Prawn Dynasty @ Taman Shamelin Perkasa

I first heard about this place, Prawn Dynasty @ Taman Shamelin Perkasa (which opened in January this year), through a blog post by choiyen...and I said to myself...aiks, this place is in and around my neighbourhood and I don't even know of its existence.

I wonder how I could have missed the place since it's located directly opposite Uncle Meng, one of our usual haunts for breakfast, particularly for my favourite Ipoh Sar Hor Fun (which we visit regularly).  Guess I wasn't paying attention.  Oh well, never mind, better late than never, it's a new place that I can add to my list for my family's Sunday dinners.  I immediately bookmarked the place for visit.

On our visit, it was raining but we were lucky enough to find a parking bay inside the restaurant's compound limited parking spaces.  And that pretty much explains the photo of the restaurant, not taken on that rainy evening but on another day when we were at a coffee shop opposite for breakfast (hence the shut doors as they weren't open yet).

When we arrived for dinner, I could see that they were doing brisk business as the place was bustling with customers.  The inside air-conditioned area was almost fully taken up but there's an alfresco dining area beside the restaurant but that also filled up quickly as the evening wore on.  Most of the tables inside the air-conditioned restaurant are meant to accommodate big families with seatings for 8 people and more.  There are very few small tables for smaller family sizes (the alfresco area offers more small table seating).

From the name (and obvious signage) of the restaurant, you know exactly what's their speciality here...freshwater prawns (otherwise known as big head prawns or udang galah).  Their menu reveals that they offer more than 20 ways of cooking the prawns, so I guess there's one to cater to every taste bud.

It's a no-brainer that we'd want to take advantage of their offer of freshwater prawns at a promotional price of RM39.90 a portion (about 500g).  We decided to go with the Dynasty Salt & Pepper Prawns @ RM39.90 as our preferred cooking method.  For the price, we got a decent 6 pcs made up of 3 prawns cut into half lengthwise.

I'd probably say, size-wise, the prawns were medium-ish though the guy who took our orders categorised them as small.  Let me share with you what transpired when I ordered this prawn dish.  I pointed to the menu (which clearly stated the promotional price for the prawns) and chose the method of cooking.  The man then asked if I wanted big or small prawns.  Aware of the promotion for the prawns, I asked the guy in return what sized prawns would I get with the promotion.  He said, "Oh, that would be small."  I felt somewhat belittled (it was as if I couldn't afford to eat bigger prawns!).  Why would he need to ask if he already knows the size of the prawns offered for the promotion.  Was he hoping I'd say big (which is probably the most likely response from any sensible person)?  And then I would get whacked with a price that's different from the promotional price when I settle the bill.  I felt he lacked sincerity.

Anyway, that aside, the prawn dish wasn't quite the salt & pepper prawns I've come to know.  This one was deep-fried with a coating of batter making the prawn flesh rather dry.  Though the prawns were firm to the bite, they were missing that inherent sweetness that I was looking for.  The prawn meat also tasted bland as the seasoning of salt & pepper didn't penetrate successfully into the prawns.  Worst still, the aromatics of onions, garlic, chillies, spring onions and green peppers (that would have given it more taste) were lost amongst the bed of artificially-coloured and bland flour crisps as the aromatics fell through (into the flour crisps) and couldn't add to the flavour of the prawns.  Even if you had wanted to eat the flour crisps, they were too plentiful and would further contribute to the dryness of the prawns.  Why they would serve the prawns on top of what looked more like a garnishing/decoration than something meant to be eaten is beyond me. >_<

The Claypot Salted Fish Pork Belly @ RM25 is a dish loved by my family for its salty, robust flavours.  If done right, you may end up eating more rice than you should or wanted to.  But not this one...first of all, it came swimming in oil which was a major turn off.

Secondly, my family highlighted to me that the fatty part of the pork belly had a chewy skin.  I didn't realise it at first coz I ate very little of this dish (only a piece or two and I, of course, looked for the leanest piece I could find) as I had to finish most of the prawn dish since my family bailed on me after eating only a piece each.  So, I made sure I got a fatty piece this time...and, yup, my family was right.  It was as if they cooked it without removing the skin of the pork belly and that contributed to the hard and chewy bit at the top of the pork belly slices.  It was then that I relooked at the photos of the pork belly dish posted in various food reviews (which turned out to be different photos of the same dish since they were all taken at the same invited review!)...and, yeap, I could see the chewy skin was there too.

After a seafood and meat dish, we opted for a dish of Beancurd with Onion Oil @ RM12.  I wasn't expecting it to come with so much oyster sauce and dark soy...and so little fried garlic.  Of course, the dish was too salty...would there be any other outcome?  This, to me, was one of the simplest dish to get right but ended up to be one of the worst renditions I've ever eaten.  I make this at home all the time and I have to say even mine tasted better.

For our vegetable quota, our final dish was the Stir-Fried French Beans with Seaweed @ RM18.  It isn't a combination I've seen or eaten elsewhere.  I definitely could see it work, crispy seaweed with crunchy-to-the-bite french beans, provided if they had stir-fried them with some dried prawns to bring some saltiness to the dish.  This Chinese-type seaweed (which you sometimes find added to soups or clear soup noodles) is bland tasting to begin with (quite different from the saltier kind of Japanese nori).

Alas, there were no dried prawns to give it that salty tinge and the seaweed, though very crispy, ended up tasting totally bland.  I did see some preserved vegetable (cabbage) bits (tung choy or lobak hancur) among the seaweed but just not enough of it to make a difference.  Even though lacking saltiness, this was the more acceptable dish of the four but, then again, a stir-fry french beans dish from say Esquire Kitchen (or any other restaurant) would still trump this one.

Oh, there was one minor plus point though, the rice @ RM1.50 per person came served in one of those patterned aluminium traditional Thai rice pots for you to help yourselves (which I found odd), so there's sufficient rice for refills (maybe you could even ask for more rice, not that we did, at no extra charge like how it's done in Thai restaurants).  It seems they serve Thai food & BBQ in the late evenings (according to their Facebook).  Ah, now that explains why we were served rice in those Thai rice pots.

My Personal Opinion

The big head prawns, being their signature dish, didn't taste anything like those juicy, sweet-tasting freshwater prawns I've eaten in sang har meen elsewhere.  In fact, they even look different from some of the prawn pics I saw online.  Perhaps the ones offered in their promotion are of a different quality. ^_~  Ok, ok, I guess I can't and shouldn't expect too much from big head prawns priced at RM39.90 for three.  So, if you're here, you might want to get those prawns that aren't at promotional prices but you'll have to pay more for them obviously.

Even though I've only tried 4 dishes, I'm afraid none left a good impression.  Maybe I was just unlucky not to have ordered the right dishes and there could still be some that are worthy here.

Perhaps it isn't fair to judge a place by just one visit and four dishes...but striking out on all four dishes in one meal is a bit much, don't you think? :P  That makes it extremely unlikely that I'll get a second chance to find out if there are indeed good dishes here especially so when one family member is eating in silence and the other is shaking his head.  It'll be difficult to convince any of them to return. >.<

Prawn Dynasty Restaurant

26 Jalan 6/91
Taman Shamelin Perkasa
56100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2856 0765