Tuesday 14 July 2020

To The Museum, Finally


Last week, my brother and I had an early dinner at The Museum@The Starling. This restaurant opened last year, taking over the space vacated by Sedapnya.

Every time my partner and I attempted to dine at The Museum, there were long queues. So we simply gave up. Even at lunchtime, you will find this eatery filled to capacity.

That was pre-MCO and now that we are in RMCO, this could possibly the best time to visit since the crowds are not as crazy as before.


The place has a classy feel (and the prices are classy too hah..hah...) and the decor is very tasteful. 


The items on the menu range from one dish meals to noodles and side dishes. My brother and I selected a one dish meal each and 3 side dishes to share.


One of the specialties here is their Towing Char Siew. In fact there are 2 framed posters of their char siew. Why is it named "towing" char siew? I haven't got a clue.


The Sweet and Sour Pork (RM23.00) was the first to be served. My brother and I looked at the dish and we were like - oh...the sweet and sour pork like that... 

It's not like the ones we are used to at tai chow places or other Chinese restaurants. The meat is lightly coated with flour and is not deep fried to crispy. Even the sauce tasted different. It was not the sweet and sour pork that we were hoping for, so a bit disappointed.


Then my Tomato Pork Chop Rice (RM18.00) arrived. This was another "oh...like that..." moment. The server highlighted to me that the pork chop is encased in egg. So I took a closer look. Ah, just like how luncheon meat is coated with egg before frying.


The highlight for me was the egg. Isn't it a beauty?


I love runny yolk. This dish unfortunately was just ordinary. The pork chop was not outstanding and the tomato sauce was exactly like the one in the sweet and sour pork.


The Towing Char Siew (RM20.80) was next. It better be good at that price.


Oooh! Very nice. And then I realized it tasted very familiar, just like my favorite char siew from TNR, right down to the sauce. My brother agreed that this was good, just as good as TNR's. So you don't have to come here for an awesome char siew. There is a more affordable alternative hah..hah...


This was the best dish for the evening - the Wild Paku with Crispy Shrimp (RM18.00). The ferns were cooked just right - tender and yet still crisp and dressed with a dressing that tasted like Thai chili sauce with lime juice and a hint of bunga kantan.


This is a cold dish, probably the paku was blanched and them immersed in ice cold water to stop the cooking. My brother loved this dish too.

Now where is my brother's Hainan Chicken Rice (RM18.00)?


It was served last and yes, another "oh...like that..." moment. We did not expect fried chicken. We though it would be steamed chicken since this is Hainan Chicken Rice. My brother's comment is that it taste all right but he won't order this again. 


Overall, I would say there were hits and misses. Our favorites were the Wild Paku with Crispy Shrimp and the Towing Char Siew. The other 3 we won't order again.

So that's The Museum. Curiosity satisfied. Total damage RM127.15.

28 comments:

  1. I have stood outside this eatery and flipped through the menu but the prices put me off. I rather go eat pies at gravy baby than eat char siew that is similar to TNR when I can get it at TNR. But thank you for trying the food here and letting us know that the char siew is not better than TNR so we can go TNR eat char siew instead.

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    1. That was my reaction too when I first checked the menu. At least now I know how the food is like.

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  2. The wild paku is a cold dish? I am ok with cold dishes as I ate many cold dishes which are quite common in Taiwan. But I wonder the locals here, how many can accept cold dishes.

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    1. The older folks might not like cold dishes.

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  3. The sweet and sour pork dish I would like because I don't like those with thick coated batter covering fatty pork that has more dough batter than meat so with more meat here, then it would be good.

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    1. It was very meaty but I prefer to usual sweet and sour pork.

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  4. I see the runny yolk and I think to myself that you would like it and sure you did like it but unfortunately the whole dish didn't wow u. At rm18 I can understand why. So I guess I will never eat here since I can't bring myself to pay that price for food that I can eat at ok places elsewhere but then again I would pay these prices to eat at icanton but I think icanton has a bit lower price but just a bit lower only.

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    1. Since some dishes taste better or are comparable elsewhere, you might not miss much.

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  5. ooo, coincidentally i managed to order delivery from the museum last week, and the dishes were quite decent. the char siu was nice, heheh - tasty and tender :) the prawn omelette rice is quite decent, with a very soft, nearly-runny omelette (though it could be a bit more seasoned) :) the garlic rice has a lot of garlic, so that's good :) the green spinach was not memorable though :) okie, that's my museum mini-review :D p.s. wild paku is not available for delivery, unfortunately!

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    1. Ah! I did not realize they are on delivery. Based on your mini review, I know what not to get hee..hee... I see that we agree the char siew is tasty :)

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  6. If the pork of the sweet & sour pork is not crispy, it's never going to be a good sweet & sour pork. Actually, from the photo, I already knew it wouldn't be nice. I had a similar paku dish at a Hakka restaurant and loved it too...the refreshing taste of the cold salad will open up your appetite (mine had dried shrimps and shallots instead of onions, the sauce was probably a combination of lime juice and plum sauce, I think). Ya, the hainan chicken rice is bit unexpected (they should say hainan fried chicken rice...lol). I like my egg runny but not when the whites look uncooked like that. Most of the complaints seem to be on the prices! >_<

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    1. Oops, let me be more precise, I meant the egg in your brother's dish. Yours look fine...coz when we eat outside, I noticed that we don't usually get very frizzy, well fried sides (of the egg), like the ones we do at home, otherwise the customer might complain that you've burnt their eggs...lol! :D

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    2. I only realized the whites around the yolk was uncooked when I saw the photo >.< I actually thought my egg was well executed and for a classy place like this, they can't be serving frizzy fried eggs like at chap fan stalls or our home fried ones hee..hee...

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  7. You call that egg a beauty? Eyewwwwwww!!!! They need to go home and learn from their grandmother! The char siew sure saved the day...and the paku kerabu too, both looked really good. I thought everything else looked disappointing...especially the eggs!

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    1. Name makes me think of that movie. What is it now...The Night at The Museum? LOL!!!

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    2. Beauty is after all in the eye of the beholder!

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  8. I have been there once, yes, nothing spectacular other than the expensive char siew. They have a branch in Ipoh too but I only went there twice and that was it. Like you, I have found an alternative choice for the charsiew for a very lesser price. :)

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    1. Agree with you, one time visit for me OK liao. LOL!

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  9. very atas price! the Hainan Chicken rice doesn't look appealing, looks more like nasi ayam kampong coz it looks dry & skinny...lolx!

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    1. Ya lor...the chicken rice is very misleading.

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  10. A pity that the first two were disappointing, lucky that the char siew made up for it. Same as you, i always thot that hainanese chicken sh be steamed chicken. Will you visit this museum again next time?

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    1. If I do visit again, I might just try their noodles.

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  11. I tried the Char Siew at their Ipoh main branch, it was good but the price.... like what you said, I can have more wallet friendly version at TNR :P

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  12. I am still a bit nervous about dining indoors when there are many people. Trying to avoid the crowds as much as I can.

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