What a steamboat!

I wish I remembered the name of the steamboat restaurant that a group of 10 went to a couple of weeks ago now as part of our eating extravaganza. It is on the top floor of the Vantage Mall on Jalan Tanjung Tokong heading out of Georgetown in the direction of Tanjung Bunga, on the right. Top floor and right at the very right hand end of the mall. Sorry, that's the best I can do for now. However, I will return and make sure I grab a card or something so I can report more accurately its name and precise location.

It is worth it for the place is great. Really great.

It could be the fact that it is something that is really unique, well to me anyway, so I will take a little time to describe it all in detail. (Others have very probably done this and more professionally that I will but I don't think they will do it this way).

This is the steamboat thing. In the centre of the round table is a recessed upside down dome under which is a gas ring (there is a big gas cylinder under the table that the waiter turned on and off) which heats it up. Into this dome shaped thing you dump...

... this time anyway, chicken or veggie broth and chopped up chicken. Turn the gas ring on and replace the holed round thing that you can see in the picture above on the left. It fits.

Next, order loads of stuff. The group of 10 left this arduous task to Lisa (from before), Lye Hock and Kee who between them ordered gargantuan amounts of food only partially shown on the trolley that the waiter brought over, He brought over many other dishes and trolleys before the meal was over, but this was the first.

First up was barbecued, well actually steamed chicken buns in the format of char siu bau. As this is a no pork restaurant, no surprise here and the buns were very nice indeed.

Next up was chicken and steamed veggies before the fishy stuff kicked in...

Big shrimps... 

Little clams marinated in garlic...

Scallops also marinated in garlic and coriander...

Amazing HUGE clams also marinated with coriander, garlic and a little ginger. This was a very strong middle order! I hadn't seen clams that big before and they were so sweet and tasty.

After a little breather came the fish ball/duck/squid combo... remember all the juices from these dishes were seeping into the porridge happily bubbling away underneath added to which the waiter who came with new dishes and took away the debris, would always scrape the food debris into the pot below and give it a jolly stir...

After the shellfish came the veggie mix, greens and mushrooms before the piece de la resistance...

The steamed fish was fresh tilapia according to the waiter with various chillies, scallions, chives, garlic and lemon/lime juice... probably limes on reflection as they are everywhere whilst lemons aren't so prevalent. Whatever, it was delicious and the juices kept on dripping into the bubbling vat below...

Then it was ready. The waiter scraped the fish remnants into the bubbling mass, stirred vigorously for a bit, added some white liquid (more broth I think) and then on top some scallions, coriander and chopped ginger. Very artistic...and yummy too. I had 4 bowls. It was incredible!

To follow, some sweet potato cleansers ...

What a dinner. Friends said that restaurants like this were all over Malaysia. I don't know about that but this was a first for us. 

Vantage Mall is in Tanjung Tokong on the main road, E6 or Jalan Tanjung Tokong, heading out of Georgetown towards Tanjung Bunga and Batu Ferringi. The restaurant is on the top floor of the mall on the right hand side. Go there and enjoy!

All you can eat… Cockles!

It's been a while since this landmark event but in my defence I took pictures on the phone I left with Viv and wasn't able to download them until now… so here we are!

It all happened in my home town and in particular the area called Old Leigh, a marvellous old part of town right by the water where the fishing boats came in and dropped off their catch at the famous old cockle sheds -- the most famous being Osborne's which has been there for generations.  Once a year Old Leigh holds a regatta, one cornerstone of which is the cockle eating competition.

My brother Jan won this competition a couple of years ago so had convinced his son, Rupert, and myself to enter as a group.  The rules were fairly simple: eat a pint glass full to the brim with cockles without pepper or vinegar or indeed any other seasonings faster than the others.

Now cockles aren't my favourite shellfish.  I far prefer whelks but covered with pepper and vinegar. Cockles are OK but like I said not my favorite.

Jan said we should arrive around 12 noon, eat a couple of bowls of local shellfish, maybe oysters, have a beer from the wonderful Crooked Billet pub and then stroll down to the competition.

So that's what we did.

The cockles were awful.

I don't know how you can take fresh shellfish which are inherently moist and make them taste as dry as Jacob's Cream Crackers.  But without seasoning, they were inedible.

For me, that is, for the chap across from me who'd shown up late (and who Jan later said was last year's champion and the guy he'd beaten out into 2nd place a couple of years back) was swallowing them as though he was simply pouring them down a drain.  He couldn't have tasted them but again he didn't chew either.

Next to me Rupert was trying to chew and I felt for him as that was absolutely the wrong approach -- it was my approach too -- as I could also see Jan open his throat and pour the things straight down his throat too.  Clearly this would be a 2-horse race as the 2 other guys were adopting the entirely wrong gulp/chew approach too.

And then it was all over.  The guy across from me finished with Jan close behind.  Rupert and I quietly thanked the graces that it was all over and surreptitiously emptied our squirrel like cheeks filled with half chewed cockles back into the pint glass.  I think all in all I probably finished no more than a quarter of a pint.

It certainly taught me a lesson though.

Great time through!

Osborne's Cockle Sheds
Old Leigh
Essex

http://www.osbornebros.co.uk