Mongolian Hoisin Delight (Mongolian Pork Chops)
I dunno...but meals just don't feel the same without any meat on the table...so we started off with the Mongolian Pork Ribs.
The ribs were well-marinated with a tangy Hoisin sauce reminiscent of thickened plum-sauce & uniquely served with crinkle-cut fries on the side...quite unusual considering we were having rice as well for dinner.
The meat was also tender & juicy at the same time & it made for a very good start to a heavy meal.
Saturated Velvety Goodness (Claypot EggPlant)
Everyone loves Egg Plant. These parts, we're familiar with the name brinjal. This one's done to near-perfection as the soft, velvety slices of egg-plant were stir-fried in a familiar sauce marinated with Chilli Padi, Spring Onions & minced meat.
This is one classic Chinese dish bathed in a sauce called the Holy Trinity of Chinese cooking...Scallions, Garlic & Ginger! Lip-Smacking Good!

Fun with my Greens (Kale)
One of my favourite dishes whenever we come here. I'm not kidding! I always ask for this each time we come, whether or not anybody cares to join me in eating it!
They call this the Chie Lan Miao or loosely translated, it means Kale Shoots & Sin Hoi Sai does this Really Well! Stir-fried with crushed garlic, it doesn't have any of that bittery aftertaste you get whenever we eat the same dish prepared elsewhere!

Salty Sea-faring Goodie (Salted Fried Prawns)
Alright! Crab is expensive, & whole fish is costly...what to do? We're on a budget, but how not to eat seafood at a seafood restaurant?
Hokkiens have an old saying: 'No Fish, Prawns also can'!
So prawns it was fried with salt, garlic & spring onions...I realise we love garlic, because almost everything here has this deliciously pungent bulb in it! The prawns were fresh & this was obvious because the shells literally slid off the meat, but then again, I'm pretty slick when I'm using my trusty fork & spoon to undress them!
Not Quite There (Tilapia Curry)
All-round perfection is Hard to come by in any meal & today was no exception. Perhaps it was a result of a miscommunication; perhaps it was my bad Mandarin; maybe it was a futile attempt by the restaurant manager to off-load this particular fish to me...
I asked for Groupa Fish-Head Curry, & got stuck instead with their Tilapia whole-fish claypot curry.
Ok. Tilapia has a very fine meat texture & t...he meat is succulently soft & moist.
MY gripe with Tilapia is that despite what I just mentioned earlier here, I find its meat bland and devoid of flavour, no matter how it's cooked! Furthermore, the skin on this fish tends to get sticky & clings to your fork, spoon or chopsticks as you try to eat it! Or maybe I'm just a spoilt brat who was brought up eating only the fish I wanted to (Pomfret, Groupa & Threadfin largely)...anyway, the rest of the family thought it was good so I guess all wasn't lost
 

Kids were out with their friends, so wife & I went looking for food along Jalan Besar straight after shopping at Mustafa. A short walk along Syed Alwi Road & we ended up at the end of a rather long queue at the Swee Choon Dim Sum Restaurant!
It's amazing that even close to 11pm at night, we were surrounded by twilight foodie denizens!
Pictured here is our main course; the handmade Wanton Noodles in Chilli Oil.
Those pale-yellow (almost beige) noodles were turgid & didn't clump together. They also didn't have any of that 'Kee-like' bittery taste reminiscent of our usually deeper yellow noodles found elsewhere!
Oh Yes! Those Huge Wantons filled with mouthfuls of minced meat & chopped chives, married with generous slices of spring onions, chilli & diced fried garlic mixed into the slightly spicy & tangy black vinegar sauce made for a most delightful supper treat!

It's quite amazing what gems you can find within the old grey walls of a long-forgotten shopping mall, but find it we did!
It's old-school Teochew, it's 'back-water' Cze Char, it's mouth-watering good food, & it's reasonably priced! Jackpot! Or BangLat as some would say!
So what did the wife & I think of the food?
Teochew Steamed Halibut Steak
Say Teochew, & Steamed White Pomfret comes to mind; particularly the 'Dao Chiew' variety, named so because of the asymmetrically-sized fins on its tail.
Instead, we went for the Halibut Steak Steamed Teochew-style! No regrets! In fact, Excellent choice! The fish was fresh, and had that milky, cod-oily flavour...Infused with the hi-grade sweet light sauce & sesame oil, you'd think you were eating Snowfish instead...
And oh yes! Did I say we LOVE Snowfish?
Teochew Liver Rolls
So we made a friend with the owner, Mr Koh Ah Liang. He highly recommended this dish, so order it we did! I was so intrigued by the very subtle, livery flavour; so unlike the ones we've been eating till now!
It's just enough to hint at the presence of liver, but not enough to overwhelm your tastebuds with that irony livery smell & taste that comes with pig liver!
A quick chat with Mr Koh revealed the secret!
Psst! He uses only 100g of liver, together with other ingredients for this roll, to the benefit of customers who are 'liverphobic'!
Good move Mr Koh! Good Dish too!
Teochew Yam-Paste (Dessert)
So the friendly Mr Koh was impressed with what my wife & I could 'dispatch' in 1 meal & mentioned that she looked a little 'anorexic' compared to me (ok! Who wouldn't?)...He quickly suggested we shouldn't go home without trying this dessert...Teochew Yam Paste (Or Nee)!
Most times we have this dessert, they come with either sugar syrup or coconut milk.
None of that today! Just simply yam pulverised into a paste...straight! & mixed together with water-chestnut & Gingko nuts, finished off with a rich garnish of Deep-fried shallots (my wife tells me they call it Chang Zhu Lah)...
The perfect compliment & conclusion to an excellent meal & a wonderful celebratory makan

This is one of Hong Yun's signature dishes.
Their White Fried Bee Hoon. At first sight, it looks nothing out of the ordinary!
It's just a plate of fried rice vermicelli! That's where the ordinary ends & the extra-ordinary begins!
1 bite into this otherwise simple-looking dish reveals an aromatic flavor reminiscent of the days of old & that generous serving of countless shards of fried pork lard crispies (Bak Yew Pok) elevates this innocent-looking plateful into sinful bliss with every bite!