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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Malaysian Petroleum Club (MPC) - Chinese Restaurant

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As promised, another MPC update! ^^

This time around, Dad took us to have lunch at the MPC's Chinese restaurant - Seligi. (Yes, I know it doesn't sound Chinese at all, but whatever.) So, the thing is, I couldn't go inside there before this year... because I wasn't of age yet. Yup, they have an age restriction for all except the coffeehouse (which was the place that I blogged about before). This year I'm 18, thus I can legitimately go and dine in Seligi. *wide grin*So, in typical Chinese fashion, we were seated at a round table (Chinese always have to have round tables, huh?) and then my parents were given the menu to order dishes. I took a peek and it was really quite simple; several ways of cooking chicken, fish, vegetables, tofu and a few others I can't remember. Thoughtful as ever, they even had 2 set meals for vegetarians. Oh, and of course, the usual desserts.

With some helpful comments and suggestions from the
maître d', we (okay, my dad) ordered Cod Steamed in Soy Sauce, Claypot Tofu with Seafood, Prawns Cooked with Oatmeal and Stir-fried Baby Bak Choi. We also added a dessert of the Red Bean Pastry that you always get at Chinese weddings. (They didn't have lotus paste! *disappointed*)
Anyway, the first dish to arrive was the prawns. I gotta tell ya, those were absolutely some of the biggest prawns I've ever seen in my entire life! I mean, it came all covered with oatmeal, so at first I thought, "Wow, those prawns are pretty big, even with the shells still on them," and then when I took a closer look, I just couldn't believe it! The prawns were already de-shelled and ready to eat, and they were HUGE! They were all curled up and almost as big as my fist! My goodness...

Next came the baby bak choi and claypot tofu. I'll admit, the first thought that went through my head when I saw the vegetables was "Ohmigosh! Those baby bak choi really are so small, they look so cute and yummy!" LoL~ The claypot tofu looked pretty normal in comparison.

The
"star of the show" finally arrived not long after - the Cod Steamed in Soy Sauce. It looked really, really delicious, with the 2 big pieces of beautifully cut snow-white cod lying in a pool of amber soy sauce and some garnishings on top.The first dish I tried was the oatmeal prawns. Despite their size, the skillful chef managed to get the prawns' texture just right, not too tough and not too soft. The sweetness and aroma of the oatmeal complimented the slight saltiness of the prawns perfectly. Next was the baby bak choi, which was stir-fried with just the right amount of oil, retaining its crunchiness and fresh green colour. The tofu was also not bad, with generous amounts of seafood accompanying the tofu and mushrooms.

Undoubtedly, the best dish was the cod fish. A first bite gives the impression that the fish meat is melting in your mouth, and gone before you even realise it. The second bite lets you savour the experience, and such is the skill of the chef in steaming it that all the flavours of the fish are still very much intact. The meat is very smooth and the skin (normally quite different from the meat and instantly recognisable from its texture) is barely distinguished when put into the mouth. Of course, without the soy sauce, it would not be perfect. But try pouring a generous helping of sauce onto your steamed rice, and then eating it together with the cod fish - now that is what I call a divine mouthful.After that wonderful lunch, we sat for a while drinking tea and watching the scenery outside the 43rd floor window. I was sitting facing the windows, so the building directly in front of me caught my attention. It was [apparently] quite "transparent", with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, *gasp* walls and doors! Seriously. I could even see a worker walking from room to room inside. It was rather... fascinating, to say the least. Or maybe a little freaky. I mean, it looked more like apartment lots than offices, but who would like a transparent house, even if it is 40+ storeys high? People in working in the Petronas Twin Towers (for example) would be able to see everything. O_oOh well, that's about it. Next time, I wanna go to Kiku Japanese restaurant, which is just down the hallway next to Seligi. XD


Me messing around with the teapot before leaving. Where am I looking?!

4 comments:

Hui Fen said...

Laura!! oh my goodness.. those food that you describe are so mouth-watering.. just that there's not many pictures of the food.. but i think you're good in describing food.. haha.. the texture, the taste.. ouhhh.. i wanna eatttttt..!!! ='(

LauraLeia said...

Haha~ Thanks! Actually I wanted to take pictures of the food, but when it came to the table it was just so good that I totally forgot about taking pics until I was almost finished! XD

Anonymous said...

hi,
how to apply for membership to MP? well.. do they actually ofer this to those interested?

cheers

LauraLeia said...

Unfortunately, they don't. It's only open to people in the oil and gas industry, and it's by invitation only. I guess those ppl in the industry can apply to be members, but i'm not exactly sure how it works. I think there was a time when Citibank had an offer for a chance to have dinner at the MPC or something for its credit card holders, but i have no idea what it was.

 
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