SOMETIMES all it takes is one outstanding dish to make a great meal. For us at Chef Chew Kitchen Restaurant it was the signature chicken with ginger rice. Before we went, anyone who had been there raved about this, and we could tell why, watching the hot rice in a claypot being stirred up with a generous heap of ginger and spring onion paste on top.

Appetising aromas wafted up, and the rice tasted so good with the peppy, gingery hotness touching every grain. We couldn’t stop eating it. The poached chicken was smooth, and sweet after cooking in its own juices. I could only fault the tart chilli dip that was served with it which needed a little zest from lime and garlic.

The signature dish has to be ordered in advance at the restaurant which has been drawing a crowd since it opened a few months ago. Chef Chew was from Noble House and his wife Kah Wai, who efficiently managesthe front of the house, was a manager at Tang Room. Both restaurants in the Oriental Group.

The double-boiled fish maw in shark bone soup was creamy and sublime. The long hours of double-boiling in superior stock had obviously expressed all the gelatine out of the shark bone, leaving stickiness around the lips after you have slurped it up. I loved the smooth, slithery piece of fish maw too.

Claypot treasures of pork trotter comprised the end parts of the pork leg, not much meat but lots of well-braised skin and gelatinous chunks that made yummy bites in the dark caramelised sauce. Digging into the pot, we found pork belly, curls of dried cuttlefish, dried chillies and onions, the sweet and spicy flavours of which embraced the pork trotter.

There was a child among us, so we had the braised fish maw with seng kwa and beancurd. It was cooked very well, with the deep-fried beancurd and fish maw sitting in a mellow, clear sauce with the sweetness of luffa (seng kwa) diffused into it. The child liked it, and so did we. I also enjoyed the spongy fish maw soaked in this flavourful sauce.

I should have plumped for the claypot kangkung with shrimp paste which had a thumbs-up on the menu, but i chose stir-fried bittergourd and pumpkin with finely minced dried prawns and garlic. I thought the combination, with some shimeji mushrooms added to it, was perfect.

It was a yummy and satisfying lunch at Chef Chew’s and it wasn’t expensive either. The signature chicken with ginger rice was RM70 for half a chicken, enough for four;  fish maw in shark bone soup, RM22 a bowl; claypot pork trotter, RM38; braised fish maw with beancurd, RM18; and bittergourd with pumpkin, RM16.

The restaurant is worth return visits for the signature river prawn curry, charcoal beancurd with pumpkin sauce, braised fish with yam and Chinese cabbage, and salt grilled clams, among others.

Chef Chew Kitchen Restaurant is at 52, Jalan 19/3, 46300 Petaling Jaya. Reservations are advised; call Kah Wai at 016-634 7948. It is closed on Wednesday. – April 13, 2019.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.