Friday, January 23, 2009
A Rumour For Chinese New Year
Chinesenewyear chinesenewyear chinesenewyear chinesenewyear!!
Nope, saying it 4 times fast doesnt quite conjure the feelings it used to. I'm slowly losing that festive feeling as the season draws closer. Must be an age thing. The horror! *age comes round the corner and knocks me out with an old bat*
I think the real CNY killer for me was last year when it rained during CNY. In all my years as a model citizen and award-winning whiner, it has always been scorchingly hot with eyeball-burning blazing sunlight all day long. Rain on CNY is like strawberry sauce on a chocolate sundae. Very wrong.
A few days ago, I was presented with the opportunity to have a unique taste of CNY just before it swings round the corner (and collides head-on with my nerves), so I figured it'd be the perfect thing to remind my brain that CNY is still pretty much my favourite festive season.
Rumours at Desa Sri Hartamas came up with a special Chinese New Year menu recently and boy, I certainly felt a wee bit prosperous after that.
Dinner roll, butter and a glass of white wine.
Just what every champion should start their day with wtf.
A good sign of service at Rumours: they opened my butter for me before serving it *big shining eyes of gratitude* I can never get those darn foil tops off properly in a dignified manner. I am one butter-pack short of stamping madly on it while wearing my leopard-skin cape.
Ze wine.
I'm not much of a wine-o, so my knowledge of wine goes just about till the chapter where they mention red wine and white wine. But it says "Sauvignon Blanc" right there on the label, so I guess I got something right.
Sleepy after-work eyes.
The first dish that came was a starter that's familiar to anyone who's ever eaten during CNY. Lou Sang!!! But Rumours has it with a special twist.
Lou Sang with White Tuna (or salmon)
Now everyone knows how the good ol' tradition of mixing up the dish with your chopsticks and the higher you go, the better your odds at prosperity and good luck.
So if you want that pair of shoes real bad, best stand up on the chair for this one.
Eat with lots of noise.
What's different about this dish is the use of white tuna as the fishy part of the Lou Sang, as opposed to the more common salmon. I'm not a huge fan of raw salmon, but the white tuna in this Lou Sang was so fresh, I actually had seconds! *pause for thunderous applause*
There wasnt as strong a taste as the traditional Chinese versions because it wasnt too overpowering (which is good), but my favourite crispy bits are in abundance =D I was pleasantly surprised to find delightfully juicy pomelo segments that gave me a happy tingle as I bit into them and the sacs popped with crisp juiciness in between mouthfuls of more crispy stuff.
After (what i hope to be) a very prosperous starter, the soup was up next!
Ginger Chicken Consomme Soup
I was a tad skeptical about this one as my previous experiences with ginger have had me (pardon the pun) gingerly nursing a throbbing tongue with an unpleasant sensation left behind.
But this soup left me with nothing but a warm stomach and a tingly throat (in a good way). At first smell, you can tell that there's an oriental hint to this soup, but not too much. The broth has a hint of ginger, but that's about it. The peppery aftertaste (tickly throat, remember?) is sure to cure any stuffy nose and chills, and make you feel like you're sinking into the most comfortable bean bag ever.
There is a single fried chicken wantan bobbing peacefully in the soup bowl and I enjoyed the feeling of biting into it and learning that it is all plump and juicy with soaking up the delicious soup. Crispy and soupy at the same time. It looks simple and plain, but the sensations are anything but.
Then came the main dishes!! There's an option of 3 to choose from! Yummeh..
Pan Fried Five-Spice Duck Breast
I love duck. I adore duck. I drool over its delicious duck-ness. I salivate at the thought of duck. Did I mention I love duck? This dish got me very excited indeed. You will be glad to know that I did not wet myself (this time).
Exquisite slices of pan-seared duck confit are served with stir-fried vegies, all balanced on a fluffy bed of buttered brown herb rice. The duck meat was amazingly tender and did not require the use of forceful chewing (like most duck meat dishes) to finish it off. I like to enjoy my duck with my teeth intact thank you very much. I could definitely taste the slight soury-bittery hint of the 5 spice, which perfectly complemented the strong taste of the duck.
The buttered brown herb rice deserves honourable mention! It was awesome! Slightly creamy, but with well separated grains and an almost melt-in-your-mouth sensation, I was sorely tempted to just order a plate of it and eat it on its own.
Like Gardenia. Wtf.
For a well-balanced diet, Rumours knows that something fishy is a must.
Steamed White Cod with Plum Sauce
I love my steamed cod when the flesh comes off perfectly in delicate white flakes of fishy goodness, and the fresh white cod in this dish was no exception. Steamed to perfection, the clean and light taste of the fish was paired with a sweet plum sauce, which was the dash of oriental that gave it a little extra kick.
What I like is that the white cod wasnt drowned in plum sauce, which would make the fish soggy and totally kill the experience. Instead, a light drizzle on the top was just right and pleasing to the taste.
Oh, and did I mention it came with the buttered brown herb rice? Yummeh!
By the time I'd finished off the fish, I was hankering for some good ol' solid meat to wash it all down.
Braised Beef Tenderloin in Chinese BBQ Sauce
Beef, glorious beef!!! *cue orchestra*
The meat was as tender as one could ask for, and the flavours of the Chinese BBQ sauce fully permeated the beef inside out, making it full of flavour and the meat wasnt too dry at all. Its absolutely heavenly to be able to slice effortlessly through the beef medallions and savour the juicy taste of the meat, perfectly paired with lashings of the Chinese BBQ sauce.
It had a familiar, homely taste to it. Like a phantom flavour just slipping out of your mind that you're positive you've had it somewhere or sometime before.
And more more more buttered brown herb rice!! =D
All too soon, the dishes were cleared and fingers licked. It was time for dessert! In line with their special Chinese New Year menu, Rumours gave a wicked twist to an all-time favourite Chinese dessert.
Red Bean Pancake with Sesame Ice Cream & Fruits
When I first read the menu, I figured that it would be that crispy, brown-skinned pancake served at the end of orgasmic Chinese dinners. Not really a big fan of red bean, but I'll wolf it down anyway. Imagine my confusion when I saw the dish plonked right in front of me.
Instead of the common crispy, brown skin (ala fried popiah skin), Rumours does modern glam by spreading red bean paste onto a crepe, and rolling it up into a little oriental swiss-roll. Brownie points for creativity! The red bean paste is made from red beans which have been hand-mashed into a.. Paste? And you can really taste the authenticity with the slightly grainy texture of the red bean paste within the simple crepe.
The sesame ice cream really is something. It has the recognisable nutty taste of sesame seeds, with a toasted aftertaste, and it was really something new to my palate. Tastes much like a nutty ice cream, but with a slightly refreshing feel. Meant to be eaten with the red bean pancake, its an intriguing combo that somehow works. Points for unique presentation!
Rumours' Chinese New Year menu is priced at RM168+ for 4 pax, RM336+ for 8 pax and RM488+ for 12pax (such prosperous pricing) and runs till 9th February 2009.
IMHO, its definitely a contemporary dining experience if you're looking for a different take on some of our beloved CNY dishes. I absolutely adore the warm and inviting setting of Rumours, with its elegant dark wooden furniture and display wall filled with wine bottles that would make any wine-o delirious.
I dont drink chinese tea anyway (such blasphemy), so I suppose a glass of wine with my CNY meal wouldnt be too bad either.
Check Rumours out at 24, Jalan 28/70A Desa Sri Hartamas. Its tucked in a little corner at the block behind Souled Out, so keep your eyes sharp!
*pics courtesy of David & Nigel*
2 comments
