Lao Gang Restaurant @ Bandar Puteri Puchong

Puchong used to be my playground for food hunting. But since returning from Singapore I rarely step into Puchong anymore. Last week when I went to Lao Gang Restaurant at Bandar Puteri Puchong, I can’t help but notice the number of new restaurants that have emerged.
I was quite surprised to find Tenji opening their second branch in Puchong too. I don’t know whether that is a blessing or curse lol. Anyway, the name “Lao Gang” (traslated directly to “Old Port”) is used as a theme for the dishes and restaurant decor, largely based on Pasir Panjang (a small town in Negeri Sembilan) in the olden days.

Butter, curry leaves and seasoning are heavily utilised at Lao Gang especially in their signature dishes. So be forewarned if you are not fond of any of the mentioned ingredients. Starting off with my favorite dish of the meal – Cod Fish with Soya Sauce on Sizzling Hot Plate @ RM225, which constituted 70% of our entire bill that night.
I know what you’re thinking but just let me clarify that there are 3 huge slices of cod there and each weighs half a kilo. Here, Cod Fish is priced at RM15/100g, so do the math and you get the price we were billed. Although not as fresh it could be (because the cod was frozen), this expensive dish was still delectable with the caramelized soya sauce being the perfect accompaniment. It almost tasted like Japanese Teriyaki Cod.

I had expected the Claypot Chicken and Yam @ RM15 to have an earthy taste but it was surprisingly creamy and buttery sweet. As odd as the flavor might sound, the appetizing gravy (thanks to the curry leaves) goes extremely well with rice. The chicken pieces were perfectly cooked to a tender too.

Lala Soup Infused with Chinese Wine and Herbs @ RM35 – the clams were juicy and sand-free without the gritty taste so it was definitely enjoyable.

Interestingly this Crispy Trotter @ RM68 is named after Bruce Lee’s leg, called “Bruce Lee’s One Leg”. It was delicious alright but damn sinful, I would have whacked more out of it if wasn’t for my health consciousness.

If you are bored of all the usual cooking styles of vegetables, then you should try the Butter Baby Kailan @ RM22 here. Odd combo again, I know but it worked out really well. Scrambled eggs were also cleverly thrown in and fried together to help alleviate the otherwise overwhelming butter flavor.

Yet another buttery dish, Butter Escargot RM18. Nothing spectacular about it, except that escargots is pretty unusual in Chinese restaurants. Worth trying maybe just one time for the heck of it.

A closer look at the tiny escargot, probably just the size of a quarter of a spoon. We counted that there might be 10-15 snails in a single serving, around one buck each.

My least liked dish was the Handmade Village Bean Curd @ RM12. I found the taste of the minced meat and salted radish topping to be a bit weird. The tofu alone was good though.

The total bill incurred was RM348. Sounds pricey but if you take away the Cod Fish that costed a bomb, the meal was a rather reasonable one. Overall the food did not disappoint and suited me a lot because of the strong flavors, good for people who have strong taste buds like me.

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