Gold Mine @ Bayswater London

Sorry for the long spell of silence in my postings and also the lack of comments in the blogs that I frequent. I just came back from London a few days ago and then I had to rest my eyes due to an eye infection and dryness. The last one week I was in London for a nice holiday was truly the best trip I ever had in my life, not because of London but due to experiences I had while I was there. It's my 4th time to the city and this time, it's just different.

This time around, I managed to experience a culinary journey throughout my stay and also thanks to the recommendations of friends who has been hanging around London and dining at every corner of the city. 1st post of the trip would be something I really like - ROAST DUCK.

Everyone knows the famous London Four Seasons Roast Duck at Bayswater but actually, there is a shop that sells roast duck a few shops away from it. Sources told me that the ex-chef at Four Seasons left and opened his own shop called "Gold Mine" and the secret of the delicious roast duck is its sauce and that this chef has brought his secret recipe with him to this outlet.

You can't miss the shop with its roast meats hanging at the window and this row of shophouses is just right in front of the entrance/exit of the Bayswater Tube station. Usually there's a queue at this place but because I was there on Saturday at 3pm, I don't really have to queue. It's just a 5 mins wait for them to clear the tables.

The Roast Duck is a must-order-dish. Half portion of the duck costs £10.30 and you can have an option to have it deboned (which of course I did). Service was fast and they delivered the roast duck in about 10 mins. The duck meat was so tender and full of flavour. This is not a crispy-skin-duck type but I must say that the secret lies in the sauce. The sauce was a great compliment to the roast duck with a slight hint of caramel sweetness. Love the roast duck!

We had sake to go with chinese food. How weird is that?!!

Well, it's not really my idea but I have my dining partner is really adventurous.

But in the end, I had a whole pot of chinese tea to myself.

Some of the more common dishes that I ordered was the sweet & sour pork. The pork cutlets were quite big and fried in a crispy batter and then there's the sweetness and sour flavours from the pineapples and tomatoes. My dining partner enjoyed this very much as it is his first time trying this dish. It's also my favourite dish that I would order when I'm at the "tai chow" places back in KL.

The plate of green spinach was so big that I think it can easily feed 5 people. The dishes here are meant for 4 people at least because I really have trouble finishing them even when I didn't even order any white rice!

The other dish that impresses me was the "Chow Ngau Ho" which is literally translated as Fried Flat Rice noodles with beef. The beef slices are so tender and you can really taste the "wok hei" or rather the slight burn or charcoal taste in this noodle dish. It's best when served warm because as it gets cold, it was a little oily.

This is a typical eat & go chinese restaurant in London as the spaces are tight and they don't encourage you to sit here for a few hours to sip your tea. I find it rather difficult to feel comfortable especially during winter where you have your jackets and the seats are so tight. There's no extra space for big jackets or shopping bags.

The oranges are complimentary after the meal. However I didn't enjoy them because it was too sour and I hate eating sour food especially from citrus fruits. The bill came to about £43.50 which is not cheap if you convert it to local currency but I guess the price is pretty reasonable in London. You wouldn't be able to eat half a duck at 10 bucks here!

I love the sight of this... cold cold London...

Gold Mine

102 Queensway  London W2 3RR, 

United Kingdom

Mon-Sun 12 noon to 11.00pm

Tube: Bayswater

Tel: +44 20 7792 8331

CNY dishes at Oriental Cravings @ 1 Utama

One of my favourite casual dining outlet which I've never written about is this humble little restaurant at the Ground floor of 1 Utama (Rainforest section) and my usual order is always their Bak Kut Teh which I have ordered it countless times. This place has been here eversince the new wing was in existence which came to 9 years now. I call this restaurant a melting pot of chinese cuisine as it has influences of Hainanese, Teochew, Hakka, Hokkien and etc in their dishes.

Coming Chinese New Year, they have a few new additions to their otherwise already quite extensive variety of local favourites. These special dishes are not in their standard menu but it's written on the black board at the back of the outlet or you can also simply ask the staff for daily specials.

Pomelo Salad (RM21.90)

 Made with specially selected pomelo from Tambun, this dish has a mix of sweet and refreshing flavours from the pomelo, kafir lime leaves, bunga kantan, mint leaves and crushed peanuts. I like this for a change because it whets the appetite and definitely the best entree to the meal. The pomelo salad is served during Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival.

