Hinz Chinese Seafood Restaurant

I think it's really unfortunate that people have to part ways. Yeah I know, it's a way of life and blah di blah di blah but still. Why? WHY! I hate it so much. It's a really weak trait of mine.

As such, the brother organised a get together for the little group of staff that have committed their time and effort for the ex business. I reckon it's awesome to be able to catch up with each other so we don't completely forget about the friendships that have developed through time.

Because of the awesome company present, I didn't focus on the food as much as I am usually out to do. The lines between colleagues and friends are always blurred but it's always for a good reason. I love this group of people.

Dim Sim proved to be a good choice for these type of occasions. Well, dim sim is never not a good choice for any occasions, really. After a little bit of explanation of why I was taking photos, we dug into these goodies:

Chicken Feet in Black Bean sauce

Memory tells me we had 2 or 3 of these. So either they were pretty nice, or the diners on our table just have a fetish and just really like feet. I haven't developed a particular dislike to eating these but I think it's more of I just can't be bothered with the effort to eat feet. Too much hassle to eat a theoretically yucky thing = yeah, screw that.

The Chinese name for this translates something to like phoenix claw. As such, a Malaysian with us did not know what this was because of its schmancy name. "Oh, it's just chicken feet." Disappointment. I guess they gotta make feet seem enticing somehow right?

Pork dumplings garnished with Caviar

Above is the usual suspect at dim sim, the famously mispronounced siu mai. Hinz version is relatively smaller than other restaurants, hence the ability to fit 4 into the steamer rather than the usual quantity of 3. Small doesn't always mean it's not good. Being small has its ups and advantages a lot of the time :)...and it definitely doesn't mean I've got a smaller stomach either :(

These dumplings seem to use pretty lean meat for the interior, which is actually pretty good for me since me and fatty foods don't make a perfect match anymore *tear*. But for everybody else who like their fatty meat blocks of fat, that's probably something less appealing and desirable.

Deep fried Prawn dumplings with Mayonnaise

I was too scared to experiment whether my body was agreeable to these deep fried, delicious, tempting prawn parcels. Judging from their looks they look pretty good. Bias is probably present because all deep fried stuff are extremely good looking.

Pork and Prawn Bean Curd Skin rolls in Oyster sauce

Bean curd has always been a favourite, because in my head it's healthy. And here I think I'm using the words bean curd and tofu to be interchangeable...cause I've never bothered to find out the difference. Here that healthiness doesn't seem to really come through though, does it...

The soft textured skin is wrapped tightly to hug the filling inside nice and snugly. The prawn doesn't seem to be very prominent and is overtaken by the flavoured soft mince to give these deflated, wrinkly, saggy skin a little bit of a face lift and a little bit of oomph.

Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Bean sauce

I like to judge the quality and generosity of a restaurant based on this dish, how judgemental and ridiculous that may sound. I find that we order this less and less because it gets to the point where you are sort of ordering a bucket of bones to eat suck and gnaw like a bunch of canines.

Sometimes, spare ribs can mean meat, other times it can mean fat, and occasionally it can mean pretty much bones. At Hinz I would say a pretty good balance is given. And doesn't this look so much more like black bean sauce than what the chicken feet sauce looks like?

Steamed Fish Balls

These used to be my favourite a while back. Fish balls. Mmm. =p These seem to be like processed fish paste mounded into a ball attached to some flaps of bean curd skin at the base. I would call that visual appeal only, with that addition.

The fish balls are pretty firm to the bite but are really not reminiscent of fish, like all fish balls. Pretty bouncy to chew too. Maybe a bit more flavour would make them better. Even more MSG? =p

Deep fried Squid Tentacles with Chilli and Pepper

No doubt, these are always a favourite amongst most people. What's not to love? Maybe the oil, the fat, and the fact that tasty stuff are almost always so bad for you, but besides all that, these are like the healthiest things ever LOL. It's good to develop a love for healthy things.

Cause I have to make an effort to avoid these absolutely healthy foods, I tend to peel off that magical golden layer coating which defeats the whole purpose of this dish. Very sad. At least the single naked squid tentacle I'm left with still satisfies. It's still tender and not rubbery and seafood is always satisfying when it's cooked the right way.

