A Super Tanker Lunch!

I have often wondered about the inspiration that must be behind the coining of such a name as "Extra Super Tanker" for this restaurant. How does a super tanker, an extra one too, relate to a restaurant? Hmmm... really food for thought eh?

Anyway, this restaurant in Damansara Kim has been around for ages - since 2004 and they have also recently set up another one in Bukit Utama in Bandar Utama.

A belated birthday lunch - where shall we eat? That's the question which we face every time we have a special lunch. Since we're pretty tired of the food outlets in 1-Utama, I suggested we took a short drive over to Damansara Kim to try out this Extra Super Tanker. This place has been blogged so much that it's so easy to find out what their specialities are.

However, when I wanted to order some of their specialities (eg their "Thousand Layer Beancurd", "Roast Duck Chinese Sandwich Style", "Stewed Softbone Pork"), I was told that those had to be pre-ordered 1 day in advance. Oh bugger! Flipping through their menu, we decided on some "not so common" dishes and since it was a party of mostly ladies-who-keep-fit, we had to be mindful to order not-so-sinful dishes.

Fried Crabmet with Egg & Pine Nuts (RM25) served with Lettuce. Most other chinese restaurants would have added sharksfin into this (at a higher price too) but over here, I guess the Pine Nuts were the replacement.



A most refreshing starter, I would say. However I did detect a wee hint of "burnt" flavour in the omelette but the crispy lettuce leaves did a good job camouflaging that. The fresh pine nuts added a light crunch to the lettuce wraps we popped hungrily into our mouths!



Moving on, since we didn't get to eat their Thousand Layer Beancurd, we had the Beancurd with Sea Cucumber & Meatballs (RM40). There were strips of spongy chewy sea cucumber braised with smooth cubes of beancurd in an oyster sauce-based gravy... but strange... I don't recall any meatballs in the dish, really! Or did they disappear before I got my chopsticks into this dish?!



Stir-fry Lily Bulbs Mixed Vegetables with Pine Nuts (RM12) - another healthy dish. There were more slices of crunchy lotus roots & celery than lily bulbs but then I didn't mind as I love lotus roots! Plump sweet peas and pine nuts do go well with the rest of the vegetables tossed in garlic over high heat in a wok.



More vegetables? Try their HK Cabbage with Yam in Soup (RM12). This was a bit of a letdown. First of all, there wasn't really enough liquid in this dish to warrant it as "soup". Then, the HK Cabbage aka Baby Lai-Pak were a tad overcooked - see how yellowish the leaves were? I guess the saving grace would be the soft powdery cubes of yam which were enhanced with the briny flavours of dried shrimps scattered in the "soup".

OK - Meat! We need some Meat! They had this special item that day - Braised Pork Ribs with Lotus Roots (RM20). Didn't I say I love lotus roots??! Lotus roots - there are the "local" ones and the ones imported from China. Use the young local versions for stir fries - they're crunchier and less fibrous. If you're making soups and stews, then you must use the more robust China ones - these are generally bigger-sized and denser in texture.

The restaurant made the right choices in their lotus roots - the chunky pieces of China lotus roots in the claypot of braised pork ribs were excellent. Still retaining their "bite", the pot of porky flavoured roots went brilliantly with white rice.



This plate of Special Yam Fried Rice (RM25) was good. Besides yam, there were chunks of "kai choy" (mustard leaves?) and salted eggyolks - all tossed with eggs & spring onions, resulting in a plate of uniquely fragrant fried rice.



More carbs appeared in the form of Vermicelli with Crab Meat in Thick Soup (RM15) aka Mee Suah cooked in a thick crabmeat broth, ala Sharksfin-style. Nothing much to shout about - the broth was thick with cornstarch.



Then came the Star Dish of the lunch - the very very sinful plate of Black Sauce Braised Pork Noodles! Now tell me - isn't this the most sinfully delicious plate of noodles you ever seen??



Here it is again...



This was not on their regular menu - it was a special item that their chef had cooked that day. Initially the ladies-who-keep-fit dared not dig into this - what with all those wicked & evil looking pieces of porcine delights sticking out like that! Well, they took one bite... and that's it - the noodles disappeared in record time!

After that plate of sublime noodles, I think everyone of us left the place with a "super tanker" in place of our tummies that day!

Do give them a call to order in advance if you want to try their specialities (mainly those marked with a red asterik in the menu)!

Restaurant Extra Super Tanker
48 Jalan SS20/10
Damansara Kim
474 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-77267768/69