 Lap Mei Fan (RM21.90)

This is probably the only place I know that serves a single portion of "Lap Mei Fan" which is a type of rice dish cooked with waxed meat and chinese sausages. They are using both types of sausages - meat and duck liver sausages. The rice is cooked with minced sausages and then topped with slices of sausages to give it an extra "kick" of taste in the rice. Yes it may be a little pricey for a single portion but it's worth it if you don't have to cook it yourself.

 Arrow Root with Leek (RM25.90)

This is also another signature dish during CNY because the arrow root are only available during this time of the year. There's arrow root, leek, roast pork, carrot slices and also button mushrooms stir-fried together and topped with some red chillies. Love the arrow roots which has a very smooth and powdery texture.

 BB Chicken (RM23.90)

This is one of their recommended dishes which is quite unique and it's not the "3 cups chicken" that you would think it is. It's actually chicken braised in a claypot with a spicy caramelised sauce and you can also have it non-spicy.

Hainanese Assam Fish (RM43.90)

This is one dish that I would love to take my dad here to try. He loves fish and since we are Hainanese, he would love to try this dish. I like the sweet, sour and spicy tastes all interwined together with this fresh Silver Promfret. Excellent!

They also have other recommended dishes which is available on a daily basis such as a side order of their crispy Roast Pork (RM15.90/100g) and also their Crispy Oatmeal Prawn (RM31.90) which I simply adore for its golden colour and crisp oatmeal with succulent prawns.

One must really try their Blended Cucumber and Lime Juice (RM6) which they claimed to be "best in the world". It was truly cooling and it's a good drink for detoxing! Hue Gee and I ordered that and Mom gave their Chendol (RM5.50) which is made with the authentic Gula Melaka.

We have so much to eat for lunch and after that we had to walk a few hours at the shopping mall to burn off the calories overload. Thanks to Fay for inviting me to try their CNY dishes and just for your info, they are closed on 1st and 2nd day of CNY and only open for half a day on CNY eve.

Oriental Cravings

:G359, Ground Floor, Rainforest

1 Utama Shopping Centre 1 Lebuh Bandar Utama, 

47800 Petaling Jaya.

Phone:+603-7727 2581

P/S: I'm staying home on my 29th birthday because I had an eye infection. How sad could that be?

Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Francaises 2000

The highlight of the dinner on Monday night is also the subject for my post today because I couldn't find a more suitable title for this.

It was a dinner of my girlfriend's birthday and she invited some 14 of us for a dinner at Grand Palace in Pavilion KL. The champagnes chilling in the stainless steel buckets are awaiting to be uncorked and what a welcoming sight when you have a peep at those labels.

1st champagne for the night is undoubtly the star itself - a bottle of Bollinger Vielles Vignes Francaises 2000 which is also my first time tasting it. "One of the rarest and most expensive Champagnes and only created during exceptional vintages".

What makes this Bollinger VVF so special is that this is Bollinger's prestige cuvee (made entirely in 100% pinot noir) and is produced from ungrafted vines in two walled vineyards which the vines used to produce this champagne is from very small yields. The Bollinger VVF undoubtly creates an unbelievable experience for those lucky enough to sip them because when the yields are so small, it enables the grapes to reach a high maturity which is almost like a fine wine. The annual production of the VVF is only 3000-5000 bottles and each is numbered. The 2000 has a pale gold colour and a very attractive nose of pinot noir, honeyed and intense. It's a very fine bubbly with flowery notes, butterscotch and some hints of citrus. The finish was silky and vibrant but it could have been better if we were to chill it to another 2-3 degrees less. Such finesse!

I really have to thank my gf for this rare opportunity to taste such a rare champagne!After that it was followed by a DP 2003 and then a Bollinger La Grande Annee Rose 2002, all which she has carefully selected from her collection.

 We had a huge platter of fresh salmon sashimi and oysters. All the men were served more oysters than the ladies for obvious reasons...

Another appetiser platter followed with soft-centered century eggs with pickled ginger served on spoons, local cherry tomatoes on skewers to compliment the caramelised pork livers a.k.a chinese version of porky foie gras. Ok, I still prefer the goose/duck foie gras...

The other dishes that we had includes the lobster bisque (chinese style), chinese sausage with kailan, prawns on skewers served with fried yam slices and capsicum and then the other dish which I could not remember which part of the cow it's from. heheh...

The red wines that were served on the same night. 

