Taste and Testing

We had been frequenting China Treasures at Some Darby Convention Centre quite a lot in the last few years. They made some of the best Halal dim sum in town, and being affiliated to Some Darby, I was entitled to some discount every time I dine there.

I even know the manager and the staffs pretty well by now and during our lunch last Monday, the Manager, Eric asked if we could come for a food tasting dinner for the upcoming Chinese New Year buffet. The dinner was held next door to the restaurant in the main ballroom at the convention centre and I must say there were a lot more people than I expected.

In the end, it was a seven course affair and the dessert was only served close to 9 pm. We got more than we bargained for.

They opened more than 40 tables, enough to fill the whole of the hall. I was seated with a colleague from SJMC and a banker with his wife. We actually enjoyed the company despite the fact that I had to disappear for an hour during the dinner to attend to a patient at the hospital.

It started off with yee sang and soup - which Anita had to leave for me as I was still at the hospital - then the main courses - which were garoupa and prawns - followed by rice in the end. I enjoyed the company more than the food however, but it was different with Anita as she was starving at the start of dinner.

The yee sang was made in house, and you could taste how fresh and well-preserved the ingredients were. It came with thinly sliced raw salmon. The highlight I must say was the back chicken double-boiled soup. It was delicious. The garoupa was fine but I was full by then.

The dessert was yam in a sack of pastry, deep fried to look like a money pouch. Very sweet and really cleansed the palate at the end of the meal. They had an early bird promotion for a table of 10, and based on the price, it was well worth it. No din sum though …..

Irfan's Dinner

Irfan's turning 9 next week but I would be on call in the day. Instead, we had dinner on Saturday and a party on Sunday.

The dinner was an annual one, usually coinciding with a bit of lou sang for Chinese New Year. And as with every year, it was the same venue. Corus Hotel.

This time, Irfan wanted an ice cream cake, from Baskin Robbins. And we soon realized that the container used to carry it had dry ice in them. Which brought some ideas to Uncle Razak for party tricks.

It had been a while since we moved over to Bangsar, and this was the first time we got together for dinner. Their grandparents really missed the boys.

Food was great as usual and then came the cake cutting. And of course Uncle's party tricks. Dry ice, mixed in water in a cup. Walla!

The boys were fascinated by the steam coming out from it. And then a spot of finger hockey with the dry ice on the smooth glass tabletop. Great fun!

Another Birthday Do

On the evening of her birthday, Anita had another treat. So, in the end she had three dinners. This time around, it was with her parents and brother. Her Mum wanted a Chinese dinner, so we went to Ming Palace at Corus Hotel.

Nice place of course, but the food was a far cry from Lala Chong in terms of freshness and cooking. And the price, that was a different matter completely. Thank God I did not have to foot the bill!

Idlan putting his points acrossWhich Irfan found hilarious Let's drink up ...The cake came next None the less, we enjoyed the dinner. It was topped up with another cake after the dessert. That can't be healthy.

More Treasures

Another stop at China Treasures for lunch. The boys wanted the buttered prawns again, whomever enjoyed some din sum.

The menu had been modified for the Chinese New Year. As a result, few of the din sum which we liked were not available. The items on the din sum menu - only 14 - were given a special twist.

For example, Idlan's egg tarts were topped with a layer of bird's nest. Luckily it didn't alter the taste too much and Idlan was convinced that it was some sort of jelly. No damage done.

We opted against din sum as we planned to do just that when the whole family, including my in-laws around. Maybe we'd do it some time next week.

A sign that we were here too often was when they gave us some water chestnut for dessert for us to try on the house.... Was that a hint of sort?

Din Sum. Again.

After the ward round this morning which only finished just before noon, we looked for a place to eat. Anita didn't plan to cook as we were only at the apartment overnight. We didn't pack much. We had enough drinks and junk food to last a week, but nothing perishable.

The boys were only about to hit the showers when I reached the apartment, so we went to Sime Darby Convention Centre for the din sum which of course cane with a 20% staff discount.

As usual, food was great but the place was packed this afternoon. Luckily we called in before we set off to make sure there would be a table.

After the food was done, I couldn't really open my eyes anymore. Time for the afternoon nap. Before heading back to Gombak of course. When I truly knew that the weekend was over ....