The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Posted: 23 Dec 2011 05:03 PM PST

The Beef in Bamboo is a flavourful dish served cunningly on a piece of bamboo.

PETALING JAYA, Dec 24 — The Mangosteen Salad is a must-order at Sao Nam; everyone tells you how awesome it is. It had made its name in the original restaurant in Tengkat Tong Shin in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. Now we were having it in the Sao Nam at the Empire Shopping Galley.

Delicious Duck in Tamarind Sauce.

It had reopened 45 days after the gas explosion in the shopping centre. Sitting in the pretty and strikingly done up Vietnamese restaurant now, I couldn't imagine how every pane of glass had shattered, including the thick glass on top of each table, as one wait staff told me.

Back to the Mangosteen Salad: fresh springy tiger prawns are tossed in a sweet and sour dressing whose main ingredients are lime juice and fish sauce. There's fresh grated coconut, crushed roasted peanuts, sesame seeds and crispy fried squid on top, and sweet juicy segments of mangosteen. On the side is a bunch of sweet basil and a bowl of prawn crackers. Everything comes together in an ambrosiac climax. I loved it that it is so generous with mangosteen. I wonder if this is available when the fruit is off season.

The Grilled Eggplant... yummy!

The Hue Pancake is an open-face one, made with an egg and rice flour batter and topped with chicken, prawns and fish mousse and a heap of beansprouts. As with a few more dishes we ordered, there would be fresh mint, sweet basil, cucumber, lettuce and thin slices of starfuit. A light dipping sauce of fish sauce and lime, and a soya paste dip accompany these.

Again the same waiter taught us to pick up a lettuce and do a wrap with a small slice of this warm pancake together with the mint and basil and starfruit, dip it in one of the sauces and you get the freshness of all the herbs, the tangy starfruit. Interesting flavours come through, but I wished the pancake were bigger.

As there were only three of us, we were advised by our friendly waiter not to order the combination platter with five starters. "It's too much for you," he said. I was impressed he remembered my friend J from three years ago when she celebrated her birthday at Sao Nam in Hartamas Shopping Centre (it has since relocated to Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang).

Instead we had some spring rolls with prawns. There were six of them on the platter and it was too much for us.

Beef Bamboo Tube is a signature dish in Sao Nam. The thin, tender slices of beef, sautéed with lots of onions, mint and basil in a sweet sauce is presented in a bamboo resting on a chunk of cucumber. The waiter lights a flame underneath. I'm not sure what it does, but it is certainly visually pleasing.

Sao Nam's signature Mangosteen Salad does not disappoint.

A plate of rice paper accompanies the beef, together with a bowl of hot water and two bunches of coriander. More mint, sweet basil, starfruit and lettuce follow. We're taught to seep the rice paper with water using the coriander, put in a lettuce, the beef and some mint and basil, and eat it. After trying this, I found the beef on its own tasted even more delicious, with sweetness from the onions, and fragrance from the mint and basil.

The Grilled Eggplant was exceptional. It was drizzled with a fish sauce dip, then sprinkled with fried shallots and garlic, crushed peanuts and spring onions. I loved the soft, creamy texture of it, the smoky charcoal aroma, and it drew just enough flavours from the sauce to make it an exquisite experience.

Oh yes, the Duck in Tamarind Sauce makes you remember its crispy skin, flavourful, tender meat and the mildly sweet and sour sauce the slices of duck sit on. We loved it.

We had no room for dessert though the caramel pumpkin looked tempting. But we had the Vietnamese drip coffee – the Chon or weasel coffee – and we left the restaurant really happy.

Sao Nam is located on Lot 28, LG floor, Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang Jaya. Tel: 03-5022 2123.

The interior of Sao Nam... vibrant and classy.

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Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Jumaat, 23 Disember 2011

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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