Thursday 11 February 2016

Chinese New Year Day 2 : Dinner@Lee Hong Kee


Continuing with day 2 of Chinese New Year, I stayed home on day 3 because I had an episode with my tummy hah..hah.. 

Day 2 dinner was held at Restoran Lee Hong Kee. My sister-in-law made the booking and I am so glad that she did. Dinner was at 7:30pm but my brother, mum and I arrived half an hour early to allow time in case we got lost hah..hah.. Dad was unwell and had to stay home.

The restaurant was packed, filled with many families having their new year dinner.



So the three of us sat and waited for my brother and his family to arrive. Once they did, my sister-in-law signaled for the server to initiate our orders. My sister-in-law chose the RM888.00 package. Very auspicious numbers, eh? 


The restaurant was bustling with activity and a while later, our Five Blessings was served.


I always love the first course which consists of many items. Those meatballs had some stock encased in them and I made the mistake of biting into one and having juice squirt all over the tablecloth (on my side, thankfully). Paiseh, paiseh....

Everything on that platter was very good. That black thing in the middle is century egg plus some other goodies encased in jelly. It was topped with some sort of creamy dressing. I liked it a lot.

Next was the Scallop with Shark Fin Soup. I know. This is controversial stuff. We are not encouraged to consume sharks fin but if it is any consolation, there was very scant shark fin content in the soup.


As pointed out by my young niece, there were no scallops. Instead, there was crab meat. The soup was tasty and it was quite thick and viscous. Perhaps a tad too thick in my opinion.


I had only one serving with black vinegar. 

Next up was the Boiled Farm Chicken. This is poached Ayam Kampung and it is one of my favorite dishes.


The meat was a bit tough and there was some blood too. I guess it wasn't cooked all the way through. So I did my best to avoid eating the parts that were covered with blood.

I think it was at this point that my tummy started to get upset. No, it was not due to the chicken and I am guessing that the sambal during lunch was doing me in.

I was a bit uncomfortable and I was looking for the toilet. I spotted the ladies not too far from our table. I had a lot of wind starting to build up. This is so inauspicious I tell you.

Next up was the Steamed Pomfret with Homemade Soya Sauce. To me, this was the best dish of the evening. 


The pomfret was very fresh and steamed to perfection. The flesh was tender, moist and tasty. The soya sauce was wonderful and in spite of my troubled tummy, I kept on eating and I wished I could have the whole fish to myself hah..hah... 

The next dish that came was a show stopper. How could it not be? Say hello to the Stewed Sea Cucumber with Pork Knuckle, ladies and gentlemen!


Gosh! Look at that. The meat was so tender, braised till falling off the bone. The jelly-like skin was the piece de resistance. That's mum's favorite and she went for it hah..hah....


By this time, I was already quite full. But the food was just too good. So I ate some more....


In spite of my almost full tank, I could not resist the Butter Style Fresh Shrimp. Most of us know this as Butter Prawns and it is a firm favorite of many. Though I am not much of a prawn person, I still ate two. Or was it three?

We were all splitting at the seams when this vegetable dish was served. It was the Vegetarian's Special, a dish of mixed vegetables with mock meat encased in beancurd skin and surrounded by blanched broccoli. 


The sauce was very pungent and without a doubt, it was nam yue (fermented red beancurd). I love nam yue and I enjoyed this vegetarian dish very much. In spite of my very full tummy, I still ate with gusto.

There was quite a lot leftover because our party of 7 were very stuffed. My sister-in-law chose not to pack this home. I guess it's because leftover vegetables do not taste as good (I actually don't mind). I wished that I had asked to take it home because it was such a waste to leave this behind. But paiseh lah....

There was some more food coming our way. Wow. My perut sudah mau pecah hah..hah... 


The Fried Special HK Yee Mee came looking so pale. The looks was actually very misleading because this was one heck of a fried yee mee. It was delicious! So much flavors and I could detect the smell of Chinese cooking wine. I had two servings. It was getting hard to breathe by now hah..hah..

And thankfully we came to the end of dinner with the arrival of the Mung Bean Sweet Soup and Crispy Pancake


This is something that I have not had before. It was a first for the rest of the family too. The soup was not too sweet and it had a very mild flavor. I can't tell what it was, it was sort of flowery. Osmanthus? Don't know. There were also some crunchy bits in there which I am guessing is water chestnuts. 

This soup, like the shark fin soup, was thick and viscous. In fact at one point my sister-in-law mistook the shark fin soup for the mung bean soup hee...hee...


The Crispy Pancake was a hit all round. I especially liked the pieces that were over browned at the edges. There were no leftovers, this one.

The set dinner was meant for 10 persons and since we were short of 3, we could not finish all the dishes. My sister-in-law packed the leftovers (except for the vegetarian dish), so there was minimal wastage. 

When it came to settling the bill, younger brother no. 2, stepped up to pay in spite of protests from my sister-in-law and younger brother no. 1. I guess he had been waiting for an opportunity to contribute to our family makan session.

