So what brings us to the Chef’s table this time round you might ask..

Spring lamb is an Easter and a Passover dinner-table tradition. Yet this is also the trickiest time of the year to buy lamb, I am told, because supply is limited, and what is in stores will have been fed mainly grain, rather than grass, which makes for fattier meat. The Chef tells me that when he looks for the right Spanish milk fed lamb, he actually looks for a smaller leg, which means the lamb is younger. And definitely grass-fed, as these are generally less mature, and more tender.

Of course the tension is high, and we are all waiting in nervous anticipation, for the milk fed lamb to make an appearance, such as one would for a celebrity performer or an American Idol teen.. and just like waiting for a hot nubile performer, we cannot wait to sink our teeth, into it.

Wow.. this young lamb, so young it’s barely weened off the milk of its mother (hence the name “milk fed”) weighs, on average, 6 -7kgs only. The flesh is lean and pale pink, with a sweet mild flavor. Just picture a lamb that has been raised under prime summer conditions and imagine how it’s meat might melt in your mouth. Then you might just have been able to catch a glimpse of gastronomic heaven. Words cannot describe the succulence of this lamb. Fabulous.

homemade deep fried tortilla chips and fresh salsa

After these delicious, crunchy, “corny”, homemade tortilla chips we have a terrific pig stomach pepper soup to wash it down with. Some at the table said that the soup actually cut the grease and made way for the line up of dishes to come. I totally agree!

barbecue crystal prawns

Roasted Crispy Goose

When I asked, is this goose from Beijing, everybody chorused, No! It’s from Ipoh!

Wow, that’s my hometown so I am delighted to say that this goose tasted better than the ones I have tried, that come from Beijing. And rightly so, as those geese obviously arrive frozen from Beijing. Some hardly have a flavour left in their frozen meat, them poor things. The geese from Ipoh are the bee’s knees I tell you. Moist, succulent and sweet as hell (kinda like the women).

Fried rice with mini abalone

This style is what the Chinese call “mun-fun”. Rice that is soaked in a lovely thick stock that has all the flavours in it. Tasty like you would not believe. Even I, ate the rice. Well, some of it anyway.. could not resist!

BBQ Cuttlefish

crepe suzette – dessert of fire!

The Chef in action, flambe of our crepes done with great flair flare (forgive the pun)

crepe suzette with ice-cream and tons of alcohol in it.. lovely!

Chef Choi is one of our regular haunts for dinner and rightly so. The food here, the staff and the Chef himself, can do no wrong. If you are in KL and have not tried the food in this restaurant, you are missing out. Do yourselves a favour and eat here soon. You will not be disappointed;)

The inspiration for the soothing bowls of soup at Soup Restaurant, comes from one of the owners, Mr Mok, drawing from his Cantonese upbringing in Chinatown – he introduced a series of Cantonese based home-cooked dishes which he termed “Chinatown Heritage Cuisine”. At a time when there was a surge in the popularity of Herbal Soups in Hong Kong, and with the emergence of restaurants specialising in Herbal Soups Mr Mok and co., decided that maybe there was a market for this sort of cooking afterall. They looked to neighbouring Singapore to start their business of Herbal Soups and home-cooked dishes, catered especially to young professionals with limited access to home-cooked food. Their tasty, wholesome dishes were well received, especially the “Samsui Ginger Chicken” , which became an instant hit and has since become one of Soup Restaurant’s signature dishes. Finally they expanded to Malaysia, and we checked the place out, just last week. The food is decent and really liked some of their signature dishes.

Olive rice

This rice was a real hit with us. The unique texture of the bits of olive skin and flesh when you chance to bite into them, along with the rice that’s mixed thoroughly with olive oil – the sensation is fantastic!  I had no idea that this was a traditional Cantonese dish. Very nice and flavourful. It’s almost like a Mediterranean inspired dish because of the characteristic olive oil aroma..

Samsui Ginger Chicken

Another crazy addictive dish. The Samsui Ginger Chicken is tasty and fresh with a lovely taut and crunchy skin – must be the washing in cold water that has conferred this bouncy texture. The ginger that accompanies the chicken has a sharp zing and bite to it. Lovely!

So the story goes, that back in the 1930′s, when thousands of Samsui female immigrants left Guangdong to become construction laborers in Singapore, this dish was somewhat of a delicacy and could only be eaten as a treat, once in a long while. This is a dish that the Samsui women would whip up in the olden days to celebrate special occasions, as chicken was an expensive food item during those times. It of course evoked deep feelings of the motherland, and I am sure a tear or two were shed, eating this chicken. Sigh.. such history.

You can eat the Samsui Chicken on its own…

Or wrapped in the lettuce leaves the restaurant provides. Either way, equally good!

The chicken is broiled and every piece is tender and retains the essence, even the breast meat. The chicken is usually not fatty with just thin layers of skin on it. It is served with the most fragrant minced ginger ever tasted. Just dip the chicken pieces into the ginger sauce and wrap each piece with fresh lettuce leaves. It is an interesting way of eating broiled chicken — a taste combination of tender chicken meat, fragrant ginger bits with crunchy lettuce. Take one bite and you’ll be left longing for more.

