Food Adventures January to July 2017 - March 2017

Prior to the two month sojourn around Wales, France and Sicily across August through to mid October, I had been a bit taken up with a project that took me away from the food and wine writing (and the songwriting and recording) but I then got a bit of a breather to try and reflect over where the Lengui and I had eaten over the previous couple of months (well, seven actually). So I figured rather than try to document them individually, better to just load them all into a single narrative and see how it looked. So this is a full-ish listing of where, when, and with whom we ate and drank over this period. Some are barely one liners, others have a bit more detail. Whatever, it made for a more than usually long read so it got broken down into months for ease of, er, digestion. Not sure if it will prove useful, but when taken in total it does represent quite a litany of gluttony. Phoooooooo....

10th March Tanzini with Lenglui niece birthday

This was for the 60th Birthday of Lenglui's niece. Theme was Alice in Wonderland. Champagne starter, Chilean white and Bordeaux Red accompanied some visually sparkling food. Can't remember much about the taste, but far from unpleasant. Lenglui danced the night away at a disco upstairs with some pretty boys hired for the occasion; I kept quaffing the tasty red. 

Creamy Lobster and spicy soup

Cup Cake, er, Cake. Hello Alice... 

Fiery Phoenix. Tasted remarkably like chicken...

Queen of my heart...<3

Cupcake Dessert

Pretty Boy / Beefcake Dessert

March 11th - Birthday at Overseas Jalan Imbi
This was our UK Foodie friends having a birthday dinner to get all the family and friends together. The partner (Malaysian born) is brilliant at maintaining friends through the years by organising get togethers like this and catching up. We got parked next to the wine and the ice bucket and I did usual service as sommelier opening the bottles. Always carry a corkscrew. Food for me has become increasingly average at the Overseas over the last few visits though it clearly remains the restaurant of first choice for Chinese family celebrations. Char Siew used to be the stuff of legend; now it is all caramel and sticky gum sucker. We doggy bagged some of the veggies and prawns for home. Sang my usual Chinese Party pieces; struck awe in the assembled who could not believe a gwailo can sing Chinese songs. I am legend. Yes.

Happy Birthday!!

March 14th Supertanker with the DQ

Supertanker has moved from its corner lot to the Damansara Glo Mall which is up the road and, er, round the corner. A cavernous space greets my entry - long and wide and table after table. Should be able to cater to 1000 at least, though the man at the back might be a bit hard pressed to see what is going on at the front. Used to be legend for its pork ribs and other delights. This time not so memorable. Seems to have lost a bit of the zap from previous. Perhaps it was the vastness of the space that intimidated the taste buds. I have half a memory of corkage and crappy glasses, though I may be wrong (about the corkage at least - the glasses were crappy).  Company was strange - our friend the DQ was in the process of becoming a Catholic and had brought his sponsor and wife to the restaurant along with a beau he seemed keen on wooing. There is probably a movie script somewhere here given the characters and their various drives…

Can buy the booze three floors down at the Ben's Grocers - fair selection, some of which is kept in the wine fridge. We had our standby Oyster Bay SB and went for a Portuguese red that I recall being a bit thin and reedy. Can't see this Mall surviving - most of the lots have remained empty since I first came here a couple of months back. Some food outlets seem to be surviving and Ben's draws a crowd. But there is nothing much else here and looking increasingly likely to stay that way. 

March 17th You Mi Qi with May and gang

This is a cute place well worth unearthing. Great starters of incredibly tasty rice flat noodles make way for the big central bowl of soup into which goes all the seafood of the day. The stock is magnificent, though not cheap. We started coming here some years back with our Dr Gan who waxed and gushed about the Shunde style and authenticity. We have since had some great wine nights there with various foodie gangs. Though we did take a hiatus for a couple of years when the prices seemed to get hiked a bit more than we felt worthy of continued support. Didn't see the bill for this one, though I think they might have started charging corkage. We brought our own glasses. Some magnificent white wine on display - one of the crowd was the AsiaEuro rep Michelle. And the Money was there with some stellar Austrian white as usual. We brought fizz and a SB. Great raucous and boozy night with well tasty food. Can valet park RM5 ish.

Little bit of theatre with the Kampong Rooster - these are apparently emasculated at an early age which allegedly gives their meat way more textural subtlety than their, er, jingling contemporaries. Which is completely lost on this white boy. Not sure why they made the poor chap stand to attention. Maybe makes it easier to carve off the meat. 

