There are large quantities of Chinese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur that I can’t begin to name them. Each has similar settings and food offerings. But those among the cliques often go to the same ones, so it was very common to bump into the industries players whom most are very typical china man who still prefers Chinese cuisine among the rest.
Overseas in Jalan Imbi has been one of those establishment which has been around forever (over 30 years) and yet there seem no end to their business fostering. But I could not say the same for their other outlets for I’ve only frequent this particular one since young. From what I’ve heard their other outlets did not flair as well.
Good thing about this restaurant is that they offer many private rooms (about 20+ of them), not that there’s anything wrong with having dinner in the main dining room. It just gives people a sense of exclusiveness and privacy so naturally these rooms are very much in demand.
The problem with this place is the parking, with very limited space along the main street, your best bet is to hand over the keys and let the valet do the job, why make yourself suffer no ends when the valet only cost you RM4.
Although I frequent this restaurant for the past years, my orders often did not steer away too far. The usual suspect on the table would be their Char Siew, Claypot Pork Belly with Salted Fish, Baby Duck, and steamed fish
Oversea’s Char Siew is one of the MUST order during each visits, and pre-order is advisable. One could not get enough of the sticky gooey but yet wonderfully fattening meat. There was a good balance between lean and pork fats, being not too fat and not too skinny is one sense of achievement. I should know as I’m still trying to achieve the very thing with my own body weight. =P
P.S. My absolute favorite dish in this restaurant is a well-kept secret to most. “HOI SIONG YONG LAM” a translation to lamb stew above the sea. Does that even make sense? No bother because this creation will bring you totally over the sea and under. With not many ingredients inside apart from some beancurd skins and lamb pieces, it was the soup base that we enjoyed very much. Filled with aroma and flavours of “FU YU”, the soup combines well with lamb as the heavy flavours of fu yu overwhelmed any lamb after taste that some dislike. The time I introduced this to some friends during one of our dinners there, they loved it so much that they demand for more soup. (Which was allowed by the restaurant with no additional cost)
We’ve always enjoyed the roasted baby ducklings here. Glossy Crispy Thin Skin, and I thought to myself, this is few very skinny duck here! Not much flesh, but the meat were mostly lean. It doesn’t bother me much as I’ve always prefer duck with less meat and more Skin! It was one intense battle on the table once being served, naturally everyone wants to fight for the best part. Family or not, this is no exception.
Braised Mexican Abalone. For RM250 it was O-K but it was definitely not the better ones I’ve had. Braised with superior sauce with steam broccoli as a side, This Mexican abalone has a slight softer texture and lacks the bite so eminent to a good abalone (my opinion) Flavor wise did not blew me over the top too.
Steamed Soon Hock Fish was very delicious. Mom commented that the fish steaming technique in Overseas has been consistent over the past 20 years and I couldn’t have agreed more. The doneness of the fish was just right, and the flesh was tender and not at all flaky. The soya sauce was at a right level of saltiness that does not over whelm such a fresh tasting fish.
Dark Soya Prawn is one of Oversea’s specialty too and is a favourite for my baby twin sisters. Roll up your sleeve, and napkin on your lap, because this is going to be one messy eat. (unless you are a seasoned prawn eater like me who just uses fork and spoon) OKOK, minus the perasan-ness, the flesh was juicy and rich in flavours that you can’t help to lick your fingers dry.
“TIN HA DAI YAT” Fried Rice aka World No. 1’s. Wow, this is one huge claim and I had to see whether they lived up to their name. This fried rice would be a hit with the vegetarians, filled with spring onions and yam, with the use of overnight rice. It was very well prepared. I wouldn’t call it as World’s No. 1, but good enough to be Jalan Imbi’s No. 1. *laughs*