Many months ago, I got to dine with the winners from Foodsion Magazine for a dine and review session at Max Gourmet at the top floor of Gurney Plaza. Its located right opposite the cinema and it serves some pretty authentic chinese cuisine. I say authentic because the food that I had that night has that home cook feeling to it and you do not feel that it has been over engineered.
I was surprised by the wide variety of dishes that they have and I must say, each one of it tasted pretty darn good. We were supposedly waiting for the owner to provide us with the actual name and pricing of the dishes but after many months and no reply, maybe they have forgotten about it. But anyway, I felt that its worth writing about anyway so here it is. More photos than words I guess but do feedback if you have tried eating here as well.
This is their Yam with Pork Belly, or in Cantonese, Wu Tao Kao Yuk! Even though it looks darkish and all, it was actually very tasty. The pork belly was soft and tender to the bite and the yam was also well steamed. The gravy would just go very well with a bowl of white rice!
This is their curry fish pot if I'm not mistaken. I felt that the curry could have been much nicer if it was thicker and not as watery as it was. Maybe more coconut milk to it but then there goes your cholesterol level. I guess this is a compromise?
This is like the flower egg with lots of prawn roe on top. It was very smooth like the Wat Tan Hor and kids would just love this dish
The next 3 dishes came out altogether
Stir fried lotus root. I don't normally order this dish but the one they made turned out pretty well. Lotus root is crunchy to the bite and the use of the black fungus with the stewed peanuts added to the flavor.
Steamed chicken with spicy sauce. This one is like your typical steamed white chicken except that they added a spicy sauce to complement the chicken. It does gives the chicken a unique twist, whereby instead of the usual ginger, you use spicy chilli
This is something like Pai Kuat Wong where the pork is deep fried and then smothered in a sweet tasting sauce topped with lots of sesame seeds.
Then came the Tong Po Yuk! 4 huge chunks or stewed pork belly nicely presented as presents in a bowl. It was served with mini buns, but the portion of the meat is so much bigger than the bun that its abit over kill. Even though the meat is nice, but I guess one just can't have that much in a night. I wonder if they can half the portion and then those chunks are then cut in half before serving?
Homemade tofu with meat sauce. This is one dish that is simple yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. The meat sauce was full of dried shrimp and also salted fish and pork meat that was so delicious, you can probably go with a few bowls of rice with this dish
Kerabu salad. This one was just alright and I have definitely tasted better ones but their fried anchovies were very crispy indeed
Another pork belly dish. This time, instead of yam, its Mui Choy Kau Yuk. I like the fact that the preserved vegetable was not overly salty and again, the pork belly was very nicely made! I think the chef is really good with the pork here
Curry prawns is similar to the fish. Abit of a let down and can definitely improve
This is stewed chicken with mushrooms and abalone. You can see that the chicken is like roasted before and then the rest of the items used to make the stewed sauce. It really reminds me of home cooking, though of course at home its not so nicely presented. I like the fact that they used dried oysters to bring out the flavor in the mushrooms
Their White Tomyam was probably a surprise winner. Not only was it sour and spicy, but it had that Tomyam kick to it that is so lacking sometimes. There was ample bits of seafood in the soup but just having the soup on its own was heavenly.
Then came the dessert. This is the Kwai Fa Gou, which is made from Osmanthus Flower for the jelly with some herbs added as well. Nicely done. Credits to Ellis Pheng for letting me know the correct name for this flower ya!
The last item was the Gwai Lin Go which is a herbal jelly. I like the fact that its not too sweetened and it really helped to clear the tastebuds after the heavy meal. Nice
Some shots of the seating area
The exterior of Max Gourmet
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