Sunday, July 27, 2014

Sui Sian Chinese Restaurant at Landmark - One Pig Rule

This is Singular
I had been yearning for good Dim Sum in Thailand. And this is not like in Hong Kong, Singapore or Malaysia where authentic Chinese tasting Dim Sum are in abundance. Most Dim Sum in Thailand had been "customized" for the local taste, and "degraded" to fit the local budget. I had been listening to radio every morning commuting in traffic to work, 2 hours in notorious Bangkok jams. And over the air, repeatedly for so many mornings, the advertisement by Landmark for their Dim Sum buffet with unlimited servings of Peking Ducks and Suckling Pig. Peking Ducks, Suckling Pig, Dim Sum... listening to them almost every day. Put my cravings for good Chinese food into the equation and the result was me arriving one Sunday morning, hypnotized by the drone of adverts and hungry on the 10th floor of Landmark where Sui Sian was. Sui Sain, the water goddess, I wanted to see if she could make a hungry man happy. She did, she really did.

So Awesome
Prawn dumplings, were full bodied with real prawns. The small pool of broth which the steamed delicacies soaked in were rich in flavor. Every chomp of them bite sized steaming wraps housed in bamboo baskets were authentically Chinese in taste. I was home with every bite, that was the way it should be, Dim Sum as I knew it. The crisp Peking Duck skins surgically removed by skilled chef hands were wrap in thin paper like Chinese pancakes right at the counter and served fresh. Together within and complimenting in taste, a slice of spring onion stalk, a stick of cooling cucumber and a dash of sweet black bean sauce. The thin layer of duck fats oozed as I bit into the crafted savory and it was an explosion of ecstasy. I had not had Peking Duck for ages, a good Peking Duck that was. Next came another star of the feast which was a full tray of Suckling Pig roasted to perfection. A good thin layer of pig fats and some lean meat beneath a layer of crispy skin well seasoned with Chinese flavors. I took a piece of accompanying white Mun Tou, had a dash of sweet black bean sauce spread on it, had a single square piece of Sucking Pig placed atop. It was beyond excellence. Unfortunately, the fun stopped there, one single piece of Suckling Pig. Sooner than expected, the pig was no more leaving only an empty plate, all us patrons had our share of indulgence.

Authentic
China have their single child rule and Landmark have their single pig rule. I eagerly waited for the next full plate of Suckling Pig to be whisked out from the kitchen but it never came. Why? Because they only had one Suckling Pig. So on with the other Dim Sums I indulged and then visited the counter again some more. But no pig, because they had only one pig. Tables that filled later visited the counter and still there was no pig, because they had only one pig. In my two hours there since my first taste of Suckling Pig, I accumulated mileage re-visiting the counter that could had me exchange for a domestic flight but still no pig, because they had only one pig. And then I asked one of the staffs, I want to eat pig, and she said pig was coming. It never came, they had only one pig. Pity those who came later in the buffet session at Sui Sian, because the goddess only blessed the restaurant with one pig and it was gone. No more pigs were descending from heaven because Landmark hotel had only ONE SINGULAR PIG. Landmark... . . maybe they have their unspoken One Pig Rule. One pig, gone, no more pig. That was the one singular disappointing pig, I mean bit, of my lunch at Sui Sian.

Yummy

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