Kopi Tiam Wednesday 30 November 2011

 Entree

Zucchini flowers stuffed with crabmeat and tomato sambal dip

Roast duck rice paper rolls

sand whiting tempura with baby fennel salad

Main

Crispy skin chicken with coriander salsa

Aubergine and tofu with sambal

Chilli lemon king prawns and baby squid

Sizzling ginger lamb with shao tsing sauce

Kopi Tiam is one we always come back to from time to time.  As Karen said, "when they do something well it's to die for" but when they don't it's a bit ordinary.
And such was the case this time.
The Zucchini flowers stuffed with crabmeat and tomato sambal did, the roast duck rice paper rolls, the aubergine and tofu with sambal were to die for.
The baby fennel salad definitely enhanced the flavour of the sand whiting tempura. The prawns and squid were "nice" , but the silverbait (whitebait?), the chicken were ordinary, the lamb tender and well made but dull.
On the other hand the desserts were especially delicious, envied by those who had not ordered them.

Ron ("I was wondering why my leg suddenly felt warm") liked the tofu best, it was the standout. He liked all the dishes, said he's not fussy like the rest of us.  The white bait had delicate flavours and was nice with the lemon he said
John said the lamb "lacked in flavour" but apart from that enjoyed the meal very much, liked the variety.
Karen"there were some spectacular dishes as always but you have to choose them otherwise the meal can be a bit ordinary". She gave the evening 3/1/2 stars.
Andrew: The desserts looked very good (he did not have one, he is looking after his weight); the mains and starters were a mixed bag
Jim: enjoyed it all especially the sago pudding: overall an improvment on last time.

The service was very fast, the kitchen small, only 3 people cooking. The bill came to $263 between the 6 of us.

Desserts

Black rice with coconut palm sugar

Sago pudding

WINE:

Shottesbrook Chardonnary, McLarenvale 2010
Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 1993

Jim and Karen