It was also my 1st time sipping on a Penfolds 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 magnum.  Seriously there was so much hype about this 707's and I thought it's something that I need to try once in a lifetime and voila! I got to try it that night. But I must say that generally an Australian wine especially a cabernet sauvignon has a superb nose. The nose was intense, oaky, full of dark berries but the palate was rather disappointing. The tannins are balanced, there's hints of peppery notes, ripe fruits and oak but it doesn't match the intensity of the nose, it was lacking in depth and finish.

Ooh.. but I so love the Cos D'Estournel 2003 from the Saint Estephe appellation is the second growths of the Bordeaux Classification 1855. It is a very superb wine is a good vintage. The nose was outstanding with earthy notes, prune, black berries and minerals. The mouthfeel was very good, fine tannins and balanced with a full-bodied palate. There's plums, blackberries, licorice, sweet spice notes and hints of smoke. What a wonderful wine!

The red wines went so well with this roasted Spanish Iberian Pig ribs. The ribs was marinated with herbs and it's almost 12 inches long! This is so flavourful and the meat is just so tender!

And when I thought we were done, the Hainanese Chicken was served together with 3 different sauces - chilli, black soya sauce and ginger sauce.

That was not the last dish I assure you because every birthday boy and girl will have to have a bowl of the longevity noodles in the chinese culture and thus we all had a bowl of that. And forgetting to mention the Old & Rare Bunnahabhain 33 years old as night cap. *filled to the brim.... A toast to my girlfriend's birthday and thanks for this wonderful dinner of great company, food and wines.

Grand Palace

Level Six, 

Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, 

No. 168, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 

55100, Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: +603-21431128

Melbourne Peking Duck @ Bangsar

My friend found us a new place to dine. Since he's been trying almost every outlet in Bangsar, he has spotted this place when dining opposite this row of shop houses a few weeks ago. Now that it's finally opened, we scheduled a lunch together at Melbourne Peking Duck. From what I understand, the chef is from Melbourne and is specialised in preparing succulent Peking Ducks.

The Peking Duck on that day didn't turn out to be the best and it was very courteous of the lady to apologize to us while serving the duck telling us that there was some problem with the roasting machine and thus the duck didn't appear to be very crispy.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed the duck. It wasn't as crispy as what we would expect it to be but the duck was robust with taste and tantalising.

The "pancake" skin is thin and pairs very well with the duck.

Here's the video on how to wrap the duck the proper way!

The restaurant offers 2 set menus of Peking Duck. The 1st one is a menu that costs RM78 which serves four comfortably and it comes with....

1 Peking Duck with 16 slices served with Pancakes, scallions and cucumber.

A plate of Stir-Fried Bean Sprouts with Duck Meat

Duck Soup with Salted Vegetable and Tofu

We tasted the two set menus. Eventhough there were just 5 of us, we were really into the "duck" feasting mood. The 2nd Menu is priced at RM88 and it comes with...

1 Peking Duck with 16 slices served with Pancakes, scallions and cucumber.

A choice of either Fried Mee Hoon, Hor Fun or Rice with Shredded Duck Meat

+

Duck Soup with Salted Vegetable and Tofu

Besides the Peking Duck set menu, the restaurant also offer a variety of dishes from meat to vege and tofu. We wanted to try some of the ala carte dishes and we ordered another 2 to try. You can imagine how stuffed we are after lunch!

Deep Fried Tofu with Minced Pork (RM16) and Aromatic Crispy Pork Belly (RM18). Both of these dishes are nice but I find that the tofu is a little greasy. The crispy pork belly is really good and I wished there was a bowl of porridge for me to eat it with! Yums.

Since this is a very new restaurant, expect it to have a few glitches. I will definitely come back for another meal. This place is very easy to find. Located at 1st floor of the shophouses opposite Bangsar Village 2 which is just beside PappaRich.

Melbourne Peking Duck

24-1, Jalan Telawi 3, 

Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: +603-22021588

Brother Kuan @ Bandar Puteri Puchong

Puchong is like another part of the world to me. Although I live 20 mins away from there, I've never ventured into the area except for a few occasions where I had no choice but to make a trip down. Now that my sister is working there, she's been telling us about some of the nice restaurants she found and one night, we decided to take Lim Ba Ba there for dinner.

Ziling recommended this restaurant called Brother Kuan. Located on the same row as Bumbu Bali. you won't miss this place with its red facade and huge banner. The irony about this place is that the facade is done very nicely, but the interior looks like any other coffeeshops. The tables and chairs are those similar to the ones used at hawker centres. What a combination!

