Golden Happiness Tofu Soup
This is not your usual tofu soup. I love the addition of tomatoes for umami. There are also lots of aromatics and for body, the house-made fishballs and meatballs go well with the black fungus. The plating is very nice too, they don’t slop everything into a deep bowl but rather dish it out on a wide plate so all the ingredients are visible, submersing with the broth.
Local fiddlehead fern (midin) with Foochow red wine
This is our beloved midin (fiddlehead fern) cooked in Foochow red wine. It’s cooked just right so the ferns are still slightly crispy, and not soggy. The pairing with local red wine and crunchy bits of anchovies to top off this dish makes it simply perfect!
Foochow fried noodles
These noodles are actually called “chao chu mien” e.g. they’ve been fried before being poached in liquid. It’s a distinctively Foochow way of cooking and the noodles tastes heavily of lard. It’s lovely! Golden Happiness Restaurant will actually serve the dishes in order of intensity of taste e.g. from least nuanced to the most flavorful but this was an exception as we were hungry and wanted it out.
Stuffed Fish Maw
This is fish maw stuffed with fu chuk (beancurd skin) and some other items. It’s quite lovely and the texture is different. I like how the gravy goes very well with rice.
Abundance of Seafood (in a Pot)
That’s actually the translated Chinese name for this flagship dish. Haha! It’s quite flowery but essentially it’s prawns, fish slices, sea cucumber, squid, cuttlefish, fish maw and other interesting and delicious bits of seafood thrown into a pot.
This is one of my favorite dishes here. They’ll heat up the pot and when you’re done…
Pig Tail and Duck Claypot
…replace this claypot on the heat source. This is a unique combination of pig tail, pork belly and duck! I’ve only seen it served here at Golden Happiness – it’s one of their signature dishes. I was a bit hesitant when I heard of the combination at first, but duck goes very well with pork and the pig tail adds a wonderful chewiness (and a ton of collagen and gelatine) into the mix.
Golden Happiness Restaurant is one of the higher end Chinese banquet places in town. I like how the front of house floor manager wears a suit and all her waitresses don traditional matching Chinese uniforms. It conveys a sense of professionalism that is lacking in a lot of Sibu restaurants. I had one of my last suppers here with my bro Eddy, Jona and a bunch of other close friends.
The food here is top-notch, and they have several house specialities that sets them apart. Thanks for the awesome dinner, homeboys!
