Ordinary extrodinary

Great food is detracted from in less than great company. Conversely, simple food becomes a celebration with good friends. I had a chance at the latter on Monday when I went in to see Lee Meng Hong, the Assistant Director of Public Relations at The Legend Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

We have been fast friends since we met when he was with the Grand Seasons Hotel (also another Metroplex group hotel). The marketing person servicing that property winged about him being pernickety and a pain, but I saw in him a man who truly tries to do his best for his company in every situation. There are far too few people like him in the industry!

We’ve been friends since and I made it a point to see him at quarterly intervals in the year. A pre-Christmas meet up has become somewhat of a tradition, and so, despite the bum back, we went to the city on Monday for lunch at The Museum Chinese restaurant.

Fried straw mushrooms.

Meng Hong is that rare PR-man who really keeps a file in his head on the likes and dislikes of his press circle. He remembers I raved about the deep dried straw mushrooms and so he made sure it was on the list of lunch items.

Unfortunately this delicate dish, which has always been perfectly presented came with double the portion of salt and had to be replaced. This is a bad indulgence, as it features golden mushrooms dipped in seasoned batter and deep fried. It’s very tasty, but so low in real nutrition.

Steamed cod.

However, the rest of the dishes quite made up for it. The steamed cod in light soy is another favourite of Meng Hong’s and we enjoyed the delicate flavour and texture of the dish. Truly fresh cod does not need a lot done to it. Good soy sauce, some ginger and aromatic greens and voila, a good dish that is also good for health.

Broccoli in crabmeat and egg.

Black pepper udon and seafood.

The broccoli in crabmeat was still crunchy and emerald green, and made a great counterpoint to the silky crabmeat and egg sauce. The cod and broccoli just begged for plain steamed rice, which we ordered on top of the plate of black pepper udon and seafood, which was a mite too peppery and not as rich in the balance as I would have liked. Still, the fresh snapper and large prawns really did give it a lift.

Honey sea coconut and lemon.

Kiwi and coral.

The desserts at Museum are creative and I like checking out their latest offerings. Kit and Meng Hong stuck to the old favourite of honey sea coconut, while I opted for kiwi and coral. It was a fabulous finish to an understated meal. The kiwi was blended with mint for a cool, astringent bite, which made the clean crunch of the sweet coral such a perfect counterpoint.
Someone told me once that the coffee is the last thing people who order it after a meal will remember after the meal. If this is so, I’ll say that despite the ordinariness of the food, the company and dessert made today legendary.