House of Hunan

Currently in a state of semi-depression.
Nine months of holiday draws up a close as of tomorrow.
What did I do all weekend?
Was I out busy plainting the town red?
NO. In fact, I spent my entire weekend watching Kim San Soon on youtube.com
Good work.

(from l-r, clockwise) Sliced boiled pork with tasty garlic sauce; Appetizing spiced beef shank; Eggplant with shrimp paste sauce served on a sizzling hot plate; Fried long beans with minced pork.

The dish names of the appetizers amused me greatly as they included adjectives e.g. "TASTY garlic.. " and" APPETIZING spiced...".

I mean, isn't it up to the customer to decide if they found it truly tasty or appetizing? Haha.. I guess Western or European restaurants often include lengthy descriptions but I am not used to Asian restaurants tooting their horns. Can you imagine a menu list that reads like a book on self-praise e.g. "Kickass Yang Chow Fried Rice" or "Mouth watering Steamed Xiao Long bao"?

By the way, the pork should be renamed 'Diced boiled pork with IN-YOU-FACE garlic sauce' which really isn't a bad thing if you are a garlic fan or trying to escape from a bad date.

I would consider the Eggplant and Long Bean dishes to be amongst the 'hits' of hunan. Dieted strips of eggpplants generously coated with TASTY shrimp paste sauce ushered the dish into "aperitive" status and sinewy long beans were surprisingly addictive.

Pigeon Soup

I am so worried I will get pelted by PETA or animal activists for having this soup. But really, I am only trying to control the pigeon population.. And nobody really likes these poo-everywhere birds of uselessness anyway. *Nervous laughter

ARGH, it was good. Full stop.

I feel guilty for even admitting to liking this soup.

Moving on...

(from l-r, clockwise) Steamed egg; Pan fried Bun; Desserts: Chilled ice jelly with lime sherbet & Sweet almond cream soup; Noodles

The steamed egg was a work of art. Utterly delicate and smooth, I noticed that everytime soneone accidentally shook the table, the egg would wobble a little a few moments later. Though the topping of minced mushrooms, fungus and bacon was barely recognisable, it served as a befitting accompaniant to the melt-in-your-mouth steamed egg.

The pan fried bun was pretty- on the other side, the bun was shaped to resemble a leaf. Like a modern day fairy tale however, looks alone weren't enough to elevate its status to a KICKASS Pan Fried Bun. Taste-wise, it was on the high side of decent but I think I should reserve my pan-fried-bun-fix for crystal jade.

Desserts were alright, thatsjustaboutit. While the ice jelly was pleasing, the sherbet was a tad too hard for my liking. I had to exert some force into breaking the ice ball and thoughts of over-exertion, coupled with the image of jelly flying out of my bowl raced through my mind. The almond cream was forgettable, so save your four bucks and get a magnum from cold storage downstairs.

The noodles were tossed in sesame oil and preserved vegetables. However, I found the dressing too sweet for my liking and it felt like eating creamy sesame-based dessert. Shudder. To make matters worse, it took a long time to arrive (after we had finished the other dishes) and its dimunitive size set against the backdrop of a big empty table did not leave a good impression on us.

Lunch at the House of Hunan, albeit a couple of misses, was encouraging and hopefully, return trips will be made in the near future!