CHASING FOOD DREAMS

March 19, 2014

Paradise Dynasty, Bangsar Village 2: Back for Fortune Pot and 8 Flavours of Xiao Long Bao!

The Opulent Poon Choi is now Available All-Year Round!

It’s a much talk-about one glorious lavish pot of ingredients, used to be savored only if not probably once a year. Today, it’s different due to the demand of foodies that this glamorous pot of land and sea treasures be made available. Not many restaurants offer this fortune pot all year but when one is craving for this, at least one doesn’t have to wait a whole year to enjoy this now. After all, we celebrate precious moments every day and as Malaysians, what better way to celebrate any occasion than to indulge in our favorite pastime of eating?

I am glad to be back at Paradise Dynasty, a restaurant famous for their signature 8 flavours Xiao Long Bao under the Paradise Group. The restaurant is one of my favorite places to satisfy my likings of dumplings, pastries and La Mian. Read about my first visit here. Recently, Paradise Dynasty opens its second outlet in Bangsar Village 2. Echoing its original outlet, the second outlet oozes with the same exquisiteness and elegance of its original.

I always feel the open kitchen upfront of a restaurant is a brilliant concept. It never fails to entice my appetite when I see food being whipped up in front of me, especially when I am not even hungry. The Oriental themed interior exudes Zen ambience the moment one walks in. The interior is dressed in a lot of dark wood but cleverly incorporates glass and half globe crystals to bring in a beautiful edge to the Oriental cum contemporary ambience. Gray terracotta tiles, wood panels and soft glow of lights etching a design around the restaurant are harmonious and tastefully executed. This outlet also has two private dining rooms for private functions.

We are here on a mission, a Fortune Pot mission. Paradise Dynasty had been offering their Poon Choi or Paradise Fortune Pot during the Chinese New Year festive with many enjoying it at the restaurant or as takeaway. With much demand, the Paradise Fortune Pot is now available all year through with a pre-booking of 2 days in advance due to the complexity of the ingredients and preparation. Available in two sizes, regular feeds 4 -6 pax while large feeds 8 – 10 pax.

Our Paradise Fortune Pot is filled with 16 ingredients. Ranging from the highly prized Abalone to Scallops, Goose Feet, Sea Cucumber, Crystal Prawns, Fish Maw, Dried Oysters, Chicken and more, it is a feast fit for a king’s ransom. Almost all the ingredients are braised in the savory rich brown sauce. The sauce has a refine flavor and is not overwhelming. The ingredients are nicely braised with some lending a nice firm texture while others are soft and silky smooth.

If you’re looking for a feast with a conversation piece, the Fortune Pot is it. Hearty, lavish, luscious and pampering, it’s a dish to impress anyone. Another great part of the Fortune Pot, sharing it with lots of company… great food is always meant to be shared!

In the Fortune Pot lies all the luscious gravy and it is recommended to order the Steamed or Deep Fried Silver Buns to mop up the sauce in all its full glory.

Besides the Poon Choi, we must have some signatures of Paradise Dynasty. And there is no better way than to indulge in Paradise Dynasty’s all-star 8 flavour Xiao Long Bao. For those who had not had a taste yet, Paradise Dynasty serves up 7 twists on the original Xiao Long Bao. The dumplings are just so pretty to look at and the consistency is there as I have had this many times at the restaurant. The subtle hints of Foie Gras, Black Truffle, Cheese, Garlic, Szechuan, Ginseng and Crab Roe makes it an enjoyable and exciting experience while the original will always be an all-time favorite.

A little sliver of fresh ginger, a dash of black vinegar with soy sauce completes the famous Shanghainese dumpling. Some of the flavours do not even need it as the vinegar may overpower it. I like the dainty 18-folds on each dumpling, all hand crafted in the open kitchen.