I was somewhat surprised to hear that these aren't available at dimsim in Malaysia. Really? I mean it's either they have really little variety or the person who said that is just a teeny weeny bit clueless :) Despite this though, she is an amazing, talented cook and I hope to scab some skillz from her and feature some of her creations on here soon :D

Fat chance mine would look presentable, thanks to my zero cooking capabilities. Ooh so envious.

Beef Tendon in Chu Hou sauce

This was purely my decision to order :D I love all the bits and pieces of cows LOL tendon, tripe, stomach, tail...I am so horrendous sounding right now. But they all taste just so good! But don't ask me what Chu Hou sauce is, cause I am as knowledgeable as those of you who don't know what it is. Slightly spicy is all I can give you.

From personal preference, I would say these tendons are cooked to a little too soft. I described these as cow veins then realised how gigantic the cow must have been if they had veins as mighty big as these. So yes, tendon for sure. I like my tendons chewy and springy to bite. Signs of the cow working out, no?

Beef Tripe with Ginger and Shallot

So what did I say, I love my milk producing friends. The 4 legged type, not the 2 legged type, ho ho ho =p

Here is yet another dish that comes off a section of the cow, and this time I hate to say after eating this thing for my whole life, I have no idea what I have been eating. Gawd I'm an adventurous one. I know nothing more than its some bit of the cow, just don't know what bit.

And now that I mention it, maybe it's better if I don't find out.

It looks a bit weird if you haven't seen it before, but it's actually nothing too scary, lookswise and tastewise. The texture is exactly how it looks, but that's easy to say. It's chewy, sometimes really chewy that you have to swallow it in a gulp and hope your stomach won't have too hard of a time disintegrating it.

Hinz Prawn Dumplings

I have nothing to say about these. They've become so standard. And these don't deviate from the ordinary, no better, no worser.

Good enough.

Egg Custard tarts

These were wanted so much that they came in between all the savouries on the table. Just couldn't hold the patience. I guess these golden gleaming pools of sunshine do win over the hearts of many. Simultaneously they also play the role of heartbreakers, breaking the hearts of those who try to resist their delicious call.

That combination of flakiness, crumbliness, melty shell and velvetty smooth custard within are easily lusted after and extremely hard to say no to. It's a very dangerous love.

People say love will probably make a person fat. Amen to that.

Hinz entrance

Talk about a grand entrance! Indeed it is hidden away from the actual street but all the more grand this way right? The exterior makes it like you're stepping into a different palace away from the traffic and commercialisation of Northbridge. Northbridge IS getting handsomer by the day though I must admit.

The exterior design is simple but elegant and effortlessly polished. The interior decor is pretty modern and sophisticated too, with paper screens and elevated seating spaces and all. This place underwent a huge makeover from pre Hinz and its appearance is largely transformed from that refurbishment. Evidently thought was put into everything and your surroundings should probably be admired when you step inside. Yes. That was an order =p

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The plus side of Hinz is probably that there is no need to queue up or get any number tickets to be on a waiting system just to get a table to satisfy your hunger pangs. I mean like, keep me waiting and I can end up being a nasty bitch.

I guess this means staff can efficiently keep up with demands and orders from customers. Service is pretty attentive and non-intrusive and pretty good overall. It's pretty good to get that, coming from a dimsim restaurant where everything has to be FAST FAST FAST or else you feel like you're obtruding the whole world.

There was a period when Hinz offered dimsim with every dish having the capped price of $4 no matter what you ordered. Sounds prettaayyy tempting doesn't it? Surprisingly I didn't visit when this happened. And there is a reason for it.

One thing I do have to mention though. I have to stress it probably doesn't apply anymore, I'm unaware if they've changed management or not, but I wasn't impressed with something when I visited a while back. I mean, I simply asked how much tea was charged per person. And I was given the attitude and tone of voice, which was so condescending it somewhat angered me, put me off.

It was sorta like, are you questioning how much we charge tea type of thing. He shoved a calculator to me and asked if I wanted to recalculate the bill myself. Wow. I should have said yes. Uncalled for mate. I think that's the reason why I haven't been back for over a year.

Hey, I don't hold grudges or anything. That's what stubborn people do only =p