March 18th Wedding at Overseas in Armada Building

 Last time I was here was also a wedding and about eight years ago. The food then was reasonable but not the standard of the Big Brother in Jalan Imbi. Tonight it was awful. All salt and soy sauce and overcooked. The kitchen was clearly struggling with two weddings going on at the same time and the output for me became yuck. The rice was good - remember scarfing three bowls to soak up the wines. Not a patch on its Big Brother in Imbi. But somehow it continues to draw a crowd - as said, two weddings going on the same night. And this must be every weekend. Wedding parties in KL need to book a venue at least a year in advance because they do get snapped up. Darn good business. Niche, but a captive market. Shame about the food.

March 21st - Taman Seputeh breakfast
One of my occasional errands is to deliver newspapers to some of Lenglui's old friends, one of whom lives in Taman Seputeh. On occasion I will stop off for some Roti Canai and a Teh Tarik at the Mamak stall to feed the soul. Is not the best, but is easy to park, get clean trays, and the greenery is pleasant. More to show overseas friends the day to day reasons why Malaysia is a brilliant place to live. 

The Mamak stall 

I see trees of green... a wonderful world indeed

Fluffy crispy pan bread, curry gravy, and condensed milk tea - perfecto

March 23rd Robson Heights Seafood Boys Night

I enjoy the Robson. Excellent crab, stellar pork ribs, juicy fingerlicking prawns, superb fried rice and bring your own glasses and suck on your corkage free wine. Total soul food. Good craicq with the boys and the booze, talking nonsense and putting the world to rights.

March 24th Flint with Rubber Baron

Flint is the latest incarnation of the Vintry Restaurant Group. The previous eaterie on the premises was also a Vintry venture. I recall going there once with the IWFS at Yin-How's invite and we had a kind of medieval feast upstairs. This incarnation has another Bertha oven and looks to be doing more Bistro fusion style dishes. And the big ass steak. Lenglui and I both like the good steak as does the Baron so this was a no brainer. Mrs Baron had a fish dish, whilst we others got stuck into 1.2kg of US Prime T-Bone. Think there was some soft shell crab starter and salad and potatoes along the way. But the meat was front and centre. Along with a half decent burgundy along with the Baron's pre-decanted 2000 Ducru Beaucaillou. Finestkind. The meat was excellent, seared and done to perfecto. I haven't been to the Marble 8 because of the food and corkage prices, but Flint will do me anytime the carnivore inside raises its hunger growls for the big red meat. 

I have walked past the Flint on a few recent occasions en route to the Sapore and it just does not seem to be buzzing. The food stuns, the wines are well priced - it just can't seem to capture the imagination. Which is a shame. In contrast, Sapore down the road is going gangbusters. The difference? My guess is Pork - Sapore does amazing roast pig, Flint is pork free. There have been a number of restaurants over the years whose business turned around when they started to offer pork dishes. Equally, others who took it off the menu declined. 

March 25th Tai Chi Roast Pig Jalan Telawi

This was a house party with the Tai Chi group. On arrival we were greeted by the sight of two Roast Pigs getting chopped up and plates being handed around. The pig was excellent. There was buffet inside (bread, salad, pasta, other stuff) which looked and tasted pretty ordinary. Not much place to sit either with fifty people milling around. Not the most fun night I have had with this group. But the pig was excellent. Brought a couple of St Clair SBs to swig with El Manica - she likes this one. 

March 26th Bak Kut Teh lunch El Manica

This was a morning trek to some place claimed to be the total business for Bak Kut Teh, which necessitated a dutiful trip to test the veracity of the claim. Somewhere in Klang. Readers might remember how I normally rebel at these expeditions. I am a right grump when it comes to leaving the airconditioned comfort of the TV room on a Sunday for the hot bumpy two hour drive to the middle of nowhere. This was also an El Manica special, second guessing both the driver and the husband as to whether her Waze was more correct than the other two. Drives me mad. As it was, we missed the first turn both getting there and coming home. Hmmm…   It was indeed decent Bak Kut Teh, with massive leg bones of meat in rich thick broth and loads of tasty dishes going round the table. Whether it is as good as elsewhere, I didn't quite get it. Though I have learned to never trust a white boy opinion about Chinese cuisine. And I was still suffering from the night before. And the journey. 

This is why we drive...

March 28th DC Restaurant with UK Foodies and Dragonlady

Same old same old - love it when we are there at the DC, can't remember a darn thing about the dinner the day after. Also can't seem to find the notes. Good wines, amazing cheeses, the company is quite entertaining, though somewhat one way with the conversations. Don't get a chance to say much. This crew seem mostly interested in holding court about themselves. Quite entertaining, though - I sit back and chug the booze. They know their food and they do bring the good booze -  tonight was lovely champagne and some tasty Bordeaux 2012 which they got at very good price and which we subsequently bought from their supplier - was a fire sale (I suspect from the split of SW Wines since some of the labels and packaging look familiar) so we snapped up some half decent Burgundy and Bordeaux for dinners with the Baron. Photos of the dishes are a bit grim, I half remember getting told "no flash photos" by the Lenglui - the Samsung dies in a low light place. Good excuse to go back though...

