Even the tea is awesome. We had full-bodied Chrysanthemum Tea.

A La Carte Menu: Butter Mushroom (Small RM16.80, AUD 5.27) 
Menu Description: Deep fried oyster mushroom served with special butter sauce. (Malaysia)

So crispy, and so buttery. Fantastic.

Om!

Dim Sum Menu: Fried Radish Cake (RM 6.80, AUD 2.13)

Slightly spicy. Composed of fried egg bits, bean sprouts and fried radish cake (which itself is cubes of radish and glutinous rice flour).

Dim Sum Menu: Pan Fried Radish Cake (RM 4.80, AUD 1.51)

So basically, cubes of this stuff. Not too different from its meaty counterpart.

A La Carte Menu: Vietnamese Curry Chicken (Small RM 18.80, AUD 5.90)

Menu Description: “Seitan chicken drum stick with potatoes cooked with Vietnamese curry. (Vietnam)”

The menu lied. This was basically exactly the same as the curry mutton we had the other time. No potatoes, just the same vegetables, but with seitan chicken instead of mutton.

For those of you new to vegetarian cooking, specifically with faux meat, seitan is made from wheat gluten, and has a slightly chewy texture, making it a good alternative to soybean based meat substitutes. Here, the seitan is layered to replicated the layers of chicken meat. 

A La Carte Menu: Mushroom Kai Lan (Small RM12.80, AUD 4.01)

Menu Description: “Kai Lan stir fried with combination of 3 types of mushrooms. (Malaysia)”

A La Carte Menu: Claypot Chicken Rice (Small RM 13.80, AUD 4.33)

Menu Description: “Served with capsicum, baby corn, carrot and corriander. (Vietnam)”

I think this dish would be more aptly described as ‘Chinese‘. Furthermore, I originally ordered the Thai Fried Rice and they brought this instead. Nothing special.

Dim Sum Menu: Steamed Rice Roll with Veggie Meat (RM 6.80, AUD 2.13)

Otherwise known as Chee Cheong Fun, these rolls were 70% the size of their meat counterparts. Filled with char sieu (BBQ pork).

A La Carte Menu: Xiang Chun (China Toona) Fried Rice (RM 13.80, AUD 4.33)

Menu Description: “Aromatic Xiang Chun (China Toona) gives a unique burst of aroma, stir fried with benu curd, long beans & mushroom. (Taiwan)”

With cubes of vegetarian ham, fragrant herbs and a sprinkling of green peas, this was a great accompaniment to our curry.

A La Carte Menu: Pan Fried Momos (RM 9.80, AUD 3.07)

Menu Description: “A unique Tibetan version of the pan fried Gyoza (dumplings) with Potato and cheese served with chilli oil (Tibet)”

Not the best dumplings I’ve had, but they fulfilled their purpose. Namely, my dumpling craving.

Dim Sum Menu: Steamed Bean Curd Skin Roll (RM 4.80, AUD 1.51)

Filled with various shredded vegetables and drenched in a light soy and sweet chilli sauce, this dish is naturally vegetarian.

Dim Sum Menu: Kechara Herbal Siew Mai (RM 5.80, AUD 1.82)

Siew Mai is pretty ugly. Uncle Cliff said this was the only one that didn’t stand up to the meat version, since it’s normally packed with meat and I presume this had a higher vegetable ratio. Having never had actual siew mai, this tasted like a mushy, bland western dim sim.

Picking up my cousin Pearl from the airport, after a 3 week stint in Shimane, Japan, for a Lion’s Club Youth Exchange program.

It’s the first time she’s been away from home by herself.

My mother, the non-conformist.

Eve dropped the suitcase!

Cubed buttercake topped with caramelized flaked almonds, a going away gift, cooked by Pearl’s Japanese host mother.

I was still stuffed from lunch, but we headed straight to dinner for Pearl’s sake.

Ruffling through the photo albums that Pearl’s two hosts families made for her.

In many restaurants, it’s customary to have freshly chopped garlic, which we then douse in soy sauce. I have become very accustomed to have this with every bite of rice.

Stir-fried mixed vegetables. These tasted slightly off. Towards the end of the meal, a fly drowned itself in the gluggy sauce.

Stir-fried Pucuk Paku with garlic and soy sauce. This was delicious. I ate most of it.

Hokkien Fried Noodles with mixed veggies. 

Steamed River Patin (Silver Catfish).

Dung Pork with Man Tou (BBQ marinated pork and flour bun). Man Tou is a type of Asian bread, usually served steamed or fried (as displayed) and eaten with sauce-heavy meats, or dipped into condensed milk.

Aww.

Aww.