Continuing With The Spices

As the rain came down in glorious sheets, we braved traffic and crowds to get to Keppel Club's Peramakan for a meal. Ostensibly a gathering before we split for jaunts out of town, it felt more like the start of the year-end festivities.

We wanted spices in the food, and also to introduce the friends to buah keluak. They didn't mind it. The man was terrible, told them that it was a poisonous nut. Well, yes, when it's raw and not treated or cooked properly. Buah keluak is one of my favorite stuff ever, as a kid till now. I could eat just that, white rice and tofu for a meal. Mmmmm.

Dessert was hilarious. Half the table loved durian; the other half crinkled noses at the durian pengat and apom balik durian. Missing dearly, one girl who's playing the ukelele on a mission trip and would have definitely wanted to sweep everything on the table into her stomach. She's the true blue Peranakan with both sets of family solidly entrenched in the culture. She's ummm...our last hope to be able to produce wonderful stuff out of the kitchen. Now, we just need to bribe her to start cooking.

Took a set menu that actually made more sense than ordering a la carte. Generous portions arrived on the table. Ten delicious dishes in total, excluding dessert. We were stuffed! The chef must have been in an excellent mood. We've had shabby meals here, but tonight, everything was brilliant. Almost perfect. The rain seemed to make the evening more mellow, ideal to be chomping down on the sambal, assam, chillies and all.