THE STICKY WICKET

Time for some wicket cocktails

August 23, 2019

Friday evening. In view of the coming weekend, My Best Friend and I share similar thoughts… a wicket... I mean wicked… cocktail seems to be in order.

Erhhmm…pardon the pun but after all, we’re in The Sticky Wicket where mixologist S. Roy is shaking up a roller-coaster of cocktails for us.

Naturally, the cocktails are naturally named after professional cricketers from throughout the ages, such as K.S. Ranji, Mark Ramprakash and Liton Das to Albert Edwin, Chris Gayle and Gilbert Aessop.

I love The Record Breaker (RM48), named for George Griffin. It’s a combination of Beefeater, elderflower, honey infused beer, pineapple juice and fresh grapes. So fruity and delicious.

From left, Whiskey Sour, Dickie Bird, Record Breaker, The Light Bowler and Somerset

I particularly enjoy Whiskey Sour which shows the right attitude in the well-balanced mix of whiskey, sugar and lemon, with just the slightest tinge of bitterness.

If you’re a cricket player or cricket fan, The Sticky Wicket is the place to go. If you’re not, don’t worry. It’s still loads of fun, especially if it’s cricket season.

Walk in and you’ll see cricket paraphernalia lining the walls while sports programmes play continuously on the many large television screens. If you want more privacy, head upstairs.

The comfy lounge upstairs

Cricket originated in south-east England in the 16^th Century but over the years, its popularity spread to the British colonies all over the world, especially India and South-East Asia.

Ouch! The tummy’s growling in protest. It’s been hours since lunch, so we ask for a menu. We see a list of dishes from countries where cricket is popular – Britain, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Australia and Canada. Yes, these include Cullen Skink, a Scottish smoked seafood soup, Fish & Chips, Toad In The Hole, Springbrock Boerewers, Crab Kottu and Eton Mess.

Actually, the menus for food and drinks are great conversation pieces. I am tickled by some of the names here such as Howzat Poriyal, Dolly Chick and Fried Leg Stump.

Delicious chicken poutine

We start with Poutine (RM26, chicken/beef). For this delicious Canadian specialty, fat fries are generously doused in a gravy cooked with pulled beef brisket or shredded chicken and topped with cheese. The Sticky Wicket presentation adds a sunny-side egg on top. In between chomps, MBF and I agree that the chicken poutine is better balanced in flavours.

Calamari with  house-made Salted Egg Yolk dip

Gin & Tonic with a slice of grapefruit

Then we have Salted Egg Yolk With Calamari (RM35). The basket of thick rings of deepfried calamari are crisp on the batter coating and juicy inside. The house-made salted egg yolk sauce is delicious, with that slight gritty texture that comes from real egg yolk. Leaning a little on the more salty side, it’s perfect with beer or, in my case, a gin tonic (when in a pub for cricketers, drink what cricketers drink).

Also great with drinks is Crab Waugh (RM20), with chunks of soft shell crab battered and deepfried to a crisp and tossed in salt and pepper. And it’s a “straight run” with the addition of curry leaves and chopped chilli padi.

Hot and spicy Soft shell Crab Waugh is perfect with drinks

The Sticky Wicket Beef Rib Burger

For mains, we start with The Sticky Wicket Beef Rib Burger (RM42). I don’t take beef but MBF is delighted to find, instead of the regular beef patty, a wow factor in the shape of braised beef short rib in between the burger bun, along with caramelised onions, rocket leaves and a mac’n’cheese waffle. Comes with thick fries.

Fried Leg Stump

Fried Leg Stump (RM32) – somehow I keep seeing images of Long John Silver, the pirate – turns out to be a deboned chicken leg, panfried to golden brown and served on a bed of mashed potato/mushy peas, with mushroom sauce, salad greens as well as buttered cauliflower and carrot sticks. It has a strong flavour of rosemary, so beware if you’re not too fond of this.

Quintessentially British Fish & Chips

For Fish & Chips, a British staple, we have a choice of cod (RM60) or pollock (RM36). We pick cod; there are 2 slabs of white fish fillet with a basket of chips. The beer batter coating is crisp, preserving well the sweetness and moisture of the delicate fish. On the side are two dips of mayonnaise and mushy peas.

Springbok Boerewers 

Springbok Boerewers (RM69) is not meant for the faint of heart. A full 500g of pure chunky meat (in this case, beef) sausage comes coiled and sizzling in a cast iron pan, drowned in a spicy curry sauce, with waves of thick cream on top.

Crispy Lamb Shank

The Crispy Lamb Shank (RM58) is unusual. While lamb shank is usually soft braised, The Sticky Wicket offers a new perspective by a quick dunking in hot oil to make the outside crispy. The shank is then served on herb-infused mash and what the chef calls “naughty bean sauce” which actually has baked beans.