See that stainless steel steamer there? It's not a dim sum trolley but this is used to house the bamboo steamer that keeps the rice warm. When the dishes are served, a guy would push the steamer to your table and scoop the white rice onto the plates.

The difference between a baby boomer and a Gen Y.

After having ordered our food, we were served drinks. There's a variety of herbal drinks available such as the Chrysanthenum with water chestnut and winter melon with longan. Some are only available warm and some only chilled. That's another irony.

 BBQ Pork (Medium RM20)

The one thing that you should order here is their barbequed pork which is caramelised and has a dark red appearance with bits of the burnt sides. I like the BBQ pork this way where you get some charcoal notes, a little sweet sticky caramel on the pork and some fats surrounding the meat. I would say the fat content in this "char siew" is only one third and it makes a guilt-free indulgence for me.

 Steamed Chicken (Quarter RM10)

 The steamed chicken Hailam style is commendable although it's not giving me the WOW effects. The chicken is smooth and the shallot oil with soya sauce is a nice compliment to it.

 Bayam Soup (RM8)

The spinach in superior soup with wolfberries serves 4. I find this dish here a bit bland as there are many other restaurants that do it better. There's a lack of taste from the soup probably due to either the anchovies or the dried shrimps.

 MaMa Steamed Pork (RM10)

The steamed pork is also another let down here. I liked the version with a distinctive cuttlefish flavour intertwined with the pork but this one here just tasted plain and uninteresting. If you like light flavours, this is the dish for you but for me, I like more robust flavours.

 

 Roast Duck with Herbal Sauce (Half RM24)

Another dish to try at this outlet would be their Roast Duck served with a herbal sauce. The roast duck maintains it crispy skin while the meat is immersed in a light herbal soup-like sauce. This is very new to me as I have not seen any other restaurant offering such a dish. The roast duck did not turn soggy and the additional herbal flavours compliments the roast duck well. I would recommend this to those who like roast ducks!

There's some hits and misses here but I guess the price made up for the lack of perfect dining experience. The bill for 4 of us is just RM84. This is one of the better BBQ Pork around. The BBQ pork and roast duck are definitely the winners here and if you are looking for something to eat in Puchong, Bandar Puteri is the place to go. There's rows and rows of restaurants and eating outlets and I wonder why I've never been here?!!

Restaurant Brother Kuan
No.2A, Jalan Persiaran Puteri 1,
Bandar Puteri Puchong,
47100 Puchong, Selangor
Tel: +603-8062 1733

View Restaurant Brother Kuan in a larger map

Your Guide to Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum @ Hong Kong

When in Hong Kong, do what the HongKongese do - eat dim sum! Hong Kong Dim Sum 点心 is the city's most famous and delicious experiences. If you do an online search by entering "Hong Kong Dim Sum", one of the first few names that came up would be Tim Ho Wan  添好運點心. It means "to add good luck" this outlet is tremendously popular due to its 1 Michelin Star status, making it the cheapest Michelin Star restaurant in the city and probably the world?!!

Before you conjure all wonderful memories of a Michelin starred restaurant from the deco to its food and service, let me pre-warn you that Tim Ho Wan defies all that. I also found out that it was former chef of Lung King Heen at Four Seasons, Chef Mak Pui Gor started this hole-in-the-wall outlet.

Looking for this place here can be a trick due to its facade that is covered with a bamboo scaffolding and motorcycles parked at the front. Although currently there's 4 branches, I chose coming to the one at Kwong Wa Street in Mong Kok due to its proximity to the hotel I'm staying. It's located right across a 7-Eleven outlet and you can definitely spot it from far due to the queue or crowd.

1st Step:
Get in queue. Start thinking hard if you really want to wait if you already spot a long queue.

2nd Step:

Take this menu card from the rostrum located right in front of the shop entrance. Tick what you would like to order. There's no picture on the menu card except for the giant food poster at the shop entrance. The pictures are no way professionally taken and thus the pictures might not entice you at all.

 These are the recommended dishes by the restaurant. I secretly think that I am capable to take better pictures with my not-so-pro camera.

There's no space in the shop to even fit this baby stroller.

3rd Step:

See this guy here? Hand over your order card, take a number from him and he will advice the number of hours you'll have to wait. No kidding... The first time I was there, I waited for 45 mins and I returned on the 2nd day wanting to have a late lunch at 3pm thinking that there would be no queue. Guess what did the guy tell me? He told me to wait for 2 hours!! Of course I didn't wait. By the time it's my turn, I probably would have starved to death.

