If you are not familiar with Plaza OUG or has never stepped into this oldish shopping mall in the Old Klang Road neighbourhood, then you’d probably not pay much attention to Restaurant New Village tucked away in an obscure spot on the Ground Floor. It’s about a month old, having taken over the premise which used to house a Vietnamese restaurant. The owners didn’t really renovate the place much besides sprucing it up with some new fixtures – the place remains very much a casual but rustically comfortable dining space. After all, they want the food to shine and not the furniture. Being passionate foodies themselves, the owners and chefs have come up with a menu featuring authentic traditional Chinese cuisine – dishes which are classics and favourites which they ate back home when they were growing up.
Using the freshest ingredients, regardless whether from the village or market, Restaurant New Village’s signature dishes are hearty and comforting. It was a chilly evening and when a claypot of piping hot Seafood Soup with Rice was placed on our table, it was like heaven-sent. The enticing aroma from the pot was heady – a mouth-watering trail of dried octopus, fresh shrimps, scallops, squids and the sweetest fillets of tiger garoupa made us slurp bowl after bowl of it. Every spoonful was like savouring the sweetest bounty from King Neptune’s lair. Hands-down one of the most memorable dishes for me that evening and this is something I’d return to the restaurant for.
Claypot Seafood Soup with Rice – (RM88) good for 3-4 people
The restaurant prides itself very much on its signature Beggar Chicken. There’s also a display of “Earth Oven” at one corner of the restaurant and that’s a showcase item for its super-signature Beggar Chicken. A whole village chicken marinated and infused with a variety of Chinese herbs before being wrapped up and enveloped in a layer of clay before baking it in the oven. After several hours of baking, when the chicken was tender enough, it’s ready to be served.
Signature Beggar Chicken (RM98)
Now, as much as the Beggar Chicken was a super-signature item, that wasn’t my favourite chicken dish in this restaurant. My favourites were the Claypot Yellow Wine Chicken and the simple poached Kampung Chicken. The quality of the home-brewed yellow wine was superb and when cooked with the kampung chicken in a claypot, that’s a clear winner with me. The natural sweetness of the chicken was enhanced further by the wine and I slurped up every drop of that deliciously comforting winey broth.
Claypot Yellow Wine Chicken(RM38 half chicken/RM75 whole chicken)
Likewise, the plainly poached kampung chicken was so satisfying when eaten with the dip of ginger and scallions.
New Village Kampung Chicken (RM38 half chicken/RM75 whole chicken)
We enjoyed the Curry Tiger Garoupa Fish Head as well. The fish was really fresh and when cooked in a mildly spicy curry with lots of vegetables as co-stars, what’s there not to love about it?
Curry Tiger Garoupa Fish Head (RM48)
The much-touted Signature Fried Egg was impressive looking. When the owners explained the skills behind this simple fried egg dish, I was further impressed. While I appreciated the work needed to create and execute the pile of golden crispiness, I found the taste to be quite ordinary. The fine threads of eggy strands were crispy but tasted rather bland, despite the addition of Thai basil and cincalok in it.
Signature Fried Egg – (RM15)
Another dish that didn’t quite hit it off for us was the Braised Pork Knuckle. We were told that salted fish was added but it didn’t really make its presence felt or tasted. I think more work is needed to fine-tune this dish.
Braised Pork Knuckle (RM25)
We tried two vegetable dishes – their recommended Four Heavenly Kings and Claypot Kangkong. Of the two, the kangkong made a more lasting impression. While the kangkong looked rather plain, it tasted great, thanks to the use of Hong Kong shrimp paste.
Claypot Kangkong (RM15)
Four Heavenly Kings (RM16)
Tofu with Minced Pork (RM15)
Restaurant New Village does a lovely Sang Har Meen. What set this noodles dish apart from other restaurants is that the fresh egg noodles were not deep-fried and we could taste the delicious natural eggy flavours of the bouncy strands.
Sang Har Meen – Cantonese Noodles with King Prawns (RM88)
For a hearty and affordable meal of traditional and classic Chinese dishes, Restaurant New Village is the place to head to. We would certainly head back there for our favourites and also to check out the rest of the dishes on their menu.
RESTAURANT NEW VILLAGE
Lot G11 & 12, Plaza OUG
Jalan Mega Kecil
58200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-7971-9161/7972-1781