I enjoyed the dinner immensely in spite of my upset tummy. You must be amazed how someone could eat so much while experiencing tummy ache. Well, this is Phong Hong for you :D

30 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading all your CNY posts. Your family is blessed to have a good chef like you as their family member. I did nothing except baking 3 types of cookies.

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    1. Thank you, Yannie! I am not that good lah, some of my dishes were like hah..hah..hah...

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  2. :-) I would like to celebrate with your Family! but I am not sure I would be able to try everything:)

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    1. Ola, would be great if you could join us!

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  3. I can only say... WIN LIAO LOR! Walao... upset tummy yet you were able to properly savor all the flavors of the food.

    That 888 would have been better if that price is already inclusive of GST. As it is, the 888 is just for cosmetic purposes, but you guys actually paid 941.30. WOI! That is so NOT auspicious if you read it in Cantonese!! Maybe that's the real root cause for your rumbly tummy!! :/

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    1. hah..hah... I agree that the 888 should be GST inclusive because that 6% sure spoiled the auspicious numbers.

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  4. Ekkkkkkk!!! The unmentionable!!! LOL!!! Ya, same here! Usually it is just cornflour-thickened crab meat and minced pork and egg soup - cannot even see a strand of the forbidden stuff.

    Wahhhhh!!!! Open 2nd Day? Here, all closed till after the 3rd Day, or most of them, at least. My pick of the lot would definitely be...the pork knuckle! Yum yummmmm!!!!

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    1. Yup, the restaurant was in full swing. This is the time for them to make more money.

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  5. used to be LYJ... marbeles food there they have...!

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  6. What a sumptuous meal !! Have a good time !

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  7. My favourite will be the opening dish and the pork knuckle. Ha ha I will be enjoying every dish too!

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    1. They were all so good. If only I had a bigger stomach LOL!

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  8. No wonder the 7 of you eat until you're bursting at the seams...coz this is meant for 10 pax! Probably 10 persons also can't finish.

    This is the place famous for poon choy and the standing roasted chicken, I think. My friend's family always have poon choy here every CNY and she says it's the best (you have to book in advance and pay deposit first, it seems).

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    1. Yes, I saw one table had the standing roasted chicken. The poon choy that my brother brought to my house on the eve was from this restaurant. And yes, I also saw some tables having a huge pot of poon choy. Quite a practical thing, just one pot with many goodies and everybody just digs in :D

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  9. I hope your tummy is much better after staying at home during CNY day 3. Now I know you have high tolerance for discomfort - you can still shop for grocery when you need to go to the toilet and you can still eat a lot of food while experiencing discomfort in your tummy. Bravo!

    Food looks very good here, especially the one with the sea cucumber. I love to eat sea cucumber.

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    1. My tummy had recovered, thanks. I guess I have a high threshold for pain hah..hah... Me too love sea cucumber!

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  10. Good morning Phong Hong and Gong Xi Fa Cai to you & family. I'm back to work today, and I feel like a newbie reporting to work on the first day.. Leaving my footprints here, and back to checking my emails.. Sighhhhh..

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    1. Hello Louiz! Gong Xi Fa Cai and great to have you back. I missed you so much hah..hah... Hope that you had a wonderful CNY with your family!

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  11. Been there. named LYJ last time. Hmm...I like their kerabu paku pakis. that one very nice

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    1. I also tried their kerabu paku pakis but that time they used limau kasturi. I prefer limau nipis.

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  12. Lee Hon Kee, errrr, say me *jakun* but i have not heard and not been there before.. looks like a popular restaurant in the neighbourhood huh?? errr, wait, i don't think you are in that neighbourhood at all.. that was why you buffered 30 minutes just in case, now we see~~

    the standard CNY/wedding/birthday dinner set huh?? for 10 pax but there were only 7 of you, hmmm, but surprise surprise even with you and your brother there, you still could not finish everything, haha.. i can see the RM668 and RM888 set didn't differ much, i would have chosen the RM668 set, hahaha.. or probably your SIL was hosting guests, so she chose the more expensive set.. :)

    give me five!! i also always like the very first dish, a bit of everything.. shark's fin, have not had this for a long time, and most of the time those are not shark's fin but some mock ones.. looks like you enjoyed the food very much, here comes "the best up-to-time" and then next comes "the best for the night" and then followed by the "show stopper", hahaha!! but undeniable, the food really looks good from the photos..

    BTW, hope your stomach did not trouble you too much after these few days of feasting.. hehehe!! anyway, once a year, hentam first worry later!! :D

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    1. The location is actually a bit out of the way for me but worth the trip there because the food is very good. If you have a chance, go there and experience it with your family or friends.

      My stomach was OK after one day rest hah..hah..

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  13. Good to hear that!! Continue to enjoy Food, PH! Love your sense of humour.. hahahaha..

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    1. I am still enjoying my food way after CNY hah...hah....

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  14. So much good food! You must adopt me to be your God Brother so that I could enjoy the family meals!!!

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