House of Annie

Soup's On

Pork Bone and Red Bean Soup

Fried Long Beans with Minced Pork

Fried Ground Pork and Salted Fish Patty

Pickled Pig's Feet

Midin in Red Wine

Assam Prawns

Assam Curry Fishhead

The Damage

Is it Any Good?

Fresh is Best

When you walk into the restaurant, you are greeted by large fishtanks on one wall, filled with live prawns and fish. In the middle is an island showcasing bins of fresh fruits and vegetables to be used by the kitchen. There’s also a bin holding dozens of live crabs:

Along the other wall are more fishes and shellfish on ice. You select your seafood, choose what style of dish you want the kitchen to cook it, and place your order with the waiters there before heading upstairs to the elegant dining room.

Since we had arranged for an early reservation, there weren’t that many people in the restaurant when we were seated. The food started coming out of the kitchen in quick order. First up was a big platter of fried noodles with lots of veggies, chicken and sauce. Pretty standard fare.

Since this was Elizabeth’s first time in Sarawak, we decided to order a uniquely Sarawakian vegetable dish: midin (fiddlehead fern) cooked with belacan (shrimp paste). The sweet, crunchy vegetable was accented by the salty belacan and spicy chile slices.

We also ordered a second midin dish, this time a cool salad which was served with shredded red cabbage, carrots, and onions. The dressing was a sticky, sweet sauce that was a little too sweet for me. Of the two midin dishes, we liked the belacan one better.

Next up was this yam (taro) nest with chicken, cashews, veggies and dried red chiles. The nest is shaped from mashed cooked taro, then deep fried. In most other restaurants, the nest would be light and crispy. Here, though, the nest was dense and chewy. Not very well executed.

One of my favorite dishes is butter prawns. Deep fried prawns are combined with egg yolk “floss” and curry leaves which have been fried in butter. Talk about over the top! That’s why I love it so much (especially the fried curry leaves). If the prawns are fried correctly, you can eat the whole thing, shells and all.  These prawns were underdone.

By now the restaurant had filled up, and dishes were coming out much slower. The next dish was this steamed grouper with soy sauce. Annie had wanted to order a live fish to be steamed, but Eliz was afraid it was going to be too expensive. So she opted to go with this previously frozen fish instead. The difference between using a fresh fish and a not-fresh one was like night and day. There was no sweetness, no lightness in the flesh. Kinda disappointing.

The highlight dish of the evening was this satay crab dish, a signature dish for the restaurant. Normally this dish is served with prawns but Mike said to try something different. These crabs were swimming in a delicious brown sauce that was so complex in flavor. The crabs almost played second fiddle to the sauce.

The best part about this dish was that they served it with fried man tou (steamed buns). You tear off a piece of the man tou, swirl it around in the sauce, and pop it in your mouth. Heaven. I would have been happy eating this dish first. Too bad it was the last to come to the table, after we had all eaten our fill.

The Damage

Actually, the total bill for 6 adults and 2 kids was not bad, considering the high prices that this restaurant is known for. All 7 dishes plus drinks came up to less than $100 US! Amazing.

Still, I don’t think we’ll be coming back. Besides the last dish of crabs in satay sauce, we weren’t wowed by anything else. You can find these dishes elsewhere, for better price, and perhaps even prepared with more skill. Best seafood restaurant in Kuching? Not in my opinion.

Aloha, Nate

Edit: Here's Mike's take on the dinner: http://kongkay1.blogspot.com/2010/04/with-annie-co-rock-road-seafood-jalan.html

It was a 4 hour-long drive up from KL. We had stopped at a rest stop along the way for some mediocre hawker fare. By the time we got to Annie's uncle's house (where we would be staying the next few days), we were exhausted.

But we had barely a chance to unload our car, wash up and settle down before Uncle announced, "come, you want to go eat?"

