Late Lunch at Madam Lim's

The start of the long weekend was a really slow one for me. Slept late on Friday (actually slept on Saturday morning, 6.15 actually) and therefore woke up even later!

As soon as I exited my room, my mum sprung on me her need (yes, need, not desire, not wish) to go to Tesco to get some stuff (among others, rice, as there a promotion price thingy going on). Revved up the car and we zoomed to Mutiara Damansara.

Taddaaaa!

Being the eve of CNY, there wasnt a lot of places that was still open for us to Lunch in, being 5.10 and all that, and I just couldn't stomach anymore McD's (sebab the  night before, just had McD Double Prosperity with my other half). We were pleasantly surprised to note that Madam Lim's Kitchen eatery at Tesco was actually open! Didn't expect it to be open today. There sure is something good about having a multinational and multicultural staff to run the place. This place is often packed as it offers good value for money eats, but today it was noticeably slower (although some 11 tables were with diners).

We sat down and quickly ordered our meals.

A few minutes later our meal started arriving. Nasi Goreng Thai was what Mak ordered, and it was a welcome plate of spicy mini-hill of fried goodness with breaded strips of sliced chicken tenders. Never-mind I was the hungry one here, she started attacking her rice with gusto.

Spicy sweet, reminiscent of Tom Yam without the lemongrass hit.

We also ordered our favourite soup dish called, rather unimaginatively, Seaweed Soup. This humble dish I must say is the star of the place. Honest to goodness broth of chicken stock flavoured with garlic, ginger and white pepper. Fat soft jumbo fishballs, slices of spring onion, chicken, vegetables and seaweed and cracked whole eggs add weight to the soup. 

My first bowl. Then came the second, third and then there was no more!

The good thing with this soup is the fact that it is incredibly light and clean tasting. Each ingredient adding it's own character to the dish, resulting in a layered effect on the tongue, with the seaweed carefully reining all the individual flavours with it's own salty and faintly mucilaginous mouth-feel. The soup doesn't look like much, but try it once and you will be hooked. Asked a buddy to try this dish out once and apparently he and his wife has taken a liking to it that they have become regulars to this place.

Next, the vegetable dishes arrived, Brinjals in Fermented Soyabean Paste (Tauchu), this dish too is another that we will definitely order when we dine here, and a Fried Yard Beans in Spicy Sambal (Kacang Panjang Sambal). The brinjals are first sliced then fried in hot oil until cooked through before being tossed in tauchu paste spiked with chopped garlic and beef resulting in a sweet, salty and satisfyingly deep tasting sauce that complemented the smooth creamy flesh of the brinjals, I swear to God I can eat this all day long. It is that good.

Smooth creamy texture coupled with the Umami Tauchu flavour. Yums!

Our Yard-bean dish was a total letdown though, what should have been crunchy long beans in sambal turned out limp, watery and the sambal was so spicy it literally squeezed the life out of the vegetable. I imagine if the the beans were fresher (public holiday lah, mana ada fresh vege delivery!) and only very lightly cooked it would have stood up to the punchy flavour the sambal packed. Maybe next time it will come out right.

Yard beans a-la meh.

Finally my dish arrived, Ginger Beef Koay Teow Noodle. This is a simple dish of flat rice noodles tossed in a wok with dark soy sauce then slathered with a thick gravy of sliced beef sauteed with lots of ginger. Perfect for those who desire a dish that is light on the tummy but still pack a nice heft to it to keep one sated for an hour or two (which is exactly why I chose this thing as I would still have room for the Brinjal and Yardbean dishes). The ginger slices privided a lot of 'heat' to it, a welcome change from my usual chili padi hit.

Only Chinese can do this dish right!

All in, my lunch for 2 (actually enough to feed 3 adults), with 2 regular mugs of fresh watermelon juice, cost a bit over RM40, which is still a fair price for the quick service (speedy enough service, very fast cooking time!), large man-sized portions and clean flavours.

Now lets go do our grocery shopping. Tally-ho!