Menu

Taste of DC Five Course RM398++

Chef's Amuse Bouche

1st Course - Takao Cold Somen with Bafun Uni, Mentaiko: Truffle Celeriac Cream

2nd Course - Smoked Butterfish, Mulberry Yogurt: Spiced Sofrito

3rd Course - French Sea Scallops, Green Papayay "Tom Sep" Essence, Greeen Gazpacho

4th Course - choice of 

100% Black Angus Prime Rib, Pickled Baby Turnips: Bagna Cauda

NZ Line Caught catch of the day, Avruga emulsion

AOP Pigeon de Bresse (slow roasted and confit), Green Gazpacho, Burt Carrot with Parsley Aioli

Japanese Kobe A3 Wagyu (120g)

White Strip Australian Lamb Rakc roasted 16hr in hay and harrisa

5th Course - 2 part dessert or Cheese Board

Extra Super Tanker - extra darn good!!

Quick report on a dinner we had at the Supertanker on Sunday 14th June (or the Extra Super Tanker Restaurant to give its full name). One of our serious wine afficionado friends had been inviting Lenglui and I over muliple occacions to come and drink his wine at some tasty restaurant but the scheduling fates had been continually against us. Holidays and other dinners seemed to have a way of getting in the, er, way. Finally the schedules aligned and so it was that nine of ended up at the Supertanker in Damansara Kim. Four and a half fairly serious winers, the others happy with a glass or two to taste. One of the group arrived forty minutes late, claiming that dinner was 7.30pm. Whatsapp proved that 7pm was correct. We said nothing, having arrived at 7.20pm though we did text ahead to say we were delayed. 

Supertanker interior - pic from their website

This is about the third time I have been to the Supertanker in Damansara. It has been operating since 2004 and now has two outlets, the other being located in a club in Bandar Utama (where I have attended a couple of big wedding banquets - food was fair, and reasonably well praised by table guests, though it is unfair to try and judge quality when the kitchen is just getting food through the doors to feed the masses). For my first time at the Damansara outlet, I remember it had tried a bit too hard to impress with a fusion style Chinese menu as requested of Chef by a birthday boy. This didn't quite come off for me, though I do remember guzzling bottles of tasty white and Chateau Soleil magnums. Second time was more traditional Chinese fare which I can't quite remember much about. Don't seem to have written about it. This third time would prove to be the charm - total memory of brilliant food, wines and people around a table and having a rare old time of things. We need to savour these moments when we can get together with friends and laugh and joke and sing and leave at the end of it with a lighter heart and a full belly. I feel we sometimes take it all so much for granted that we have the means and the faculties to do these things. And that is a mistake - many out there cannot even dream of the lives we live and experience, and for me I try to relish and extract the entire atomic essence of each and every moment and squeeze it, savour it, sip it, suck it, guzzle and chew and swallow it. Breathe and live every moment of lightness and love with whom or whatever it is that brings joy to this life. It could all end tomorrow, even more so as the years rack up. 

Supertanker interior - pic from website

But I digress. Winewise, we had a Leth 2014 Gruner Veltliner that we had brought back from our Austria trip, and a Giesen August Brothers 1888 Sauvignon Blanc 2011 from New Zealand. We started with the Leth, which proved a delightful aperitif being all light honey and peach pear and crisp finish. Light, crisp but with enough heft to tickle the palate interest, it proved a hit all around the table. Well tasty wine.

Sad thing was I didn't get to try it with the food, which proved a lot late in getting to the table. We had fully whacked the bottle, though I seemed to be the only one with no Leth - the others clearly possess much more self discipline. I have a weakness for crisp tasty wine. Our host was getting animated and following a "get up from the table and verbal whack the captain" it all came at once - the fish, the duck, the omelete, with the ribs and taufoo only five minutes behind. 

It would prove worth the wait - the brother of new friend TB at the table (ex TV producer, great stories about Formula One at Monte Carlo) had bought a 2.5kg Ikan Kelah that morning in Pahang and had delivered it to TB earlier in the day, presumably driving all the way. Our friend had kept it alive all day before emptying the tank and wrapping Ikan in an old T-Shirt for delivery to the restaurant kitchen for cleaning and steaming by Chef and his team.