Minced pork with salted fish (ham yue tiok chee yoke)

This hearty, traditional minced pork dish in soya sauce, was slightly too sweet for me. Otherwise, no complaints.

Spinach with century and salted egg

Divine! A must order.

Fish slices cooked in spring onions and vegetables

This dish was tasteless. Of the lot, it was the most disappointing.

So where was the soup, you might ask? We actually forgot to order the soup (can you imagine) because we were so distracted by the Samsui Ginger Chicken, but next week, that’s on our list of must have’s at Soup Restaurant!

I still remember my friend, who happens to be Heng Hwa, tell me this, one day, as we were crossing the road coming back from school.

I say, “you mean flowery language?”

No, watery she says.

“Ever stood next to a Heng Hwa, speaking her mother tongue?”

I shake my head.

“Don’t.. unless you want to be covered in spit!”

(Well, just to let you know, there is no spitting involved actually, just that the diction sounds rather salivary!)

Well, water language or no, the Heng Hwa cuisine is still fabulous. When done right, it’s really an amazing style of Chinese cooking that gets under your skin.

Here at Putien, the food does not disappoint. Reading about it, on Boo’s blog, we headed out to check out this place last week, and man, was the place packed – possibly with dozens of heng hwa spitting speaking clan members and what have you, enjoying the food at this new restaurant in 1 utama. Almost every table top we pass is filled with a myriad of different dishes. I wish I could have stopped to photograph all the dishes, as they were incredibly photogenic, but then thought better of it. Don’t fancy angry Heng Hwa’s all telling me off at the same time. I didn’t pack my raincoat (I’m only kidding).

braised luffa with dried scallops RM17 small or RM25 large

Heng Hwa cuisine may be unknown to some of the younger folks, but I guess there was a real dining void just waiting to be filled, and you will notice how the older generation of people have flocked to this joint. A lot of senior citizens fill the tables here at Putien. Multi-generational diners are not an uncommon sight here either. Originated from the Fuijian province in China, Putien prides itself on serving light-tasting and non-spicy food, and will definitely suit those with lighter palates.

Fried Heng Hwa bihoon RM16 or RM24

The Fried Heng Hwa bihoon is definitely a crowd pleaser, and was met with a chorus of approvals from around the table. The vermicelli is fried with fresh seafood like clams and prawns, topped with seaweed and peanuts. The star of the dish is the vermicelli, which is so fine that the place claims that it is finer than hair. While this dish has spawned copycats in many different restaurants, Pu Tien’s version remains the best in town as they import their vermicelli from China. Totally divine!

Shredded Pork Meat in special heng hwa sauce and deep fried sesame buns(mantau) RM5.90 per piece

Here, my buddy shows us how to carve up the mantau and stuff the pork bits into it and.. er, she would not let me post the shot of her stuffing her face:P

The Shredded Meat with Bun replicates a hamburger and this dish is good for kids, and as a light snack. The shredded pork was stir-fried with onions in black sauce, which brought out the savoury taste of the pork, to complement the sweetness of the onions. The buns were coated with sesame seeds and incredibly soft. Flavour wise, this was pretty standard. Not out of this world, but tasty enough.

Putien Ca Fen – which is Heng Hwa style fried Mee Suah and bihoon in a thick seafood stock RM16, RM24

This was an amazing noodle dish! If you go to Putien you must try as many of their noodles as possible, and please order anything with mee suah in it. You won’t regret it because they do it so well here. An amazing selection of noodles, I tell you.

tangy pork ribs with water chestnut RM20 and RM30

This was a forgettable dish. It just tasted like pai-kuat wong (sweet and sour pork ribs). Not very interesting at all.

nice tea cups  – so pretty

orh nee – hot yam paste with gingko nuts RM6.90

The Orh Nee at Putien passes my acid test! 100% delicious! The only other place I love my Orh nee is here. Happy to say that Putien’s one is divine as well.

Sweet Potato Balls RM7.90
A terrific discovery thanks to Masak-masak. We will be back for many more meals I am sure. Next week, I’m bringing my family.

Pork is a beautiful thing.. in a sweet succulent brined pork chop way, or in a smoky, falling off the cracker, dry-cured parma ham way. It’s delicious as a rillette with a crusty toasted slice of rustic bread and tangy crispy cornichons.. and even as grilled pork bulgogi with cloves of garlic and slices of bright green jalapeno.., Oh, not forgetting juicy sausages and smoky bacon either.

But it goes beyond all that even, when it is served up as juicy salt baked Spanish Iberico pork ribs.

Ah yes..  these Iberico pork ribs can only be described as crisp, succulent, luxurious.

salt baked Spanish Iberico pork ribs

I love eating at Gu Yue Tien. The food is fantastic and always unexpectedly innovative. The restaurant Gu Yue Tien, helmed by Owner/Chef Frankie Woo, deserves a Michelin star for the extreme creativity it brings to the ritual of Chinese fine dining, if you ask me. The Chef himself, truly has a flair for marrying tastes and textures to perfection. That and the fact that he has a great palate!