The hearty Full English is also available for Weekend Breakfasts

After much discussion, we pick The Full English (RM38) for the final hattrick. Also available for Weekend Breakfasts, this is a whole wooden bat topped with 2 sausages, sautéed mushrooms, panfried tomato, buttered and panfried bread, beef bacon, baked beans and two sunny-side eggs. There’s enough chow here to satisfy any growling tummy.

Sticky Date Pudding with melted toffee and cream

After all this food, we are hesitant about dessert. But The Sweet Taste Of Victory beckons, so we have Sticky Date Pudding (RM22) and Sweet Appam (RM8) to share. The pudding is light, moist and springy in texture. Laced with sticky melted toffee, it’s perfect when served with thick cream.

Sri Lankan sweet appam also comes with an ice cream option

The Sri Lankan appam is a circle of crispness surrounding a soft centre sprinkled with coconut milk and gula Melaka. If preferred, customers can have it with a scoop of chocolate ice cream though I’d recommend having it the original way as the chocolate ice cream confuses the flavours somewhat.

Happy mixologist S.  Roy

Tummy appeased, we retreat downstairs to make S. Roy mix up more cocktails at the bar. His new creation, The Light Bowler, has raspberry syrup with extract of fresh rosemary, gin, sugar, lemon and egg white, which he finishes off with dabs of angostura bitter and a flower on top.

Dickie Bird (RM39), named after Harold Bird, is a crisp mix of Monkey 47 sloe gin with Campari, Yorkshire Tea syrup and fresh apple and lemon juice.

The jury (or is it umpire?) is still out on Somerset (RM29). MBF loves it, saying it smacks of apple pie. But this is where I beg to differ, not having a love for apples or cinnamon and Somerset has an overindulgent, lingering aroma of the bark spice. The drink combines fresh green apple juice with organic apple cider vinegar and cinnamon syrup.

Love gin? Sticky Wicket stocks over 25 types of gin and its house pour is Beefeater which is RM9.80 during the Happy Hour which is noon to 7pm daily and all day Sunday. I can see I’ll be quite happy here.

There are also 2 Gin Buffets. Choose from brands such as Beefeater, Ungava, Opihr, The London, Boodles, Tanqueray, Roku Gin and West Winds at 3 glasses for RM60++ or 5 glasses for RM95++.

The premium Gin Buffet comprises Rutte, St George Spirits, Bitter Truth, Hendrick’s, The Botanist, Gin Mare, Poli 1898 and Citadelle at 3 glasses for RM75++ or 5 glasses for RM120++.

 

THE STICKY WICKET (pork-free)

34 Jalan Medan Setia 2

Plaza Damansara, Damansara Heights

Kuala Lumpur

Telephone

+603-2011 5378

Website 

www.stickywicket.pub

Opening Hours

Monday to Thursday: Noon to 2am

Friday: Noon to 3am

Saturday: 9am to 2am

Sunday: 9am to 1am

Happy Hours: Noon to 7pm daily and all day Sunday

Promotion

Sticky Wicket also serves set lunch menus that include soup and a glass of iced lemon tea or lime juice. Items include nasi lemak, nasi goreng, pulled beef burger, chicken salad, fried leg stump, fish and chips, beef bacon linguine carbonara, chicken chop linguine in basil-pesto sauce, chicken casserole and a spicy vegetarian fried  rice.

On Saturday and Sunday, Weekend Breakfast, from 9am to noon, offers choices including Eggs Benedict, Avocado Toast, The Full English, Scotch Egg, pancakes, burrito, South African Lamb Curry, Sri Lankan Breakfast, Idli Tiffin and apam.

  

SPRING GARDEN @ SURIA KLCC

New look, new menu

December 20, 2018

The first thing that catches the eye at newly-renovated Spring Garden Chinese Restaurant is the sculpture of four fish “swimming” in a circle on the wall at the entrance.

This and tanks of live fish are signs that the restaurant signature is seafood. In the tanks are jade perch and two types grouper – loong fu pan (dragon tiger grouper), giant grouper, estuary grouper and star coral grouper. Then you will see crab, lobster, geoduck and even abalone.

The modern décor offers a cosy ambience. Unlike most of the other restaurants under the Tai Thong Group of restaurants, there are no heavy traditional embellishments or rose-wood furniture here, only pine wood chairs upholstered with red cushions and snow-white tables. Ceiling lights are encased in old-style bamboo cages and walls are a velvety shade of prussian blue.

Not only has the interior been redesigned but I hear the menu has been revamped as well and dim sum is served daily. While waiting for the main dishes, we sip tea and nibble on plates of complimentary appetisers: Boiled Shantung peanuts (still warm) and cubes of tofu sautéed with French beans, onion, crunchy peanuts and ikan bilis.

