nanyang authentic

You know how every once in a while, you feel like splurging in some 'designer' hawker food fare. For instance, when you have the sudden urge (and don't mind spending the extra bucks) for Mdm Kwan's rich flavourful bowl of curry laksa, knowing that you can get it at that roadside stall for only RM 5?

Well, i had my experience of 'designer' chicken rice at NanYang Authentic, Pavilion recently. Something about having the word 'Authentic' in a food outlet's name that somehow draws my attention to it. As if all the other chicken rice out there are....'fake'?

 The place was fully occupied during lunch that day, so THAT was a good sign, i suppose.

 First, the chicken (roasted kind) was not as tender as i had hoped it would be. Eating any tough piece of chicken meat always brings me back to Low Yau Kee's (Jln Tun H.S. Lee) amazingly out-of-this-world super tender chicken pieces.

 Their balls (pork and fish) are notably tasty and rightly-textured. I guess you can tell it's good stuff from the picture.

 Since i wasn't quite planning to return to this place anytime soon, i thought watdaheck, since i was here, might as well try out all their signature meats...hence, the steamed (white) chicken and the honey bbq pork (char siew). Once again, the chicken's nothing to shout about, but one look at the thick juicy sweet pork slices below, and i'm sure you're wishing you can sink your teeth into them now. lol. damn, non-porkie lovers, you don't know what you're missing!

 This next side dish i loved to the max, simply because i can't seem to find these big fat short juicy bean sprouts anywhere else other than Ipoh itself! So refreshing, i could eat 10 plates of them!

 Another side dish which i found rather different was their deep-fried battered broccoli. A unique twist which i would definitely want to try out at home. One day.

 The biggest let-down came towards the end of my lunch, when i was presented this unappealing-looking smallest bowl of black jelly (tasted nothing like the 'gui ling gao' that they claimed). Seriously guys? This looked like the kind of dessert that comes free with a fast-food kid's meal. I'd be happier to settle for a bowl of iced canned longan with nata de coco/ sea coconut. =.=

 OK, the bill came and my set came to RM 18.80 for everything you saw above, minus the plate of roasted chicken. But then , this is just a one person set - prices become more reasonable for sets meant for more pax.

Glad that i tried out this place. Perhaps this is a more suitable place for business lunches or when introducing your foreign counterparts to Malaysian's chicken and char siew rice, all in a comfortable elegant dining ambience. Aah, maybe that's why the place was packed for lunch that day.