Regal House, One Bangsar

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Herb Crusted Sliced Smoked Duck with Fruit Salad

I may as well make hay while the sun shines by putting up another blog post before I accidentally slip into hibernation mode again. I have thousands of photographs in my archive, all waiting for their stories to be told, but this blog post must be written because it marks the reunion of a sisterhood that was formed several years back. Precious Pea, who had just come back from Melbourne, gave me, Boo and Paps a reason to get together again for one of our lengthy meals lit up not only by camera flashes but also by smiles and laughter all around. The stage was set at Regal House.

To match the fire within us, we started our meal with a cold appetiser – Marinated Black Wood Fungus. The szechuan peppercorn which it was marinated in, barely hot and pungent, succeeded in numbing our tongues and our lips momentarily, and it was only when we consumed our second appetiser, the Deep Fried Lion Fish, that the sensation disappeared. The fish, flavoured merely with salt and pepper, was soft and sweet, had lots of bones, and possessed a very delicate texture.

If I had to pick just one thing to eat at Regal House, it would definitely be the Herb Crusted Smoked Duck. The skin was crisp while the exterior was slightly charred like char siu. The meat was tender and moist, and the flavour was lightly caressed with a hint of wasabi. It was just wonderful. The fruit salad on the side seemed to be an afterthought and didn’t add any aesthetic value to the dish. It almost felt like a pity to wash everything down with the next dish, a Pig’s Stomach Soup, but upon drinking it, my body was immediately warmed by the peppery soup. The flavour wasn’t overly robust, though.

The Deep Fried Spare Ribs came coated with a rather sweet and salty black pepper sauce and fried garlic slices. I was surprised at how tender the ribs were. I don’t care much for leafy greens, but I enjoyed the Claypot Kailan which was sizzling hot and intensely flavoured with a salty prawn paste sauce. Our final dish was the Sang Har Meen, or rather, Regal House’s version of the Sang Har Meen. Don’t expect any egg gravy with this dish. Instead, what we got was a pan fried yee mee, served dry, with fat and juicy freshwater prawns.

Desserts consisted of an Avocado Cream that was not on the menu, and Chilled Minty Lemongrass Flavoured Fruit Jelly served in an elegant stemmed glass and designed to be drunk rather than eaten with a spoon. We didn’t care much for the Avocado Cream which seemed to have a disproportionate amount of coconut milk to avocado, but loved the lemongrass jelly which contained bits of water chestnut, barley and mint.

Regal House now occupies what used to be Hatyai Street, and the chef, who hails from Hong Kong, prepares a good selection of Cantonese cuisine. I like One Bangsar for the availability of parking spaces and its central location (halfway between my office and home!) so if anyone would like to dine with me, pick Bangsar. Prices are reasonable. The appetisers which we had were priced at RM13 each, while my favourite herb crusted smoked duck was RM16 (or 18?) for a single portion. The double boiled soup which served 5 of us easily was RM88. The spare ribs and claypot kailan were in the region of RM20-something each.

Thanks, husband of Precious Pea, for kindly footing the bill and for enduring our animated chatter throughout the meal! I suppose it’s one of the hazards of being married to such a popular girl.

Regal House
One Bangsar
63E Jalan Ara
Bangsar Baru 59100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2283 3116

Marinated Black Wood Fungus in Spicy Szechuan Spices

Regal Deep Fried Lion Fish with Salt and Pepper

Doubled Boiled Salted Mustard Cabbage with Pig’s Stomach

Deep Fried Spare Ribs with Garlic and Black Pepper Sauce

Claypot Kailan with Dried Shrimp and Seafood Sauce

Sang Har Meen

Lyrical Lemongrass with her Chilled Minty Lemongrass Dessert and Paprika with her Avocado Dessert

It’s A Noodle Bar, Bangsar Village II

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Last Friday, I experienced my first emotional breakdown in ages when I was caught in a traffic jam heading towards the KL Convention Centre for Babyface‘s concert. After sitting in the car for 2 1/2 hours in KL’s rush hour traffic, the air conditioner in my car suddenly stopped working. Things went downhill from there. Unable to wind down my window in the Smart Tunnel, I persevered in the heat, sweat dripping down my back, and my body feverish from a bout of flu. Within minutes, a loud clanging sound emanated from the engine. I panicked. Don’t die on me now, don’t die on me, I prayed. In my stationery position, I glanced at my side view mirror, and *gasp*, I could see smoke billowing up from the undercarriage, diffusing the light from the car behind me. OMG, the car’s going to explode, my eyes widened with apprehension. I had obviously been watching too many car chase scenes on TV which end in a fiery blast. I called Bald Eagle on the mobile phone, sobbing and saying my goodbyes.

As I approached the open air carpark where a long queue had already formed, my car rattling louder than a construction site, I gestured to the driver in front of me to let me through first. I circled my arms in a big O with a whoosh at the end, my eyes showing the terror that I felt, as I acted out an exploding car scene (mushroom…kabooom!) to the driver so that he would take pity on me. The fella was obviously lacking in compassion or imagination (c’mon dude…it’s a universal exploding car gesture!) and ignored me. Bugger. To cut a long story short, I made it to the carpark in one piece with no explosion in sight. Babyface should realise that I almost gave up my life for him.

The concert helped calm my nerves; I’m a sucker for soppy love songs from the 80s, so when Babyface sang Gone Too Soon as a tribute to Michael Jackson (many years back, a tribute by Michael Jackson to Diana, Princess of Wales), I let go of my angst, wept a bit and generously allowed Bald Eagle to hold my hand. The similarities were startling. If my car had exploded that night, Gone Too Soon would have been Bald Eagle’s tribute to me. Like a comet blazing across the evening sky, gone too soon…..

