Had dinner with Ling, her hubby Suu, her youngest brother and her mom (basically her family laa) one fine Sunday @ Xuan Xin - Gurney Plaza New Wing
It was yet another first for me as I've never been to Xuan Xin Steamboat @ Tanjung Tokong nor this one either.
We were ushered to this window seat facing G Hotel and it was raining outside...
Ling pointed at the lighting above our table and told Suu that she wants this for their new home :P
The Big menu...
Table setting..
Condiments....
As all of us were 'pretty' hungry by the time we sat down, so we ordered 4 dishes for all 5 of us:-
First dish that came:-
Stewed Chicken Cube with Basil Leaf in Claypot (三杯鸡 - literally translated into '3 cup chicken') [RM 13.80]
This could very well be the best dish of all 4 as the chicken pieces were so tender, well marinated and flavourful, everyone just couldn't get enough of it! Especially the sauce.. MmMMmmmmMmmmmmm... goes so well with our steam rice
After a pretty long interval in between....
Stir-fried Pak Choy (小白菜) came [RM 9.80]
This was the vegie dish that Ling hand-picked - so so.. since nothing could really go wrong with a good 'ol stir fried vegetable dish!
........ And after yet another while more later..
Braised Bean Curd with Minced Meat and Hot Bean Sauce (麻婆豆腐 - Ma Por Tofu) [RM 11.80]
This is a type of Szechuan dish.....How do I describe this? Sweet, sour, spicy all in one... the tofu was finely diced yet wasn't meshed or lost in bits and pieces amongst the ample minced meat.. this has got to be one of the best I had in Malaysia thus far... the gravy wasn't overly sticky nor diluted either.. triple thumbs-up!
Oh wait - did I just say that the chicken dish was my favourite? Hmm.. now I'm a bit torn....
Hell - I'm a sucker for Ma Por Tofu anytime!
And, it gets sooooo much better after this... the FINALE dish came (after what seemed like a FOREVER wait!)
Steamed Red Lion Fish (红狮) in Sweet Beanpaste Sauce [RM 41.25]
The fish was pretty big and fulla meat enough to feed all of us, but the texture wasn't so nice. One thing to note is, the sweet beanpaste sauce was a very good blend
In all, the serve time was pretty long (maybe the Sunday dinner peak hour) and what I didn't particularly liked was the fact that each of the dishes were served in too long of a wait interval in between, which made all of us having to tuck in on the same dish and nearly finishing it before the next one came (definitely a big turn-off for me!)
The fish's wait time was definitely too outrageous.... And turned out it wasn't all that fabulous as well.
I do look forward to give Xuan Xin another chance - sampling it again during not-so-peak day/hours.. and I was told they have pretty good crab porridge too...... Slurp!
* I know I know!! I haven't updated my blog since AGES now and it's been on my mind like everyday! Sorry I can't update much but hopefully this post can make up a bit ya *wink wink*
Thanks to Dorene and Candice, I had the honor to spend my first @ Smoky Jack with them... *actually they acted as my 'tasting committee' to check this place out* :P
We went fairly early after they got off work - reached there about 630pm hence Upper Penang Road was still pretty much deserted and the sky was still bright
The external of Smoky Jack have always caught my attention... pretty unique eh? it has this... 'foresty' feel :P
My models... so Pro right? :P
The interior didn't disappoint as well and very much living up to its exterior 'feel'
I guess the center of attention must be this hollow horizontally hosted barrel thingy, which houses several tables within, giving more privacy to larger crowds.
One end of it looks out to the entrance and view of MoMo directly opposite the restaurant
The other end looks like this.. (photo's a bit dark as the interior was dark and using flash would spoil the feel of it)
Check out the mosaics of mirrors adorning the ceiling.. Futuristic huh?
The ceiling filled with foresty roots as well
There are several varieties to the table setting within Smoky Jack..
Round table setting with posh comfy sofa chair like ours..
Classic face-to-face rectangle tables...
This is the most unique : cocoon-like chairs.. there's couple setting for 2 and for 4
There's this corner very much tuned to party crowds.. the tables can be separated as well... nice deco isn't it?
our table.............. * yeah the models Dorene and Candice again :D *
... which is located right behind the bar..
our table setting...
Me!
The very posh menu
Ok! so enough of the deco.. Let's check out the drinks & food
We had iced latte, orange juice and watermelon juice
They were pretty standard.. but the glasses were quite cute and catchy like big-bellied homo-sapiens
Complimentary bread (2 types)
So cute! the saucer-butter combo looked like an art piece
Cheesy Fries
As Candice likes her fries so much, we always ordered fries :P
This was surprisingly good! The melted cheese went well with the fries, and not sure what was sprinkled on top of the fries though, but it sure tasted good!
Clam chowder
This was the soup recommended by the lady who attended to our order.. and apart from the nice pastry on top, the rest were just full of disappointments....
* soup was very salty
* pastry was salty too
* hardly any solid ingredients inside - some small fish pieces, celery slices, ONE clam, and I think that's about it
* it didn't have Any seafood taste to the soup at all
Salmon Spaghetti
This was pretty Okay but nothing fabulous.. spaghetti was creamy but still on the salty side.. I didn't like the salmon at all, the smell was quite over-powering
Smoky's Signature Ribs (Pork)
We were droooling so much when this dish came - as the smoked ribs were so fragrant! I was the first to dig in and cut them up for sharing - and the meat fell off the bones so easily... they looked tender too...
A bite revealed that though the meat within were tender, tangy and succulent, sadly the same couldn't be said for those near the surface.. some were slightly burnt and pretty hard.
Nevertheless, the ribs were pretty reasonable, portion vs. price-wise, and tasted quite good in overall... what's more - they even throw in a good 'ol ladiesfinger for you too!
We made the effort to check out the washroom as well and were surprised to find that they put in effort to deco their washroom to match up with the rest of the restaurant...
.......... right down to the basin!
In all, Smoky Jack proved to be excellent and not-so-excellent in a few areas:-
Excellents:-
+ Elaborate themed-deco
+ Atmosphere
+ Service
Not-So-Excellent:-- Food quality
Will I go back? If anyone wants to bring me there AND foot my bill - Yea :D
Else - i'd probably think about it first :P
We didn't really taste any green tea to it if I recalled correctly.... 
This was pretty good with aromas of the various curry and basil leaves etc deeply infused into the curry and chicken... I'm always fond of Green Curry and this is worth trying. I normally don't eat eggplant but the flavor's so nice with the curry! 
We were basically pretty much filled up to the max by the time our dessert was served and didn't fully enjoy this one - it was pretty standard and nothing to shout about 
