Aunties at Blossom Court

Abandoned by their menfolk on the night of the first Rugby Test between the All Blacks and France, Aunties decided to have a get-together at Blossom Court Malaysian Restaurant. I'm not a fan of Blossom Court but Aunties are. I find the style of cooking rather robust with indiscriminate use of crustacean but as my recent trip to Malaysia has proved, one can't eat like a Buddhist Nun so I decided to join. After all, Aunties know Malaysian food best.

As the young Chefs are from Penang, Aunties were in for a meal that befits Malaysian Cuisine. Despite the name, Blossom Court is rather a modern set-up. There are no Wau Bulan kites swilling above you, no batik fabric draped from ceiling to floor and the ubiquitous Terandak decorative sun hat is thankfully missing. Tables and chairs match, there's a bit of style.

The Blossom Assam Fish was the star dish, the gravy nicely balanced with spices and tangy assam. The tofu dish was cooked with sweet corn, snow peas, woodear, prawn and pork, rendered in an egg corn flour sauce.

There was approval in unison for the suggestion to order the Petai Sambal Prawns. It's not a dish I eat. The Petai (Parkia Speciosa) is known as Stink Bean.  It is cooked with prawn with sambal, or mixed with  dried shrimp (hay bee), chilli, red onions, belacan, soya sauce and minced meat. A pungent yet irresistible explosion of taste sensations.

I settled for the Hainanese Chicken just to avoid the prawns. More boiled than poached, it was what I wanted. For greens, we had the garlic long beans, cooked simply but it was perfection. So was the Salted Fish Eggplant. We spied specialty foods like Lobak, Nestum Prawns, Bakuteh, Marmite Pork Chop or Chicken, Kam Heong Chicken or Pork Chop. Brilliant!

We had Teh Halia (Ginger Tea) as opposed to the more usual Teh Tarik to round out the meal. Suffice to say, there are favourites like Cendol Ice, Ice Kachang (ABC), Bubur Ca-ca and even Durian Ice-Cream. So if you are homesick for Malaysian treats, Blossom Court can more than oblige.

Blossom Court
135 Queens Road
Panmure
Auckland
ph 09 527 7022