Dynasty Dragon, SS Two Mall

Turned away by Imperial Garden Restaurant's opening hours on a Saturday (we wanted dim sum at 10AM, they were only open at 11.30AM), we drove sulkily around the area for a dim sum joint with the unspoken caveat that it not be a Jin Xuan or a Hong Kee.

Upon reaching the gleaming anterior of SS Two Mall, we spied Dynasty Dragon and swung right in. Open at 10.30AM, with a healthy queue of families lounging about the entrance waiting to be ushered in, we brimmed with profuse confidence and self-praise for having found the place.

Early birds didn't quite get the proverbial worm here though. The orders took forever as most of the staff were actually tucking into early lunch in the main dining area. Big ups to the employer for feeding the staff properly before they tackled the lunch hordes but perhaps, they shouldn't have let the early patrons in until they were absolutely ready.

When the first of our orders finally arrived, we were off to a watery start when the century egg porridge arrived, bland, more gruel than porridge.

The Prawn Dumplings (Har Gau) did much better and reassured us that we would be taken care of, one way or another.

We liked that the Shanghai Dumplings (Siu Long Bao) came in little individual saucers to catch the precious scalding hot soup spilling out upon chopstick contact.

BBQ Pork Buns went down a treat. I'm no connoisseur but anything steaming hot and fluffy with lots of pork within is a no-brainer really.

Now THIS, Deep fried Yam puff with Scallop, variation of the classic Wu Kok, was something else. These were quite the exquisite parcels of seasoned yam with a whole fresh scallop encased, deep fried to a golden crisp and finished with a sprinkle of roe. Luscious!

Ended with a miss though... the Loh Mai Kai was way too sweet and oily to recommend.

So despite a rough start, I guess we didn't do too badly, although we could have done without the initial wait. Fairly priced at around RM46 too.

Dynasty Dragon Seafood Restaurant

Third Floor, SS Two Mall

Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03-79546328

Or their full deets, together with the five other branches' here.

An Identity Crisis, Dimsum at Taman Danau Desa

No one ever gets away operating within a single persona no more.

Not even a neighbourhood dimsum joint.

One One Cafe to some and Toms Dim Sum to others. We are all fragments of different things to different people, like it or not. The friend, the sister, the colleague, the lover, the neighbour, the audience - navigating around the varying expectations can be unnerving and cause more than a few slips and mishaps.

Your roots may start out in the Guangdong province, where the Teochew dumpling originated...

...traversing to the east where Shanghai gave birth to the soupy pockets of Xiu Long Bao...

...diving then into the ocean for the har in the har gau...


... and in subsequent remakes, getting itself upholstered in different variations, such as One One's Spinach & Prawn dumpling...


...and settling into universally embraced grease traps in the pan-fried goodness of the Fried Carrot Cake...

... and getting itself wrapped up in lotus leaf for a meat-and-carbo packed agenda.

Home too gets redefined as humankind continues to cross borders and barriers to get somewhere, anywhere, who knows where.

But right now, what is working for me is the porridge here at this dimsum joint, undecided of its own identity. The century egg & pork porridge features chunks of egg and lumpy pork meatballs in stodgy goodness.

Another version starring spare ribs & preserved vegetables brings a sigh of temporary relief from having to be different persuasions to different people.

Lucky me, it seems, that current reprieve is so close and accessible.

One One Dimsum/ Toms Dimsum
Taman Danau Desa 2
58100 Kuala Lumpur

A Hearty Change at The Han Room

Things on the food front are starting out refreshingly different this year, I am glad to report. A heightened sense of chutzpah towards the appreciation of diverse schools of nourishment, as if I'd just woken up from a drawn out slumber of indifference and lethargy. Things I'd previously been oblivious to, or hastily dismissed upon one lousy experience or another, are suddenly offensively irresistible. Like tiresome steamboat. Or messy Ramly mystery meat burgers. Or the seasonal icon nga ku beng.

My previous eating incarnation would never have dreamed of making a beeline for new Oriental Group joint the Han Room at the Gardens mid-week. I mean, Chinese banquet-type dinners have been ingrained from childhood as purely extended family territory and all its connotations.

But on this feasting occasion in work vicinity, nothing else came close to remotely exciting birthday girl Vicky W as the Han Room. A wise choice, as so laid an evening before us of fine, happy feasting.

Crispy cod fish roll with chicken floss. None of us were big fans of chicken floss on well, anything, but this was a delightful savoury start.

Why not mix the starter up a little and throw in something sweet? The thousand layered cake was fine but rather one-dimensional, certainly didn't do its name justice.

