Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Peninsular Restaurant

Now I really have to agree that eating is an educational experience. The walls were covered with printed words of wisdom. In two languages at that! Not a bad idea if you ask me. Think of it as a reflection before, during and after a meal. Certainly makes the meal more meaningful, doesn't it?

Another revelation that dawned upon me recently was the difference in the dai chow scene. I remember those days of sambal belacan kangkung, sweet and sour pork and hotplate tofu. Order these dishes now and chances are you'll either be mistaken for someone who has lived abroad for a very long time or just simply a sentimental person. Ok, maybe not that serious lah. But yes, these days, we are blessed with the creative minds of dai chow cooks and dinners of dishes previously available solely at renowned restaurants (and at a fraction of their prices as well).

I should have taken more pictures of those words. Who knows if one of those phrases touches the cores of our icy cold urban hearts, right? But can you blame this helpless me when a boiling pot of fishhead beehoon bared itself in all its steamy, milky glory and accessorized with a good choice of flavourful ingredients like preserved vegetables, tomatoes and coriander? Or a sexy plate of crispy, salted egg yolks coated fried pork strips sitting invitingly across the table, waiting to be devoured by the hungriest of beasts? The pork looked so golden, it could have easily slotted itself into any Chinese New Year menu by changing its name to something like Golden Nuggets of Happiness or Drops of Fortune God’s Tears of Joy. Move along now, expensive hairy bushes of moss and dried oysters.

The day I heard about this dish called the Flying Fox of the Snow Mountain, I knew I had to try it. There’s something about the names of Chinese dishes that pushes you to the edge of your wildest fantasies. Imagine how funny it would have sounded if this was served in a French restaurant. Le renard de vol de la montagne de neige, anyone? Here, it is simply known as baked salted tilapia fish. Moisture was very much retained, despite the coating of salt. As for the taste, pretty bland. And that’s when the tangy, spicy chopped garlic and chilli condiment kicked in, giving it the much needed zing.

This is one piece of Mongolian meat (no pun intended) that I’ll remember for a long time. There was a nice smoky flavour to it and combined with a dash of pepper and crunchy onion slices, I thought it was delicious. Smooth (not the overly starched kind of smooth) pieces of pork as well. For some historical and cultural reasons, it reminded me of bulgogi.

Served last, the complimentary pickled pineapple slices were nice. When you get caught between the moon and New York City, you fall in love. But in the case of the pineapple, I can’t seem to decide if it was more of an appetizer or a dessert, so I just took the last piece of the Mongolian meat to fall in love.

We had more fun reading the prints than gossiping during dinner. Hey, that's another revelation as well. And am proud of it!

At a reasonable price (RM116 for a table of 6 adults), this is indeed a good peninsular.

Peninsular Restaurant
No. 2A, Jalan Bullion Mewah 8
Taman Bullion Mewah
68100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +6012-692 4371 (Lily Tan)

Do click here for the map.

25 comments:

Selba said...

Whoaaa.. those words are so deep!!!

Food looks great!

Eh.. btw, do you know that blue dish utensil can loose your appetite/food desire? It says the blue color is good for people who want to reduce their food intake while eating.

Yin said...

my first reaction was: wah so cheap :)

and yeah, so deep those words on the wall.

thank you for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Pretty reasonable price for the meal especially so when it comes with free words of wisdom.
Nice to see them serving pickled pineapple pieces too which are hardly seen in most places.

bossacafez said...

hi nic, thx for linking me up. i've linked u up as well =) love your photos & writeup!

choi yen said...

What is in the hot pot?

Ciki said...

that sign on the wall reminds me of something totally unrelated to ur blog, but will share anyway! We use to jump rope to this rhyme...

"Gypsy, Gypsy please tell me
What my fortune's going to be
Rich-man, Poor-man, Beggar-man, Thief.
Doc-tor, Law-yer, In-di-an Chief.
Tink-er, Tail-or, Cow-boy, Sail-or."