Keeps us busy while waiting for the dim sum, which is also prepared to order. Our must-haves are Steamed Xiu Mai (虾籽鲜烧卖, RM10.80++ per basket) and Tai Thong Superior Har Gao (大同虾饺皇 RM12.80++ per basket). These are super fresh, especially the prawns in the har gao.

Selection of dim sum available daily 

Crispy Shredded Duck Cheong Fun

A new item in the menu is Crispy Shredded Duck Cheong Fun (鸭丝脆肠粉 RM13.80++ per plate). The crispy shredded duck meat rolled in the silky soft rice sheet is an interesting contrast in textures. An interesting change from the usual cheong fun stuffed with shrimp or char xiu. The dish is served with mustard greens (choy sum) and dips of soya sauce and sesame oil or XO sauce. I can easily eat this all by myself.

Beancurd Roll with Prawn (煎炸腐皮卷 RM12.80++ per plate) is for those who love crispy deepfried dim sum. Crunchy on the outside with chunks of prawn meat inside. Taro Dumplings or wu kok (蜂巢炸芋角 RM9.80++ per plate) also has a crisp exterior with a soft centre of sweetish chicken char xiu.

Charcoal Bun With Durian & Salted Egg Yolk

We have two types of buns: Steamed Lao Sa Bao with Salted Egg Yolk (香滑流沙包RM9.80++ per basket) and Charcoal Bun with Durian and Salted Egg Yolk (果皇黑珍珠RM15.80++ per basket). I must admit I prefer the classic Lao Sa Bao as I find the durian buns too light in durian flavour.

We are tempted to order more dim sum as the picture menu is very alluring but the arrival of Soft Shell Crab (椒鹽饅頭軟殼蟹 RM58++/5pcs) reminds us we have main dishes waiting to be served.

Deepfried Soft Shell Crab with mantau and chilli mayonnaise

More buns. This time, it’s flat mantau folded over to sandwich lettuce and deepfried soft shell crab that’s so crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Before eating, we drizzle chili mayonnaise on the crispy crab.

There’s also Steamed Fresh Prawns with minced garlic and glass noodles (蒜茸粉絲蒸生虾 RM26++/100g). Each crunchy, sweet prawn (about 500g in weight) is cut in half and sprinkled over with lots of minced garlic. This is then placed on a bed of glass noodles and steamed. Done this way, the noodles absorb all that lovely crustacean aroma. Do dig into the prawn head which is full of creamy, orange-hued roe and don’t forget to scoop the sweet, flavoursome juices from the plate.

Steamed Fresh Prawns with Minced Garlic & Glass Noodles

The menu of Spring Garden @ KLCC focuses on seafood with a Cantonese flavour and there are four whole pages devoted to seafood.

From the display tanks, we pick a Giant Grouper and group chef Simon recommends having it Steamed Nyonya style (娘惹蒸龙躉鱼RM25++/100g). Despite preferring it steamed with soya sauce, I am glad I am persuaded thus as the nyonya sauce is a delightful, mild mix of herbs and spices that does not overpower the delicate flavour of the grouper. Instead, the aromas of lemongrass and torch ginger bring out the sweet side of the fish, accentuating its freshness with aplomb.

Steamed Giant Grouper with Nyonya Sauce

With so much seafood in the belly, we decide to try a meat dish. Braised Diced Chicken In Hot Pot (石锅焖鸡粒 RM35++) comes sizzling hot in a stone pot. This Sichuan-style dish comprises deboned chicken cooked in a fiery hot bean sauce with dried chilli, capsicum and onion. It would be perfect with plain steamed rice.

Braised Diced Chicken in Hot Pot

However, we are not in the mood for plain rice; we’ve got our hearts set on Poached Fried Rice In Superior Broth (上湯泡飯 RM30++ per portion). 

Puffed rice added to the rice in superior broth offers a lovely textural contrast

The stock broth is made with fish and chicken bones, with dried scallops thrown in to add the umami edge. This is then simmered with rice, cabbage, carrot, mushroom, chopped omelette and sweet pea. The pot of bubbling rice broth is brought to the table on a stove and a bowl of puffed rice is poured in just before serving. This combination of boiled rice and crispy puffed rice is interesting as it offers two textures in each spoonful. 

The flavour is light and sweet, with plenty of seafood nuances, and gets the thumbs-up from all, especially young children and older folks.

phoenixbee@gmail.com

SPRING GARDEN (pork-free)

Lot 413 & 414

4^th Floor, Suria KLCC

Telephone

+603-2166 9881

Opening Hours

Daily, 10am to 10pm