I felt like a kid in a candy store.
It was my first time trying poon choi, and I was mesmerised.
It is said that a long time ago, poon choi was cooked in large wooden wash basins to serve the multitudes. Things have evolved since, and in Restoran LYJ, the poon choi is served in a metal tray and kept warm on a portable stove. The interesting aspect of this dish is that the ingredients are layered, starting with the bottom layer consisting of the braised foods like pork knuckles, fish stomach, abalone, mushroom and chicken feet. The second layer consisted of the rest of Old McDonald’s farm – roast duck, chicken, fish and vegetables. After a while, the essence from the various meats seeped into the sauce to create a wonderful synergy of flavours.
This dish can feed between 10 to 12 people and is a popular dish during the Chinese New Year festivities. It was RM218 for this platter last year; prices may have gone up since. To order this dish, call one day in advance. The good news is that you can also order this dish and have it at home. I believe there is a deposit to pay for the container if you wish to tar-pau.
Finding this restaurant can be a nightmare if you’re not familiar with the Sungai Buloh area. If you’re driving along Jalan Batu Tiga Sungai Buloh (off Jalan Sungai Buloh), shortly after the army camp (on the right) is a right turning to Jalan Welfare. If you see Loong Kee Bak Kut Teh and a petrol station soon after that, you will know that you have gone beyond the turning. Once you are on Jalan Welfare, keep going even if you think you’ve arrived at another country. Jalan Perkhidmatan is on the left. Military fatigues are optional.
The restaurant also serves a mean fish head dish served with black bean paste and chillies, and Thai-style tiger prawns cooked with fragrant caramelised onions. Fasting before going is recommended.
For more reviews, go HERE, and HERE, and HERE.
Restoran LYJ
PT 11, Jalan Perkhidmatan, Kg Baru, 47000 Sungai Buloh.
Tel: 03-6140 2698
Operating hours: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 6.00pm to 10pm. Closed on Monday nights and during CNY.
Wow! Never had this dish before but it looks like it could feed an army!!
u must be kidding me!, that platter of 10, and theres fish head and prawns???
either the fish head is small or m i seeing almost half a fish?
AIKKSSS!! The first pic of the chicken head a bit turn off la. HAHAHA!!!Subsequent pics….YUMMYLICIOUS!!
I’m not familar with this platter but array of food certainly looks great for sharing. The layering is an interesting concept but the juices frm the top layer sipping down to the abalone and mushrooms will probably give it extra flavour..mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Hehe… the first pic was a bit of a shocker… but your subsequent explanations make this sound like a one-dish banquet! Nice… Juicy, juicy, mari-nate-a-ucy. 😀
Wow…the one I had at my dad’s working place is slightly different. Not that much stuff but there is braised pork, braised sea cucumber, braised fish maw, braised goose feet, brocolli, braised mushroom and braised bai ling mushrooms. I can’t remember how much it cost but the braised holland goose feet was delicious! aiks hungry ady >,<
pun choi!!!! so big gal of mii nv try pun choi out! i found that’s real fun having alot of food inside a pot! yammmmmmm
is it near the pasar one ar? tried a few restaurants there…tasty but quite oily..hehe..
sorry ar, no rhymes now cos rushing to airport….
next post, k? 🙂
ah… i reli do believe in divine intervention from the gastronomical goddess now. yesterday i was ranting abt the fact that i couldn’t get to ur new site, today, i was greeted by the sight of a scrumptious feast. love ur new look, M! 😀
hey, my ‘restaurant’ is called LJY, heh heh.
Lyrical, that is one h-u-g-e meal!
Wokandspoon: yup, it was one huge meal. I had poon choi spilling out of my nose.
Joe: It was big. Real big.
Precious Sista: Was going for the shock factor. hehe.
daphne: Yeah, it’s a great concept when you think about it. Chap farn in a single bowl. hahaha.
Kenny Mah: it was extremely delicious and filling. Yeah, juicy too. 😛
Jian: The stuff inside is basically the same, except that i don’t recall eating any goose feet. Mmm…suddenly feeling hungry for it!
yammylicious: never too late to start now! hehe. I have only tried this dish once.
Nic: Pasar? Hmmmm. There’s a pasar malam there. I drove there by myself, so it was hard to recognise all the landmarks. Have a good holiday, btw!
Jun: I’m so glad you managed to visit the new blog. U got me kinda worried! Glad you like it. 🙂
Argus: True true! I did think of you when I wrote this! hehe. So u wanna change ur mind abt Japanese and go for this instead?
I shall tell my mum I want to eat poon chai when I visit Singapore this coming CNY. That will be probably in a eatery somewhere. The poon chai I’ve eaten and seen does not come with so many ingredients. This is such a WOW!