The luscious Peking Duck invoked latter unprecedented cravings. I am at this very minute, physically fighting off a craving for that crispy yet juicy skin wrapped in pancake, accentuated by hoisin sauce. The leftover meat, however, was a bit too lean and dry for us but the kitchen worked with what they had with the second course of fried rice from the same dish.


The braised beancurd in crab roe sauce sounded so commonplace I would have glazed over it in a heartbeat, had my dining companions not called attention to it. The crabby sauce lifted every cynical Chinese preconception. Delicious.

With the consistent quality so far, there was no way late arrival Hong Kong Kai Lan "2 ways" could have failed us.

Regular programming all out the window by the time we wrapped up the dishes, I agreed over-enthusiastically to desserts, which again, is way out in left field for me. Some years ago, I lost my sweet tooth, I suspect to growing fondness of the drink, never to have seen more than a rare, superficial revival. But I am starting to see a possibility of a real change this year!

The star dessert of the day was the thoroughly refreshing Summer Breeze Coconut Jelly. Provided thoughtful balance to a meal too entirely heavy for a Tuesday evening.

Birthday girl's double boiled sea coconut with snow pear. A-OK.

And to cap it all off, I had the sweetened yin yang avocado & mango. I liked that it wasn't crazy heavy or sweet, despite my earlier reservations. Considering I was bursting at the seams at this point, I managed to mop this up to the last drop and still wished there'd been a spoonful more.

Service remained top-notch well into closing time. We sat around for hours, drunk on duck, dessert and conversation and only realised much later that our table was the last one keeping them from pulling the shutters down, because the staff kept diligently pouring tea and keeping out of our way.

The Han Room
Ground Floor, The Gardens Mall,
Mid Valley
Tel: 03-2284 8833

Grease is Goose, Wei Kee, Pudu

Fresh from a surprisingly agreeable visit to Aquaria KLCC in spite of the weekend family mob, we wrapped up VIP Ollie's inaugural visit to Kuala Lumpur with a visit to Pudu for its distinct brand of roasted meat.

Come back anytime, ya hear?

Dad had been singing praises of Wei Kee for the longest time, having been inducted to the fatty roasted goose a few years ago by KL rellies who admittedly have a better nose for the type of cuisine that excited him.

An Ode to Adipose - the roasted goose commanded respect with its off-kilter fat content. Not the kinda stuff that would make me jizz my pants but Dad was delighted, albeit only momentarily, before his conscience settled in.

The roasted duck was leaner, and went down better with the lot of us.


Duck parts I didn't, couldn't touch but Dad and Fat Tulip lapped these up, and then some.



This Kiam Chai Boey I absolutely adored. Possibly the best use of leftover duck. Could've had a meal of rice and this alone.

We attempted to neutralise all that fat with a simple steamed tofu dish. Made Ollie very happy.

Wei Kee makes no apologies for its lacklustre roasted pork offerings. Goose is the business!

Come for the goose, beware the grease guilt trap!

Restoran Wei Kee

50, Lorong Yap Hin

Off Jalan Pasar

Pudu

The Solace of the Slaves at Sin Kee, Brickfields

Some weekday evenings, I step out of the office and blend right into the parade of the battered and soiled, having clocked another day of being a functioning, serving member of society. On these nights, I can turn only to food that takes me back to age 7, when being functional was considered a precocious trait, not a prerequisite.

Sin Kee, an establishment as old as Conformity itself, reaches out to derelict, empty souls pining for our weekends, our secret projects and predilections. Fat Tulip and I arrive on Tuesday evening to a near full house of hungry folks with that haunting vacant stare, made even more unrelenting by the stark fluorescent lighting.

The Mun Fan (Stewed Pork Rice) comforts as the worn bowl is lifted, unveiling rice laced with the goodness of pork, Chinese sausages, egg and lettuce. On any other night, I would have turned my nose at this because this isn't a spectacular dish by any means, but it's a brand of soothing therapy to the bitter working class like no other.

I can't remember the last time the Sweet & Sour Pork made an appearance on my plate but I order it instinctively, assailed by the memory of the same dish being lovingly prepared by Mom for us three pesky, picky kids. While this revives us somewhat, we struggle to finish the huge portion of battered meat.

The Chicken Chop is a delight, boneless tenderness doused in brown gravy and baked beans and home fried potatoes. The weekend doesn't feel THAT far away now, we think.

We finish with a perfunctory vegetable dish, Long Beans & Brinjal in Sambal. This is too oily and too robust for our liking for by this time, we have too many different flavours on the table confusing our humble palates.

Fat Tulip pays his respects as we depart to seek solace in our fitful sleep. It won't be the last time that we will need Sin Kee's nourishing, almost parental embrace.

Personality Test at Kar Heong, Subang

Partaking in a simple meal can make radical changes to perception, offering invaluable insights to a new character beyond the possibilities of Myers-Briggs.

He ordered Siu Yoke (Roast Pork). And ate every last sliver of porcine fat on the plate. with relish. Yes this could be LOVE.

He asked for the hor fun with prawn wantan to be replaced with blah yellow noodles. But horfun rules in this joint! What would compel a person to go with insipid yellow noodles over the silky smooth hor fun? I raised a mental eyebrow but refrained from being too judgemental. This is as much a personality outing for me as it is for him.

I stuck to hor fun and I was smugly pleased. Rice noodles coated with lardy love, chives and spring onion. He remained unimpressed. Hmmm...Stubborn, much? Score to Kar Heong, none to him.

The dumplings spoke to me in volumes. I needed a slam dunk and this was it! Check out the size of the prawns involved.

And when it comes down to it, aren't the concealed fillings all that matter?

A meal at Kar Heong isn't going to deliver all the answers about a person but it does bring you one slice of fatty siu yoke closer to the truth.

The Local aka Hock Hin, SS19

The more generous locals I eat with, the more familiar I become with the hidden nooks and foreign suburbs in the Klang Valley. Subang is one area of this gradual induction.

One work evening, a new eating companion gently held my hand as I ventured into this area, which holds its own in the BKT league and its many good eats to cater for its thriving population.

Hock Hin, said companion's family favourite dai chow in SS19 was to be this evening's introduction to Subang.

The Claypot pork with salted fish was lovely, spicy and hit the sodium notes perfectly. Or not so perfect for me perhaps, since I had chosen to abstain from rice this evening. Still, I dug in with nary a care.

Nothing shouted "Welcome to Subang!" like the glazed, hypnotic goodness of these Marmite chicken drumsticks! I polished about three of these darlings with much relish!

Equally gratifying were the plentiful sticks of chicken satay from lone kakak operating the stall in the same kopitiam.

To square off all that pork & poultry, a simple dish of stir-fried French beans with garlic. These crunchy greens are so easy to eat - even though it was a touch more grease than required for a vegetable dish, it was hard to keep away.

Hock Hin is situated on Jalan SS19/6. They have another air-conditioned shoplot a few doors down from the open-air coffee shop, for those who wilt in tropical evening weather.

Subang, I'll be coming back for more!

Kanpei to the rescue, Mid Valley working class!

Work lunches in the culinary wasteland of Mid Valley are typically undertakings filled with dread, stamped with a dozen blaring caveats. Thankfully, there are shelters we return again and again to seek temporary refuge before we brave the terrain overpopulated with mall junkies, bad service and overpriced bad food.

Kanpei, located at Northpoint across the road via the pedestrian overhead bridge from the retail congestion of the main mall, is one such shelter. It's extremely reliable for a quick decent bite, for days when we simply cannot fathom working our way across to the mall for midday sustenance.

Kanpei serves dependable Chinese favourites in comfortable woody setting. The Claypot Lou Shu Fun here is a firm pick, goes straight to cure any mid-week client blues. On this visit, my workmates orders a large claypot to share - the sight of the noodles being dished out into smaller bowls, emitting porky fumes, is akin to therapy.

I go for the more subdued Wan Tan Mee with Dumplings because I trust Kanpei to serve it with a decent side of greens. The egg noodles are skinny, springy and chewy, just the way I like them!

Dumplings burst with whole prawns & pork upon first bite, perfect with the house dried chilli paste they are very generous with.

Another office-wide favourite - Whitebait fritters with chilli & garlic. Whitebait is a curious entity in this part of the world. Having been first introduced to them in NZ as those tiny worm-like beings in Whitebait fritters, I was a little thrown off when they turned out to be about the size of sardines. The flavour too is somewhat different - it's still subdued and sweet, but with a component missing, I can't quite put my finger on it. Nevertheless, this dish is a crunchy solid 8/10!

Another option to stave off institutional revulsion and the system - Wat Tan Hor or Cantonese Hor Fun. Gloriously eggy, moist and serving size that guarantees the snoozes after, I can't say this is the best I've had, but in times of great need, and in the context of Mid Valley's blandness, this will have to do until dinnertime!