Thursday 28 April 2022

An Evening At Chef Chew Kitchen

It was my partner's birthday and we found ourselves at Restoran Chef Chew Kitchen with family to celebrate the occasion.  


This restaurant is located at Section 19, along the row of shops where you can find durians. Everyone was on time and our hosts arrived a little earlier than we did. Parking is a headache and we had to park behind the shop lot, which is a housing area.

This restaurant is very popular and reservation is a must. Besides, you also have to book your dishes one day in advance, so I hear.
Judging from the crowd (it also happened to be a public holiday), I can say that the food must be very good.
So these were the dishes that graced our table.


I don't know the exact names of the dishes (too lazy to check the menu), so I shall describe them as accurately as possible.

This ginger scallion rice was a firm favorite at the table. It was absolutely fragrant with the aroma of ginger, spring onions and sesame oil, something like chicken rice, but better.


And then there was the steamed chicken which I absolutely loved. It was definitely kampung chicken judging from the color and the firm and succulent texture of the flesh. 


I also enjoyed the mixed seafood curry. There were large prawns, squid and clams in a delicious curry broth. 


And then there was this charcoal tofu topped with minced pork. Also very good.


Of course we had to have veggies in the form of this mixed fried vegetable dish. We all enjoyed the crispy and crunchy veggies.


And then there was this. 

Please don't eat the ice cubes

What in the .....? (At this point, Gordon Ramsay's face flashed before me). This apparently is the "unique" sweet and sour pork in ice cubes. I really do not understand the concept of this dish. Why on earth would anyone put ice cubes in sweet and sour pork?

With all due respect to the chef (who I believe was trying to be creative) I shall (be blatantly honest and) not sing praises of this icy dish (like some people did online) and I will say it as it is. This to me borders on ridiculous and pointless.


I broke into the ice, took two cubes of (ice cold) pork (which was marvelously crispy) and munched. This was one heck of a good gou lou yoke, sullied by the ice. So no, I was not impressed. In fact I was annoyed because I love gou lou yoke and it was ruined by this gimmick. I say this at risk of Chef Chew granting me persona non grata status at his restaurant.


One more dish was served a little later, the longevity noodles which was topped with crab meat and some other seafood. 


My partner was gifted with this cute little pastry (at the office by some admirer. I might have to bring out my parang) and he brought it along. It was divided and shared among the five of us. 


There was also a butter cake (from same said admirer) and each of us had a slice. No, it was nowhere near this cake and there were leftovers.

It was a joyful evening and my lahling was very pleased. This is the sort food more to his liking compared to what he was feted to last year.

19 comments:

  1. Looks like your partner had a wonderful birthday dinner! Oh, this ginger scallion rice must be a must order dish. Did the chef reveal in any interviews why he decided to put ice over his crispy ku lo yuk? Is it to maintain the crispiness?
    Thanks for the food review. Good to read that all of you had a delicious dinner!

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    1. So far I have not come across any explanation why the ice cubes feature in the dish, so I am still mystified.

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  2. Happy Birthday to your lahling. This Penang comrade is so easy going and will live long & healthy. I can imagine how handsome he is with admirers. So you need to buy more parangs! Love is a very selfish thing cos I turn crazy when my wife gets admirers! Lolol

    I am very curious to try this restaurant because booking a day ahead raises my eyebrows! Iced pork meat doesn't sound right to me.

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    1. Thank you! Handsome, eh? Ya lah, my parang is ever ready for any potential invaders. LOLOL!!!

      Iced pork is so wrong.

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  3. Hey! Your longevity noodles sure are different from our mee sua! Seafood curry sounds great, so very lemak, eh?

    Same here too, none of those ice cube dishes for me...including those Japanese noodles. Why would anyone wnt to eat sweet and sour pork ice cold, I wonder?

    You really did not like the cake or was it the green-eyed monster in you? Hehehehehe!!! As they say, there is no true love without jealousy! LOL!!!

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    1. Btw, I also have a birthday dinner in my blogpost today! With mee sua...and cake too!

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    2. Oh ya, read your post and drooled over photos of the dishes. LOL!

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  4. Lol on the secret admirer. He should keep quiet in who giving him the cake in first place, otherwise no play play with parang!! Lol.

    Food indeed looked delicious. Pity on the sweet and sour pork. What the heck the cook was thinking?? Definitely a fail attempt.

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    1. LOL! He is very honest lah kih..kih..kih...

      I wonder if can order the sweet and sour pork and say "don't want ice" hah..hah..

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  5. wah, first time i m seeing gou lou yuk beneath the ice cubes! agreed that it is pointless and tarnishing the dish! the dish isn't a sashimi or any raw meat that need ice to 'preserve' the freshness! kinda ridiculous! but yea, the other dishes look good and tasty! i would enjoy this birthday meal alot!

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    1. Ya lor...I was astounded when the dish was served. I heard about it before and now I can safely say, it is a bad idea.

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  6. I LOLed at you " I might have to bring out my parang"

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    1. hah..hah... must be fierce fierce with these people. LOL!

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  7. First of all, hi5 on coming to the same conclusion on the iced sweet & sour pork. I first ate this dish 5 years ago (no longer creative now...haha) and regretted agreeing to their recommendation. It seems the cold ice will preserve the crispiness of the pork. But the one I had was served in a metal container with holes at the bottom for the water to drip away when the ice melt...but yours I see is a glass bowl??! I can imagine soggy pork later on when the ice melts! >_< I think people sing praises of it coz it's gimmicky...lol.

    I've not had charcoal beancurd before....any difference in taste with regular tofu? What's that yellow sauce underneath....lemony? It's pretty though with its contrast against black. I think I'd enjoy the seafood curry the most. By the way, only 5 dishes (+ noodles) for the 5 of you? But, but, but, PH's standard is 4 dishes for the two of you....wuahahahaha! P/S: Wah, you so garang lah....you frighten me with your parang! That admirer better watch out....lolol! :D

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    1. So you had this icy sweet & sour pork much earlier than I did and apparently my mum also had it some years earlier! Yup, this is just like the story of The Emperor's New Clothes. We gave our honest opinion. LOL! There was a perforated metal plate at the bottom of the bowl.

      The charcoal beancurd tasted just like any beacurd. That yellow sauce could be pumpkin, I have had something similar at another restaurant. The seafood curry was very good, it had me sipping the gravy hah..hah... The number of dishes was just nice since I was quite stuffed hah..hah..or else will complain not enough LOL!

      My parang is ever ready for any tart who tries to be funny with my lahling. LOLOLOLOL!!!

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  8. A wonderful birthday dinner for your partner. The fried rice sounds delicious. No, I don't like ice cubes on the sweet and sour pork. I have not tasted charcoal tofu yet. Lol! On the parang,... That secret admirer better be careful.

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    1. LOL! My parang is ready to chop! chop!

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  9. I've tried the icy Ku Lou Yoke many many years ago and I vaguely remember the fried meat still retained its crunchiness when I ate it. Perhaps we ate it fast enough before the ice melt and made it soggy. LOL

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    1. It was crunchy but cold and I did not like it like that >.<

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