FR: Lotus Restaurant

Had the chance to try out a new (when I say new, it has been opened for the last 8 month's but only found out about it about a month ago) Malaysian restaurant! There is a serious lack of Malaysian restaurants in Manchester let alone a really good one. The thing that caught my attention to this particular restaurant is that they serve Malaysian and South Indian cuisine. Though we have the curry mile here, they tend to serve more Pakistani and North Indian cuisine. I grew up having more Southern Indian food and have really miss it when I am here, the likes of Tosai, Roti Canai....etc etc

The menu had so many things that I wanted to try and was very tempted to just order everything... =)

They had vadai on the menu! This is something that I really love and miss! I remember when I was younger when my dad used to bring me to a shop near his workplace to eat them as a snack. They are best eaten when warm with Indian fish curry gravy!! MmmMMmmmm

Decided on the Ayam Percik for starters but was told they didn't have any so had the Chicken Satay instead. The chicken was grilled nicely with just meat, I don't really like when they put skin or fats in between the meat, I know some say it's so that the meat doesn't dry out and all but still... I never really appreciated the cucumbers and onions back home but eating it that day, it felt as good as the chicken itself!! The sauce was nice, spicy and flavourful but maybe lacking in a little more peanuts.

For the mains, we decided on the Nasi Lemak with Lamb rendang, Chicken Briyani and Indian Mee Goreng. Overall I would say I was satisfied with the food and would definitely go back again to have more and the following comments that I make is of my own opinion on how it can taste even better!

The Nasi Lemak rice was well made, had the right taste and smell however I found the sambal could have been better with anchovies and the lamb was a little dry and this could be due to the cut of the meat itself rather than the way it is cooked as it tasted nice but just the texture could have been better.

The chicken briyani was really good and I liked how though the chicken breast used was in large chunks but were still flavourful, the only little criticism I have is that the dish was a little too salty.

The Indian mee goreng was good but again was far too salty for my taste.

I really wanted to try out their varies different types of breads so decided on ordering the paper tosai which tasted just like home! We were way too full to finish it after all the things we had before and couldn't even fit any dessert in! It would have been even better if they served it with fish curry sauce!

As we were finishing our meal we saw a family arriving with boxes and boxes of things and we later found out was the owner who is a Malaysian from Klang and who had just returned from a trip to India to purchase ingredients! She mentioned to us that they will start serving banana leaf rice soon and they have just purchased an ice kacang machine which they will also start serving the weekend following!

So we will definitely be returning very soon!

Lotus Restaurant
289 Palatine Road
Manchester
M22 4ET

Loh Shi Fun Recipe

When I was studying in PJ, my friends brought me to 2 places that served really good Claypot Loh Shi Fun. One was in TTDI and the other, Murni in SS2.

Have not gone back to the one in TTDI but the one in Murni doesn't taste as good anymore when I last went back home.

I tried cooking this dish once many years ago here and it was so bad that I never attempted it again and the reason for that is because the loh shi fun I bought then tasted absolutely horrible. Today I'm trying out a different brand. Will see how it will taste like.

Ingredients:- (For 4 people)

Loh Shi Fun (Teardrop Rice Noodles) 400 - 500gms
Minced pork 300 gms
Fish cake 100gms (3 pieces)
5 Chinese mushrooms*optional
100 gm Taugeh/Bean sprouts*optional
4 cloves of garlic
Spring onions to garnish
Chili
2 Eggs
1 Tablespoon Oil

Sauce & Seasoning:-
1 Tablespoon Dark Soya Sauce
4 Tablespoon Light Soya Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Sesame Oil

Loh Shi Fun (Teardrop Rice Noodles)

Fish cake

Chinese Mushrooms

Seasoning Sauce

Preparation:

Marinate pork with light soya sauce, pepper, sesame oil and corn flour (about 30 minutes)

Soak chinese mushrooms until soft

In the mean time,

Soak and clean bean sprouts, set aside

Dice the garlic finely

Method:-

Slice mushrooms thinly and add a tablespoon of oyster sauce, a teaspoon of sugar and a dash of pepper to marinate it.

Heat 3 tablespoon of oil in a wok and add garlic.

Fry till light brown and add mushrooms followed by mince pork.



Once the pork turns colour to brown, add 3/4 of the seasoning in.



Blanch the loh shi fun with hot water and add it into the wok

Add a little hot water if it's too dry.

Add in fishcake.

Add the bean sprouts and fry for another 2 minutes, careful to not fry too long as the loh shi fun will become mushy and the bean sprouts will be too soft.

If the colour isn't as dark or is still lacking taste add the remainder of the sauce in.

If the colour is dark enough, add some chicken stock or salt to taste.



Dish out immediately onto plates and break the egg over the noodles.



Sprinkle spring onions over and serve with some chili. ( I like cili padi/birds eye chili)

Note:-

I fry the pork and loh shi fun together but the shops usually just place the pork over the loh shi fun, I like my food to be mixed more evenly and since it is for my own consumption, it doesn't need to look very pretty! =)

I've also added bean sprouts and mushrooms but as I mentioned these are optional. If you don't like bean sprouts you can add choi sum (flowering chinese cabbage)

I tried this but the egg didn't really cook well enough so maybe only do this if you are using a claypot to cook and if not break the egg while still cooking and serve up after a minute.