Soup, as always, is a must in a Chinese meal. Our Wantan Soup with Bamboo Shoot & Vegetable sounds fairly simple but flavours are really delicious. The restaurant makes great broths with beautiful flavours and that alone is already a winning one. That said, the plump wantan is good with the crisp bamboo pith and tender bok choy.

Poached Chicken in Szechuan Style is a gutsy dish with bold flavours. The Chinese name for this dish is literally translated to Saliva Chicken, aiming to make diners salivate upon a taste of the spicy tongue-numbing sauce in the dish. Chilled tender poached chicken is pumped up with the unctuous and heady spicy sauce with a liberal sprinkling of crushed peanuts and scallion. It’s a great dish to whet one’s appetite.

Another classic Szechuan dish is the Deep Fried Chicken in Szechuan Style. Though not as spicy as the earlier one, this one still packs loads of punchy spicy notes. Crispy boneless chicken is perfumed with lots of dried chili to give it its aromatic distinctive Szechuan flavour. Love this and I can never get enough of this…

We also enjoyed Sauteed Beef with Assorted Mushroom. Tender thin slice beef makes a lovely meal with mushrooms, bell peppers, onions and leeks. The black bean sauce is savory and goes really well with a bowl of white rice.

I had raved about the Radish Pastry before and I will rave about it again here. Yes, some may think I have gone berserk as it’s a pastry encasing radish but this is so perfectly executed that I order it whenever I am at Paradise Dynasty. The pastry is just so buttery and flaky, melting at the very first contact of my mouth. The sweet julienned radish is cooked till juicy and luscious, making a perfect balance of sweetness and savory in the pastry.

I am selfish when it comes to this dish… I am reluctant to share this dish…

We were told it will be on the menu soon, Baked Water Prawns with Garlic & Butter, artistically arranged to represent the feathers of a peacock. Large fresh water prawns are cooked beautifully with a creamy butter and garlicky sauce. Its aromatic, its juicy, its succulent and it is so buttery.

The garlic is not overpowering but is very well controlled to give one enough garlic essence. The prawns are just so sweet and the head of the prawns are an ultimate sin on its own with the presence of creamy roes. This dish stole the hearts of many that night. To be safe, you may want to check in advance if they have it or order it in advance. Crustacean lovers, you do not want to miss this dish.

The night had to end and it did with desserts. Paradise Dynasty showcases their classics of Pan Fried Pumpkin Pastry, Souffle Egg White with Red Bean & Banana, Almond and Mango Pudding.

The Pan Fried Pumpkin Pastry resembles the classic sticky chewy Nian Gao but with a nice sweet pumpkin flavour. The Souffle Egg White with Red Bean & Banana is very light and sweet, perfect for a light ending.

I like puddings, especially when they are well made. While the Almond if enjoyable, the Mango Pudding is my favorite with its creamy milky and sweet ripe mango flavour.

A feast indeed, Paradise Dynasty lives up to its name for a food paradise with a touch of elegance.

PARADISE DYNASTY

Lot2F-17, Level 2,

Bangsar Village 2

Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +603 2201 7022

Website: www.paradisefnb.com.my

Facebook: www.facebook.com/paradisegroupmalaysia

*More photos available at my Facebook: Chasing Food Dreams

March 4, 2014

Lee Hong Kee Restaurant, Kampung Baru Sg. Buloh: New Dishes Awaits!

Always a Leader, Never a Follower!

It’s no secret that Chef Paul Lee is a master at creating sumptuous Chinese dishes! I lost counts of how many times I was at Restoran LYJ or now renamed to Lee Hong Kee Restaurant located in rural area of Kampung Baru in Sg. Buloh. It’s been a few months now that the restaurant has taken on a new name and relocated to a brand new shop lot in that area. Taking up three lots, the restaurant is still as pack as ever. The whole ambience is fairly simple and typical of a Chinese restaurant. At one end, there is a stage which I assume it’s for celebratory functions.

