New Formosa Restaurant, SS2 PJ

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

This morning, I was late for work by more than an hour due to a number of accidents on the highway. Several things frustrate me daily, but in this instance, the lack of consideration and the egotistical nature of certain drivers irked me. If you hit a car in front of you, for Pete’s sake, move to the side of the road and negotiate lah. Don’t stop in the middle of the highway, centre lane, no less, and assume that the world stops for you just because you have a tiny dent on your rear bumper. I. Don’t. Care.

When we bought our place in Bukit Jelutong many many years ago, traffic was a lot more bearable. Now, the sheer number of cars on the road coupled with an increase in the number of inconsiderate drivers makes it a nightmare for me to drive to work every morning. I normally say a prayer before I start my journey. In addition to the usual request for world peace and an end to global hunger, I pray for the roads to be clear so that I may make it to work within half an hour. Based on my recent experience on the roads, I can only postulate that God has a queer sense of humour.

I seem to be lacking constants in my life. Change is good, but not when it’s about a worsening traffic condition. Another constant I am missing is my hair colourist, Randall. It was an affair that brought out the glow in my skin and made rainbows out of my grey days. Now, Taiwan owns him.

If Taiwan has my Randall, then we, Malaysians, have Jeanie, a Taiwanese who made Malaysia her home thirty years ago after falling in love with and marrying a Malaysian chef. Together, they started New Formosa, and to this day, business has been brisk. I was first introduced to this place several years back by my blogging idol, Boo. I remember enjoying the dishes, one of my favourites being the Butter Eel, which was fried in a crispy, sweet batter. Another dish which caught my fancy a couple of years back was the steamed crabs in unpolished rice. The rice was so fragrant and tasty that I wrote on my blog that this dish would be forever etched in my memory.

Thanks to Jeanie, we were introduced to the Chinese New Year menu, a delightful mix of decadent ingredients that made up the Chinese New Year requisites. How can one say no to the Fu Lu Shou soup (a Taiwanese traditional Fo tiao Qiang Monk Jumping Over The Wall) which contained a variety of expensive ingredients in a herbal soup – dried baby scallops, shark’s fin, sea cucumber, fish maw, chinese mushroom, yam white cabbage, spare ribs, diced chicken, wolfberry, dried longan, bamboo membrane and shao xin wine. We agreed that it was a steal at only RM36 a bowl.

My favourite Butter Eel formed part of a two-combination dish together with Dried Oysters in a special sauce. (RM48) The dried oysters were particularly intense in flavour, but because of this, one could either love it or hate it. I loved the Gingko Ham (Hunan’s special traditional ham dish) (RM45) which was served with bread. This reminded me of the dried meat sandwich that one could buy off the road in the old days, although the ham was of a far superior quality. The preparation of the ham is tedious, as it is steamed for a prolonged period to remove the salt.

Feng Sha Ji (roast chicken) reminded me of a turkey at Thanksgiving, all dressed up and stuffed, although this chicken was roasted with red scallions and stuffed with “eight treasures” (including chestnuts, dried shrimps and rice). The chicken was very flavourful and moist. We were also served a yam and duck tart, which was already sliced into individual portions. The duck was steamed for two hours, after which the bones were removed, the meat extracted and then mixed with flour to make this dish. The Steamed Giant Grouper (Nian Nian You Yu – every year has extra fortune) was served with black fermented soy beans and minced ginger and garlic. Very tasty. I’m still waiting for extra fortune to come my way, but why be greedy? I shall be satisfied with just good traffic daily.

For desserts, we were served an assortment of puddings (mango, green tea aloe vera, honey and custard) and Or Nee (sans pork lard, hence the skinny version) which is a yam and gingko creamy confection. There was also a live performance treat where fried pieces of yam coated with sesame seeds, honey and maltose were plunged into iced water resulting in a hardened and crunchy/brittle surface. In the process, long threads of hardened sugar formed over the skin, like ice sculpture pieces. They were not just things of beauty; they were also extremely delicious.

A picture speaks a thousand words, they say, so I shall leave you with several thousand….

Salmon Yee Sang RM39

Two combination dish – Butter Eel and Dried Oyster RM48

Steamed Long Tan (Giant Grouper) Taiwanese traditional style RM58

Gingko Ham RM45

Feng Sha Ji Roast Chicken RM55

Two varieties of Prawns

Fried Vegetables with Pomelo Sacs and Almond Flakes RM30

Assorted Puddings

Or Nee

One happy customer

Fried yam

Thanks, Jeanie, for the lovely treat!

Note: The featured menu is available until February 28 2010. The restaurant is open throughout the CNY period. For other delectable goodies, check out their website.

New Formosa Restaurant
46, Jalan SS2/24,
47300 Petaling Jaya.

Tel: 03-7875 1894, 7875 7478, 019-335 3274.

Business hours: 12 noon to 3pm, 6pm to 10.30pm.

Closed from the 16th to the 19th day of the first Lunar month.

