December 29, 2011

Restaurant Mei Six Hin, Prima Sri Gombak: A Medley of the Old and the New!


As mentioned in my previous post, we had the honors of sampling Chef Steven’s new menu at his Restaurant Mei Six Hin at Gombak a few weeks back. A chef who is constantly churning out new dishes, showed his passion for cooking and how he brings it to his restaurant for his guests to savor them.






We gathered one Sunday for a late lunch and Sid even brought along another bottle of Chinese liqueur to be savored with our meal. I love the fact that we never know what to expect at Chef Steven’s so it was always a quaint little surprise for me!





 

Seen here is a herbal liqueur called ‘Chu Yeh Ching Chiew’ which contains an astonishing 45% alcohol content. A very potent wine and a light sip instantly brought out a strong tingling of herbal liqueur on my taste bud. I also found out that this wine was steeped with bamboo leaves for a unique flavor!






Our bubbling pot of Claypot Braised Fish Head or ‘Xiong Yue Mun Yue Tou’ is a warming concoction of chunks of Garoupa fish head braised in a fermented bean curd sauce interplayed with radish, carrot, scallion, ginger and leeks. I was told that there is two types of fermented bean curd, ‘Nam Yue’ & ‘Fu Yue’, used to concoct the unique flavors of the sauce.






The fish head had a smooth and almost gelatinous texture as it was simply braised without the usual coating of starch and fried. The flavors were surprisingly mild and savory with a silky thickness. Truly authentic, the dish simply calls for a bowl of white rice!






Our next dish was a soup like no other… Bamboo Treasure Soup or ‘Xin Tai Hai Wong Thong’ already sounds luxurious way before I sampled it.






The superior chicken broth held a pillow of bamboo pith that guards fresh scallops and king crab meat. Served simply with baby Bok Choy to lighten it, the deep golden broth was indeed a masterpiece!






Another dish that commanded old school was Braised Ginger Duck or ‘Gu Mei Keong Ngap’. A dish that requires patience as it takes a minimal of 45 minutes for braising, the pieces of duck was coated in a thick and almost creamy and gingery dark sauce. Pieces of duck were tender and I could taste the distinctive flavor of young ginger coupled with dark and savory flavors.






Golden Phoenix or ‘Kam Fung Wong’ exuded a certain majestic appeal as the dish consisted of an interplay of chicken and fish. This is a dish that is apparently from our fore fathers’s timeless cuisine but has long disappeared from common menu as it requires a lot of skill and preparation. A whole chicken is deboned with its meat removed and carefully layered with fish paste. The chicken is then put through a process of steaming and drying before it’s fried to a golden amber crisp!






See how fairly thin the pieces are? Slightly crisp on the skin but bouncy from the fish paste, it’s really quite delightful to enjoy this! My parents would certainly enjoy this a lot as I have heard them mentioned about this dish before. This dish requires a one day advance order because of its preparation.






When Golden Blossoms or ‘Fu Kwai Fa Hoi’ appeared, all of us were so amazed by its pretty gold fans! Right away, I identified this as enoki mushrooms tied together with fish paste and egg crepe. A very light batter coated the mushrooms into crisp and crunchy little bundles of joy!






An original modern dish concocted by Chef Steven, everyone loved this simply dish a lot. When something is as pretty as this, it’s simply too hard to resist!!






We also savored an unpretentious dish called Precious Beancurd or ‘Fei Chui Chi Tong’. A dish with basic and minimal ingredients, it held warmness for me as I simply adored the steamed egg beancurd topped with a light sauce and chunks of prawns, snow peas and mushrooms.






Something comforting for the elderly and the young ones… J






We finished off our meal with a must-have vegetable dish of Stir-Fried Lotus with Almond Flakes or ‘Han Hiong Kan Ngau’. A down-to-earth dish of stir fried lotus roots, celery, snow peas, black wood ear fungus topped with almond flakes projected a sweet and nutty flavors with a multitude of crunch factor embedded in the dish. Lovely and easy to savor!






Our meal ended with a lovely surprise as Sunny had prepared a birthday cake for Chef Steven to celebrate his earlier birthday dinner we had with him. Read about this here. Seen here is Chef Steven with his wife Winnie.






All dishes are available at Mei Six Hin and do call for reservations for some dishes to avoid disappointment. Read about my first and second visit. If you are an adventurous foodie, do ask for specials or recommendations as certain dishes are not in their menu. Chef Steven’s repertoire of signature dishes are vast and it is forever growing… this factor alone is plus point as one can always seek new dishes among the old ones!



Restaurant Mei Six Hin
NO.G-62, Jalan Prima SG 3/1,
Prima Sri Gombak,
68100 Selangor.
Tel No012-359 3109 (Steven) / 017-279 9927 (Winnie)

*Thanks to Chef Steven & Winnie for the invite!
**Please excuse me if I have butchered the Chinese name of the dishes… J

4 comments:

  1. The Golden Blossoms are so pretty and certainly makes a good dish. Perfect dish for birthdays too:D

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  2. ‘Fu Kwai Fa Hoi perfect for CNY dish.. super-like!

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  3. yummy..... Claypot Braised Fish Head !!!

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  4. Just went there today. Food is so-so but quite tasteless..Place is pricy for the quality

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