Back to Sek Yuen after a three-year hiatus. So glad to see that the old girl had actually become more popular, with new customers streaming into the place (on a Tuesday evening, no less), just as we were leaving.
One of the present owners, invariably of the Phang clan (it was said that no less than 80 members of the extended family had served, or were still working at the restaurant over the course of the past 8 decades), actually registered a slight flicker of recognition as he looked at our dining party: after all, my KL Cantonese uncle has been their regular customer for the past 50 years. My uncle hollered out a greeting, the owner looked back, po-faced as always, and gave a perfunctory nod. That, is the friendliest gesture you’re ever likely to get from him.
We were served by a gruff middle-aged waitress who treated us as if we’d just murdered her pet dog. She grunted icily as my uncle placed the order for each dish. Ah, it’s good to be back.
We ordered all our old favourites:
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Pork-and-crabmeat balls - deep-fried orbs of juicy minced meat: pork and crabmeat is a match made in food heaven. But somehow, after encountering the same dish in Penang’s Goh Swee Kee, I have to say that Sek Yuen has finally met its match. Actually no, it’s roundly beaten by Goh Swee Kee in the execution of this dish.
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Mock sharksfin-and-crabmeat omelette - this is the one dish where no one, either in Malaysia or Singapore, can come close to Sek Yuen. Sheer deliciousness.
- Braised eight-treasure duck - this precious stuffed beast required two days’ advance order, but we were in luck: one of the customers who’d pre-ordered it was a last minute no-show, so we were offered the dish. It was eagerly accepted: a slow-braised, deboned fowl stuffed with lotus seeds, gingko nuts, mushrooms and a plethora of rare Chinese herbs and spices.
The gravy was so tasty, one could slather it over anything and that will taste good.
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Pork-rib herbal soup - this was a favourite of my uncle, and a must-order. There were 4 of us at the dinner table. The soup was enough to serve 10 - my two aunts and I had our portions. My uncle had the other 7 portions - he’s Cantonese after all, and all Cantonese have an uncommon predilection for soups.
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Fish head in black bean sauce - this was the one dish which I remembered tasted better before. Not sure if my memory served me right, or I’d inadvertently elevated the taste of the dish beyond what it really was.
It could’ve done with a touch more saltiness, and the fish-head could’ve been fleshier, and the wok in which the dish was fried could’ve have been hotter. No “wok hei” here.
Overall, I have to say that no meal at Sek Yuen ever disappoints. I liked the fact that i can come back here after three years and almost virtually nothing has changed: the cranky, sullen-faced service, the stupendous cooking, and an absolutely memorable meal … until the next time.
