Yet another restaurant found in bukit tinggi (thanks to the qwazymonkey)

Bukit Tinggi... no, not the one in Klang. What I'm referring to is the tranquil area on the mountainous area in Bentong, Pahang. Those who read my postings often would notice that I blogged about this place many times. For KL-ites who never venture further than Genting Highlands would not know the existence of this new village. As a matter of fact, it is only located about 5 minutes drive away from Genting Sempah (the rest area). As for me, I always pass by this area on my way to and back from KL.

Initially I also had the perception that the prices were cut-throat but it all changed when my partner brought me to have dinner one day on the way back from our business trip (that was like 4 years ago). Since then, I would stop by for lunch or even dinner whenever possible. Starting from the row of shops fronting the Karak Highway, the first restaurant being Grand View... I gradually ventured further into the Bukit Tinggi New Village. Places like Remember 126 (funny name) and Loong Sing whipped out nice dishes too!

Then this... reading A Lil Fat Monkey's blog regarding his first anniversary and also a day trip to Bukit Tinggi, I had found another nice place for meal. By the way, the 1-Series Convertible is cool man! Actually it was Jenn's idea to try out Foon Lock because she drooled after reading on the steamed chicken ginger meehoon. So we made a stop for dinner at Foon Lock on our way back to Kuala Lipis one evening. Managed to find a parking right in front of the restaurant.

Hmmm... did I go to the wrong place?? Not many people to be seen...

Some of the local produced pastries on the display...

The steaming hot broth made from the famous Bentong ginger plus garlic, spring onion and meehoon was just perfect for her. The bentong ginger really made a difference to the dish compared to ordinary ginger you can find anywhere in the market these days.

As for me, I had the braised sang mee with deep fried pork belly. Personally, the pork belly was OK but I think that the sang mee's gravy was quite peppery. I expected sweeter version of the mee instead.

Then this... the priciest dish of the day! Fresh water terrapin soup! Full of flavour with many kind of Chinese herbs such as dang gui and leong sam sou, chicken meat and terrapin meat... this soup is said to be effective in reducing heatiness in our body. One question - is terrapin part of the endangered species???

Nothing beats a cup of 'leong sui' on a hot day!

Round 2 - lunch together with Father-in-law

The first post is not up yet and I'd gone for another meal at Foon Lock. Having missed the sweet & sour pork or what we affectionally call gu lou yuk in cantonese, I decided to have a proper lunch here this time... and since Jenn's dad was coming with us, we could order a few dishes to see if the cooking skill of Foon Lock is up to the standard from what we had in others in the vicinity.

Steamed bak sou gong - having river fish in bukit tinggi area is not expensive, contrary to popular belief. Most of the fish are reared by the locals in the stream and therefore, the price was made more affordable. But of course, if you don't mind splurging money, go for the wild ones and the price can get doubled of those reared. The meat was still firm and flaky but there was slight muddy taste (ignoreable for me but not for them... they are fussy when it comes to river fish). The soy sauce however was great!! Not those cheapo sauce that most dai chow restaurants used but those premium one with a hint of sweetness in it. Exactly like what my mother always use.

Sweet & sour pork aka gu lou yuk - came highly recommended by qwazymonkey and therefore, how could I ever miss this dish? Even though I prefer to order deep fried pork belly with special sauce when I go to bukit tinggi, his desciption of this particular dish made it irresistable. True enough... it was very crunchy and most importantly, the sweet & sour sauce was nicely done. One of the best that I had so I gave this a thumb up!

Stir fried mushroom - this dish was recommended by the boss and luckily we followed her advice, as the mushrooms were very fresh... did I tell you that I am a sucker for mushroom, especially Chinese mushroom???

Stir fried "yin yang" veggie - a cross breed between kailan and choi dam... fresh and chrunchy too :)

Leo's verdict - it would have been a perfect meal if the fish is free of those muddy taste. But then it is a risk that you have to take if you opt for those reared fish. Of course, there were times when I had those without any muddy taste at all. I guess it all comes down to luck :)

The place: Foon Lock @ Bukit Tinggi, Bentong Pahang