Before you proceed further to ogle at its food, be warn… you need to queue up for a meal here! Well unless you eat late or super early. The restaurant does have a lot of staff working as brisk as they can. Dishes are also churned out pretty fast to get the turnover. Thank goodness most tables to not really linger much for consideration purposes as the queue often floods the parking lot. Lee Hong Kee does not take reservations unless you are ordering their famous Poon Choi (my Poon Choi visit) a few days in advance. One just needs to queue up for a table for regular meals. Certain special dishes may be pre-ordered as these may need some work in advance.

I heard about this dish from my partner who had a taste during a business lunch. Since I wanted to make sure we had this dish, I actually called to pre-order this dish for a large portion. To be honest, I don’t this the name is correctly labeled in the receipt. I would describe this dish and its ingredients when you are ordering it because that is what I did.

Boiled Chicken with Sauce

It’s a salad and served at room temperature. Nicely presented in a wooden basket fitted with a steel plate, it looked so green when it was set on our table. The sauce is served on the side and is only poured in upon serving. I spied loads of fresh herbs and identified a few like basil, mint, spring onions and more.

Once the sauce has been pour over, we deep dived to unveil poached sliced chicken, boiled pig stomach, poached prawns and crunchy jelly fish. The dish is fresh and bursting with fresh herbs dressed in a savory aromatic soy sauce. Flavors are moreish and the lightness of the overall flavors kept me eating and enjoying it whole-heartedly. The textures of the lightly chewy pig stomach and crunchy jelly fish are so good with the tender chicken and prawns. I like raw herbs personally so I enjoyed it a lot but my family who are not so used to it did winced a bit about the rawness of this whole dish.

I would order this dish again but I would recommend only to those who love fresh herbs.

Dong Tuk Gai

A familiar dish seen almost on every table, the Dong Tuk Gai may not set tongues wagging in flavor but the concept did. In my previous post, we were given gloves and scissors to dissect the chicken. Here, we just skip all the stuff and tear the chicken with our hands. Somehow I felt that the flavors were milder in this round. I distinctively remembered herbs but couldn’t detect any this time. Oh well, the Standing Chicken didn’t really stand out tonight.

Char Siew

We got nice thick cut pieces of pork belly char siew with a light sprinkling of garlic bits. I remembered this to be more tender on my previous visits but it was only mediocre that night. Flavors are good with a nice caramelized sweetness but the meat was a bit dry and not as melt-in-the-mouth as I have had before. I could see that this cut was leaner too than before, maybe that was the cause of the tenderness.

Kerabu Paku Pakis

This is one dish I can never get enough off. I first had this at this restaurant and soon after the dish has popped up in a lot of other restaurants. This goes to show again that Chef Paul really is a leader in Chinese cuisine for this area.

Why do I love this cold greens so much? Freshness, tangy, crisp texture, bright flavors and I would even say it’s a perky dish! The cold blanched paku ferns are flavored with a bright lemony dressing and crowned with bits of aromatic fried shallots. It’s a bit unusual and I have read in some other peoples’ comment that it’s weird eating cold greens in a Chinese meal but really you’ll either love it or hate it. In my case, I am smitten… very smitten!

Spinach with Crab Meat Sauce

Ok, my family had to have a hot green dish and I obliged them by ordering another signature dish of LHK. It takes its inspiration from a classic Cantonese hawker dish. Spinach is braised in a Wat Tan Hor gravy, thick gravy made even better with egg cracked into the dish at the last serving minute. As the dish is served in claypot, the dish stayed warm. The spinach is accompanied by slices of mushrooms and crab meat in the gravy. It’s definitely a simple home style dish and my family loves it.

