I asked my dad where he wanted to go for dinner on Father’s Day – Payung Café, Ruby Restaurant or some other place that he liked (perhaps one of the new cafes out there). He said he’s more used to eating Chinese food and opted for Ming Mei Shi.
Cinnamon Lamb Shank (RM 29.68)
This is cooked rendang style (which originated from Minangkabau in Indonesia). It was recommended as one of their flagship dishes when we asked for something different. I don’t eat lamb much when I’m with my better half since she doesn’t like it but my dad does. Granted, it’s been made to suit local Chinese palates but it tasted magnificent! The strong cinnamon and aniseed gravy goes perfectly with the rice and the lamb is fork-tender.
Butter Fried Prawns (RM 16.96)
We usually go for butterscotch prawns but wanted something different so we switched to the drier butter fried prawns. Ming Mei Shi also has big head prawns for RM 50 per prawn which I was personally interested but my dad vetoed the idea since he doesn’t really like that type of prawn (don’t know if it’s coz of the price but I know he doesn’t eat crustaceans much). This doesn’t have the nice gravy but we have 3 other wet dishes so we thought it’ll make for an agreeable change. It was delightful!
Four Heavenly Kings Vegetable (RM 16.96)
This is a classic Chinese restaurant dish that consists of 4 different types of “beans”. The quotation marks are there coz brinjal (eggplant) is not actually a type of bean. They usually use the purple type but there’s also a green variety. The four vegetables are ladyfingers (okra), squash, brinjal and long beans. It’s topped with pork mince and taucu (fermented soya beans) and it’s very good.
Dongpo Pork (RM 19.08)
This is another one of their signature dishes. Dongpo pork is braised before being slowly stewed with Chinese wine. It comes in a huge square chunk tied with cooking twine, which is then snipped off by the waitress before the meat is cut into manageable bite-sized portions with a pair of kitchen scissors.
Interesting fact: I was using Pleco (the Chinese-English app) to research why this dish is called such. My dad thought it was dong as in east but it turns out that it’s named after the poet Su Shi a.k.a. Su Dongpo who perfected the recipe. It’s usually very good but the execution was a little off this time since the ratio of fat to lean meat was really low despite being from the belly of the pig. I had to chew very hard to swallow the tough bottom meat.
My dad enjoyed the meal immensely though and so did I. We usually just order 3 dishes for the two of us but I thought we should order 4 since it’s a special occasion. The waitress warned us against the large portions but I managed to polish off everything after my dad was full. The unusual decimal prices is due to the recent implementation of 6% GST and the bill came up to RM 90.95 although I only paid RM 90 coz the owner gave me a discount.
Me: Dad, you’re not smiling in the photo.
Dad: What do you mean? I am!
Me: Hmm…I don’t see it. *show my dad the digicam*
Dad: That’s me smiling.
Me: …
Happy Father’s Day, dad! 🙂
Belated Happy Father’s Day greetings to your dad. Wow! That’s a lot of food/meat for two but hey, knowing you, you would not have a problem finishing all of it. LOL!!! Haven’t been here for a while now – I hear they charge GST 6%.
Thanks mate! 🙂
Yup, Ming Mei Shi charges 6% GST now. It’s not too bad, the prices on average are still pretty reasonable. Haha! Yeah, I can actually eat a lot, but you know that already.
Happy Father’s Day Celebration.
Thanks bro! 🙂
Appreciate the well wishes.
Wow, that’s a hefty amount of food! I just bought my dad some branded durians from balik pulau, while my mom treated us a Korean dinner
That’s nice of you to do so! 🙂
The durians in Balik Pulau are awesome, I’ve been there before. Yeah, I can actually put down a lot of food, which surprises a lot of people who hasn’t seen me done it. I’ve actually participated in (amateur) eating competitions.
You and me only have our precious dads left! We better be good sons while we still can. The photo of you both warms my heart lah!
Yeah, that’s very true mate! 🙂
Indeed, we only have our dads left and the time we have is very precious. Happy Father’s Day to your dad.
When you say Chinese food, and then I see lamb shank, hehe, feels funny pulak.. I’m having “kiu soong” in mind, like all your other dishes except that lamb shank.. But whatever is it, janji sedap.. Lots of food and meat for two wor, nice..
Oh, it’s actually cooked Chinese style! 🙂
You know how some Chinese restaurants have “curry”? It’s not authentic Indian curry but it’s Chinese style curry. This is the same thing, it’s Chinese style rendang. It’s really very good. The other dishes were good too but the Dongpo Pork is usually better (too lean this time).
LOL the exchange between you and your dad. so cute.
Haha! Yeah, I’m very close with my dad. 🙂
He’s in a lot of ways the total opposite of me, I’m more like my late mom (in looks/features and personality) but I admire my dad immensely for his personality traits. He’s a very good person.
LoL! Please show us a pic of your dad when he is not smiling 😛
Haha! He really seldom smiles. 🙂
That’s his smile, he says he doesn’t have a big smile but I think part of it has been due to my mom’s cancer and passing too. Prior to that, I’ve seen him laugh and smile, less after my mom got sick and even rarer after she died. I’m sure he still misses her badly, they’re a good couple.
You flew back just to celebrate Father’s Day with your father – how nice and thoughtful of you. Can the Cinnamon Lamb Shank be considered as Chinese food?
The four bean vegetable dish that I usually eat has petai, long bean, four angled bean and brinjal.
Thanks Mun! 🙂
Yup, he usually spends his time in Singapore but he comes back sometimes and I like to spend time with him coz I know he still misses my mom a lot. I also arranged to do some work stuff at this time so it’s a very productive trip.
The lamb shank is a Chinese version of rendang, so it’s still Chinese food, just like Chinese curry. This place is pure Chinese cuisine, no fusion, but a few dishes (like this) has some elements from other cultures.
I’ve seen many different 4 bean vegetables too, brinjal isn’t a bean though. Four angled beans and petai is not so popular here, have eaten that in tai chow in KL but the vegetables locals here prefer generally doesn’t extend to those two. I hardly ever see anyone order four angled bean or petai in Chinese restaurants here.