Review: You Mi Qi Restaurant, Jalan Yap Kwan Seng

Overall comment: Galore of seafood, fit for the king
Halal: No

You Mi Qi Restaurant (有米氣) at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng in Kuala Lumpur opened 4 months ago i.e. last October 2014. They have the same menu as its other branch/1st outlet in Old Klang Road, with some additional dishes just available at this KL branch.

Most, if not all of their specialty dishes are inspired from the District of Shunde (顺德区) in China, a popular district in the city of Foshan, Guangdong. All the dishes are brain-work of the restaurant's creative director, Mr Tai Gu.

This tasting session was quite an eye-opening experience for me as I felt the dishes can be quite an acquired taste. Perhaps I am not very familiar with Shunde dishes, thus, my tastebuds aren't accustomed to the difference in taste & texture.

I hereby introduce to you some of Shunde's dishes!

Prosperous Lou Sang (salmon) 风生水起齐捞生 (RM68.00/serving)

The yee sang looks very common from the 1st glance, but what makes it different is the sauce. You Mi Qi didn't use the sweet plum sauce; instead, they use some sort of savory soya sauce + other 'secret sauces' for the yee sang. A word of caution: do not pour both bowls of sauces into the yee sang. It actually tastes nicer if you toss the yee sang, then dip the fresh ingredients into the sauce. We made a mistake by pouring the sauce into the yee sang, which made the yee sang really salty!

To a better year 2015! :D

Fried Noodle Fish with Salt & Pepper 椒盐白饭鱼 (RM48.00/serving)

 What an interesting snack. It's like the crispy fried shrimps that you get at Japanese restaurants, but this noodle fish has more 'flesh', thus it's not as thin & crispy, yet when cooked with killer-spicy chili padi, this is one snack that could get your appetite going.

Crispy Fried Oyster 酥炸生蚝 (RM48.00/serving)

 When the fried oysters arrived, I thought they were quite 'cute' yet mysterious. I would prefer if the crust is more crispy :) This one that we tasted was not as crispy as I hope, but the oysters were thankfully fresh. I couldn't imagine if they weren't...

Braised Yellow Sea Cucumber 酿黄肉参 (RM180.00/serving)

 This dish didn't look very appetizing & let me tell you that the texture of the sea cucumber is probably one that you won't expect as well. I didn't know that 'small' sea cucumbers like this breed are more chewy/'crunchy' (in Cantonese, it's "chui hao"/"song"). I was totally expecting a soft & smooth piece of sea cucumber with the fish paste.

 

Poon Choy 盘菜 (RM428.00/serving)

 This is one different poon choy! It's not your usual gooey-gravy poon choy, but a simple yet very tasty vegetable broth poon choy to balance the richness of the overall meat+veggie dish.

The poon choy is served in a large aluminum 'bowl', where there's actually another aluminum plate at the bottom of the bowl to ensure that the meat doesn't get burnt while the bowl gets onto the stove. Yums. This poon choy isn't layered the usual way e.g. 1 layer of chicken, 1 layer of duck, 1 layer of prawns..etc, but the bottom layer is all vegetables like the Chinese cabbage & carrots + broth & the meat are all above the vegetables. Once the broth starts to boil, the final result is a rich, aromatic & sweet vegetable broth/soup that goes well with the meat.Yums!

Seafood Stew Wok 海鲜焖锅 (RM150.00/serving)

 I must say that this was one of the most interesting dishes that evening. You can choose the type of seafood to put into the stew, but on that particular evening, we weren't given the choice, so we had the "Lump Fish", a rather high-collagen fish that I found difficult to accept. Hahaha.

You can select other types of fish like the Long Dan, Garoupas, & even any river fish. The Lump Fish has a thicker skin, higher percentage of 'collagen' & somehow tastes more "fishy" due to the fact that it's quite an 'oily fish'. Not my cuppa tea.

See the skin??! *gulp*

   

 Lap Mei Claypot Rice 腊味煲仔饭 (RM38.00/serving)

This was the best dish that evening in my humble opinion. I love the fragrance & slightly chewy texture of the rice, coupled with the humble Chinese waxed sausage ("lap cheong") + leeks. Brings back loads of nostalgia of a typical Chinese New Year day 2 feast.

Cheese Baked Yam Tart 芝士焗紫心薯(RM29.00/serving)

 Unique 'dessert'. I love yam, but the combination of cheese with yam feels strange somehow.

 

Shrimp sashimi 虎虾拼盘 (RM98.00/serving)

The long awaited dish - fresh shrimp sashimi. I didn't dare to try as I had a bad allergy attack the last time I had shrimp sashimi at a Japanese restaurant in Singapore. The sashimi was SO good, but I ended up with a swollen throat, swollen eyes & I was totally knocked out after taking some medication :P I'm sure the shrimp sashimi here is good - it looks good!

This Chinese New Year, if you would like to try something different together with your family & friends, you can be sure that You Mi Qi will tantalize your tastebuds with their fresh & unique selection of dishes :)


You Mi Qi Restaurant 有米氣 YKS
64 & 65, Jalan Yap Kwan Seng
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia.
Tel: (+603) 2181 3909
Business hours: 11:00a.m. - 3:00p.m.; 6:00p.m. - 11:00p.m.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/youmiqicuisine

You Mi Qi Restaurant 有米氣 OKR
57, Jalan Klang Lama, Batu 3
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia.
Tel: (+603) 7980 0855


Interesting experience,