My friend invited us to his father’s birthday bash here…
…at a leading hotel in town last Friday evening. Though I’ve been attending dinner functions at the banquet halls in this hotel quite often, I can recall probably just two other occasions when I had had a dinner in their Chinese restaurant proper including that one time quite long ago upon the invitation of that same friend’s younger brother.
So there we were, Melissa, my missus and I, at the venue to join in the celebration of the very auspicious and happy occasion and of course, there were the longevity noodles…
…with the”golden” egg served in the very nice wine-rich chicken soup in big individual bowls. Personally, I prefer the noodles done this way instead of having them fried as I enjoy them more and in fact, I remember fried mee sua making its appearance only sometime in the 90’s, pretty recent so I would say, so as far as traditions go, that is not really the accepted way of eating these longevity noodles.
I’ve always loved this course, be it served hot like this…
…or “cold”. I enjoyed the beef tendons and also the slices of what I guessed was ham, next to the steamed chicken and had more than my fair share of those. Hehehehehe!!!!
The fish…
…was very good too. White/silver pomfret (ikan bawal putih) this size would cost a bomb at the market here if at all, they’re available – they say the restaurants have preferred customer status and they would get all the nice big ones and not many would make it to the stalls at the wet market. That night, what they did was to cut the top half of the fish to fry and serve as fish fritters and fillet and steam the bottom half in the usual manner. Of course, for people like my daughter who would enjoy deep-fried stuff and really good fish and chips overseas, there would be no question at all that she enjoyed it very much.
The creamy butter prawns…
…were excellent and needless to say, they were all gone in no time at all…and likewise, the braised sea cucumber…
…with assorted mushrooms.
Dessert was the usual fruit platter and these delightful sweets…
I don’t know exactly what they were but they had that sticky skin like mochi and red and green bean paste inside.
We certainly enjoyed the dinner and I, for one, had a great time meeting and catching up with old friends among all the invited guests that night…and I really must thank my friend once again for the invitation and wish his dad a very Happy Birthday and all the best in the year ahead, and may God shower His abundant Blessings upon him and all in the family always.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Sounds as if you enjoyed it, and I can see why! 🙂
I certainly had a great time.
Sounds like a nice time and a great way to celebrate a birthday!!!!
Sure was. Great food, great company.
ooo, a dinner full of hits as far as the dishes are concerned (and the company too!) 😀 the fish presentation is interesting … i’ve not seen pomfret served that yin-yang style before, half-fried & frittered 😀
It’s pretty common here – one fish, two different recipes, served in one plate. They do it with chicken or pork as well.
All the dishes looks nice and the fish was done in a unique way. Dessert is special, unlike most restaurant which would serve fruits or tong sui. Happy Blessed Birthday to your friend’s dad.
Thanks for your good wishes. Yes, it certainly was different from the standard usual fare in more ways than one.
I thought there must be two eggs? Oohh over here if there’s any birthday celebrations, they have ‘sau mein’ (longevity noodles), usually the dry version, with oyster sauce.. By the way, it’s so nice of your friend to invite you to his dad’s birthday dinner..
Different. I had longevity noodles at a birthday dinner in KK, also different. This is the Sibu Foochow-style longevity noodles and no, there’s one egg only. Two would be the quota for the whole week gone, no more eggs for the next 7 days…but of course, if at the table, there is anyone who would not eat the eggs or the yolk, no prize for guessing who would sapu habis. Hehehehehehe!!!!! Yes, I always say I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends all over.
Do you all have different types of dishes for weddings vs birthdays? Last time I attended a wedding in Kuching, I thought: “Wow, the food here is different compared to the Peninsula”, now I see even Sibu and Kuching is different.
Birthday dinners would usually start off with mee sua, our longevity noodles, in soup or fried. Not included for wedding dinners.
Yes, I do agree with you that there seems to be a certain degree of difference. I’ve attended such banquets in Penang, KL, Kuching and Sibu and I would not say they’re all the same, you’ve gone to one, you’ve tried them all. The thing is the ones I went to in the peninsula were in the hotels…and knowing what it is like at such venues, you pay for the classy, impressive ambiance, so it would not be possible to make a fair comparison. Other than that, of course, what you get will depend on what you pay for…and also which restaurant you go to.
What a feast! The creamy butter prawns look delicious!
Yes, and before I could help myself to more, they were all gone. 😦
Hello, welcome and thanks for dropping by. Your first time here, I see. Glad to have you around, I will link you in my blogroll. Do come again.
That hot (or cold) dish was so delicious looking! I want to eat it too!!
Come, come! Before you move back to Kuching, you can hold a farewell dinner here…and invite me to come along. Hehehehehe!!!! 😉
Everything served looked so good! I like that platter of assorted goodies. Very unique, the way they prepared the fish – fried and steamed. You get to enjoy the fish two ways. Nice!
Yes, all good. Really enjoyed the dinner and the gathering.
the foods look so grand and nice!!!
you really very pandai cari makan…..always see you eat nice food…hehehe
Come on over. I’ll treat you to the best in town. 😀
Really mouth watering STP. DROOOOOL
LOL!!! Come on over, honeymoon…but I guess your missus can’t fly anymore, they do not allow expectant mums on board.
May I ask where is the restaurant?Isn’t that it affiliates to Kingwood hotel?
BTW,the butter prawns are so yummy 🙂
Yup, the Chinese restaurant on the 1st Floor, old/original wing.
Yes, I agree with Mun.. the food in Sibu is indeed very different from our normal cuisine here.. the creamy prawns looks good… enough to go round? I would certainly love to eat more than one… hahaha…
I think I had three, wanted more…but all gone! 😦
Happy Birthday to your friend’s father…
Thanks.
I see my favorite braised sea cucumber!! Yum!!
Slurpssss!!!! Lots of collagen, can stay looking young. Hehehehehe!!!!