Post by Chiefeater Luke Soon

Thanks to fellow Chiefeaters, Fenix Restaurant is another establishment I’ve been 3-4x in 2 weeks. One could say I’m testing for consistency, getting the frequency of visits in. They’re famed for the steamed patin, but we went for my favourite freshwater fish instead, the irrepressible soon hock.
If there’s a fish bang for buck ratio, the soon hock would rate highly- kinda like the submariner (Rolex) of fishes..

With steamed fish, the sauce is of paramount importance. The soya sauce used for  HK style steamed fish is my gold standard. The sauce here is a tad sweet for me, and not as fragrant, but full marks for technique (timing is perfect). Overall, respectable for the past 3x, same fish, same style.

The other dish we had several times was the claypot kangkung belacan. It’s one of my current taichow staples. Again, very acceptable but a better version could be had at Chef Hong or his sifu Chef Chew’s at SS2. The winner for the night, which we’ve had twice in a week, was the stir fried choy sum in preserved vegetables (choy bou). Tantalising. These kinda dishes get me. Easy to make, hard to perfect.

Slightly disappointed with the ham yue far lam bou (claypot pork belly with salted fish). As with the claypot kangkung, a better version can be had at Chef Hong’s. I think it’s the heat and marinade, the earthiness of the claypot didn’t come through 100%.

The Winners

As with another humble home cooked fish, the steamed water eggs (pictured above). Full marks here. Smooth as silk.

The other notable dish was the pig intestines. This is getting harder and harder to find, so the rarity factor scored highly with me. Unlike the Hakka ver, there’s no pineapple or other accompanying condiments- just plain stir fried possibly with a hint of 5 spice powder. Perfection. Chewy, bouncy and flavourful, yet not overpowered by spices.

Another winner for me was the Bentong ginger steamed chicken. I  could really  taste how pungent and aromatic the pounded  ginger  was, and I loved it. It might be overpowering for some but I like it this way - why else have ginger as a feature (and Bentong ginger is the world’s best - to me). If you like confinement food, Hakka wine chicken and eggs etc, you would like this version.

The bill came up to RM572 for 8 pax, which puts Fenix Restaurant in the Chef Hong range. But overall ambience and ample parking sees Fenix pipping Chef Hong for me.

Business Hours
Wednesday to Monday
11:30 am – 03:00 pm
05:30 pm –10:00 pm

Closed on Tuesday