My Humble House, Hardly

16th May 2008

Walking into the dimly-lit corridor did little to indicate to us what to expect upon entering the hallway. Crossing a majestic, classic, marble-black waterfall, illuminated with what-beared-some-resemblance-to-an-image-of-a-sun, we were lead across the bridge, so to speak, into the inner recesses of the "promised land overflowing with milk and honey," ok, not so much milk and honey, but still almost equally tantilizing.

Seated on high chairs that were more than fitting for my Gothic, vampiric taste; the fruits of an afternoon's labour of research after a sudden change of plans bore more, much more, than the sow itself. The captured images on the webpage hardly did the red-lit hall, the star-lit walls, and the marble floors the justice it deserved. Sounds of water flowing in the background brought about a calming ambient sound accompanied by some questionable musical tastes; but nothing could rob the surrounding furnishing of its zen-like grandeur.

Not the usual suspects for Chinese Cuisine (modern or otherwise), the lucky couple flipped through the artistic pages of the calligraphy-decorated menu in an attempt to make an informed decision for the spread for the night. The entire setting, from the ambience, to the furnishing, down to the menu design, all bore a consistent flavour to it; one that was a fusion of traditional zen and a more contemporary edge.

"If they dedicate one whole page to it, it must mean that it is their specialty dish," I told her, in my usual assumptious fashion, as she happily munched on the basket of appetizers, filled with rice crackers and traditional Chinese biscuits, but made to dip with the complimenting plum sauce.

As Sour as the Plum

True enough, the said specialty was quickly served to our table to bear the judgement of the lucky couple. Picking up the chopsticks, I grabbed the Green Tea Dumplings off the platter and sampled the chef's work; only to find one word flowing in my mind thereafter.... "Art." With succulent fillings of prawns, meat and vegetables, the traditional saltiness of the fillings were only uniquely and contrastingly accentuated by the Green Tea wrapping wrapped over the dumplings, resulting in a potpourri of sweet and salty. It's a pity that there were only 8 to go around the 2 of us, though.

Specialty Dish, Indeed

The Hot-and-Sour soup was served on a uniquely designed bowl / plate; bearing the width of a traditional plate, but with a deeper caveat in the centre of the plate that functioned as a bowl. Remembering how a particular friend (Jason, I'm looking at you) uses hot-and-sour-soup as a benchmark on which to gauge the standard of different Chinese Restaurants, I would believe that this particular one sat comfortably on the upper tier.

Benchmark

"Those chairs really remind me of the type of chairs that Dracula would sit on," she continuously exclaimed, every other time she lifted her head in that particular direction.

Taking a breather from the gastronomical adventure in order to toy with the candle, she was inspired enough by the artistic setting to take a crapshot at some crap shots, all in the mood of the Gothic and the mysterious.

Essence Represented

"Now, THAT is a good shot," I said, as the mid-riff bearing waitresses served us our last two dishes simultaneously.

"Which waitress do you think has the best figure?" I asked her, as she peered from tummy to tummy, seeking out the answer while I continued to scoop the rice into the bowl.

"I think it's that one," she said, pointing to a bespectacled waitress at the corner, as she brought a spoonful of the Olive Fried Rice to her mouth.

"Mmm, the Olive Fried Rice is damn nice," she exclaimed, as I took my first spoonful.

Leagues above the Norm

Rice littered with seafood and pieces of egg fried to perfection, the added olives gave the rice a brownish-green tint, but more importantly, a subtle yet enhancing fragrance and flavour to the bowl of fried rice, putting it in a totally different league from the conventional fare that we've both been used to.

Stirring the Silver Bait Basket, I discovered an assortment of fish, squid, prawn and scallops all held firmly within the fried-flour constraints of the basket. While the meat was generally succulent and juicy, my major gripe with the dish was that it tasted a little too.... traditional, if lack for a better word. Bearing stark contrast to the rest of the more "modern" and experimental fare that filled our stomachs prior to that.

Silver-Bait Basket, whatever THAT means

Stomachs-filled and memories-lived, I took her hand in mine for the 8th month, as we made our way across the little black bridge back into the mortal realm after a heavenly meal. Something in my subconscious reminded me that this would be the last proper celebratory meal over the next 3 months, as I stepped down from the little black steps. I turned around to garner the ambience one more time, only to realise the irony in the restaurant's namesake, "humble" was definitely by no means an apt monicker for the restaurant.

Lady by the Water

Couple in the Dark

Black Magic