DECADENCES

Something that you definitely don’t need for day to day existence but would be extremely good to have……….. Such as, a Rolls Royce……’ would sir like to have it with an oxford-educated cow’s hide? Or maybe the options list would be something like this…..

1. Diamond studded tyre valve caps
2. Chinchilla fur steering wheel covers
3. Polished silver rear view mirrors
4. A space for the Vienna Boy’s Choir in the boot (I’m sure wacko jacko would like that…..)
5. Foot massager for the driver (Donno how it’s gonna be done while driving)
6. Autopilot feature
7. Crystal windscreen
8. 24k solid gold gear knob

Not very necessary to have those, but quite good to have too……. Like this guy I know who’s got the absolutely most quiet Proton Wira I know of……….ok, the engine was off at that time…… but when you’re sitting in the car when the engine is on, you would think that you’re sitting in a Rolls Royce. The soundproofing in that car was really to the extreme….. The sound system was excellent, but when it came to the nitty-gritty, like the get-up and go, the car drove like it was carrying a ton of garbage…..oops! Sorry, sound proofing, amps, another battery to power the amps and speakers that would put Zouk to shame. Not to mention the fuel consumption too, as it’s a 1.5 auto….. I’m more of a bread and butter performance kind of guy, the car must go fast in a straight line, even faster in the corners, stop on a dime and be as fuel efficient as possible. When I asked the owner of that Wira if he felt that his car was slightly sluggish on the go and if he felt the fuel consumption was on the high side, he said that that was the price to pay for such comfort………..

Well, what if I tell you that for only RM55++, you could have food that was served to the Chinese emperors of days gone by? RM55++?????

My makan kaki and good friend Karl and I went to this place called Ah Yat’s in PJ for lunch today. The menu was as follows:-

1. Cold Prawn Jelly

ok only......

2. Double Boiled Shark’s Fin W/Winter Melon and Ham

bye bye sharks.........

3. Fresh Abalone With Assorted Dried Seafood Platter

will die for........

4. Braised Pork Belly Shanghai Style

sure die one!

5. Poached Vegetable W/Superior Stock

for the scared die one........

6. Steamed Rice W/Pork Ribs in Clay pot

not too bad.......

7. Chilled Mango Pudding

 

The lunch started with the sharks fin. (I think the service crew screwed up as the prawns should be served first) the really tasty clear broth was nice and rich (rich being the main word used in this review as you have to be rich to have this every day), thanks to the winter melon and the humble yunan ham (the kind that was made out of necessity….. there were no fridges then). The shark’s fin was also of a decent size. What more can I say……..this soup was really good.

Next came the prawn, and I literally mean prawn. The prawn was in a fruit cocktail jelly with the tail sticking out……. Not a really great dish, it’s only saving grace was that the prawn was fresh

Then came the dish that I was really waiting for, the Fresh Abalone with Dried Seafood Platter. It consisted of one abalone, one serving of fish maw, one serving of dried sea cucumber and a Chinese mushroom, all in Ah Yat’s special sauce. First, the abalone. Its texture and taste was excellent, unfortunately, the abalone was a bit on the small side. Let’s put it this way, if u harvested this abalone in Australia, you’ll be in for trouble as its pretty undersized. The fish maw was cooked to perfection, so was the mushroom and the sea cucumber. All fine ingredients hers, no cheap stuff. Together with the special sauce, the taste sensation was like a finely tuned formula one engine at 15000rpm……..sweet music!

You know, when I say that the pork belly was to die for, I really mean, to DIE for! The piece that was served had equal amounts of fat and lean meat on it, braised to perfection and the taste was heavenly (extra simvastatin for me tonight).the meat fell apart just as expected, the texture was excellent. The meat was served with the sauce that it was braised in, together with three melon balls(donno why they needed the melon balls, the dish was excellent even without them) I’ve not had any braised pork belly this good for the longest time.

After these two extremely rich servings of heavenly delights, the poached vegetables with superior stock did not seem so superior………. The baby siu pak choi was a tad over done, and served with a broth which included ginko nuts. After cleaning the taste buds with a bit of Chinese tea, the dish suddenly came out of it’s own, the broth was just right, thanks to the ginko nuts, quite enjoyable………

The Steamed Rice w/Pork Ribs in Clay pot suddenly tasted very ordinary after all those dishes, hell, even I can come up with better tasting pork ribs to go with the rice. Maybe they should have substituted this dish with a serving of their Seafood Sang Mee, which I really enjoyed on my last visit………..

As usual, all good things must come to an end. The dessert served was the Mango Pudding. It came with real bits of mango and sago seeds inside, and a pitted cherry on the top. I’ve always loved pitted cherries, and good mango pudding. To have them together really made the meal! The pudding tasted really fresh, no acidic taste, just right in the sweetness and that oh, all so good pitted cherry!

 

Some may argue that during such trying economic times, RM55++ can be put to much better use, such as having 13.75 lunches of wan ton mee at the neighbourhood coffee shop, or 18.96 roti telur and the o ais limau breakfasts, but it you really have the cash to spare, this is one treat you really should not miss!

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