Hope in a Fuchsia Bottle

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

We are led to a table beside a group of fourteen – twelve women and two men, many of them in fuchsia. Perhaps the colour doesn’t feel as old-fashioned as red. The older ladies are in red; it is hard to break away from tradition. As we partake of the stewed pork knuckles, a Chinese tune sung melodiously at soprano tones rises above the cacophony of sounds in the busy restaurant. I can tell that it is a traditional tune, although I can’t make out the words in Mandarin. My friend tells me that the song is about spring.

The voices rise in harmony. Some of the other restaurant patrons turn around to see where the sound is coming from. The ladies in fuchsia, while waiting for the next dish to arrive, continue singing from their songsheets, oblivious to the disapproving looks. My friend shakes his head and laughs nervously. The nightingales in fuchsia carry on, their sweet voices serenading me through my fatty, sticky char siew meal.

You would not believe your eyes
If ten million fireflies
Lit up the world as I fell asleep….

The loud sound of fire crackers goes off at 3 in the afternoon. I am jolted from my slumber, a pleasant dream about udon and an udon maker rudely interrupted. The sound crescendoes to a climax after fifteen minutes, and I fall back into my goose-down pillow, willing for a continuation of my dream.

It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay
Awake when I’m asleep
‘Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep….

(Lyrics borrowed from Fireflies – Owl City)

I haven’t spent time with my friend in months, and he is back for the holidays. We agree to meet at a restaurant at Changkat Bukit Bintang. We have had enough of Chinese food for the season, and seek something different instead. A lion dance troupe makes its way up the stretch, stopping at every restaurant to bless the businesses and to bring them luck and fortune. Two hours later, the clashing of cymbals and drums compete with the music from the surrounding clubs, and all hope of conversation is lost.

Our “reunion” dinner is as Malaysian as it gets. Chinese, Indian, Malay and Lain-Lain are all represented. Days earlier, Hunky, in a drunken stupor, offers to cook prawn risotto, a recipe he has perfected over the years. We bring the yee sang. Paps makes lemon pudding for desserts. The essence of a reunion dinner is present via the creation of new traditions while upholding the old. Laughter fills the air as fireworks light up the sky with the silhouette of the Twin Towers in the background.

For a brief moment, my heart is filled with hope.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Nambawan Restaurant & Cafe, Old Klang Road

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs. When it was time for them to leave home to seek their fortune, their mummy told them, “Whatever you do , do it the best that you can because that’s the way to get along in the world.”

So the first pig built a house out of straw, the second, out of sticks, and the third, out of bricks.

One night, the big bald eagle appeared at the house made of straw and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me in!”

The little pig replied, “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!”

And the bald eagle said, “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!”

Bacon, lettuce and tomato roll

The house of straw came down, and the bald eagle took the little pig to Nambawan and got the good people there to make him a french baguette with crispy fried bacon together with lettuce and tomato. The baguette was surprisingly soft with a crisp crust; it made for a good first meal, and the bald eagle was pleased.

Somewhat satiated but still rather peckish, the bald eagle made his way down the road, and soon came to the house made of sticks. The big bald eagle appeared at the house made of sticks and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me in!”

The little pig replied, “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!”

And the bald eagle said, “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!”

Stone charbroiled pork belly with roasted potatoes and salad

The house of sticks came down and the bald eagle took the little pig to Nambawan and got the good people there to make him a stone charbroiled pork belly dish with roasted potatoes and salad. The bald eagle found the pork belly rather chewy and not extremely succulent, so he went out in search of more little piggies.

He soon came to the house made of bricks, a massive and palatial structure, ostentatious and vulgar. The big bald eagle stood before the house made of bricks and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me in!”

The little pig replied, “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!”

And the bald eagle said, “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!”

100% homemade pork burger

Unlike the traditional fairy tale of yore, this piggy’s house was built by a Malaysian contractor, and sure enough, the house fell on the third puff. The bald eagle grabbed the squealing pig and took him away to Nambawan where the good people turned the pig into a juicy, scrumptious pork burger, plump and pink, with generic fries on the side.

There is no moral to a story where no morals are involved.

****************

We first read about Nambawan (No.1) Restaurant and Cafe in Masak-Masak’s blog, and subsequently in Minchow’s blog, and were impressed that such amazing non-halal western type food could be found in a rather unlikely location (you will know why if you are familiar with this area). The prices are insanely cheap – a pork burger with a homemade patty at only RM6.90, a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich at also RM6.90, and a charbroiled pork belly slab that will feed two easily at RM13.90! The cafe is pleasant enough with white walls and white furniture and bold bright pictures plastered on one of the walls. In addition to sandwiches and burgers, they also serve a selection of pastas and rice. For more reviews, also check out Food-4-Thot’s blog.

Nambawan Restaurant & Cafe
No. 10, Sri Manja Square One
Taman Sri Manja
Jalan Klang Lama
46000 Petaling Jaya.

Tel: 016-224 1533 (Yap), 013-263 2772 (Gilbert)

Business hours: 12 pm till 3pm, 6pm till 10pm. Open daily.

****************

Note: When I first had a glimpse of my photographs, I thought I couldn’t salvage them, and so to save my readers from being assaulted by bad photography, I resorted to one of my *cough* well-honed skills – drawing – to illustrate my fabulous dining experience. If you find them pitiful, be gentle, save me the brickbats and enjoy the actual pictures instead.

Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich