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2011-01-07
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Hole in the wall? Check. Green and white checked tablecloth? Check. Elderly but friendly chef and his sidekick running the show? Check. Awesome food? Check. A HUNDRED BUCKS for a 11 course meal? No way!It is indeed true, and I can vouch for it in person. Having only read one review here posted almost a year ago, I didn't have much to go on except a hunch that someone good is about to happen. The 7 of us crammed around a small table, and next to us was a large group of friends who took up the rem
It is indeed true, and I can vouch for it in person. Having only read one review here posted almost a year ago, I didn't have much to go on except a hunch that someone good is about to happen. The 7 of us crammed around a small table, and next to us was a large group of friends who took up the remaining 2 tables. Mr Yuen came out to greet us and asked if it's alright if he calls the shot for the dishes. Absolutely, I said, except not the chilled beef in jelly and no fatty pig's feet, and he slinked back into the kitchen and kept himself busy. His helper ran the rest of the show, helping him prepare the ingredients, shuttling back and forth and bringing out dishes of glorious food. Don't except too much service here, but it was a pretty laid back atmosphere so I helped myself to spare bowls and refilling the tea from the old school urn. We brought 3 bottles of wine, and we managed to find a rusty old corkscrew at the bottom of a pile of utensils.
The first dish came quickly, and we had the puffy dough 烤芙 with 毛豆 (kinda like edamame), golden needles 金針, black fungus 雲耳. The dish wasn't exactly a cold appetiser, but neither was it hot, but somehow that worked well with the flavours and texture of the ingredients. The drunken chicken was next, the wine sauce was splendidly fragrant with a touch of sweetness, and the chicken was ever so tender. Then came the marinated jellyfish with pickled cucumber. My friend said they were the biggest pieces of jellyfish she's seen, and they were crunchy and springy too. The cucumber slices were home made, and it had a wonderful sourness that pleased my taste buds very much.
The rest of the hot dishes came one by one, not too fast and not too slow, just enough time for us to clamber into one dish and gobble it all up and let the flavours sit before the next one arrived. The eggplants with salted fish came bubbling like molten lava, and the eggplant retained its firmness but still soaked up all the goodness of the sauce, and the best part was that it wasn't oily and greasy. The ma por tofu had less sauce than the usual rendition, but I much preferred this style as the gooey stuff normally masks the true flavour of the tofu. And the tofu here was firm, smooth and silky, with fresh pieces of pork and just the right balance of chilli. The sweet and sour pork had the most tender pieces of pork I've had for a long time, but they weren't fatty which meant a lot less guilt. The use of sweetcorn was a little unconventional but gave the sauce a bit of crunch and texture. 干煎大蝦 (fried prawns) was nicely presented on a bed of lettuce, and the sweet chilli sauce was my favourite of the night. The prawns were very fresh and people wasted no time getting their fingers dirty peeling off the shell.
Then came the xiaolongbao, which reminded me of the ones my shanghai friend's mum used to make as she would lay down a bed of cabbage too. The dumplings didn't have much juice in them as he probably didn't put in a lot of fat, but the pork was fluffy and tasty. The hot and sour soup was a tummy-warming bowl of soup with plenty of condiments - black fungus, tofu, beancurd sheets, bamboo shoots, and I think some pig's intestines too (but I didn't say anything at the time or it might have put off some of my Westerner friends). The consistency of the soup was perfect, not too thick, and a 50-50 balance of hotness and sourness.
By then we were finally feeling full, but the dessert wasn't wasted on us. Someone called it pop tart, which I guess is the closest version you can get in the western world. The dough was thin and crispy with a glaze of oil but which didn't taste greasy, with just enough red bean paste in the middle to offset the floury taste of dough without overpowering your sense of taste.
Mr Yuen came out when he finally finished cooking up a storm, and asked me to translate and tell the others that he's very pleased that they enjoyed his meal, and that he cooks for pleasure, as a hobby, and not for profit. And he pulled a figure out of thin air and said, $100 a head. OMG, nobody believed it. So we left a handsome tip and parted with the lovely gent. Make sure you book a few days in advance as it's almost always full.
张贴