Well, how could we refuse? ;-d

Since it was Chinese New Year, most of the hawker stalls that Penang is famous for were closed. All the proprietors had gone home to prepare their own family feasts and functions. Uncle took us to Cafe Bali Bali, a kopitiam (coffeeshop) nearby that he frequents.

He ordered a Hokkien Prawn Mee (a soup noodle dish, completely different from the KL-style Hokkien Char Mee) for me, plus a Char Kway Teow to share and a couple of Assam Laksa to ta pau (take home). The prawn mee was okay only; the broth did not pack a good enough porky-shrimpy flavor punch for me.

Hokkien Prawn Mee

That night, we went out again to meet up with another Uncle and his family for dinner. We ended up at another kopitiam across the road from this Uncle’s house. I wound up getting a Klang-style bak kut teh (literally “pork bone tea”) which was decent. After I finished that, Auntie asked if I was interested in some Or Chien (oyster omelet).

Fresh oysters, wok-fried with beaten eggs and tapioca starch, then served with some chili sauce on the side? “Sure!”

Or Chien (Hokkien Oyster Omelet)

The next day was actually the eve of Chinese New Year. Almost all the immediate relatives in Penang would be here to have the first reunion dinner. Annie’s Mum and Aunty were busy all day in the kitchen, cooking.

One by one, dishes appeared on serving platters: a chicken dish, a prawn dish, a pork dish, a vegetarian dish…it was going to be quite a feast! Towards the end of the afternoon, Uncle went out to his favorite Nasi Kandar restaurant and came back with a big pot of Indian fish curry.

We were among the first to eat, before the crowd arrived. I have to say, this fish curry was really good! The sweetness of the onions, the savoriness of the curry, and the spiciness of the chili were combined into a wonderful balance of flavors.

Fish Curry

The times, they are a changin’.

Perhaps it’s because the economy is better, or airfares are cheaper. Or it could be that hanging around family is not as fun as it used to be when everyone was younger. In any case, there weren’t as many relatives at the reunion dinner this year, compared to previous times we’ve been back to Penang. A few of the families were actually traveling overseas for the holiday instead of gathering at home.

Those that did come, though, got to participate in a Chinese New Year “tradition” that was invented here in Malaya back in the 60’s. “Yee Sang” (or “Yusheng” depending on your dialect) literally means “raw fish” but sounds like the words for “increasing abundance”. It is made with strips of several different kinds of vegetables, plus crispy noodles, raw fish, ground peanuts, and a highly sweet, sticky sauce.

Yee Sang Platter

The idea is to have everyone grab a pair of chopsticks, gather ‘round the platter, and toss the whole mixture together in unison.

Tossing the Yee Sang

At the same time, they call out blessings and good wishes for the new year. Supposedly, the higher the toss, the greater the blessing. Everyone gets in on the fun and starts calling out things like, “good health” or “win the lottery” (for the older folks) and “find a boyfriend” or “get married next year” (for the single folks).

Tossing the Yee Sang

As with large families, sometimes things can get messy. Like a just-mixed platter of yee sang.

Yee Sang - All Mixed Up

But without all the mixing around, you’d never get a full taste of the yee sang in your bowl. The sour elements interact with the sweet, while the mushy elements interact with the crunchy. People might have their favorite ingredient but it wouldn’t be yee sang if you didn’t have the other ingredients to create a harmonious balance in your bowl.

Bowl of Yee Sang

The next day, the family all gathered together again for the traditional First Day vegetarian meal. Even then, things weren’t so harmonious. We had to discipline a tantrum-throwing Esther, who wouldn’t stop crying for some absurd reason (crying is a big no-no on the First Day).

Eventually, we all settled down and tucked in to the meal. It was a very tasty, Chinese vegetarian meal full of mock meats and tofu cooked in a variety of ways.

Afterward, we all gathered in the hall to take a family picture.

Neoh Family Picture

Aunties, Uncles, cousins and grandkids, all tossed together and mixed up like a platter of yee sang. It may not be pretty, but it’s family.

Aloha, Nate