Cute huh?
Anyway, be it rich man or poor man... everyone's got to eat.. and from the looks of your blog, you found a really good place to eat! well done:)

minchow said...

Ooh excellent reading material for silent eating! Perfect for family get-togethers when I am all out of small talk and non-threatening responses to put-me-downs!

Anonymous said...

I guess there's always a first time for everything. As in this is the first time I salivated and drooled and my tummy aroused into a frenzied bout of growling from the writing rather than the pictures (which are great too, don't get me wrong).

You don't just know what we eat, you know why eat what we eat, and here, it's more than just sustenance.

Bravo, my friend, bravo. I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. And you can be sure, I shall be back for many more. So long as you are willing to dish them up. ;)

HairyBerry said...

selba, oh, i didnt know that blue colour does that to people! thanks for the info! i'll try to see more things blue during lunchtime! i like red cos they remind me of curries! ok, think blue, think blue, nic! ;D

yin, you're welcome! ;D yupe, i was surprised when cousin told me the price as well! and that includes another dish which i din feature as well.

ck lam, yeah, i thought the pickled pineapples were a nice touch too! but i would have loved it even more if it was served as an appetizer. i enjoy the words too!

evan 이벤젤린, thanks for stopping by! and thanks for the compliment! you take excellent pictures!!! and your blog looks good. btw, i cant seem to get the rss feed on you blog. hence, the undetectable update in my foodspirations section. will try to work that out again. ;D

mimi, the hotpot consisted of fried fish head with bee hoon. love the hot, milky soup! yummy!

cumi & ciki, thanks for sharing the rhyme. very cute la. i think it is rather aptly cos after all the good food, we need to exercise. and skipping rope is one good way. but can only do that 4 hours after dinner la..haha!
yupe, it is a nice place for a decent dai chow. hey, check it out when u are around that area! ;D

550ml jar of faith, haha! good idea! instead of waiting impatiently for the newspaper seller to come with the night edition, we now have something meaningful to read, FOC somemore! haha! that'll avoid some awkward moments, definitely!

kenny, definitely food for thought and the tummy, eh? i was quite eager to put up this post mainly because of the words. very inspiring la, me thinks.
it's true, it's true! it's only when we know why eat what we eat that we'll understand the whole experience, be it a means of absorbing nutrients or a way to release stress.
thanks for the encouraging words, dude. do stop by for more meals! ok, i must warn u that some will be self-indulging ar..hahaha!

Allie said...

Great Food!

When I read 'When you get caught between the moon and New York City, you fall in love', my mind flew away for like 30 secs trying to figure out what you trying to say. But when I read on, ah ha...

Simon Seow said...

Read a lot about the fish, don't really have the chance to try it yet.

bossacafez said...

hi again nic! thx for liking my blog *blushes* yea the RSS thing! there's something "wrong" with my blog i think, maybe i didn't update to the new blogger version thats why. i'm still on the old one. or probably i need to do something to the feed's setting?

Big Boys Oven said...

Sounds very reasonable! and yet delicious too! so unthinkable!

J2Kfm said...

where's this bullion place?!!!
but hey, i still love my Ku Lou Yuk n Ma Lai Fung Kong, OK?

the steamed tilapia with salt looks strangely familiar. saw that from some tv shows, if i'm not mistaken

Rebecca Saw said...

ya lorr.. where is this bullion place?? Tmn Mewah.. near Pandan Jaya/indah area?

HairyBerry said...

hi allie, thanks for stopping by! ;D haha, that line was kinda spontaneous. i was surprised to have thought of that as well when i typed it. that song got stuck in my head the whole of yesterday..haha!

simon, the first time i heard about it was in king crab. din get a chance to taste it until now. actually, it's just like baked fish. the sauce makes the difference, me thinks.

evan 이벤젤린, hi hi! ;D oh, the feed setting? not sure about that but can sure try it out. let me know when u do that and i'll check on my blog to see if it works! ;D and hey, no need to blush, cos yr blog's awesome! was listening to the songs for an hour on your blog today! lurve astrud gilberto. ;D

bigboysoven, yupe yupe, i thought the price was very reasonable. and i especially enjoyed the mongolian pork. nice.

