Qin Han Lou Pun Choy

It was Kor Thung (Winter Solstice celebration), a day more significant than the Chinese Lunar celebration, and the day of the year for tong yuen (glutinous rice balls), which signifies completion of another year.

Grandma was in Bentong, with khaw foo and khum mou. Adrian and I made a trip there to celebrate the day with them. At dinner, we had the opportunity to try Qin Han Lou's seafood pun choy for dinner. First for me, it was quite a lavish looking dish. Quite a variety of seafood well arranged in the wooden tub, colourful and enticing :). On a personal note, it was not enticing enough to be worth the price paid (and there were three table that night), though I never got to know (will check with my khaw foo and update).

Among items in the tub were large prawns, scallops, clams, sea cucumber, abalone, shark's fin, and fish maw. Served with broccoli in clear gluey gravy, the portions were reasonabley adequate, though some had more and some less (understandable since it was seafood and some people do go nuts about seafood). The items appaered to have been steamed, braised or blanched before they were placed into the tub, hence the taste was light with a tinge of seafood sweetness.

Seafood pun choy

We had another dish of steamed fresh fish, lined with springy fishballs in light soy sauce. The fish was really fresh, hence the meat was crunchy and intact. Needless to say, the fish balls were made from fresh fish paste, rendering them crunchy and tasty. A another dish came along not long after the steamed fish was served, and it turned out to be lightly salted crispy fish scales (that of the steamed fish). Unordinarily, they turned out to be rather good :)

Steamed fish with springy fishballs, and crispy fried fish scales (that of the steamed fish)

This was definitely a Malaysian Chinese thing to have fruits served right after dinner. I would have had the fruits first if I had my say. The platter that came onto the table was quite pretty and colourful with oranges, watermelons, strawberries, and black grapes. Then they were all gone. :)

Theobroma Chocolate Lounge

Theobroma Chocolate Lounge arrived from Australia almost six months back and finally Adrian and I had the opportunity the try out something from there when we were in 1Utama Shopping Centre one weekend. We were window shopping and decided to take a quick sugar break. Whilst the premium delicate but beautiful chocolates were bit too pricey for our liking, we gave one of the chocolate beverage a try, so we shared the Iceland Princess.

Priced at RM10.90, the fragrant Belgian chocolate drink turned out to be quite a treat. With sweetness that was just almost right, it was creamy, rich and smooth.

Premium chocolates priced at RM3.90 per piece

Yummy looking chocolate cheese cakes at RM8.90 per piece

The chocolate fondue was one of the items on the menu, which we'd try when we next visit the lounge

Theobroma Chocolate Lounge

Lot FK3, First FloorHighstreet

1 Utama Shopping Centre

Petaling Jaya

Tel : 603 - 7725 0623

* Theobroma has another outlet at the Pavillion KL

Kow Po Ice Cream

We could not resist the temptation to try out the famous cendol at Kow Po that after our mini lunch feast on the Saturday we were in Bentong, we landed ourselves there shortly. What made it different was the homemade peanut ice cream and pineapple chunks that came with the simple dessert. The homemade ice cream was smooth and creamy whilst the pineapples chunks added tanginess to the usually refreshing plain cendol, which was priced at RM3.00 per bowl.

The cendol came with shaved ice, diluted coconut milk, brown sugar, attap seeds, red beans and chunks of pineapples

Shop owner preparing a bowl of cendol

A big tub of the homemade peanut ice cream among other flavours available to go with the cendol

No 2, Bentong Heights

28700 Bentong

Pahang

Tel: 09-2221258

09-2220391 (House)

Golden Court Restaurant

It was a Saturday morning, and we were on our way to Bentong, this time for the wedding dinner hosted by my cousin-in-law to be, Mei Yee's parents for family, relatives and friends. The Mooi family was given a table for ten at the 30-over table dinner at the Qin Han Lou restaurant in the evening.

My Tai Yee and Tai Yee Cheong, together with two other cousins, Clavin and Kenix were invited too. Two cars travelled the Karak Highway. I always enjoy the scenic landscape along this highway, lovely and green.

We arrived close to lunch time, and Khaw Foo had booked a table at the Golden Court Restaurant, just few rows away from Qin Han Lou for lunch. A mini feast before the main feast. Boy, I remember telling myself I had to go on a week's diet after that.

The fried rice vermicelli was rather delicious with quite a generous splash of ingredients - shredded capsicums, sliced fish cakes, bean sprouts, minced pork, sliced onions, and chinese lettuce.

The tasty claypot yee mee was soft yet springy, with sliced pork, prawns, cuttle fish and romain lettuce (yau mak).

The thin, crispy pork slices were heavenly. Deep fried and coated with salty-sweet sauce, and served with fried anchovies and fresh cucumber cubes, the dish was mouth-watering, and certainly a must-try.

The stir-fried young watercress (sai yeong choy) was fresh and supple.

Homemade beancurds with angled loofah was light with the sweetness of the loofah. The fragrant beancurds were lightly fried on the outside with smooth inside.