Known as the "King" of the river, and "Emperau" in Sarawak (where it is also apparently the National Fish), Ikan Kelah remains THE top fish that all anglers want to catch. Having the capacity to grow as large as a human being, it can fetch up to RM800 to RM1,200 per kilo live weight. It is also known as the Malaysian Mahseer and the Greater Brook Carp. The fish has proven difficult to breed and farm due to an apparent inability to find the right diet for it to thrive in captivity. In the fast and clean rivers that are its natural habitat, Ikan Kelah can happily feed on both river fruits and shelled fish that it comes across on the river bed. No one has yet been able to replicate this. In the wild, it is both elusive and increasingly scarce as a result of deforestation and environmental degradation. In this, Sarawak and Sabah have implemented a system (known as "Tagal") where the villagers themselves guard and protect these fish and their rivers. As a result, the fish population has recovered.

The Ikan Kelah - wicked tasty

So we were pretty privileged to be having this freshwater finback. It was seriously priced and totally delightful  - all fish oil, firm flakes of solid fish meat, leaning toward the gooey but a wonderful mouthful of blissful taste. Full fish without being fishy, hugely dripping with omega three; a voluptuous, sweet, oily mess of meat. Nowhere near as light as a Soon Hock, it proved a change from the normal style of fish to which Lenglui is used. But I enjoyed it hugely. A sweet salt gungey suck for the most part and slipping down so smoothly. Little bit of soy and cilantro and we were done. Good job from the kitchen.

We also had Iberico pork ribs which were equally outstanding - with just a simple rub of salt and pepper and oil and probably slow roasted for hours, they proved delightfully tasty and dry on the outside but with loads of juice in the meat. A total taste of Spain but with a Chinese twist of raucous black pepper. Tender but with firm bite on the meat, we polished off two racks of them. We even got plastic gloves to eat the ribs with - became a greasy problem trying to pour wine after chewing on the rib. So it goes. 

Brilliantly tasty Iberico Pork Ribs - yum

Other dishes came and went (duck was tasty, also some egg foo yong style omelette fried thingy with spring onion and chives). But the ribs and fish made the night. 

The Giesen SB which we were drinking with the fish seemed to lean more toward the Smith Haut Lafitte style in terms of texture - more a rich Chablis in style than anything else - and although it should have been a belter with the fish, for me it did not quite come together. Perhaps it was the slightly oily texture of the wine competing wiht the oil in the fish that did it - not enough acidity in the wine to cut through and perhaps a bit too mellow given its time in the bottle. It was still a belter, though - rich, unctuous, honey and toffee apples and a long throat tickling finish. It was just …  well, I thought it would stun and it didn't - my expectations didn't pan out together. So it goes. Live and learn, eh?

For the reds, our friend had raided his cellar and totally delighted us all with a 1999 Conseillante and a 1999 Ornellaia. The Ornellaia was a real treat and had mellowed nicely for balance but still not so much that its character had been totally subsumed by bottle age - still a lot of life and fire in this one. Bold, and with a bit of sass, kind of like a Venetian gondolier hustling for an extra tip. Initially bold, it evened out down the bottle and ended up more like a priest from the local Tuscan church - friendly, full of life, but lots of depth to explore. Was a belter with the ribs. The Bordeaux Right Bank Conseillante was equally delightful though more complex - layers of fruit and spice and texture and all of which seemed to change as each sip progressed through the palate. Lovely, lovely wine and great balance across the component varietels. We drank it long into the evening, well after all the food had vanished. A stunning wine to end the evening, invoking lots of stories, jokes and laughter. Even got me singing the "Pang Yau", one of the three Chinese songs I seem to sing passably well enough. Prefer to stick with my Rock and Blues, though my Delilah remains a crowd favourite.

In all a great evening, on the strength of which I would happily return to the Supertanker. Now I think of it, the fish we had on my second visit was not bad, and seeing photos of the dishes on another blogsite have jogged the memory. Have to return to try them again. Parking is easy, but a bit dark and secluded at night, so maybe show some extra caution getting to and from the car? I think I heard that corkage was charged, but I didn't see the bill - our friend took it. Glasses were a bit ordinary if it was, though I seem to recall decanting is available. Be our turn next time. But our friend will still be more than welcome to bring his wines. We help him drink them. 

We also had a discussion about buying new wine for investment and I gave him my position that we were now only buying wine we would be able to drink - we don't have twenty years to wait before a wine becomes drinkable and we don't really want to buy just for other people to enjoy them. He said the investment cycle was marked by two events - BC and AC - Before China and After China. Prices skyrocketed when the Chinese came in to buy around 2003 and died in 2011 with the clampdown on Guanxi gifts. Now was difficult to predict - better to stick to the stock market.  Not wrong there. Cheers!

Extra Super Tanker Fine Chinese Restaurant

Damansara Main Branch
48 SS 20/10, Damansara Kim , 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
TEL: 03-77267768 / 03-77267769, Fax: 03-7726 7782
website: http://estrestaurant.net/damansara.html