Hehe.

There’s a reason why I’m an accountant and my brothers are engineers; upon inspecting the next day, my brother pointed out to me that the compressor for my air conditioner had konked out (ta-da…the source of the loud engine sound), and it would cost me RM1,500 to replace it. Like Bald Eagle, he laughed at my exploding car theory. (My brother has no imagination either.)

I’m poorer by RM1,500, but I’m alive. Everytime I close my eyes, I thank the Lord that I’ve got you, and you’ve got me too…..

**********

Golden Sauce Noodles

This post is about love. My love for 80s love songs, my love for Bald Eagle and my love for noodles.

Originally supposed to be called Canoodling (or at least, that’s what the sign on the scaffolding indicated before it was removed), It’s A Noodle Bar finally opened its doors after overcoming its teething problems. The decor is very much industrial with a hint of quirkiness in the form of suspended table lamps from the ceiling. The menu is extensive enough with its main servings consisting of a variety of Asian style noodles. From familiar dishes like assam laksa and pan mee, to foreign sounding names like golden sauce noodles and Indonesian baba noodles, the only type of noodles missing would probably be Western pastas.

Raw Salmon with Relish

Fried Eggplant with Chicken Floss

The Raw Salmon served with diced onions, cucumber, pomegranate and pineapple relish and basil leaf was an interesting concoction but lacked a slight saltiness that would have made it more enjoyable. I’ve always liked deep fried eggplant with spicy chicken floss (the first time I tried this was at Robson Heights Seafood Restaurant in Seputeh and I was bowled over by this dish); the version served here was less crisp but still tasty. At RM5, I thought it was very reasonably priced.

Indonesian Baba Noodles

Fish Fillet Vermicelli

The Golden Sauce Noodles came in a bowl of yellow, mildly sour and very milky curry (thanks to a generous helping of coconut cream) which was further thickened with shredded kembong fish, and garnished with pineapple, cucumber and keropok. I preferred this over the Indonesian Baba Noodles, which came in a spicier gravy together with chicken, potatoes and eggplant. The flavour of the curry lacked depth and didn’t seem to be dominated by any particular ingredient (eg. chicken or fish or prawn). My favourite for the evening was undoubtedly the Fish Fillet Vermicelli, which was served with snapper fish slices in a murky white broth of soybean soup. Quite unusual but it was a combination that worked well.

Tong Sui

Several types of tong sui are available to sweeten the palate and mitigate the spiciness of the meal. We went with the snow fungus, gingko and egg tong sui which was pretty good. The tong sui here are priced between RM4 and RM5.50, quite affordable for shopping mall prices.

Ice Blended Apple, Elderflower and Lychee (in foreground) and Ice Blended Green Tea Soy Milk with Vanilla Ice Cream

Shochu – Kaikouzu (Sweet Potato) & Ko-tamba (Chestnut)

A good variety of salads are also available for those who do not want to consume too many carbs. If they are anything like Delicious‘ salads, I reckon I’ll be a fan soon. (Note: It’s a Noodle Bar and it’s neighbour, For Goodness Sake are part of the Ms Read group)

It’s A Noodle Bar
2F-29, Bangsar Village II,
No. 2, Jalan Telawi 1, Bangsar Baru, KL.

Giovino, Changkat Bukit Bintang

Posted on March 3, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Greek Dolmades – Rolled Vine Leaf with Rice

I confess -I have no knowledge of Greek food, which begs the question, is it fair for me to give a critical appraisal of something that I know nothing of? I could let my tastebuds decide, for after all, if my tongue has been on active duty for *cough* forty *cough* years or so, it has to be a rather reliable tool, yes? Bald Eagle was in Greece a couple of years back, but he had painful memories there (watching Liverpool lose in the Champions League final) so broaching the subject of Greek food is suicidal (for me). Thanks to a recent reading of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, a book that in many ways paralleled Plath’s life, I have enlightened myself on the many ways of suicide and societal oppression, and a reference to Greece may well be another means of meeting my maker earlier than anticipated. So, what to do, what to do, I envision this land that I have never been to before, and images of Mamma Mia! The Musical flash before my eyes together with mountainous terrains, corinthian temples, Plato and moussaka.

Which brings me to the Greek Moussaka in Giovino. Bald Eagle would approve of this moussaka, simply because the lamb bolognaise, mashed potatoes and bechamel almost entirely masked the presence of the vegetable he detests the most – eggplant. This is where our marriage suffers; I have always favoured eggplant, but have been forced to eat it on the sly from the day we said “I do”. My kitchen has never seen an eggplant before, and this is a tragedy indeed.

The Greek Dolmades is apparently a rather popular appetizer. Stuffed with rice and herbs, this is refreshing and zesty. The Spanacopita and Kreatopita are names that roll of the tongue as effortlessly as they are consumed. Both are made with rather fluffy and airy phyllo pastry, one with sauteed spinach, and the other with minced meat. The Greek Bifteki looks deceptively like a piece of steak, but I liken it to an oversized burger patty, layered with emmenthal and bacon, making it an extremely flavourful piece of minced meat. All 300 grams of it.

To read more of Giovino‘s offerings, which include Italian food as well, check out Eat Drink KL’s quadrilogy.

Giovino
32, Changkat Bukit Bintang,
50250 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2141 1131

Spanacopita – Baked Sauteed Spinach in Filo Pastry