HIDDEN TROVE OF FLAVOURS
BEI HAI RESTAURANT (北海饭店)
Serves Up Unique Fusion New Delights
BEI HAI RESTAURANT (北海饭店) At Taman Bidara Selayang
Hidden in the middle of town is a gem of a restaurant called BEI HAI RESTAURANT (北海饭店) that serves simple yet luxurious Chinese cuisine with an emphasis on fresh seafood cuisine. Located in the suburbs of Taman Bidara in Selayang, Bei Hai Restaurant, from the outside looks like any other shop.
Frontage Of Bei Hai Restaurant (北海饭店) At Taman Bidara Selayang
By the looks of things, little has changed since the restaurant first opened its door 18 years ago. However, never judge a shop by its exterior. Each dish here is prepared with pride, having just the right amount of seasoning and condiments so as not to drown the dish in artificial flavours.
Display at the signboard at the entrance of the restaurant is the newspaper and magazine clippings on Bei Hai Restaurant as well as photos of Chua Lan, the international celebrity food critic from Hong Kong. Chua Lan is said to regularly dine at Bei Hai when he's on holiday in Kuala Lumpur.
As Bei Hai is a seafood restaurant, we were served some of their signature seafood dishes. The lip-smacking dining experience will make you want to return for more. All dishes featured in this blog post required at least one day of booking and reservation for its special presentation.
Prawns & Crab Combo Platter
'Prawns Soldier Crab General' ~ 'Har Ping Hai Cheong'
RM 80
To kick off my amazing eats at Bei Hai, we were presented with an impressive dish of Prawns & Crab Combo Platter. The chef has pulled out all stops to create an amazing display of 2 main ingredients to impress diners with this artistically plated platter.
This seafood dish has a Cantonese name to it which can easily be translated to 'Prawns Soldier Crab General' ~ 'Har Ping Hai Cheong'. By looking the plating arrangements, you will notice that chef has placed the spicy stuffed crabs and prawn paste balls in a neat row, just like in the army parade.
Tender & Full-Of-Flavour Prawn Paste Balls
Double Dragon Prawns ~ 'Siong Loong Har'
RM 160
Next up was the Double Dragon Prawns. There's a colourful display of seafood with fruits as the main ingredients in this lavish grand dish. The first dish served on wine glasses, using bright red dragonfruit to pair with large crunchy prawns tossed in salad sauce, served with green lettuce truly makes it's a refreshing combination to eat.
The second dish is creatively served skin of the dragon fruit where white dragon fruit is cut into circular shape to be pan-fried with fresh large prawns with green pea, celery and carrots thus creating another colourful presentation bursting with flavours and texture.
A must try especially if you are a great fan of prawns and dragon fruit.
Sweet & Sour Pork On Ice
RM 38
Another favourite is the Sweet & Sour Pork On Ice. Bei Hai offered a grand offering of the simple but tasty sweet and sour pork on a grander scale. Aims to satisfy selective diners, chunky pieces of flavourful deep-fried pork are buried beneath chopped ice just to preserve the crunchiness.
The dish is served in a big bowl of chopped ice decorated with fruits skewers of grapes and watermelon as the palate cleanser or starter. Mouth-watering pork pieces are slowly dug out thus bringing excitement to the diners just like 'digging for treasure in the sand'.
Deep Fried Rice With River Prawns Meat In Superior Broth
(RM 46/per prawn X 2)
RM 92
Another fresh seafood selection from Bei Hai is the mouth-watering Deep Fried Rice With River Prawns Meat In Superior Broth. The soupy dish is made out of a big pot of premium broth to be enhanced with loads of fresh and succulent river prawns rich in prawn roe thus giving the broth a rich flavourful orange colour.
For this dish, diners must have a minimum order of at least 2 large river prawns weighing at 350 to 400 gm - priced at RM 46 per prawn for the preparation of this super dish. This pot of rich-tasting congee broth is good for sharing for 3 to 4 persons.
STEP-BY-STEP COOKING PROCESS 
First, in goes the river prawn roe.
Secondly, put in the meaty river prawn to cook under low heat.
Next, pour in the deep-fried puff rice to the superior broth.
Lastly, give the broth a good stir under low heat for the fragrant puff fried rice to release its smoky flavour and for the prawn's roe to embed the taste into the golden rice grain.
Hearty & Soul-Soothing Dish
The end result is a hearty and soul-soothing comforting bowl of rich in prawn roe congee dish. This photo of mine paints a thousand words with the bright orange roe floating in the superior broth with fresh meaty prawn on top. This is one of the best dishes I have tasted for the night. Highly recommended dish to order at Bei Hai!
Roasted Duck With Mantou
Foh Foong Ngap
RM 98
Taking a break from the sumptuous seafood spread, we have a roast duck dish. In Cantonese, it's called the 'Foh Foong Ngap' which literally translated to 'Fiery Phoenix Duck'. A whole roast duck is served with its meat thinly sliced and carefully sandwiched in between soft buns or mantou with crispy deep-fried stuffed beancurd skin.
Sweet sauce spread, duck meat and the stuffed bean curds, all three make an excellent combination of Chinese burger. Each dish serves 10 slices of the soft bun which is just nice for a table of ten.
Chef serves us a different version of the Peking duck style where duck meat is eaten with mantou 'Chinese bun' instead of pancake wraps. These house-made is soft to taste and very fluffy too.
See the delicious crispy bean curds skin filled with minced meat.
Feast your eyes on my yummy bun, so good tasting with the crispy duck skin. The meat was indeed juicy and tender and skin crispy and well marinated.
Braised Charcoal Tofu with Gingko Nuts & Lotus Seeds
RM 80
To end the evening on a healthy note, we were served Braised Charcoal Tofu with Gingko Nuts and Lotus Seeds. Served with braised beancurd puffs topped with generous portion of gingko and lotus seeds, the special housemade charcoal tofu has fillings of chopped prawns, carrots and celery hidden in it.
This homemade charcoal tofu is drenched in a special sauce with dried shitake mushroom and asparagus which please the taste buds with a fresh green note.
Bei Hai Restaurant serves up a wide selection of dishes good for celebratory events such as birthdays, baby full moon and family reunion grand dinners for its banquet-style cuisines. Seafood dishes take centre stage at Bei Hai with its fresh offerings of river prawn, fish and crab. The restaurant's menu also includes a range of homestyle Chinese cuisine to cater for family dining catering to the different needs of its diners.
The banquet-style dishes that were served to us tonight required prior booking as the chef and his team needs at least one day order in advance to prepare the specially plated dishes. Oh yes, I heard that they are famous for their fish dishes such as steamed fish and curry fish head dishes too.
Bei Hai Restaurant 北海饭店
No. 10, Jalan Bidara 2/4
Taman Bidara
68100 Selayang
Selangor
Tel: 03-6138-3688
Opens Daily:
11 am to 2:30 pm
5:30 pm to 10:30 pm
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HIDDEN TROVE OF FLAVOURS ~ BEI HAI RESTAURANT (北海饭店)Serves Up Unique Fusion New Delights
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