgia, when Chicken A La King with buttered rice was a regular item on menus. This is called Mushroom Chicken, but it is more or less like my childhood memory of chicken ala king. For less than RM20, apparently this is one of the most popular dishes, esp at lunch time.

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Pan Seared Cod. As usual, by this time we were so stuffed. Now, I can say this with a clear conscience, the fish is monte's is almost always very fresh. They do have pretty good QC here. There have been times when they would not serve us the halibut because it wasnt up to standard.

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Grilled Prawns. More prawnography. (phrase taken from GFAD). According to Aly, this was better than the other one above.

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8 Hour Lamb. Now, this picture does not do the dish justice, (all my meat shots leave a lot to be desired), but the lamby was succulent, tender and really quite lovely if you are a lamb fan.
Incidentally, we were joined by the lovely and gregarious Susan Lee, owner of Monte's, and also an old friend of mine. Thanks so much for having us, Susan. This lady is really one of my idols. Savvy businesslady, mother, soon to be grandmother, wife, quite the superwoman she is.

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Bread and Butter Pudding. I have to admit, I was thinking, aiyo, so much bread, when I first saw it... but actually it is very nice. I love the crusty bits...and the lovely vanilla aroma.

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Apple Pie, which was nice and tart. Served warm, with a dollop of ice cream.

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Tropical Carrot Cake. Not bad, a bit different from the usual, very moist, with a substantial layer of cream cheese topping.

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Their best selling Hershey chocolate cake. I found this a bit too sweet for my liking, but the cake uses real Hersheys.. (as opposed to fake ones), and is rich and moist. Go for it if you have a sweet tooth.

Writing about Montes for me is like writing about my weekly trips to my inlaws. I love the fact that the food has remained consistent and unpretentious over the years, and VERY reasonably priced. The fact that it was packed on Saturday night, (and Sundays too) is testimony to the "value for money" credo that I often attach to the place. It might not be food that make you go OOH and AAAHHH, but it is comfort food, and good quality comfort food, at good prices. And this is why Monte's has survived all these years, when many others have come and gone!

Thanks Dinesh, for inviting all of us! And thanks Susan, for being the ever gracious host.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Uncle Prawn

When you blog late, all the best punchlines are taken. I think Alilfatmonkey's "PRAWN STAR OF GIZA" headline is impossible to better. A slew of prawny puns ensued, on tweeter, between Alilfatmonkey, Ciki and me. We finally concluded that Alilfatmonkey was a Crusty Asian who was on prawn roll in his blogging flair.

So, yeah, we were invited, courtesy of Stephanie, and Alilfatmonkey, to sample the marine offerings at the newly opened UNCLE PRAWN in Sunway Giza. Like essay writing, a good essay is determined by the first paragraph, where you know immediately where its leading. Likewise, the name UNCLE PRAWN immediately tells you, well, no prizes for guessing, it is a prawny place. Unlike vague names like say, "Pomegranate"... It's like playing food russian roulette. What cuisine will it be? But with Uncle Prawn, no such room for doubt. Speaking of nomenclature, Sunway Giza is the sequel to Sunway Pyramid, and I am shocked I did not get that immediately. I guess the next would be Sunway Luxor or Sunway Aswan.

Brightly lit, conspicuous in that amazing atria which houses a whole cornucopia of restaurants, Uncle Prawn was already crowded when we arrived.

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Uncle Prawn himself, the amiable Tony, who graciously played excellent host.

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Aunty Prawn, who incidentally makes fabulous wedding cakes. But, they don't come cheap, AND, even if you HAD the money to pay her, she takes orders on a very selective basis. She handles her prawns with great aplomb.

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Alilfatmonkey and S. Thanks monkey for inviting us.

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Look at the size of those prawns. However, those weren't destined for our table. All the more reason to return to try them.

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Lovely strips of pork belly deep fried with honey. Simply heavenly. Went perfectly with the lovely Malborough savignon blanc that Tony generously served us.

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Buttered squid. Apparently this dish had a lot of people guessing. Some thought it was chicken. Ahem, yours truly managed to guess just by looking. It's like butter prawns, except with squid. Again, this seems to be a delicious accompaniment to wine or beer. I liked the texture of the squid, though someone found it quite tough and chewy.

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An amazing claypot of assorted stuff, bathing in a sublime curry sauce. It contains frog's legs, a meat (pork) pattie at the base, (AHHH, divine), crabs, (in case you cant see in the picture), prawns, mussels....representatives from the United Nations of the Sea. Seriously, the sauce was excellent.

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Frog's legs revealed.

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Pork pattie beneath revealed. The correct name for this dish is actually Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and is priced at RM118 for a pot for 4 people.

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Undoubtedly the star (yeah yeah, prawn star) of the show. Swimming in delightful orange roe, one can't but help burst into song at that gorgeous sight. Its only RM25/prawn!
Roe Roe Roe down your throat...makes you smile and beam
Merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream
(To the tune of Row Row Row your boat)

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Oh, the noodles arent your ordinary noodle, but CIN-TAN mee (not Cintan, the instant noodle), but Pure Egg in cantonese. It does give the noodle a different texture, and makes it very flavourous on its own.

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The humble tilapia, with a makeover. Deep fried, similar to the dried butter prawns style. It is to dispel the notion that tilapias are ordinary boring fish. Quite frankly, done this way, I can't really tell what fish it is when you eat it.

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And yet ANOTHER dish of prawns. Boy, the restaurant really does live up to its name. Angled Loofah and River Prawn (RM30 per prawn)... in a lovely broth, almost like a bisque. Also highly recommended. The prawns were fresh, and succulent, and not overcooked.