Salted Fish with Green Spicy Sauce

The dish looks innocently simple. Whole tilapia fish baked in salt crust and served simply with a spicy green sauce on the side. Looks are deceiving and this simple looking dish packs loads of unctuous flavors. The light saltiness on the sweet flesh is gloriously delicious but wait till you taste it with the spicy punchy flavors of the green sauce. Yum… it’s a marriage made in heaven. I love that sauce… wanted more in fact as it was really spicy and bold. While some may say it overtakes the flavors of the fish, I didn’t mind… no, not at all…

Banana Prawns with Small Shrimps

I had to google to find out what is banana prawns and it was from the waters of Australia. The Chinese name of the dish translates literally to Big Prawns Small Prawns. Like its name, we got large prawns sautéed with a sauce made from dried small shrimps. Light spiciness and savory with a tinge of sweetness in the back note makes the dish finger-licking good. The prawns were fresh and firm making the dish even better.

Seng Gua with Beancurd

Simple dish… cooked well, flavor decent, texture also ok.

I have always had a soft spot for this restaurant. It’s a hard industry and the fact that the there is always a line outside every day, it makes it even harder to retain a perfect meal with great service. Based on the fact that the restaurant was completely full , even overloaded, I do have to be fair and concluded that the some dishes are great while others are mediocre. No bad ones and service was pretty fast if you asked me. Don’t expect fine dining service here, its just plain simple service, fast and efficient. No smiles but that’s ok because honestly I don’t think I can smile either if I am a wait staff with the boisterous crowd at Lee Hong Kee restaurant. That said, I will still be back…

RESTORAN LEE HONG KEE (formerly known as RESTORAN LYJ)

No.3, 5, 7 & 9, Tingkat Bawah, Jalan Kati GU 19/G,

Kampung Baru, Sg. Buloh,

40160 Shah Alam

Malaysia.

Tel: 03-6140 2678 / HP: 016-667 4810 (Mdm Nin / 阿珍)

March 3, 2014

Samsung Malaysia Electronics Launches GALAXY Life at Renoma Café Gallery!

GALAXY Life, Your Passport to Amazing Experiences and Special Privileges by Samsung

*photo taken with Samsung GALAXY Note III

It’s officially launched! Last Friday, 28 Feb, Samsung Malaysia Electronics Sdn. Bhd. , through its Media Solutions Centre in Southeast Asia (MSC-SEA), launced a new consumer community initiative through a customer programme coupled with a mobile app called GALAXY Life.

*photo courtesy of Sidney K.

It’s been a thrilling experience with my Samsung GALAXY Note III phone so far and with the addition of Samsung’s own mobile app GALAXY Life, my journey is one exciting commotion of awesome possibilities of fun and surprises. So far, I had used the app to claim a free dessert at Pampas Reserve here. I am looking forward to more deals and entertainment in the GALAXY Life.

GALAXY Life is available for all users of a Samsung GALAXY smartphone, tablet or camera running on Android 4.0 and above. The app can be downloaded for free from Google Play Store.

*photo taken from Samsung Malaysia Electronics

Vincent Chong, Director of IT and Mobile Communications, Samsung Malaysia Electronics Sdn. Bhd. said, “The GALAXY Life is about living in a life that is more enriching. We are happy to welcome Samsung smartphone and tablet users to the family with access to experts sharing customized contect and preference-based offers and deals that go beyond the mundane. Whether it’s about getting recommendations on food, fashion or lifestyle by experts or a good deal found especially for a consumer, GALAXY Life will be their passport to all these and more!”

*photo courtesy of Sidney K.

Models parade down the runway showing off Samsung GALAXY Life in a fashion showcase by ZALORA, Production D and Makeup Puzzle. Photo session with Samsung Team and partners followed after the fashion show.

*photo taken from Samsung Malaysia Electronics

*photo courtesy of Sidney K.

Present at the event is another partner Coffea Coffee showcasing their signature brews and coffee art.

*photo courtesy of Sidney K.

We were also entertained by a special dance performance by Celebrity Fitness.

*photo taken with Samsung GALAXY Note III

The evening took further heights as Samsung Malaysia Electronics organized lucky draws for few lucky attendees that night. Winners took home ZALORA gift voucher RM500 and a Samsung GALAXY S4 among other gifts.