As I get older, I find my palate becoming more partial to Asian cuisine. Very rarely do I hanker these days for that piece of braised lamb shank, wagyu cheek, or fancy foamy meals with deconstructed items. I am a peasant and plebian, so I like simple comfort foods. To me, the simplest of Chinese stir fries and steaming and braising, are enough to satisfy.
Hence I find it intriguing that there is still room to reinvent the wheel, as I discovered when invited by the Makan Fairy Godmother to have lunch at Way Modern Chinois, run by the same people who run Ploy, that fun, fresh Thai inspired fusion mixed place at Clearwater.
Well, if there is a great way to make a first impression, it's through your entrance. The Way in, is actually through this Lift Door, which is situated right across from the real elevators. Of course, it has to be a two edged sword, as I'm sure many an elevator seeking person would have inadvertently entered their establishment and think, "hmm, what kind of lift is this?". Likewise, it must be a full time job for the security guard to point diners in the right direction when they ask that inevitable, "Where is WAY?" Sounds grammatically wrong.
The swanky interior, and privacy from prying eyes makes it a perfect venue for quiet rendezvous (what's the plural for that?), and tai tai lunches, as a group of them snapped at us when we took out our cameras, and barked at us not to take their picture.
Crispy Tofu Yu Xiang, RM 13. Deep fried parcels of bean curd, in a spicy sauce, that would actually be a perfect snack with a glass of ice cold beer. Speaking of alcohol, WAY also has a lovely cosy bar, (pic above, upper right frame), with an interesting range of cocktails. In a very private setting.
Snow Bun - RM10 for 2, chicken char siu in a crispy snow bun. Snow buns having a topping that has a similar texture to the ubiquitous roti boy buns. That nice salty sweet crispy crunch encasing a soft bun.
Shredded Duck Cheong Fun. Way is pork free, so they have to use any other kind of meat that would usually be used, in this case, the duck was a respectable replacement for the charsiu version of the cheong fun. Silky smooth cheong fun, with moist duck pieces. RM17
This was my favourite, the "waterless" chicken soup. Basically, it's chicken essence of the purest kind. Several kampung chickens (because city chickens just aren't the same), double boiled over a period which could have cooked a banquet, ... RM58 (recommended for 2) for this imperial essence.
Salted egg chicken strips, RM 18. Again, the perfect complementary dish with alcohol.
I really thought THIS dish was extraordinary, and might be the main reason for a timely revisit to Way. Crab roe fried rice, RM42. A delicious combination of scallops, abalone, and crab roe with fluffy long grained basmati rice. Superb. The rich creaminess of the crab roe is like a symphony to the palate.
Hong Kong Choy Sum with Crispy Silverfish. RM20. As I suspected, Hong Kong Choy Sum is but a name and is not really from Hong Kong.
Crispy lionfish..I love the way the menu puts it, not the endangered kind, but a garoupa in disguise. Actually having said that, as a diver, I have to say the lethal lion fish are certainly more abundant than giant garoupas. The garoupa is sliced, deep fried and fashioned to resemble a lion, with two olives as eyes. Quite a cute concept, but basically it is deep fried garoupa. RM59 for this novelty.
Chef Liu Jin Xian helms Way Cuisine. As young chap, whose career began in 1998, he hails from Huizhou, Guangdong Province, and left home at 18 to the bright lights of Shanghai to pursue his culinary journey where he rose to Head Chef of a fine dining Chinese restaurant in Shangri-La Pudong.
In 2005, he reached our shores, but left again in 2007, before returning again in 2009. He has spent the last 15 months developing Way's interesting and unique menu.
Durian Crepes. Nothing unusual about this dish, but I do have to say that I personally do not like desserts with non dairy cream, so I can't lie, this was definitely not my favourite.
A refreshing osmanthus jelly dessert, that looked totally liquid but in actual fact, is a jelly.
The dessert highlight was this red bean pancake. The snowy ping pei type texture skin plus that wonderfully smooth red bean paste is a good match.
LOCATION
Address : G-1, Work@Clearwater, Jalan Changkat Semantan, 50490 Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur
Phone No : 03-2095 1118
Opening Hours : 12:00 – 15:00hrs / 18:00 – 22:30hrs ( Monday – Saturday )
Website : http://way.com.my/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/waymodernchinois
1 comment:
I enjoyed the snow buns here. They have great cocktails too!
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