The last I had a poon choi was back in 2005 at LYJ Restaurant in Sungai Buloh. Looking back at the post, gee, the photo was bad. It doesn't really reflect how big the portion is and it doesn't show any deliciousness at all!.
We were at LYJ Restaurant 2 weekends back for Capt'n Hook friend's farewell dinner. She was the one who arranged this and did the advance ordering of the poon choi. When we reached there, there were some changes here and there. We parked near the shop since parking is no longer available at the school opposite but since it wasn't a good place to parked, we went down further. Then I noticed another lot with the same restaurant name. Seems like the shop that we used to go now serves ala carte dishes and further down the shoplots right at the corner is where they serve poon choi. Sounds like a great arrangement as patrons having poon choi would need lesser attention hence having less wait staff around. Service is still ok though.
Each table has a stove on the lazy susan. Once everyone settled in, our RM258 poon choi was placed on the stove and the wait staff switched on the stove to keep the food warm and bubbly. Poon choi are usually serve in a deep round basins or claypots but LYJ's version came in a round stainless steel tin that one usually steam kuih-muih or bake cakes in.
I did a comparison of the picture taken back in 2005 and now, they seems to look the same. So now the taste test...
The first layer contained the "dry" food that does not need to be cooked in the gravy. For this RM258 version, we have 1/2 portion of poached free range (kampung) chicken, 1/2 portion of roasted duck, 12 pieces of salt and pepper prawns, one whole deep fried threadfin (kurau) stuffed with minced fish paste and I think some siew yuk (roasted pork).
Loved the poached chicken as the kampung chicken lent a sweetish bite as compared with farmed chicken meat. Roasted duck was all right but BoiBoi loved it that he whacked 3 pieces! The prawns were huge and fresh. The salt level is just nice for me and this is good for I still can taste the prawn natural sweetness.
Once we emptied this layer, the treasures unfold. We asked for white rice as the gravy was simply irresistible. The gravy is the essence from all the goodies that were cooked inside! There were pork knuckle, stewed pork, a type of canned clams, dried oyster, fish maw, chicken feet, beancurd sheets, mushrooms and dried chestnut. Everyone loved the gravy so much that each literally drown their rice with this rich and flavourful essence. Thank goodness we don't eat like this everyday hahaha can you imagine how much your cholesterol level will shoot up!
I didn't touch the knuckle at all as I see lots of fats and skins but they were walloped up by the others. The stewed pork was fork tender - yums. This time round the chicken feet is really tender and literally breaks up upon biting. I loved how the beancurd sheets and chestnuts soaking up all the lovely flavour.
A plate of blanched vegetables (yau choi) came with the pooi choi. Ours was chrysanthemum leaves (thong hoe) and I liked it's simplicity. We added this Stir Fried Paku Choi (a type of ferns) which has an interesting taste. What I mean is, it's a bit tangy and I'm not sure what they've used to make it so. It's topped with crispy deep fried shallots. The ferns retained it's crunchiness, coupled with crispy shallots and slight tang, this gave me a whole new world of stir-fried vegetables.
The restaurant claimed the poon choi can serve 10 - 12 people but for me, I think can stretched up to 14 people. If you so decided to have one, remember to call them at least one day in advance to book your pot of poon choi. BTW, there's a RM500 version with the addition of braised oyster and pork ribs, abalone, sauteed conch and shark's fins.
Restoran LYJ
PT 11-12 & PT 16-17
Jalan Perkhidmatan
Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh
47000 Sungai Buloh
Selangor
Tel: (+603) 6140 2678 or (+6019) 350 8621
Google map here
that looks really good, just based on the top layer. i've only had poon choi twice. the first time was fantastic, at a pudu restaurant whose name i can't recall now. the second time was at ying ker lou at the curve, which was a disappointment...
ReplyDeleteSean, you ought to try this one esp if you love meat! the gravy is fantastic :p
ReplyDeleteyeah... passed this restaurant for the first time one Sat morning after having breakfast in Sg Buloh New Village :) the famous poon choi place in town!
ReplyDeleteLeo, have you try their poon choi yet? Remember to bring lots of people to help you finish it up :D
ReplyDeleteI really need to give poon choi a try when I go back next time. Never had it before, only seen it through the blogs.
ReplyDeleteNever had poon choi before and now dying to try it. Plus, for a side dish, it's not often I can get stir-fried paku which I love! :)
ReplyDeleteYup, Poon Choi is a good get-together meal, when everyone's digging in into the same pot of goodness.
ReplyDeletestill thinks it gets abit too messy when u go past the 1st layer..all the different meats mixed together..geli..
ReplyDeleteLCOM, just try it at least once. the amount of meat will put u off meat for a while hehe
ReplyDeleteOooo gang up 10 flers and head here one day Kenny!
Yeah J2KFm and then you yak and eat at the same time. Time flies and your pot will be emptied out pretty soon.
Joe, but the items on the bottom layer were also evenly arranged wor??!
Looks totally amazing! reminds me of the Bukit tinggi BBQ (old man) place, where the stock drips down and you can eat it with rice! lovely:)
ReplyDeletevery tempting to try but the tin looks like a bit shallow if compare to what I've seen in Hong Kong drama :P
ReplyDeleteC&C ;-) oh yums
ReplyDeletemimi, yeah but this is wide flat pan, the HK version really like a basin
LYJ used to be one of our favourite restaurant, until once we ordered the set dinner and found it extremely dissapointing. I think the ala carte is better.
ReplyDeleteHaven't tried their phoon choi, but like their roast duck very much.
However, very noisy huh? the restaurant.
Zara's mama, i havent try ala carte, maybe one day. it wasnt that noisy at this part cos it wasnt packed but we were early.
ReplyDelete