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Of course by now, we were like having food coming out of our nostrils, but our gracious hosts insisted we try their signature Braised Sweetened Pork Ribs. Tender, falling off the bone meat, which screams for rice. Anti Carbo people, beware.

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Just look at those fabulous fatty layers.Repeat after me, , ANIMAL FAT IS GOOD FOR YOU!!! MARGARINE IS BAD FOR YOU.

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Crispy homemade tofu with mushroom and brocolli. Comfort food at its best. Can imagine it being the major hit with my kids. Some semblance of vegetables in an otherwise protein packed meal.

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Lemongrass Jelly (I love this jelly, I always order it at Shang Palace and Iketeru at three times the price, chis!) and Guai Lin Gou. I find in my old age, I am increasingly partial to bitter foods... I am taking a serious liking to the stark bitterness of the black herbal jelly.

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Uncle and Aunty Prawn

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Cumi & Ciki



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Marian and Ciki

Plagiarised from Monkey's Post:
Note: From now till 31 July 2010, spend RM50 at Uncle Prawn and you will get a tilapia for just RM1. If your bill exceeds RM80, you will get 300g of tiger prawns at just RM1.

Great, another sang har mee place to frequent. Parking for now is free at Giza, and the atmosphere in that atrium is rather pleasant.
Thanks to Tony & Teresa for having us, and to Stephanie for organising it.

Uncle Prawn Restaurant
Unit A-15, Sunway Giza,
Jalan PJU 5/14 Dataran Sunway
Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya
Tel : 61481998

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Upping the Aunty...Ooops, Ante

Hallo all, I was on Bee Eff Em (BFM, I think its Business FM) recently, again, interviewed by Freda Liu, on upping the ante on the baking business. Well, apparently I was giggly as a schoolgirl, nervous ma. Anyway, here is the podcast. Thanks to BFM and Freda for having me.




And here is the original podcast from January, also interviewed by Freda Liu. Special thanks to Josen Lim for referring me to BFM. (and anyone else who did so).


Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Richwell, Near Rothman's Roundabout

Don't you love the way Chinese people give names that exude wealth, prosperity etc? Choy, Fatt, Wong, Ong, etc, all have good joss associated with them. Which reminds me of a recent dinner party, at a friend's place, where we were discussing potential boy names for this expectant couple. Being rather anglophile, they were toying with names from the British Royalty, such as James, William, etc, but us, being chink and all, said, aiyooo, no la, cannot, chinese must have rich rich name one. Someone mentioned instead of James, why not follow the Nigerian President's name, Goodluck James. Brilliant!!!! So we suggested Goodluck Ong Fatt Choy. What a great name!!! I think this should be recorded for posterity.

So, back to the restaurant, RICHWELL! Now, what a good combination, Wealth Plus Health. We were invited by Marian Eu to try out this fairly new place, which boasts the former chef of the Teochew restaurant in Pudu ( I think closed down). It is easy to find, as it is along the same row as another freshwater prawn noodle establishment.

The place is new, nice and bright. It even has an in-house wine shop. To start with, a lovely scallop broth, which was flavourful and hearty. Strands of dried scallop and one plump fresh scallop. Any soup with salad is a good soup!

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An fabulously fresh coral garoupa, (seven stars grouper...chut sing pan in Cantonese), in claypot, swimming in a broth of chinese wine. I could drink the broth on its own, the sweetness of the fish combined with the wine gave the chest a warm feeling of happiness.

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The flesh of the fish was firm, and the broth really enhances the flavour.

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Tung Poh Yoke... Glorious chunks of pork with layers of fat, the way pork should be! Wonderfully tender and of course, would have gone with rice divinely. Instead of the usual buns (mantau) it's served with these crispy rice crackers, which are just as good, and less voluminous than the normal buns. Very innovative.

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Claypot dish of yam and vegetables. Very hearty, and if you are a yam fan, then this dish will send you to yam paradise. Hmmm, wonder where IS yam paradise? Ulu Yam?

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I can't remember the Cantonese name, but it's basically a mince pork pattie, very homestyle, and reminiscent of something my grandmother used to make. Simple, effective and delicious. I could just eat this with rice as well, as I am not an overly gravy person.

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Not that my photography is anything to shout about, but I felt this amazingly beautiful dish deserved to be viewed from all angels. Side elevation, plan elevation, and at an angle. I think sang har mee is a fabulous invention, and whoever invented this recipe deserves a Nobel Prize. Is there one for culinary achievements? Anyway, no complaints here, the prawns were fresh, and large, the roe plentiful, the sauce perfect, not starchy.

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...and to really push us over the edge, stuffing us to the brim, a lovely claypot crab with glass vermicelli, (tong fun). Done just right, the noodles were not soggy, and the crabs tasty. However, since the crabs were not very big, there was a lot of shrapnel.

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You know, I have not lived. I didnt know about the existence of these chocolates, supposedly the best in the world, and still would not have know about it if not for the generosity of fellow diner, Cheng Sim (of Chef Choy fame), who insisted we try it. That it is now available in Delicious Ingreidents is all thanks to Cheng Sim who apparently insisted they bring it in, and it was been selling like hot cakes. They are limited editions as well, as each bar has a serial number, only 20,000 are produced a year.

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O Ni...that unique hokkien yam dessert that is not readily available. This version is nice, its not cloyingly sweet, and has a lovely tinge of orange zest on it. But really, after the feast leading up to dessert, I could only ingest very little of it.

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Chef CY Kam and our friend, Marian who so kindly organised the dinner.

Restaurant Richwell
24G&26G, Jalan 19/3
Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03-7955 5855

Read Masak Masak's review HERE.