Aiyo…I wanna eat Poon Choi la..I never try any poon choi before..Better ask my Hongkies Boss to treat us on Coming Annual Dinner..haha 🙂
tigerfish: I hope you get your poon choi! I’m sure you’re missing it a lot!
ekeng: hope you’ll succeed in persuading your boss. It’ll be worth your effort. 🙂
Recently visited a restaurant at Sg.Buloh too. Will do a posting for it soon.
It’s pretty good and is called Restaurant Chang Man, with orange signboard, right opposite Sg.Buloh Police station. Try their “shan dong guak(ribs)”, Yummy!
I also want to eat Poon chai!!!
Happy New Year 2008!!
Haven’t tried out poon choi before. But it sure looks good!
Anyone want to do a coordinated Yee Sang survey of the Klang Valley around/before CNY?
hey! I haven’t been buy in a while. I LOVE YOUR NEW DESIGN!!
whoa.. its quite hard to go eat pun choi unless you have made pre arrangements. Usually we need to gather about 10 persons for this meal.. Sigh.. the last time I had this was with ma family, at the restaurant formerly known as Kum Leng opposite of what used to be the Pavillion Cinema in town (Is it Jln Pudu ?)
Totally enjoyed every bit of it…
wow, has been years since i had poon choi. i remembered years back when my mum told me how poon choi was prepared; i was enthralled. served during CNY; usually poon choi has 10 dishes, stacked in layers. Hence, you get a new ‘surprise’ when you finish a layer..anticipating the next dish.. with that; the name of pon choi ie. dishes in a bowl… 🙂
Mmm…looks like a feast fit for a king!
These look like they come from an ancient Imperial Chinese Wine Inn beside the Yellow River , during the Tang Dynasty.
Did you really go back into time omgoodness ( without checking with the team ?!)
we still lovingly prefer yr old flame blogspot , for it truly captures the essence of your passionate lovely angles
JOjo: Ooooh I look forward to your review!!
Sugar Bean: Happy new year to you too! It’s definitely very tasty!
Henry Yeo: You should put your request up in your blog so that people can respond directly to you, eh? 🙂 Easier for you to coordinate mah.
Steamy kitchen: I’m glad you like it!! 😀
Bernsy: Organise a session lah. I’ll be there. hehehe.
SC: Thanks for the info, girl!
wmw: Hahha…definitely!
team bsg: awwww….like all things in life, we just gotta move on and embrace the new. Will strive not to lose the old essence of my passionate lovely angles. Hehe. Thanks for the feedback, though. 🙂
Hahaha I hardly eat chicken feet but I slurp the whole goose feet like no tomorrow XD soo good la…meaty, thick and texture similar to sea cucumber…
You din add abalone? teehehehe
Congrats on the new domain and spanking new design. Excellent, I love it!
Happy New Year, and happy eating 2008! W00t. 🙂
Aikss…!!! This is not good! Go for poon choi also didnt invite us along…boho!!
Jian: Wow! You’re making me hungry di!! Oh, got abalone. I didn’t mention that hor. 😛
Rasa Malaysia: Thanks girl!!! Happy New Year to you too!!
Jackson: Sorry lah. I ate this last year. And it was a last minute thing. Never mind, there’s always this year. 😀
Poon choi is not as terrible as I heard… hahaa…. they say the people just throw everything inside the basin and mix them…. 😛
I think it looks more authentic that the one I had in Hong Kong last year. Had it in a restaurant in Star Ferry Mall not Yuen Long.
Eek! That chicken head gave me a fright! Well, it sounds like some very dedicated eating went on that night.
My first love is still Japanese food: looks good, tastes great.
You know how the Chinese are not so nifty in food presentation, lah…
If you want to see how it’s traditionally prepared, here’s an SCMP video of poon choi preparation shot in the Tang Ancestral Hall in Ping Shan, Hong Kong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84q1x9bSxyU
It’s amazing how popular this ancient style of cooking has recently become!
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Yeap, definitely highly recommended – took 10 of us 5-6 hours to finish the dish…. with half a dozen of good wine 🙂 Looking back, it was a good thing because after dinner, went towards KL and got stuck in 3-hour flood/traffic jam – needless to say we were not hungry – altho you may well suspect correctly that we did have “loo” issues! Hmmm…
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Just had their poon choi yesterday. Agree that finding this place is a nightmare. It is now priced at RM288. Take away available w deposit of RM30 for the pot. slightly saltish to the bottom layers, as too much of gravy. Not much of vege included though. However, loved the brocolli as it was really fresh!