4th Step:

Once it's your turn, you'll be ushered to your table. Lo and behold... the seating capacity of this place is only around 26 seats and the space is really tight. The tables are no more than the width of your body (that depends on how wide your body is) but I can see that some not-so-thin customers are struggling. I would strictly advise anyone not to dine here after a shopping escapade because there's no space to fit the many shopping bags. The tables and chairs are quite small and I thought they were made for kids!

Steamed Fresh Shrimp Dumplings (HKD$24)

These 4 pieces of fresh shrimp dumplings costing RM10 would definitely be one of the most expensive price I've paid for at a dim sum outlet but I really have no complains about the price. Inside every neatly hand-made sealed delicate translucent rice flour skin, there's 2 pieces of fresh and succulent average sized prawns. Steamed to perfection, these are so good to even eat it on its own without any accompanying sauce.

Steamed Pork Dumpling with Shrimp (HKD$24)

This is also another obligatory dish for me at any Dim Sum outlet. A good pork dumpling with shrimp should have the right mix of these two meats so that you get the succulent texture from the fresh shrimps and the flavours from pork. The water chestnut and diced mushrooms added sweetness to this dumpling.

Steamed Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce ($14)

I'm such a huge fan of chicken feet! And I was quite eager to try the chicken feet here as I know that this delicacy is very popular in HK and especially in China. In HK, they would usually call this "Phoenix Claws" 鳯爪 (feng zhao) which is a more "upmarket" name than just calling it chicken feet. These delectable chicken feet are deepfried before they were steamed to achieve such a flavourful palate. It's soft and gelatinous which tasted so good with the sweet black bean sauce. The combination was excellent. I still wax lyrical about their chicken feet until today.

Vermicelli Roll Stuffed with Pig's Liver ($18)

There were 4 types of steamed vermicelli roll with the usual stuffings of BBQ pork, shrimps and beef but I was attracted to the one with pig's liver. Feeling rather brave, I gave this a try. It has a different texture than the usual pork and the steamed rice roll is soft and silky. There was also ample sauce to give the otherwise plain tasting rice rolls a dash of saltiness and the chives takes away its gamey taste. One caution though - this should be taken while it's warm or else it'll not taste as good as the first bite when it's served.

Baked Bun with BBQ Pork ($17)

The baked buns filled with a rich and flavourful BBQ pork stuffings is most raved after at any Tim Ho Wan outlet. It is afterall their specialty and I've not seen anywhere else that can replicate such buns. They come in a plate of 3's in average sizes that can be gobbled up in 3-4 bites. Oh my, those pork buns were simply irresistible. It has a coarse, airy, and crispy outer layer and stuffed with a generoulsy thick, flavourful diced BBQ pork cutlets and sweet dark sauce. Every bite is a delight. I was wrong to think that these buns are just a gimmick in replace of the ordinary Char Siew Pau that are steamed. We even saw 1 guy feasting on 2 plates of these baked buns by himself.

Tonic Medlar & Petal Cake ($12)

A meal would no be complete without a sweet ending. But I'm not a believer of such practice. However, I spotted this dessert and I am a fan of jellies and no prize for guessing that I would definitely order this. Also called the Osmanthus jelly 杞子桂花糕, this wobbly dessert is made of osmanthus petals and wolfberries. This dessert dates back to the Ming Dynasty. It is said that in Ming dynasty, osmanthus jelly was invented by a packman named Liu Jixiang who inspired from the osmanthus school of a Number-One-Scholar Yang Sheng’an, he decided to make a dessert with osmanthus. This sweet jelly is indeed a must-try!

A check in the internet reviews have shown that the price has increased by $2 for every dish this year. Our total bill came up to about HKD$150 for 2. It's definitely the cheapest Michelin star restaurant! There's a $2 charge for refillable Pu-Er tea and don't expect it to come with a nice porcelain teapot. The staff will be coming with a kettle to pour the tea into your plastic mugs. The highlight here is that the dim sum is only made fresh once you place and order and thus you might have to wait for at least 15-20mins before you're served.

Don't expect a stellar dining experice here because its affordable prices, humble exterior and informal atmosphere come in stark contrast with the quality of the food. If you really want to taste some really good dim sum and don't mind that waiting time, try Tim Ho Wan. I will be back!

Tim Ho Wan

Shop 8, Taui Yuen Mansion Phase 2, 

2-20 Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok.
旺角廣華街2-20號翠園大樓2期地下8號舖

Tel: +852-2332 2896

Opening Hours: 10am to 9.30pm