CNY Set Meals

Chinese New Year is a festival celebrated with much fanfare for any Chinese family, regardless of poor or rich. The rich will have 10-course meals with dishes fit for a king, while the poor make do with lap ngap and lap cheong and abit of soy sauce over white rice (a rare luxury). How does the middle-class feast? The middle-class indulge in a little bit of the rich but will still behave like the poor- choosing dishes that are worth the money.

For most of us falling into the middle-class category, CNY Set Meals is the way to go for that CNY feasting experience without burning a big hole in the pocket. After all, there are many restaurants that offer set meals ranging from RM199-RM999, enough to feed a table of 10.



Ours is the RM398 package from Mun Cheong Restaurant, a relatively established and well-known restaurant famed for hosting wedding dinners in the quaint little town of Ipoh.



The obligatory CNY appetizer- Yee Sang. Ingredients that I love most? The crackers and salmon!



What irritates me most of the time during lou sang is how brash some people are. They just don't give a damn about 'lou-ing' it properly. Most of the time you'll find the aftermath of a lou sang is a very messy table! Honestly? I don't really care about saying all the wishes when 'lou-ing'.



Some abalone slices, brocollies, mushrooms and fatt choi (black moss?) dish. I wish to think it's authentic abalone though... most of the time when they're sliced like this, it gives me an impression that they're just another artificial abalone made to look and taste like real abalone.



So, authenticity of abalone here is questionable.



I think this what the Malays will call "Ikan Tiga Rasa" or in English "Three-Flavour Fish"- onion, red and green capsicum.



Some veges with bonuses that come in the form of cashew nuts!



Prawns for New Year is always auspicious.



Just like my wish to my Dad on CNY- To have big prawns and big fish!



Thai Style Fried Chicken with Shredded Mango. Tasted nothing out of the ordinary.



Lotus leaf rice. Geez, it's my least favourite dish in any chinese restaurant dinners.



And the el cheapo dessert. Whatever happened to pan fried Shanghainese pan cake or slow boiled red bean with dried mandarin skin kinda desserts?

Oh I forgot. It's a CNY Set Meal after all where everything has to be cheap and fast and worth the money.


Mun Cheong Restaurant
511, Jalan Pasir Puteh,
31650 Ipoh,
Perak.

[disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are based on my personal views, tastebuds and preference and may vary for others. please dont sue me, i dont have money. kthxbye.]