Dragon Fish Yee Sang (RM98++ for 10 persons)

Take for  example the Yee Sang here at Gu Yue Tien. Chef Frankie created the perfect balance in taste and textures, when he brought together in harmonious synchronicity the green coral lettuce, golden raisins, pear, pomelo sacs, salmon sashimi, sesame seed, strawberry sauce, and crackers.

The creation of new cuisine just flows so effortlessly with him.

The Dragon fish (Pipe fish) that looked like long slivers of ikan bilis (anchovy) added an unusual dimension to the traditional yee sang that not many would have thought of. It all worked together in the favour of the dish.

Chef Frankie and M

thick seafood broth filled with crab roe, crab meat, prawn, scallop, squid and tofu cubes

I loved this seafood soup that was bursting with crab meat and tofu! Much better than any sharks-fin soup. (SAY NO TO SHARKSFIN!)

Sichuan style steamed halibut fish with a spicy chillies and garlic topping.

The old Sichuanese standards are marvelous, here at this restaurant, because Chef Frankie has long been an expert on preparing these sort of dishes. The star tonight, though, was a dish that even every respectable Chengdu restaurant should know.. A gorgeous steamed fish in sichuan style chillies and garlic sauce. The Halibut is a cold water, oily fish and it’s texture was firm and it’s flesh sweet. Totally to die for!

Szechuan/Sichuan Ma Po Tofu and Smooth Noodles.

The heat of Sichuanese food is well known. But Sichuan’s is a peculiar spiciness, in part thanks to the native peppercorns, famous for their vaguely anesthetic power. Here at Gu Yue Tien, Chef Frankie does a milder version of this cathartic dish. I like it this way. It allows me to taste the flavours a lot better, when I am not nursing a burning mouth. The smooth noodles went down in one silky string of a slurp. Nice!

steamed nian gao, that is then rolled around in salted fresh coconut shavings

Finally, a steamed version of the fried nian-gao that we are so used to for Chinese New Year. This one was soft and light and completely melted in my mouth. The salty coconut shavings enhanced the tastiness of the nian gao. Superb and highly recommended!

“I have one rule about truffles,” I say, “I never say no to them”.

Yes, so over dinner, we heard the story about how our friend, the truffle-phile, upon returning from France, had to store the fresh truffles before it could be presented for cooking. Contrary to popular believe , one should not stick it into rice to keep it dry, because this will promptly make the truffle lose all it’s aroma. As we all know, when exposed to air, the aroma of fresh truffles fills the room with heavenly fragrance. Because the fragrance will be lost with extended exposure to open air, truffles should be wrapped carefully in a paper towel and kept in an air-tight container or jar. It is very important to keep truffles dry, therefore it is a good idea to change the paper towel daily. All truffles hate dampness, and will develop mold if moisture is present. If mold develops, apparently one should shave off the affected area. This poor truffle-phile changed so many papers that when the time came to eat the truffle, it had to be revived with moisture. It had to be revived heavily with moisture. Wow.. and that is why I say.. the privileged few did not need to experience what pains it took to cook the meal, just that the meal in itself was exquisite.

fettuccine with crab, parsley, garlic and black truffle

Steamed fish with egg white sauce and black truffles

Yee Sang with Ocean Trout

With Chinese New Year (CNY) round the corner, don’t forget to check out Chef Choi’s CNY menu, that includes the traditional Yee Sang - loads of yam, crunchy bits and fresh ocean trout sashimi in plum sauce.

grilled sardin fish

I was told that the sardin, is rather hard to prepare. If it is not 100% fresh, it falls apart when cooked. These particular sardins kept their form and were superbly fresh. First time I ever tasted such taut and fresh sardins!

How can one not have champagne at such a festive dinner? 

Saucisson and Shaved Parmesan

Ah.. what a coincidence.. was just reading David Labovitz the other day and learnt the difference between, Saucisson and Saucisse.

Saucisson is a large variety of sausage preparations of minced or chopped meats and organ meats, which are seasoned, cooked, or dried (often called saucisson sec. Saucisson is eaten sliced , and usually cold, as it is bought). Saucisse on the other hand, is the generic term for sausage (cooked, uncooked, or cured) which is served hot or re-heated, as opposed to saucisson which is generally eaten cold in slices.

This cross section of the Saucisson looks like Mickey Mouse.. too cute! 

Braised Pork Shoulder with Mushroom, Black Moss (Fatt Choy) and Scallop

Braised Wa Wa Choy with Dry Scallop

The Wa Wa vegetable tastes like bok-choy, but is super tender and is from the cabbage family. It is also known as the Napa Cabbage, Brassica pekinensis. It has some really great anti-cancer properties, so eat up!

Special Fried Glutinous Rice with Hong Kong Liver Sausage

Steamed Rice with Sausage and Waxed Meat in Claypot (Lap Mei Farn)

Crispy Chinese New Year Cake with Yam and Tiramisu 

I’m pretty sure that truffles added to the pleasure of this terrific meal. But then simple pleasure isn’t the point of this curious restaurant. Good food and good friends, are the point. Oh.. and a whole load of truffles, whether they make sense or not;)