Menglembu East Ocean

As a continuation from the previous post, this write-up will feature my personal favourite and most memorable meal up to date. I am sure some of you have seen pictures going viral or posted by your friends which capture the platter with a “pole-dancing” roast chicken. If you google Menglembu East Ocean, you will have a wide search result of platters with different combinations ranging from premium items such as abalone and lobsters to fried fish and roasted chicken/duck...

If it weren't for some "thanksgiving" dinner with my company's local distributor, I wouldn't have the privilege to enjoy so much expensive stuffs all in one night! Although there  is no "dancing pole chicken", I enjoyed the lobster salad a lot! Not to mention scallop stir fried in mixed vegetables and braised abalone! The mini "wu kok" shaped in a pear is also attractive in terms of craft. The number of times yours truly having lobster and abalone in his nearly 3 decades of life could only amount to that can be count by fingers. So I am indeed blessed :)

Next, this is my first ever Mini Buddha Jump Over the Wall. This premium soup got its name as there was an incident whereby traveler was warming his food in a jar containing wine, creating an aroma so tempting that it got the monk, which was supposed to observe a vegetarian diet to literally "jump over the monastery wall" hoping to get a taste of it. No certain recipe was obtained from that incident but it was learned that restaurants reserved a line-up of finest ingredients for this nourishing soup. The version here has fish maw, dried scallops, ginseng, mushroom, sea cucumber, chicken and pork ribs. The ingredients, herbs and condiments may vary between restaurants but one thing for sure is the soup need to be double boiled under slow fire for a long period. Nourishing, energizing and most importantly memorable :)

I forgotten whether was this "7-star Garoupa", this fish lies on the top of the garoupa hierarchy, even pricier than the already premium Tiger Garoupa. If it was a 7-star garoupa, it is indeed my first time indulging in this priced fish. The flesh is firm and flaky. And yes, yours truly managed to get one side of tat cheek medallion. Yummmms!

Big Head Prawn is usually a signature must-order dish from Pusing Public Man Choong Restaurant. All this while I thought they were the best and in their own league when it comes to this dish but oh my! I am so wrong after I dined in here. The freshwater prawns from Tanjung Tualang is so big in size that the head and the body can be made into two dishes with separate style of cooking. You can savour the two most common cooking method when it comes to this delicacy. The head is steamed with ginger shreds, egg whites and some Chinese wine. There is not much “soup” I would say as the water on the plate was probably from the steam and also from the prawns itself. I abit paiseh to scoop all the essence from the plate, what a waste! 

There is no flesh from the head so I guess this portion of the crustacean is for you to suck all the roe within it. Compare the size of the head with reference to my car remote control and you will know why it is only one piece for one person.

Similarly, one person is allocated just one piece of the pan-fried body. Fortunately, one person from my table could not take prawn, so I have the honour to have 2 pieces! And mind you, the portion is indeed big. Succulent and juicy, the flesh is so firm beneath the slightly crispy skin coated with soya sauce reduction. Forget cholesterol, this stuff is da bomb for shellfish lovers!

There were other tantalizing dish such as ginger duck stew, Wat Tan Hor and some gula melaka custard dessert. No photos on that though. Lastly, it was another first in my life to try out champagne! and its the premium Dom Perignon! Although just barely half a glass full, it was indeed an eye-opening (tastebuds opener rather) cause I never had this RM600+ liquor before. Not to mention a Whiskey Maker edition of Macallan whiskey and 18 year Glenlivet which is almost that price.

Seriously, I always have the perception East Ocean is into the “big portion generic meal to typical family” but I did not expect they have WOW-ed me dish after dish. I doubt there will be be less occasions in the future whereby such meal similar to this category is possible. By the way, I was told that the total bill was near RM4k for 2 tables of 10 each. If this is not the most memorable and most exotic feast yet, I do not know what can come near to it :)