j2kfm, taman bullion is opposite batu caves. ok, almost opposite la..hehe...i have the map as well. let me know if u need it. i'll send it over. agree la, i oso still like my ku lou yuk and ma lai fung kong.;D

yeah, i think the fish created a buzz earlier last year and that really got me hyped..hehe..

thenomadGourmand, actually, this bullion is near batu caves. i think it's at a turning before turning into the genting highlands trunk road. i have the map with me. let me know if u need it and i'll send it over to ya. ;D

Faye fly said...

those words let my mind appear thses ..照亮別人就是點亮自己..so nik u must take more nice n yummy food photos to take care our eyes n stomach ;p

backStreetGluttons said...

Eating is a lot like a certain activity , as variety and style yet timing are paramount in extracting maximum satisfaction n minimising oversatisfaction, with the cliff hanging high low strokes between life and death or pain and pleasure.Virgin taste is both frightening and exciting and experienced care must be cautiously measured carelessly to achieve the ultimate seasoned temperament! So eat and enjoy for tomorrow we might have to eat more
( words of miswisdom from the overly indulgent team)

Babe_KL said...

hmmm soo yummy, care to post up the map?

Jun said...

lol when i saw the word "peninsular", i thought u were in hk or sg :P u back to work edi?

bossacafez said...

hey nic, i added the feeds html code to my blog but seems like the update on yr blog is still not appearing? hmm, wonder if i'm still doing something incorrectly.

anyway! i didn't know you're into jazz too! great to know likeminded people :D what other kinds of music do u listen to?

Rebecca Saw said...

ya ya..post the map lerrr..or u can send via email?

fatboybakes said...

peninsular sounds so classy hor...i can almost imagine someone saying in a propah english accent, "let's do tea at the peninsulah"...
so, i was greatly relieved to see that its actually a down to earth affordable place.

whats a TINKER ah? (in the gypsy poem)...still no whore hor...

Anonymous said...

haha you should have take more photos of the words ma. but its damn cheap la. yeah thanks for the post

HairyBerry said...

faye fly, 照亮別人就是點亮自己. that is so true! thanks for sharing that thought! :D yes, i will do my best! :D

backstreetgluttons, yes. indulgences. we are afraid for what we want (eat) sometimes is such a climaxing pleasure that soar way above the sky that breaks into a dawn of cries and more pleasure that we cannot help to but let our bodies go and let our wildest fantasies take over. and guys, the words of miswisdom is far more priceless because without them, there will be no indulgence. you guys rock!

babe_kl, okie dokie! updated the post with a link to the map already. do check out the mongolian meat dish, ya! hope you'll enjoy it! ;D

jun, haha, thanks what i thought too when cousin brought me there. well, the food's good lar, so no need to get air tix there..hehehe...yupe, back at work di...u coming back to sg soon?

evan 이벤젤린, worth a try, i'd say. hey, let me check with net and see what i can help you with. well, i'm not really an IT guy but it'll be fun to know. will email ya when i get it, ok? :D

and btw, i like all kinds of music. jazz is one of 'em. nat king cole's one of my fave. u have him on your playlist too! ;D

thenomadGourmand, yupe, post d (below the tel no.). ;D do check it out and let us know what you think about it, ya! enjoy! ;D

fatboybakes, hahaha! imagine telling a friend that you'll bring him to peninsular the restaurant and that the food's good and exotic. they musta think that it's that high krass place...hehe...ya lor, down to earth and nice. a good recommendation from the cuz.

a tinker? i oso dunno but found this on the web: One who enjoys experimenting with and repairing machine parts.for a moment, i thought a tinker is a fairy. tinkerbell mah...heheh...no whore yet? hahaha! will tell u bout the whoring thingy when we met!

ladyironchef, yeah, i shudda done that. but was hungry that day and we just charged at whatever that was being served. and before you know it, we are already on our way back..haha! ok, will take more pics when i go there next time! ;D